Hunting Fiends for the Ill-Equipped (The Guild Codex Demonized #3) - Annette Marie Page 0,91
Amalia,” I gasped. “Zylas, we have to—”
He heaved us up, got his feet on the wire, and sprang onto the steel beam. Pushing on my hips, he swung me around him. I clamped my legs around his waist, clinging to his back.
Zylas, I whispered silently.
A quiver in his muscles. The rasp of breath through his clenched teeth.
His fear flooded me. A hundred thoughts blazed through my mind in an instant. īnkav. A creature of his world feared by all demonkind. Strong enough to crush demon bones. Skin tougher than demon magic. Always hungry for demon flesh.
Never go to the warm swamps, where sour water wells from the ground. Never go near the water, never never. No demon, not even First House, would test those places.
Not strong enough. Can’t win. No dh’ērrenith. This is death.
Run. Run away.
I pressed my face into the back of his neck. “Zylas.”
He panted, fighting his terror of this nightmare creature. Another flash from his mind to mine.
A demon that looked very much like Zylas warily approached a still slough, the water coated in green sludge. The horizon glowed with the light of the setting sun, illuminating a landscape of swampy marsh, the foul water broken by a rough path of rocky islands and rotting clumps of vegetation.
Dangerous, dangerous. Not safe to cross. Don’t go.
The demon hesitated a long step from slimy rocks at the water’s edge, senses straining. He looked back—red eyes glowing in the fading light—then faced the swamp and stepped closer.
The surface of the slough exploded. A maw of spiky teeth surged out of the water, gaping and hungry.
Zylas’s memory flashed, surged, whirled too fast for me, but one thought, one feeling dominated—the result of that demon’s sudden death.
Alone. Alone now.
My fingers dug into his shoulders. I put my mouth against his ear, his blood smudging my lips. “You’re not alone.”
He sucked in air.
“I’m here with you. We’ll do this together.”
His face turned toward mine, eyes wide, nostrils flared as he breathed deep. His frantic thoughts quieted. Calm slid from me to him and back, our determination blending.
Together, we looked toward the helipad.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Waves lapped against the platform as it rocked with the īnkav’s movements. So much had flowed between Zylas and me, but mere seconds had passed. The creature had only taken a few steps, its back to us as it moved away.
Zylas coiled. I tightened my limbs around him.
He launched into a sprint. We flashed across the platform, and I stretched my hand out. Heat scorched my center, leaping from him to me. Crimson burned from my fingertips up my arm.
A rune formed behind the īnkav’s tail, the stump end leaving a trail of black blood. Zylas leaped onto the cantrip.
“Surrige!” I cried.
The levitation spell flung us upward. We soared above the creature as its head swung up.
A few paces ahead of it, Amalia was on the ground, frozen with terror, her glassy stare on the monster and her mouth hanging open in a silent scream.
We plunged down. Zylas’s feet smashed into the platform, knees bending, hands reaching. He grabbed Amalia and launched away.
Massive jaws slammed shut with a clap like thunder, barely missing his tail. Zylas landed and slipped on the damp concrete, struggling for balance with the two humans he carried.
The īnkav lunged, mouth gaping and neck stretching out.
Flinging my hand backward, I squeezed my eyes shut to picture the cantrip. Crimson gleamed through my eyelids.
“Impello!”
A thud of air, and the platform pitched. Zylas sprinted away, aiming for the pathway that connected the helipad with the shore.
An earsplitting shriek shattered the night.
Whether it was his legs that buckled or the slippery concrete, Zylas went down. We crashed to the platform and skidded wildly. Amalia tumbled in a roll and went off the edge with a scream that ended in a splash. I clung desperately to Zylas’s back as he slid, his claws scraping the concrete. Thunder filled my ears.
The īnkav charging.
A forefoot so large it spanned Zylas’s entire torso swung at us. A crushing blow. Spinning. Zylas hit the platform a second time, taking the impact on his elbows and knees, sparing me the bone-breaking collision.
He leaped away and teeth snapped, the creature’s hot, reeking breath buffeting our backs. It was so close—too close—and I realized we’d lost our chance. We couldn’t get away. The īnkav was right behind us, and it wouldn’t let us escape a second time.
The only way to survive was to kill it.
Impossible. I can’t.
My jaw clenched. Together, we have a chance. Just stay ahead of