All black. No white or color in them.
Dear God, protect us.I sent up a silent prayer just as the creature opened its mouth and screamed. A black blob flew from its throat and opened like a net, coming right for us.
What the heck!?
“Retreat!” Demi cried as Pearl tried to veer out of the way. The net grew wider as it approached us, as if it were sensing how big Pearl was and adjusting its size. I peered closer and noticed it moved like a shimmer of black oil, restless andalive.
Liv and I started to recite theHunter’s Prayerjust as Sage stood and leapt off of the dragon with a battle cry. Her arm was extended, and in it, a giant sword.
“Can she fly?” I screeched, panic gripping me. Maybe she had powers I didn’t know about yet.
“Nope,” Demi growled as Pearl dropped suddenly.
I clenched my thighs to keep from being thrown off the beast. Darting my gaze around, I followed Sage’s descent as she collided with the black, oily net, right before it could reach us. It wrapped around her like an octopus, tightening and slithering.
We sank like a stone. Pearl threw herself under Sage while the feisty redhead hacked at the black net with her sword like a madwoman, cutting shreds into it.
I was simultaneously horrified and in awe of her brave act. But I had no time to dwell on it, because she was going to be on top of us in moments.
Demi thrust her arms out and a shockwave burst from her palms, slamming into Sage and slowing her descent. Peering up as she fell, I readied myself. She was headed right for me.
“Get my legs!” I cried to Liv, and stood up on the dragon’s back, just as Sage fell like a ton of bricks into my arms. I swayed backward, but Liv gripped my ankles hard, planting me firmly to the spot. Some of the black netting was still on Sage’s body, one large piece twisted around her arm, cutting into the skin. But the majority of it had fallen to the ground, bypassing Pearl.
With Liv’s help, I crouched into a sitting position just as Sage wailed in pain in my arms. The moment my butt hit Pearl, I was free to help wrestle the black netting off of her arm. I grasped it and it coiled tighter like a snake. It wasalive.
Demi was shouting directions at Marmal and Pearl. The dragon pumped her wings, taking us high above the barrier of the village.
Liv slipped a knife into my hand and I sawed at the net, careful not to cut Sage. Finally, it fell away like black noodles.
Sage panted, draped across Pearl as she looked up at the sky.
“You are crazy!” Demi scolded her.
“I knew if that net got around Pearl’s wings we wereallgoing down,” Sage argued as I helped her sit up. Red welts marred her skin where the net had touched her.
Demi growled low in her throat and her eyes went yellow. “Okay, smart, but crazy. Don’t do that again.”
I peered at the village, now fading away into the distance and at the women who gathered, looking up into the sky in desperation.
What had started as a simple spying mission had nearly become our deaths.
“Who were those demons?” I growled, thinking of the creature who’d spewed the black netting.
Demi whistled low, readjusting the cuffs on her wrists. “Darkest, most evil fey you ever met. High priestess fey. Power like no other. Munai.”
“I counted six of them,” Liv added, and Demi nodded.
“And there could be more inside,” Sage offered.
We were all thinking it, but no one had said it yet, so I guessed I would be the first one.
“We’re going back to save them, right? We can’t let them stay there like that,” I said.
Demi just nodded once and then set her jaw in grim determination.
Liv leaned into me, her lips pulling her beautiful face into a frown. “Aspen … I think that lady was your mom. She looked just like you.”
Hearing her say out loud what I’d been thinking made tears prick the edges of my eyes.
