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So I yank on the rock until I pry it free. It’s no bigger than my palm, but it’s rough and has a sharp side to it.

Good enough.

Now the only thing to do is lie in wait.

Those ominous footsteps make their way over to where I lie on the coastal hillside, drawn to me like I’m a beacon. When I first catch sight of the figure, all I can make out is a dark, hooded shape.

It steps in closer, and I get a glimpse of a humanoid face and a pair of unseeing eyes.

I jolt in surprise.

I thought I had annihilated you back in the Everwoods.

The clay creature, the one I shattered apart with a spell only a few weeks ago, is whole once more, and now it’s returned for me.

CHAPTER 34

For several seconds,the creature stares down at me, and I’m curious what it’s thinking—if it evencanthink. That head of its was hollow when I crushed it beneath my foot.

Maybe it’ll do the same thing to me; stomp my face into oblivion now that our roles are reversed.

Eventually, it bends down, its hands reaching for my body.

I wait until it’s close enough, and then I lunge forward, swinging the stone in my hand, a pained cry ripping from my throat as the action makes my injuries scream. As soon as the stone connects with the monster’s cheek, I hear the sound of pottery breaking.

The creature rears back a little, but that’s the extent of its reaction. Then it’s reaching for me again.

My torso is on fire, but I pull my arm back and swing a second time, aiming for the being’s wrist.

The appendage snaps off a split second before the creature’s other arm comes around me and drags up.

Seven hells,the pain!

It’s everywhere—my ribs, my legs, my back and neck. Clouding my vision and ripping me open anew.

The monster grips me the best it can, crushing my torso to its and heightening my agony. Then it begins to walk.

A ragged scream bubbles up as my broken legs drag against the ground, the agony overwhelming. The darkness at the edges of my vision now swarms in and blessedly, I black out.

Selene!Memnon bellows down our bond.Selene! Answer me, please, my queen!Thick, coagulated fear presses in with his words.

I barely have time to register it when the agony returns.

I can feel your pain!Memnon continues.What’s happening?

Abducted…there’s a creature…

Bile rises faster than I can stop it, and I just have time to turn my head away from the creature dragging me to retch.

The monster doesn’t slow, and my broken, bloody legs trail over the hillside, the wild grass we pass sticking to my open wounds, the sensation making me vomit again.

Hold on, my fierce queen.

I don’t think I get a fucking choice about that. I have to endure this, whether I like it or not.

I think I’m sobbing, writhing. I feel like the pain is consuming me. And maybe it is because the night darkens once more…and then it swallows me up entirely.

PAIN!