A hand waved in front of my face, and I looked down at Camilla’s smiling one, her head resting on my lap. We were watching a movie together on the couch during our last night at the beach.
I grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles. “Yes, my love?”
“What are you thinking about?”
“How I plan to get you to move in with me.”
She gave me a playful roll of her eyes. “Plotting and scheming, of course.”
“Naturally. Doesn’t sound like you’re against it, though.”
She opened her mouth, probably to uselessly protest, but a loud bang against a door and shouting startled us. Something was going on in front of the house. Alarm instantly seized me, my body tensing.
Camilla shot up, looking around with wide, fearful eyes. “What the hell was that?”
I stood up. “We’re most likely under attack.”
She clutched her chest. “What?”
I walked to the kitchen island and opened a drawer, removing a handgun I had hidden there. “I need you to hide in the safe room.”
“I have magic. I can help.”
I rushed back to her and pulled her to my chest in a tight embrace. “You can, but I don’t need you to. What I need is your safety. I’ll try to compromise more, but not this. Okay?”
She pulled away and nodded, although she looked sad enough to break my heart. I’d have to get over that because I’d be more broken if something happened to her. I moved away and headed to the front, telling her to hide again before I reached the door.
When I got to the front, I found several of my guards on the ground, dead or wounded. Also, on the ground, unmoving andpresumably dead, were beings I’d only seen one time before. Black humanoid forms that looked more like clawed, dark, opaque masses. Shadow creatures.
I didn’t even wait to listen to what Paulo was stating as he ran in my direction. I was already heading back inside, a cold feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach. I heard her calls and what sounded like a struggle before I could get to the living room. When I finally got there, my body lurched forward to grab her, but I wasn’t fast enough.
A large dark portal, oblong in shape, hovered behind her like a door. She was already halfway through, with only her head, an arm, and one leg remaining out. Her face was filled with terror as she reached out to me. I grabbed her wrist, pulling with all my strength. To my relief, more of her body reappeared. But she wasn’t back.
I dropped by gun and pulled her with both hands. I was getting her back. More of her body pulled through. She looked so scared and helpless. “I got you,” I said through gritted teeth.
Whatever had her on the other side was not weak. What looked like long, shadowy tentacles wrapped around her waist, yanking her backwards into the portal. I was losing her. I heard running behind me, and soon Paulo appeared by my side. “Get those things off of her!” I ordered.
He was already pulling at them, slicing with his nails, as I continued to hold tightly to her. She screamed, and at first, I feared Paulo had cut her, but the strain in her face let me know that it was him who was causing her pain. We, the entity and I, were tearing at her. One of us had to let go, but the thought made me sick.
The black tentacle shadows fell to the ground, an echoing scream pushing through the darkness. Paulo had hurt it. I wrapped a hand around her back, pulling Camilla to me. However, more cold tentacles surrounded her. With a force Iwas not prepared for, they yanked at her, ripping her from my arms. I held on to her wrist with my other hand as she disappeared into the blackness, reaching out to nothingness in the void. If I pulled too hard, it would hurt her. This creature didn’t seem to have that same concern.
Soon, all that was left on our side was her hand, and then that was gone, my own moving through the coldness of the portal. It felt like pushing through Jello, the invisible texture slick against my skin. And then the portal shut. Closing in on itself like an imploding star. And with it, my hand.
Leaving me nothing but a bleeding stump and the loss of the love of my life.
Chapter Thirteen
Camilla
Until recently, I had never known supernatural danger in my life. Therefore, I was very unprepared for a battle of this sort. And now I was in a world of darkness, scared out of my mind.
I remembered Harris telling me to hide. His safe room was upstairs, but I wasn’t sure it would be good enough against a supernatural force. If someone found me, I was going to have to use my powers. The last time I used them offensively was in middle school when a dog got loose from its house. He ran full force at Harris and me as we were walking home, and I pushed out my elven magic, blasting it in the air. It dropped to the ground, temporarily unconscious. The owner dared to be angry at me, but it survived.
If something came at me now, I didn’t want it to survive. The people in the underworld didn’t play fair, and neither would I. Hesitating could mean life or death. I turned and headed to the stairs, but a blast of cold wind momentarily paused me. I didn’t look back; I didn’t need to. I already knew what it was. And I was ready.
I spun around, pushing my hands out, my magic bursting through my fingertips. The shadow creature, standing in front of a portal, blew back but held onto the edges of the rounded opening. Glowing eyes pinned on me with determination. Like the last time, dark appendages shot out of his side, snaking around me and pulling me to him.
I tried to fight his grasp, but he was so damn strong. It felt surreal to lose control like this. And then Harris appeared. For a small moment, hope filled me, but even he, as large and strong as he was, couldn’t fight the pull of all those appendages around me. Not to mention it hurt like hell being pulled like that. I felt like my body was splitting in two. My arms stretched beyond comfort, burning at the joints. I did not doubt that both of them could rip my arms out of my sockets, and visions of me armless and bloody filled my mind. Still, I didn’t want Harris to let me go.
