Fangs of Fate (Untish #1)

Chapter 68

CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT

CHANCE

My being vibrated; every nerve was rapidly firing. I could barely think straight. Moments of clarity came and went. Holland had fled with Damaris. I’d made sure they’d ran into the forest.

The look of hurt on Holland’s face when I chose to run after Shae was something I wouldn’t ever forget.

I shook my head, willing it to stop ringing. For the red to stop dancing across my vision. My heart was squeezed by the internal pressure, and every breath felt labored. I threw out my hands in an attempt to cool the internal fire, the ground shook in response.

My eyes cleared in time to see a monstrous creature holding Shae. It was the thing of nightmares. Evil embodied. I crouched lower, hiding behind some debris from one of the blown buildings. I checked my pistol. It would be useless against the thing that held Shae hostage. If only I had my club. Even then, I wasn’t sure what I could do to save her.

A tall female figure came out from beside the beast. Old weathered skin and an unmistakable grimace, with a neat black bun.

“Her? You’re sure?” Luina asked.

From here I could see her squinting her eyes, focusing on Tate who was far across the compound.

“Oh yes, I’ll never forget what she tastes like.” The seething’s black tongue licked itself, wings rustling in excitement.

Luina nodded and then looked from Shae to Tate. I could see a female figure behind Tate, rushing toward her and Shae. Mardi was in the distance fighting seethings who were relentlessly charging him. Small compared to the atrocity that held Shae, but fierce nonetheless.

“Seize her,” Luina commanded with a sway of the hand. “Kill the rest.” She nodded toward Shae and then turned her back.

Anger brewed within me as the debris I hid behind whined and turned red-hot. Shae was one of our own. Rapid fire rained down all around the ground, striking near my feet. The beast raised its wings, shielding it from the bullets, and then howled. The firing stopped and it lifted Shae like a football and threw her forward. Time seemed to stop as I helplessly watched one of my best friends being projected through the air, into the heart of a herd of seethings. Snap! She landed on the ground at an unnatural angle and lay there limply, not moving.

“Shae!” I shouted her name, earning a glance from the monster, before darting out from behind the debris. I had to help her.

The whole ground began to shake and buzz, bright light enveloped us all. Before I could even move ten feet, Tate was there. Hovering mid-air. Her entire being was so bright I had to squint and even then, it hurt to look. Her arms and legs, hell every part of her, was glowing gold with a pink tint. Her hair floated around her, light pouring from each strand. She looked nothing short of a goddess.

She dropped to the ground in a crouch, her leather leggings and body suit already sizzling away, revealing skin that now glowed golden pink with swirls of black dancing. The light dropped for a moment, and I could clearly see the female who had thoroughly wrecked me. The female whose body would forever be in my mind, whose laugh and deep eyes would haunt me even in death. The female I was ready to let down, again.

She outstretched her hands on both sides of her, the seethings rushing her from all directions on both two legs and four. She threw back her head, blonde hair that faded to pink, swaying with her movement, and she loosed a scream that shook the world. The entire compound lit up in a blinding light that sparked and burned.