Oh shit.
I’m in trouble.
The monster lunges for me. I dodge left but it's faster than I am. Claws rake my back, and pain sears into me, white-hot and burning.
I stumble but keep moving, pointed toward the door. If I can just get there.
It cuts me off.
No.
The creature looms over me, approaching slowly, knowing it has me trapped. Its mouth opens and the rankest sulfur smell hits me in the face.
Sharp fangs, each as long as my finger, drip with saliva.
No one’s coming to save me.
I lift my hand, calling my magic. Gold light flickers at my fingertips?—
“Creature!”
The command booms from the doorway, doubled, echoing with power that makes the walls shake.
The beast stops. Turns.
And there stands Eryx—tall, shirtless, eyes black with fury.
“You will not hurt her.”His voice—it must be both his and Nightmare's speaking as one—vibrates with barely contained rage.
The sound makes me want to cower, but his attention isn’t fixed on me. It’s fixed on the monster—saliva dripping from its fangs and claws long and extended, ready to shred anything in its path.
The creature lifts its head and roars. My heart goes still as it lunges for Eryx.
Everything happens so fast that my eyes and brain can barely keep up—but I do, and what I see changes everything.
Eryx lifts his hand, and as if he’s a magnet, shadows stop flickering like they’re anticipating what’s about to happen.
Then that darkness, the shadows and stillness, race toward Eryx, and he pulls them into himself.
For a split second the room goes pale. And the power—the energy completely shifts into Eryx as he calls the very darkness that holds the room captive—into himself.
The monster swipes his hand across Eryx and I gasp. Half a second later the air contracts like it’s bending, and all the darkness Eryx pulled in releases.
Something tightens in my chest because Eryx doesn’t look like Eryx anymore. All the shadows grow out of him, and he looks like the angel of death.
Then the image is gone and the darkness rams straight into the beast.
It releases a howl so intense I cover my ears. Then, over the agony, the creature’s bones crack, one by one, until it falls in a heap on the floor and vanishes.
Eryx still stands in the doorway. His chest is bleeding where the monster swiped him, and he’s breathing heavily.
He stares at where the monster stood a moment ago, his eyes narrowed as if making sure it won’t come back.
The only sound in the room is Echo whimpering in the corner. Seeming to sense the danger is over, she meekly steps out and goes to Eryx.
His gaze drops to the dog briefly as if confirming it’s safe; then he looks at me, and my breath catches because his eyes have returned to their crystal blue hue. But more than that—they’re filled with worry.
For me.
