Page 75 of The Beast of Ashwood Manor

“Then let him! This is his way of helping us, Cale.”

“How is abandoning us here helping?”

“Because if something happens to him, the curse can be lifted.”

I froze, blinking wide-eyed at him. “What?”

Edgar shook his head. “Don’t you know there are always back ways out of a curse? It’s why he didn’t trust us for so long, especially after Jared.”

“So, you’re just going to let him die alone out in the woods?” I yelled. “He’s taken care of you all for close to fifteen years, and you’ll just abandon him to save yourselves?”

“What do you suppose we should do? Take care of him ourselves? I won’t do it! But he’s tired, Cale. We all are.”

“Cale!” Eugenia ran up to me and handed me a sheathed knife. “Take it.”

“You want me to . . .” I tried to say the words, but couldn’t, and I instantly knew that it was real. The curse wouldn’t allow me to say them. “You want me to use this on him?” My eyes furrowed as I pushed the knife back at her.

“No.” She smiled at me, shaking her head. “I want you tosavehim. You’re the only one who can.”

The whole situation dawned on me; Gil was running into the woods for the final time to give the creatures of Ashwood what they wanted: him. He’d sacrifice himself for us, letting them all take him down. I couldn’t let it happen.

Nodding, I turned and ran out of the manor grounds and into the woods, entirely afraid but motivated by only one thing: to keep him safe.

I wasn’t sure what I expected to find in these woods, but it wasn’t going to be finding Gil dead, butchered by other creatures.

Taking a breath, I prepared myself, still holding the knife. It was long and very sharp looking. “Okay,” I said. “I can do this.”

As I rushed into the confines of the red trees, I expected to meet with monsters, but the only thing I saw was a trail of dead animals, the same beasts that had attacked the manor only moments before.

I made a face as I stepped around their bodies. Mary was right, there was blood all along the path, blending with the red leaves, but it also marked the leftover snow, and I wondered if the trees were drinking it in. It felt like they were alive, glowering down at me, and when I looked up, their branches rustled, and it sounded like they whispered.

I heard twigs break and whirled around. A small impish creature hobbled away before disappearing behind a tree.

“Watch the Wolfman,”came a whisper.“He will murder you like he has the others.”

My heart pounded, and I swallowed hard. I looked back, wondering if I should leave. Pulling up the hood of my cloak over my head, I raced forward, determined to find Gil. My boots crunched over iced-over snow, and I slipped before straightening and continuing on.

Moving this fast, it was easy to bear the cold, and luckily, it was still daytime. I only hoped I could find my way out by nightfall.

I must have walked for at least thirty minutes, following the dead animals along the way, some of them even small creatures who looked harmless.

Were they the threat to Gil, or the other way around?

Then a small creature, looking almost like a goblin in the book I’d read with Gil, saw me. It rummaged around one of the other dead bodies, as if looking for something. It bared its sharp teeth and then ran at me, tackling me to the ground, and I dropped my knife.

It tried to bite me, and for a minute, it reminded me of when the birds attacked me on my first night at the manor. I held it at bay with one hand, barely able to keep it off me, as my other hand searched for the knife. When my fingers hit the hilt, I grabbed it and stabbed it in its neck just as it came to my face.

It fell limp onto me, its blood gushing out onto my shirt, and I rolled it over. I yanked my knife out with a grunt and stood to my feet, panting. I looked ahead at the death trail, huffing, and continued forward.

AfterIslaughteredthelast of the beasts, I realized how far into Ashwood they’d led me. I always hunted as close to the tree line as I possibly could, but here I was, deep in the woods again. My only way was forward, as I’d made the decision to keep going and fight until something took me down.

The fifteenth year of being in this horrid place was approaching. I had to act now if I wanted to save them all. I had to do it, for them. For Cale.

He could never continue to love me after seeing me in this state. Just as Jared couldn’t, or the others. I had seen it in all their eyes before. The fear, the hatred for me. And yet . . . Cale’s voice still echoed in my head, crying out for me even after I had changed.

An act,came a voice.He despises you for what you are. He only wanted to show you his disdain.

I slashed at a small tree, splintering the wood, and growled at the beast inside my head. He had the most control right now. It was only a matter of time before it took me over completely.

---