Page 62 of Of Bone and Ash

“I’m not going to hurt you!” he snarls, catching me off guard when he swings again, and I’m not ready for the attack. Only, when his blade presses against my neck, making cold sweat break across my skin, I stall, confused when I don't feel the cold metal of his blade. Instead, it's almost soft, like a cushion of sorts pressed against my sensitive skin. He magically blocked his scythe from hurting me. What the fuck!?

“You’ve already hurt me,” I whisper, wanting to know what the hell is going on. A confused expression crosses his face as he keeps his hand pressed to his nose and I frown when his eyes scan over me, looking for an injury.

“What? When? We’ve only ever sparred? I never attacked with the magical intent to harm.”

“Serafina!” a familiar voice echoes like it’s stuck somewhere underwater, interrupting our conversation. I spin, eyes wide, searching for him. What the hell? How is Ryland here? Suddenly, the trees in front of me fracture, then split, floating through the air like a mirage. Blue magic breaks through the cracks, and I gasp as the world around me explodes.

TWENTY-EIGHT

Teos

One moment, I’m reaching for Serafina as she stupidly tries to shove Adam out of the way; the next, she's torn from my grasp as the forest around us shifts, lighting the tree with a scarlet glow that makes my heart stall in my chest.

“Bella?!” I scream, a fear I’ve never felt sinking its cold, deadly claws into my chest as I whip around, looking for my girl. There is no fucking way this is happening! Not when I’m finally wearing her down. “Serafina!” I cry out, the desperation in my voice making me sound like a man possessed.

“Adam. To me now!” Neva screams as the eerily lit trees stop spinning, leaving me feeling sick to my stomach as my eyes dart around, looking for the girl I know is no longer here. A foul-smelling smoke filters through the trees as Adam, who has ended up on the ground several feet away, pokes his head up and nods, running to Neva with wide eyes as the shadows around us start to shift, morphing into large shapes that stalk toward us.

The strong stench of sulfur hits me, along with the urge to gag as my heart races. I keep my eyes on the hulking creatures that start to appear between twisted and warped trees, slowly prowling toward us. Their paws hit the ground with a hissing noise as the heat from their bodies melts the frost that has formed on the grass and leaves behind scorched black marks as it goes.

“What the fuck?” I mutter, looking at the monsters in front of us. Their wolf-like heads snarl at us with gleaming silver fangs, yellow eyes tracking Adam’s movement as he steps next to Neva.

Black fur covers their entire body, with black spikes running down the length of their backs that glow yellow at the base, making the creatures appear like they’ve come straight from the pits of Hell itself. They have to be at least five feet tall, their heads coming to my shoulders, their spiked tails raised even higher in the air behind them.

“What is that?” I ask, taking a few stumbling steps backward as the monsters in front of us grow closer. The red glow of the forest fades, replaced with the warm yellow of the beasts with spiked tails.

“Hellhounds,” Adam rasps, his hands falling on Neva’s shoulders as he slowly pulls the girl back into his chest. His bright blue eyes are locked on the beasts with a mixture of awe and terror, whereas Neva looks like she’s two seconds from shifting into her Basilisk form and taking these monsters out. She’s holding a knife in one hand as she shakes her head, stepping toward the side and catching the closest Hell Hound’s gaze.

“Back to your room, Adam,” she demands, her words coming out more as a hiss than actual English, making it hard to understand. Adam scowls and crosses his hands over his chest as he looks at her, seeming far less scared than I feel he should be. Hell, I think I’m about to piss myself. I’m not sure if it's because of the damn monsters in front of me or the fact that Serafina has suddenly disappeared.

“No,” he says simply before looking around the area, taking note of me, then the Hounds before he starts to panic. “Where is Serafina!?” he shouts, looking at me for the answer.

“I don't know,” I grind out between clenched teeth as the Hounds stalk closer. There are four that I can see, and I can feel my Phoenix pressing against my skin, wanting out. I can almost feel her nearby, like a ghost haunting me, but I can’t see her!

“What?! Neva?” he asks, head whipping back to the small girl standing protectively in front of him. She actually rolls her eyes and lowers her hands like there isn't a monster only fifty feet from us so she can argue with the nerd.

“If you teleport back to your room, I promise I will find your new friend,” she compromises. Adam purses his lips and then shakes his head.

“No. Fina wouldn’t leave me in the woods, and I’m not leaving her,” he says stubbornly, just as one of the Hounds lunges at the two arguing people.

“Shit! Watch out!” I yell, letting flames ignite in my hands as I desperately throw the yellow and red flames at the Hound attacking. This of course, makes the other three hanging out behind the first Hound snarl before they also attack. Two come at me with a speed I’m not ready for. I manage to create a wall of fire that seems only to distract them momentarily rather than cause actual harm as I jump back, trying to put distance between me and these monsters from Hell.

One glance over in Fina’s friend's direction and I see a snake that is almost as tall as the damn trees, a Hound clutched in its mouth as venom drips from its protruding fangs. But a moment is all I can spare, then I try to shift, my Phoenix shooting to the surface, releasing a fire that heats to unnatural levels, flames bursting around me, finally seeming to make the Hounds take some notice, even if it's minor.

They pull up short as my wings burst to life at my back. I can't shift fully, not when I need to find Bella. There is no way for a damn firebird to carry a girl without hands, so a half-shift it is. I may not have a lot of hand-to-hand training like my girl does, but being a Phoenix does have its advantages. Besides the immortality that comes with the title, Phoenix Shifters are one of the only shifters in the Fae world with a large amount of magic at our disposal.

Murmuring a spell under my breath, I conjure a small shield, then thrust it out in front of me, hitting one of the Hounds and knocking it back several yards. “Hey! You need help?” a way too calm voice asks, startling me so fucking bad that I trip backward and fall on my ass.

Adam peers down at me and then smiles before he turns and casts a spell at the other Hound, which has circled the fire I threw on the ground for protection. A weird, almost portal-looking thing appears in the air just as the Hound leaps toward us. The portal engulfs the Hound, then winks out of existence. I stand up, glaring at the small punk for sneaking up on me, but can't bitch at him since he did just help me out.

“Where did it go?” I ask, and Adam smiles.

“I can teleport. But it's only good so far. It's about a mile that way,” he says, pointing further into the forest.

“So it's just going to come back?” I ask as I turn toward the Hound I hit with a shield. It's growling at us as it climbs back to its enormous paws, the odd yellow glow appearing in its flared nostrils as it paws at the ground like a horse.

“Yep, but now we only have to fight one at a time,” he says with a smile that I wish I could punch off his face. Why the hell is this guy so happy? I quickly magic a small blade in my hand, take aim at the Hound, and throw it, then cringe as it sails right over its weird head.

Yeah, well… guess I’ll stick to defensive magic then.

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