“Easier said than done,” Meg complained quietly as she shoved the gun in her holster and forced her aching body to crawl through the mud toward a downed log. Every inch she crawled made her bones ache, but she’d held on to the gun.
“So, the little bitch made it back.” The hag’s voice boomed through the forest. “I wonder how much that cost you. What did you have to pay the demon for the trip back, little Meg? And he gave you some form of magic as well. You must have given him a lot.”
Meg nudged her head up, peeking over the log. Dante was still in his hiding place. He was crouched down, his eyes seeking something. The cat prowled not far away. Her nose scented the air with predatory grace. The hag paced back and forth as though the pain from her arm was bugging her. Her black eyes scanned the area up and down, seeking any sign of where her enemy had gone.
“I had to sacrifice a virgin to that damn demon,” the hag admitted. “And look what it got me.”
Meg clenched her fists together. She knew what the witch was doing. She was trying to force her out. The hag had killed Bri, and she knew that would make Meg crazy. The voice inside her head was urging patience.
“I slit that stupid girl’s throat, and you’re back anyway,” Liadan said with a sigh. “Do you have any idea how messy that can be? She had a lot of blood in her. It should have gotten me something better than this. Ah, Ain found your friend.”
There was a loud hiss and then something that sounded like a five-year-old girl’s scream. Apparently, Dante really didn’t like cats.
Dante landed on his back as the cat pounced. Ain, as Liadan had called her, was a hissing mass of claws and sharp teeth. Blood streaked across Dante’s face as the cat’s claws found purchase in his flesh. Dante wrapped a hand around the cat’s throat and squeezed.
“I changed my mind,” Dante yelled. “I’ll take the hag. You take the cat.”
“Too late,” said a voice right beside Meg’s ear. Meg turned and the hag was at her side, so close Meg could smell her fetid breath.
Meg twisted her body and rolled up into a crouch, every muscle screaming in pain. The hag’s fist came out, lancing from her body. It crossed Meg’s jaw and the impact snapped her head back, the gun slipped from her hand. She groped for the gun, but Liadan was too close. Forcing herself to keep moving, Meg kicked out as Liadan tried to jump on her. She heard a satisfying groan from the hag as Meg made contact with her gut. Meg got to her feet, and Beck was whispering to her.
Take the advantage.
Meg leapt up, catching the low limb of a thick oak tree. She swung her legs back and came forward with all the force she could muster. She planted her boots in Liadan’s chest as the hag got up. Liadan hit the muddy forest floor. She jumped on the downed woman, planting her knees on Liadan’s torso. She was taking no chances this time.
Meg placed the barrel of the gun against the hag’s chest. She steadied herself to pull the trigger when a terrible pain lashed across her back.
Ain leapt on Meg’s back, scratching and clawing through tender flesh. Meg tried to get a hold of the blasted thing, but it sank its teeth into the back of her neck and wouldn’t let go.
“Oh, no, kitty cat,” Dante growled.
Meg looked up and saw Dante in full claw and fang mode. He was bloody. He looked like he’d had just about enough of cats for the day.
“We weren’t done, kitty,” Dante said.
Meg immediately felt relief as Dante hefted the cat off her. She pulled the gun to finish off the hag, but Ain had bought Liadan just enough time. Liadan grinned up at Meg and thrust her hand forward.
Meg flew back, and this time her head cracked against the log where she had previously found safety. She saw stars and the world started to go dark around her.
You stay awake. The voice was ferocious now. It slapped at her mind and forced her eyes open. It wouldn’t let her go under.
Liadan fell on her. She sat on Meg’s waist, holding her down with the bulk of her body and wrapped her good hand around Meg’s throat. She tried to struggle, but Meg couldn’t get her legs to move under the heavy weight of the witch.
“I need more blood to get through that fucking wall the king erected,” Liadan explained with a ghoulish grin.
Meg felt for the cool metal of the .357 Magnum. She’d dropped it when she hit her head. Her fingers clawed through the mud, desperately trying to find it. Liadan’s hands were choking the life out of her. Meg fought for breath, but the hag tightened her hold.
“Do you know what I’m going to do to those boys when I get a hold of them?” Liadan moved close. Meg could smell the blood on her breath. Her stomach turned. “I’m going to gut them. I’m going to pull their insides out. Why don’t I give you a demonstration?”
The witch cackled and pulled back, showing off the way her fingers changed into thick, dirty-looking claws. Meg dragged in air the instant she could. Liadan pulled her clawed hand back just as Meg’s fingers met metal. Pulling the gun up, Meg brought it between her chest and the hag’s.
Meg pulled the trigger just before those knives on the hag’s fingers met her flesh. The report boomed through the forest.
Liadan looked down at the hole in her chest dumbly before falling over dead.
Meg was shaking and trying to breathe as she pulled herself up. Dante walked over, holding a limp body in one clawed hand. His handsome face was a mass of scratches, but his clothes had already mended themselves. The nanites were fast little suckers.
“You okay?” Dante growled down at the cat and then hurled it through the forest.
“I’ll live.” But just barely. Meg stared at Liadan’s body. The flesh of her face was wrinkled and desiccated, as though the body before her had lain dead much longer than a few moments.
“If I never see another fucking cat, it will be too soon.” Dante offered her a steadying hand. “It didn’t even taste good. It tasted evil.”
Meg managed a laugh. Adrenaline was still coursing through her system making her feel jittery even as a fierce joy curled in her heart. She was alive. “What does evil taste like?”
“A little mangy,” Dante replied. “I’ve decided I’m a lover, not a fighter. I’m rich, damn it. I’m the only son of one of the most powerful families on my plane. From now on, I’m paying poor people to fight my battles. Better yet, next time tell Beck to handle his own shit.”
Meg’s hands shook, but that didn’t matter now. “I’ll tell him,” Meg turned to the cabin overrun with vines. “Better yet, tell him yourself.”
Meg managed a smile as she looked toward the little sanctuary where her husbands lay in safety. They were still weak, but she felt them deep in her mind. She felt Beck’s love deep in her soul, and then the joy Cian felt washed over her. They knew she was coming for them.
Dante sighed. “I’ll go get the chainsaw, but I warn you, Meg, those damn trees are dangerous. It’s like they have a mind of their own.”
“I won’t need it,” Meg said with utter certainty as she walked toward the small cabin.
The trees weren’t afraid of her. They knew her. They had been waiting for her. As Meg approached the cabin, the vines receded quickly, unveiling the small, dilapidated hut Cian had sought to hide. The sun came brilliantly out from the clouds, flooding the whole forest with bright light.
“You know, you might have a career ahead of you as a landscaper if you can do that on a regular basis.”
“Shut up, Dante,” Meg replied. “I can shoot you, too, you know.”
Dante smiled and wisely closed his mouth.
Meg pushed open the door and immediately saw her husbands. They lay side-by-side in complete stillness. Light from one small window filtered in, illuminating her men. Had Meg not been able to feel them in her body and her soul, she would have thought they were dead. She would have wept over their lifeless bodies.