I jumped out of the car, Brumous moving far faster than I was, and sprinted for the house. Before I could even get two yards, however, the world tilted. An invisible hand slammed into my back, and I went down hard, my right ankle twisting painfully under me. Brumous yelped as Eluned grabbed his ruff and hurled him away, his furry body skidding across the pavement with a pained whine.
And I could donothing.
As Amabel held me down, white-hot fingers gouged in and dug out the very last drop of my magic as I screamed and screamed.
“Why, you hardly had anything in you.” She finally pulled her power back, leaving me panting as tears streamed down my face. “Poor little thing. You’ve been sucked drier than a desert.”
Not content with her sister merely violating me, Eluned viciously kicked my ribs. Agony detonated through my side, and I curled into a protective ball.
“You’re nothing but trash, worthless! Trash on his doorstep! Do you really think your husband will even keep you after seeing you likethis? He’ll send you back by dawn!” Eluned screeched, drawing her foot back to kick me again.
Then Brumous was there, growling deep in his throat, a ferocious sound I’d never heard him make before. He tried to standover me, but Eluned turned her kicks on him, and his cries tore through me like a jagged knife. I could take whatever they did to me, but the thought of the pup suffering was unbearable. I tried to reach for him, but my limbs were like lead now, unresponsive and unbearably heavy.
“Leave him alone! Hurt me, not him!” I gasped, my plea nearly drowned by the harsh rasp of my own ragged breathing.
“Oh, wewill, dear stepsister,” Amabel promised as her fist smashed into my temple.
The whole time, Eluned sang in her menacing little girl voice, timing her kicks to the nursery rhyme.
“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
All good children go to heaven;
When they die, their sin’s forgiven,
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.”
I didn’t know how many verses she made it through before she ground her heel on the ankle I’d twisted at the same time Amabel stomped on my bad arm. Everything around me dissolved, colors bleeding into one another and sounds coming from far away.
Minutes, hours, maybe days later, I felt a rough tongue lick my cheek, but I couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, couldn’t even open my eyes. Brumous let out a low cry, a gut-wrenching sound, raw and desperate, and it broke something deep within me. I couldn’t protect him. I’d failed him.
“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
All good children go to heaven.”
Tears streamed down my face, mingling with the dirt and blood, and I finally slipped away.
8. Beyond the Hunt
Koa
I gripped the steering wheel, trying to ignore Zane as he blared music on his phone, his voice rising above the thumping bass to sing along perfectly with some top forty hit.
“C’mon, Ko! You know this one! Join in!” he called.
“Yeah, right,” I muttered under my breath, my focus glued to the winding road ahead. “Have youeverheard me sing?”
“No, thank the night,” Casimir deadpanned from the shotgun seat, intently consulting the GPS. Every few seconds, he’d glance at the screen. “In two miles, take a left.”
“Both of you need to relax,” Zane belted out.
“This isn’t a joyride. You need to have—”
“Priorities, right?” I cut off Cas, smirking at Z in the rearview mirror and catching his eye roll.
Our SUV was packed tighter than a can of sardines with gear, weapons, stocked med kit, and enough ammo to make a small army feel secure. Clothes? Who needed those? Clearly, we were more concerned with survival than fashion.
“Cruor! You seeing this?” Zane leaned forward, eyes wide with childlike wonder as he surveyed the grounds we were paralleling. “This iswaynicer than the last dump we stayed in. Are we sure we’re not in a sitcom? Because I’m ready for my close-up!”
