Page 62 of The Soulless Witch

The thing bared its sharp teeth and lunged. Allison shouted in warning, but I dared not look away from the monster as it rammed into me, trying to tackle me to the ground. I grabbed its wide shoulders, struggling against its height, and dug my heels into the smoldering ground to stop its inertia.

A low, unearthly growl reverberated through its body right before its jaw clicked an inch away from my face. I was forced to bend backward as its teeth moved dangerously close to my neck, but before that creature could tear it apart, a wolf jumped onto its back, sinking its teeth into the monster’s shoulder. The beast roared—the sound unlike anything I’d heard before—then let go of me and reached for the wolf hanging from its back. I opened my mouth to shout a warning, but the creature was already hurling her away. She rolled several times, hitting the fence of the house across the street. The others stood frozen in horror as they watched the monster throw its head back and roar. Then those red eyes were on me again, pulling out the fear I had locked deep down a long time ago.

Another one of my men shifted, rushing toward us. I couldn’t allow them to die tonight, not because of my stupidity. We had already exposed ourselves to these people and while the horrors of the night could help us get away with it, fighting this thing wouldn’t. I needed to get them out of here.

“Fall back!” I shouted, and the others exchanged a surprised look but didn’t move. “That’s an order! Get out of here! I’ll be right behind you!”

A shiver ran down my spine as I felt those sinister eyes on me again. I could swear the creature understood me. But this wasn’t possible, was it? This thing wasn’t a shifter or Fae or… what was it exactly? It had to be something demonic.

“Run!” I bellowed, just as the monster slashed with its nails. I ducked under them, ramming my shoulder into its abdomen and pushing with all my might. Something wet and slick made my grip on its muscled body slip, but the creature’s leg gave out before I fully lost my hold. We crashed onto the ground, rolling several times in the jagged rubble and still burning pieces, until we ended in one of the bigger fires. The creature growled, lodging its leg between us and kicking.

In a heartbeat, I was flying into the air and landing in what used to be the backyard—now it was nothing but a crater, with the debris of the home scattered in it. Wincing from the pain of the cuts and burns over my body, I pushed myself up, preparing to attack again. The creature rose slowly, watching me with narrowed eyes, then suddenly fell to all fours.

Was it hurt? It was hard to tell with that dark fur, but the sleekness…that had to be blood.This was my chance. If it was hurt, it would be weakened and I could kill it. I would worry about what it was when it wasn’t a threat.

I dashed forward, willing my hand to shift, so I could use my nails to slice through its thick neck. Surely it would die if I cut off its head. There weren’t that many living things that could survive that.

I was almost at its side, those red eyes watching me with a strange acceptance when I felt magic crackle in the air. A ward formed between me and the monster, giving me no chance to stop before it was too late. I ran into it at full speed and it tossed me all the way back to the crater. A flash of red hair caught my attention right before I crashed onto the ground, dust rising around me as I rolled to a stop.

I pushed myself up when I noticed the two blurry figures where I last saw the beast. If Allison and the others had gotten so close…

I ran again, jumping out of the dusty cloud, ready to strike. My step faltered as I saw the monster and the figure next to it. Her red hair fell in messy curls down her back, and a dress that looked like it was made of the sky pooled around her where she knelt.

“Get away from it!” I shouted without thinking, taking a step toward her. “This is…”

Another figure appeared in my vision, so fast that even my senses barely detected him. But there was no mistaking the scent of death and ice, of blood and wrongness as it wrapped around my throat.

“Roman?” I gasped, but instead of his usual passive smile, his face was burning with anger. His nails dug into my trachea just short of puncturing it, so I froze, painfully aware that if I made one wrong move, he could have my throat torn out before I could even strike him.

“What have you done?” Roman growled.

I studied his face in confusion, then my eyes dropped to where Celeste was kneeling next to the monster. She had her hands on the creature, a soft glow emanating from where they touched the pitch-black skin. The monster lay quietly, red eyes locked on her, and I realized with shock that there was no hostility in them anymore, not even a hint of that bloodthirstiness I saw earlier. It looked at her almost…adoringly.

“I asked you a question!” Roman snarled, his anger throwing me off even more than the fact that the witch was currently trying to heal that terrifying beast. “Why did you do this? Where are the humans that lived here? Did you kill them? Do not test my patience tonight, you damn dog!”

Anger flared in my chest, pushing away the confusion. I grabbed his wrist, digging my own nails into it, but even as the skin broke and the smell of death intensified, Roman didn’t so much as blink.

“I didn’t do any of this!” I spat. “I came to get some answers and then this place blew up! We were checking if anyone survived when this thing attacked!” I looked back to the ground just as Celeste pulled her shaky hands away from the beast’s body. She tried to turn toward us but lost her balance and tilted back.

My feet hit the ground as Roman dropped me, catching the woman just before she fell.

“Damn it, you’ve already used too much! Are you trying to kill yourself?” Roman hissed, the panic in his voice even more unsettling than the anger from earlier. Just who was this person? Not once had I seen him show even a sliver of emotion when we met. Looking at him hold another living being with such care, while his forehead was creased with worry, made me wonder if maybe I was hallucinating.

“Nym was badly hurt,” Celeste replied with a groan, pushing at his hands as she fought to sit on her own. Black blood and soot clung to her arms, but she didn’t seem to care. Her eyes flashed to the monster by her feet, then she glared at me. I waited for her to say something, but the beast moved and she crawled to its side as if I held no importance to her.

My stomach turned unpleasantly, but then the monster spoke—it actually spoke—and I was too shocked to think about what I was feeling.

“I’m sorry, I tried,” the creature, she had called it Nym, whispered, its black eyelids fluttering heavily as she ran her fingers over its face. There was no fear coming from her, no disgust or apprehension, even though that thing looked like it had walked out of someone’s worst nightmare. “I…I didn’t feel them until it was too late. I tried to fight and get them back, but…”

“Who was it?” she asked, light emanating from her palms again. Roman grabbed her wrist, but she snarled at him and he let go. It was the monster that stopped her, gently pushing her hand away. “Save your magic, I won’t die,” Nym said, its face twisting in an almost human expression of pain. “As long as you live, I will live too. You’ll need all of your strength. I’m not sure if even that would be enough.”

“What are you saying?” Roman frowned.

“It was a witch that took them.” Nym closed its eyes. “I didn’t see her face. She was wearing a mask, but her power…” Its eyes fluttered open again and it stared at Celeste with something akin to fear. “I don’t know how, but she is more powerful than you.”

“Once I get my power back—” Celeste’s hands balled into fists, but the monster shook its head.

“No, she is more powerful than you…even at your full power. I have never seen anything like it.” The creature said, and a surprised gasp left her mouth. “The witch didn’t trigger the wards, and it was like…like they had no presence, no scent, no trace. I only came running because the damn dog was barking too loudly. I could barely contain the blast of the explosion. It would have devastated the entire neighborhood had I not. But it was too late for the Martens. She had already taken them.”

---