Page 25 of Marked for Vengeance
Thud. Even this far down the waterfall, she felt the rocks around her shape as something huge approached from above.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
The next the booming roar was so loud it made the mist dance and whirl around her.
Angry tears scalded her cheeks as she started to climb back up. It was pointless, but she did it anyway. If anything happened to him…
Pain twisted in her chest, and fear gathered in her throat, making it hard to breathe. Vengeance was up there alone. She should be with him. Fighting by his side. Keeping him alive, because if he died, she’d lose her only chance at love.
The word slammed into her like a comet strike. “Fuck me. I love him. He better not die, or I’ll never get to tell him he was right.”
She looked up again, and this time she saw him. He stood at the edge of the cliff, his sword in hand. He pounded a fist to his chest, striking the point where the markings intersected. Then he threw back his head and roared.
The beast roared back, and Vengeance vanished from sight.
She screamed his name, but she knew he wouldn’t come back. He didn’t have to. He’d already said goodbye.
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For a moment,grief and fear paralyzed her, but it didn’t last. She might not be able to help, but she could at least get ready in case an opportunity appeared.
She unslung her rifle and gave it a quick once-over to ensure nothing had happened to it during her climb. All good.
That settled, she shifted her stance until she was looking back up the way she’d come, her feet braced and most of her weight supported by the rope.
She could hear occasional roars over the waterfall, accompanied by loud thuds that sent random sprays of dirt and pebbles cascading off the cliff. Cursing, she turned away to protect her eyes and caught sight of something moving beneath her.
Shit. Now what?
A nightmare stalked the shore of the river below. The thing washugewith mottled yellow and gray scales and a tail so thick she couldn’t have wrapped her arms around it. Massive jaws opened, revealing teeth like swords angled toward the back of the creature’s mouth.
It stared at her with orange eyes. Still staring, it raised two surprisingly stubby arms and uttered an eerie trilling sound that drilled its way into her soul and booked an appointment to visit all her future nightmares.
Then it raised its head higher, and she realized it wasn’t looking at her but at something happeningaboveher.
She spun around in time to see Vengeance standing at the brink of the waterfall. His sword flashed, and something screamed in pain. Another slash and the water flowing past her changed color—first pink and then red. Blood. She leaned farther out, trying to get a better angle.
A shape charged into view. She recognized it as a larger version of the creature below.
Vengeance swung his sword again. She saw the blow land, cleaving deep into the monster’s neck.Yes!
It staggered and dropped to its knees before vanishing from view again. The rocks shuddered around her. Was that it falling? Was the fight over?
The water was crimson now, and even the mist had turned a sickening shade of pink.
Her lover staggered into view at last. He raised a hand to her, and she waved back.
Then something struck him from behind. It whipped back and forth several times and then stopped. It didn’t matter, though. The damage was done. Knocked off balance, Vengeance fell.
To Loris, it seemed as if the whole thing happened in slow motion. She screamed and reached out as if she could somehow stop this from happening.
He managed to curl into a ball, his arms around his head as he plunged into the pool at the foot of the falls.
She had no idea how deep the water was. Could he survive that, or had his body shattered on rocks beneath the churning surface? She had no way to know.
