I stumbled and crashed face first into the floor, barely breaking the fall with my hands.
Screeching, I caught Azazel and Azmodea’s alarmed looks as I was dragged over the ground away from them at mind-boggling speed. I scraped over stone and jagged pebbles, my dress bunching up around my waist, my limbs flailing helplessly.
It all happened so fast. One moment I was leaning against the wall trying to get my bearings, and the next instant I disappeared down a dark hole, hauled by something with sharp teeth lodged tight in my ankle.
Darkness closed in, walls streaming by. The beast pulled me farther back while I grasped in vain to get ahold of the walls, the floor, anything to stop my descent into what seemed to be a small tunnel…like the burrow of an animal.
“Azazel!” I cried, hopeless though it was. I’d barely fit through the hole, and the sides of the tunnel touched my shoulders and hips… Azazel wouldn’t be able to come after me, and neither would Azmodea—she was taller than me, the tunnel much too narrow.
I screamed as the beast hauled me around a bend and my back and head hit the walls. Vision blurry, head ringing, I lost sight of the burrow’s entrance. Around a curve again, down another path, turning another corner.
Crap.
If there were other tunnels forking off this path, I’d be wandering this labyrinth trying to find my way back should I somehow manage to fight off this monster.
My entire body ached and burned, my bones rattled, my skin abraded and raw from all the dragging across the ground. No matter. I needed to prepare. At some point, the beast would be far enough into its den and begin eating me. I had to have a plan.
Groaning and wincing, I managed to pull one hand down along my body—which was extremely difficult considering how narrow the tunnel was, giving me little room to maneuver, not to mention the continued hauling jostled me again and again. Hand near my hip, I fumbled for the dagger.
There. Thank fuck it hadn’t come loose in all the commotion. I grabbed the handle, but stilled at the thought of accidentally gutting myself if I pulled it now while I was still roller-coasting over the ground. Given my penchant for clumsiness, an unintentional evisceration was a real possibility. Ugh. Okay, I’d just keep the blade sheathed for now, my hand ready on the hilt.
Another corner, another bump of my head—as if the initial pounding in my skull when I’d woken hadn’t been enough, goddammit—and then cooler air licked over my ravaged body. Unlike before, the sounds of my being dragged echoed in the darkness. We must be in a larger tunnel or cavern now. I flailed with my free hand, couldn’t reach a wall. Did I have enough room to stab the beast? Only one way to find out.
Heart thundering, fear tightening my stomach, I unsheathed the blade with my right hand. As fast as I could manage, I twisted toward my feet and reached out with my left. I needed to grab the beast’s head, so I knew where exactly to stab.
With only the pain in my ankle as my guide in the pitch-black, I made contact with something furry and warm. Before I could swing the dagger, the beast let go of my ankle with a growl and snapped at my left hand.
Excruciating pain exploded in my fingers. I screamed, but I thrust the dagger forward anyway, aiming for my hand clamped in the beast’s jaw. Even if I hit myself in the process, I was sure to slash the monster as well.
A thunking, wet sound as the blade met flesh and bone, the impact reverberating up my arm. The thing screeched and twisted. Gritting my teeth against the agony, I grasped blindly with my mangled left hand before the beast jerked away. My fingers closed around flesh and fur, and I held tight. Again and again, I stabbed with the dagger.
“I—” stab “—will not—” stab “—be—” stab “—your—” stab “—DINNER!”
Stabstabstab.
It took me a long moment to realize the beast wasn’t thrashing anymore.
Breath heavy and fast, I stabbed it once more for good measure then shoved it off me and yelled out my fear and anger. Adrenaline pumped through my veins.
“You motherfucking bastard!” I screamed and kicked with my good leg at where I figured lay the carcass. It was so satisfying to feel my heel connect with the body.
I was shaking hard, my teeth clattering. The reality of