Chapter 44

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

TOR

O ne second I was walking beside my girl, scanning the darkness through a veil of magic, alert for threats, and the next teeth snapped around my ankle and dragged me away from her.

I was taken so off guard I didn't even cry out to her, didn't shout a warning until it was too late and I was too far away. I knew what had happened the moment my brain stopped rattling around my skull. Whatever had its teeth locked in my ankle finally stopped dragging me in a patch of muddy grass.

The monster had grabbed me.

I waited for Nightmare to peel out of the shadows of a tree, waited for her gloating voice to fill the air, but instead there was only the loud panting of the creature. Disappointment made my heart sink. I wanted to rip that bitch's head off her shoulders more than anything.

"Piss off," I snapped, flicking my hand at the creature looming over me. Magic poured from me in response to my anger—and the fear burning steadily brighter at the thought of Cat and her friend alone with no one to protect them—and slammed into the dark, furry beast. When my darkness collided with it, it yelped and stumbled away, releasing my leg with a gush of blood. Ugh, great. Now, I'd be limping for days.

"Fucker," I snapped, climbing unsteadily to my feet, putting my weight on my good leg as I kept the creature's luminous eyes in my sight at all times. I refused to be caught off guard by it again. "You took me away from my girl when she needs me. I hope you don't think you're getting away with that."

At least the creature was here. At least it couldn't attack me and Cat at the same time. I knew we shouldn't have budged from our spot outside the library. I knew following that damn light was a bad idea, but I couldn't refuse her anything. If I wasn't so weak for her, she'd be safely protected and I wouldn't have a dozen oozing holes in my leg.

I gritted my teeth as I took a step, slashing my arm through the air to drive the creature back with another stream of magic. It whimpered, lowering its head in a show of submission. I frowned as sympathy bloomed in my chest, a useless emotion when this thing had dragged me away from Cat. But I didn't like how familiar the look in the creature's eyes was, or the obvious fact that it answered to Nightmare's commands instead of acting on its own autonomy.

"Just stay away from my family, and I won't hurt you," I muttered, taking a step backwards, readying myself to run.

My heart froze when the animal's luminous eyes flicked to something behind me. I spun on instinct, magic streaming from me like ribbons of shadow, barely visible in the dark. I wanted to inflict the full power of torment, to make whoever thought they could creep up on me scream as their worst memories crystallised before their eyes.

My magic didn't hit Nightmare, as I expected, or even another person. Dread made my breaths quicken as the arc of magic slammed into a creature identical to the one behind me, taking it down with a scream that turned from bestial to human.

"What the fuck?" I hissed, my eyes shooting from the first creature to this one and then— shit. More emerged from the darkness, converging on the spit of muddy grass where I stood, their eyes as bright as headlights.

I counted quickly. Twenty three of them. Jesus, where had Nightmare found twenty three of these things? And what were they? Every silhouette was equally massive, but some had horns, others had spikes down their back, and two even had fucking wings.

That question was answered when the creature I'd hit with enough magic to take out a goddess screamed louder, tortured by their most traumatic memories, and I saw it was a man. My heart skipped in a moment of unfettered panic that I'd killed Cat's brother, but this was a man in his thirties, pale-eyed with bronze skin and long hair.

"Who the hell are you?" I demanded, but that was a dumbass move. My voice only succeeded in startling the other creatures into motion. They leapt through the darkness towards me, visible by their gleaming eyes, so huge they dwarfed me. I was vastly outnumbered and injured.

And surrounded by monsters.

Fuck.