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Chapter four

B y the middle of the night, my body began to feel heavy, making me sway where I stood. I'd been able to stay awake so far by thinking about where to go—as soon as the sun granted me enough light to navigate the forest—along with focusing on the throbbing pain in my arm.

Two things were for certain: the forest wasn’t safe, and I didn’t have enough to afford an apartment in any city for a month, let alone any longer. But I at least needed to get as far away from here as possible.

The clicks and screeches echoing through the forest grew louder and louder as the night went on, startling me out of the increasing stupor.

They were here, and from the sounds of it, there were a lot of them.

If I had any luck at all, the beasts would get too caught up fighting among themselves to be looking for food.

I clung to the sound of the chimes outside, waiting for them to stop and praying to anyone who would listen that they wouldn’t. Each agonizing minute carried into another until any hope I was beginning to have was ruined when the slight breeze around the cottage froze.

My eyes closed in defeat.

The rattling noise that replaced the silence of the chimes had my heart beating faster and although my body protested, I quieted my breathing, choosing not to hold it this time.There was no use.

Fully alert, I tightened my grip on the dagger as the rattle drew closer. The moonlight through the crack in the covered window disappeared momentarily before the beast moved, circling the cottage. I tilted my head, following the sound until it softened again, giving me a glimmer of hope.

Perhaps someone was looking out for me, putting luck on my side once more.

The wood of the front porch creaked, and my stomach became heavy with dread.

Or perhaps my luck has run out.

The creature moved around the porch, clicking and rattling around it before the sound of wood splintering sent a rush of panic through me.

This was bad. Even if I was able to kill this one, there were many more out tonight.

I would be fighting one after another. A measly human against twenty-plus monsters; the odds were not in my favor.

The noises increased with unmistakable thuds of the door bursting through.

More wood cracked and glass shattered, announcing the arrival of my uninvited guest. I only had one more door between me and my potential death.

If only the aufhocker could come back to get whatever this was as well , I thought.

The sound of my stuff being thrown around and destroyed locked into my brain as something I would never forget. Everything I’d acquired over the past five years, through blood, sweat, and tears, was just being ripped to shreds. As if it were nothing.

Slim shadows cast on the floor under the shield between us, from the light of the fire, as the creature stopped in front of the bedroom door, sniffing the surface.

Gods, I hope I can be fast enough. A slight rattle was the only warning I had before the beast burst through the door with one hit — this time unhindered by the locks of the first one.

I held my breath, flattening myself against the wall as much as possible.

It took a step into the room, and I was able to see its skeletal body with a large head crowned in giant antlers growing out of the eyes of a human skull—shoved up by the elongated, animalistic skull that formed underneath.

It had a long rope tail that swung around thin legs, exposing the giant rattle.

Old torn minuscule pieces of clothing still clung to its bones, a memory of who this beast used to be.

It’s a wendigo, or as I like to call it, when-to-go.

From what I have read, the are created by the death of a human at the long bony hands of the creature.

The only way to stop the curse from continuing on is to burn the remains of its victims. And I certainly hoped that someone would burn my body if I wasn’t fast enough.

The wendigo only took two steps into my sparse room before I jumped up and shoved my dagger through its head.

It hunched over, letting out an ear-piercing screech in response.

My body barely slipped out the door into the living space that laid in pieces.

The cold of the night sweeping in through the broken door overpowered any warmth that came from the fire.

I ignored the feeling in my chest at the sight, putting every ounce of my remaining strength into my legs as I made my way out into the forest.

The shrieking from the wendigo stopped when I turned down the path toward the city, and it wasn’t long before limbs were crashing into the earth not far behind me.

I wasn’t going to make it.

Reaching for the familiar cold handle of Airmathair, I threw my back against a tree, turning around to greet the wendigo once again.

It charged after me on all four limbs. Launching with long arms that I ducked under at the last second.

The beast crashed into the tree, with the antlers stuck in the bark.

It scurried to get loose, but I took my sword, grunting as I lifted it above my head with both aching arms to bring it down on the back of the slim neck. Its body clattered in the dirt.

I didn’t dare stay to find out if it was dead or if there were more beasts coming before taking off toward the city once again.

Trees began to whip past in a blur through the dim light of the moon that shone enough through the leaves to light my path.

My heart pounded in my ears. Three days ago I was hunting them, and now they were hunting me.

And with the lack of daylight, I was seriously outmatched.

In my peripheral vision, I could see black shadows moving rapidly along the forest floor, but I continued. There was no way I could be so lucky as to give myself an advantage by getting a beast stuck in the tree for a third time.

I pushed and pushed my legs. My chest—only covered by the thin layer of my bra—heaving with air that in the next second was forced from me as I was hit from the side.

A scream rushed from my throat as teeth tore into the bare flesh of my injured shoulder and claws sank into my side.

Out of instinct I shoved my sword haphazardly at whatever tore at my body—it found its mark.

The beast dropped me from its clutches. Burning pain spread throughout the multiple injuries upon my upper body as I got up, surveying the animal that scratched at its face with its paws. It was the same one that hurt me earlier, or one just like it.

