Chapter 58
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
Ellery
My already battered heart ached more. I rubbed a hand over my breastbone to ease some of my anguish; it didn’t work.
Amsirah rushed toward me with chickens and eggs cradled in their arms as they ran for the portal. Behind them, Ianto led two cows, one of which kept stubbornly trying to plant its hooves into the ground. The giant wouldn’t allow it as he dragged the creature onward.
I ran to Ianto and took the lead of the less stubborn cow; there was no way I was dragging the other one forward. I ran toward the portal while Ianto, cursing under his breath, pulled on the other animal.
Finally giving in to the creature’s stubborn nature, Ianto stalked back toward it and swept one of his massive arms around the beast. With a grunt, he lifted the cow and stalked toward the portal with it tucked against his side.
It was a smaller cow, but it still had to weigh close to eight hundred pounds. His muscles bunched and flexed as his face scrunched up, but Ianto showed no other signs that carrying the animal bothered him.
“Steak, that’s what I’m carrying. A future fucking steak,” he muttered as he stalked toward the portal.
A flicker of amusement ran through me, but it vanished when another portal opened fifty feet away from us. The blood drained from my head as an icy chill encompassed me.
The portal wasn’t opened by someone returning from the second encampment. They would have come through the already open one.
“Ianto, they’re coming!” I shouted.