me froze, paralyzed by the sight of the massive carnivus essentially straddling me.
Beside me, Jax groaned. He hadn’t moved, hadn’t opened his eyes. The movement had come from the beast. “How about you go get food and bring it back, and I’ll guard the room. Someone should make sure this bed doesn’t make a run for it.”
Above me, the carnivus was silent. Its lips were pulled back, teeth bared and ready to tear us apart. I didn’t know what to do. If I moved, it would strike. If I spoke again, it might strike. Shit. If I took another breath, it might strike. This had “no win” written all over it.
“We’re not alone, are we?” came Jax’s response to my silence. My answer was more silence. The thing was staring down at me. I didn’t dare flinch. “We’re okay, Sammy. Just…just give me a sec.”
Give him a sec? For what? To try reasoning with the thing? What the hell was he going to—
The carnivus shot sideways, off the bed and into the wall. I scrambled upright. Jax had kicked it. He grabbed my hand, grip like iron, and dragged me from the bed. I tried to keep up but tripped as he yanked open the door and barreled through.
An unholy howl split the air, and something inside the room shattered. The sound was followed by an explosion of wood and splinters as the beast emerged from the building. It crashed through the doorway and took pieces of the frame with it.
“Go!” Jax roared. He jerked me into motion again and almost ripped my arm from its socket. We raced toward Van’s car, but with about twelve feet to go, another carnivus landed smack in the middle of our path. We couldn’t go through it. There was no going back. So we detoured and raced for the wooded lot next to the motel.
“We can’t outrun them,” I huffed. I wasn’t in bad shape, but I couldn’t boast an athlete’s stamina, either. With the injuries Jax’s body had sustained in yesterday’s attack, this pace wasn’t going to last.
“I know,” he snapped. “I fucking know!”
We kept going, weaving between the trees and brush. Jax jumped over a fallen tree and landed gracefully on the other side, while I stumbled and face-planted in the dirt with a mouthful of leaves. He dragged me upright and kept going without missing a beat.
“Here.” He skidded to a stop in front of a large, spindly pine tree. “Go. Climb!”
I did as requested but couldn’t manage to get my feet onto the first branch. “I can’t,” I said, shaking. “We have to fight.”
The look in his eyes was haunted. Panic like I’d never seen was etched in his features. He glanced up at the tree, then turned his attention to the woods for a moment before focusing on me. “You know I love you, right?”
“What?” Everything stilled.
“I love you, Sammy, and when it comes down to you and me, I will always choose you.”
“You’re scaring me.” It was more the look in his eyes than the words he spoke. There was a grave finality, something he was purposely avoiding saying.
“I’ll hold them off. Run.” He grabbed my arm and tried to move me away from the tree.
I shoved him away. “What aren’t you telling me?” I demanded.
Another howl filtered through the woods and Jax cursed. With a growl, he wrapped his hands around my waist and hefted me up so I could reach the first branch. Once I made it several higher, he clawed his way to me.
“They better not be able to fucking climb.”
“Screw the carnivi,” I said. “Tell me what the hell is going on. You’re injured, I get it, but it’s more than that. You’re terrified.”
He opened his mouth—to tell me the truth or spew some other bullshit, I didn’t know—but the tree jerked sideways. I grabbed the branch, hands covered in sap, and held tight. On the ground, the two carnivi were running, head first, into the trunk of the tree.
“This is a particularly sticky situation.” We both jumped as Heckle, now sitting a branch below us, wiped a smear of sap across the knee of his worn blue jeans. He nodded to Jax. “Nice to see you’re still with us.”
“Do something,” Jax said with a snarl. I watched, waiting for his eyes to flicker, or at least rim with black like they did when he got angry and the demon grew agitated, but they didn’t. They stayed solid gray.
“I can’t,” Heckle replied. He