“Devereaux,” I said in panic. “Go. Go now! You need to get out of here!”
He didn’t question me. The scene blurred around us, funneling my vision to two descendants—the sphinx—as he did something every descendant in Nepos knew to fear, and Gug racing toward him, her jaw unhinging.
The sphinx lifted his paw.
Wham!
Devereaux grunted, doubling over, and I went flying from his arms, hitting the ground hard. My head cracked against a nearby tree, and I groaned, vision blurring.
Savage growls filled the garden we’d managed to reach.
I felt the back of my head, pushing to my hands and knees.
Blood.
I swayed and squinted ahead.
To Devereaux. Or to where he’d been.
A beast stood on the same spot. Not the halfway version where fur framed Devereaux’s face. This beast was a beast in truth.
His predator.
There was one reason descendants told tales of the sphinx’s paw. When a sphinx lifted their paw, they called the power of every descendant in the vicinity to the fore. They forced magic to unleash in an uncontrolled burst.
I’d already been drained of magic after shooting so many of the twelve, but he’d forced Devereaux’s berserker out.
We didn’t get away in time.
Devereaux didn’t get away.
Tears stung my eyes as I stood, staggering slightly. A huge, padded paw wrapped around my upper arm to steady me. The beast was ever careful not to hurt me with his black claws.
I inched a hand up to rest my hand against his face. “Hello,” I rasped.
The predator whined.
“I’m happy to meet you.” The sight of him blurred through the tears falling from my eyes. They’d hurt him.
He lowered his head and nuzzled my cheek.
“I love you too.” I threaded my fingers through his thick, coarse fur and rested my forehead on his chest. “Thank you for protecting me.”
A grunt and rumble.
I looked up at him as footsteps pounded our way. “Now it’s my turn to protect you.”
A chuff.
My lips curved and the action sent pain spiking to the wound on the back of my head. “That’s right. You need to accept help sometimes. If you don’t, I may decide not to let you lock me away in a room now and again. Maybe I won’t let you feed me too.”
He growled, blue eyes narrowing.
“Don’t give me that. You know I mean what I say.” I hugged him tightly. “There are people coming who don’t understand you. They don’t accept you because they’re fools and afraid. But they are less afraid with Devereaux. I need you to let him come back now.”
“Berserker!”
Shouts.