She walked around to my other side, a slight frown marring her face. "There is something about you, however. Something not of this world, and powerful."
God, she was sensing Amaya.
No see, came her response, and with it a heat so fierce it burned into my spine. She was readying herself for battle, but it wouldn't do me a whole lot of good if I couldn't actually grip her.
I frowned, and forced every ounce of energy into trying to move something—anything. After a moment, my right hand twitched. Exhilaration surged. A twitch might not save me, but it was a definite sign that whatever it was that had frozen me was wearing off.
And maybe, just maybe, Amaya was helping. Until her heat had surged, my muscles had been totally unresponsive. As the thought crossed my mind, Amaya's heat increased, storming through my body like wildfire. Sweat began to drip from every pore. It smelled like fear and poison.
"I do not like this," the Rakshasa said, and raised her gaze to the shadows.
Again that murmur rose, the sound uneasy but vehement. The other Rakshasa wanted a kill, needed to taste flesh.
Fear threatened to choke me again. I took several deep breaths in an effort to remain calm, and kept my gaze on the Rakshasa. She was the immediate danger, not the ones who whispered from the shadows.
Her gaze came to mine again. She smiled, and in that instant I saw death.
My death.
Amaya's heat became even fiercer, soaking through every pore and muscle, until it seemed that she was becoming a part of me.
And I suddenly realized that was exactly what she was doing. Her energy wasn't just consuming me, it was shifting through me. She was moving through my flesh from her position at my back and, in the process, freeing me from the poison that held me immobile.
I twitched my fingers, my toes. Felt elation curl through me, and swiped down on it. Hard. Moving a few digits didn't mean I was out of the woods. I needed full movement to have any hope—and even then, the odds were still stacked against survival.
The Rakshasa knelt beside me again. She gripped my face, her sharp nails digging into my skin but not actually cutting. "Your reaper cannot find you here," she said softly. "You are ours to enjoy."
I swallowed heavily. Urged Amaya to hurry the hell up.