“I see it!” Xenia cried, then slapped her hand over her mouth when the animal paused, perking up its ears. “Sorry,” she whispered. “Didn’t mean to scare it.”
He held a finger to his lips as the hare reached the grasses at the edge of the pool, then stood on its hind legs, its twitchy nose poked into the air. Creeping to the water’s edge, it sniffed again, then lowered its head and began to drink.
Cael shot Xenia a wicked grin. “Now comes the fun part.”
He unfurled his wing, then stretched his arm out, mingling a few gentle kisses of wind with the soft breeze. Masking his power so as not to startle the creature.
The hare kept drinking as the gusts stirred its tawny fur.
Cael curled his fingers and the hare seized, toppling onto the bank, squeaking and gasping for the air he was stealing from its lungs. The whole attack took less than fifteen seconds.
After a final, desperate twitch, the hare’s hind leg stilled.
“Dinner is served,” Cael smiled at Xenia, whose emerald eyes dampened. “Oh, come on, Blondie. Do you not know where meat comes from?”
“Of course I do,” she sniffled. “But knowing it and seeing it happen are two very different things.”
Cael cocked his head. “Never pegged you for squeamish.”
“I don’t like seeing any living thing in pain.” She aimed a pointed look over his shoulder.
“Right,” he mumbled, not taking the bait. He leapt from the branch, his boots crunching in the gravel. He turned back to help her down, trying to ignore the way her pulse increased when he gripped her slim waist.
He leaned down to pick up the hare carcass, but it had disappeared.
What the fuck?
Ripples radiated along the water’s surface and a shadowy mass appeared beneath.
“What happe—” Xenia’s words were lost as a massive, reptilian beast burst from the placid pool and snapped its long snout onto her leg.
Her anguished scream sparked a murderous rage within him.
The water churned around the beast’s crocodilian head and dripped off the mottled green and brown scales covering its serpentine body as it dragged Xenia down the bank.
She batted her tiny fists against its pebbled nose and blood ran down her leg as she kicked at the beast’s thick teeth. She shot a panicked look at Cael—a heart-stopping sight he’d never forget as long as he lived—before the creature rolled, attempting to drown her in the shallows.
Cael attempted to draw the breath from the beast’s lungs, but he couldn’t get a grip on it under the water.
“Fuck!” The tossed curse kicked him into gear.
He dashed for the tree, then ripped off one of the branches to use as a makeshift weapon. He thought about using Ker, but the dagger didn’t seem capable of doing enough damage against the massive monster. As he clambered to the treetop, he scolded himself for leaving that Typhon sword behind.
Rage incinerated all rational thought as he cast a draft of wind, then grasped his sole wing to awkwardly glide down to the pool and perch on the beast’s back.
The creature paused its roll, but didn’t release Xenia’s leg. She sputtered and choked in the shallow water, gulping in deep breaths.
Cael rammed the branch into the soft flesh between the scales on the creature’s back.
It let out an ear-splitting roar and released Xenia, then craned its head back to snap at him.
Xenia scrambled out of the pool, her splashing luring the creature’s attention right back to her.
“Oh, no you fucking don’t,” Cael grunted through gritted teeth, yanking the branch free and plunging it into the monster’s hide again.
The creature rolled, the branch buried in its flesh, and flung Cael aside.
He plunged into the water, then broke through the surface, treading as the beast darted for the depths and circled the black hole at the bottom.
