Page 61 of Into the Night

Griffin won’t be happy if I do this. Nobody might see it, but when they realise that I’ve set it off, I might make the situation worse. But when the scent of Griffin’s blood reaches me, I know I must do something. How much worse can it get than this?

Planting my feet firmly on the ground, I point the flare skyward. The gap in the tree canopy over the cabin gives me plenty of clear blue to aim for. And I fire.

Mesmerised, I watch the red light shoot higher and higher with a loud whoosh, a trail of smoke curling behind it.

And for a couple of seconds, there’s absolute silence.

Jed’s growl breaks the quiet, followed by footsteps. He’s coming for me. The sounds of fighting resume, and I hear Griffin snarling viciously, trying desperately to get away from Red and Eddie.

I duck down, keeping tight to the wall, and inch painfully slowly back toward the porch, using my fingers on the ground to keep my balance. Steadying my breathing, I peek around the corner, checking for Jed’s location, or anyone blocking my path back to the front door.

Jed is stalking toward the far side of the cabin, and I’m relieved to see nobody waiting for me on the porch. Time to make a run for it and get inside to relative safety.

Griffin’s crouched low on the far side of the clearing, blood dripping down his side, with two beasts watching him, chests heaving, and a myriad of injuries covering their muscular bodies. At least Griffin’s in better shape than them. His eyes dart to me. Right when I see the fear flash across his expression, and realise something is very wrong, a twig snaps behind me.

Sighing, I close my eyes, swallowing back the terror rising inside me, and push to my feet.

The other beast has decided to join in.

“You shouldn’t have done that, Kali.” Martin hisses, hands raised defensively in front of me. “Now, I’m going to make you regret that.”

I take one step backward, then another, adrenaline pumping through my veins.

He advances, his long strides eating up the distance.

My beast rises to the surface, ready to take over, despite neither of us being back to full health. When I growl, warning him to keep away, he smirks, not even remotely concerned.

“I heard what Serena did to you. Do you really think you’ll stand a chance against me if you couldn't handle a pathetic female like her? Just give up.”

My beast doesn’t like that idea one bit. She pushes forward, but I still can’t shift, not yet.

With only one option left, I turn to run, but just as I thought, Martin’s on me in an instant. Big arms band around my waist as he lifts me clean off the ground, and his claws puncture my stomach and hips.

“Time to end this prophecy, once and for all,” he whispers, hatred thick in his tone. Martin presses harder, making each wound deeper, and I cry out.

We went to school together. He wasn’t friendly with me, nobody was, but he wasn’t one of the cruel ones, either.

What have I done to make them all hate me like this?

Griffin lets out a deafening bellow as he sees me get captured. Before he can move toward me, Jed takes the opportunity to pounce, gripping a mouthful of Griffin’s flesh between his jaws. Griffin howls, thrashing about in Jed’s grip, not caring if he’s making the damage worse, just wanting to get to me before Martin rips me apart.

But it’s not over yet.

My fingers wrap around hard plastic in my hand. I yank my fist free of my hoodie and drive it back over my opposite shoulder, plunging the sharp blade of the paring knife deep into his neck. I shudder when it hits bone and let go immediately.

Blood, warm and coppery, spurts out of him, instantly coating the back of my shoulder and my clothes.

He drops me, and I land hard on my hands and knees, crawling forward quickly to get out of reach before flipping onto my back, so I can keep him in my sights.

I don’t think I need to worry about him coming after me again.

Martin stumbles, hand pressing down on the wound to stop his blood from streaming out. Eyes wide, he stares horrified at the heavy slick of red flowing down his arms and chest, knowing nothing is going to stop that. Not accelerated healing, not medical attention, and not his bare hands.

“You fucking bitch,” he mutters, right before he keels over to the side, and after a few seconds of gasping and twitching, goes still.

Stunned at what I’ve just done, I push down the urge to vomit into the dirt and focus on Griffin, who’s trying to fight Eddie off him, with Red’s hind limb clamped between his jaws. Jed roars, resuming his march toward me, eyes flashing angrily, and teeth bared.

My blood runs cold. I’m in big trouble, and Griffin’s too far away, and too busy to get to me.

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