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Zand stood like a bear on hind legs—stiff and ready toattack.
Dahvi held his arms tight to his body, scanning theforest.
A nasty smell washed over me. Fur, dirt, and urine. The marked territory of some animal. Red eyes blinked in the distance amid the trees. Not just one. Six pairs. Judging by the height of their eyes, they stood taller than wolves. Probably deadlier, too, if they had anything to do with TheCollector.
“The Collector’s beasts,” Iwhimpered.
Zand and Dahvi remained taut andalert.
Claws raked along the ground, the sound of a beast threatening to pounce if we took anotherstep.
A growlrumbled.
Two of the beasts charged. Their pounding footsteps told me they werehuge.
I backed up, straight into atree.
The weak glow from the genie’s flame illuminated the attacking creatures. All fangs. Horn for a nose. Clubbed tail with spikes. Covered in hair all but on their back, which was covered by a rock-hardplate.
The animal to the left launched at Zand. He was much faster and dodged the attack, deflecting the beast with a fist to the face. The creature struck a tree and hit the ground with a thud. It whined and stumbled to itsfeet.
I gasped, surprised that the genies possessed immense strength,too.
The animal limped into thedarkness.
My throat tightened. I didn’t like seeing any living thing get hurt. But if it came down to my life or theirs, I knew what I’dchoose.
The second beastcharged.
Dahvi drove the creature back with a punch to its ribcage. Branches cracked from the impact.Gods,he wasfast.
A short, savage roar exploded from my right. Iflinched.
This time, an entire pack of the beasts crashed forward, filling the space between me andgenies.
I glued myself to the tree, not moving, barely taking abreath.
The genies delivered blow after blow, repelling the monsters. One bounced across the ground, coming to a stop against a log. Another got launched through the air and stuck in a hole in a tree trunk. A third hung limp from a branch. The fourth shot straight up and never came back down. This left only one—the largest, most formidable-looking one, which I assumed had to be the alpha. An uppercut from Dahvi knocked it outcold.
“Enough!” said a commanding, femininevoice.
The beasts retreated into theshadows.
I glanced around but found noone.
Zand and Dahvi spun as if they’d heard something Ihadn’t.
I followed their gazes up into thecanopy.
“What are you doing in my land?” Darkness concealed thespeaker.
I’d bet my life it was Red, also known as The Collector. My ears pinpointed her location—a branch fifty feet to myleft.
It felt like quicksand stuck to the roof of my mouth, and I couldn’t get a wordout.
Zand took charge of the situation for me. “If you are The Collector, we’ve come to bargain for the sands ofKatar.”
A woman dressed in a long green robe stalked farther out along the branch upon which she stood. The bowstring she pulled taut creaked, her loaded arrow aimed at Zand. I wondered if he was fast enough to catch an arrow she launched athim?
