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Unswayed by hermassiveness, Cretan struck with all his force. She took the hit ina leg and the reverberation of it traveled through her entire body,toppling her over. Elodie groaned in pain.
“Elodie!” Chance’s yellreached her, focusing her.
Cretan hit with the forceof a god. No wonder this creature had been so feared.
Spreading her wings wide,she took to the air. Not to escape, but to give herself a chance toreturn to normal size. Bigger wasn’t going to work.
Only one thing would. Sheneeded to draw him close, but before he got a full head of steamunder him.
Deliberately, as herperspective neared the ground, Elodie fell to her side, clutchingat her leg. She allowed her tentacles to writhe and flop aroundherself, spraying snow into the air. She hoped to hells sheappeared lamed and vulnerable.
“Elodie!” Chance’s yellsounded louder from down here.
To her horror, he startedto run for her, her act obviously too good. Only if she signaledhim to stay away, Cretan would see.
The minotaur put on a burstof speed and beat him to her. Only instead of ramming her, hescreeched to a halt at her side, casting her in shadow, his smile agloating sneer on fleshy animal lips.
“Is this how my brotherlooked?” he asked. “Pathetic and crawling on the ground, desperateto get to you, called by your song. Before you killed him in coldblood?”
“No,” shesaid in that childlike scream of a voice, only beautiful in song.“This ishow he looked.”
A single wriggling tentaclewrapped around his leg. The suction and muscle of it impossible toescape. With a yank she pulled him into her, the rest of hertentacles wrapping around him. Cretan’s eyes bulged in shock as hetoppled over. Then he yelled, jerking and clawing to get away fromher, but once a man was this near, there was noescaping.
The monster was in fullcontrol now, tentacles crushing him while dragging him ever closer.She spread her wings wide and opened her terrible maw, showing himdagger-like teeth. Her monster liked them afraid.
With an unearthly sound,she pulled him up against her and sank her teeth in his neck,rending flesh from bone.
Cretan screamed andthrashed until she bled him dry. Until a final death rattle shookhis body and his eyes went glossy, rolling back in hishead.
The monster had fedrecently though.
Rather than fall on himlike the rabid animal, she was satisfied with his death. Shedropped his limp, still draining form to the ground where she stoodin a spray of red blood over the white snow.
Chest heaving, she lookedacross the field. To Chance.
He’d stopped running toher, probably when she attacked the minotaur. Now he stood,watching her with an expression that was…nothing. Total blank.Hiding his thoughts from her. His disgust, no doubt.
A lance of pain spearedthrough the hope that still lingered after last night.
Delilah and Alasdairappeared beside Chance suddenly. A little too late. Only Chancedidn’t look away from her.
Closing her eyes, Elodiebrought about the change, the glow of the lightning in her mistlighting up her eyelids in flashes. But when she opened her eyes,Chance wasn’t there anymore.
That metaphorical lance ofpain plunged through her heart. Impaling her.
“Where’d he go?” she forcedherself to ask as Delilah moved closer.
Her friend shook her head.“We don’t know. He just…disappeared. I’ve never seen someonedisappear that fast.”
Some gods could do that,she was aware. But Chance had wings. Why would he need that abilitytoo?
Does it matter? He’s gone.
Like others before him,he’d taken one look at what she became, what she could do, and hecouldn’t stomach it.
He was gone, taking hershattered, bleeding heart along with him.
Chapter 17
