Page 54 of Hunted in the Shadows
I struck, aiming for the ground. In an instant, Gwen’s boots were frozen to the earth and ice was crawling up to her knees. As she cried in outrage, I halted the spell and didn’t dare turn back to look at her. She was locked in place—at least long enough to buy me time. I bolted across the water, trying to tune out her pleading shrieks.
“Come back! Sylvia, you don’t know what the fuck you’re doing! They’ll kill you!”
Dodging past waterlogged trees, I sailed over the stream—avoiding the direct path of the bridge to ensure I didn’t come across another hunter. My nerves stood further on end as I approached the outpost. The minimal hours of sleep and the moisture in the air left me winded far too soon. I paused to catch my breath, wings heavy as I surveyed my surroundings.
The building was far bigger than I thought, sporting only one entry point out front that I could see. I glimpsed movement through the grimy windows—hunters milling about like menacing shadows. Could I fight them all off if they already gotthe jump on Jon and Cliff? It seemed so reasonable at the time, but now I cursed the boys under my breath for making me stay behind and cursed myself even worse for allowing it.
For all I knew, they had been killed ten minutes ago.
The thought set me in motion again. Idle traps, nets, and chains were strewn about the wrap-around walkway, setting my teeth on edge. I had no doubt that this fortress was crawling with iron, but the unmistakable sensation of amonsternearby absorbed the entire attention of my senses.
The commotion I’d heard from across the bridge wasn’t quite as raucous, but a group of voices still came from around the side of the building. I flitted as close as I dared, perching on a branch to observe. My stomach churned as I caught sight of a giant chain-link dome.
The Pit.
It was two stories high, a jagged patchwork of metal, barbed wire, and a half-dozen other reinforcements. A creature lay inside, gulping down what I could only assume were human remains. Deep crimson pooled in streaks across the concrete floor of the enclosure, gleaming under the sun. The beast resembled a large wildcat, but its bear-like ears and paws told me this was a shapeshifting creature between forms.
My people didn’t have a name for this creature, but I had seen sketches in one of Cliff’s journals—alps. Meticulous ink and graphite drawings had depicted silvery eyes within uncanny forms of various animals—dogs too large for their form, eagles halfway transformed into serpents, and massive predatory felines like this one.
Muscling through my nausea, I refocused on the surroundings of the Pit. At least a dozen humans were gathered around the cage, amicably talking with each other. One of the men scooped up a rock to pelt at the creature. The alp rose to lunge against the cage, only to hiss in pain when another man jabbed it with a bandof silver to sear its flesh. Laughter rose through the air, making my blood heat.
The creature itself deserved little sympathy, but the hunters’ glee was barbaric and cruel, serving no noble purpose. Perhaps Elysian legends about hunters had been entirely right, and Jon and Cliff were merely the exception to the rule.
You’ve seen him hunt, haven’t you?
I shooed away Gwen’s words. Jon wouldn’t stoop to such behavior. He and Cliff killed monsters swiftly. They didn’t wait around to grin at the pain they inflicted or relish their trophies.
Still, I searched the hunters’ faces, their forms. Jon and Cliff weren’t among them. I bit down on panic and tried to remember what the boys were wearing as I glanced at the dark scraps of fabric strewn about the floor of the Pit.
I couldn’t be sure. I needed to search the inside of the building.
Snapping my wings into motion, I considered my options. To my dismay, the fortress was practically airtight, even for me. The side entrance beside the Pit had constant activity, and I couldn’t squeeze through a crack in the reinforced windows.
I came to the harrowing conclusion that the only way inside was through the front door. There was less activity there, less eyes. Humans didn’t tend to pay much mind to things they could confuse with a dragonfly. The sun was brightening through the haze, but that meant I didn’t need my glow to see. I could fly right over their heads or under their noses, if I was careful enough.
A hulking human sat by the door, occasionally looking up from the machete he was sharpening to chime in conversation with a few others that leaned against the entryway railing. In a twisted way, they reminded me of Ayden and the Entry Watch outside Elysia, vigilantly monitoring the entrance.
Perching on the gutter, Iwatched the heavy mist for any sign of movement. From here, I could look down at the top of the hulking man’s balding head and the profiles of his companions.To them, I would be nothing more than a fluttering leaf if they looked up.
But the walkway remained empty. As the minutes ticked on, my heart began to pound anew. The muffled chatter and movement from inside made the walls vibrate, mocking my anxious waiting. My plan hinged on the door opening. But no one was coming.
Fucking stars.
I steadied my breath, mopping sweat from my face with the draped hood of my wrap blouse. Cliff’s voice suddenly snapped in my memory,“You hyperventilate, you’re fucked. Understood? That’s not an option.”
His lessons on patience didn’t account for this situation. There had to be an opening somewhere. The hunters who maintained this establishment couldn’t possibly account for the sturdiness of every wooden board in such humid conditions. As I paced the gutter, searching for a gap between the top of the wall and the roof, something shiny over the door caught my eye. Months ago, it would have been nothing more than a nameless human gadget. Now, I knew a security camera when I saw one.
I’d flown right past it.Fuck. Fuck!
Darting away to avoid the camera’s eye, I found myself dangerously close to the guards in my beeline to reach the crates piled near the edge of the walkway.
I landed on the boarded ground, certain I was out of the hunters’ and camera’s sight. Perhaps my way inside was lower to the ground, anyway. If I could find a path under the floorboards… I wrinkled my nose at the thought, but I was too desperate to truly care about having to wade through muck.
As I made my careful way around the crates, several creatures moved within. Mysenses clicked. It felt unnervingly similar to what I’d experienced after the car wreck. Muted butthere. Swallowing hard, I searched for the source, determined to not be caught off guard.
One of the crates was not a crate at all but a tank of water. The edges were reinforced with bronze. I inched closer to the grimy glass and nearly screamed when a face appeared on the other side. I covered my mouth, eyes wide as the monster and I regarded each other.
A siren.
