Page 123 of When Death Whispers

Rad doesn’t flinch as something snarls in the distance. He slaps a hand against my back—not playful, not friendly. Just sharp enough to jolt.

“Move faster, human.”

His voice is low, tight. Controlled—but not calm. Like he’s holding something back and barely keeping the leash on.

I barely hear him over the pounding in my chest. My blood’s still guiding us, but it’s thinner now. Flickering. Like the tether’s dimming. Like Parker’s slipping further away.

That seems really fucking bad.

I swallow hard, fighting to keep my voice steady. “You wanna tell me what the fuck that noise is?”

Rad’s fangs flash in the sick glow bleeding through the trees. Not in amusement. In warning.

“They’re ringing the dinner bell.”

The shadows stretch beneath the twisted trees. Their limbs don’t sway—they reach.The ground beneath my boots pulses like it’s alive, like it’s breathing, like it’s hungry.

Every instinct in my body screams at me to run. I know that’s exactly what they want.

All predators want to chase.

Something shifts behind me. I whip around—nothing.

But now the clicking isn’t coming from one direction anymore.

It’s everywhere.

Above. Below. Inside my own fucking head.

It scrapes through the air in jagged bursts—sharp, irregular, wrong. Like a hundred tiny bones snapping. Like a skeleton rattling its teeth.

My skin crawls. I clench my fists, trying to suppress the urge to break into a sprint. “Nope. Fuck this. We need to move faster.”

Rad doesn’t answer immediately. His gaze stays locked on the darkness ahead, his posture stiff. But I see it—the subtle flex of his claws, the tight clench of his jaw. He’s itching to tear something apart.

“You think I don’t want to move faster? You think I don’t want to be ripping through this entire realm right now trying to find her?” His voice is rough, strained, like he’s holding himself back. Like it’s taking everything in him not to break into a sprint through the trees.

“But I’m not the one with the tether to Steorfan. And you can only bleed so fucking fast before you die like the fragile little human you are, Hobson.”

I can’t stop the growl from escaping. “I resent that. And the name’s Hudson.”

Rad’s hands curl into fists, claws biting deep into his own skin. “Yeah, well, she’s not just waiting,Hudson,” he snaps. “She’shurting. I know it. I know what that shadowy fucker does with his prey.”

That hits like a punch to the ribs. I glance down at the thin thread of blood glowing faintly at our feet, flickering, dimming. Shit. That’s not good. That can’t be good, right?

Rad’s eyes darken as he follows my gaze, and the air around us seems to thicken with the tension simmering between us. “Right now? You’re my best shot at finding Parker quickly. But you’re not exactly built for speed. So, unless you’re planning to bleed more efficiently—” He leans in, his voice lowering with a predatory edge. “I need you to keep that blood trail going. Or I’ll lose her. And if I lose her?—”

I feel the weight of his gaze on me, his hunger pulling at my gut like a vise.

“I’ll loseeverything. And if that happens... nothing survives me.”

I swallow hard as I feel him drawing my emotions in like a fucking vampire. The tension, the anxiety, the panic of being too slow—he’s savoring it, letting it strengthen him.

“Now move,” he demands. “We’ve got a hunt to finish and a Beholden to save.”

Damn right. We’re going to tear this realm apart piece by piece to find her. No matter how long it takes and how many dangers we need to face to get to her.

Suddenly, a branch cracks. Something breaks the treeline. I barely see it before a blur of limbs and jagged, too-wide teeth lunges for me. Instinct takes over and I dive sideways, barely hitting the ground before claws carve through the space where my chest just was. That was too close.

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