Chapter 36 Skreetpercussions
thirty-six
Skreetpercussions
“You WHAT?” Ace screams in my ear, making me cringe.
I duck under the skreet overlord’s swipe, hearing the wind whoosh overhead. I stumble forward just before an acid splash hits the ground where I would’ve been.
Maybe I’ve still got some of Grandma’s Spidey-senses in me.
I focus on aligning my breathing with my movements.
Balance returns, and I skirt around the outside of the monster’s leg.
I take a powerful stance, channeling my qi down my arm and into the rune drawn on my wrist. When I feel my magic flow to my fingers, I strike the skreet’s second leg joint with a firm, open-handed chop.
Pain spikes up my forearm to my elbow, and the overlord barely even flinches.
Rhazan’s words come back to me in a taunting lilt: “You infused your weapon with my magic…without me, you would’ve been hurt.”
Am I still too weak to survive this?
No. There are still other traps I can use. I can do this.
I sidestep the hulking creature’s movement, keeping myself closer to its flank than its face. Hopefully it can’t spit acid out of its ass, too.
I project an astral hand out toward the trailhead map and grab hold of the first weapon.
It’s dizzying to be walking in my physical body and moving in my astral body, but just like walking and chewing gum, I figure it out.
Left brain moves the body, right brain moves the spirit—or something like that.
Qi races through my astral body into the spring-loaded bola trap, activating it.
The fishing wire and weighted bobbers fire out of the Chinese lantern and zip toward the skreet.
The wire snags on the creature’s first leg, then, by some miracle, wraps around and hooks the second leg.
It wraps twice and then tangles in itself.
The skreet lurches forward and trips, then spreads its second legs out for stability. I want to celebrate, but this isn’t victory, not yet. I dash toward my jacket and scoop it off the ground.
I’m gonna hog-tie this bitch.
I loop the jacket around the back left leg and tighten my grip on the sleeves, then pull. The leg goes out from under it, and the skreet flops to the side.
But then everything goes to shit.
The wings are flapping, kicking up leaves and dirt that get in my eyes and mouth. The legs are squirming like mad, massive things as thick around as me flailing like deadly weapons.
I try to keep hold of the leg I’ve got, but in the chaos, I lose my footing, and the jacket.
Acid sprays wildly into the air. I dodge a splotch, then get peppered with the splash.
Icy agony spreads up my back, disintegrating the material of my shirt.
I rip it off, throwing the contaminated thing aside.
The skreet is free of the bola trap and uses its wings to flip itself right side up. Its black eyes lock on me, the runic wards scribed across the expanse of my naked skin, and all the damage I can do with them.
I reach out for the next trap, detonating a satchel of white flour. The air is clouded in a second, obscuring me and everything else from view. I hold my breath as the skreet makes growling wheezes.
Run!
I can’t. This beast won’t let the town be if I go.
I find a rock in the whiteout that’s larger than my fist. Enough to do real damage with.
I activate the strength rune on my other arm and come at the skreet’s back leg with an overhand strike.
The rock smashes into its joint with a sickening crack.
A spray of purple blood surges through the air and sprinkles my chest.
The monster roars and its massive wings beat against its sides. The flour eddies and flurries, disappearing in the gust the creature has created.
It whirls on me, and I gasp at the incoming strike. I curl in on myself and activate the steely rune on my ribs. It’s all I can do to weather the inescapable attack.
The leg hits my side with blinding pain. I lose track of my body as my astral spirit surges for the next trap. The sparks explode out of the next lantern, ripping flames across the flour-covered ground.
My spirit is sucked back into my body when I hit the ground.
It hurts.
I open my eyes to see pine needles, purple-speckled orange leaves, and flames.
It hurts everywhere.
I take a gasping breath full of smoke. My arms are weak, and my ribs are broken, but I crawl my way up to my knees. This isn’t the first time I’ve had broken ribs, and it’s not going to stop me this time, either.
The overlord flaps its wings again, fanning the flames that surround it into the trees.
Oh.
Fuck.
We’ve just set the forest on fire.
Ace. He’s in the car just a quarter mile away. Did he leave? Did he call the police?
The skreet roars and whirls around, seeking its enemy. Its skin is blackened with purple boils. Its eyes constrict and track across the clearing until they land on me between the trees.
