Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
SOFIA
T he moment she hit the ground, Sofia dropped the ropes around her wrists and moved into a crouch. The man who had been carrying her wasn’t even looking at her, too busy laughing at his companion. They had stolen her bag and bow, but she still had the tiny dagger she’d taken from Emilio. It couldn’t cut through much, but even a shifter’s skin was only so thick.
She sprung forward, using her legs to propel herself up, wrapping her body around the shifter’s. She didn’t have much time if she wanted the element of surprise. So the moment she was on him, she aimed and sliced, pulling the dagger across his throat in one motion, cutting off his laugh with a gurgle.
His body was heavy as it fell, drawing the other two shifters’ attention to where she was standing above his body, blood sprayed across her. They only blinked for a moment, their brains slow to process. They hadn’t expected the sudden shift in the power dynamic. Using their surprise to her advantage, she lunged forward and grabbed her bag where the other man had dropped it in the mud when they’d stopped. She reached into it blindly, ignoring the sharp sting as one of the daggers caught her across the back of her forearm. At least it was sharp.
She snatched it out and turned just in time to see the two men diving toward her. The ground was soft as she fell back, the dagger held between her and the men. The first one that reached her grabbed for the weapon and she pulled back her arm slashing at his hand. She missed, but with her second attempt, the dagger sank into the palm of his hand. He automatically moved to grip his hand and she stabbed again, slicing his other hand. She brought her blade back, ready to strike, but he knocked her arm away with a feral growl, slamming his head into hers. The hit reverberated through her bones and she dropped the dagger with a groan.
He grabbed her, hissing in pain even as he used his ruined hands to pull her up and throw her across the ground. Her spine hit a root and her lungs ached for lack of air. She couldn’t move. The shifter moved toward her, a look of pure malice on his face. He didn’t even have a weapon, but there was an intensity in his eyes as he lifted his hands and the claws extended from the tips of his fingers. Sofia tasted metal on her tongue and she wondered what it would feel like to be torn in two by this creature. She didn’t close her eyes, though, ready to face her death.
He pitched sideways before he reached her, falling on his knees before he faceplanted into the soil, unmoving. Ocon stood over him, a bloody rock gripped in his hand. She glanced behind him to see the other shifter crumpled on the ground, scrambling to push himself up but uncoordinated in a daze as blood dripped heavily from his face.
Sofia jumped to her feet and grabbed the dagger she’d dropped as the shifter stood, stumbling like a drunk. She tried to jump forward, hoping to catch him before he gained his senses, yet even in the second it took her to move, the shifter’s body contorted and twisted.
And a second later a large gray wolf bolted into the forest.