Page 31 of Beyond the Winter Kingdom
Chapter 8
Vareck
My eyes snapped open. The forest was still. Too still.
And in Evorsus, silence was deadly. The usual chitter of animals or brush of the wind was notably absent from where I lay with Meera. After the pool, we’d returned to the clearing and decided to get some rest. Meera fell asleep almost instantly, dragged under by exhaustion, secure in the feeling of my chest pressed against her back. My arm was draped over her waist, and our legs were tangled together.
In another time, another place, it would have been a luxury for me to be able to lay with Meera like this. Since the moment we met, nothing went as planned and it seemed the universe was equally conspiring against us as it was rooting for us.
But this wasn't a vacation. We weren't camping in some tropical forest. We were in the twin hells, and currently the only sound I could pick up was her deep, even breathing and the slow pounding of my own heart.
I listened closely, my fingers fisting in Meera’s t-shirt as I pulled her close.
From behind me, a single step made the faintest of sound. Then a second.
They knew we were here.
I inched my face forward, letting my lips ghost over my mate’s ear. Meera was curled into me, her brow furrowed in sleep, oblivious to the danger surrounding us.
“Wake up.” I spoke as quietly as I could manage, so as not to alert our visitors that I was aware of them.
“Mmmph. Five more minutes,” she grumbled.
“Meera,” I said, placing firmness in my tone. “Time to wake up.”
She groused, moving to sit up. I kept my arm around her waist, pinning her to my side. Meera blinked, the sleep clearing from her features in a second flat. “What are you ...”
The words died in her throat as the shadows shifted around us.
They emerged from the trees without a sound.
Dozens of them.
Not the usual forest predators one might imagine, like lions, bears, other apex predators often found on Earth and in Faerie. No, these creatures were tall, spindly things with shifting layers of skin. Dressed in rags and other makeshift materials, they stepped closer. At first, one might think they were faceless. While indentations marked where eyes, a nose, and mouth were present, the features themselves were missing.
The one nearest me stopped and cocked its head, as if regarding me. I slowly sat up, pulling Meera along. That’s when it happened.
The molding of a face stretched unnaturally across its surface like melted wax. It shifted to something human. Familiar.
My stomach twisted.
My own face stared back at me, impassive in a way that was unnerving. I shifted to my feet, years of combat training engrained in me. With one hand, I kept Meera glued to the front of my body, and with the other, I reached for one of the swords strapped to my back; Hex Cleaver.
A grin slowly stretched across the creature’s face.
“What the freaking fuck is that?” Meera stood instantly. “You know what? Never mind. I don’t want to know until they're gone.” Her voice was steady, but I could feel the tension radiating off her.
Magic hummed in the air around us as her eyes changed from hazel to an ethereal, glowing green. “Go back to where you came from,” she said, pouring persuasion into the order. Enough so that my own legs locked under her magic’s pull.
The Nameless paused.
For a beat, I thought it worked.
That for once, I’d make it out of an encounter with them unscathed.
Unfortunately, that was hope talking.
The one in front of us did something I’d never seen before.
