21. Evanee #2
The demon coiled, ready to leap toward her. I held the dagger out as I took a defensive stance. I didn’t know what I was doing—but I’d die before I let it touch her. Luna struggled to stand behind me, but I couldn’t spare her a glance.
The beast lunged.
As did I.
An instinct deep within me took over as a roar left my lips. I sprinted toward the beast, sliding on my knees in the mud and snow until I was on it, slicing out and up, hitting its front leg and side.
The answering wail made me smile.
The small victory didn’t last long.
I dropped flat and rolled right as it whirled, slamming that poisonous tail down where I'd just been seconds before.
It released an ear-curdling screech that reverberated in my chest as I jumped up.
I matched its roar with a battle cry of my own as I raised the dagger high above my head and made another pass.
It jumped back, swinging a massive clawed paw my way.
I ducked and lunged forward, slicing a superficial wound into its neck. Luna whinnied behind me—still, I couldn’t look.
The abomination snapped its jaws too close, the sound clanging through my head like a death knell. Spittle landed on my shoulder before I rolled out of reach. The green, mucousy substance burned through fabric and skin, down to bone.
I cried out, reaching shaking fingers to my shoulder.
That hesitation was all it needed—a clawed paw batted me aside, throwing me across the clearing as if I were nothing more than a fly.
My back struck a tree, and the dagger flew from my hand. I gasped for air, patting the ground for my only weapon—it was out of reach.
The wind blew harder, causing the trees to sway. I started to cough as the air burned its way back into my lungs. The monster stalked toward me. Everything came down to this moment—my inevitable death.
I shut my eyes.
Another roar surged through the air, thick with power, like bone grinding against stone.
Deep. Furious. Deadly.
My eyes shot open, pulse spiking as the creature searched around for the new threat, jaw snapping at nothing. How will I fend off two monsters when I can’t even handle one? I scooted back, taking shelter behind the felled tree while the beast was distracted.
Luna finally stood and stomped on the ground excitedly.
I steadied myself against the fallen trunk, then tumbled toward her. She continued her movements. Nothing I did calmed her; she only pulled away, refusing to lower. When I grabbed her mane, she locked her neck tight.
Snarling resumed behind me. I whipped around, fearing the demon was coming at me.
But it was focused on something in the air as it balanced on its haunches
Even with my newfound sight, I struggled to see what it was in the storm.
My feet moved toward the hidden threat, trying to catch a glimpse.
The beast crouched low, muscles coiling as it prepared to jump, growling and screeching.
The sound burrowed in my marrow as I urged Luna once more to lower—begged her—she wouldn’t budge.
The waxing moon poked out from behind an angry storm cloud, barely visible through the branches above. I looked back once more—
Every muscle froze.
A Gargoyle.
He was huge. His coloring was an obsidian I could get lost in, making him one with the dark sky.
Star-like specks shone all over the tight bands of muscle stacked like armor over his bare chest and abdomen.
My gaze inadvertently dragged lower, where those muscles stretched down, disappearing into his waistband.
Leather wings worked, nearly the diameter of the clearing, as he hovered just out of reach.
My throat hitched as he pulled two heavy swords from a sheath strapped between his gargantuan wings, the steel hissing. A tail whipped around, spiked on the end. Long, black talons coated his hands and feet, which looked as if they could shred stone.
He was terrifyingly beautiful. To see him in the flesh, knowing something similar lived beneath my skin, both thrilled and terrified me.
But taking in the majestic being in front of me wasn’t the only thing to make my mouth fall open. It was the familiarity of silver flooding through the electric blue in his eyes as he focused on the beast below. The white hair that shimmered as water dripped from the newly shortened strands.
Ryker.
Despite the raging storm, the forest seemed to lean away from him. Fear him. The air charged, raising the hairs on my arms as he landed between me and the creature, the ground shuddering beneath him.
For the first time since it emerged, the abomination looked smaller—its huge frame dwarfed beneath the spread of Ryker’s wings and stature.
Ryker raised one sword above his head, long fangs showing as he roared and swung the heavy steel down toward the beast, slicing deeply into its side. It howled in pain, blood splattering Ryker’s face and chest.
The monster’s barbed tail quickly whipped out, narrowly missing Ryker as he gave a heavy beat of his wings, putting him out of harm’s way back in the air, his body angling toward me.
I met his gaze briefly, those bright, luminescent eyes bearing down on me. His mouth moved, but I didn’t hear—couldn’t focus.
Everything was happening too fast.
I missed his warning—the demon lunged at me. My hands flew up, guarding my face as I braced for impact. Luna whinnied wildly behind me—but nothing happened.
Ryker strained as he held the creature’s tail, his head leaning to the side to avoid the barbs.
It roared in outrage, turning its body toward its assailant, then back to me, fighting to get to me, teeth gnashing.
Ryker used otherworldly strength to pull it away from me, the beast’s claws tearing into the frozen ground as if it were nothing.
“Go!” Ryker growled at me between gritted teeth, his voice booming and deep.
I scrambled to my feet and ran to Luna, who paced on the opposite side of the clearing. I stumbled into her, my limbs shaking. She lowered to the ground, but as I went to mount her, another bellow tore into the night.
The demonic creature had slipped Ryker’s grasp. A blade glinted in Ryker’s hand as he crouched before it, just as he had the skur.
He dodged the first advance of the creature’s teeth, but he didn’t see its monstrous paw—I screamed when those dagger-like claws connected with flesh.
He stumbled back, a hand going to four deep slashes oozing crimson blood.
He bared his teeth as he snatched his swords.
Thunder boomed over our heads, the rain punishingly hard as Ryker’s eyes went wholly silver.
He was a blur—fast and precise—despite his wounds. Dodging the massive claws and teeth, then swinging both swords simultaneously—arcing one in the air while the other went low—the wet steel shining—my adrenaline surged to the point that I felt sick.
The beast clamped those jagged teeth around one of the swords, yanking it away from Ryker. But Ryker wasted no time, snatching another dagger from a strap around his thigh, throwing it at the beast, striking true.