Chapter 15

The naga were sprung from a nightmare. Covered in dark scales and nothing
more, they were a horrendous combination of serpentine features and male
humanoid bodies whose powerful arms ended in polished black, flesh-shredding
talons.
Here were the creatures of the blood-filled legends, the ones that slipped
through the wall to torment and slaughter mortals. The ones I would have been
glad to kill that day in the snowy woods. Their huge, almond-shaped eyes
greedily took in the Suriel and me.
The four of them paused across the clearing, the Suriel between us, and I
trained my arrow toward the one in the center.
The creature smiled, a row of razor-sharp teeth greeting me as a silvery
forked tongue darted out.
“The Dark Mother has sent us a gift today, brothers,” he said, gazing at the
Suriel, who was clawing at the snare now. The naga’s amber eyes shifted toward
me again. “And a meal.”
“Not much to eat,” another one said, flexing its claws.
I began backing away—toward the stream, toward the manor below, keeping
my arrow pointed at them. One scream from me would notify Lucien—but my
breath was thin. And he might not come at all, if he’d sent me here. I kept every
sense fixed on my retreating steps.
“Human,” the Suriel begged.
I had ten arrows—nine, once I fired the one nocked in my bow. None of them
ash, but maybe they’d keep the naga down long enough for me to flee.
I backed away another step. The four naga crept closer, as if savoring the
slowness of the hunt, as if they already knew how I tasted.
I had three heartbeats to make up my mind. Three heartbeats to execute my
plan.
I drew my bowstring back farther, my arm trembling.
And then I screamed. Sharp and loud and with every bit of air in my too-tight
lungs.
With the naga now focused entirely on me, I fired at the tether holding the
Suriel in place.
The snare shattered. Like a shadow on the wind, the Suriel was off, a blast of
dark that set the four naga staggering back.
The one closest to me surged toward the Suriel, the strong column of its scaly
neck stretching out. No chance of my movements being considered an
unprovoked attack anymore—not now that they’d seen my aim. They still
wanted to kill me.
So I let my arrow fly.
The tip glittered like a shooting star through the gloom of the forest. I had all
of a blink before it struck home and blood sprayed.
The naga toppled back just as the remaining three whirled to me. I didn’t
know if it was a killing shot. I was already gone.
I raced for the stream using the path I’d calculated earlier, not daring to look
back. Lucien had said he’d be nearby—but I was deep in the woods, too far from
the manor and help.
Branches and twigs snapped behind me—too close—and snarls that sounded
like nothing I’d heard from Tamlin or Lucien or the wolf or any animal filled the
still woods.
My only hope of getting away alive lay in outrunning them long enough to
reach Lucien, and then only if he was there as he’d promised to be. I didn’t let
myself think of all the hills I would have to climb once I cleared the forest itself.
Or what I would do if Lucien had changed his mind.
The crashing through the brush became louder, closer, and I veered to the
right, leaping over the stream. Running water might have stopped the Suriel, but
a hiss and a thud close behind told me it did nothing to hold the naga at bay.
I careened through a thicket, and thorns ripped at my cheeks. I barely felt
their stinging kisses or the warm blood sliding down my face. I didn’t even have
time to wince, not as two dark figures flanked me, closing in to cut me off.
My knees groaned as I pushed myself harder, focusing on the growing
brightness of the woods’ end. But the naga to my right rushed at me, so fast that
I could only leap aside to avoid the slashing talons.
I stumbled but stayed upright just as the naga on my left pounced.
I hurled myself into a stop, swinging my bow up in a wide arc. I nearly lost
my grip as it connected with that serpentine face, and bone crunched with a
horrific screech. I hurdled over his enormous fallen body, not pausing to look for
the others.
I made it three feet before the third naga stepped in front of me.