Chapter Three — Into the Dark
Keya:
The rogue’s weight slams into me before I can scream.
Hot breath blasts against my face, rank with blood and rot. Its claws rake across my shoulder, ripping silk and skin alike. Pain flares white-hot, stealing my breath.
I hit the ground hard. The cloak Lina gave me tumbles away into the leaves. My palms scrape over dirt and roots as I scramble backward, my dress catching on the undergrowth.
The rogue growls low in its throat, head lowering, teeth flashing white in the moonlight. Its eyes—gods, those eyes—are wild amber, locked on my throat.
I throw up my hands, kicking out with my bare feet. My heel connects with its chest, a dull thud. It doesn’t even flinch.
Somewhere in the distance, another wolf howls. The sound makes the rogue pause. Its ears twitch. It flicks its gaze toward the trees, as if deciding whether I’m worth finishing now or later.
“Get away from her!”
The voice comes from the dark—a deep, commanding growl that isn’t wolf but isn’t fully human either.
Before I can turn, something slams into the rogue from the side. They roll together in a blur of fur and shadow, snarling, teeth snapping. My body reacts before my mind catches up, crawling backward until my spine hits a tree.
The fight is brutal, fast—claws tearing at flesh, the air filled with sharp yelps and the sound of bones hitting earth. Then, with a final, guttural snarl, the rogue is thrown off me entirely, crashing into a bush before disappearing into the night.
I look up.
The man—if he’s a man—stands in the clearing, his chest rising and falling. A hood shadows his face, but I can see the edge of a jaw, a mouth set in a grim line. His clothes are dark, torn in places, and faintly damp with blood—some his, most not.
He takes one step toward me. I press myself harder against the tree.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he says, voice low but certain.
My throat works, but no words come. I can still feel the rogue’s claws in my shoulder, the burn of the ward line on my feet.
“You’re bleeding,” he adds, glancing at my shoulder.
I finally find my voice. “Who are you?”
His head tilts. “Not someone you should trust. But I’m the only one out here who doesn’t want you dead.”
The words land heavy. My fingers tighten around the rough bark behind me. “Why would they—”
He cuts me off. “They don’t just want you gone, Keya. They want you erased.”
The name hits me like another blow. “How do you—”
“I know more than you think,” he says, stepping closer. His boots crunch over fallen leaves, slow and deliberate. “And if you want to survive long enough to prove whatever innocence you’re clinging to, you’re going to need help.”
My heart hammers against my ribs. “And you expect me to believe you’re here to help me out of kindness?”
His mouth twists—not quite a smile, more like a warning. “No. I expect you to believe me because you’re smart enough to see you have no other choice.”
Somewhere deeper in the forest, another howl splits the night—closer this time, answered by two more. My skin prickles. The hooded man’s eyes flick in that direction.
“They’ll find you before dawn if we stay here,” he says. “And they won’t hesitate like the one I just sent running.”
I hesitate. The air is thick with the scent of wet leaves, blood, and something darker—fate, maybe. Trust has already ruined me tonight. But staying here will finish what the rogue started.
I swallow hard. “Where would we go?”
His gaze shifts past me, toward the border I’ve just been shoved over. “Somewhere the Lake View pack won’t follow.”
Another howl, so close it rattles my bones. The hooded man straightens, his hand twitching toward the knife at his hip.
“You have five seconds to decide, Keya.”
I stare at him, at the dark forest around us, at the blood drying on my skin. My pulse pounds in my ears.
The underbrush behind him rustles. More eyes glint in the dark.
He takes a step back, ready to fight. “Five…”
My breath comes fast. My legs shake beneath me.
“Four…”
The sound of padded feet on leaves—coming from more than one direction.
“Three…”
I grab the cloak from the ground, clutching it to my chest.
“Two…”
Something snarls from the left. Another from the right.
“One…”