Page 62 of The Barbaric Fae's Soul

Its massive claws snapped around me, and I looked down when I felt wetness trickling on my abdomen.

My lips parted when I saw the thick, red claw protruding from my belly, cutting straight through my middle.

The world spun around me, and I grabbed at the claws as pain bloomed in my chest, fierce enough to stop my breath.

The klynna roared, and it barreled away from the Stronghold.

Away from my friends.

Away from Aev.

I saw trees burning, behind me. I saw my friends and the other shifters struggling to deal with the klynnas.

And I saw that no one was following me.

They hadn’t realized I wasn’t still with Presley, tucked safely in Oren’s claws.

They hadn’t realized I was alone and injured.

They would, eventually.

Summer would.

Aev would.

But until then, I was on my own.

The klynna moved dizzyingly fast.Then again, I was already dizzy thanks to the fierce pain that had my mind short-circuiting, but somehow remaining conscious. The klynna crashed through a few trees, taking out chunks of wood as it dove toward a small clearing. It roared when it landed roughly in a patch of dirt that looked well-worn.

I screamed as more pain reverberated through me. My body was on fire—and cold, at the same time.

I could heal quickly, thanks to my magic, but the hole in my middle… it was massive.

I wasn’t sure even the fae’s fast healing would be enough to save me.

Thunder cracked over our heads, and the klynna roared. It tilted its claws, and my world shifted. More pain cut through me, intense enough to silence my screams and knock me out for a moment as I slid slowly down the sharp length of the creature’s claws.

My back hit the ground, jarring me to consciousness. Tears leaked down my face as the klynna roared at me again.

I realized it was raining again, when I saw the water dripping from the klynna’s massive face. I couldn’t feel the droplets, but they were hitting me. They had to be hitting me.

My chest rose and fell shallowly.

Agonizingly.

Everything hurt.

Everything.

So much that I couldn’t even feel anything but that pain.

The klynna roared again as its massive red eyes met mine. I felt the connection that used to exist between us—felt the break in it, the reason that it no longer held.

And then I felt the creature’s fury.

Itspain.

Not the same physical kind as mine—its was a righteous, angry, sad pain.

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