Page 57 of Hunted By Darkness

I only sensed him but couldn’t see the bloody thing. He was immune to my magic, so I wouldn’t be able to track him that way, but at least barriers still worked to keep the beast at bay.

The first movement was the quickest. I barely dodged it, but he hadn’t been aiming for me. The bloody beast had his eyes on the barrier I’d erected to protect the woman most important to me. Magic exploded out of me, constructing another in record time. The massive creature was thwarted by it at the very last second. It wouldn’t hold for long, but it’d keep him from getting to Nika before I could do damage.

We were on the clock. The lad only had ten minutes before he became snake food.

The monster reared its massive head. Grinning, I spun my sword and feinted to the right. It struck where it expected me to go, but I’d already disappeared to another spot. The stupid thing hit its head on a brick wall. Smarting, it recoiled with a violent hiss.

“He’ll try to break down the barrier protecting Nika first chance he gets,” I yelled over the loud sounds of the beast. “He wants her paralyzed for Poison to take.”

The oversized creature snapped out again, massive fangs arm-sized, but I evaded it the same way I had every other time. He was fast in this form, but not faster than I was.

Lev was on the other side of the beast, trying to smash his sword into its huge body to no avail. We moved along the length of the oversized creature, testing spots. Everywhere I stabbed, my sword ricocheted off its metal-like scales. I’d have to hit the same spot over and over to whittle down the strength of its scales.

I eyed the barrier trapping us, noticing the jagged web of cracks growing across the sides and top. Whatever Nika haddone, it was tearing through Poison’s barrier. Spikes of my blue magic shot out of me, helping it along. The sooner it was brought down, the less they could hold us inside the fumes. It’d ruin their normally flawless attack.

“We need to get to its underbelly,” I told Lev who’d worked his way to my side.

Venom’s scales shimmered as the giant thing coiled and hit the newly constructed barrier with the full force of his weight. It’d lost interest in us because we couldn’t penetrate its body and do damage. He didn’t have any reason to fight us now.

The wall of shimmery blue magic hissed and splintered. Kicking off the ground, I navigated the monster’s back and sought out the thinnest scales to weaken. He’d protect his underbelly before all else. I needed to find the spots he couldn’t. Lev ran at full speed to the top of the snake head. Lightning quick, his dagger struck one eye.

Clever lad. It was any wonder why I hadn’t thought of it first. Guess protecting Nika no matter the cost had gone to my head a little. I’d blame the rerouted blood sent to the wrong head.

The snake reacted with a vicious hiss, snapping its jaws at him. In all the reactive chaos, its body rolled perfectly to expose its sensitive underbelly. I didn’t waste time as the barrier I put together broke apart. I impaled my sword at one end and used brute force to drag it along its slinking form as far as I could take it, gutting the beast.

Blood the color and texture of tar poured out of its wound as the snake writhed from side to side. I’d withdrawn my sword with enough time to escape the violent thrashes, but Lev was thrown clear across the alley.

Bloody fucking hell…

If he hit the barrieranda brick wall at full force, he might not come out of it alive. My bird would never forgive me even if he did.

Magic swirled around me, and I disappeared before reappearing between the lad and barrier. Or what was meant to be a barrier. I wasn’t given time to confirm it’d been destroyed before Lev came hurtling my way. Arms out, I waited like an absolute twatwaffle to catch the airborne bugger, only for the lad to get caught and saved by a furry wanker.

Peeking around, the fumes and barrier were gone, and the giant snake lay slain, pouring black blood. Bear Claw had shifted back and helped the lad to his feet. Nika came over at a full run, and before I could stop it, she flung her arms around Bear Claw in a grateful embrace.

24

Nika

My heart was in my throat when Lev shot across my eyeline, heading straight for the building after taking a powerful hit from the monstrous snake. I wasn’t close enough to get to him, and my magic wouldn’t make it in time to soften the impact.

The giant shifter Silas gutted with his sword writhed and hissed, blocking my way. I dodged its wriggling body as black blood flooded the street in front of me, creating a treacherous path to navigate. I could only watch in horror as Lev flew head-first toward certain death.

Every imaginable outcome cycled through my head.

He could be injured but still come out of it with enough healing. I’d brought a few potions, and with help, we could make it back to others we kept at the safe house.

He could live but be severely injured in such a way that neither potion nor magic could fully recover him. The damage could steal his magic from him, or worse, his personality. I’d seen it before—injuries so great that Fae came out of it different, changed, vacant. It wasn’t much different to the humans we claimed superiority over.

Or…

He could die. No matter our intervention, an impact like that could kill him. I’d be forced to watch his soul leave his body, and this time I wouldn’t be able to put it back. I might even need to help him crossover if he refused to leave.

I’d already lost my mother, father, and grandmother. Maybe even Dugan. Losing Lev would destroy me. I wouldn’t know how to take on a demon without him. I hated how much I needed him, but I did. I couldn’t lose him.

Emotion crowded my throat so terrible it locked down my voice. The hands wrapped around mine tightened and pulled. Tometi and Ryker weren’t going to let me give up.

We started to run together, their strength giving way to mine. Then out of nowhere, Salvator swooped in and caught Lev midair. His large bear form soared with a grace it shouldn’t have. The ground shook when he landed, his shape instantly morphing into a man.

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