Page 30 of Whispers of Ruin
Brokk lunged for her, but he just missed grabbing her. Her back hit the ground, and she bounced a few feet across the earth before stopping against a tree trunk.
She started to roll away, but the cold tip of a blade against her throat stopped her. Kaylia lay back on the ground as a looming figure towered over her.
The dwindling light from the fire danced in eyes the color of liquid mercury. Dark brown hair fell to the man’s shoulders, and thick stubble lined his square jaw. The breadth of his shoulders blocked out the world around him.
His black pants, shirt, and boots blended in with the night, as did his dark hair, but those impossibly silver eyes stood out starkly from the dark. His plain clothes didn’t help pinpoint what kind of immortal he was.
Kaylia held up her hands but wasn’t sure if shadows still cloaked her and if he could see her. His next words proved that Brokk remained close enough to keep her cloaked.
“Show yourself,” the man commanded.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-TWO
Kaylia gulped;her throat working against the blade caused it to scrape her skin a little. This man had good instincts or was damn lucky if he’d found her against the tree and managed to point the blade into her neck.
Which meant she wasn’t so lucky, and she had no idea how he would react when she didn’t reveal herself. She had no control over the shadows and couldn’t reveal herself to this mountain of a man.
“Show yourself now!” he barked.
Kaylia lifted her hands to push the air upward, but as she did so, she knew it wouldn’t do much, as weakness seeped through her. Her injury and the amount of power she used earlier to control the fire had drained her.
And all she’d succeed in doing was pissing off this guy when she smacked him with a wind current. She lowered her hands and dug her fingers into the ground as she used it to help recharge her, but it wouldn’t be enough.
Kaylia didn’t feel a difference, but the shadows must have slipped away as the man’s eyes went from staring at her chest to clashing with hers. He frowned as his gaze roved over her.
“You’re not a dark fae,” he stated.
“No, but I am,” Brokk growled.
Kaylia had no idea where he was, but the man’s eyes widened, and his chin rose a little. The shadows pulled back to reveal Brokk standing behind the man with a knife to his throat. Brokk’s eyes were a ferocious shade of red.
“Move your blade,now!” Brokk commanded in a nearly unrecognizable voice due to his extended fangs. When the man didn’t move, Brokk snapped. “Get your fucking sword away from her!”
The man’s jaw clenched. Somehow, his eyes became more silver as his thick muscles bunched and his nostrils flared.
Then, with obvious reluctance, he moved the blade away from her throat. Kaylia breathed a sigh as she wiggled backward to escape the man before rising to her feet.
“Get over here, Kaylia,” Brokk commanded.
Normally, she wouldn’t have taken well to being ordered about in such a way, but standing here, with many of these unknown immortals surrounding them and the snakelike monsters in the jungle, arguing wasn’t the best idea. Besides, she preferred being at Brokk’s side rather than away from it.
As she started toward Brokk, the man threw an elbow back, catching him in the side. Air grunted out from Brokk as the man twisted in his arms.
Blood spilled from where Brokk’s knife cut across his throat as the man threw his weight into Brokk. The man was a good inch taller than Brokk, had a thicker body, and was probably a good thirty pounds heavier, but Brokk delivered a blow that resonated through the woods.
The strange immortal’s arms encircled Brokk’s waist and propelled him backward as they tumbled to the ground together. Punches flew, grunts filled the air, and blood spilled as they pummeled each other while bouncing through the thick foliage.
Kaylia’s heart leapt into her throat when the jungle swallowed them in its dark depths and she lost view of Brokk. Rushing forward, she sprinted toward where they’d disappeared as more immortals surrounded her.
She could hear the continued sounds of a fight and was almost to them when hands clasped her arms and dragged her back. Kaylia jerked against their hold and kicked at them, but they managed to avoid her blows as they held her away from them.
Exhausted and battered, she wanted to give up but refused to do so as the sounds of a fight continued from the dense foliage.Brokk.
The word was a mixture of longing and distress as she pulled forward until her arms and shoulders bent at odd angles. Her shoulder had started to feel better, but now it protested the strain she put on it.
They adjusted their grip on her arms as they grasped under her armpits and pulled her between the two large immortals. Kaylia tried kicking them again, but they were too close for her to do any damage.
“Bastards!” she spat.
