Page 44 of Dragon Gods

“Run?” he asked, voice just as soft.

“Too late,” she said, eyes focusing on the movement behind him. Ocon turned and they both watched as a large gray wolf stepped out from under a large fern. Its face was bisected by a long, bloody gash across its left eye—milky white as it blinked. It gave a snarl and its body contorted, bones snapping sharply for an instant before the man stood up with a nasty grin.

“Fuck,” Ocon whispered.

“Yes,” Sofia agreed.

It was the wolfshifter that had gotten away from them before.

She whipped around at the sound of footsteps behind her and two women, just as naked as the man, prowled out of the woods, their mouths open in a mocking a smile, showing off sharp teeth. They were taller than Ocon, shoulders as broad as their male counterpart and Sofia’s stomach dropped. The shifter had returned with friends.

Ocon’s back pressed against hers and she pulled her bow, thankful she’d left the larger dagger with him.

“Any tips on killing these things?”

“Throat or heart,” she muttered, not taking her eyes off the two women. “Anything else will heal before it kills them.”

“Got it,” he said, and before the words were even out of his mouth, she felt him launch himself forward. She didn’t have time to see his attack though because the moment he moved, the two women reacted. Sofia shot the closer of the women, long black hair matted with leaves. The arrow embedded itself in her shoulder, inches from where her heart was. But Sofia’s second arrow hit true, slicing into the flesh of the shifter’s neck in a spray of blood. Sofia didn’t have time to see if the hit was enough. The other shifter was on her.

Sofia pulled the small dagger from her belt, dropping beneath the woman’s attack. The shifter was weaponless, just as the men had been, but her claws tore through Sofia’s shirt, drawing blood.

She hissed in pain as she twisted and slashed the small dagger across the woman’s heel.

The russet-haired woman growled in pain. But a moment later, Sofia went flying as the woman picked her up by her neck and threw her across the clearing. She landed, groaning, and the woman was already flying at her again, still fast despite her prominent limp.

Sofia rolled, the small dagger still clenched in her fist. As the woman moved to grab her once more, Sofia twisted again, trying to aim for her throat, but the shifter blocked each attempt. On her fifth attempt, the woman blocked her neck once more, but Sofia bent this time, her knife dragged across the shifter’s intact heel. She slashed at her calves a few times for good measure as the woman screamed, rolling away from Sofia. She crouched for a moment, bloody dagger still raised, but the woman only stumbled in her attempt to stand.

Her bow was lying on the ground, beside the body of the black-haired shifter. She reached out, grabbing it quickly and sending an arrow into the woman’s chest, hoping she hit the shifter’s heart.

She searched for Ocon and saw him a few yards away, breathing heavily. He looked feral standing there, splattered with blood, hair fallen out of the knot at the top of his head. The shifter was on the ground, bleeding out from his side and neck, though it was difficult to see how deep the wounds were.

“Nowwe run!” she said, grabbing him as she started to sprint.

He didn’t argue, perhaps for the first time in his life. He didn’t even pulled his hand from hers until they were already a few minutes away.

“I think we’re good,” he said between breaths.

“They can track and we don’t know if there are more of them,” she said, trying to ignore the burning in her own chest. “We don’t stop until we’re out of their territory.”

“How far is that?” he asked, dodging around a tree with impressive grace.

“No idea,” she said, hating to admit it even to herself. Her lungs were starting to burn and she felt her throat closing up ever so slowly. She’d be lucky if she made it another half-mile at this pace, but slowing down wasn’t an option.

The echo of a branch breaking in the distance made her stomach skip a beat. Looking at Ocon, she saw in the pale set of his features that he’d heard the same thing and knew what it meant.

“They’ll catch up to us. We can’t outrun them.”

“So what do you suggest?” The words growled out, but she heard the fear beneath the tone. The terror in her own chest tightened even more, each breath taking in less and less air.

She needed to think before she ran out of air completely. She studied the landscape as they ran, and when she made out a small outcrop of rocks ahead, she thought she might be imagining them out of pure desperation.

With a sharp turn to her right, she headed straight toward the rocks. Ocon followed, reading her intentions.

“I don’t know if I’m going to fit,” he said slowing down as he saw the small crevice she was eyeing.

“Yes, you are,” she said with a confidence she did not possess. The words wheezed out, but she didn’t slow her pace.

“You first.” She didn’t wait for him to reply, pushing him sideways into the small gap between the two rocks. He gave a yelp, face going pale as she pressed him harder until she felt the give and he slipped through. She followed a second later, the sound of running growing louder behind her.

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