Page 49 of A Vow of Shadows
Her eyes whipped to mine as expected at the sound of her name. “If anything happens to you, I’ll keep going.”
I held her gaze and exhaled heavily. “You are a terrible liar.”
She shrugged sheepishly.
It came out of nowhere. One second she was there smiling cautiously at me from across the cabin. The next, she was dragged from the coach by the great white beast.
“Kat!” I bellowed.
I didn’t think. I leapt from the speeding carriage, rolling as I hit the ground in a wave of agony. Sliding to stop, I sprang to my feet. I’d lost my daggers in my tumble from the coach, but I could only think of Katrin as I ran weaponless toward the white beast.
They hadn’t gone far. I could see Katrin resisting the foul creature, fighting with all the fire I knew she possessed. Hershadow guards had joined in the fray, but they could only do so much as long as the Fang still had a hold of her. I needed to get her free.
I called the shadows to me, closing the distance in a blink of an eye. I fell onto the demon’s back, wrapping my arms around its neck and squeezing tightly. The beast released Katrin almost immediately. I shouted for the shadows to take her, breathing a sigh of relief at the fading sound of her protests.
Without Katrin to distract the Fang, it bucked and jumped, trying to dislodge me. My chest throbbed in pain. As though sensing my weakness, the creature redoubled its efforts. I flew from its back, crying out as I struck a tree and collapsed to the ground.
The beast prowled toward me, its red eyes little more than pinpricks on its bone-white face. Everything hurt, but I sagged knowing the demon’s attention was focused on me. Katrin would escape. I ordered the rest of my shadows to aid her and pushed myself up to sitting. Death would not find me on my back.
But it was not Behryn who came on the heels of his demon. Like an avenging queen, Katrin stepped from a billowing cloud of darkness, my scythe raised above her head. She brought it down with a battle cry and a mighty swing, slicing clean through the demon. Black blood sprayed and the beast crumpled in a cloud of dirt.
Her eyes found mine, sparkling in the hazy dawn. The scythe fell from her grasp, hitting the ground with a dull thud. She took one step toward me and collapsed beside it.
Chapter 34
Katrin
Pain blinded me. My leg was on fire. It radiated through my body until it felt like I was being burned from the inside out.
I screamed, and Evander was there, little more than a dark smudge against the lightening sky. If he spoke, the words were lost to me, drowned out by the steady beat of my heart hammering in my ears.
He’d called me Kat. That thought alone kept me from the darkness that beckoned when I closed my eyes. I almost laughed at the absurdity of it. After weeks of hoping for that level of familiarity between us, it had finally come on the heels of disaster.
Gentle hands flitted over me. Unable to make out his features, I imagined him assessing my condition in that cool, detached way of his. He reached my leg and recoiled.
How bad did a wound have to be to make a reaper hesitate?
His feather-light touch returned and glided over my wound. I screamed again, back arching to escape the pain. The ground was blessedly chill beneath me. I turned, pressing my forehead to the dirt as Evander tugged my injured leg back to him.
I took a deep breath in through my nose, shaking as I forced it through gritted teeth. The rushing in my ears disappeared so suddenly, I worried my heart had stopped. Only the enduring pain reminded me that I was still alive.
Cold slithered over my neck, and I turned my head to see one of my shadows—Inky or Storm, I couldn’t tell which. It sprawled across my back, a cooling blanket to bank the fire burning within me.
Fabric tore, and I glanced over to see Evander clutching a ragged piece of his cloak. Capturing my lip between my teeth, I bit back my cry as he bound my leg. The metallic taste of blood coated my tongue, but his movements were quick and efficient, practiced even. Where had the Ferrier of Souls learned medicine?
He leaned in close, and I failed to suppress a whimper as he scooped me off the ground. My body folded into his, seeking comfort in his strength. I expected him to put me on my feet. I braced for it, certain he’d distance himself the first chance he got, but he only pulled me closer and carried me toward the horses.
Laying my head on his shoulder, I breathed in the scent of him. He smelled of the forest and rain and something I couldn’t quite place, but it was heady and intoxicating all the same.
“You have a heartbeat,” I remarked, surprised at the steady beat that sounded beneath my ear.
“Yes, Miss Fil’Owen. I am unfortunately still alive.” His dry tone held a hint of strain, but I couldn’t tell if his continued mortality or my injury was the cause.
I closed my eyes and when I opened them, we were atop the carriage. I didn’t know if I’d fallen asleep or if we’d been transported by shadows, though I suspected the latter. Supporting me with one arm, he sat in the driver’s seat andtook up the reins. With a quick command to the horses, we were moving.
“Why didn’t we…” I trailed off. My voice was weak and hoarse, so I gestured at the shadows swirling around us.
Evander seemed to understand what I was saying. “They tire too quickly to transport both of us over long distances, more so the closer we get to dawn.”