The Beast lunged for them—then lurched to a halt.
Half the net snagged the gnarled crown of its antlers. Their allies regrouped, heaving to hold the cords as the Beast snapped at Antal. He dodged teeth and saliva, grabbing the creature’s antlers to hold it down.
“Fionamara!”
She swung her sword, slicing deep into the Beast’s neck.
It roared. Verne would definitely hearthat.
Black blood slicked Fi’s hands as the blade cut hide, muscle, stalling at a crack of spine. Not enough to sever. Curse this Void-woven flesh. Defensive energy surged through the sinews, hardening like steel.
A red eye latched onto her, rimmed in wide black sclera. There had been moments when Fi thought she saw intelligence in those eyes, some remnant of the daeyari it had once been. Now, the irises glazed with feral survival.
Claws flailed at her side. Fi pulled back, freeing her sword from the Beast’s neck with a sizzle of energy against skin. Its head lolled but stayed connected. Not deep enough.
They were running out of time.
The Beast bucked, throwing Antal to the ground. Claws snapped the last cords of the net. Then it ran. It ran like a deer with a hunter’s bolt through its lungs, painting the snow with black blood as it stumbled toward the trees.
Not again.
Not with Boden’s ashes cooling in a distant forest.
Not with all of Nyskya waiting to return home.
Not with the teeth of Verne’s chateau looming in the distance, the Lord Daeyari bound to arrive any moment, drawn to the wails of her captive Beast.
Fi reached Aisinay at a sprint and leapt onto her back. As they broke into a gallop, crossbows clicked behind them. Kashvi called to fire. The bolts loosed, biting into the retreating Beast and bringing it to the ground.
Fi’s heart thudded with each beat of Aisinay’s hooves.
Her sword crackled as she raised the blade, lining up the killing blow.
“Stop!”
Aisinay skidded to a halt, hooves churning snow.
The force nearly sent Fi off her mount. She grabbed Aisinay’s neck, a frill of fin down the center, steadying herself as the horse snorted. Fi steered her straight, sword still raised.
Blinking.
Confused, because it made no Void-damned sense.
The Beast crouched in front of her, head low, teeth bared. Neck muscles twitched as it attempted to heal, a creep of regenerating red sinew hissing against cold air. And there in the blood-flecked snow, kneeling at the monster’s side…
Was Astrid.
45
We can’t keep meeting like this
Seeing Astrid here made no sense.
Those wide, ruby eyes made no sense. Her hand on the Beast’s snout, urging it to sit still, made nosense. For a moment, Fi considered whether she had, without her knowledge, developed a remarkably impressive skill for hallucination.
How else to explain this ghost. One who always came back.
“Fi.” Astrid held up her hand. “Wait. Please.”
