It was a violent squall. Thunder cracked and crashed continuously, punctuated by a weird popping, like automatic gunfire. Trees bent low. Rain fell in sheets, soaking the far side of the river. I was grateful I’d been spared.
Finally the storm blew itself out, and I slept.
I wakened to a hand clamped tightly over my mouth and the crushing weight of a body on top of mine.
I fought like a wild thing, punching, kicking, trying to bite.
“Easy, Mac,” a voice whispered roughly against my ear. “Be still.”
My eyes flared. I knew that voice. It was Ryodan. But I’d been expecting Barrons!
“I’ve come to get you out of here, but you must do exactly as I say.”
I was nodding before he’d even finished speaking.
“It’s imperative you make no noise. Whisper when you speak.”
I nodded again.
He drew back and looked at me. “Where’s … the creature?”
“The IYD one?”
He gave me a look but nodded.
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen it since last night.”
“Get your things and hurry. We don’t have much time. Darroc’s here, too.”
“Are you kidding me? How the hell does everyone find me?” What was I, a big red X?
“Shh.” He pressed a finger to my lips. “Speak softly.” He raised the weight of his body from mine, flipped me onto my stomach, and began searching through my hair. “Hold still. Ah, fuck.”
“What?” It came out as a low growl.
“Darroc marked you. He must have done it while the princes had you.”
“He tattooed me?”
“Right next to Barrons’ mark. I can’t remove it here. Come.”
I rolled over, scrubbing angrily at my scalp. “Where are we going?”
“Not far from here is a—what did Barrons say you call them?—IFP. It will take us to another world, where there’s a dolmen to Ireland.”
“I thought Cruce’s curse corrupted everything.”
“The Silvers change. IFPs don’t. They’re static microcosms.”
He grabbed me beneath my armpits, stood up, taking me with him, and set me on my feet.
I clutched his arm. “My parents?”
“I don’t know. I came in after you at LaRuhe.”
“Barrons?”
“He was trying to get to Ashford, to go after Darroc. I was the only one able to get in before the tunnel collapsed on our end. It took me a while to find you. I found this, too.” He tossed my backpack at me. “Your spear’s inside.”
I could have kissed him! I grabbed my pack and swiftly consolidated possessions, then yanked out my spear and caressed it. Holding it in my hand made me feel like a Travis Tritt song—ten feet tall and bulletproof.
“The creature will attack anything in your vicinity. At the moment, that’s me. I can get you out. It can’t. It only kills. Remember that.”
Ryodan took my hand and led me close to the river, much nearer the sheer drop of the gorge than I was comfortable with, but I understood why he did it. The crushed-shale edge was soft as sand and made no noise beneath our feet. I looked up at him.
“How did you track me? Do you have a mark on me, too?” I whispered.
“I can follow Barrons’ mark. Another word and you’re going over the edge.”
I said no more. If it came down to my survival or his, I was pretty sure he’d choose his. I wondered why Barrons hadn’t done anything to keep Ryodan safe from the monster. Given him a Barrons-scented shirt to wear or something.
As if he’d read my mind, he murmured, “It’s the tattoo he put on you that keeps you safe from it. No fucking way he’s branding me. I came in armed. I hunted it all night through the rain. It ran me out of ammo. It’s one clever fuck.”
I had heard automatic gunfire! “You were trying to kill it?” I breathed, aghast. What a weird paradigm shift. It had been protecting me. Ferociously. Now it was my enemy?
Ryodan gave me a sharp look. “Do you want out of here or not?”
I nodded fervently.
“Then keep your spear handy, shut the fuck up, and hope it doesn’t kill me. I’m your way out.”
When the monster attacked—and I guess there never really was any doubt in my mind that it would—it did so with the same explosive suddenness with which it had hit the wild boar, blasting out of nowhere, crashing Ryodan to the ground, a fury of fangs and talons.
I watched helplessly as they twisted and rolled, watching for an opportunity to do something. Anything.