Page 71 of Heir of the Autumn Queen

I tell them about how I found Leo in the street and how no one was helping, so I came and put pressure on the wound while Pearl asked around for a healer.“He was fading fast, losing too much blood. So I thought I would try to hold the wound closed with my hands instead of just putting pressure on it, and next thing I knew, the gash had closed, as if it had never even been there in the first place.”

“Auri…” Shepherd says quietly.“That’s amazing.”

“Seriously,” Rowan says, regarding me with a sort of awe.“I’ve never heard of anything like that.”

I shrug again, not wanting to make a big deal out of it.“Like I said, I didn’t mean to. It was probably just a fluke.”

“Didn’t take you for the type to sell yourself short, Amberheart,” Rowan teases, but he strikes a cord.

“I’m not,” I say, annoyed, but trying to remain pleasant.

“Then why do you keep downplaying what you can do?” he pushes, raising his voice a bit.

“Because I’m scared, okay?” I yell. Rowan’s constant smirk disappears at my words and is replaced with a look of concern. I don’t even look at Shepherd out of fear of what I’ll see on his face; pity, most likely.“I’ve never once shied away from a fight, or had any problem with proving my strength or skill. But this is… this is different.” I’m almost whispering at this point, after exploding at Rowan.“I don’t understand it, and no one can tell me what I am or what my abilities mean, and it scares me.” I trail off, looking up at the sky to avoid their eyes.

“We’ll help you figure it out,” Rowan says with nothing but kindness in his voice as he reaches up and puts his hand on my knee in reassurance.

“Aurelia,” Shepherd says from my other side, placing his large hand on my thigh and drawing my gaze down to him.“You might not understand what you are, or what you can do, but you aregood.You’re kind, and smart, and tough as hell.” Shepherd’s thumb on my thigh moves back and forth as he talks, soothing me with his touch.“You’re a good person, no matter what you’re capable of.”

I hold Shepherd’s gaze as tears flood my eyes at his encouraging words. I didn’t know it, but I needed to hear that. Needed to know that I’m seen as more than what I may or may not be able to do. I wipe a tear away that had fallen down my cheek, and laugh softly.“Thanks.”

Feeling much lighter after getting my fears off my chest, we walk for the rest of the afternoon as Rowan and Shepherd try to outdo each other in recalling embarrassing stories about one another. While Shepherd has had some embarrassing encounters with females, I mostly find his missteps endearing.

Rowan, on the other hand, has done some outright stupid things, like getting so drunk that he kept shifting back and forth between forms until he passed out naked in the forest. He apparently woke up covered in fire ants, which were having a field day all over his naked backside. We all laughed so hard that we cried for several minutes when Shepherd revealed that particular gem of a story. But as I get to know them more, their vastly different humiliations only make sense, given their vastly different personalities.

We find Ekko and Lyker as the sun starts to set, about a half mile off the main road in the forest. Lyker has his arm slung around Ekko’s shoulder as they whisper to each other, heads tilted close together. I watch them for a moment, putting the pieces together. While I suspected that they might be more than friends, the kiss that they share now confirms my suspicions. It’s curious; they’re complete opposites, not only in their physical appearances but in their dispositions as well. But honestly, they’re disgustingly adorable. Though I’m thankful that they’re not overly affectionate with each other all the time, given the current state of my recent heartbreak.

They pull apart as we approach, but Ekko keeps his hand on his partner’s thigh in a familiar touch. They’ve built a fire and caught a rabbit, which is currently roasting over the flames to my relief.

I’m halfway through my dinner when the whole pack stops talking and looks into the trees, their bodies instantly tense as they listen to the sounds of the forest. Even in their human form, I’m sure their hearing is better than mine, so I put down the roasted hare and start to stand up, reaching for my bow. Shepherd reaches out and grabs my arm, looking into my eyes with concern. He gives me a small nod and we all stand, continuing to listen to our surroundings. It’s eerily quiet, especially for the time of day. The light is fading as dusk settles over the woods, a time when wildlife would normally be out in full force.

Out of nowhere, an ear-piercing screech cuts through the trees.

In the blink of an eye, the pack has shifted. Their clothes are shredded as bones change and lengthen, fur sprouts from every inch of skin, and hands and feet are replaced by enormous paws with razor-sharp claws. The only proof that the wolves standing before me were the males I was just eating with is their eyes, unchanged by the shift. I nock an arrow and watch the trees for whatever made that gods-forsaken noise.

The whole pack growls in warning and turns to the left, crouching slightly as they watch for the unseen threat. A creature that I can only describe ashorrifyingemerges from the trees. It’s a humanoid female, but she has talons instead of hands, and long black hair that hangs in wispy clumps from her otherwise balding head. Her naked skin is gray and sagging, her mouth full of blackened fangs as she watches us with hunger, as if she hasn’t eaten in days, or even weeks. Starved to the point where she can do nothing but what instinct allows.

Hunt.

Kill.

Feast.

I try to recall any information on demons or legends that would help me in this situation, and remember an account of a creature from the War of the Seven. Summoned by Aeron himself, theMordekawould disarm its enemies with a blood-curdling scream before tearing into their flesh and feasting on their entrails. I always thought it was just a scary story that parents told their children to make them listen, but apparently, it wasn’t just a fable.

“Please tell me that’s not a Mordeka,” I tell the pack, and my only response is a violent snarl from Shepherd as he watches the decrepit being move unnaturally closer, basically walking on all fours and cocking her head back and forth as she watches us with her crimson eyes.

The Mordeka stalks towards us, licking her pale, lifeless lips with a forked black tongue, tasting us on the wind. The pack moves as one to surround me, protecting me as I’m by far the easiest target. I take aim at the stomach-churning creature, but wait for Shepherd to approve the move.

I find his mind, the drum of his essence playing much more franticly than last night, in time with his racing heart.Can I shoot it?

We need to wait until it makes the first move, otherwise we risk enraging it.Shepherd tells me, mind-to-mind.

I swallow thickly and nod, never taking my eyes off the demon. My heart is pounding so hard it’s making me nauseous, the sound of my own blood thrumming in my ears threatening to deafen me.

Row’s going to bait her into attacking him, then we'll strike. If you get a clear shot, take it.Shepherd clues me in on the plan.

Not a second later, Rowan breaks from our ranks and starts stalking the Mordeka from the left, and her attention switches to him. She pounces on him in an instant, screaming while she tries to tear him apart with her talons. The other wolves leap into action in a flurry of gnashing teeth and scraping claws; it’s all happening so fast, I can barely keep track of who’s where. Rowan bites down on the demon’s shoulder, and she screams so loud I’m afraid my eardrums will burst. Rowan loses his grip on her and the other wolves cower for a moment to cover their ears. Their hearing being several times stronger than mine, I can’t imagine the pain it must cause them.

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