The monster closed in.
I pushed my legs harder, faster, pumping my arms wildly.
My legs refused to listen.
As I darted around a tree to shake the monster from my trail, my hooves slipped on the muddy ground, flying out from under me.
My head smacked the ground with a resounding thwack.
A bright red mushroom rolled on the ground in front of my eyes.
And then I saw nothing at all.
CHAPTER 27
Shade
Her scream was a thing of nightmares.
It echoed around me, near, but out of reach.
She was somewhere in the forest.
My blood thundered in my veins, urging me togo.Torun. Tosave my wife.
I heeded the call.
All thoughts fled my mind, my sole focus on getting to Ginger as fast as possible.
And I did.
Faster than should have been possible, I was standing over the faun woman.
The sharp tang of her spilled blood filled the air, along with the acrid burn of something toxic. Something familiar.
She was wounded.
I whirled, searching for the threat that had harmed my precious wife.
I bared my teeth, flexed my fingers, preparing to tear any interloper limb from limb.
I would revel in it—I would remove their entrails and wear them around my neck like a badge of honor.
No folk were nearby.
Only critters—a few squirrels, a mouse or two.
And a beast, a few paces away.
The lumbering thing was savage and hideous, vaguely wolf shaped but much larger than any wolf ought to have been. Saliva dripped from its sharp-toothed maw.
The creature bared its fangs, challenging me. Its eyes glowing an unnatural silver color.
I bared my teeth right back.
I would rip its throat out if I must—I didn’t care if the predator was twice my size and drawn to the scent of Ginger’s blood, she wasmine.
Mine to protect. Mine to shelter.
