THE MAN YELPED and whirled to escape up the stairs. He made it up three steps before the verries reached him. They circled him in a frenzy, and my stomach lurched at the sight of the large curved stingers protruding from their undersides and already glistening with venom.
I looked around frantically for something to help the man, and my eyes lit on a framed picture on the wall. I yanked it from the wall as the man let out a bloodcurdling scream. He fell down the stairs and landed in a writhing, screaming heap at the bottom. The noise only excited the verries more, and they dived at him, stabbing him with their stingers.
I ran at them, brandishing the picture. Swinging, I smashed it into a verry, sending the creature at the wall. The other verries immediately abandoned the man to search f
