Page 73 of Of Nightmares & Fire (Elusive Umbra #1)

Chapter fifty-four

Astraea

The sound of metal scraping on metal startles me awake.

The loud screech is slow and menacing, sending a chill over my overheated flesh.

I lay on my back, with my heart hammering in my chest. A ray of sunshine cuts through the room from the small crack in the curtains, and Kyros’ body is plastered to mine.

Both of us are covered only from the waist down with an overly thick blanket for the heat of summer trying to sneak into the manor.

A sheen of sweat makes our skin stick together where we touch, and my hair is stuck to my face just the same.

I need a bath.

As I lay there contemplating the night, I again hear the same scraping sound that woke me from my dream.

The sound that pulled my attention from the night that Kyros and I shared.

Our bodies still languidly in each other's embrace, but I gently push at him so I can sit up and see what that awful sound is. As soon as I do, I scream.

Kyros sits straight up within a second of my scream.

He reaches for me at the same time that his shadows uncoil like a striking snake.

The monster that has haunted my nightmares stands now just in the shadows.

His razor-like claws are outstretched as they reach for me.

Scraping together like a blade on a sharpening stone.

Kyros’ shadows aim for his throat, his chest, and his feet.

He dissolves in and out of vision with every attack, like smoke.

“Seeeeennnnnkaaaa,” the monster hisses, and that same shock of chills rolls over my skin.

“Leave! You’re not welcome here!” I scream out, having heard some chambermaid’s rumor that if a demon were to visit you, you could cast them out by telling them they were not wanted. It didn’t work. This demon stepped forward.

“Fuck,” Kryros grunts, still tangled in the sheet. I reach for the twin blades on the nightstand and hold them in each hand. “Good girl, be ready just in case. He was expecting my attack this time. Something’s changed.”

“What do I do?” My voice trembles; I’m barely covered by a thin sheet, Kyros too.

We have no armor, no backup, and it seems like Kyros’ magick is futile against whoever or whatever this creature is now.

Kyros throws out both hands, shrouding us in a thick dome of black shadows, and barks an order at me to get his pants from the end of the bed.

He tugs them on quickly, leaving the strings loose in the front, and I wrap the sheet around me fully.

Kyros grinds his teeth, and sweat builds on his brow.

I don’t think he can hold back whatever he is keeping away from us.

“I’m going to drop the veil; get behind me. If I have to, I will portal us out of here.” Kyros demands, and I do as he says. I move behind him on the bed. My back presses into the wall, and I wait for the sunlight to return to the room. When it does, I am not prepared for what I see.

Horns jut out of the side of a huge creature that now takes up most of the room.

Its skull-like head is so similar to a deer, but the gap between the viciously sharp antlers is wider than the length of my arms. It tilts its bony head; hollow sockets unseeing turn toward us, seemingly peering into our souls nonetheless.

The stench of death permeates through the air and makes me choke with every breath.

Torn and rotted flesh hangs loosely from its skeleton-like body and dangles like scraps of meat left in the smokehouse to dry.

It’s man-like, but with long hanging claws for hands.

So similar to the nightmare creature, but this —this is more grotesque—less human and more animal.

Entirely monster. A deep clicking growl echoes through the room, and the monster's chest vibrates with it.

I’ve never heard something so sinister in my life.

Kyros drops the veil, and the creature hones in on us. The nightmare is nowhere to be seen, but this thing seems to know what it is hunting for .

“A Cerkin! Fuck —” Kyros’ magick is thrown out like a whip, crackling fire lighting the circle immediately as he renders a portal.

“Stay with me. No matter what!” He shouts, not giving me a choice when he takes my hand and hurls us through.

We land on two feet, but the momentum as we arrive has us running.

Kyros pushes me in front of him, and I do everything I can to stay upright.

My sheet drags and catches on everything in our wake.

He’s portaled us into the forest. The trees canopy is thick, and daylight barely makes it through the boughs.

I can tell that we aren’t far from the village we were just in, though.

I can hear the townspeople as they wake for the morning and begin preparing for another night of celebration.

As soon as the creature is through the portal that Kyros rendered, it snaps shut.

