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The window was still sliding into the door when Rei crawled over Yichen and out the window, leaving Yichen swearing under his breath. The second the elf placed his foot on the door to boost his body, Yichen was diving for the black weapons case.
“Tell me you packed something useful,” he grumbled at Xiang.
“And what would you count as useful against a bunch of fae dogs?” Xiang snapped. “Dog treats? A rubber ball?”
A rubber ball didn’t sound bad, but he doubted they’d go for it. He needed something to throw, since they did not intend to get close enough to fight them with swords. Thankfully, Xiang had packed six silver throwing daggers. It wasn’t much, but combined with Rei’s arrows, this might be enough.
“Be ready to back us up if we have to stop,” Yichen ordered as he lunged for the window.
“Be careful!” Moon’s shout was almost completely lost to the wind that whipped past his head and blew his hair into his face. Great. This was just fantastic. He was climbing onto the top of a moving vehicle with a lunatic while a bunch of dogs chased them. He must be out of his fucking mind.
At least that was what he’d thought until he saw the “dogs.”
Gripping the railing for the luggage rack, Yichen started to pull himself up, but every muscle froze when he glimpsed the creatures chasing them. Their eyes glowed red, while flames flickered within their giant mouths. Thick shadows cloaked them, but he could pick out minor details from the lights coming off the SUV. They appeared to be a mix of Great Dane and German shepherd, but were the size of horses. And right now, Chen was barely staying ahead of them.
“How many are there?” Yichen shouted as he climbed the rest of the way up onto the roof next to Rei. The elf was standing as if the wind and the swaying of the vehicle were nothing to him. He cocked his head to the side for a second.
“Eight.”
“I’ve got only six daggers,” Yichen replied.
“Take out the leader of the pack, and they’ll give up the chase.”
“Which one is the leader?”
“No idea.” The damn elf turned his head to look at Yichen and grinned. “Don’t miss.”
Yes, this was his luck. Six daggers and Rei likely had fewer than a dozen arrows. Even if he hit his target on the first shot, he would need more than one arrow to take a single beast down.
Balancing on one knee, Yichen settled a dagger in his fingers and drew in a deep breath.
“Start on the right. I’ll work from the left. Aim about half a meter below the eyes and mouth,” Rei instructed.
He took his words to heart. There was no one else who’d spent more time being hunted by the fae beasts than Rei. If anyone knew their weak spots, it was him.
From the corner of his eye, he could see Rei draw the bowstring, the arrow nocked. The moment his ear registered the dull twang of the string, he threw the dagger at the dog he could make out on the far right of the pack. They struck at the same time. His angry pooch disappeared with a loud yelp and there was an answering one from the left, but he couldn’t tell if either were getting back up.
The dogs scattered, spreading out across the road rather than chasing them in a cluster.
Wind continued to slam into his shoulders, chilling the sweat that had gathered when the Black Dogs were first spotted. The tips of his fingers were growing numb, forcing him to pinch the knives to keep them from slipping away at the wrong moment.
The hunters drew close again, and Rei took aim. The second the arrow flew out, a dog leaped at the SUV. Long black claws scrapped on the glass and found purchase in the crevices of the rear hatch. It growled and snapped its massive maw at them, flashing fangs as long as his fingers.
Yichen lurched away, landing on his ass, narrowly avoiding hitting Rei. His heart lodged itself in his throat and his blood ran cold to see the enormous creature fighting to claw its way up onto the roof with them. One wrong move and he was going to lose an arm, or his throat.
“Yiyi!” Rei shouted.
“I’ve got it! You take care of the others!” Yichen barked, not giving the elf a chance to turn his focus from the rest of the pack.
Grabbing the roof rack to steady himself, Yichen kicked the beast several times in the face, just missing his foot getting snapped off. The third kick stunned the dog enough that he could plunge a dagger into the roof of the monster’s open mouth. With a muffled cry, it fell off the car onto the road, appearing to stagger the others.
Yichen shoved to his knees and prepared to throw another dagger, but Rei caught his wrist. “Wait! They’re retreating. That must have been the pack leader.”
“Lights! We found some lights to follow!” The whipping wind almost carried away Moon’s voice, but they caught enough to turn around to the front of the car. Moon was half hanging out the passenger window, waving at them. “Lights!”
They both watched ahead to see faint spots of light, almost like house lights in the far distance. Except there was something strange about them. They seemed to waver and shift as if they weren’t attached to a fixed spot, yet they also didn’t move like cars.
“No! Don’t follow the lights!” Rei shouted.
