Chapter 14
Chapter
Fourteen
The sound of breaking glass echoed through the marble hall, then faded into a ghostly quiet. No one dared move as the creature’s head twisted left and right as if searching for someone.
I swallowed the dryness in my throat. The dog-looking creature still had the warrior’s body trapped and crushed underneath its massive claws.
Then its body jerked, and a sharp talon pierced through the back of the man under its paws. His scream was so loud and painful that my blood froze in my veins.
The creature moved its paw over the man’s neck, and another talon cut the delicate flesh. The man abruptly stopped screaming, and his body relaxed under the creature.
I let out a sharp gasp.
The silence broke when more shouting and screaming echoed outside. The hall filled up with more beasts. Some broke through the windows, and some sauntered through the openings. They circled around the walls, restless.
The creatures were similar to the one that had showed up in Torin’s pack territory. They had pointed ears and spikes, from above their fiery eyes to the tips of their tails. Their mouths opened abnormally wide to reveal an inferno.
The skin on their throats looked translucent, displaying flames that would be targeted at us. None of these dog-looking creatures had long fur. Their skin was sleek, and their tails sharp like a guillotine.
At least twenty of them paced around the windows. Their size was about double the size of the warriors’ wolves. Their muscles bunched as they put one paw in front of the other. Somehow, the oddly long talons on their claws didn’t stop them from pouncing.
The moment before the creatures attacked was quiet as if they sized us up as we did the same to them, assessing their likelihood of survival. They were intelligent, it seemed.
It didn’t look good for us.
The air turned cold, and the light seemed to dim as if the shadows had a life of their own. But it wasn’t shadows. There were more fire-breathing creatures trickling inside the hall.
And then chaos broke free.
Warriors stormed inside as the creatures started pouncing around with one purpose—to kill us.
Low, guttural growls filled the hall. Dad’s men locked eyes with their targets, their wolf eyes flashing.
Several of them immediately began to shift, probably calculating their survival chances to be higher in their animal form.
Their bodies quivered as bones adjusted and muscles rippled under their skin.
Fur erupted from their bodies while arms and legs morphed into claws.
Two wolves circled around a demonic-looking dog looming over them.
I wasn’t sure if shifters had an advantage in fighting these creatures with silver daggers and swords in their human form or with claws and fangs while in their wolf form.
I scanned the rest of the marble hall. Cordelia was nowhere to be found. She probably wanted to weaken us before she graced us with her presence.
Hayden and Torin moved before me, still in their human forms, but had to separate as soon as two demonic dogs approached. My mates slashed at the throats of the creatures, but they were faster and deadlier. Torin and Hayden tried to avoid the creatures’ hot breath path.
Out of the corner of my eye, I detected a figure moving toward me. When I finally focused ahead, a creature sprinted toward me, mouth opened, displaying the longest canines I’d ever seen.
My hand flew to the gold bracelet.
“Please activate. Now is a good time. Please,” I mumbled to myself.
But the bracelet didn’t change. I needed to focus on the bracelet, but it proved to be a difficult task with a creature threatening to burn me. If I could only fight their fire with my fire from the whip.
The creature was only a couple of feet in front of me, and from its inferno, a ball of fire generated and flew toward my chest. I dove to the side and landed on my hands and knees, ignoring the pain.
I jumped to my feet and pulled both daggers, mentally sending my thanks to Torin. The enormous creature had changed its direction and looked like it wanted to ram me into one of the columns behind me.
I wouldn’t survive the hit.
At the last moment, I sidestepped it. As I twisted my body in a full circle, I dug the two daggers deep into the creature’s side. It howled in pain. It was going too fast to stop immediately; it kept sliding forward as I halted my heels on the ground and used all my strength to hold the daggers.
The side of its stomach opened, and I averted my eyes, focusing on its head instead. I was going to be sick otherwise. But the demonic dog didn’t go down, only limped.
I blinked. It was bleeding, but it wasn’t dead.
I had to strike while it was still dazed.
I sprinted after it and stabbed its neck again and again.
Breathless, I moved my arms on autopilot, unable to stop.
Dark-blue liquid seeped out of the creature, and I gagged.
Dark clotted blood covered my hands and daggers and slowly dripped to my boots and onto the shiny marble floor.
Its painful shrills made my heart ache. I hated that I had to kill this creature. I wasn’t sure how Cordelia created them or where she found them, but my heart felt its pain. But the logical part of my brain told me to keep my hands moving.
Finally, the creature dropped to my feet, unmoving.
Panting, I looked around to find Hayden, Torin, or Dad.
Thick columns of smoke and ash rose from cracks in the stone walls and floor. The hall was on fire, and I wondered how the stone and marble burned.
Then it hit me. The bodies of my people were burning.
The large hanging chandelier above the middle of the hall swayed and cast blue and green light on the tall white columns. But they weren’t white anymore. They were stained with blood, red and dark blue.
The echoes of clashing bodies, slashing through flesh, and cries of fallen warriors filled my ears as the fight continued. I couldn’t tell who had the upper hand, and I couldn’t find my mates or Dad in the mess of fighting bodies.
Ahead of me, a warrior was in a lot of trouble on the opposite side of the room. He fell on the ground, with no weapons around him, while a demonic dog loomed over him. It was about to bite the man in his throat, finishing him off.
I dropped my daggers into the thigh holsters, pulled an arrow, and swung the leather strap of the light crossbow from my back.
I aimed at the creature and sent six arrows to the side of its body.
The arrows did nothing to the creature. Annoyed, it snapped its head around and zeroed its intelligent orange eyes at its new target.
Me.
I noted that the arrows were not an effective way to kill them, but they were effective at drawing their attention.
At least it would leave the warrior alive.
The creature rushed toward me like the other one had, and I prepared to jump to the side again and strike with my daggers. But as it drew close, it slowed down and swung its spiky tail at my midsection.
Gasping, I ducked to the ground, barely avoiding getting slashed. It had learned. The creature was smart, and that made my stomach churn.
I pushed off the ground when a sharp claw sliced my shoulder. The sharp pain that followed its strike made my eyes water, and a scream escaped my throat.
The pain radiated down to my fingers, and I felt like I could not move them because they went numb.
I glanced at my wound—not superficial. Its talons had gotten deep into my flesh, and blood poured onto the floor. The pain spread everywhere in my body, making it heavy and exhausted. I dropped the daggers, and I just lay on the ground on my stomach, unable to move.
Its next strike would be my last breath.
I would die before I even faced Cordelia.