The new creature is massive, covered in dark fur and twisted vines, running upright on two legs with a long, dog-like snout and clawed hands. Its torso is more man than hound. Its mane is green and its body is mostly covered in fur. It snarls and lunges for the spindly thing that spoke in Mark's voice. I squeeze my eyes shut as its jaws find the middle of the scary creature. A sickening crunch reverberates across the bluff.
I look up just as the hound flings the other creature from its jaws and snaps its attention onto me. Green eyes glow through the darkening night as it prowls through my gate.
"Fuck," I breathe.
It stops a few feet away. Every instinct says turn and find a way inside. But I can't stop picturing the moment I turn my back, those jaws closing around me the same way. So between fight or flight, my body has chosen neither.
Just as my vision starts to blur at the edges, something drops from the roof. Searing pain slices down my right arm. For a moment it burns, then I lose all feeling. My arm might as well not be attached anymore.
The hound opens its jaws. I squeal, every muscle seizing except the arm that was sliced I can hardly see. The sun has fully set, and I can only make out outlines and shadows in the moonlight. The hound is less than a foot away, its eyes fixed on something at my feet. I manage to look down and find a snake slithering through the grass.
I scramble back, but my right leg won't cooperate. It buckles, and I hit the ground hard. The hound lunges and sweeps the snake into its jaws, crushing it just as neatly as the other creature.
My left hand shakes as the hound turns its attention back to me. I can see now that the vines aren't stuck to it. They're growing from its hide.
I can no longer feel my right toes. The numbness is spreading, and there's nothing I can do to stop it.
A rough growl pulls my attention from my body. The hound is inches from my face. I tremble as its breath hits me. Its gaze drops to my right arm, to the cut the snake must have left on its way down. Its clawed hand shoots out toward me, and I flinch. It pauses and then it steps back. Breath sawing in and out of me, I watch as the hound creature begins to jerk and spasm.
I have to look away. Nothing on this earth should move like that. Everything feels far away. My mind feels like it's floating somewhere above me.
Cracks from bones and joints snap through the quiet night until they suddenly stop.
"Ivy." A deep voice says my name. Not Mark's. Thank God.
Slowly, I manage to look back to where the hound had been.
It's gone. Crouching in the grass is Conall. Naked.
Why is he naked?
That thought drowns quickly in the realization that my left leg no longer works either.
"Ivy, can you hear me?" His moss green eyes scan me and snag on the cut on my arm. "Fuck. Ivy, can you feel this?"
I don't know what he does, but I definitely can't feel it, and I can't shake my head. It doesn't matter. Whether it's shock or overwhelm orvenom from the snake, my vision tunnels, my eyelids drop, and the world tilts as I lose consciousness.
Conall
Her body slumps against me.Shit.I lay her down gently, then go to the bush near her house where I hid a bag. Transformations always ruin clothes. I pull on some sweats, grab the pieces of the dead snake for Laz, and shove them into the bag. Slinging it over my shoulder, I hurry back to Ivy. The venom is working fast. She’s still breathing, but it’s shallow and rough. Her skin is so pale her freckles have almost disappeared.
One arm slides beneath her shoulders, the other under her knees. The green spark of electricity jumps between us, sharp and strong, running over my skin like a live wire. I grit my teeth and ignore it, pulling her closer. Her head falls against my chest, her breath warm on my collarbone. Too warm. Too close.
The forest rushes up around me as I run. It’s risky with those new creatures likely hiding in the shadows, but it’s the fastest way to Laz’s tower. Each step jolts her against me, her soft curves pressing into me, and I hate how aware I am of her even now.
The building appears ahead, part log cabin and part storybook tower, with warm wood and timber outside and decorated in delicate trim. The cabin forms the base, and a narrow wooden tower rises from its center, its chimney sending faint smoke into the night sky. Twigs snap under my feet as I get closer.
The door swings open by itself. Laz and his crystal ball, nosy bastard. Something moves in the trees and I start to growl, claws ready, but platinum blonde hair and purple eyes make me freeze.
“Amy, fuck. I almost clawed you apart.”
She gives me an unimpressed look, then her gaze drops to Ivy. “Hurry up. Does she even have a pulse?”
My stomach drops as I look down at her. She’s too pale. Too still.
Lifting her higher in my arms, I press my ear to her chest. Her heartbeat flutters there, faint and fragile. The hound inside me lunges forward, desperate and needy, clawing at the walls I keep slammed shut.
“Alive.” Amy exhales, hand pressed over her own heart.
