Chapter 47
The creature’s voice had a wave of sickness crashing into me. His shadow arms curled out and tentacle-like fingers reached for me.
I screamed. The sound pierced the air like a bomb. So loud the creature itself jumped back. Then anger built in its eyes.
Some part of my brain, the area in charge of survival, spurred my legs into movement. I was running before I knew what was happening, charging for the safety of the mansion with everything I had.
Shadows swirled in the air, and the creature reformed in front of me again. “You can’t run from me, Anchor.”
This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be happening. I was hallucinating. I’d never wished for a brain tumor so much in all my life.
The creature’s shadow arm extended again, and I tried to dodge it, but a finger grazed my shoulder. Ice-cold agony ripped through me, as if my soul were being ripped from my body. Another scream burst from me.
The doors to the mansion flew open, and Colt ran toward me. Terror and rage filled his face.
The creature whirled, grinning at Colt with nothing but those sick, jagged teeth dripping with what almost looked like black tar.
“Colt! No!” I screamed. But it was too late.
Colt launched himself at the creature, but mid-air he morphed. His clothing ripped to shreds as he changed from man to wolf in front of my eyes. Crashing into the shadow creature, he knocked it to the ground.
“Get Leighton!” Ronan yelled as he ran, Declan at his side. They leapt into the air, and I braced, expecting them to go furry, too. But they didn’t. They morphed into something altogether different.
My heart stopped as two dragons appeared. One was a pitch-black onyx with a gold shimmer to its scales and wings and golden eyes. The other was white with a silver shimmer and eyes. They took flight, circling us from above.
But the creature had disappeared into nothing but a collection of wispy smoke, impossible to attack.
Trace and Dash skidded to a stop in front of me. Dash’s hands were on my arms in a flash. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
It was then that I realized that I was freezing, the ice-cold pain still ricocheting throughout my body.
The creature formed for a moment right in front of us. “So powerful. So sweet.” The black tar dripped from its teeth.
Purple energy bolts flew from Trace’s hands as he shot them at the creature.
The creature simply cackled as he disappeared into wispy smoke again. But his voice filled the air. “You’ll never keep her safe. We have her scent now.”
Dash cursed and began chanting in a language I didn’t recognize. His hands moved around us, and the air rippled as a bubble encased me.
A bellow sounded from the sky as gold fire scorched the earth where the shadows had been.
More cackling filled the air. “This one will feed us for decades. Such a sweet treat. I can practically taste her on my tongue.”
The wolf snarled and charged, but by the time he reached the creature, it had disappeared again.
The white dragon dipped toward the ground in a beautiful arc of movement. His wings cut through the shadows, and the creature screamed.
“You’ll pay for that. I’ll take it out on your little anchor with pleasure.”
Trace cursed, and more purple fire rose from his hands.
The creature’s laugh filled the air. “You’ll never stop us. Because we’re everywhere darkness reigns.”
My breaths came faster. Short, panicked pants as my brain tried to make sense of what my eyes were seeing.
The creature took shape again, this time behind Colt. I screamed to watch out, but it was too late. The creature formed a blade of sorts from his shadow and sliced at the wolf. Colt howled in pain but whirled to snap his jaws into the shadows.
The white dragon breathed a stream of silver fire at the creature, blasting him right in center mass.
The creature wailed, shattering into a million wisps of smoke.
The world around us went silent.
The bubble that had been encasing me dissipated. The dragons landed. The world turned; my breathing labored. Trace dropped his hands, the purple fire disappearing. And Dash’s chanting had ceased.
But my heart rate hadn’t slowed. It rattled against my ribs as if it might actually break free. “What. Are. You?”