Chapter 6

Surprise stills my breath. My heart shoots to my throat and my muscles seize. My head goes dizzy. It lasts either a second or an entire minute; I can't tell.

It's hard to breathe. My feet don't obey me when I tell them to step back. To run. To go back home, from where I shouldn't have left.

There's a person stretched out in the tall grass. They're facedown, wearing a pair of dark pants and a shirt, with a hatchet sticking out from behind their back. Their long hair is matted with the same dark, thick liquid that covers their back and the surrounding ground.

Happy thoughts. Coconut macaroons. Dark chocolate mousse paired with a small glass of wine. That time Dad taught me how to use a French press and I pressed the plunger down too fast and...

The baby whimpers right next to me. Adrenaline rushes through my veins, supplanting all fear. All my attention searches for it.

Not three feet from the person's hands, there's a mass of fabric, kicking and squirming. I approach the bundle and pick it up.

Relief makes my knees buckle. It is a baby, tightly wrapped in lots of fabric. A big, healthy baby with wisps of dark hair... I slide a glance at the person lying next to us. Was that the mother?

This is awful. My heart sinks as I squeeze the baby to my chest, bouncing it in my arms. Someone killed this woman. There's no way this hatchet was an accident.

Someone killed this woman. And they might be lurking in the forest.

I have to go back. Through the portal, back into my world. Fae child or not, I'll deal with this later. Even if I have to go to New Obernzell and find Krampus. He'll know what to do. Hopefully.

The ground trembles beneath me as I take the first step back. Heavy footfalls make the bushes quiver. My heart slams against my ribs in wild panic.

Shit. Too late.

I tighten my hold on the child as a huge shadow looms between the trees across the clearing. Massive, both tall and large. A part of me relaxes.

It's just a bear. Not that a Kodiak wouldn't kill me in two seconds flat, but that's better than...

Wait. Bears don't wield weapons.

The creature steps into the light and my head blanks. I can only stare.

An immense green monster, over six feet tall, with muscles bulging and eyes burning with bloodlust. It's clearly a male. He's naked from the waist up. Twin tusks rise from his jaws like those of an elephant, pointing up. He carries a hatchet just like the one that killed the woman.

No bears. Just monsters.

I scream. It's stronger than me. The surprise, the fear, the sheer panic. It's an instinct so primitive—recognizing when you're prey. When there's a predator staring at you.

The creature halts, surprise flickering across his features, replaced all too quickly by a renewed determination.

To kill me.

He's not as surprised at seeing me as I am at seeing him. He lunges—two strides of those long legs allowing him to get too close, too fast.

Realization is an icy finger down my spine. My stomach plunges.

I'm going to die.

Whatever this world is, whatever this monster is, I'm in over my head. I shouldn't have come. Simple as that. I shouldn't have defied common sense. How could I have been so stupid? So arrogant?

There's not enough time. The backpack is too heavy. I can't outrun him. He's too big.

I whip around and fall to my knees. Clutching the child tight, I brace for an impact that will be the end of us both, hoping the backpack takes most of the damage.

At least neither of us is dying alone.

A sickening rip tears through the silence. My ears pop and I wait for the pain to explode, my body going tense. I squeeze my eyes shut, waiting for the agony that doesn't come.

The air thickens, heavy with the scent of iron and fear. My heart beats so loud I hear nothing else. I open one eye.

Wait. No way. There's no way.

I'm… alive?