Marked (The Coldest Fae Book 3) by Katerina Martinez (novel24 .txt) 📗

“I don’t know,” I said, trying to keep my breathing under control. “It’s the tattoo. It has to be. I’ve felt stronger ever since I got it.”

“How can a tattoo make you stronger?”

“How can you speak with blood in your mouth?” Gullie asked, “Life’s just a series of mysteries, isn’t it?”

“This is charming,” I said, “But where’s Mel? I’m getting worried.”

“I don’t know. Ollie didn’t look like he was stopping.”

Mira pulled herself up and looked over my shoulder. “And we have another problem,” she said, “The Vrren got over their sneezing fits.”

“What?!” Gullie shrieked, “That should’ve kept them out of action for a while!”

“I’m sure that trick is great at parties, but it’s going to get us killed now—you only made them mad!”

I almost hear them salivating as they chased us. They were barking, and growling, and grunting. The pack had split apart again, likely to try and flank us, attack us on all sides. We had a chance of outrunning them while we’d been in the carriage, but on foot? We didn’t stand a chance. I’d been fooling myself into thinking I could run faster than they could.

Slowly, I set Mira down on the ground.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

I drew my dagger from my belt. “I have to fight,” I said.

“Fight?! Have you lost your mind?”

Turning around to face the creatures, I shut my eyes for a second and took a deep breath. “I don’t have a choice. Maybe I can take them away from you.”

“You’ve lost your mind. What am I supposed to do?”

“Don’t die.”

“This is insane, you know,” Gullie said.

I gripped my dagger more tightly as the beasts approached. “I know. I won’t ask you to leave again.”

“Good. You’re learning.”

Opening my eyes, I broke into a run toward the incoming creatures. One of them took the challenge and picked up the pace to match mine. If ever there was a time for those new instincts of mine to kick off and do something useful, now was that time.

As if they’d listened to me, those strange instincts flared to life. I threw myself into a slide along the slippery, snow-covered ground as the beast leapt over me. As it soared overhead, I thrust my dagger into its gut as hard as I could, splitting the creature open straight down the middle.

I’d been moving quickly enough that I hadn’t ended up coated in blood, but it spurted in all directions, turning the ground behind me deep red. Steam rose from the snow around the rapidly dying Vrren, but it wasn’t over yet. More of them were coming, encouraged by the death of their packmate.

My sixth sense kicked in, calling me to duck just as another beast leapt toward me. I ducked under and out of its path, then leapt over another charging beast, twirling in the air above it as it lunged toward the spot I had been standing in. When I landed upright, I almost couldn’t believe it.

“Did you see that?!” I cried out.

“I didn’t see it, I felt it,” Gullie said, “It’s making me sick!”

“Sorry!”

Turning around, I noticed one of the Vrren was rushing over to where Mira was sitting. I called out to them, yelling into the woods for them to come and get me, trying to make myself as loud, as big, and as threatening as possible. It probably looked ridiculous, but it was working. In a kind of good news, bad news situation, the creatures were all heading for me, now.

“Okay, now what?” Gullie asked.

“I don’t know…” I said.

“You’d better think fast. Think you can take the ones that are left?”

“I shouldn’t even be able to take one of them on.”

“And yet, there it is, dead.”

I wrapped my hand around the dagger even more tightly, my knuckles turning white from the effort. As the beasts approached, I tried to single one of them out as the focus of my attention. I wanted to take down the biggest one, if I could. The one that looked like a leader, an alpha. They all looked pretty similar, but one of them seemed to have more scars on its body than the others, so I gave that one my attention and prepared myself.

A howl suddenly pierced the forest, and the beasts stopped dead in their tracks. Simultaneously they perked up and dipped low to the ground, their ears twitching as their bellies hugged the floor. They looked scared, and I couldn’t blame them. The sound was long, and loud, and deep. I could feel it in my chest, vibrating inside of me like I was hollow.

One of the monsters made a break for the forest line, its long, bald tail tucked between its legs. A moment later, I heard a rustle coming from somewhere among the trees, then a yelp, and then a sickening, wet crack, followed by a thud that made my stomach churn. I backed up one step, two steps, and stopped, becoming instinctively aware that there was something behind me.

I could feel it breathing down the back of my neck, even though I hadn’t heard it approach.

Slowly, I turned, my heart pounding inside of my chest, my blood frozen in my veins. The wolf standing at my back was as tall as I was. It had charcoal fur run through with streaks of silver, several scars cutting across its muzzle, and even though I was upright, its deep blue eyes were level with my own. This wolf was huge, imposing, and terrifying.

It snarled, and I backed up again. It sniffed the air around me, licked its lips, and when it lunged, I thought I was going to die. Instinct forced my eyes to snap shut, but the wolf instead charged past me, the wind gushing behind it as it charged toward the Vrren.

Turning around again, I watched the chaos—the bloodbath—unfolding right in front of me. There were three of these wolves. They weren’t all as large as the one that had been standing behind me, but they were all covered in dark