AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He hesitates, torn between keeping me safe and letting me do my job. But he must know how important this moment is, with everyone watching us, and he leaps into the protective circle. Asher does the same.
“Summer, get your beautiful ass inside this circle!” Mack orders.
I wink. “After you.”
I watch her barrel through the translucent shield, ready to leap after her—
Where’s Ruby?
Heart racing, I scour the darkness. There. She’s standing on top of a dead darkling, struggling to reclaim the bolt and completely oblivious to the two darklings scuttling on all fours toward her.
My first bolt takes out the closest creature. I wound the second, but my aim is off and my bolt hits its shoulder, hardly making a dent.
Crap. I lunge for the creature, sword drawn, and take it out with a downward strike seconds before it reaches Ruby.
Blood splatters my face, oddly cool and sticky. Fighting the urge to retch, I grab Ruby and toss her onto my back.
Singing and completely oblivious to the danger around us, she dives to add another bolt to the quiver resting on my waist as I rush to the safety zone.
“Ooh, what’s this?” she coos, like when she discovers a piece of half-eaten candy she hid and forgot about. “So pretty.”
A foul stench reaches my nose.
I turn to go, but Ruby flutters in front of me, dangling a silver, bell shaped device. Rotten air reeks from the tiny holes in the side.
“Why is there orc bait attached to your belt?” Ruby asks.
“Orc what?” I hiss as I snatch her mid-air and begin to run toward the others. Mack, Asher, and Valerian are pressed against the magical curtain . . .
Why are they yelling?
The shield must cut off sound because I can’t hear them. I can, however, feel the ground trembling, as if something impossibly large is running straight for me.
Crap.
The second I whip around and take in the huge creature lumbering toward me, my heart slams into my throat. Pale green skin. Boulder-sized muscles and giant hands capable of crushing my skull. Two thick yellow tusk-like teeth rise from an underbite . . .
Orc.
Oblivious to the oncoming mountain of death rushing toward us, Ruby wiggles from my hand and begins tossing the ball of stench into the air.
Orc.
Orc bait.
Orc. Bait.
That was tied to my waist.
“Ruby!” I scream before throwing a desperate look back at the safety zone. Everyone inside the protected zone is watching. Mrs. Richter is waving her hands at me while Professor Crayburn works what looks like some type of spell on the shield, possibly one that allows them to cross back over into this world.
Mack is yelling her head off. Beside her, Asher is gesturing for me to run and Valerian is slamming against the magic wall trying to get to me.
But he can’t.
Run.
God, I want to, every inch of me consumed by fear. But that’s not going to happen. Not without Ruby.
