Page 85 of Shadow Master
Triumph lit up my chest, and my shadows melted away, but then I caught the look of horror on Orion’s face.
Orion shook his head. “Fuck. Oh, fuck.”
I didn’t need to turn around to know that the army was almost upon us. “Run!”
I leaped onto Athos’s back, pulling Hyde up with me, and we were off. The others did the same, riding two on one as we loped away from the fir bolg army.
But our hounds were injured, and the pace wasn’t fast enough. The thunder of hooves was too close at our backs.
The blare of a horn.
The bloodthirsty cry of warriors.
The hair on the back of my neck stood to attention, and ice threatened to snuff out the fire of adrenaline in my veins.
Hold fast. I will not fail you,Athos said.
I leaned forward, holding on, and we picked up speed.
“They’re gaining,” Hyde said.
We hadn’t even had time to lay down the fire grain. There would be no resistance. We were halfway through sector three. We were fucked.
And then a figure appeared on the horizon in front of us. A hound with a rider. Moving fast.
I recognized the flow of dark hair set against olive skin.
My heart swelled in my chest. “Kash. He’s coming. He heard me.”
I waved my arm, but Kash kept his head down. I caught the look of determination on his face as he sped up, and then it hit me. He wasn’t headed to meet us. He was headed to meet the enemy. To get close enough to siphon.
He whipped past us a moment later, and my heart jumped into my mouth. “No!” I pulled on Athos’s ridges to force him to slow. “Turn around.”
“What is he doing?” Hyde cried out in panic.
He was making sure we were safely out of range when he siphoned. I leaped off Athos.
“Get Hyde away. Now.”
Hyde let out a bellow of protest, but Athos was already shooting away from me to join the others.
I turned and ran after Kash.
* * *
KASH
Don’t think, just act. Don’t think, just act.
I have to do this. I have to save her. I have to …
Fuck, that’s a large army.
The leather strap pressed to my skin, woven with the herbs and the elements that make up the rune, flares to life and singes my skin.
I grit my teeth, close my eyes, and feed.
* * *
