Chapter 18

Sidnee's eyes were fixed on something behind me, wide with fear. I turned to see what had made her turn sheet white, though I already knew. Black smoke was writhing through the trees behind us. ‘God save us,' she whimpered.

Thomas grabbed her arm. ‘Run!'

We took off over the top of the mountain and down the other side. It was foolish to run so fast – there were plenty of cliff edges and lots of scree to slip on – but we had little choice. Death by plummeting or death by beast. I felt a shade hysterical. I didn't want death at all! I'd already done the death thing once and it hadn't agreed with me.

Thomas took the lead, dragging Sidnee with him. Connor and I stuck together a few steps behind them. Thomas stopped at the edge of a steep precipice and indicated that we should veer to the left.

As I teetered on the edge, I saw something on a ledge about twenty feet down. Alpine azalea. The little flowers were dying and dropping off, but the pink caught my eye. ‘Oh my God! It's there!' I cried. That caught everyone's attention and I suddenly realised that they probably thought I meant the beast. ‘The plant,' I clarified. ‘It's down there.'

‘We've got to go!' Thomas reminded us. "It"s right behind us. Move!'

I ignored him; I was already climbing down and Connor was right with me.

‘Come on, the beast can't fit down here,' I said confidently, even though I had no idea what its capabilities were. The ledge was barely fifteen inches wide and it would be hard for any of us to stand on it for long, let alone a giant marauding beast. I hoped my friends were good rock climbers because we'd either have to go up and brave the beast or go down about fifty more feet to a less steep part of the mountain.

I had no climbing experience but I trusted my athletic body and my vampire strength. I could absolutely do this. Probably. I clung to small protruding rocks and brush and slowly made it down to the ledge.

Connor was behind me so I slid as far to the side as I could on the narrow ledge. He looked as if he knew what he was doing because the second I was out of the way he descended at twice the rate of my trembling progress.

I looked up to see Sidnee start down, miss a handhold and slide down about five feet. My breath caught and my heart beat an extra thud in my chest. She grabbed a branch and steadied herself. Connor was standing below her in case she fell, hands outstretched ready to catch her, and he only stepped away when she joined us on the ledge. Thomas, of course, was smarter and came down on a rope. Dammit, I didn't know we had a rope!

The beast howled its rage from the summit, its smoke and red eyes peering over the edge at us, then it started down head first like Dracula. I shut my eyes and opened them again; it was over the cliff edge and heading for us. ‘Cut the plant,' I yelled. ‘We have to get off this ledge! It's coming!'

Thomas whacked half of the plant with his machete. I grabbed it, opened my bag to put it inside – and gasped. Two golden eyes winked out at me. No wonder my bag had felt so heavy – I had a stowaway. The weight wasn't biscuits; it was motherfucking Shadow!

The kitten spotted the smoky beast over my shoulder, leapt out of my rucksack and bounded towards it. His own shadow magic lifted from him and his tendrils of smoke went to confront the beast's. ‘Shadow!' I yelled. ‘You get back here right this instant!'

‘He's saving us,' Connor barked. ‘Don't waste his efforts. He knows the way to the barrier. Move!' He shoved the azalea into my rucksack, closed it and shouldered it.

My heart rate was almost at human speed. My panic was at a level I'd never experienced but that increased my adrenaline. I couldn't leave my cat in order to save my dog! My heart was breaking. My gorgeous, brave – stupid – Shadow!

As Thomas reached for his rope, it brushed against the beast, broke on contact with the black smoke and tumbled down to us.

Thomas didn't miss a beat and immediately looked around for somewhere else to tie it off. There was nothing but the remnants of the alpine azalea bush. No way was that strong enough to hold any of us.

The black smoke was battling with Shadow. My kitten's yowls and hisses filled the air but I couldn't see where he or the beast began. If I sent in a fireball, I'd risk hurting my baby!

Finally Thomas tied the rope around Sidnee, and he and Connor lowered her down the cliff face using their body weight to keep her steady.

The reality was that Connor and I could take our chances. If we fell, we might suffer broken limbs but we'd heal with some blood. More urgently, we needed the beast off of our asses and away from my Shadow.

‘Shadow!' I shouted. ‘Get away! Flame time!' I didn't know whether he was smart enough to understand me – he was not Fluffy. Then, with relief, I saw a small patch of Shadow disentangle and head back towards me. That was all I needed.

My fire was raging in my centre; fear for my fur baby amping it up to whole new levels. I had to make the hit count. If I couldn't kill the beast, at least I could discourage it from following us long enough for us to get to the barrier. But I needed to be closer. I skirted along the ledge until I was as near to the beast as I could get. Connor and Thomas were still working double time to get Sidnee to safety.

Shadow barrelled towards me and leapt up next to me. ‘Good boy,' I praised him. ‘Clever, clever boy.' Whatever he'd done, it had definitely injured the beast; its progress towards us was far slower than it had been before.

The fire within me was so hot it felt like I was scorching from the inside out. With a cry, I held out my hands to direct the flames, channelling them through me – and then I let go. A huge, scorching fireball launched from my hands. The blast was of such strength that for a split second I could see the huge wild cat at the centre of the inky shadows.

It looked a lot like Shadow. Oh fuck: Shadow and the beast were the same species!