“Great. A trickster,” Rust grumbled, fixing his strap.
On top of a boulder.
Behind Mack.
Perched on a root.
Each time, she lingered just long enough to be spotted beforeblinking out of existence. Her manic laughter bounced off the canyon walls, sending a shiver down my spine.
“Catch her!” Dad barked.
We scattered. Mack lunged for the spot where Rehabhen had appeared near a pool, but came up empty. Rust swept left, tracking the trickster’s movements. Dad charged toward the canyon wall where a flash of dirty white fabric flickered between the rocks, only to close his hands on thin air.
The little shit was toying with us.
I stopped chasing and started watching.
She had a pattern. Not obvious, but there was a rhythm to her magic. Every third or fourth blink, she returned to the spot near the canyon entrance where she’d originally stood.
I angled myself toward that home base, leaned against the canyon wall, and pretended to catch my breath.
Three blinks. Boulder. Ledge. Behind Mack.
When Rehabhen materialized again, I pounced.
My arms locked around her before she could blink away, and I squeezed hard enough to empty her lungs. She was startlingly light, but she thrashed with a wiry strength that belied her size, grabbing my arm and holding it tight.
Then she bit me.
Not a nip. Not a warning snap. She sank every last pointed tooth into my forearm. Cold, rubbery lips suctioned around the wound, and shedrank. Her throat bobbed as fire laced up my veins. I screamed through gritted teeth, wishing I could rip my arm free to gut the little parasite. But with the telltale smell of magic, my body locked down. I couldn’t even wiggle my fingers.
Fighting through the blinding pain, I looked to my father for help.
Dad stood ten feet away, one hand clamped on Mack’s shoulder, the other gripping Rust’s arm. Mack’s eyes blazed amber with his wolf, and Rust aimed his rifle at the leech on my arm. But Dad just stood there, watching Rehabhen feed on me with grim resignation.
He’d known this was coming.
He’d known, and he hadn’t warned me. Again.
“That’s enough. You’ve had your taste,” Dad said with a growl.
When Rehabhen didn’t immediately release me, my packmates closed in on her, weapons drawn. Her teeth retracted, and she released my arm with a wet pop that turned my stomach. Stumbling back, she wiped the back of her hand across her bloody mouth and looked me up and down with an appraising intensity that made my skin crawl. Whatever she’d tasted in my blood, it had changed her demeanor entirely.
“The blood is acceptable. You may pass.”
The teeth marks on my arm started knitting back together immediately. Dad glared at Rehabhen before heading into the canyon.
Rehabhen stepped in his way, blocking the entrance with an outstretched hand. “Only her.”
“No,” Dad said. “Either we all go, or nobody goes. She stays with us.”
Rehabhen’s eyes narrowed. “You dare question the will of the Ancient?”
Dad folded his arms across his chest in a stubborn stance I was all too familiar with and stared her down. “All or nobody.”
I let out a breath as the biggest wave of relief that I’d ever experienced threatened to take my legs out from under me. Whatever occupied that canyon, at least I wouldn’t have to face it alone.
Rehabhen cocked her head to the side, listening to something we couldn’t hear. Surprise lit up her eyes, and she said, “You are lucky this day. The Ancient has decided to indulge your request.”
