I tilted my head down and found Asher staring back at me across the distance, my magical shield keeping him at bay.
I was certain my own expression mirrored his.
Shock was the only word for it.
Where moments ago the woods had been quiet, now it hummed and chittered with life, animals of all kinds slinking out from burrows and hollowed logs and shadows.
After a beat, Asher’s eyes widened, and I turned my head to find the source of his new concern.
A gray wolf loped toward us, her eyes milky white. Her once-gray fur was dingy and matted, her skull caved in at the top. One of her legs was caught in a rusty metal trap, the teeth of it embedded deep in her bone, the chain dragging behind her.
Too small to be a shifter, she looked like a regular wolf, once majestic and awesome, brought down by a human hunter’s greed.
I didn’t even think there were wolves around here. I wondered where she’d come from.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t the only unexpected visitor.
The stench of rot and ruin filled my nose, making my eyes water.
Behind the wolf, a coyote and her pups followed closely. The pups were bloody and mangled, the mother’s head bent at an odd angle, her neck obviously broken.
I whipped my head back around, trying to take it all in. Raccoons. Mice. Ground squirrels. Deer. There must’ve been two or three dozen animals encroaching on us, each one more mangled and decayed than the last.
They should’ve been dead.
By the looks of things, theyhadbeen.
Until now.
The realization slammed into me, forcing the air out of my lungs.
“Oh my God,” I gasped.
Pain split my skull, and I grabbed my head, trying to alleviate the pressure. Asher pounded on the shield, his eyes wide with horror, but there was nothing he could do but wait.
My vision dimmed. Blood trickled from my nose and into my mouth, dripping onto my book, the pages still glowing with that eerie script.
What are the consequences of messing with a demon’s soul?
I didn’t know if it was related to Asher’s soul, but it was clear I’d brought these poor creatures back from death. And unlike what I’d done to Bean—and what I’d tried to do to Sophie—the animals appeared to have been dead long enough that their souls had already moved on.
I’d simply reanimated their empty, rotting corpses.
I slammed the book shut and jumped to my feet, willing the connection to break. To end this magical nightmare.
Finally, the protective shield dropped away.
“Gray!” Asher charged forward.
“No! Don’t!” I held up my hands to stop him, but he ignored my feeble attempt at a barricade, crashing right through the perimeter of salt I’d poured.
Right through the very last thing that might’ve kept us safe.
Five
GRAY
Shambling.
