Page 5 of Lost and Stolen Gods
“What? Seriously? You’re acting insane.”
She ground the pestle into the mortar with renewed vigor. “I wish there was time to tell you everything. No. I wish there was no need to.”
“Tell me what?”
“Your bloodline is special, beti, and you are hunted. The amulet, the herbs, they were both protection to hide you so you could lead a normal life.” She scooped some stuff from the mortar and held it out to me. “Eat it.”
I caught a whiff of something sharp and musty. “What? No, it smells gross.”
“Eat it now!”
I opened my mouth obediently, and she shoved the herbal concoction in. It was bitter and nasty, and I was tempted to spit it out, but she glared at me until I swallowed, just as she’d done with the herbal tea that she’d had me drink every night till I turned sixteen…until… Until she’d given me the amulet.
Some kind of instinctual understanding crept up on me. But before I could grasp it and tease it to the forefront of my mind, fiery teeth chomped on my inner thigh.
“Argh!” I rubbed at the spot, lifting my skirt, intent on examining the area, when the howl of an angry wind filled the room.
Nani grabbed my hand and yanked me toward the back door. “They’re coming for you. Get to the treehouse. You’ll be safe there and?—”
The sound of splintering wood was like the crack of thunder, and Nani released me and grabbed another jar off the shelf. “Go!” she ordered. “Now!”
But my feet were rooted to the spot because something huge and dark was spilling down the corridor toward us. A shadow with teeth and claws and eyes like blood.
The thing from my nightmare.
It was here.
“Nani!” I made a grab for her but missed as she rushed toward the creature, screaming words I didn’t understand, then smashed the jar in the kitchen doorway.
Red smoke billowed, and the creature roared in pain. Whatever the smoke was, it was holding the thing…the monster…at bay. And this was real. This was happening.
Oh god. We had to get out of here.
“Nani, come on!” I yanked open the door, reaching for her as she ran toward me, her hand outstretched to grab mine, but no, what was that look in her eyes? Not determination but…resignation?
The red smoke dissipated, and the shadow monsterlunged. The world seemed to slow as thick tendrils of inky shadow whipped out to wrap around my grandmother. A scream bubbled up my throat.
“Run!” She flicked her wrist, and I was blasted away.
“NO!”
The shadow swallowed her with a crunch and a crimson spray.
Blood.
Her blood.
The world shattered, taking me with it.
Chapter 3
MONSTERS ARE REAL
The fractured world reformed, and I found myself on a forest floor. My chest hurt, my heart ached, and that sound…that awful crunching sound resonated in my head.
It ate her.
The shadow ate my?—
