She stepped to his side and grabbed his arm. “Rell,” she said quickly, “You need to go.”
He looked at her like she’d lost her mind. “Not a chance in hell.”
“I’m serious. She’s here for me.”
“Which is exactly why I’m not leaving.”
Elora’s throat closed. Her heart pounded so loudly she couldn’t hear the wind anymore.
“Rell, you’re barely standing,” she whispered
He didn’t respond, just shifted forward, placing himself half a step ahead of her again.
TheThraskwoman bared her teeth in something that looked disturbingly like amusement.
Then she moved.
Elora didn’t even register the blur until Rell grunted and went flying, knocked backward like a leaf in a gust of wind. He crashed into the ground several feet away, rolling once before groaning, dazed.
Then the woman was on her.
Claws closed around Elora’s neck, sharp and burning as they sank into her skin. The air fled her lungs in a wheeze. TheThraskleaned in, her breath hot against Elora’s cheek.
“I’ll make this quick,” she rasped.
Elora’s panic ignited into instinct. Her hand snapped upward, the ring glowing dimly in the dark as she pressed her palm to the woman’s throat.
Electricity surged through her fingers.
The woman screamed—raw and guttural—as the charge tore through her body. Her muscles seized violently, and for a split second, Elora watched something ripple beneath her skin, her formcracking like glass. Her bones shifted unnaturally, her shape starting to twist as if she were about to shift into her nightglider form.
But she didn’t.
With a furious snarl, the woman shoved Elora backward. Hard.
She flew, slamming into a tree with a crack of splintering bark. Her skull hit first. Pain burst behind her eyes and the world spun as she collapsed to the ground, gasping.
The woman's footsteps were already approaching again, furious and relentless.
Elora blinked, her vision flickering, and through the haze she saw claws gleaming in the moonlight, golden eyes burning with wrath. Her body screamed at her to move, toshift,but her limbs wouldn’t obey.
Then Rell was there.
He slammed into the woman from the side, blade aimed for her ribs. She twisted at the last second, just barely deflecting the blow but she hadn’t anticipated Rell’s other hand.
His grip closed around her wrist, twisting it with a sharp snap that made her hiss. He planted a boot against her thigh and kicked, using her own momentum against her.
She staggered, stumbling several feet back.
Rell dropped to Elora’s side, reaching out. “Come on, get up—”
The woman was already recovering. Her claws scraped across the dirt as she advanced again, her fury renewed.
A heavy gust swept through the clearing, and the moon vanished in shadow.
A massive form dropped from above, landing with a solid thud between them and the advancing woman.
Another nightglider.
