Titus saw darkness in my celestial future. The promise of destruction burned through me, a predator I couldn’t fight—didn’t know—lying in wait to wrap its claws around my life.
Oh Damien, I thought, for once wishing he would appear to answer my questions,what waits for me?He hadn’t visited since his prophecy, and a piece of me wondered what kept him away.
Seeking out the most familiar constellation, the Mystique Sword, I inwardly cursed the Angel, but the moon’s glow pulsed, and my heart lurched. I stopped myself from screaming my anger at the Angels.There was too much at stake right now; I needed their guidance.
“Please, Damien,” I whispered. Sapphire’s ears twitched at my voice. “Please, if you have any kindness in that fucking eternal soul of yours…please. Let him be okay.” A hollowness echoed through my chest. I bit my lips to keep them from trembling, clenched my hands around the reins. “I…I need him.”
I didn’t know if anyone heard the confession, but I repeated it under my breath, my mantra cast into the ethereal night, begging the clouds to carry it away.
“I need him. I need him. I won’t survive without him.”
I whispered it again and again as Sapphire marched across the moonlit dirt, hoping any Spirit or Angel listening might send him a sign that I was coming.
We hadn’t been travelingfor long when a wild roar cut through the still night.
Sapphire kicked into a gallop, not waiting for my instruction.
I swiveled atop her, looking over my shoulder to see a trio of mountain cats descending the rocky foothills above.
With long legs and lithe bodies, they leaped through the air and landed in pursuit of us. Bright green eyes, haunting and glowing, stood stark against dark brown coats.
Nemaxese, I realized. Large felines—larger than me if they stood on their hind legs—that prowled the mountain range in the dead of night, hunting.
A second high, scratchy growl echoed from the one in front, his scraggly mane shaking.
Jaw dripping.
Dread pooled within me.
“Come on, girl,” I encouraged Sapphire, turning back around. There was nothing but empty land ahead of us, no towns in sight. I supposed that was good. No one else was in danger.
My heart pounded in time with Sapphire’s hooves, the plain blurring around me. I peered over my shoulder again. They were close enough now that I could see the rabid hunger in their eyes.
“Spirits,” I cursed under my breath. Something was wrong withthem. Nemaxese weren’t a threat to warriors; we weren’t their natural prey. I’d heard of some even voluntarily settling in warrior homes, becoming domesticated.
Not these ones—these were tainted. It was in their unblinking stare and frothing mouths. In their relentless pursuit, homed in on us.
The journey to the Undertaking flashed behind my eyes in snips of red-coated terror.
The creature that attacked us in the forest, nearly taking my sister’s life.
The animals that rifled through our food supply.
All wild. All unnatural. All hungry for more than their rightful prey.
Sapphire cleared a low hill, and a stretch of cypher trees came into sight. If we could make it there, we may be able to lose them among the sweeping branches. I didn’t want to hurt them. Whatever had happened to them, these creatures were innocent. They were?—
Compromised, I corrected myself as something flashed in my peripheral.
A sharp pain shot through my shoulder as the world flipped, sky and earth melting together.
I rolled across the dirt, the largest nemaxese bounding after me. Getting my arms beneath me, I pushed upright. I focused despite the spinning earth.
I pulled Starfire from my hip, but she’d be useless against one of these creatures if I wasn’t smart. Jaw or eye—those were the only two places a blade could pierce a nemaxese, their skin impenetrable.
Long teeth flashed. I braced my stance.
Spirits, I didn’t want to hurt an animal. I had no problem slicing a man’s head from his body if attacked, but this felt wrong. Like I was breaking a sacred law. I almost dropped my sword. But as it circled me, the other two flanking it, no soul looked back.…there was no hint of life left.
