Chapter Eleven #2
The final bell before night rang, loudly echoing through the streets and prompting the children to rush inside, doors to slam, and birds to quiet. The world went from light to dark, alive to dead in the span of ten heartbeats, their footfalls the only sound left. Some things were the same.
With full dark came the click of claws. Solana’s side warmed, and she glanced over her shoulder to find Reyes watching her closely.
He made no move to guide her, no effort to direct.
Simply watched and waited. Solana thought of the snippets of conversation she’d heard and wondered what the king had ordered him to do.
Perhaps this was all a test. Slowly, Solana relaxed her coiled muscles and unclenched her jaw. Though the dagger was warm, it wasn’t exceedingly so, which meant there were muki nearby but not dangerously close. She could follow the others’ lead. Was perfectly capable of it.
A long, low whistle came from behind. Oskar and Nikolas split off to the right, Suri and Cora to the left, and Reyes stepped up to her side.
“There will be no casualties tonight,” he said, his whisper more a threat than a reassurance. “If you have an idea, or you find yourself in trouble, hold your ground and wait for me.”
Solana snorted. “Yes, sir,” she said.
Reyes’s jaw clenched, but he said nothing, only walked away without a look back and left Solana to follow.
They walked through the city for another hour, winding through streets and following the sounds of whistles from the other groups.
Solana’s dagger stayed consistently warm but never hot enough to burn.
She hated to admit that they were good at what they did, stalking their prey, corralling it to somewhere they could trap it with the least amount of damage.
The muki finally panicked and crossed back the way it had gone, darting across the street Solana and Reyes were on, a blur of glossy shadows as it streaked by.
Reyes whistled twice and then took off with Solana at his heels, the hilt of her dagger blazing hot against her palm. She left it sheathed, just in case she felt the urge to sever anything.
Their boots pounded against the ground, the air thick in her lungs and clinging to her skin.
Reyes was fast, but she was faster, filled with unspent energy.
This was the part she enjoyed, that filled her with purpose.
There was nothing quite as satisfying as knowing your target and closing in on it.
Reyes skidded around a sharp corner and came to an abrupt stop before Solana could do the same.
His arm darted out to catch her around the middle, holding her back from diving face-first into the ground.
She was about to yell at him for almost killing her until she felt the sharp sting of heat at her hip.
Solana whipped her head up, then froze. Straight ahead was a dead end where one house spanned the length of the street, its manicured greenery and neat balcony a picturesque sight if not for the muki that was attempting to climb the house’s facade.
Muki didn’t climb. That was always something she could count on when out hunting with Sami.
They had various buildings they could always escape to and know they were safe, and get a bird’s-eye view of the city and the monsters lurking below.
Even with uncoordinated and unnatural limbs, the fact that the muki was attempting the climb at all sent ripples down Solana’s spine.
“Reyes,” she said low. The muki’s abysmal eyes snapped to them.
It abandoned its attempt to climb in favor of skittering onto all fours, growling and baring its knifelike teeth in a grim warning.
Solana itched to wrap her hand around her dagger, to push off and launch herself at the threat before it came at them, but she held her ground.
It curled its claws into the stone and then pushed off with a burst that sent it sailing halfway down the street. From the corner of her eye, Solana saw Reyes shift his weight forward, but he stayed where he was, waiting for something.
“What are you doing?” Solana seethed. One more leap and it would be on them.
They would lose the advantage of space and time, and while Solana was immune to their poison, she was not immune to their teeth ripping into her throat.
But she assumed Reyes had a plan, so she fought against her instincts and threw herself when the muki barreled by, narrowly dodging the arm it swept out to the side.
Reyes was not so lucky. She heard his grunt and then rolled over to see the muki hovering over him, gloved hands pushing against its upper arms, successfully holding back razor-sharp talons and teeth.
She had just enough presence of mind to keep her dagger sheathed but could think of nothing else to do except throw herself at the muki and wrap arms and legs around its back.
It reared off Reyes with an ear-piercing screech.
Its spindly arms bent at an awkward angle to reach her, one of its talons catching a chunk of her hair and ripping it out of the braid—possibly out of her head.
Through the tears that sprung to her eyes, she watched Reyes reach into his cloak and produce a small vial of iridescent liquid.
Sensing his approach, the muki swung wildly with one arm. Reyes ducked and rolled to avoid being impaled. “Godsdamnit,” he yelled, the small vial tumbling away from his hand.
Solana lost her grip and slammed into the wall, and the muki, now free of her, dove directly for Reyes. She was too far to reach the vial or the muki or Reyes. Too far to do anything, even with her dagger.
Ears ringing, vision throbbing, she did the only thing she felt compelled to do. “STOP, FOR GODSSAKE,” she yelled, the words like a physical blow that knocked the muki back onto its haunches.
It felt like the world paused just for her.
Because of her. Chest heaving and hands shaking, Solana slowly pushed to her feet and strode to the muki, a tether pulling her closer and closer until she was towering over it, able to see the anticipation in its eyes, to understand the pure relief in its final exhale.
Or what should have been its final exhale.
Instead, arms wrapped around Solana’s waist and hauled her backward.
A hand swiped the dagger out of her grasp that she hadn’t even known was there, ready to end a life and suffering.
She struggled against the grip around her waist, against the stretching of that tether that beckoned her closer, until Reyes plunged the vial into the side of the frozen muki’s neck and it snapped, stealing the breath from her lungs.
Solana pressed her palms to her chest to hold herself together, watching from what felt like a distance as Reyes and Nikolas efficiently subdued the sleeping creature.
The arms around her slipped away and Oskar stepped to her side with a look of apology on his face.
Cora came closer and held out her dagger.
Solana snatched it back and slid it into its sheath.
“That was unnecessary,” she said to no one in particular.
“What happened?” Cora asked. “We didn’t hear the signal for approaching.”
Everyone turned to Reyes, including Solana. There had been whistles, a language she didn’t yet understand, but Reyes hadn’t responded. He’d acted slow when dodging the muki, almost as if he was hesitating. And then the way he had fumbled the vial … none of it made sense.
From what she knew of him, Reyes didn’t fumble. He didn’t hesitate or put himself in danger without knowing exactly what to do.
Unless he had done it all on purpose. A test, she had thought. To prove a point, but the point in question was her ability. She closed her eyes and remembered the way she had been compelled to speak, to command. As if the depths of her soul demanded it.
Just what Reyes had accused her of while his blade tore into her thigh. When she opened her eyes, he was staring at her, waiting to see if she understood, if she would reveal herself and the fact that he had done this on purpose. The muki wasn’t the only one who had been cornered.
Solana counted to ten and shook out her hands. She plastered on a smile and gave everybody exactly what they wanted. “I need a drink,” she said honestly, and whirled around, back toward the center of the city where she knew a tavern or two kept the fools in town watered.
“Finally, she has a good idea,” Suri mumbled.
At this rate, Solana felt like she wouldn’t make it another six days, much less six months.