Page 58 of Faun Over Me

“If you’re going to lecture me about proper attire for a young lady, save it,” Avery grunted. Her arm tightened around Cricket, and she hefted them both to their feet. Well, her feet and Cricket’s one hoof. “And seriously, what are you doing here?”

“I came to—” she wheezed, then coughed, then hacked and panted. “Came to wa—”

“Oh, my gosh, don’t talk, you disaster.” Her tone was dry and so exasperated that Cricket couldn’t help but huff a hoarse laugh. “We need to get back to camp. There’s a trail right—”Avery dropped from beneath Cricket’s arm, her words transformed into a scream as she was yanked away.

24

Cricket

For the second time in minutes, Cricket crumpled to the ground, her injured ankle and hoof barking in pain. She gritted her teeth, pressing against pine straw with one hand and reaching for Avery with the other.

She shrieked, kicking wildly with one leg and clawing at the earth as she was dragged across the glade and lifted into the air. Blood runneled down her pale calf in black, twisting lines. The plaited tail of her hair whipped around as she kicked and hissed, unable to reach the monster.

Half the deer skull mask had shattered from the impact of Avery’s tree branch, and one bilious eye squinted at them in fury. The beast curled his lip, revealing blood-stained gums and a cracked canine. “This is even better. Those idiots will see two faun tearing Elizabeth Payne limb from limb.”

“No!” Cricket rasped.

“Troy, you dick!” Avery wriggled and kicked out, landing her heel in his ribs. The beast winced but held tight. “Put me down!”

“Okay.” He released his claws, and Avery grunted as she hit the ground. She was quick to roll over, far quicker than Cricket would have thought—faster than Cricket could even react. Avery flipped onto her stomach, the toes of her sneakers digging into the ground, launching herself away from Troy.

He was faster, though, and snagged her by the ankle. Avery shrieked as she was dragged backward and again raised by the leg, blood now running in a liquid sheet up her shin. She slipped in his grip—No.

Bile surged up Cricket’s throat as she realized Avery hadn’t slipped. His claws had sliced deep, shredding flesh and muscle.

All sound cut out. The woods fell unearthly still as the scene played out before her. Avery’s mouth opened in a silent scream, tears leaking from her eyes, across her temples, and into her hair. The beast, the Georgia Man, Troy, pressed out his chest and threw his head back, howling to the moon. His free hand wrenched twigs from a tree and shoved them into the remains of the bone mask like antlers.

“No.” Cricket pushed her to hooves, stumbled, and caught herself on a knee. Sound crept back in. Avery’s whimpers and cries, Troy’s sharp and manic laughter. “No!” She lurched upright, limping across the glade. Her ears swiveled forward, intent on the threat, as her eyes scanned the ground for any weapon, any tool. Avery’s tree branch lay snapped in half, too far to reach. No rocks, no jagged stones. Nothing but pine straw and dirt. “Let her go!”

“Or what, little deer?” He leveled the full force of his mad gaze at her, yellow eyes bright and feverish. Hungry. He tightened his grip, the muscles in his arm bulging beneath sleek fur. Avery, Gods, Avery. Her face had gone pale when it ought to be flushed from being held upside down. Pale and soft, her eyes glazing over and rolling back into her skull.

Beams of light cut through the trees, closer now. Shouts and hollers echoed and drew near. Troy glanced at the approaching counselors and campers, his grin spreading with lupine ferocity.

“Showtime.”

He swung his arm, releasing his grip on Avery as he did. Cricket lurched for her, too slow on her injuries, too dizzy from being strangled. Avery hit the ground with a terrible thump, rolling onto her side, and Cricket was there a heartbeat later, gathering her into her arms.

Troy prowled the edge of the glade, a low growl rumbling in his chest, primal and terrifying. Instincts warred within Cricket. The inborn faunish desire to run! Predator! Run, flee, hide! at odds with her desire to gather Avery to herself. To keep her safe, to soothe her pain and fear away. It took every nerve, every last bit of will for Cricket to keep moving. She crawled across the glade on hands and knees, reaching for Avery as a Gods-be-damned werewolf watched her every move.

The moment she had her hands on Avery, Troy snapped his jaws and dropped onto his palms, his twisted body gruesome in its shifted shape—humanoid and monstrous. Caught between wolf and man. A froth built at his mouth, those yellow eyes burning behind the deerskull. He looked rabid, bordering on insane with his desire to ruin the faun and for what?

Troy gnashed his teeth, his growl building in volume. The stink of decay washed over the glade, and a beyond-cold lick of fear dribbled down Cricket’s spine. Terror filled the woods, replacing the hot, humid night with a cave-like chill.

“Time’s running out,” Troy jeered. His voice roused Avery from her stupor, and she flopped onto her back, eyes going wide and round at the sight of the werewolf pacing nearer. She screamed, digging the heel of her uninjured leg into the ground, pushing herself away from Troy and into Cricket’s arms.

She hauled Avery close. Pressed chest to back, their frantic heartbeats matched in a terrified cadence. Gods, they were both too injured to run. This was it, there was no escape, no shadowed breezeway to hide in.

“Over there!” A voice shouted in the wood, deep and masculine.

“Oh, my God. Is that … an elk?” Another hollered.

Troy glanced in the direction of the shouts, head cocked as he listened, before returning that vile gaze to Avery and Cricket. He bunched onto his haunches, lips curled back, teeth ready to rend and tear as he prepared to leap across the glade. “Out of time, little deer.”

Avery sobbed, trembling as her attempts to escape gave over to unadulterated fright. Cricket held her tight, brushing hair away from her temple and kissing the tears away. If this was it, if this was how it ended, she wanted her to know—

“You’re so brave, Aves.”

Troy’s growl rose, revving like the motor of a car. Fur bristled along his arms and neck.

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