Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
Vhaena
BETRAYAL
“Run, little demon.”
I didn’t hesitate to do exactly as the demon commanded.
I yanked Inka behind me and ran. I had no idea how she was able to keep up.
I ran so fast, I couldn’t feel my feet slamming onto the ground, pushing past the ache and strain of my muscles.
Trees blurred past, branches split my skin as I burst through them.
Neither of us was paying attention to where we were going; my sole concentration was getting as far away as fast as possible, not thinking about what could be behind us.
“Vhaena! Stop!” Inka pulled back against my grip, forcing me to stumble and nearly topple over my feet.
My lungs heaved, gulping down air as I glanced at her behind me. Her eyes were wide, staring straight past me…
I whipped my head back around, the hairs on the back of my neck standing, and my heart pounding against my ribs. A figure stood not even a hundred feet ahead.
Another demon.
His hood was pulled low, and only the light-grey slashes of his mask were visible. He stood there with an eerie stillness that made him seem lifeless. But I could feel the weight of his gaze—cold and calculating. Waiting for the moment to strike.
Inka pulled on me again, urging me in a different direction. We spun on our heels and kicked up dirt as we bolted to our left only to come to a sudden stop again.
Another demon…
We turned again and saw two more. Panic rose from my gut in an attempt to escape as I fought back whimpers of dread. My head swiveled back and forth, trying to keep my eye on all of them at once.
It was an ambush. They had surrounded us with silent coordination like a pack of wolves. I held Inka close to me, keeping her at my side as we began inching backward.
Then they moved.
Slow and deliberate, their advancements were methodical, driven with a grim purpose. Like the predators they were, they shifted, tightening the invisible circle around us. This wasn’t some random encounter. They were herding us like livestock taken to slaughter, funneling us in another direction.
Trapped between them, we had no choice but to turn and run in the only opening between them.
It didn’t matter how fast we went; there was no way we could outrun them.
I knew they had to be right behind us, simply toying with our lives and prolonging our demise.
One of them laughed, the sound drowning out our pounding feet.
But I continued to run as hard as I could, pushing past my burning lungs and screaming muscles.
I didn’t think as my need for survival thrust me across the forest floor while the colors of the landscape blurred past. Pulling Inka behind me, we stumbled as the terrain became more and more uneven, but we still kept going.
I spared a glance behind us to see them only jogging toward us, taking their time and knowing they could easily catch us. This was all a game to them—fun.
We went around the bend of a rocky hill which put us out of sight of the demons.
The soft grass had turned to gravel, and Inka slipped and fell on the loose rock, taking me down with her.
I jumped to my feet and pulled her up before sprinting off again.
It was precious seconds we couldn’t afford to lose.
The trees were denser on this side, offering more coverage, but it also slowed us down.
We couldn’t sprint anymore, or we’d run into one.
I searched through the trees while we weaved between them, knowing we wouldn’t be able to keep this pace.
Two had branches low enough for us to climb, but they wouldn't be able to hold the weight of us both. I slowed and pointed to one, silently telling Inka my plan. She nodded, and I gave her a boost. Once she was up, I hurried over to the other tree. I could hear the demons’ footsteps approaching as I pulled myself into the tree.
My arms shook as I struggled to climb, but I didn’t stop.
I glanced across at Inka. She was slightly higher than me in her tree, and mercifully found a branch just as wide. We both pressed our backs against the trunks with our legs extended along the branch as we waited.
Then, all went silent.
I closed my eyes, trying to calm my breaths and racing heart. But the anticipation seemed to make it worse, not knowing where the demons were. At least when we were running, we knew.
“Hiding are we, ladies?” one of the demons said from below.
With the leaves obscuring my view, I couldn’t see them, and the voice seemed to echo from all around. It wasn’t projected like that other demon’s had been, but it was still just as fucking eerie.
“I do like it when they play hard-to-get,” another chuckled.
Tears welled in my eyes as dread slammed through me. They were going to find us. They’d climb up here and drag us down then take turns with us before giving us the mercy of death.
