7
Jenna
Lorcan steps into the wild weather, using himself as bait. I stand in the doorway, my knuckles white on the frame and the gun heavy in my other hand. From out of the darkness they slink, eyes catching in the lightning.
He shoots as soon as he sees them, but there’s too many and when his gun falls silent, he holsters it and draws a gleaming sword. They swarm him and I know he’s going to die if I stand here and do nothing. And if he dies, my death will swiftly follow.
His blade slices through the night.
I can’t shoot the ones around him, but I can stop more from reaching him. I aim on the moving darkness and fire. The gun jumps in my hand and no cloud of ink and stardust appears. My shot missed.
I mutter a curse and try again. I need to use both hands to keep the gun steady and the sights in line. This time the beast explodes.
My heart lurches. I killed something. I’ve spent all my life trying to help and put things back together. Lorcan cries out. One beast has latched onto his arm. He’s losing. Panic flares in my chest, making it hard to breathe. He staggers back but is being dragged down by the monsters.
I’m terrified of hitting him, but I aim for one beast at the edge. Every monster I kill is one fewer he has to fight. But instead of getting closer to me and the house and safety, Lorcan’s getting further away. Drawing the beasts away from me.
“Lorcan, come to me!” the storm carries my words away.
I step out of the protection of the house. A mistake, I realize as two beasts turn and stalk toward me. I remember him talking about the barrier that a home creates. I could retreat a step to safety, but then I’ll be trapped. Eight gleaming eyes track me. I swallow hard and lift the gun again. I resist the urge to close my eyes every time I pull the trigger. Both die, leaving nothing but a dark stain on the lawn that vanishes in the rain.
I make my way toward Lorcan. Every step closer draws the attention of a gyfnosau.
I don’t know how many bullets were in the gun, but I must be getting low. Finally, there are only four monsters left. But Lorcan is bleeding, more than I can stitch.
He needs proper medical help, yet he fights on.
He slices the throat of one, stabs another.
Seeing me his eyes widen. Then he makes his way closer. The gyfnosau are smart, harrying him, snapping and growling but staying out of rage of his sword.
My hands are slick with rain, I shoot and miss. My next shot is true. Then the gun is empty and the best I can do is throw it at the next beast to attack him…or me. Shit. I don’t want to die tonight. I want to see faery.
I glance behind. The house is only five yards away, but it might as well be across town. The beasts will catch me if I run, and Lorcan is too wounded to move fast. We have to stand and fight.
Lorcan mutters something and makes a fist with one hand, then we are surrounded by blue light and the rain no longer hits us.
“I can’t keep this up for long. I’m taking us both to faery. I’m sorry. This isn’t how I wanted it to be.”
While I don’t have family, I have friends and I don’t want them to mourn me. But how can I tell them I’m moving to faery, that I’m fae and that monsters are real?
I can’t.
My life was always going to end in the jaws of a beast that no one else could see. I never expected a fae man to ride in and save me.
I nod. “How do we get there?”
His bike is in the garage, which is farther away than the house.
“Magic.” He wipes his hand through the blood on his arm, then clasps the three charms hanging on his necklace. Wood and stone and metal and blood.
Blue light flashes.
I’m blinded, spinning and falling. I let go of Lorcan. I hit the ground hard and everything goes black.
