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Chapter 16
Icy terror slid throughHunter’s veins as the primal growl echoed around them again. “Cleo! Get behind me.”
“You’re out of your mind if you think I’m letting you take this thing on.” Cleo leaned him up against the wall, slid off her backpack, and pulled her gun. “Don’t move. Don’t even think about trying to fight.”
“You need to run. Get out of here and save yourself.” He gestured at the way out. Cleo knew how to defend herself in a regular fight, but these things were almost invincible. It would snap her neck with a single blow of its tail.
She shook her head. “I’m not leaving you. It’ll kill you.”
Hunter’s heart raced and his gut twisted with worry. Cleo looked so small standing in the corridor on her own. With Ash and Georgia gone, there was no nearby backup, and he was struggling to even breathe. There was nothing he could do to keep her safe.
A shuffling noise reached his ears, followed by another growl.
Cleo took a step back and raised her weapon. “I think it’s in front of me. And it’s getting closer.”
“Come over to me. I’ll give you an energy boost. Use my strength to fight it.”
“You really did take a bump to the head if you expect me to do that. You need every ounce of energy you have to heal from your injuries.”
“Cleo! I can’t lose you. Especially not now I know how you feel. It would kill me to have you taken away from me.”
She slid a glance his way, her hands firm on the gun. “We’ll both be dead if I don’t kill this thing.”
Hunter let out a pained sigh. Cleo wouldn’t leave him, no matter how much he begged. And a tiny part of him was proud of her for standing strong and facing off with the enemy, but he wished she’d just run. He needed her away from danger before she was picked up and snapped in half.
“Listen out for the noises this thing will make,” he said. “The beast I fought had a huge tail and dragged it along the ground every time it shifted position.”
“I’ve already heard that sound,” Cleo said. “Anything else?”
“The stench. That’s what Georgia smelt before she was attacked. The beasts smell like they’re rotting. And it often growls before it comes for you.”
“Shuffles, growls, and a bad smell.” Cleo adjusted her stance. “Is that all we have to go on?”
“I smeared my blood on the beast’s skin. It helped me pinpoint its location, so it was easier to hit.”
Cleo’s tongue tracked across her bottom lip. “You must have gotten close to mark it.”
“It cost me, but it was worth it. Once I had a moving target, I could bring it down.”
She leaped back and slammed against the wall, her breath rasping out of her. “Something brushed against my chest.”
“It’s testing you,” Hunter growled. “It might never have met a human until now, so could be seeing what natural weapons you might have.”
“I wish I had retractable bone spurs like your rodent friend. Or I spat poison. That would make it think twice.”
“Shooting it will work just as well.”
“I only have one clip, so I can’t afford to miss. I don’t want to waste ammo.” Cleo tilted her head. “I think I can hear it breathing. Why isn’t it attacking?”
“It will,” he muttered, his gaze scanning the gloomy corridor, desperately hoping he’d catch a glimpse of the beast. Its camouflage couldn’t be perfect. His ribs throbbed and his vision was blurring. If he didn’t start healing in about thirty seconds, he was in big trouble.
Cleo edged forward, her gun held in front of her.
“Easy. Maybe it doesn’t see you as a threat.”
Cleo snorted softly. “Then that’s its first mistake.” She ducked as a growl echoed around them and fired low.
The creature made no sound, suggesting the bullet had missed.
