“You don’t look so well,” he said, stepping toward me.
“I have to go.” I quickly gathered my belongings, praying my parents were still away.
“I should see you home,” Boaz said.
I shook my head and lifted onto Storm’s back, my thoughts torn between him and getting home. “I’ll be fine.”
With a nudge to her gut, Storm galloped away. My heartbeat matched the rapid rhythm of her hooves, bu-bum, bu-bum, over and over. Boaz appeared in my mind. Bu-bum, bu-bum. His caress sliding down my skin, his tongue against my wrist. Bu-bum, bu-bum.
I pulled the reins, bringing Storm to a slow walk. What was wrong with me? I looked over my shoulder, expecting to see Boaz, but I was alone. I shouldn’t have these feelings, but I couldn’t deny there was something that drew me to him. The air hummed in his presence, and it electrified my skin and vibrated my nerves. It was as though the magic inside me was reacting to him, as if he were metal and I a magnet.
Storm stopped abruptly, jolting me out of my thoughts. She stomped her feet and snorted.
I patted her broad neck. “What is it, girl?”
Without warning, she reared, making me lose my balance, and I tumbled to the ground. The bone in my arm snapped just before my head smacked against a rock and exploded in pain. Stunned, I reached for the back of my head with my good arm and felt something warm and wet. I moved my hand in front of my eyes and sucked in air—blood.
To my right, an unnatural movement caught my eye. Something shaped like a man with grayish white skin from head to foot stepped out from behind a tree. His chest was abnormally large on top of his skinny legs. Each bulging rib looked like it was about to burst from his leathered skin. His patchy hair and wide eyes shined a brilliant white; only his lips were a dark gray. The creature hobbled awkwardly toward me, shifting in uneven spurts. There wasn’t anything particularly frightening about his expressionless face, but his intentions clouded and darkened the air around him.
He meant to kill me.
Chapter 6
I scooted backwards on the ground, away from the gray creature whose strides were extraordinary long. His upper lip flared into a snarl, revealing razor sharp teeth, and he snapped them like a rabid dog. My mind raced, trying to recall any kind of spell I might use against him, but my head was more full of pain than any useable thoughts.
He was almost upon me when out of nowhere a dark blur slammed into the monster, flipping his grayish body into the air. As the beast fell down, I recognized my savior: Boaz. He caught the creature in his arms and snapped its back upon his thigh. He rolled the limp figure from his leg, and before the body hit the ground, Boaz was by my side.
“Are you all right?” he asked. His eyebrows pulled tightly together, shadowing the dark tunnels that stared at me.
Words were even harder to access than my thoughts.
“What is it, Eve?”
I wanted to say that I was fine, but my eyes fluttered close. I forced them open again and attempted to sit up. I had to get home. I had to get away from Boaz.
“Let me help you,” Boaz said. He reached around my shoulders, but stopped suddenly. He must have seen or smelled the blood—I couldn’t be sure which. Very gently, he turned my head to the side and smoothed the hair away to examine the wound.
His face contorted and twisted into rage, but he said nothing. Instead, he stood up and returned to the lifeless body he had killed. With one hard kick, he sent it flying into the top of a tree. The branches groaned under the weight until they snapped, and the monster fell. On its way back to the ground, branches tore at its leathery skin, exposing a black substance that oozed like tar from the wounds.
The last thing I remembered before losing consciousness was Boaz picking me up and cradling me to his chest.
***
I opened my eyes, blinking several times. I was back in my bedroom. The red sheer curtains around my canopy bed were drawn except for a small gap at the corner where the curtains met. I couldn’t tell whether it was night or day; someone had drawn the blinds on my windows.
I was about to call out, hoping Jane might be around, but quickly shut my mouth when I heard Boaz’s voice: “This isn’t the way. You hurt her.”
He spoke low, but the sharp tone of his voice was as if he were yelling. He stood not far away, his dark silhouette looming over Erik’s.
“Sable has already taken care of it,” Erik said. “For now.”
“You better be right.” Boaz crossed the room to my dresser and picked up something small from its top.
“She’s useless to us, Boaz,” Erik said. “You know that. My father gave us permission.”
Boaz dropped whatever he was looking at, and faster than I could blink, was across the room gripping Erik by the throat. “You won’t touch her without my permission, do you understand?”
He didn’t answer, but I assumed Erik must’ve agreed, because Boaz said, “Good. And I expect Sable to obey as well.”