Chapter 7 Carwynn
CARWYNN
My palms slammed over my ears.
“Stop! Stop it! Stop it!” I roared.
The pain was an ice pick through my temple.
“Quiet!” I shouted again, keeling over from the agony.
A strong arm wrapped around my torso, halting me from collapsing to my knees.
“What’s happening to her?” Finley shouted.
Keeffe looked around suspiciously, smelling the air. “I don’t feel good about this. I smell decay.”
My eyes squeezed shut.
“Carwynn! Open your eyes! What is it?” There was an edge to Lochlainn’s voice.
An arm tightened at my waist as a warm breath brushed my ear.
“They are in your house, so make them abide by your rules.”
I followed Pogue’s voice like a beacon. He held me up, anchoring me against the tornado of assaults my ability was striking me with.
“Don’t tell them—will it!”
When souls spoke, I could usually filter them, one at a time. But this—this was a dam breaking open, a flood of souls overwhelming my senses. They swarmed like wasps, circling me, buzzing in and out, begging for my attention.
I focused on Pogue’s words. This was my mind.
With a deep inhale, I envisioned a wall of energy pushing out from my body. Then, I sent another. The next one carried a calming vibration, meant to sooth the frantic swarm.
A shiver snuck up my spine.
The buzzing slowed, dampening the screams. I was no longer under attack. The souls were still there, but instead of manic chaos, it was like they’d been hit with a nice dose of sedative.
Holy shit, it worked!
I opened my eyes, steadying my legs.
“Got it?” Fingers sunk into the soft spot on my hip.
I kept following that voice, looking up to find that cold, handsome face.
Pogue furrowed his brow.
“Yeah, I think—” My voice wavered. “I think I’m all right now. Thanks.”
The men stood around us and the air thickened uncomfortably.
I paused. My unease crept back in as I scanned the area.
“That’s never happened before. All those voices, all at once. Too many.” I shook my head. “They were screaming to be freed. Kept saying he was coming. That this was a trap.”
Lochlainn’s face sobered.
“Run the perimeter. See if you can scent anyone—then get right back.” He snapped the command to Finley and Keeffe.
Finley’s eyes were still glued to my face, worry pulling his mouth into a tight line.
They nodded, disappearing into the shadowed woods.
“You’re gonna make them run in there?” I pointed to the forest. “In the dark?”
Pogue lifted an eyebrow. “You really do have so much to learn, don’t you?”
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
My eyes snapped back. Something strange was lingering in the woods.
It was that feeling you got after walking through a spider web—like tiny invisible legs crawling over my body.
I was being watched.
Heart racing, I scanned the area, searching for whoever was out there. My foot stepped forward, leaving the warmth of Pogue’s grip.
“He’s watching me,” I whispered to myself.
A metallic click echoed as Lochlainn drew his gun. His eyes cautiously searched the forest as he stepped to my side.
“Who?” Pogue demanded.
I hadn’t even realized he was already at my other shoulder. The space around him darkened.
He held two crescent-shaped blades that caught the moonlight. I hadn’t seen him draw them—let alone, carry them.
Their markings curled upwards, like swirls of moving air. They were beautiful. Unlike any patterns I’d ever seen.
My inkling pulsed in warning.
“I don’t know, I—I feel their eyes on me. My senses are screaming.”
A sound broke the eerie silence—multiple feet at a gallop. Then, a bone-chilling howl bounded through the trees.
Panic swelled as I stumbled back a few steps.
“It’s all right—it’s just Keeffe and Finley in Ossory form,” Lochlainn said, as if I’d actually know what that meant.
Ossory? What the hell was that?
My head tilted in confusion.
Pogue interjected, “Human translation: werewolves.”
I gaped, ignoring his side-eye. Did he have a sense of humor after all? But his face was at odds, remaining fixed.
My god, he was being serious . . .
I felt a pinprick of hurt that Finley never mentioned being a goddamn werewolf. But I suppose it wasn’t my business, and to be fair, I had my own secrets too.
But come on, a freaking werewolf?
Keeffe’s voice echoed through the trees.
“We should get out of here! There’s another body about 400 meters east—also decapitated and very fresh.”
Coming out of the trees, he tugged at his neck uneasily. “Something’s lurking out there, Loch. It feels—I dunno. Powerful.” He buttoned the top of his shirt, now disheveled from whatever shift he’d gone through.
Finley followed swiftly behind, shirt open, beautifully chiseled pecs on full display.
Oh. Hello.
Heat flared to my cheeks as I gawked.
Get your shit together, Carwynn!
Clearing my throat, I turned back to the carriage, embarrassed to think about if he noticed me ogling.