I stagger to my feet. Pain lances through my gut, but I take up first stance and activate the runes on my legs: power and speed. My breathing is restricted, but I flow as much as I can, keeping my awareness on what little air I can pull before it’s painful.
The heat of the fire roaring through the trees batters my skin, but it doesn’t hurt. No, it’s my companion. My friend. The discomfort of the flame is a boon for me, one I’ve experienced so many times before. One I’ve found solace in.
With Rhazan.
My mate.
My love.
I breathe in the pain and cycle it into my qi, letting the fire fuel me, feed me, sate the dire hunger for power in my gut. Flames build in my chest, popping my ribs and expanding my lungs. I inhale deeply once more and the spirit energy flows with ease.
I can feel it.
His magic.
I hum his tune on the last of my exhale and take a deep breath, pulling the flames into me. The fire coalesces in the trees, siphoning into a torrent of energy that flows to my body. I raise my arms, strengthening myself with the heat of destruction until it’s all within me.
My skin glows orange, the runes along my arms and down my stomach pulsing with unrestrained heat. Rhazan’s mark burns bright on my wrist and I know it’s my connection to him that’s given me this strength. I kiss the mark and hold my hand out toward the skreet.
It spits and snarls, unwilling to back down.
The fire inside me is too powerful to contain, and this jerk won’t relent, so fuck him.
I stretch my fingers wide and channel the qi to my palm.
Fire detonates from my body in a searing beam of white light. The magic hits the skreet and purple mist explodes into the air, vaporizing the beast that once was.
I pant as I watch guts and chunks slop to the ground. One chunk looks like a person…Lei.
I run to him and roll him onto his back. His skin is burned from the acid of the skreet’s gut, but he’s otherwise unmarred. I feel for a pulse, but there’s none.
Shit.
Even if the cops can’t peg the murder on me, I can. I might be a thief, and a cheat, but I don’t want to be a killer.
I push down on Lei’s chest, pumping in time with my own frantic heartbeat.
“Wake up, asshole,” I yell.
But he’s not waking up.
I turn his head and open his mouth, seeing if there’s anything obstructing his airway. It’s clear, and fuck me I don’t want to do this but—
“Jade,” a voice I know calls across the clearing.
I start, looking left toward the noise, and see a figure I don’t know.
It’s tall with lean muscles, a dark suit, and…scales? It’s hairless but has a feminine face structure framed by a leathery mane that’s gold and green.
“He’s dead,” I say, because I don’t know what else to say.
The figure approaches and…it’s the way she walks. Elegant and powerful.
“Jamie?”
The leathery mane flutters and her golden eyes flicker to me. “Is it that easy to tell?”
“Your clothes,” I say, noting the fine suit. “It’s Lacey’s style.”
She tsks. “Step aside, I’ll fix him.”
I move away from Lei, squelching through the stinging purple guts. It’s only now I notice the iridescent fire under my skin is fighting off the acidic blood of the monster.
Jamie leans over Lei and raises a clawed hand. Green sparks flit through the air like glitter on the wind. Lei lifts out of the slop, his head falling forward. The glitter surges into his mouth and then he vomits acid.
He takes a gasping breath. His body seizes. The magic surrounds him, and he goes still as he’s encased in a jade-colored coffin.
“How did you find me?” I ask.
She turns to me, a third lid blinking over her oversized eyes. “I thought you were Rhazan, finally escaped.”
“What?”
“I track him by his magic.”
I scowl, looking at the mark on my arm. “His magic…”
It clicks, and I remember her voice.
“Officer Ott?” I murmur.
“That’s me.” Her lips pull back in a smile, revealing sharp fangs. “I was stationed here to watch over Rhazan, and the town. To ensure he didn’t break his parole.”
“Well, he didn’t,” I say, quick to defend him.
“His magic left the area of containment. That is a break of parole.”
I suck down a shaky inhale. I want to defend him, but I’m scared I could make things worse. I don’t know anything about his world or how magical parole works.
Her nostrils flare and she blinks slowly at me. “But there’s no one here to know that, and I don’t see him anywhere…”
I laugh, clutching my chest, then breathe easy again. “Thank you.”
She arches a hairless brow. “Don’t thank me yet. You have to come with me.”
“What? Why?”
She gives me an incredulous look. “It’s time to get registered, witch.”