Page 74 of Land of Monsters

Mine.

Words hissed from my mouth as I tossed men out of my way. With a lash of my tongue, the Minotaur stopped in his tracks. Pain burst through my head, his size and strength fighting against my powers.

Warm liquid dripped from my nose. Grunting, I spat out the spell and watched Uta’s eyes inside the beast widen, his hands bringing his cleaver back to himself.

My legs dipped as he fought and wrestled against my magic, a bellow breaking from him. Gritting down, I struggled to force out every word.

The blade sliced across his thick throat with a gurgled cry. A scream filled my ears, blood spraying the room, drenching me. His head hit the floor with a thwack, his dark eyes wide, his mouth open in a cry.

“Raven! Stop!”

The name no longer meant anything to me, though the voice tugged at something deep in my core. It drew me in like a tide, breaking me across rocks to get to it.

Bodies dropped as my teeth ripped through them. The flick of my tongue gushed blood from their mouths until nothingmore came at me, my body heaving, searching for more blood to spill.

One by one, they fell at my feet, blood garnishing the walls and soaking the floor.

“Raven!” Hands cupped my face, green eyes finding mine. “Look at me.”

I fixed on his gaze, which held no fear—not of me, anyway.

Those eyes were my ground. My air. What made me burn with life, and what calmed the monsters like cool water.

“Ash,” I croaked, my body shaking as I returned to myself, dots impeding my vision.

“I’m here,mroczny.” His voice made me feel safe. He was the rock I could cling to. So I was no longer falling.

A moan pulled my gaze from him. Daciana‘s throat was slashed, but her chest moved up and down. Some were still alive, their shallow breaths wheezing in the room, but so many were dead. A bloody trail leading right to me.

“Ash…” Emotion clogged my throat.

“No. Look at me.” He kept his hands on my face, making my attention return to him. “Keep your eyes only on me.”

“I killed them…” Darkness took more of my vision, blood dripping from my nose and eyes. Terror fizzed up, a core fear of what Ash would do when he found out what I truly was. What I was capable of without thought. “Please, don’t leave me,” I begged, clinging harder to him.

“Never,mroczny.”His words were barely a whisper before everything went black.

Chapter 15

Ash

?

Deep in my hood, a cloak covering the bloodstained figure in my arms, I kept to the shadows. The cloudy afternoon dusted the narrow cobble streets with what little light was left in the day.

Getting Raven out was my only thought, her safety my first concern before anyone regained consciousness. My backpack was abandoned upstairs, so we had no money, no food, and no place to go. So many were after us, so many more willing to turn us in.

Especially now that the world was looking for the missing princess.

When Raven passed out in my arms, I noticed the newspaper on the table, her face in all her finery staring back, the headline dropping my stomach. Nowhere would be safe now. Headhunters, opportunists, and her own family were out searching for her.

They would take her away from me.

A fierce noise had worked up my throat. Picking her up and holding her to my chest, I carried her out.Mine.

My muscles shook after two hours of carting her across town, but I didn’t relent. Readjusting her in my arms, I pressedon. My body craved energy, needing nature, but snow clouds bristled overhead, dropping the temperature, shaking her bones. She needed warmth and shelter.

She needed a safe space to heal.

---