“What?”
“Go! We have to go,now!” My hand wasstill clenched around the net when I turned and scrambled towardthe shore. “They’re coming!” I gasped to Corson.
His citrine eyes searched the forest fordanger, but the woods remained deceptively calm. The foot-long,white talons hidden in his body exploded from the back of his hand.“Who’s coming?”
“Those things we’ve been avoiding, thelanavours. They’re in the woods, coming our way.”
Stepping forward, he grabbed my arm andpulled me from the water. Those talons brushed against my skin butdidn’t cut me as he maneuvered me close to his side. Bending, heretrieved my guns from the shoreline and thrust them at me. Takinga deep breath, I got my trembling fingers to behave enough that Icould secure my holster and snag my katana from the ground. I swungthe sword over my back and settled it into place.
“Hurry,” Corson urged the others.
Vargas already had his shoulder holster backon and his guns in place. Erin and Hawk were scrambling from thewater. They grabbed their holsters and slipped them on.
Hawk reached for the cooler of fish, butCorson stopped him. “Leave it.”
Hawk opened his mouth to protest, but thelethal look in Corson’s eyes silenced him. He set the cooler on theground as Corson jerked his head toward the camp. “Silently,” hewhispered.
I tried to tug my arm free from Corson, buthe kept it locked within his grasp as he moved backward into thetrees while his eyes continued to scan the shoreline. Free of theclearing around the stream, he turned and plunged into the woods,pulling me with him. He didn’t run but walked at such a brisk pacethat I practically had to jog to keep up with him.
Water sloshed in my boots with every step wetook. I was certain the wet sound could be heard from a mile away,but better wet boots than bare feet right now. Corson shovedbranches and briars out of the way while he moved with the stealthof a fox through the brush. He’d be far faster without the three ofus slowing him down.
“You should go ahead of us,” I whispered.“Warn the others.”
“Not leaving you,” he replied brusquely.
“But—”
“Shh.”
I stopped trying to protest. I knew hewouldn’t leave us behind, but the camp had to be told what wascoming for them. Glancing back, I spotted Erin, Hawk, and Vargasbehind us with their guns drawn. Their eyes frantically searchedthe forest as they stayed close on our heels.
We were halfway back to camp when I feltsomething watching me. Turning, I spotted a slender figure standingwithin the woods. The rays of the sun filtering through the treesdanced over its blue-gray skin. Despite the warm sunlight washingover it, something about the creature made my bones feel as if theywere encased in ice.
“They’re here,” I breathed.
Corson’s head shot around. “Run!” He thrusthis palms into the small of my back. “Go!”
Falling back, he allowed the others to moveahead of him while he took up the rear. My heart hammered andadrenaline pulsed through my body as I ran. Faster than I’dbelieved I could move, I leapt over and dodged the obstacles in myway. Branches created welts when they slapped against my skin.Briars drew blood as they snagged in my clothes and hair, but Ididn’t slow as I rested my hands on a fallen tree and swung my legssideways to leap over it.
The breaths of the others were loud in myears as they ran behind me. No matter how fast we moved though, Icould feel the lanavours closing in on us.
CHAPTER 9
Kobal
I finally managed to extricate myself fromthe horde of humans and demons after an hour of dealing with them.Some of the humans wanted to leave. Most of the demons wanted tojump into the pit and go to war now, a concept that only made thehumans more uneasy as they feared being left here alone andvulnerable.
Once I declared we would be staying for atleast another week and I didn’t want to hear another word, thedemons immediately ceased speaking. I’d assured the humans wewouldn’t let them starve or outright abandon them here.
The humans had known better than to protestmy decision, but I could sense their continued uneasiness in theirincreased heartbeats and the way their eyes darted nervously overthe demons. It would only be a matter of time before they startedbitching again. I’d gotten better at dealing with humans and theiremotions since River entered my life, but they still irritated thefuck out of me most of the time.
Bale, Verin, Morax, and Shax had helped tocalm them further. However, I didn’t know how long the tenuoustruce would hold. At this point, I was more than prepared to startmaiming humans and demons alike if it meant never listening to themspeak again. Rubbing at the bridge of my nose, I stepped into theshadows of the forest and made my way toward the stream.
I needed a few minutes alone with River,away from all of them.
I’d only made it a hundred feet into thewoods when I spotted River and the others dashing in and out of thetrees toward me. A growl rumbled up my throat and across my chest.I burst into motion and ran toward them as Hawk and Vargas spun totake up a shooter’s stance.
Corson grabbed them, said something andtugged them back. They fell into a run again, racing to catch upwith Erin and River. River’s eyes came up, relief filling them asthey met mine. Leaping over a fallen log, I landed before her thenswung her up against me. Her hands fell on my shoulders as herrapid breaths sounded loudly in my ears.
