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Roman thought about it. “We’ll look them up on the map when we get back to the motel.” He watched her as she scanned the desert again, that stare of his more unsettling than the swiftly falling night.
Night! Shit—they’d lost track of time.
“Have you seen what you wanted to see?”
Shay dropped her hand. “For today.” Even if she wanted to continue looking, they didn’t have a choice.
“Good, because it’s getting dark.” There was a new edge to his voice that didn’t stem from irritation, an edge she’d heard only once before—on the dock when she’d lied about selling his necklace. Was that…fear? “Let’s go.”
Together, they hurried back the way they’d come. She had no choice but to let Roman help her down from the ledges that were too steep for her to navigate on her own, but she accepted without argument, unable to stomach the idea of pitching headfirst off the cliff.
Or of being out here past sunset. If night fell, and they weren’t in the car by then, they would both be dead. It didn’t matter that she was with Roman Devlin—there were far too many monsters out here for him to handle on his own.
They developed a routine quickly, Roman jumping down first before twisting back around and helping Shay down, either with a hand for her to hold, or by gripping her by the waist and lifting her down. No matter how many times he performed the last move, his arms never shook.
“I can see the car,” Shay panted as they finally reached level ground.
They picked up speed, running side by side, their breaths rasping through the air that was scented with sage and sunbaked dirt.
A howl cut through the quiet, shooting a prickle up Shay’s spine.
Darkness fell swiftly, the last of the sun’s rays peeking through the splits in the mountain like glowing fingers. There wasn’t much daylight left.
Shay began to sense them—the demons that dwelled in these parts, sleeping by day and hunting by night. They were awake.
And there were a lot of them.
“We have to move faster.” Roman’s words were strained, and he was panting now too. “Give me your hand.” He held his out.
“I’m fine.”
“Shay, you’re slow.” He pointed at the setting sun, not slowing his pace. “See that? We have five minutes at best before we’re both fucking dead!”
Behind them, deep in the hills, the monsters began their hunt, driven by ravenous appetites. Another howl rang out, this one echoed by countless others. Hungry snarls cut through the cliffs, and rocks clacked down the steep bluffs as the monsters pursued them.
Roman thrust his hand closer, still never slowing. He was just ahead of her, and she had to speed up to get her hand into his. His warm fingers closed around hers, gripping tight, and he pulled her along, the both of them running so quickly it felt like her legs were barely touching ground.
The monsters were coming—she could hear them moving in packs.
She made the mistake of looking over her shoulder.
Hundreds of eyes—yellow and red—glowed among the hills, deadly and feverish with hunger. Those hills were cloaked in shadow now, not one bit of light left to keep the monsters at bay. While some were horned with cloven feet, others looked like wolves, their backs rippling with something akin to shadow. Worse even than these were the beasts whose bodies were a mix of hound and serpent, their streamlined, canine physiques lined with scales that shifted continuously over grotesque, otherworldly muscle.
Shay tore her eyes off the walking nightmares, pushing her legs faster.
The last of the sunlight fell across the ground before them, an orange curtain of protective light. But the darkness was gaining on them; it was at their heels now, cooling the sun-scorched ground right under their feet.
“I have to carry you.” Roman’s voice was choked with fear that blindsided her. He took off his backpack and tightened his hold on her hand, and before she could react, he was pulling her close and lifting her up until she was on his back like before, her legs wrapped around his waist.
Roman kept running, faster now that she was no longer hindering him, staying in the protection of the fading sunlight as shadows nipped at his heels. He supported her with one hand under her right thigh, his left gripping his backpack. That curtain of light kept fading, growing dimmer and smaller with every second that passed. The shadows were winning.
“Can’t you make them go away?” Shay panted.
“Make what go away?”
“The shadows!”
“I can’t stop night, pup. I’m not that powerful.”
