Page 27 of Tell Them That I’m Coming

I glance up at him.

“When you find gold of your own,” he says lightly, “you can give me one. Believe me, Alana, you don’t want to be in debt to anyone in Noctavara.”

Oh, trust me, Thane. I know.

I don’t know how long we’ve been walking when it happens.

The funny thing—or, really, not so funny thing—is that I feel it before I hear it. The w woods around us go quiet; not peaceful, but more like alert. Like everything lurking inside of it has just decided to hold its breath.

Binx stiffens against my calf, radiating concern. Danger. That’s the emotion singing down the bond between me and my soul-pet. He senses danger.

I open my mouth to warn Thane, but he’s already moving.

“Stay behind me,” he says, voice light. Too light for the way his hand drops to the hilt of his sword in between steps.

Right as he draws it, something lunges from the shadows.

It’s fast. Too fast. A blur of teeth and something dark and hungry aimed right at my throat.

All I see is wood-colored skin, rags that match the shadows, and a dark gold, crusty hat covering its gnarled head. The creature itself would come up to my navel if it was standing. It must have some powerful legs because its flight would have it carrying at my throat, fangs bared as though it plans on ripping it out before devouring the rest of me.

Thane steps into it.

The sword whistles and the steel flashes. The sound it makes when his blade connects with the beast isn’t a clean slice. It’s wet. Final. Immoral or not, the creature hits the ground in two distinct pieces, the gold cap falling off of its separated head before the body itself dissolves into black smoke that joins the shadows.

I barely have time to register that when another comes from the left.

Then another.

Thane doesn’t hesitate. He pivots, precise and brutal, sword moving like it’s an extension of his arm. There’s no wasted motion as he slaughters the fae beasts. Each one disintegrates once it’s dead, and I lose count after the third one.

That was my mistake. Watching Thane, I made the mistake of not looking for other threats. One of the fierce monsters managed a swipe that cut through the long sleeve of my dress before Thane swung his sword. Unfortunately, that gave another one the chance to swipe at Thane, finding the underside of his sword arm.

Finally, it stops. Thane steps back, chest rising hard, dark curls falling forward into his amber eyes. He doesn’t look winded the way a human would. He looks… sharpened. Like the violence woke something in him and now it’s purring in a way that I expect from Binx.

Binx, meanwhile, makes a low, offended sound at my feet. The ungez’s fluffy shadow-tail lashes once, twice, and his white eyes narrow at the gold-colored hat that’s all that’s left on the creatures.

“You can stop glaring at it,” I murmur. “They’re all gone.”

Binx chitters, indignation humming through the bond that the beast tried to attack. At the same time, I sense his approval that Thane was quick enough to end them all before they could.

I assure Binx that I’m okay—and then realize I’m lying to myself when the delayed sting catches up with me and, in response to the pain, I hiss through my teeth.

Thane’s gaze snaps to me. Lowering his sword down at his side, he stalks over to me.

“Show me,” he demands.

That’s not a request. It’s not a suggestion, either. It’s the kind of tone I’ve heard from Mom when I try to hide something from her… the kind that I know better than to ignore.

I shove my sleeve up and lift my arm reluctantly.

A thin line of blood beads along the top of my arm where something clawed me. It’s nothing deep, but it’s undeniable that the beast got me. As we look, my black blood is already slicking down toward my wrist.

In the dim twilight, it looks like shining ink.

Thane goes very still.

He doesn’t flinch like my mother did the first time she saw it. Mom screamed then—full, human panic—because she’d spent a lifetime believing blood was supposed to be red, and because the sight of mine was another reminder that I was as much my father’s daughter as hers. Though that didn’t really help, either, since Sombra demons don’t bleed black.