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“Your brother wouldn’t happen to be an Ashen with illusion magic?” she asked.
Mias was more corporeal than Ames’s ghostly constitution. Though, she knew from Ames’s stories that mixing Ashen and shadow bloodlines could result in variances of appearances and abilities.
Renton didn’t answer but unsheathed a serrated knife from his belt.
She bit down on her lip, tasting salt from her perspiration. It stung her eyes and blurred her vision. “The feingrot isn’t real, right?”
“I’d like to say no, but anything’s possible with Mias. He’ll either manipulate creatures nearby to attack or use distractions to sneak in close and carve us up himself. Either way, he’s going to take his time.”
“Should we be concerned about the Ashen atop the gigantic killing machine?” Vesara cut in.
The other hunter fell in line as well. “Aeyis might be our only ticket out of this mess.” He tipped his chin up at Tenah. “How you doing? Name’s Gireth. I’m your boyfriend’s best friend.”
Tenah opened her mouth to protest, but Vesara interrupted. “More like her boyfriend’s pet dung beetle.”
Tenah considered her options. She could bolt. Leave these dangerous strangers to rip each other apart. There had to be a range to Mias’s illusion, but how far did it extend? Ames’s range had spanned their entire estate.
Anger burned in her gut. Even if she managed to break free, she wasn’t confident she would survive the Boglands alone.
Gireth cupped his hands around his mouth and called out, “What are you waiting for, shit licker?”
The feingrot vanished. Tenah’s heart slammed against her ribs as the red leaves of the familiar forest shriveled, emitting tiny wisps of black smoke. Tree trunks cracked in two, twining into grotesque shapes. Roots slithered up from the ground like snakes, weaving together to form mounds that resembled trapped corpses. Rot hung thick in the air, mingled with the coppery tang of Chaos.
“This. This right here is why we hate the Boglands,” Tenah mumbled.
She expected a laugh from Renton. Had possibly hoped for it to help calm her fraying nerves. But he hadn’t shifted out of death mode, warning her that this was serious.
A mangled cry quickened her pulse.
Fog tumbled in, obscuring most of the enemies that had formed a death ring around them.
“I don’t much care for this,” Vesara said, retrieving two tiny knives from sheaths along her back and twirling them between agile fingers.
“Imagine a childhood of it,” Renton replied darkly.
One of the Corrupt charged, its limbs jutting out at horrible, broken angles. Vesara hurled a knife into its throat, dropping it almost instantly. Brackish, poisonous blood bubbled out. Then enemies were charging them from all directions.
Tenah couldn’t move, fear roiling in her stomach as the silver-eyed boy materialized a few paces in front of her.
You will deliver the ruination of this world.
Chapter13
Tenah
Renton’s malicious brother had fished another horror from her mind.
You made a promise to me. You said I would be safe,the silver-eyed boy accused, and Tenah winced as his spine let out a sharp crack. He dropped onto all fours, no longer shadow but a creature mutated by Chaos. Black clouds of toxin streamed behind him as he raced toward her.
Tenah stumbled backward over her boots, her gaze sweeping the road for the others. Of course Renton had vanished. But instead of directing her rage at him, she was furious with herself for her cowardice. When had she ever relied on others to fight her battles? Had death robbed her of courage?
Red flames erupted along her arms. She forced her legs to halt on the road. Whatever this fight took, no matter the amount of magic she had to expend, shewouldlive to hunt down the demon that was her father.
She fired two bolts of magic in succession. Her shots missed as the Corrupt hit the ground, its limp body skidding close to her legs. Stunned, she gazed down at its corpse. A serrated knife jutted from its eye.
Renton.
Tenah didn’t have a chance to move away before tendrils of black electricity sparked from its body, leaping onto her skin. She jolted upright. Her breaths came in short spurts as the forest darkened around her, sucking her into an inescapable black hole.