“Right. Let’s head back.” Lochlainn waved an arm, motioning us to get back to the carriage. “We’ll regroup and return at daybreak.”
I let out an exhale, more than happy to ditch the woods of decapitation.
At least Lochlainn was smart enough to choose his battles wisely. This obviously wasn’t the work of some ordinary person. We could all feel it. It was all off.
Keeffe and Finley pulled themselves into the carriage, Lochlainn following.
Pogue glanced over his shoulder at me as he stepped aside, gesturing a hand for me to go first. I wasn’t sure what to make of that. Him—a gentleman? Somewhere in the distance, a pig must’ve taken flight.
For a moment, something twisted my gut, and I hesitated. He shot me a sideways look.
I shook it off and took his hand. A heated flush rushed through my veins as I unexpectedly fixated on our point of contact. The way his skin felt against mine was the complete opposite of all his stabbing looks and prickly words.
With my free hand, I grabbed the edge of the door to pull myself up.
Before my foot left the ground, I froze.
“He’s hereeee . . .” a haunting voice whispered in my mind.
Pogue’s hand locked around mine with a twitch of concern.
“Carwynn?” he said, quietly.
Invisible, icy fingers slid up my back.
Slowly—ever so slowly—I turned my head.
There, in the pitch black beneath the canopy of trees, were two piercing eyes, like two flames alight. Just below them, a grin.
A horrifying dark tongue slid over white, spiky teeth.
To its side, something shifted. It was faintly illuminated, floating in the air like a long ribbon caught in the wind. No, not a ribbon. More rigid, textured.
It violently snapped up, whipping around as if it were about to—
Oh. Dear. God!
The massive whip shot through the air, instantly cutting the distance between us.
Like a snake striking, it coiled around my ankle.
Excruciating pain tore up my leg. The feel of barbed wire dug into every point of contact, piercing my flesh.
A harrowing scream forged in my lungs, bellowing out.
“Fuck!” Pogue roared.
The whip began to recede—dragging me with it. My body slammed into the ground, head smashing against my arm. I was getting battered, pulled over every rock.
My ankle burned like I’d stepped in a bear trap, spikes imbedding deep. And my hand was one pull away from dislocating.
That’s when I realized why.
Pogue’s hand was securely padlocked to mine as he violently followed in tow. His other hand held a blade.
He looked murderous.
Tears stung my eyes from the pain radiating across my back.
We were almost to the forest edge—to the menacing face. So I forced my free foot down, trying to slow us, but the pulling force was unstoppable. A second attempt nearly snapped my ankle, my foot twisting unnaturally against the raging ground.
It was useless.
“Let go!” I cried out to Pogue.
There was no sense in us both getting sucked into whatever hell was about to claim us.
Gunshots echoed—but the creepy smirking face still remained.
I was most definitely fucked.
“Let. Go!” I screamed.
He painfully squeezed harder, wincing. Most of the damage now ravaged one side of his body. His voice dropped low and lethal as he gritted his teeth.
“No.”
Then, the darkness swallowed us whole and the ground beneath finally came to a halt. I could hear nothing but my own rapid breathing. It was so dark I couldn’t see in front of my face. At least, not until two fiery eyes blazed inches from mine.
I scrambled, desperately trying to crawl backwards.
The teeth were longer than I’d thought, like hundreds of white needles embedded in a monstrous jaw.
With a hiss, the creature moved. The whip jerked, casting a sickly yellow light.
It was still lodged around my ankle, made of—
Whattttt theeee fuck!
Bones.
All the blood drained from my face as I took in the barbaric device.
The whip was entirely made of spine—hundreds, if not more of them. Vertebrae, twined and woven together into a sadistic, spiked lash.
Distant shouts echoed but somehow didn’t get closer. Like some invisible barrier held them back.
I couldn’t see Pogue through the darkness, but still felt his grip—secure, unmoving.
The creature’s eyes flared, faintly illuminating the space around us. It was as if a black hole had swallowed Pogue whole, wrapping him in a cocoon of darkness.
Was he doing that? Or the creature?
The monster bared its teeth. A low, shrilling voice slithered through the air.
“They said I would find you hereeee . . . Caught your mouthwatering scentttt.”
A tar-like tongue swept over its razor teeth.
“The souls beggggged for youuu,” it hissed. “Their savvviorrr.”
The tongue tsked. “But he has other plansssss for youuuu.”
An ominous, wheezing laugh reverberated through the void.
I cringed back as its hot, putrid breath washed over my face.
I couldn’t see its body or the ground around me. Only that face.
Panic had me momentarily paralyzed.
Breathe. Focus. Breathe.
With my one arm free, I pulled back—throwing a punch with every ounce of strength I had.
Thud!
It collided with the creature’s disgusting face