Chapter 4: Mistaken Identity
874 Words
Avery
Before the leminax could comprehend I was a threat, I plunged the dagger at its first heart located at the base of its throat.
Its massive claws sliced at me. I dodged backward.
Fuck, that was close. Better if I got this monster taken care of quickly.
The leminax dove for me and I kicked it in the stomach. Its claws snagged the back of my shoulder. s**t! Where it cut me stung like acid inside the wound. I'd have to visit Maggie to get the poison out if I could put this creature down before its venom left me paralyzed.
My breaths came out faster as I blocked its swing with my forearm. My free hand coming up hard and fast, sinking my blade into its now exposed side. It backhanded me and my bloody hands slipped off my knife. The weapon stayed embedded in its side.
It roared at me, lowering its head to charge. Spikes burst free from the top of its head. Razor-sharp and deadly. It charged me, but I skidded across the dirt like going for home plate and grasped another blade from the side of my dress. As soon as I cleared its massive spikes, I thrust my blade up into its soft underbelly. The flesh ripped open, spilling out its steaming organs.
I rose, huffing, but satisfied. I'd killed the beast.
The dead body morphed into the dirt. At least I never had to worry about evidence and Fae tracing kills back to me. I cleaned off my weapons.
Gah, my back stung like I'd poured acid on it. Maggie should be asleep, but I hunted for my phone, finding it a foot away under a bush, and texted her.
You up?
Yes. Why are you? Don't tell me.
My phone rang a second later. She was going to lecture me, but I couldn't wait until dawn for the antidote.
"What did you do?" she asked over the line before I said hello.
"Just a leminax."
"Christ, Avery," she shrieked. "Are you okay? Those things are nasty."
"Got time for a quick patch job? It clawed my back and now it feels like my flesh is on fire."
"Where are you?"
"My usual spot, out on the trails." I shuddered feeling like my limbs were getting heavy.
"Can you meet me halfway?" Worry laced her words.
Maggie lived on the plush side of town thanks to rich parents who paid for everything. Though I doubted they knew what kind of extra-curricular activities she was involved in.
"Sure." My words slurred. "The coffee shop on Main Street?"
"Hurry up, get a ride." The sound of keys rattling, and a door slamming crackled over the line. "Stay on the phone with me."
"'K."
"I mean it, Avery." Her voice sounded like it was in a tunnel.
I marched one foot in front of the other to get to the road. My concentration on each step.
"Avery?" she asked.
"Hmmm?"
"Talk to me. What do you see?"
I frowned, spinning around and getting super dizzy. Then I crashed into a wall of flesh. I bounced back, my legs buckled. Hands reached out and steadied me.
"f**k!" I'd thought I was alone out here.
"Avery!" Maggie's shrill voice blared through my phone. "Avery!"
My vision swam and I blinked, staring up into midnight blue eyes. Where had I seen those before?
"Who said you could leave the protection we placed around your home?" he said in a dark, menacing voice.
Malcolm? Who the hell did he think he was? "I can go anywhere I damn well please."
I tried to wiggle out of his grasp, but he held my arms tight.
"Leave me alone." I shoved against him.
He didn't budge.
My weapons. I needed my arm free and I could gut him. My knee jerked up to strike his groin. I grazed his thigh instead.
He tugged me tighter, my breast pressing against his hard, male chest. "s**t, you smell like a leminax. What the hell have you been doing since I left you not even an hour ago?"
"Let go of me and you'll find out." Black spots danced along the edge of my vision, distracting me. No, not spots, shadows that drifted closer.
"What should we do with her, Malcolm?" a husky male voice asked.
"We take her home. She broke through the ward and has leminax poison in her system."
Another voice, also male, whistled. "You sure she's the one we've been searching for?"
"Aye." Malcolm's voice slipped into a thick Fae accent. "She had naught but a sip of the drink and it knocked her out."
"Look," I said as clearly as I could with my tongue feeling like a bucking bronco in my mouth, "I don't know what kinky s**t you three have planned, but I want you against me...I mean...I'm all against you...it."
"Still can't believe she's the chosen one. How much Fae blood do you think she really has?"
"You can't be serious." I laughed. No way were they talking about me. "I'm not one of you. I kill your kind."
Fucking s**t, did I just say I slay Fae aloud? s**t!
No, I couldn't have, yet their silence slammed into me.
- Writer
