Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Xander
The cabin grows eerily quiet around me as I stare at the man's body, trying to gauge the story of his death. Yet nothing makes sense. Just like Penny in the cave, her body didn’t leave a single semblance of her soul. Whatever has killed her, and this man is harvesting their souls.
It makes my stomach churn with unease. A human would leave DNA at the scene; a supernatural wouldn’t be able to mask their magical residue. Yet besides the nauseating stench that now stains this place, there isn’t anything to go by.
I inch closer, grasping the barrel of the gun and checking the chamber. It’s loaded. Unfired. This man didn't stand a chance of defending himself before he was brutally murdered. So whatever it is, it’s quick. Possibly quicker than me.
I pull out my phone and fire off a text to the only people I know I can trust before quickly checking the security cameras around my house. I watch the shadowy figure of Nyx lead Noah through the back door, and I breathe out a tiny drop of tension.
My phone buzzes with an incoming text.
On our way.
With the knowledge that Noah is safe inside the house and back-up is coming soon, I drop the gun and carry myself back up the steps, shutting the hatch and reaching for the door. Fresh air couldn’t come soon enough.
With that minuscule bit of distance between myself and the corpse, the stench is far more tolerable within the forest. I spit and hack at my throat, begging for the taste of rotten eggs to subside.
That’s when I hear the snap of a branch above me. I barely have a second to look up before I’m shoved to the floor. My spine cracks at an unforgiving angle, and a scream rips from my lungs.
It’s like mustard gas. Burning my eyes and nose, my body shrieks at me to breathe, yet the weight pressing down on my back has the earth beneath me breaking open.
Sharp claws pierce my shoulders and foul breath fans my face as burning globs of saliva spray around me.
With a guttural snarl, I hiss back, desperate to escape whatever pins me down. My hand finds a fallen branch, and I reel back, puncturing the tip into the side of the beast. A sharp yelp later and the weight upon me barely eases, but it’s enough to haul myself away.
What I come face-to-face with is a nightmare.
At first, the creature looks almost canine—if a dog could grow to the size of a horse. It stalks back and forth on all fours, but the moment I notice the human-like fingers tipped with black talons, my blood runs cold.
Its skin is speckled with soiled black fur and hundreds of wounds seep yellow pus as it walks. Even sores on its lips dribble creamy liquid into its saliva.
I gag. No wonder this thing stinks; it’s basically decomposing before me.
Snapping its jaws at me, I freeze as I notice its striking human eyes staring back at me. Pinpoints for pupils and eyelashes so similar to my own. What the hell is this thing?
With a reverberating growl, the creature picks itself up on two legs, its rib cage vibrating as I let out an ear-piercing scream. The forest seems to cower around me as if the trees know this isn’t something natural. Or something of this world.
My thoughts of a mass murderer or a demon are thrown out the window as the beast watches me closely. The skin around its snout barely holds on as it splits in places, oozing more pus and a rancid stench.
“Time to die,” I snarl and charge.
With its stomach exposed, it's vulnerable. I’ll shred its flesh and rip out its heart. But what I least expect is for the creature’s entire ribcage to explode from its skin. Lethally sharp bones jut out right when I’m in arm's reach. I’m forced to hesitate.
As if knowing my next move, the creature swipes at me, its claws gouging into my side, and I gasp. It’s a kind of pain I’ve never felt before. It’s immediate. No pressure, no heat, just pure pain. As if the creature is attacking my very soul.
I feel my skin stitch itself back together again, and rivets of my blood leak down my flank. My shirt is torn, and every nerve in my body is on high alert.
Anger bubbles up inside me, and I launch myself at the creature. My nails dig into its exposed chest cavity, yet the beast barely flinches as it swipes over and over at my sides, ripping my skin like a scalpel would.
I hiss as more agony explodes through me.
My spine is still bent, but I don’t have time to focus my strength on healing as I dig my claws into the beast. My fangs ache to rip its throat open, but the sight of the toxic pus leaking from its pores has me holding back.
I’d be damned to ever let my lips touch this thing.
My hand within the creature’s chest snags on something tough, and I grasp onto it tightly. Finally, the beast lets out a tortured roar, and I grin in delight.
“Now I’ve got you.”
I begin to rip its heart from the chamber, but a vanilla scent has me freezing in place. I’d recognize that scent, even in the depths of hell.
Noah!
My moment I panic is my downfall as the creature thrashes from my grasp.
I’m ripped from its side and thrown through the air, yet all I can see is Noah, my sweet, little mate.
His scent is like smoke that swirls around the beast. It’s imbued into the creature’s body. Every cell, every tendon and muscle.
I collide with the thick trunk of a tree; my spine snaps, and I crumble to the ground. All I can do is stare up from my spot in the earth as the beast looms over me.
“What do you want with him?” I gasp, unable to move, yet desperate to fight. This thing, this creature, is connected to Noah. Beneath the rotten flesh and dilapidated bones and flesh, Noah’s essence swirls inside the beast.
I can only watch in horror as the beast dives for my neck.
Its needle-like teeth snag on my skin, shredding it to bits as its claws sink into my gut, ripping my intestines loose, splattering the forest floor with my blood.
When was the last time I fed? I’ve been so focused on finding what threatens Noah’s life that I've left my own needs behind.
And with my body desperate for blood, my healing is stunted to a sluggish crawl.
The pain barely registers despite my agonized screams and snarls as the creature mutilates my body, painting its own skin with mine. All I can think of is Noah. My sweet human. Why on earth would this horrid beast have anything to do with him?
The light of the forest fades around us, and I grow sickly cold as I’m tossed and dragged.
My spine is less than an inch from healing, but my energy saps every second that ticks by.
If I don’t heal fast enough, if I bleed out on this forest floor, it could take days before I come around.
By then the creature could find Noah. It would tear through my house, and wouldn’t stop until it has him.
I let out a snarl, but it’s hardly a whisper as my vision blurs and my ears ring. My consciousness ebbs.
Then I think of my text. My backup is on the way. They’ll get to Moonfell before tomorrow night. They’ll protect my mate.
I smile sadly.
If I can stay awake long enough, I might be able to distract this beast for the time being.
But it’s a faint thought as my eyes roll into the back of my skull and Noah’s fragrance dances across my nose. The sounds of the beast’s snarls and grunts as it continues to tear into me begin to fade.
My mind hardly registers the cry of a furious meow and a deadly hiss. Or even the surprised yelp and squeal of the beast before I fade into the back of my consciousness.
The forest is quiet again.
The usual earthy smells have returned, and crickets chirp around me.
But there’s a pressure at the base of my skull. With a warm breath, something pinches into my skin as I'm dragged backwards.
Sticks and stones scrape and cut through my shredded shirt, but a familiar purr rumbles through my ears.
Then I hear nothing.