Page 83 of Unleashed

Aduun soared over her, a shadow amidst deeper darkness, and splashed into the water. The thing around her leg tightened painfully for the space of a heartbeat, and then the backward pull relented.

With no opposing force to resist, Balir fell into the mud, and Nina slid forward into his abdomen. He pulled her into his arms without pause, holding her tightly. His body was tense and trembling.

“I thought we lost you,” he rasped.

“Go back to the tree, Nina,” Vortok commanded.

But her attention was drawn instead to the violent splashes behind her. She turned in Balir’s arms to see dark shapes writhing in the water, to see Aduun battlingsomething.

“Nina, now!” Vortok roared before charging into the water.

Balir twisted, sweeping her behind him. “Back to shelter.”

Another flash of lit the night. It illuminated Aduun and Vortok, set the droplets on their fur aglow. Thick, tentacle-like vines with leafy growths were thrashing around the two, curling around their limbs.

Balir darted forward to join his companions. They tore at the vines with claws and teeth, but more and more of the tendrils surfaced. For a moment, Nina was paralyzed with helplessness.

I will not letanythinghave my mates.

Nina forced her awareness outward, seeking the creature that was attacking them. She picked up the rage and protectiveness of her valos first, flaring like beacons in the night, brighter than the lightning, and then…nothing. She desperately sought the connection, sought a way to break past whatever mental barriers the creature must’ve possessed, but her mind brushed againstnothing. There were no thoughts, no emotions, no instincts. Just deathly silence.

Her ability would be of no use to her here. Whatever that thing was, it didn’t possess a mind she could sense, much less connect with.

She turned and ran back toward the shelter, eyes narrowed, blindly seeking the large trunk and exposed roots. Her feet sank into soft mud with every step, slowing her down, but she refused to let it stop her.

When the dark shape of the tree came into view, Nina quickened her pace. Wiping rainwater and hair from her face, she dove into their shelter and frantically pawed at the ground, searching for her bag. Her fingers brushed over the strap, and she yanked it toward her. She worked it open and thrust a hand inside, searching for her knife.

I need to help them!

Her fingertips brushed over cool metal. Shifting her hand, she grasped the handle and pulled the knife free. She shoved the bag aside, crawled out from beneath the tree, and scrambled to her feet, following the connection she had with her mates back toward the water. Their growls and roars rose over the din of splashing water and falling rain, gaining clarity as she drew nearer to them.

Lightning illuminated her valos for a split second as they fought against the tendrils. For a moment, she was blinded, the image of their battle emblazoned in her mind until her eyes adjusted again and focused on the moving shadows ahead. The thunder that followed the lightning was deafening.

Rage — her own and her valos’ at once — flooded her. She entered the wildly rippling water and surged forward, ducking to avoid a flailing vine as she made her way to Balir. His fury blasted into her, laced with frustration and a hint of panic; though he fought with all his being, he was struggling. The torrential rain blinded him as much as the darkness blinded her. He was vicious, swiping with his claws and snapping his teeth, but still, the tentacles were overtaking him.

Nina dove forward, throwing herself upon the vines. She grasped them tightly, holding fast against their thrashing, and raised her knife to saw them apart one at a time. Something warm, sticky, and foul, splattered her hands and face. She gritted her teeth and continued her work, not stopping until every one of the tendrils around Balir had been severed.

“Nina, you—” he began.

“I’m with you! Just fight!” she yelled, slashing at the tentacles that whipped at her. She sliced several more before she shifted her gaze to seek the other valos.

Vortok was nearby, a bundle of vines wrapped around his chest. He grasped them on either side and pulled outward. Even over the cacophony of rain and splashing water, she heard the tendrils snapping, unable to withstand his immense strength.

A shadow of something passed in front of her and Nina flinched back, reflexively swiping out at it. She grunted as a vine wrapped around her middle and yanked her deeper into the water. It squeezed the air out of her, making her reel; her ichor-covered hands nearly lost hold of her knife.

Aduun and Balir were suddenly beside her, grabbing onto her arms to battle the vine’s pull, keeping her head and shoulders above the surface as the monster tried to drag her under. Another pulse of lightning revealed vines clinging to both valos, casting deep shadows over their straining muscles as they fought to keep not only Nina up, but themselves. She clenched her jaw. Her inability to take a breath threatened to unleash panic in her mind, the burning in her chest and throat threatened to overcome her power of thought, but she wouldn’t give in.

Tightening her grip on the knife, she struggled to lower the blade to the vines around her middle, but Aduun and Balir’s hold on her arms prevented her from reaching it. She couldn’t call out to them, couldn’t scream, couldn’t so much as whimper, but she still refused to panic.

Vortok. Can’t breathe. Help!

Vortok’s roar boomed behind her, louder and more terrifying than the thunder. Her body jerked despite the other valos holding her as something grasped the vine at her back. The pressure around her middle increased the point at which she thought her chest would collapse in on itself. Darkness, deeper than anything she’d ever seen, flowed in from the edges of her vision, and her head lolled. She refused to relinquish her weapon.

Then Vortok growled, and the vines were shredded apart.

Nina fell forward with a splash, water closing over her for a split second before she fought to the surface. Once her head emerged, she gasped for air, taking in several desperate lungfuls. The blackness in her vision receded, but her hair obscured much of her view.

A thick arm looped around her waist and lifted her out of the water. The pressure it caused on her middle was painful after the crushing force of the vine, but his hold released her a moment later, depositing her on relatively solid ground.

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