Page 78 of Bound to the Orc Hunter

I bag another bird, freeing that cu sith to rejoin the fight. And it’s a lot more of a fight now that Branikk and Dravarr aren’t shooting the net guns anymore. Why’d they stop? What could be more important? I squint their way as I tie the bird to the unicorn’s saddle, moving on autopilot, now that I’ve done this task so many times.

Branikk shoots an arrow, and it arcs overhead, exploding one of the orange smoke bombs high in the air. Oh, so that’s what they’re doing. Yeah, that tracks as the most important thing to do.

Then I have an idea. “Can we take the antidote ahead of time, like a preventative thing?”

“I don’t know.” Ashley shakes her head. “Magic doesn’t really follow logic.”

“Tell me about it.” I snort. “My power’s the definition of ‘unpredictable.’”

“We also don’t have enough of the antidote to waste even a single dose. The herb used to make it isreallyslow growing.”

“Well, crap.” There goes that idea. I hate this. I hate not having a plan, a way to fix things. A way to keep everyone safe. If something happens to all of us, the puppies will be in danger.

If something happens to all of us, then Branikk…

My heart cracks wide open, the last of its defenses falling away. Oh, god. I can’t finally find someone to love, only to lose him! In the past, I protected myself by not allowing myself to love. But I do love. I love him so much. And what’s really going tohurt is losing him to some stupid soul-sucking assholes before I get a chance to tell him, to find out if he could ever feel the same way.

No. I shake my head, refusing to go there. Wewilldefeat the soul stealers. Nothing else is an option.

Branikk shoots another gourd high in the sky, and I grin to see the orange cloud break apart up where it can’t hurt anyone. See! He’s amazing. He’s already countering the sluagh’s new type of attack. We’ve got this.

Then pain jabs into the back of my neck, and I gasp.

I whirl in time to see the black bird that stabbed me fly back to a spot right inside the trees. Aurora, Ashley, and I stand near the end of the clearing, facing the open space, where we all expected the sluagh to attack.

But one’s snuck in through the forest. More and more birds join it, flying from all directions from inside the woods. That’s hella sneaky. And this sluagh feels horribly familiar.

The birds swirl down into the black-robed creature, its eyes blazing fire and malice. Yep. It’s the sluagh from the first day.

“There you are.” An evil smile bares blood-red, triangular teeth. It licks its lips. “Just as sweet as ever. I will enjoy feasting upon your soul.”

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

Branikk

“Fuck!” The sluagh who attacked my bride that first day stands right behind her.

Riselda assigned cu sith sentries to patrol the woods, but their numbers are reduced to a skeleton crew in order to field as many fighters as possible in the clearing. Multiple sluagh would be easily spotted, but only one could sneak through if its flock dispersed and didn’t attack anyone until it reached its target.

Said target being my bride.

My lips pull back from my tusks, a growl rumbling through my chest. I should send Dravarr and continue to shoot gourds from the sky—I’m the best orc for the job.

Yet I cannot. Not when this soul stealer threatens my bride. Nothing is as important as her.

I spin and pull him to face me, shoving my bow and quiver into his hands.

Dravarr gives me a sharp nod, then turns his eyes to the sky, already searching for the next gourd.

I draw my sword as my feet fly across the ground.

Mist guards Ashley, and Aurora stands ready to defend both human witches. Yet the burden on the unicorn’s back will keep her from fighting as hard as she might. Not because of its weight, but because she can’t risk any of the trapped birds being freed or killed—either of which will free their flock to attack.

More and more soul stealers descend from overhead. Yells fill the air as Riselda and Rune give new instructions. Cu sith leap all around, jaws snapping closed with vicious crunches. They’ve given up on capturing the birds, because there’s no one to bag them for them. Now they’re back to trying to keep the numbers as low as possible to reduce the beak pecks that will drain their energy.

Birds dive for me as I run, red eyes filled with malice.

My sword sings through the air. I, too, have no time for finesse, no time to do anything but kill the individual birds, which doesn’t hurt their flocks.

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