But it’s easier said than done.The shades keep coming, pouring out of the snowdrifts like an endless tide.And the animals are coordinating with them, herding us, trying to separate the pack.
Rooster goes down first.
His bike hits a patch of black ice, and he skids out.He’s rolling before he even stops, coming up with both guns drawn, but three shades are already on him.
“Rooster!”Scout dives, grabbing his brother and hauling him into the air just as corrupted jaws snap shut where his head had been.
“I’m good!”Rooster fires down into the mass of creatures below.“Bike’s fucked though!”
“We’ll double up.Keep fighting!”
Vex brings us around, positioning so I have a clear view of the battle.He presses a gun into my hand, the one I’ve been training with, it’s weight familiar now.
“You’re not a passenger,” he says through the comms, voice fierce.“You’re a fighter.So fight.”
The words ignite something in me.
I’m not the helpless waitress who got marked weeks ago.Not the victim cowering while monsters fight my battles.I’ve trained for this.Bled for this.Earned my place on this ride.
I take aim at a shade reaching for Chrome and squeeze the trigger.
The shot goes wide, shades are hard to target, their forms flickering, but the second one hits center mass.The creature shrieks, a sound that’s half wind and half dying scream, and dissolves.
“Nice shot!”Chrome’s voice crackles with approval.
Vex’s pride floods through the bond, warm and fierce, and I feel myself grin despite the terror and adrenaline.
We’re moving again, the convoy regrouping and pushing forward.But the attacks are getting worse.More shades, bigger animals, things that look like they crawled out of nightmares given frozen form.
That’s when Fury transforms.
I’ve never seen him shift before.Never knew what he was, though I’d suspected he was more than human.But this, this is beyond anything I imagined.
Fire erupts around him, melting snow in a twenty-foot radius.His bike doesn’t slow, if anything, it surges forward, flames streaming behind it in ribbons of red and gold.And then he’s no longer riding it, he’s beside it, hitting the ground on four massive legs, all muscle and fire and shadow.
The creature Fury becomes is enormous, easily the size of a grizzly, his fur rippling with darkness and flame, his eyes burning bright enough to cut through the blizzard.His roar shakes the ground, and even the ice shades recoil, skidding back as if instinct warns them to keep their distance.
“W—What is he?”I whisper, unable to look away.
Vex swears under his breath, low and vicious.“Fuck.Things must be bad if Fury’s taken on his hellhound form.”
Hellhound.
The word slams through me, cold and hot all at once.
Vex’s jaw tightens.“He’s not from this world, Tessa.He’s from somewhere deeper...somewhere hotter.A place even the cold won’t touch.He told you the Devil calls him friend.”
Fury crashes into a cluster of corrupted wolves, and they don’t stand a chance.Fire consumes ice, hell devours winter, and in seconds there’s nothing left but scorched earth and steam.
“Show off,” Chrome mutters, but there’s affection in his voice.
Fury’s presence beats back the cold, creates a bubble of warmth the shades can’t fully penetrate.We rally around him, using his fire as a shield while we press forward.
But the devourer isn’t done testing us.
A massive bear or something that used to be a bear, emerges from the tree line.It’s easily twelve feet tall, covered in ice that’s grown into armor, spikes jutting from its shoulders and back.Its roar is avalanche and earthquake combined.
“That’s new,” Blade says flatly.
