Chapter 15

Making fun of Kaus with Gisele loosened me up a little, made me forget how dangerous this place is. Which might be the stupidest thing I've done yet, considering I know exactly how many things want to kill or capture me.

I'm transfixed, the slippery motion beyond Lesath capturing my full attention as it weaves between the fallen stones and burnt-out beams.

"It's a snake." Revulsion washes over me, my skin tingling in a primal urge to get as far away from it as I possibly can. Molmith prances sideways, clearly likewise only too happy to put some space between us.

A coil of scaly skin slips across a huge foundation stone, and I gulp, fear pumping adrenaline through my body. I want to run, but I'm frozen.

"That can't be a snake." Gisele's horse shies away as she speaks, and I have the insane urge to run to Lesath and hide behind him.

"Serpent," Lesath confirms in a hushed voice. "Not a snake."

The thing, the serpent, just keeps going, coiling and uncoiling, massive muscles bunching as it slithers through the silent ruins of Inasgow.

"I don't like this," I squeak.

"Hush," Kaus says.

For once, I'm only too happy to comply.

Lesath isn't moving, standing stock-still and speaking in a low voice to his gray horse. It feels like an eternity, my body primed to flee, my heart hammering against my ribs. Finally, the tip of the serpent's tail appears, then disappears into the white-shrouded gloom.

Kaus looses a noisy exhalation, slinging his bow back over his shoulder. "It has been many years since anyone has sighted a great serpent."

"We'd all be happy to keep from seeing your one-eyed serpent…" Gisele mutters, but she sounds scared, despite the joke.

I swallow hard, nerves frayed from the sudden punch of adrenaline.

After shooting Gisele a dark look, he turns his attention to Lesath. "It's an omen. Or a sign. Change is upon us.

"No shit," Gisele says, rolling her eyes at me. "You've got a bunch of girls from Earth showing up."

Kaus ignores her, stepping closer to Lesath. "We are on the brink of something, I can feel it. Can you feel it?"

Lesath doesn't move, or answer, and a long moment slips by, the only sound the rushing of blood in my ears. I shift in my saddle, something I immediately regret, because I'm sore as hell, and my muscles are tensed up from trying to stay quiet.

"I can feel it," he finally answers. "Vraya is waking. Whatever curse the blood drinkers inflicted here, at Inasgow, it's loosening."

I tilt my head, slightly confused. It sounds positive, but his tone is dark, foreboding enough to make another shiver trickle down my spine.

"Okay, Scooby squad, I hate to be a negative Nelly, but I want to get the hell out of here before that snake turns around and decides it would like a little Gisele snack. Let's grab that plant and go." Gisele nudges her horse with her heels.

"She's right. We need shelter, and soon."

Molmith steps forward, and I squint at Kaus as I pass. The men appear in silent communication, Lesath jerking his head sideways and Kaus giving a barely perceptible nod.

It's the only warning I get before a wicked rush of air pumps down, sending the mist swirling.

"Lesath," I scream, terror sending any coherent thought from my mind.

It's the creature that haunts my nightmares, a black-winged beast with fetid breath and rows upon rows of razor-sharp teeth. A harbinger. It turns its empty face toward me, taloned hands outstretched, and I scream again.

Molmith rears up, and I scramble to hang on, my muscles cramping and panic flooding my brain. All I see is teeth and wings, and I can hardly function. This is how I die.

I'm going to die.

An arrow zips through the air, sinking into the leathery wings with a vile tearing noise. The harbinger lists to the side.

"Help, oh god, please help," I whisper, frantic and so scared my fingers are tingling through my grip on Molmith's mane.

"Molmith, run with her," Lesath yells. The harbinger turns around, slashing at Lesath with wicked claws, jaws snapping. Another arrow thuds into its shoulder. Undaunted, it yanks it out. Lesath's eyes glitter black, furious.

"Oh god," I sob. I never should have made him swear not to change. He's going to get hurt, or die, and it's going to be my fault. "Please, please help."

A dry rustling sounds beside me. My gaze trips over Molmith's black fur, then shock slaps through me. The great serpent slithers through the dirt, coiling tight behind the harbinger.

Calm begins to quiet my sobs. "Do it, please, do something." I don't know who I'm talking to, not really. Lesath and Kaus are completely focused on the harbinger, which slashes across Lesath's shoulder, causing him to grunt in pain.

The serpent rises up, mist clinging to its dull green scales.

Horror stricken; I can't tear my eyes from it.

"Watch out," I finally manage to yelp.

Lesath's attention flickers over me, and the harbinger takes that split-second slip to open a new gash across his arm. Blood drips from the wound, and my chest heaves as a sob wracks me.

Loud hissing bounces off the toppled stone walls, the serpent rising ever higher. Quicker than lighting, it strikes, and I can't move, can't even scream, my fear for Lesath and Kaus completely overriding control of my body.

But the serpent moves, and a sick crunching sound reverberates in my ears. Lesath and Kaus back away, their horses taking off through the old streets. The snake attacked the harbinger.

Even now, it coils around the leathery body, bones crunching as it squeezes, and squeezes. Its jaw unhinges, shoving the harbinger further and further down its throat.

I turn my head and dry heave.

"Move, Ali, move," Lesath's voice, despite his wounds, is strong and firm.

"I can't," I shake my head, my body frozen.

"Don't look at it. It is busy, move while it is occupied."

"Occupied," I repeat, my voice shaking.

Molmith steps forward on his own, carefully picking his way around the serpent and its nightmare meal. Tears are streaming down my face, my chest shaking as I suck in trembling breaths.

Kaus stares at me with wide eyes before peeling off, cantering in the direction Gisele and Lesath's horses went. Molmith pauses before Lesath, nudging his shoulder and taking great sniffs.

"Unhook your feet from the stirrups," he orders.

I'm shaking too much to move, unable to turn away from him. Blood seeps from his wounds, but they don't seem too deep. Sighing, he wipes the blood from his sword on his pants, then slowly sheathes it, grimacing as he moves his arm overhead.

"You're hurt."

"Unhook your feet," he says again, and this time I manage it.

Gracefully, he mounts Molmith behind me, his body pressing tight up against mine as he swings me, princess style, into his lap. Wordlessly, he gathers the reins from me, urging Molmith into a rollicking canter, away from the grisly scene behind us.

My tears soak his shirt, and I nestle my face against my chest, hiccupping shocked sobs as he steers the horse.

"Am I hurting," I hiccup, feeling stupid now, because I'm safe, but I can't seem to stop crying, "Am I hurting you?"

"No, my Ali. You are not hurting me. My wounds are superficial. They are nothing." His voice rumbles in my chest, and I press myself closer to him, liking the way it feels against mine.

Rubble and leafless trees fly by, Molmith stretching beneath us and eating up the terrain.

"How did you do that?" he asks.

I sniffle, the shaking finally starting to subside, feeling returning to my fingers and toes. It takes a moment for the question to register.

"Do what?"

"Call the serpent."

"I didn't. I didn't do anything." I shake my head, but the slight motion puts me off balance, so I tuck myself more firmly against him. Red stains the sleeve of my blouse. I don't care. I don't want to let him go.

"Mmm," he grunts, shifting the reins and tightening his grip around my waist.

I see now why he wanted to ride on the same horse with me.

Because like this, I can feel every single hard edge on his body, and even though adrenaline and fear are still coursing through my bloodstream, all I want is to feel more.

I know it's the mating bond, probably combined with some primitive response to surviving a dangerous situation.

The problem is, I'm not sure I care why anymore.