Page 39 of No One’s Daughter

And then it lunged.

Davien moved before I could think.

One second he’d been beside me, the next, he was between the beasts and me. No hesitation.

Like a madman, he’d closed the distance between him and the beast, meeting it head on—grabbing it mid lunge with a force that shouldn’t have been possible, twisting, redirecting its weight before slamming into the forest floor with a brutal force.

He was lethal.

There was no panic in him. No wasted movement. Just efficiency, like he’d done this a hundred times before and knew exactly how each second would unfold.

Another one surfaced behind him.

And he didn’t miss a beat, he just moved. He was a blur of movement around me, nothing but claws and black blood flying through the air.

Another scream of terror tore from my throat and my legs finally sprang into action. I tried to speed run, but I was too spent after teleporting us. I reached an old caravan and ripped the padlock off the door.

A low growl emanated from behind me, far too close for me to try and run. My heart was beating so fast it threatened to break out of my chest. I looked around in a panic, in search of anything, anything at all that I could use to defend myself. I looked at the lock in my hand and trembled.

This would have to do.

The hammering of my heart pounded in my ears, muffling the sound of Davien’s shouts. I hadn’t the faintest idea what I was doing. I was improvising.

I gripped onto it tightly as I swung around to face the beast, immediately hitting it across the jaw with the lock, swiftly followed by a kick.

But the beast barely flinched.

Its glowing eyes stared at me with a hunger I was afraid to name. Its huge frame enclosed me and its foul mouth was so close, I could smell the rot from within it.

This was it. I’d die here.

After all that.

This was how my life was to end.

So much for being important.

Or powerful.

I released a laugh, the thought of Davien being wrong my final happy moment.

I closed my eyes, accepting my fate.

Instead, my eyes snapped open to the sound of a frightful sobbing squeal from the beast. It fell to the floor at my boots before dissolving into nothing. Like it hadn’t even existed. Like it was just a nightmare. And Davien stood in front of me, his features hard but wrought in what could only be described as concern as he took me in. He was covered in black blood and his chest was heaving from the exhaustion of it all.

He must have been satisfied enough with what he found, for he quickly schooled his features and snarled at me. “Get inside!”

This time, I didn’t need to be told twice. I hurried inside and quickly barricaded the door by pushing an old, folded camping chair under the handle. I scanned the space, making sure all of the windows were shut and locked.

Then I just stood there, feeling like the most useless vampire in existence as the sounds of the fighting continued.

My nails were digging into the palms of my hands as I paced in front of the door, back and forth, back and forth, like movement alone would stop my thoughts from spiralling.

What if he dies?

What if those beasts get in here?

Where the fuck had they even come from, and why?