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“Ruby, what’s a deamhan?” I demand just as the sound of something heavy stomps outside the library. Heavy and dragging. Each ominous thud shakes the floorboards and sends dust flying off shelves. A low, gravely bellow splits the air, and my gut clenches.
Ruby’s lilac eyes are big as peas. “Orc!”
26
By the loud noises, I was expecting the orc to be big, but not can’t-fit-through-the-freaking-door big. Ruby and I are watching from behind a bookshelf as the orc tries to duck under the doorway into the forbidden library. But it’s not just a matter of his looming height.
There’s no way his enormous frame will fit.
“Nothing in here for you, big guy,” I whisper. “Move along.”
The ropy muscles of the orc’s neck strain as he literally tries to cram his way through.
Not the brightest bulb, are you, bud?
He’s even more hideous than I imagined. Beady, all-black eyes blink from beneath a huge, overhanging brow, and an underbite sends his lower fangs curling all the way to his upper lip. Pointed ears shorter and more jagged than a Fae’s stick out from a bald head. His flesh looks rotten, all ashy and green-tinged.
With a frustrated howl, his head disappears from the doorway.
Ruby shoots into the air, waving her dagger. “That’s right, you hideous, wart-faced orc! You don’t want a piece of this.”
And then a huge boom shreds the air as the orc smashes into the doorway in a burst of dust and debris. I flinch as jagged chunks of stone zoom by my head. His stench floods the room.
Gag me.
When I peer back into the library, I see the doorway is now a giant, gaping hole. The orc’s enormous body stands near the first bookshelf, dust swirling around him. Tilting his giant head, he begins to sniff the air.
“Oberon’s luck,” Ruby mutters. “I thought for sure I scared him off.”
Add overconfidence to my sprite’s ever-growing list of negative attributes.
We both duck low as quiet descends. My heart rams my ribcage, my fingertips numb as adrenaline funnels all my blood to my main organs.
The orc roars, and my heart flip-flops. Shivering, I peek through a hole in the books just in time to see the orc lift a club the size of a full-grown adult human. Spikes longer than my hand poke out from its wooden surface.
Spikes, for Fae’s sake.
We’re so dead.
I hold my breath as he smashes the weapon into the bookshelf on the end of the row. The impact is so big I feel it in my bones. Books and wood splinters fly all around us. My mouth goes paper-dry.
One thought flashes in my head: We need to get out of here.
Afraid any noise will alert the orc to our location, I motion Ruby to run toward the door, using the bookshelves as cover.
“What?” she whisper-yells. “You need to pee?”
“No!” I whisper, throwing up my hands. I shake my head while planting a finger over my lips. But it’s too late. The parquet wood floor trembles and creaks as the orc approaches, sniffing and making animalistic grunts.
A quick glance and I nearly die from fright. The orc is on the other side of the shelf, close enough I can make out the black dots flecking his green skin, the frayed leather pants he wears. Each desperate breath sends noxious odors funneling down my throat.
The sound of a deep inhalation fills the air. Crap.
I grab a wood splinter—the only weapon I can find—and motion to Ruby to split up. Run on the count of three, I mouth. One, two—
Ruby darts away before three, a war cry screaming from her lips. She makes it five feet before a hand the size of a basketball shoots through the top shelf, sending books flying, and snatches her.
Dammit.
