Page 80 of A Court of Bones & Sorrow

“Samara!” Vail bellowed.

The devils were there instantly. One snapped at my leg, and only Vail yanking me back kept me from losing a foot. Then he practically threw me forward, causing me to stagger a few steps before I spun around as he released a pain-filled snarl.

Blood poured from his thigh, but the devil was writhing onthe ground where Vail had pinned it with his sword. Another leapt for his back, aiming for his exposed neck, but my dagger sank into its throat instead. The dead weight still carried forward, and Vail grunted when the fifty-pound creature slammed into his back, almost taking him off his feet.

All around us, devils released sharp sounds—an eerie mix between a cough and bark—between those clicking sounds they clearly used to communicate. Blood filled the air, both ours and theirs, and I could feel their magic trying to seep into my mind again.

“FUCK OFF!” I screamed as the dagger slid free from the throat of the one I’d killed and landed back in my hand. We needed to move. Now. “Come on, Vail.” I shoved one dagger back into my thigh sheath and grabbed his hand that wasn’t holding the sword. “Time to go.”

He took a step forward and faltered, blood soaking his entire right leg. I didn’t think they’d broken any bones, but the devil had clearly torn through a lot of flesh. I could feel the excitement of the beasts around us as they slunk through the shadows. They’d temporarily backed off after we’d killed two of their own, but it was only a matter of time before they had another opportunity to strike.

“Go,” Vail ordered, his face pale. “I’ll only slow you down.”

“Who’s being whiny now,Marshal?” I snarled in his face. “We’re a team, Vail. You go down, I go down.”

Fury lit up his silver eyes, and I let my bloodlust fully off the chain, knowing my eyes were nothing but solid black pools.

“If we die, know that I’m going to beat the shit out of you in whatever afterlife awaits us,” he promised.

“Deal.” I moved to his injured side and gripped his arm. It meant I could only throw with one hand but I couldn’t risk him falling again. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

We ran, not nearly as fast as before, but we kept going.Anytime Vail stumbled, I used every ounce of my strength to keep him on his feet. Between his sword and my dagger, we kept the devils from biting us with their bone-crushing jaws. Unfortunately, they changed tactics and started swiping at our legs with their claws.

Panic and fear still nipped at the edges of my mind. Some of it was definitely mine, but I could feel their influence as well. Up ahead, I could see a break in the trees.Please let that be the dry creek bed,I sent up a prayer to the moon. We just needed to reach the damn cave.

Moon devils raced across the branches, chittering back and forth rapidly. They knew we were close to getting free of the forest, and they didn’t want to lose the advantage of the trees. I swallowed a scream as one of them deeply dug its claws into my calf, yet I somehow managed to stay upright. Vail grunted when I almost went down, more weight going on his injured leg, but I surged up and kept us both running.

The distraction cost me though when two devils flew from the trees on either side of us. My dagger found one while Vail barely managed to knock the other with his sword. Neither of us saw the third one flying directly towards my side, its jaw stretched open wide to sink its fangs into my ribs.

A sound like thunder cracked through the dark forest, and the devil that had been flying through the air at me jerked and veered off course. Another thunderous boom sounded from behind us, and as one, the devils released a high-pitched, undulating wail before falling back. Whether they were converging on whatever was attacking them or just retreating, I didn’t know and didn’t care.

“Vail!” I shouted. “Creek bed! Where do we go?”

We crashed to a halt, both of us breathing hard as Vail whipped his head around, taking in our surroundings. “West. Half mile.” He grimaced and tentatively pulled away from mysupport, testing his leg. “Let’s go before they come back or something else is attracted to the blood.”

For a moment, I stood there, bathed in moonlight, and looked back into the dark forest where I could hear the devils hunting whatever had saved us.

“Thanks, beastie,” I whispered, “and good hunting.”

Twenty minutes later,Vail and I collapsed onto the floor of a small underground cave. The only reason it’d taken us so long to find it was because the sky had opened up and dumped what felt like a lake’s worth of water on us. Visibility had been so poor that we’d walked past the cave and had to backtrack, the entrance barely noticeable.

I winced as I dipped my fingers into the bleeding wound on my calf before drawing the glyph for seal in the dirt and on each side of the narrow cave mouth. This spell wasn’t particularly powerful—wraiths could have breezed on by it and it would shatter if it was physically hit too many times—but it would prevent anything from hearing or scenting us, and we’d been careful not to let any blood drip from our wounds close to the cave. I waited until I felt the magic lock into place before heading back towards Vail.

“I don’t know how the Velesians deal with these sudden showers all the time.” I shivered and tugged my cold, wet tunic away from my skin with a grimace. “There’s no way these are going to dry in here.”

“The sun will rise in a few hours.” Vail set his sword next to where he was sitting on the floor, examining his leg. He’d pulled a small Fae lantern from his pack along with a canteen of water and some dried meat. “We’ll use that time to heal and rest and then try to cover as much ground as possible duringthe day, but we’ll likely still need to travel at least a few hours at night if we’re to reach Rynn on time.”

I nodded and sat on the cool, hard floor, trying very hard not to think about the last time I’d been alone with Vail in a cave while I drew healing glyphs around my various wounds. It’d been easy to block that memory before because I’d been so focused on finding safety, but now we were here . . . and exactly like that night, we’d barely survived a monster attack and were covered in blood. At least this time, thanks to the rain, most of the blood had been washed away.

Of course that meant I was freezing, but I was still glad we didn’t have to spend the rest of the night covered in sticky blood with no way of rinsing off. One of these days, when I wasn’t busy just trying to survive or unravel nefarious plots, I’d figure out a glyph that could instantly clean and dry clothes.

Vail passed me a piece of dried meat.

“Thanks,” I murmured before popping it into my mouth. Rabbit. My lips twisted in distaste, but I choked it down.

“Sorry.” The corner of Vail’s eyes crinkled in the barest hint of amusement as he handed me several more pieces. “Tried to find venison, but meat supplies are running low so rabbit was the only option.”

I blinked, a little surprised he remembered my food preferences and my strong dislike for the gaminess of rabbit.

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