“Death…” it hisses.
How it manages to speak through those teeth is beyond me. Drool falls onto my clothes, and I reach up with my other hand trying to get myself loose, while Tatiana squeezes my leg, and Patrick joins in helping her, attempting to hold me down. But the bird, if it’s even that, pulls me harder, lifting me more. Its claws dig in farther, the grip only getting tighter.
Tatiana starts a spell, but it falls from her mouth as if it’s nothing but words.
Nothing happens.
“It’s immune!” Tatiana screams up at me, everything is.
I reach for the claws again, digging my fingers into its feet and squeezing. It screams as I continue my assault. I try again, feeling my own nails cracking under the strain. Its skin is tough, the scales making it almost impossible to penetrate.
“Move.” I hear its hisses but can’t look down. And I really have nowhere to move to. My feet are off the ground and the only thing keeping me where I am are my sister’s hands wrapped around my foot. If she slips, just once, this thing will go. Its wings flap loudly above us, and it hisses once more as it finally lets go of my shoulder. I drop to the ground, landing half on my sister. I turn to look up but notice Patrick, who has shifted, is standing where I was.
“Are you okay?” I ask him, brushing off the dirt as I stand. He growls, and I watch as he pads over to us. His nose comes in close, and he sniffs, then rubs his mouth on us, letting us know he’s friendly.
“It’s probably warmer for him to stay in wolf form,” Tatiana says.
Patrick growls in response.
I manage to straighten and help Tatiana to stand as well. She grabs Patrick’s things that fell to the ground when he shifted. “We need to stay more alert. I didn’t even see where that thing came from.” Tatiana looks around dumbfoundedly. “There was no noise, no feeling, no nothing. I am always so vigilant. I’m sure there is more to come. We have to all be on high alert, watching for anything suspicious. Anything at all, because that thing got past my defenses so easily.”
“Agreed, but we need shelter. We need to rest,” I reply as Patrick nudges my shoulder. I cringe at the pain that shoots through it and the warm blood that I know is pooling inside my clothing.
“You’re hurt, badly.” Tatiana reaches inside my clothing, moving it away to check the wound. “Fuck, Talia. Fuck,” she swears, and all I can do is smirk at her. “What?” She raises an eyebrow.
“You hardly ever used to swear, now it’s like a second language.”
“I always swore, I just didn’t need to do it around you,” she says, dropping to the ground and reaching into her bag to take out some ointments she made before the trip. It’s still bitterly cold, and she tries to contain her teeth chattering, but it does no good.
Patrick, still in his wolf form, comes and stands next to us. I lean my good side on him, stealing his warmth as Tatiana applies her medicine.
“You are a pretty wolf, do you know that?” I say to Patrick as I touch his head, petting it. He stays where he is, leaning on me, taking all the attention he can get.
“Okay, we need to find a cave. Someplace to stay warm until the sun comes up,” Tatiana says, standing and pulling two bags up onto her shoulders as she starts moving forward. My shoulder smarts, but I follow her anyway.
Chapter Twelve
Tatiana spots somewhere to crawl into right near the river. She ducks her head in as we wait, then she comes back out, nodding for us to follow her in.
Patrick stays near me the whole time as we enter, and when we step inside, Tatiana is laying the bags down, pulling out what clothes she can to throw over us.
“You think Tanya is okay?” I ask while sitting on the cold, dank ground.
Patrick lies down, putting his body right near mine. His fur is warm, and I run my fingers through it to heat up my hand.
“I think she’s stronger than we give her credit for.”
I nod. Tatiana lies back but I stay sitting up. My shoulder hurts and I’m tired, but I’m not sure I can sleep.
“Wings.”
I squeak at the voice and look around but don’t see anyone. The cave is dark, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t in here.
“Wings, you lost in there?” I know that voice, it’s the demon we summoned.
How on earth is he speaking to me?
“No.”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. You are a terrible liar.” I turn to look at Tatiana and see her eyes are closed. Patrick’s are as well.
“You’re hurt, Wings. Why don’t you heal yourself?”
“What do you want?”