I wasn’t ready to die. I wanted to go home. My mother needed me. I wanted to change my life. I wanted to stand up for myself and fight for what I wanted. I wanted so much, and I wasn’t ready to give up those dreams yet.
Movement caught my eye, and I could see the shape of a demon between the leaves below. I covered my mouth to mute my breathing.
They were right below us.
I glanced at Inka who had a finger pressed against her lips. She pointed to her eyes with two fingers then gestured below.
We both leaned over slightly, peering around our respective branches to get a better look.
All four demons were there, glancing around, looking for us. I could tell they were speaking to one another, but I couldn't hear what they were saying; their voices were too hushed. I leaned over just a bit more to get a better look at them, to study them.
Grey-slashes was there, along with a skinny one with green slashes, a tall one with purple slashes, and…
One with four blue slashes.
I fucking knew I never should have trusted him.
The one with the grey slashes pointed away from us, then gestured to Blue and Purple. Then he pointed in another direction and started heading that way just before he pointed to one of the trees in front of them. Inka’s tree…
Green’s head slowly tilted up the towering trunk, searching the vegetation as Blue and Purple ran off. My breath caught, and I looked over at Inka who was watching the same thing I was.
She was panicking. Her chest heaved as her head shook with wide eyes. She turned her head, meeting my gaze, and it was filled with fear and dread, but it was also filled with sorrow, tears, and…guilt.
That’s when I noticed the nuts in the palm of her hand—the ones she still had in her pockets from the first night…
I shook my head pleadingly as the memory of Natascha’s betrayal flashed to the forefront of my mind while Inka pulled her arm back. The demon didn’t see her yet—we could still get out of this!
“No!” I mouthed, pressing myself harder against the bark.
Her tears broke, streaming down her face as she mouthed back, “I’m sorry.”
Then she threw one of the nuts right at me. It hit the tree with a thump only inches from my head. I tried to catch it, but I wasn’t quick enough before it tumbled down through the leaves, colliding with twigs along the way, like whips cracking against the silence.
Down. Down. Down.
Then silence once again.
I waited, frozen in fear of what was to come.
My face snapped to the side as another nut was hurled toward me, slapping against my cheek before plummeting below.
I involuntarily whimpered from the impact.
Big mistake. Because once again, I was duped—used as a sacrifice for the survival of another.
My lip quivered—betrayal and trepidation warring within me.
I didn’t look at her. I refused to. She didn’t deserve my attention.
“Gotcha,” the voice whispered below, filled with sickening enthusiasm.
I was done being a sacrifice.
The moment I heard his claws scraping along the trunk of my tree, felt the vibration of him climbing, I moved. I leapt without a second thought to the branch of a neighboring tree, away from Inka, and landed with a grunt, grappling for a hold. But my fingers couldn’t grip the bark, and I slipped.
My heart momentarily stopped as I fell through the air down to the hard, unforgiving forest floor, smacking against lower branches and breaking limbs along the way.
The wind was knocked out of me, but I forced myself to get up and run.
I didn’t look back. I ignored the shouts and snarls coming from behind me to concentrate on crossing as much ground as possible.
A minute. I made it less than a minute before something hard and heavy slammed into me from behind, and I crashed to the ground. I fought against whoever it was on my back, kicking and thrashing in a tangle of limbs and snarls.
Then I felt it—a searing pain tearing through my shoulder. Sharp fangs had pierced through skin and muscle just below my neck. A scream ripped from my throat as something like fire trickled through my veins.
He had bitten me.
With one hand, I reached for the spoon at my waist, grabbing it by the bowl, and began jabbing the handle at the demon’s face behind me, knowing his mask had to be off in order to bite me.
One. Two. Three times. Over and over to the point I lost count. Until I felt something give.
A squelch and a roar, then the fangs withdrew from my flesh.
He rolled off of me, slumping to his side, and I leapt to my feet, yanking the spoon with me.
I just barely glanced at him in time to see him pulling his mask back down over his blood-covered mouth with one hand just as he covered the hole of his eye with the other.
Blue slashes.
Splinters from the wooden handle protruded from between his fingers as blood flowed down his face over his mask. Then he looked at me and went still for only a breath, tilting his head to the side.