“Wasn’t going to happen and you know it.” I wish the dannedd’s teeth were that sharp, although she might be missing her leg if that were the case. Then I’d be using my belt as a tourniquet and praying that she didn’t bleed out while carrying her across the desert.
The ground rises. The rocks and sand unstable beneath my feet. My heart pounds and my shirt becomes glued to my skin. Eventually we reach the boulders. They are only shoulder height, but with Flick injured, I don’t see how I can climb up. There’s not enough slack for me to put her up first or for me to leave her on the ground.
“There’s movement near the breach.”
I spin and stare back where we came from. She’s right. There is something in the shadows, but I don’t know what. We’re standing in the open, illuminated by starlight. I adjust her weight and run my hand over her leg. Her jeans are wet with blood.
We need to keep moving. “Recognize anything yet?”
“No. But there’s another cluster of rocks ahead.”
I nod. Rocks aren’t going to help us, but it’s better than standing and waiting for the creatures to find us. I set off, moving as fast as I can, which is at best a slow jog over the uneven ground.
“The thing is sniffing at the dead dannedds.”
“Good, maybe it will eat them.” And ignore us. I don’t need to know how big it is, that won’t change the fact we have nothing to fight with. The next thing that attacks will kill at least one of us.
As we draw closer to the rocks the tingle of magic skates over my skin. Another tear? Or something else? A trap?
“There’s a path. To your right.”
I glance down. I’ve been so focused on what is ahead I haven’t been watching the ground, trusting that my feet will land safely. Sure enough, there is a winding trail of footstep beaten ground. It’s so faint that I’m sure in a few days the wind will sweep sand over it and it will vanish.
“He lived out here,” Flick says. “Had to have, so he could arrive if his trap worked.”
“You want to follow the path?”
“Why not?”
I can think of a dozen reasons. The first one being that our captor might be there. We are assuming that he took my necklace and left, but he may not have. I follow the trail anyway. The ground is harder packed, so it’s quicker to move.
“Uh…that thing has lost interest in the dead dannedd. I think it prefers live prey.”
I quicken my pace, not sure where I’m going, only that I need to put distance between us and it. I don’t have a plan, and this time I don’t even have a bone to use as a weapon.
The rocks loom before us, reaching for the sky. I step into its inky shadows, glad to be cloaked in darkness but knowing that the creature that stalks us will find us by scent or by magic. The path continues to the rocks. I’m beginning to hope that our captor does live here. Hell, even if he’s waiting, I don’t care.
“It’s on our trail and moving swiftly,” she adds. She wriggles and I know she’s trying to look around.
“Stay still. We’re almost at the rocks.” I hope there is more than a dead end.
“It’s at the boulders.”
We’re dead. The almost sheer face of the rock rises in front of me. In a few yards we’ll have our backs to the wall. Then I feel it, the shimmer of old magic that marks the boundary of a home.
I veer right toward a small crevice, and there it is. The entrance.
I slide Flick to the ground. “We’re going in there.”
8
Felicity
Cillian points at a crevice barely big enough for a person to squeeze into. I glance over my shoulder. The creature is gaining, looking straight at us like it knows dinner is about to escape. If we get stuck in the crack, it will dig us out with its claws.
My leg hurts with every step, but Cillian’s hand is firm around mine. He slides in first. I try not to think about what else lives in the gap. Snakes, spiders, scorpions. Every step takes us deeper into the rock. If I look up, I can’t even see the sky.
A snarl reverberates through my bones.
