Page 18 of Feral Guardian
I tie my pants off around my waist since they still contain many of my goods, then stuff my doubly pilfered blade into the back of my waistband. I tuck his key ring against my hip just in case and put my pin back in my hair before covering my head with a filthy bandana. I tiptoe my way toward the stairs above deck.
The stench suffocating my body makes me want to vomit again, but I swallow it back. I might just swim to shore to escape it. That’s a stupid thought. The water is freezing. I’d die before making it a hundred feet from the boat.
All is still when I make it up the stairs. The only sounds are rain pattering against the wood, the whipping of sails, and rolling thunder. A lantern hanging from the mast illuminates a body, still and stained dark crimson with blood. My eyes dart around the deckand find another body, this one headless. Another with a sword protruding from his back lies at the bottom of the stairs to the helm.
A massive hand clamps around my throat and I’m jerked backwards. I try to scream but my airway is cut off. Another hand comes up to my head. It’s clawed and dark. There’s a red glow about the claws.
The demon…
I grab its hand and pull it to my open mouth, then bite down. My newly added fangs slice through flesh and I rip with all my might. The creature roars in pain and I’m dropped to the ground. I suck in a deep breath and try to stand, but I can’t. My body is too heavy and my muscles too weak. I crawl on my hands and knees, making my way to the port side.
The demon grabs my ankle and pulls me back.
I roll, kicking down hard on its wrist as I scream.
The demon goes still, its claws poised to end my life. My gaze locks on its infernal red eyes, and its mouth goes slack with horror.
“Lily,” it utters in a deep, rasping growl.
My heart is beating out of my chest and my breathing comes in heavy pants. Rain splashes over my eyes and it’s difficult to see, but I know what’s before me. It’s not just some demon.
It’s Alastair.
His face is broader, teeth sharper, skin darker and etched with glowing red runes, but it’s him. There are horns protruding from his skull, but the Yegress’s life and Zephrom’s order runes clack together in his long, braided hair.
I gasp, deep and throaty, before my composure breaks and I wail.
He releases my ankle and falls back on his heels. I throw myself forward into his chest and wrap my arms around his sides. His body is burning hot, and safe.
Hisarms come around my back and he squeezes me tightly while his legs create a cradle to hold me in.
I’m safe. Safe. Safe. Safe.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispers, his voice a horrible rumble that should make me tremble in fear, but I’m not afraid. He was trying to protect me. He’d been trying to get to me.
“How is it,” I start, my voice wavering with a shiver. “That I’ve never known about this?”
I pull back and look up at him. The red of his eyes dims and his features shrink right before me until he’s once again the man I know.
“This is my magic. My curse,” he says.
I laugh. “A curse that just saved us both. Not so bad, is it?”
He runs his hand over the cloth covering my hair and pulls it free, then tucks my face against his chest once more.
My eyes track the bodies around us and then fall back on the lantern. “Burn it,” I whisper.
Alastair’s hold tightens on me. “Yes, let’s.”
He pulls me up, keeping me pressed against his chest. We walk to the mast and he grabs the lantern, then holds it out to me. I toss it under the awning of the captain’s quarters with a curse. The glass of the lantern breaks and oil spills across the door. Fire climbs up the wood and spreads.
We walk to the port side where one of the rowboats is secured. I want to help Alastair get it down, but he won’t let me go. Part of me doesn’t mind that. Part of me wants to stay pressed against his warm chest forever.
The boat hits the water and he turns me in his arms so he can look at my face.
“Did I hurt you?” he asks.
“Onlya little.”
