Page 96 of A House of Fangs & Deceit

“Shit. Poppers,” Vail said gravely. “Clever fucks.”

“Damn it, I told you,” Nyx cursed. “Their traps have been getting more elaborate. They probably chose that section of the road to block off because they knew these things grew here.”

“There are more ahead of us,” I said. Now that I knewwhat to look for, I could see the brightly colored mushrooms all over the ground ahead of us. There was no way we could avoid them. “Do we need to turn around?”

We waited as Vail stared at the path before us, thinking through all the options. I returned to my mount, who was growing increasingly more restless, and took the reins from Alaric. Horses were very sensitive to our own moods, so I did my best to repress my panic as I soothed him. We were deep in the woods, in the territory of the kùsu, and I very much suspected we had just rung the dinner bell.

“There is a river ahead, less than five miles away,” Vail said. “We get to the road as fast as we can, mount up, and run like hell. The kùsu can’t swim.”

“Alaric, get on,” I commanded quickly. “I’ll guide the horse, but it will be too slow for us both to mount up once we reach the road. I’ll either sit behind you or ride with one of the others.”

He stared at me for a moment, clearly not liking this idea, but finally jerked his head in agreement when neither Vail nor Nyx countered my command. I helped him get into the saddle and handed him the reins.

“Grip tightly with your legs. Grab onto the mane if you have to, butdon’tdrop the reins,” I instructed. “You fall, you die.”

Alaric swallowed but did as ordered. I didn’t tell him that I wasn’t loving this either.

Alaric wasn’t a strong rider, and the horse was nervous as hell, but it would run fast and follow whichever horse was in front of it. All Alaric had to do was hang on. Hopefully, I’d be able to mount behind him, but I was pretty sure our horse was on the verge of bolting, so I wasn’t willing to bet on it.

I untied the crossbow from the saddle and strapped it to my back. Then I checked to make sure the dagger at my thigh wassecure. The chances of either being useful against a kùsu were slim, but I still felt better being armed.

“Everyone ready?” Vail asked, making eye contact with each of us.

We all nodded before Vail pulled his horse forward, and then we picked up the pace as we weaved our way through the forest back towards the road.

It wasn’t long before another loud pop sounded, then another. I kept my hands on the reins of Alaric’s horse as it began to shy off the path, refusing to let it and Alaric out of my sight. Vail broke out into a jog, and I did the same, pulling the stupid panicking horse along with me.

Just as the road came into sight again, my foot snagged on a piece of root, and I stumbled. The horse yanked its head up, and the reins slipped through my fingers as I fell.

“Sam!” Alaric called out in alarm.

“I’m fine!” I reached back to pull my foot free from the two roots it slipped between. “Go!”

Even if he wanted to stop, Alaric’s horse had decided it was done with all of this bullshit and surged forward towards the road. Alaric yelped as he held on, and I prayed the damn horse didn’t break a leg in the remaining distance it needed to clear.

My ears picked up the sound of something very large crashing through the underbrush towards us, and terror-fueled adrenaline flooded my system as I frantically tried to pull myself loose.

With one final yank, my foot finally slipped free just as Nyx grabbed me and hoisted me up. We raced towards the road, but I was too late to stop Alaric’s horse from leaping into a full-on gallop and sprinting away from us.

“Go!” I screamed at Nyx. “Make sure they reach the river!”

They nodded and smoothly leapt onto their mount and tore off after them. I took one step towards where Vail waitedbefore stumbling back as a massive black form scuttled onto the road between me and him.

Mindless words and whimpers poured out of me at the sight.

I’d seen drawings of kùsu, but that was nothing compared to seeing the enormous insectoid creature in person.

Its body had to be over fifteen feet long, and there were so many fucking legs. There was a reason we named them after the Unseelie word fordeath. If I survived this, I had no doubt this would be the star of my nightmares for years to come.

The kùsu turned in my direction and raised the upper part of its body until it towered over me.

Large black eyes looked at me above foot-long pinchers that could easily snap my body in half. Even if I could reach the crossbow on my back, it would be useless. The bolts would never penetrate the hard carapace that covered its entire body including its underside.

The best I could do would be to shoot out its eyes, but it would be on me too fast. Plus, they could sense vibrations, so even without its eyes it would still hunt me down.

Vail’s horse snorted and danced beneath him as his steely grey eyes met mine.

I let out a sharp exhale at the death I saw in them. This was the exact scenario I’d always feared. He didn’t have to kill me. All he had to do was not save me.

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