its back, they dodged life-threatening cuts at every turn.
No more. I stalked away from Leena.
“Noc.” She gripped my wrist. “I can feel it. I don’t know why, but I can. Let me try something first. And if I fail…” Her gaze slid to my blade. “I won’t get in the way.”
Everything inside me demanded I say no. But she leveled me with her hazel stare. Those eyes could tear through all of my constructs, all of my careful plans and rationalized defenses. She was an impossible force, and I didn’t have the strength to resist her.
Gritting my teeth, I yanked her toward the beast. “I’m not leaving your side. If it makes one move to strike you, it’s dead. Understood?”
She nodded. “Call them off.”
“Fall back!” I bellowed over the roar of the creature, and Kost and Ozias slipped into shadows. Without hesitation, they reappeared behind me. Calem didn’t respond. Lost in his anger, he continued to lash out at the beast.
Blow after blow connected with the Scorpex’s hide, but it only had one target now, not three. Sand dunes toppled to the ground as it whipped around and locked its gaze on Calem. And it struck. Fast. Its stinger barreled through the air and punctured Calem’s shoulder.
“Calem!” I made a move to run to him, but Leena had already taken off. She sprinted toward him, coming to a skidding halt just as the beast shook him off. Shouldering his body as it slumped to the ground, she placed herself between him and the beast.
Red-hot fury clouded my vision.
If you don’t kill her, we’ll have to intervene. The last thing you want is something unfortunate to happen, say, to one of your friends? The man’s threat ricocheted in my brain. One day. One day I had dallied, and this is what I got. A soft, jarring chirp shattered my focus, and I spotted the same bird from Midnight Jester perched on a broken palm frond.
Fucking Charmers.
The Scorpex shrieked again and shifted in the sand to bring its mandibles within piercing distance of Leena.
Leena. I dove into darkness and charged toward her, praying I’d reach her before this monster destroyed the person who could change my world.
A stunning rosewood light erupted from Leena’s frame, the same wondrous glow she’d emitted when taming Felicks. Warmth radiated from her center, and she stood tall before the beast. The fear I’d glimpsed in her eyes earlier had disappeared altogether.
“Go home. You don’t want to be here.” Hers was the firm tone of a mother reprimanding her child. This beast wasn’t even hers, and yet the love in her voice was real. Tangible. Something foreign and long forgotten stirred in my chest.
The beast shuddered. Sand shifted beneath its feet, and it sank lower into the ground.
It’s going to pounce. Darkness flowed, and I closed the remaining distance across the sloping sands in an instant. She was within my reach. I just needed to grab her, to bring her flush with my chest, and welcome her into my world of shadows.
Her light sharpened, battling against my darkness, and she reached out to place a gentle hand on the beast’s head. “Go.”
A heavy moan escaped the creature’s mouth and threatened to split my heart in two. Suffocating sadness poured from the Scorpex, and it whimpered beneath her touch. With a sharp gasp, Leena’s body started to tremble.
Intensified light shot outward from the space where her fingers made contact, and the groaning of a heavy door opening filled the night air.
“What…?” Leena didn’t move. All she could do was stare at the subdued beast beneath her.
Kost sped toward us with Ozias on his heels. “What’s happening?”
After a moment, her light faded, and the door creaked closed, taking the beast with it. Slack-jawed, Leena turned to face us. “I tamed it. I shouldn’t have been able to do that.”
Questions bubbled to the surface of my mind, but they were lost in the sudden wet gurgle spilling from Calem’s lips. “Fuck, that hurt,” he said.
“Dumbass. Noc told you to back off.” Nursing his broken arm, Ozias peeled back Calem’s tunic with his good hand and cringed. Dripping with blood and impossibly deep, a gaping hole covered in viscous green venom dominated the right side of his chest. “That will take a while to heal.”
Leena kneeled before him. Deft fingers swept across his wound. “He didn’t dislodge his barb. Good. Felicks can help seal the wound, but you’ll need to crush up some piffa root and pack it in there first. That