Page 25 of Stolen Threadwitch Bride
I gripped my makeshift club so hard, my arms shook.
The air exploded.
Black dust sucked into solidity behind the thing. Iridescent metal flashed and sliced, then it and the darkness vanished, so quick I’d have missed it if I’d blinked.
Shrieks pierced my ears from all directions, and the thing fell.
What was…?
Had I just been saved from this monster by another far worse?
A Monster Far Worse
There was no sign of this other monster, but a splash sounded from behind. Panting, I turned. One of the pale creatures had reached the water. Claws scraping together, the thing crouched, waiting, watching. Its mouth opened and closed, teeth chopping together.
It lunged.
I screamed. I swung. I missed.
Blood surged through me, hot and loud, and I swiped again and again and again.
I didn’t connect, but my wild flailing made the thing pause. It only had to wait for me to tire myself out.
Some distance beyond it, the air snapped and darkness sucked together behind one of its companions. Something that wasn’t steel erupted from that creature’s chest. The shadows were gone before it hit the ground.
Would it be better to let this thing kill me rather than whatever was powerful enough to face them alone?
My swipes must’ve slowed as I was distracted, because the thing before me leapt, maw open, tongue tasting the air.
With a cry, I splashed to one side and swung. The impact jolted up my arms.
I’d hit it.
I’d hit it!
A sound came out of me and gods knew whether it was a laugh or a sob.
The thing hunched low, lifting a hand before its empty eyes. One of its claws was broken, the wicked-sharp tip stood between us, embedded in my club.
On the shore behind it, its companion disappeared in a black haze.
But it didn’t spare a glance for its friends or the beast that hunted them. The utter void of its gaze was fixed on me, so empty it could swallow me up. Black tongue sliding from its maw, it hissed.
I’d pissed it off. Oh, gods.Whyhad I done that? My knees trembled.
Its attention shifted past me and its clawsclack-clack-clacked.
There was another beast still behind me. A chill swept from my numb toes through my whole body, closing over my head like I’d fallen in the river all over again.
The instant I turned to look, this one would be on me.
Above, a shriek split the air, growing louder. Even the creature in front of me froze, cocked its head and looked up. I dared a glance over my shoulder. The other creature also scanned the sky.
And burst in a crunch of broken bones and flesh.
The thing hunting them—huntingme, whatever it was, had dropped one of the beasts from a great height and…
My stomach lurched, and I threw up in the water, throat burning with bile and soured wine.
