Page 29 of The Stones for It
A flash of tawny fur snagged my focus through the gloom. I stilled as adrenaline primed my muscles.
“Bouda,” I hissed and took off after the shifter before my brain could catch up with my body.
“Wait!” Vrath lunged after me.
But I was already darting between the trees, shoving through thick ferns and leaping roots.
Heavy footfalls pounded behind me, the gargoyle crashing through the undergrowth. His size would hinder him in the dense bushes and tight formation of trees, but I couldn’t wait for him.
A golden tail disappeared into a thicket of dusky ferns, and I angled towards it, ducking under a meaty orange vine and scrambling over a dead log.
“Come back, you coward!” I snarled.
Sweat dotted my brow as I pushed every ounce of speed out of my legs.
A tingle started on my forehead, and I brushed my hand across it as I sprinted through the night.
I skirted a rocky boulder, not pausing to inspect the fresh addition to the landscape. More dark lumps littered the jungle floor the further I got.
The back of my hand fizzled, mirroring the sensation on my head. My shoulders tingled as well, and the heat turned up a fraction.
“What the fuck!?” I panted, lungs heaving as I ran.
The bubbly champagne feeling burned, and I swiped at the irritation across my skin without breaking stride.
What I’d thought was sweat was actually rain. Fat drops pattered the leafy canopy and assaulted me in a growing deluge.
The burning didn’t stop.
“Kelsea!” Vrath called out, leaping a boulder with ease to land beside me, keeping stride with my faltering steps.
“It burns!” I spluttered, trying to shake off the acid.
Vrath’s red eyes widened. “You can feel it?”
Before I could respond, his huge wing unfurled above me like a leathery umbrella. Drops pounded the thin membrane. He scooped me into his arms, tucking me into the shelter of his broad chest.
Every exposed inch of my skin itched. I swallowed a whimper, barely resisting the urge to scrape my nails over my flesh.
“Hang on, little mortal,” he urged, holding me close.
A sheer cliff face peeked between the trees, piercing the canopy so high that the top was lost to me from under Vrath’s protection.
He sprinted towards the dark peak, quick enough to blur the dripping jungle. I swallowed a sigh of relief as we rounded a jutting stone to reveal a gaping maw in the rock face.
The shadowy entrance screamed ‘horror movie’ but I didn’t protest as Vrath raced us into the cave and out of the burning rain. Softly glowing blue moss clung to the walls further in,casting a faint light over the dim interior, but it was hard to process anything with fire eating away at my skin.
“Vrath,” I whimpered, digging my nails into his thick forearm banded around me.
“Shut your mouth,” he growled.
“F-fuck—” I stuttered before the bastard lifted me high.
And threw me.
My breath caught in my lungs.
Instead of slamming into hard stone, my back slapped liquid. I was yanked down in an instant. Water wrapped me in its embrace as warmth rushed overhead, and I clamped my mouth closed just in time.
