Moon-Kissed (Within the Darkness #1) - Amelia Hutchins Page 0,14

my own. Light terrified the creatures of darkness, or at least ours did. It drove them back into the shadows, forcing them to abandon their hunt of living beings. The reaper’s behavior was off, growing bolder with the new area to hunt inside.

My eyes filled with light, and my lips parted to whisper the words of a spell that danced on my tongue, forcing the beings to remain in place while the light pulsed through them. The reapers imploded one by one, folding into themselves until the sounds of their bones popping and cracking with their final death filled the clearing.

When it was over, my body sagged, and strong arms caught me, lifting me. I glanced into Torrin’s angry stare and then lifted my eyes to the sky, seeing something move directly above us. Slowly doing a double blink, I watched a body fall toward us from the sky.

“Move,” I whispered weakly, and Torrin sidestepped seconds before the body would have landed on us. I shivered and pressed my head closer to his shoulder, uncaring if I looked weak.

I knew how the body on the ground looked. It was a corpse, sucked dry of moisture and marrow, with nothing but skeletal remains left. It was in the beginning stages of becoming a reaper. Swallowing bile, I gagged at the putrescent odor and cadaverous, decomposing organs.

No one spoke as we backed away from the body of the fallen warrior. The loud screech that had ripped through the darkness, moments before he’d been plucked from his horse, sounded again. I was dropped to the ground as Torrin withdrew his sword in a lightning-fast move, slicing through the air like a whirlwind as the red runes on the hilt glowed, causing the blade to pick up speed.

Torrin wasn’t just skilled; he was freakishly fast, each swipe aimed with precision. Pieces of the creature dropped from the sky without it ever touching the ground whole. He had sliced it into tiny parts, cutting it in midair until chunks pelted the ground.

I didn’t move, didn’t gag at the blood now covering me from head to toe from Torrin, slaughtering the monster adeptly and skillfully.

Torrin turned, staring down at me with a look of annoyance while I studied the sword he had used. He cleaned the blade before pushing it into the scabbard, crouching down to pluck a sizeable chunk of rotten meat from my chest before cocking his head to the side, surveying my pale, glowing face.

“You fucking stink,” he announced.

“You just cut up whatever the hell that was on me. Did you expect me to smell like moonflowers?” I grunted, pushing up into a sitting position.

“I would have preferred it if you’d have tried to dodge at least some of the dead flesh falling from the sky.”

“I did, the entire…” Hissing started behind us, and Torrin exhaled, drawing his blade as the warrior turned reaper stood, spewing poisonous spittle at us.

Torrin stepped in front of me, barring the poisonous saliva from reaching me. He grunted, slowly lifting his blade. He spun and ended the reaper’s life before it had even begun with the first feeding. Torrin reached down to rip off the patch that adorned the uniform’s shoulder, pushing it into a pocket.

“Let’s move,” he ordered. “There’s a town a few miles away from here. We’ll find lodging for the night and tend to the wounded there.”

I stood, picking chunks of the creature off my skin. I started toward Chivalry, but a hand gripped my wrist, pulling me backward. Turning, I stared into frost-colored eyes that warned me not to push the issue of riding my horse again.

“I stink,” I whispered through chattering teeth.

“You’re also freezing because you did a strip show in the middle of the fucking mountains. The temperature is dropping, and you’re almost naked.” Torrin pulled off his cloak to wrap it around my body. “On the road, further down, is Alexandria’s cloak; retrieve it and let’s move out,” he ordered, sitting me on his horse as if I weighed no more than a feather. “Over there.” He pointed to a warrior who slipped into the woods, then returned with my soiled cloak.

I pulled Torrin’s earthy scented cloak around me and held it up to my nose. Silently, I inhaled the smell of citrus, masculinity, and sandalwood. He narrowed his eyes on me while I watched him, frowning as I found the combination enticing. His icy stare held mine, not looking away until I lowered it and scooted forward, giving Torrin