Page 42 of Wild Fated

“Destin—”

I held up a hand, and Lana silenced. I couldn’t hear anything.Not a damn thing.I took her hand and pulled her another step, just like we’d looped around the other houses. That’s when I saw it. High on the incline.

Bone Stalker.

Its gaunt, skeletal form slinking through the underbrush. Its bleached-white skin seemed to glow in the dim light, andthose eyes.

There was movement inside the cabin. This one housed a lone she-wolf. I motioned for Lana to stay put, but she didn't listen. Of course she didn’t listen. She stepped up next to me, her gaze hardening as she saw the creatures. "How can we stop it?"

I shook my head. "I don't know." We hadn’t been able to touch our packs. We could move through walls. If I charged, I’d move right through the damn thing.

The Bone Stalker moved with an unnatural grace, its limbs bending at odd angles as it targeted the cabin.

I clenched my fists, my anger boiling over. I had to do something. “Your friend. I think she sensed something back there. Maybe that thing will, too.” I pulled her forward until we stood right in it’s path, then moved to the side, hoping it would catch our scent and change direction.

It didn’t. Didn’t even pause. That’s when I launched myself forward and ended up flat on the unnatural forest floor so far away from Lana, she looked like she could fit in my hand. The Bone Stalker hadn’t even felt me.

I pounded my fists against the ground, my knuckles screaming. Then I forced myself from the ground. I couldn't do it. Couldn't save her.

I stepped forward to find Lana, but blinked. Where had she gone?

There. Directly in front of the Bone Stalker. She had the dagger in her hand, and there, as she slashed forward, the world ahead rippled. It was subtle, almost imperceptible, but I saw it. Like a shiver down someone’s spine.

Lana’s head shot up, searching for him. “Destin!”

He was already running, nearly slamming into her after two steps. “What did you do?”

Lana tried to catch her breath. “I don’t know. I think the relic—maybe we can’t pass through, but it can?”

Destin stared at the Bone Stalker still treading toward the cabin. “The dagger won’t kill it.”

Lana nodded. “I know. It slowed it down in the mountains, but it didn’t stop. The best way to kill dark creatures is fire.”

“But you don’t have a fire relic.”

Lana blinked. “I made the bed.”

My brow pinched. “What?”

Her hands were moving in front of her, the dagger swinging. “I thought about it. I thought about how much I wanted—” She caught herself, swallowing hard. “I thought about it, and it was there. Maybe with the fire, it would be the same thing?”

Lana’s cheeks flushed, but she closed her eyes, holding her arms out.

"Lana, what the hell are you doing?"

"I don't know!" she snapped. “Trying something.”

I couldn’t blame her for that, but the Bone Stalker was getting dangerously close to the cabin. “Lana?—”

“You said this place works on energy, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Then teach me.”

“Teach you what?”

Her eyes flew open. “How to feel it. How to move with it. Whatever the hell you were doing with the stones!”

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