Chapter 1 #2
The beast snarled, the rotten stink of its breath curdling the contents of my stomach. I grabbed the handle of a spade and scrambled to my feet, holding it before me—a pitiful weapon, but all I had to cling to.
The beast stepped forward, and the ground trembled. Somewhere, Ella screamed. The beast’s head snapped to the loft.
Choking cold split through my chest, and I hurled myself forward. “No!”
Timbers cracked like thunder, and the ceiling caved in. Jagged shards of wood rained down, driving into the beast’s flesh like spears. The monster howled and lumbered back against the wall. Hanging chains and harnesses entangled its limbs, and the beast twisted, raging, trying to free itself.
I dropped as a beam snapped in half and gouged the beast’s back, splattering blood across my face. Roaring, it ripped free of the entangling chains and crashed through the side of the barn in a rain of splinters. Crows shrieked as their silhouettes blotted out the starlit sky.
I lay there shaking, as cold as if I’d plunged through lake ice. The beast roared again in the distance, and an answering call came from farther off. I tried to stand, but my legs gave out, and nausea churned through me. “Ella,” I called, bracing against the dirt. “Where are you?”
Gods, let her be alive.
Suddenly she was there, helping me to my feet. “Are you okay?” she choked out. “Your skin is like ice.”
I clung to her as she helped me through the wreckage, trembling and exhausted. “It’s just shock.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I tried to command the beast, but…” Her jaw tightened, her lips pinched in a look of frustration that I knew all too well. Her magic had limits, a fact she was still coming to terms with.
I pulled my sister close. “We’re okay. The Fates were looking out for us.” When she finally nodded, I stepped back and met her eyes. “Now help me find my bow.”
Sorting through the wreckage, my fingers finally wrapped around the familiar cloth grip in the dark chaos of the barn.
I tried not to look at the bloodied timbers jutting around me, or the dangling ropes and chains that had moved in ways they shouldn’t have.
When we exited the barn, my gaze dropped to the body lying in the dirt.
A woman, the exposed ridges of her naked spine showing in the dim light.
That could’ve been Ella.
The contents of my stomach came up, and I braced myself against the wall of the barn, coughing, while my sister held my hair back.
Hooves beat against the earth behind us as two riders thundered into the farmyard, torches held aloft.
I slung my bow over my shoulder. Just in time.
I couldn’t deny the relief or the bitterness that came with it. Once, Ella and I had been in the human resistance against the bloodsuckers. Now they were the only ones standing between our people and the dark.
The first rider pulled his black warhorse to a halt, a towering silhouette against the twilight sky. The torchlight cast harsh shadows across his too-perfect face—a strong jaw, raven hair, and a brooding gaze.
Cassius. King of the bloodsuckers. The man to whom my sister had given her heart.
He was at Ella’s side in a breath, checking her over. “Are you injured?”
She shook her head.
His stormy eyes sharpened with his voice. “You should have waited.”
My sister raised her chin. “The crows were tracking it west. It had moved on. There could’ve been survivors.”
“You’re mortal,” he said, tracing the line of her jaw. “I can’t lose you.”
She took his hand. “I am this kingdom’s queen. It’s my duty to protect these people.”
Cassius growled in frustration, but there was no taming my sister’s spirit. He knew that when he’d married her. It was why he married her.
The other rider guided his horse forward—Aamon, the king’s right-hand man. Blond, ageless, and eerily handsome like all immortals. His eyes swept across the wreckage of the barn and the mangled bodies. “I gather it’s gone?”
“Ella’s crows chased it away,” I said. “But there are at least three dead here, and likely more at the neighboring farms. No survivors yet.”
The men both turned, noticing me for the first time. Cassius’s expression turned to stone. “You’re lucky to be alive.”
My hand tightened around the grip of my bow. “I know.”
“Where were you?” Ella challenged, taking a half step closer to me.
Cassius grimaced, flexing his hand. “We’re here now. We’ll hunt it down.”
Ella whistled for our horses, which came galloping out of the darkness. “The beast is headed for the woods. I’ll ease the path through the forest. Belle can help track it.”
“Absolutely not,” Cassius said. “I’m not taking either of you.” His eyes flicked to me. “This is not a royal hunt.”
The barb stung. Once, before Ella had even met him, I’d guided hunts for the lords of the castle. But the beasts had driven away the game and made the woods perilous for all.
Ella bristled. “You need me—”
“To stay safe,” Cassius rumbled. They faced off. The king, a six-and-a-half-foot killing machine. My sister, standing firm, despite the exhaustion wearing on her.
She would push herself until the magic burned her out.
“He’s right,” I said, hating the words. “I’ll be little more than a liability, and you’ve been raising sentinels all day. You need to recover your magic. Cassius can follow the crows. There’s work to do here.”
She looked up, her face pained. She worried for him as much as he worried for her.
Cassius nodded, then gently pulled his wife close, his thunderous eyes pleading. “Please stay with your sister. I can’t risk you.”
His look was almost agony. He loved her so much, it seemed like torture. By the gods, if a man or immortal ever looked at me like that…
My shoulders tightened, and I looked away. No. Not a bloodsucker. My sister had found a way to forgive them, but I still saw what they’d cost us.
Cassius slung himself into the saddle, and then, with one last look at his beloved, he spurred his warhorse forward, Aamon riding at his flank. They galloped toward the forest, following Ella’s crows into the dark.
I took my sister’s hand as she watched him go, and I felt her worry in the stillness of her fingers.
In the quiet that followed, I heard the lonely bleating of lambs and the cry of distant voices. Survivors.
I met my sister’s eyes and nodded toward the road. “The beast must’ve hit the other farms. Let’s find a way to help.”