An inhuman roar that had me snapping my lids. A black shape floated between sky and earth. Another boulder? I blinked, but shards of rock sprayed my face, spoiling my already poor sight. Another roar, more wolf than stone, shook me fullyawake.
I dug my claws into the earth, but I wasn’t on soft earth. I was on solid rock. And not just a rock.A Flatiron. OhGod…
From my vantage point, there was no telling how steep the fall. Calling on the last dregs of energy, I channeled all of my weight into my paws, mincing my claws on the searing rock. My muscles screamed as my speed decreased, as my claws were sanded down and my pads ribboned. I was still coming at the edge of the cliff toofast.
Gritting my teeth, I locked my muscles and dug what remained of my filed claws into therock.
An inch from the edge, I came to a stop. I kept my head down until the rubble stopped walloping my batteredbody.
Shivering, shuddering, heart pounding against the sun-soaked Flatiron, I waited for silence to replace the pitter-patter of rock. Once it finally draped over the land, I lifted my head and squinted upward at the gritty trail of blood and chalky scratchmarks.
I’d survived the fall, but would I survive the rest of this brutalcontest?
Chapter Seventeen
Ilickedmy wounds a long time. It wasn’t as though I could possibly win anymore. Unless another contestant had run into a trap more perilous than mine. I doubted it. The others were surer-footed and more attuned to the land than I was, thanks to the years of experience Ilacked.
After a lengthy interlude of self-deprecation, I pressed my battered body up onto my shredded paws. I groaned, feeling as though I weighed a ton more than I had at the start of this godforsaken race. I took a step and whimpered. Another step. Anotherwhimper.
Well, this’ll befun.
Andslow.
I hope you’re all enjoying this, you asswipes,I howled into the inertair.
Running was out of the question. Tripping repeatedly, I hobbled down the grassy sides of the Flatiron then headed back toward the evergreens. At least, at this pathetic speed, I couldn’t possibly run into anothertrap.
The sun baked my hide as I traipsed clumsily toward the trees. After what felt like a day, I reached the dappled forest. Shadows cooled the bitter heat, and damp moss alleviated the pain that was each step. Moss and shadows could unfortunately do nothing for my sore spine. I wondered, more than once, if the stone that had landed on my back had dislodged avertebra.
Could I still move with a dislocatedvertebra?
I was no doctor, but I guessed my spine must beintact.
My breaths were no longer coming in short spurts. They were lengthening like the shadows as the sun dipped a little lower in the sky. I sniffed the air to make sure I was still heading in the right direction. I caught the sweet smell of tobacco and the crisp scent of cedar, but it was muddled by that ofblood.
Freshblood.
I stopped and sniffed my paws. It wasn’t my blood Ismelled.
I sniffedagain.
Then I followed the tinny trail through the trees, through a shrub of wild roses that layered their sultry perfume over that of the blood. I pushed past them, their thorns snagging in my flesh, and almost tripped on a mound of blondfur.
Matt whipped his head toward me, leveling his green eyes on my face and letting out a low growl. I backed up, but then my gaze snagged on the metal snare jammed around hisforepaw.
The jagged trap had bitten into his flesh, revealing bits of white bone and pink sinew. He snapped his teeth at me. I gnashed my own teeth and barked,I didn’t come to gloat. I mean, look atme.
He looked me over. Grasping I wasn’t a threat, he lowered his muzzle to the metal, trying to pry it open with his fangs, but all it did was steep the fur of his face inblood.
I stood motionless for amoment.
I could stillwin.
The realization fluttered through me as delicately as butterflywings.
I could leave himbehind.
Even if he managed to break free, he wouldn’t be able to beat me with a mangled leg. I turned southward and stared at the green hollow covered in deciduous trees. The race would end somewhere in those woods. I could reach them in minutes—fifteen, twenty at most—and once I found Eric, I could inform him of Matt’swhereabouts.