“What the fuck is that!?” I growl, looking back as it begins to take chase.

“It’s a Cerkin. Do not let it touch you. Let me see your knife. Keep the other one ready.” He barks out the orders like I am one of his men going into battle. I grind my teeth together. Determined to be strong through this.

“What are you going to do?” I call back. He looks back and forth, then glances up.

“Get behind this tree. Don’t come out, Astraea.

For anything.” The use of my name and not his nickname for me causes the wrinkle between my eyes to deepen as I do what he tells me to.

“Have your knife ready just in case!” He repeats, and I clench the grip of the knife in my hand as tight as I can.

Will I be ready to stab a living being with a blade if I have to ?

The bark is rough on my bare back, rubbing painfully against the scars, but I ignore it.

The creature roars, and so does Kyros. I press harder into the tree, my knife ready at the center of my chest, where I clutch it and the sheet I am still wrapped in.

There is a struggle, but I can’t see anything.

Darkness encroaches on my vision, and liquid fire burns through my veins; that same lasso of fire seems to ignite around my middle and up my back.

My breathing becomes ragged, and my skin scorches.

It has to be panic. This happens in my nightmares.

What happens next? How do I stop it? My teeth ache with how hard I clench my jaw, and before I know it, I’m ripping myself away from the tree. I can’t stay hidden here. I can't—

As I come out from behind the tree, I’m sprayed with a putrid black liquid across my face and chest. Kyros stands, his bare chest heaving, dripping with the same substance.

Blood. The Cerkin drops to its knobby knees in the dirt, giving one last strangled clicking growl as it reaches for him with outstretched claws.

The black blood oozes from the horizontal slash through its rotted fleshy neck.

Kyros takes a measured step back as the beast falls forward to its face with a heavy thud.

Dust plumes up around it as it bleeds out, and within moments it's melting into the ground in a black puddle of death.

The forest seems to hold its breath as I stare at the scene before me.

Kyros is covered in gore, his shadows a mass of clouds swirling along his skin and mingling with the blood he is coated with.

His arms hang to his sides, with my knife held firmly in his grip that delivered the killing blow.

His breath comes out in strong, short puffs, and when he looks at me over his shoulder, his eyes are the darkest I’ve ever seen.

Terrifyingly so. The look on his face is pure malice.

Everything stops as I stare into the endless chasm of darkness of his gaze.

However, I don’t recoil. I don’t shudder in fear; if anything, I feel myself drawn closer.

Heat pools low in my stomach, and my own breath quickens as I step closer.

He stays where he is without turning. His gaze remains focused on me as I approach, but he still doesn’t move.

Only as I stop inches from him does he tilt his head down to keep his eyes on mine.

Something about the moment feels important, like a decision was made, and I can’t help but feel grateful that it was him I was with.

I lift my hand, not worried about the creature's blood coating our skin.

I let my fingers dance along the stubble on his jaw, and he leans into the touch just slightly.

“You killed for me again.” I say, and his eyes flick over every inch of my face and linger on my lips.

“I told you before, there will be death dealt by my hand.” I can see in his eyes he thinks that I am upset for him killing once again, but in this moment… It's the farthest from the truth. If he had not killed that creature, I’m sure it would be me who was dead.

“Thank you,” I say, reaching up on my tiptoes, one hand still holding the sheet in place around my body, and I pull him toward me as I kiss him.

At first, it's chaste. Nothing more than a brush of my lips against his, but then he snakes his arm around my waist, pulling me toward him.

He forces my back to arch, pressing my body against his.

His tongue dips into my mouth, and I open for him, pulling his kiss deeper.

What was once silent and still now comes rushing in all at once during this kiss.

The sounds of the forest, of people screaming and getting closer with crashing footfalls through the sticks and debris on the forest floor.

“We have a lot to talk about, Shula.” He whispers into my lips, holding my face steady with his hand.

The other pressing into my back with the still bloody blade in his grip.

I nod, but the sadness in his eyes makes me worry that some of the answers I wish to have will hurt me more than they will help me.

I also see the truth that he will give them to me regardless.

“I know,” I say.