to heal.” I leaned over him and smiled down. “In the meantime, you’ll need plenty of bed rest. I think I can help with that.”
I knelt behind Dachev. I grabbed his leg with one hand, the knife in the other, preparing to cut his ham-strings. If I was stuck here until someone rescued me, I damned well wasn’t giving Dachev any chance of pay-back. As he writhed and screamed, in too much pain to try to escape—or even know what I was doing—I cut away his pant leg.
“What did it do to him?” asked a voice behind me.
The club-man stood in the doorway, weapon in hand. He stared at Dachev, baby-smooth brow wrinkling. His gaze turned to me, and he smiled, showing off an orthodontist’s wet dream worth of crooked teeth.
“I thought it was gone,” he said as he stepped into the room, club thumping against his leg.
“Maybe it stayed to play.” The knife-man walked in, a homemade blade in each hand. “Does it want to play some more?”
Still gripping the knife, I leapt to my feet.
“Do you see how I play?” I said, waving at Dachev, who was still moaning and writhing. “I don’t think I’m the kind of playmate you’re looking for. But if you both leave now, I’ll forget I saw you and—”
The club-man rushed me. I cast a binding spell, but my powers were too weakened, and it only trapped him for a split second before he broke free. Right behind him came the knife-man, the werewolf, and a redhead I hadn’t seen earlier. Another shadow slid in through the door, but I didn’t stay to see who it was.
I wheeled, ran, and smashed headfirst through the window. Quite the dramatic exit…though I’d rather not have been exiting at all. As much as I hated running away, I’d had enough practice rounds with these guys earlier to know I couldn’t stave them off for long in a fight, not without any spell-power. Better to get my ass back in those woods until I figured out how I was getting it back to my dimension.
As I tore around to the back of the house, running footsteps sounded behind me. I glanced over my shoulder. Knife-guy was already out. He swung back his arm…and I ran smack into a giant air-bag.
As I stumbled back, I caught sight of my air-bag obstacle—a man with three chins and a gut that could house a full-term pregnancy.
“Going somewhere?” he rumbled.
A blade sank into my shoulder blade. I twisted and kicked the knife-man off my back. The big guy grabbed me by the shoulders. I wriggled out of his grasp, and danced away…only to find myself surrounded. Even the bird-man had now joined the group, vines still dangling from his wrists, flat gray eyes simmering with fury.
“Six against one?” I said. “Now, that’s hardly fair. Tell you what, you guys pick a champion, and the rest of you just sit back—”
Bird-man, the werewolf, and the big guy all ran at me. I whirled out of the way, but the others closed in to block my escape routes. I looked around, found the clearest spot, then dove for it, casting a cover spell as I flew.
When I hit the ground, I vanished. Again, everyone stopped to stare in momentary confusion. Before they could recover, I sprang to my feet and ran for the forest.
44
WHEN I STARTED RUNNING, THE MEN WERE RIGHT BEHIND me, but soon they began to drop back, unable to keep up the pace. I kept waiting—hoping—for the footfalls to peter out, but I should have known they wouldn’t. These guys hadn’t seen a victim in decades, even centuries; they sure as hell weren’t going to give up the moment their first one took off.
I couldn’t take them all on. Trsiel had said the Fates would send someone after me if I didn’t return. The only thing I hated worse than running away was hanging around waiting to be rescued, but this wasn’t the time for a show of independence. The smart thing to do was hide and wait. Stung like hell, but the alternative would hurt a lot worse. Stand and fight, and there might not be enough of me left to rescue. It was my fault I needed rescue in the first place. Suckered by a magician’s pick-pocket trick. I could say it was an all-time personal low, but I’d be lying.
As I ran deeper into the forest, the night took over, enveloping me in black. I tried my