Page 29 of Snake Eyes & Bad Luck

Her gaze fell to the floor as he swept his tail around her smoothly. He pulled open the bathroom door and nodded inside. “Come on, little viper, let’s get washed up. Then we can—”

He wasn’t sure when she decided to call his bluff. It happened so fast. She bolted from the spot in the same blink of an eye as the front door slammed open. A howling wind raced past her and cut into him. She disappeared into the gloom. Callum roared in fury, “Ya little shit! Get back here!”

Callum raced out of his cabin, head first into the storm after his prey. He flew down his steps and dropped into a heavy river already forming between the roots of the swamp. The trees groaned as wind whipped their branches left and right. Lightning struck one to his right, leaving a smoking, marred stump behind. Shrapnel made of bark and splinters filled the air. He ducked out of the way as he heard it pelt the side of his cabin. He peeled his eyes through the heavy rain, finding his drenched warlock racing in the direction of the docks.

“Wrong way, little viper!” he roared, tail flicking through the water. It propelled him forward, making him a bullet fired from a gun. In a split second, any leeway she had was eaten up. She pulled branches as she danced out of his grip. When she let them go, he ate a bundle of leaves and moss. He caught onto her tricks quickly and dropped low, using the full length of his tail to chase after her.

“What are you gonna do when you get to the lake?” he bellowed over the clap of thunder. Avelina cleared a thick log and kept running. Callum waited at the top of the fallen tree, watching her. She was, indeed, racing for the lake. “Like I can’t catch ya.”

Avelina didn’t fall for his bait. It appeared she was solely focused on making it to the boat. He wondered for a moment where she might be going until he laughed. “You can’t be serious!”

“Fuck you!” she roared over her shoulder.

He swam through the rising waters. Her legs splashed about as the mud grew thicker. Callum actually slowed down, letting her get closer to the docks. He howled with more mocking laughter, “Yer gonna walk to Eshorion? You? In nothin’ but a shirt and your skin?”

“Shut! Up!”

A bolt of purple lightning cut through the clouds and hit the water. It threw him and her into the air. Unlike her, he grabbed onto a few tree branches and tossed himself, tail first, in the direction of the docks. Avelina tumbled through the mud and moss. She scrambled back up to her feet. He would give credit where it was due—she didn’t give up. Stubborn prey, it made his game ten times more fun. He lunged out of the pile of branches he landed in and pinned her against the closest wall of bark. She thrashed, kicking his tail uselessly. It was all thick muscle and tough hide. He didn’t even feel it as he pinned her knuckles against the damp bark. Rain pelted his back and her cheeks as she jerked in his grip. He took both her hands in one of his and scraped them up the tree. Avelina sucked in a breath sharply, eyes clenched in pain. The other hand of his had her by the throat, a warning.

She might have taken out Neddy, but the old warlock wanted taken out. Callum didn’t want death. Didn’t crave it, didn’t seek it out. He wanted out of this life, off his throne, and in order to do that, his feisty, little viper needed to work for him.

“Alright, ye’ve called my bluff, ya got out yer little act of rebellion. Enough’s enough, Avelina. We’re goin’ back home.”

“No!” she spat, her arms knocking against the tree as she tried to get any leverage she could.

“Enough!” he roared. Her eyes flashed open and he tightened his grasp. The pulse beneath his fingers spiked and he knew she was finally listening. “Ye gonna walk all the way back to the capital city with yer face on a poster? Yer not even wearing underclothes, darlin’. Think for one second. Wanna know how I got here? How I’ve stayed here for so long? I think. I plan. I don’t leave nothin’ up to chance. And now, we’re goin’ back home.”

“I knew it,” she wheezed, shivering as the cold rain finally sank in. Her arms were covered in gooseflesh. “You need me.”

“What is all this about?” he growled.

“Admit that you need me. Stop treating me like a pawn.”

“Ya are my pawn,” he snapped, trying to halt her squirming. “You work for—”

Hands. Cold, gray like death, they crept out from her hair, out from behind her head. He yowled, throwing himself backward as a hundred dead palms reached past her. They clawed at the air where he used to be, their fingernails coated in dirt and slime. He’d recognize some of those jagged scars and protruding bones anywhere. The bodies of his victims lurched after him. Avelina fled, racing through the storm, leaving him buried under the weight of all his dirty, rotten deeds. The soil of his grave began to topple over him and his vision swam.

That.

Little.

Shit.

Callum clawed through her fear spell, grabbing his own dagger and pricking his palm. The fastest way he found to clear delirium from one’s mind was sharp, grounding pain. It cleansed his senses. He was back in the swamp, not six feet under. And certainly not being buried by the dead horde. Callum clenched his stinging palm, using it to ensure any lingering fear escaped him.

“Now ya gone an’ done it!” he barked, stabbing his blade back into its sheath. “When I get my hands on ya, ooooooo, ya had better run!”

His tail flicked through the water. The trees whizzed by him as he blew through the swamp. Her frantic splashing was only muffled for a moment by the storm. Whipping winds bit into his face and he was too cold for comfort but the fire in his belly urged him on. Not only did his prey owe him after that stunt, but she was also going to feel his wrath.

He was too angry to even think up what he would do when he wrapped his hands around her pretty neck.

Callum saw her seconds before he collided with her. She scrambled up the dock, only a yard away from the boat rocking in the turbulent water. It sloshed up against the wood, knocking higher as the rain fed the lake. Sea level was quickly rising and when he bulldozed into the side of his petulant warlock, it started to lap overtop the dock. Avelina went screaming into the lake. Callum followed quickly after.

Darkness surrounded them as she dropped into the depths. Her legs and arms splashed about, unable to free herself from his hands wrapped around her. The fabric of his shirt came clean off her. A wet tissue that practically melted off her skin. He’d not intended to strip her, but in the struggle of trying to keep his hands on the slick woman, his claws found purchase wherever. Avelina slapped her palms onto the dock, her back to his chest. She tried to slip out of his embrace, but he grabbed her by the hair and dragged her back down into the murky depths.

Callum sank purposely, knowing she couldn’t swim with him weighing her down. She thrashed. Panicked prey, she slapped and kicked and filled the darkness with bubbles. Just before he knew she’d make herself pass out, he brought them back up to the top. Avelina gasped for air the second they breached the foamy surface. Her arms stopped trying to fight him, instead clawing to hold onto him. Avelina ended up twisted in his arms, her back to one of the dock posts, panting for air. He’d been so focused on her, on catching her, on submerging her, on getting her back, he’d ignored everything else.

The rain pummeled over the top of their heads. Angry clouds swirled above only to be split by splintered bolts of lightning. It made his prey glance up, still gulping down air. There was something hauntingly beautiful about her staring up at the turbulent sky, blinking through the rain. When her gaze fell back to his face, he was enthralled.