Page 76 of A Monstrous Claim

At the first sign of light, I spring forward with the knife in my hand. I swing at the Malev, slicing across his arm, and an ear-splitting shriek explodes from its mouth. My feet hit the ground and I swing again, slicing across its chest, before thick hands grab me and knock the dagger from my grip.

“Feisty.” The Malev clutching me bends down and smells my hair, and I fight against his grip. He’s stocky, with mustard-colored skin and has enormous tusks curving toward his chest. “How I’d love to taste her flesh.”

“No,” one of the others snaps. I can’t tell who speaks, but I guess it’s irrelevant. They’re all ugly, hulking, and gnarly. “We can’t kill her yet. Must deliver.”

Without many more words, the Malevs head for the door, which has been knocked off its hinges, and stomp their way down the hall. The one that grabbed me throws me over his shoulder before following the others. His tough, knobby skin digs into my stomach, making me wince.

I have no idea where they’re taking me, but they’ve obviously been recruited by someone to retrieve me. Whoever wants me knows about the rumors, and they think I’m a lot more special than I am.

It can’t end like this.

“Elio!” I scream. It’s difficult to yell loudly being upside down and having the breath squished out of me.

The Malev jostles me to shut me up, but I ignore him.

“Az!” My voice echoes off the walls.

“Shut up before I rip out your tongue.” He hisses. “Boss didn’t say anything about a tongue.”

I clamp my mouth shut as we hit the stairs, saving my voice for when we get outside. There’s not much use yelling inside the mansion anyway—the boys probably can’t hear over the commotion.

We emerge outside through the back door and head directly for the tree line. I push myself up as much as I can and look around, but there’s no sign of my mates.

“Elio! Az! Rafe!” I scream.

I strain my ears for a reply, but all I can hear are the steady grunts and growls coming from the other side of the house.

“AZ! ELIO!” I yell at the top of my lungs as the distance closes between us and the trees. It’ll be much harder to catch up with us in the woods.

“RAFE!” I draw out the word until my voice cracks apart, and I slump in defeat.

The lack of oxygen from screaming has made me lightheaded, and the world sways. I can swear I see a black shadow racing toward us, but it could also be that my vision is starting to fade as I slip into unconsciousness. The latter is more likely.

I hardly believe my eyes when the shadow barrels into the Malevs ahead of us, sending them flying. I push myself up again, craning to see what’s happening, but it’s mostly blocked by the buffoon whose back I’m on. I punch him in the side out of spite, but he doesn’t even flinch.

The Malev carrying me darts forward, hurrying for the trees, but stops short and goes rigid beneath me. Craning to look around him, I see the bottom half of an impressive black form, and I have to assume it’s Rafe.

“Drop the girl.” His voice is unmistakable.

The Malev releases his grip on me, and I slide off his shoulder. I barely have time to throw my arms out to avoid landing on my face, and I roll over to see Rafe snap the creature’s neck.

The Malev drops to the ground and doesn’t move again.

I look passed Rafe, at the collection of bodies on the ground. He’s killed the rest of the Malevs from the troupe that broke into Elio’s room. And he did it in a few seconds.

My eyes climb his body slowly, struggling to take in what I’m seeing. He’s an enormous black form rippled with muscles, but he’s also smoke. He seems to hover somewhere between them, and the entirety of his eyes are red.

A figment of my worst imagination. This man is fear incarnate.

And he just saved me.

“Rafe—”

“Devyn!” Azarius’s voice breaks through the night, and he’s by our side in a second. He’s covered head to toe in blood, most of it black and belonging to Malevs. The scratches he obtained are already healing, closing themselves while I watch. “What are you doing out here? You were supposed to be upstairs.”

Elio drops out of the sky and lands next to us a second later. “What the hell happened?”

I open my mouth to fill them in just as Rafe turns on the spot and walks away. I watch him go, full of conflicting emotions, but Az and Elio are eager for answers and my mind is a mess.

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