Page 32 of Splintered Shadow
Finally, she came to rest against a large stone pillar. Circles bored through the stone in a decorative pattern that probably meant something. A brand name, perhaps.Home Defense 3000 ProorLurker in the Woods Ultra.
Sarah groaned. Everything hurt. Her right foot hung off the pillar, attached by a familiar gold chain, only this one was short and not the ever-expanding chain from the house. She felt like a rabbit caught in a snare.
Worse. A dumb bunny who ran from a wolf straight into a trap.
She kicked at the pillar, trying to push off with her foot to snap the chain. No joy. The chain was only a few inches long and kept her foot elevated. She was stuck on her back until Vekele freed her.
Growling sounded from the shadows.
Her stomach sank. This was so much worse. Now she was bleeding and tied to a pillar, basically a monster buffet.
The beast stepped forward.
“Hey,” she said, twisting her head to get a better view. From her perspective, the beast’s paws were huge. “You probably wanna eat, but that’s a bad idea. I like junk food, so I’m full of preservatives.”
The paws crept closer. Inky black pools spread across the ground, twisting through leaves and grass, right toward her.
Vekele
He followed the female.
For surveillance. Not that he wanted to watch her as she explored the grounds or wanted to see the way the sunlight picked out golden highlights in her hair. Because that was behavior reserved for the young and foolish.
Surveillance.
If he repeated that enough, he would believe his lie.
Baris’ patience neared an end, and he demanded an update on the female. Vekele did not believe the female to be a spy or even an agent sent to sow discord and chaos. He believed the ludicrous story of her communication device opening a portal, despite being unable to replicate that phenomenon with the contraption. The reports he read claimed human tech was not advanced, but the reports were ancient in terms of intelligence. He would disregard them entirely if he had any other information about humans.
Sarah’s wanderings through Summerhall’s ground churned up Vekele’s memories. This place had been his home and his prison for most of his adolescence. He knew every inch of the house and had explored the grounds. Summerhall kept no secrets from him. He wanted to show her the initials carved into a retaining wall, left by a long-dead ancestor. When she paused under a large tree, he bit back the urge to tell the story of how Baris pushed him from the tree, and he broke his arm.
She headed to the small pond on the edge of the boundary. If she strayed too close to the boundary, the security system would detain her. She could not enjoy the experience. He knew. The band she wore had been his.
Several times, too often to count, he tested the security system and searched for weak points in the boundary. Each time, his efforts ended with him on his back, his foot chained to a pillar.
The system his uncle designed was crude but effective.
Sarah’s posture changed. She stiffened, as if frightened.
Vekele stepped back, gathering a shadow to cloak himself. Stalking her in the bright light of day had been a mistake.
She bolted. Not toward the house, toward safety, but deeper into the trees.
A shadowy creature followed. It was small, but he recognized a void beast.
“Track them,” he said to the karu. The words had barely left his lips before she took flight.
Wings of darkness and shifting shadow erupted from his back. They did him no good, only hindering him as he moved through the trees. Stealth was impossible and speed impractical. Frustration grew that Sarah would choose to run into the dense trees rather than out into the open where he could shield her. He latched onto that frustration. As long as her choices irritated him, he could ignore the gnawing worry.
Sarah was not a warrior. While she had a strong spirit and a stronger will, her body was fragile. She had already been injured. If she were injured again while under his care, the medic would give him such a lashing—and he would deserve every word.
A yelp pierced through the silence. That would be the perimeter defense activating. He ran toward the sound, ignoring the branches that battered against his wings.
He broke into a clearing.
The void beast sat directly on Sarah’s chest, gnawing on her face. It was a horrible sight. She writhed on the ground in obvious agony. Why she giggled instead of screamed had to be a human defect, some strange coping mechanism.
He was too late.
