They didn’t reply, just continued staring right through her. They looked so wrong, standing in a daze, unmoving—unblinking. She waved her hand in front of their eyes. “Please... help me,” she rasped as the chilling breeze blew toward her. Their lack of reaction made her heart drop deep into the pit of her gut. What had they done to them?
A rustle of movement in the trees caught her attention. The red eyes had returned.
The captain’s large body shot in front of her. “Get behind menow.”
She began to sway.
There was a horrific snarl.
Then darkness took her.
CHAPTERFIFTEEN
Theo had immediate regrets about sending Callum in first. This initial meeting could not have gone any worse, but Callum had been telling the truth. If Helaina didn’t cooperate, her people would undoubtedly die. They’d lost so many lives already.
He caught the unconscious girl as she fell. She weighed as much as a feather. Lowering her safely to the ground, he never took his eyes off the approaching beast. Theo was unsheathing his sword when he heard Callum exit the tent.
“Put it away. Your little secret weapon there spat in my gods-damned face. I need to hurt something.”
Theo almost applauded the girl’s gumption. Knife to her throat and she hadn’t backed down from either of them.
He took his hand off the hilt of his blade and pointed his fingers toward the sky. “I think you’re being a little sensitive, but if it makes you feel better.” He gestured to the predator as if it were an approaching barn cat.
Theo had suspected they weren’t alone. He had heard the panthera the second he entered her tent; it had been hunting the caravan.
What he did not expect was the scent of the undead trailing the animal as it emerged. It was not just a beast from the eastlands—this panthera had been turned into a blood-lusting version of itself.
Dark fur blended with the surrounding night, making it difficult to spot. The only giveaways of its location were those glowing red eyes and flashes of gleaming yellow canines.
Manos had forced everyone in the camp into that frozen state of his. The mortals remained hypnotized, staring at the sky, unable to move until Manos decided to release them. Two defenseless guards stood right there within the panthera’s reach, yet it passed them by with smooth intention, prowling directly toward Helaina and Theo.
“Anytime now, Callum.” Theo’s grave voice sounded, his own power charging within.
Callum drew his daggers as he sauntered between the cat and its intended target. The panthera flashed its teeth. He mimicked the gesture mockingly. “Nuh-uh,” Callum taunted the beast, shaking his head. “We saw her first.”
The panthera lunged.
With one swift slash of his blade, he connected with the creature’s torso. It went down with a whine, then got right back up for its second attack.
Claws nearly impaled his skin, but the teleporter was too fast. He had already vanished and reappeared on the beast’s back.
Callum plunged a dagger through the panthera’s eye, driving the blade home with a twist to ensure the damage was done.
The beast gave ample effort to thrash him off, but Callum’s strike had been lethal.
As it collapsed in defeat, Callum pulled his dagger from its mark and began sawing the head off the massive cat. He casually strode over to Theo, waving the dripping severed head like a trophy.
Theo remained on the ground, his body a protective barrier over Helaina.
“He was going after her, wasn’t he?” Callum asked as he tossed the head back toward the body.
“It would appear so,” Theo replied coolly.
Callum wiped the bloody blades on the grass. After he put away his weapons, he reached for a small torch staked in the ground by the two hypnotized soldiers. He tossed it onto the panthera’s lifeless body. It burst into a foul-smelling blaze.
Manos came up behind them both, still focusing on his mind tricks. “Are we done here?”
Theo nodded. “She’s soaked in sweat. She needs dry clothes for the journey.”
