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Grasping me by the elbow to help me navigate the icy rooftop in my slippers, Garrick led me back to the door.
We were down the stairs and in the first corridor when the sound of claws scraping against stone echoed off the walls.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Garrick had one knife in his palm instantly, shoving another into my hand. His voice was a low warning growl. “It’s not yet fully dark, but...”
I nodded. There was no mistaking the sound of demon claws, or the creeping feeling of dread consuming me. But I was also the one whose magic could resist such a creature, and whose blood could disarm one. Steeling myself, I pushed forward past Garrick.
“Starlight...”
Ignoring him, I reached the nearest corner, pressing myself against the wall to peer around the bend and into the next hallway. My stomach lurched, and I had to fight not to lose its contents right then and there. The scent of blood assaulted me first, and then the horrific sight: a hunched creature with countless inhuman eyes and a gaping, bloody maw tearing into a fae’s ruined corpse. Gore and innards spilled across the plush carpet as the creature feasted. Its pincered limbs, ending in enormous pointed claws, reached out to claw along the exposed stone of the hallway.Scrape, scrape, scrape.
Garrick’s hand brushed against my arm, the warmth seeping through my shirtsleeve. Blinking dazedly, I glanced over my shoulder at him, trying to clear my thoughts when raw terror threatened to drag me under. He leaned so close to me his breathtickled my ear, his mouth almost brushing against my lobe. “Demons like this one don’t behave like the one you fought. They often escape and work in groups. This one may be baiting us while another lies in wait.”
I drew back. A new emotion was consuming me, swiftly overtaking my nerves. Fury. I didn’t know the demon’s victim, and most of the fae in Silverfrost were strangers to me. Some would gladly see me killed or imprisoned. I owed them no allegiance, no love. And yet, seeing the horror this underworld creature was inflicting, with Preston and Nerissa nowhere near to stop it, made my blood heat. Maybe they’d been hailed as heroes when they’d first rescued this kingdom, but they seemed rather careless about protecting it now. Whatever most of this land’s inhabitants thought of me, there were some who cared. Some, like Aspen, who were good. Who had waited for me, loyal and determined.
And for these people to be preyed upon like this? Slaughtered in the most vicious, awful of ways? It wasn’tright.
I set my jaw, palming the knife Garrick had given me. “Then I’ll give them my own distraction.” Worry flickered in Garrick’s gold eyes, but before he could protest, I added, “Do you have my back?”
He dipped his head. “Until I draw my final breath.”
Pressing the tip of the blade into my palm, I sliced a shallow cut and stepped into the corridor where the demon was. Squeezing my hand into a fist and lifting it into the air, I let my blood spill in droplets along the carpet.
Sniffing, the demon straightened, turning slowly so its countless eyes—black and beady and soulless—glared at me. Gore dripped from its open maw, full of endless rows of razor-sharp teeth. My stomach roiled, but I held my ground, letting the creature scent my blood.
Its pupils dilated, darkening its eyes even further, but a crash behind me warned me a second demon was emerging, charging with impossible speed from another room. I didn’t turn, didn’t waver. Just before the new demon could leap upon me, a wolf’s snarl pierced the air. A flash of white darted in my peripheral as Garrick collided with the monster, snapping his teeth mercilessly.
With an enraged roar, the demon before me charged, claws slamming into the carpet. The floor shuddered.
I wondered where the guards were, where Preston and Nerissa were. The castle had never seemed so quiet—as if everyone else had hidden or evacuated, leaving these creatures to sew their chaos.
Gritting my teeth, I sent ice crackling beneath the creature’s feet. Its claws scrabbled for purchase on the slick surface, scraping in a high-pitched whine that made my ears ache. As it lost control, sliding straight for me, I sidestepped, only extending my bloody palm over it.
It wasn’t a lot of blood, only a drop, but as it splattered across the demon’s hideous face, a burst of light flared and it squealed in pain. Feeling victorious, I lifted my knife to slam it into one of its eyes, but the beast swiped out with one of its long limbs. Not slicing with its claws, but pommeling me with the blunt side of its leg, knocking me off my feet. The knife flew from my grasp, sliding across the carpet.
Breath knocked out of me, I reeled, struggling for air. The demon darted forward, hemming me in with its claws stabbing into the floor on either side of me. I choked as it loomed above me, maw dripping hot blood across the front of my dress. The stench of copper and rot consumed me as I finally heaved in air, my lungs burning.
Trapped again,crowed the creature inside my mind, its words low and slippery. The invasion was uncomfortable, sending spikes of pain through my head.Poor little human.
As it spoke, the world shifted, until instead of the castle ceiling high overhead, cloaked in shadow, I saw the bars of a rusty cage climbing around me. It had no doors, and the surface I stood upon was littered with broken, yellowed bones that crunched beneath my feet.
My chest tightened in panic.
