Shards: Book One of the Anderian Series

Chapter 37: Hunted

After a well-deserved moment of freaking out, I regathered my wits and reassessed the situation. The minimal security at the entrance made even more sense to me now that I knew this was the Synod and confirmed my suspicions this was a place much harder to get out of than into. That suited my purposes just fine right now. My only goal was to get to Cian. He could take over the planning after that, especially considering he would know more about the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy.

Scouting through the woods revealed a usable path leading to the house. There would be some climbing, but nothing that would require much more than good hand and foot holds and some upper body strength. I sent up a quick prayer that my arms were in better shape than my legs.

It was tempting to rush. He was so close, and the bond had gone oddly silent. I could feel it still, settled somewhere close to the foreign essence of the Shard, but it did not give any encouragement or suggestions as I traveled, but I tried not to let it worry me. The entire concept of a mate bond was new to me, and far be it from me to pretend to be an expert. Was it even Cian's consciousness guiding it? Or was it separate from us? Sentient even?

These would all be excellent questions to ask him when I found him and made certain he was safe. And grew the balls to broach the subject. What if he wasn't pleased to be tied to me in that way? While he made it clear he was attracted to me and enjoyed my body, that didn't mean he wanted a long-term commitment. His last partner almost cost him his life and saddled him with centuries of guilt. Hand on a rock, I paused. It would seem the man had a type, though I determined there would be no guilt for either of us because he was coming home, even if we didn't know where or what home was right now.

Stopping to take a swig of water, I surveyed my surroundings. Weak winter sunlight pooled on top of jutting rocks and swaths of browning pine needles. Dried twigs and sprigs of bushes rose high around tree trunks—mostly various pines. The fir trees' foliage grew too densely near its bottom for anything to grow around it. At the forest edges, snow settled in drifts on the ground and clumps on branches and needles, but where I was sitting was mostly clear save for the few patches created by open spots in the canopy above.

It was the place I used to dream of coming to visit with Jac when we were dating. I'd show him cabins and look up ski and snowmobile rentals, and he would smile regretfully and remind me how far we would get behind if we took a vacation. But for me, it had never been about the vacation from work. It had been an escape from life. I couldn't imagine dark echoes clinging to any of those remote places.

I couldn't speak for what I would find in the Synod, and my abilities were rapidly changing; however, I felt it. The peace I imagined was real in this place, and maybe when everything was over, Cian and I could find a little cabin—preferably on the other side of the world from here—and live out the rest of our very long lives.

A crack echoed in the woods as I snapped the lid back on my bottle and shoved it into the backpack. That dream couldn't come true if I didn't get a move on, and the light was fading quickly. While I'd been wise enough to plan for a night in the woods, it didn't mean I wanted to actually do it.

Hoisting the pack over my shoulders, I turned to resume the walk up the hills—thankfully, only a steep incline and no rocks to clamber over—and another crack sounded, followed immediately by a trunk splintering next to my head. I dropped the pack, whipped out my gun, and dove behind a tree just as another hit landed, this one sending a spray of dirt in the air by my foot.

My human half immediately assumed someone was shooting a gun, but my whirring brain started piecing together what it had actually seen and heard. The tree trunk breaking hadn't followed the cracking sound—it had caused the sound, and I'd heard nothing before seeing the dirt scatter. Bending down, I picked up a rock and chucked it in the open.

A bolt raced through the air, hitting the rock before it landed and breaking it in half. When it settled on the ground, I could see the projectile was a green spine the length of my hand, and an oily, milky substance dripped from it, making a hissing sound whenever it landed.

"What the actual..." I pushed my back against the tree I hid behind, well aware it wouldn't do much good if the creature shot at the tree. It had cracked a rock in two pieces. This slender little trunk would hardly slow it down.

I strained to listen for any movement, but there was nothing but deafening silence. As if whatever hunted me had scared every other living creature away. Even the wind had died down, so there was no clacking of branches or rustling of leaves. Perfect to hear anything that so much as breathed too loudly, but I was not the only one who could benefit from the quiet.

The earlier feeling of worthlessness washed over me. Cian was so close. I was near enough to the house now that I could see movement through the windows, but I would never make it. One step and I would be skewered. If it wasn't a kill strike, the poison would finish me. Because I was a weak—

My eyes widened. Weak, half human. Half Andarien. Half powerhouse. How long would it take for me to use my abilities without thinking?

Opening up my senses, energy swirled into me. There was an animal—a rodent of some sort—trembling in a rotting log two feet to my left. Birds huddled together fifty feet above my head. Three, maybe four of them. A deer had been approaching from the north, but its energy rapidly dissipated as it ran back the way it came.

And ten feet behind me, its attention laser focused, was my attacker. I zeroed in on it. Now, I couldn't claim to be an expert on every type of energy. I was learning as I encountered them, but this... whatever it was... was not from here, which meant it came through with the Andariens. Yet, nothing about it felt like Cian, Kohl, or even the little I could remember of Fynn. They could pass for human in the right circumstances, and this thing was all animal.

No, it was a monster.

Latching onto it, I pulled on the biggest thread of energy trailing from it. A metallic tang burned in the back of my throat, but the forest came into sharp focus. Like putting on a pair of glasses I should've been wearing for years. I tugged again, hoping I could drain it from here and never have to face it, but whatever it was, it was smart enough to know what I was doing.

I gagged on the foul stench of its breath as it roared, watching as the detritus in its path withered. Poisonous breath. Check.

Then a spike broke through the trunk, sliding into the open space beneath my chin and shoulder. Another shot through my legs. Yanking on its energy hard enough, I hoped it went blind. I jumped out of my hiding space, raised my gun, and fired.