My sword barely lifted, with a majority of the weight being carried in my right hand.

The feeling of blood gushing down my skin was but a blur behind my focus.

I tried raising my sword more, to swing, to make a killing blow, anything.

But that was interrupted by the creature as it, once again, pounced on top of me.

Airmathair became lodged in its belly, which did nothing to stop it or slow the beast down.

My back hit the ground, knocking the breath from me for a second time, and I let go, switching to the last defense I had, my hands.

I grabbed its neck, but my arms were unable to stop it when the creature clamped its half-beak mouth on my now-gushing shoulder.

I screamed again at the pain—the knowledge that there was more of this to come overwhelming me.

More agony—more of my flesh tearing off my body, like what was done to that woman by the zalkrot, and like what was done to so many others.

Tears fell down the side of my face and into my hair as I tried to remind myself this pain wouldn’t last much longer.

Letting my hands drop from the beast’s neck, I waited for my soul to pull from the world. For my last rattled breath to leave my chest.

The beast went to tear into me more, aiming for my neck, when it was suddenly launched off of me. I heard the distinctive sound of a sword releasing from a sheath followed by a small yelp before the monster’s head rolled onto the ground beside me.

My lungs continued to rattle and my body shook uncontrollably. Cold, I was too cold.

Overgrown brown hair and green eyes accompanied by a heart-stopping grin came into view on the most handsome face I’d ever seen. Rage and hatred filled me as the smooth, charming voice caressed my ears with the annoying question, “Did you miss me, Tiny?”

The words of the man who once changed my world and broke my heart echoed through me. “Fuck. . . you,” I seethed breathlessly with my last ounce of strength just as darkness pulled me.

—

The basket full of preservatives from the city hung from my arm, swinging slightly with each step.

Cold clung to the air—a reminder of the upcoming winter months that would take out even the healthiest of humans if they didn’t prepare.

Many winters without a permanent roof over my head had me learning and adapting to survive even the harshest environments.

Half of what I earned for pelts was used to stock up on food for the winter months.

But I still kept a few of the larger pelts for myself.

The path to the cottage slowly turned white as the snow began to fall.

I watched in delight of the beautiful nature around me as few animals skittered by in an attempt to get back to their own habitats.

Until my eyes settled on red—a stark contrast interrupting the growing blanket of purity and death.

For some reason, I found myself drawn to see the source of the beautiful color.

Stepping off the path, I kept my eyes fixed on the blood before a sight stopped me in my tracks.

A man, fae, rested against a tree. A faint smell of false rain was in the air—the telltale sign of magic and one of the first things Hugh taught me to recognize.

The man's tunic laid on his lap, ripped to shreds, and the tan skin of a torso that had to be sculpted from stone was painted with crimson.

His long hair stuck to his face with sweat, eyes closed as he raggedly breathed in and out.

I moved towards him, the heaviness of my dress and fur shawl suddenly becoming too hot with each step.

Any other human would have seen that he was a fae, especially one of his size, and run the other way.

The kingdom may be one of the few to have merged both fae and humans, but you would have to be stupid to be caught alone in the woods with one.

I guess I was stupid. But being captured and raised by fae has taught me to never be scared.

“Sir, are you okay?” I asked, getting closer to look at what I could now see were deep claw marks across his chest showing a hint of white bone. He opened his eyes only barely, giving me my answer. Worry washed over me in a fit of crazed calm.

“Hold on, I’ll be right back!” I said, taking off my fur shawl to drape over his chest—for his benefit and mine. My fingers brushed his cold skin, giving me the realization that he had to have been in this spot for hours.

I ran the rest of the way back to the cottage—frigid wind cooling my body, which had heated at the sight of the wickedly handsome man. This wasn’t a time to think about how hot he was. The man was practically dead, yet my body lit to life the second I laid my eyes upon him.

Once home, I made quick work of setting the basket on the table and grabbing one of the extra sheets from the trunk. Not stopping for even a second as the thought of not getting to see what his eyes looked like open and up close ran through my mind.

By the time I got back to the fae, his blood soaked through the fur that I’d laid across him. I swiftly spread the sheet out along the forest floor beside him, and it was then that the massive body of a dead bear-like beast came into view.

Making a fleeting mental note to come back later to harvest it, I gripped the man as gently as possible, and despite the struggle of his dead weight, I pulled.

He groaned at the movement, and I released a slight sigh of relief at the sign that he was still alive.

I shouldn’t have been able to move him—the gods know it should’ve been impossible.

Even with my slight muscle, he had to weigh twice as much as I did.

But with the adrenaline running through my body, what should have been impossible ended up just being really, really difficult.

Once I got him on the sheet, I took off my sword, wrapped the end of the sheet around it, and checked that it would hold before gripping it behind my back and pulling with all of my remaining might.

My thighs burned with the movement as I weaved in and out of the trees and bushes back to the main pathway.

“Stay with me. . . don’t die. . . don’t die.” I repeatedly whispered between panting breaths.