The Goddess Redemption #2 - Spellbound (a Paranormal Romance) (6 page)

Her stomach was growling when they broke their fast with some wild berries and left over salt venison. It only took a few mouthfuls of food before thoughts of Meg filled her mind and stole her appetite from her. It wasn’t long before they set out again, moving quietly through the trees and underbrush. They had been hiking up the rise for almost an hour and she felt like cursing her human legs as they tired quickly from the climb.

“We are close
,” he mouthed to her when they finally topped the rise. The area was littered with the tracks of man and wolf, alike. It was almost too easy. But she held her tongue, keeping an eye on their rear, while the hunter kept his eyes forward, watching for signs ahead.

Sara had her potions ready, although her supplies had been reduced to just a handful. Since she had discovered the barrier potion, she had spent nearly all her time making it or in search of the wolfsbane she needed in order to make it. She prayed she had enough potions to help turn the tide.
At least we will be fighting men and not wolves
, she thought. Though even in human form the shifters were incredibly strong and agile, Victor had warned her, but he needn’t have. She remembered her creation all too well.

They made their way up the mountain, over rocks
, cliffs and ridges, climbing higher and air becoming thinner with every step. When the hunter reached back and motioned for her to stop, she did. When he crouched down, she followed. He motioned ahead and she let her eyes follow where he was pointing. It took her a few moments, but she finally saw the tuft of blonde hair in between two tall twisting sycamores. She wanted to run to her sister, but he held her back with a look of warning and motioned to the right.

When she looked that way, she could see bare human flesh moving through the trees headed right for the yellow of her sister’s hair and again she fought the urge to run into danger. He motioned for her to follow and they began backtracking and circling wide around the spot of Meg’s captivity.

“What are we doing? She’s back that way,” she whispered fiercely at his back.

“
It felt like a trap, it was too easy,” he told her and she did the best she could to keep her impatience in check. When they had come full circle, only then did the hunter speak again. They had counted eight shifters guarding Meg.

“You will stay here, huntress. I will go around to the other side. When you hear the commotion, run straight for her, release her and run. Do not stop until you are home safely. Do you understand?”
Her heart was pounding in her ears so loudly that she barely heard him, but she nodded and looked down at the ground. “Whatever you hear, do not stop,” he told her again before gathering her in a tight embrace. When he kissed her, she felt as if nothing could go wrong, but as he turned to leave, fear had its grip on her and she shuddered deep in her core as if she was cold. He turned back and gave her a quick smile and mouthed, “I love you.” Then she was alone.

****

It hurt him to leave her there, the fear in her eyes was a brutal reminder of the danger they faced. His plan was to draw the creatures away to buy her enough time to free her sister and get to safety. He had spotted a tree, large enough to support his weight, opposite to where his love waited, terrified. When he reached it, his climb up the twisting trunk was slow, but he knew his vantage point would be worth the climb. How many he could drop before he ran out of arrows, he couldn’t say. He only hoped it would be enough. If he didn’t miss, he had enough arrows to take them all down.

He watched the shifters move
, making rounds like guards, each one of them with an area of the perimeter to walk. They moved as silently on foot as they did on paws and twice the hunter brought up his bow to take aim, but both times his target was lost behind a tree or bush before he could let the arrow fly. He slowed his breathing while he waited for the kill shot. With drawn bow, he followed his target as it moved silently through the trees. He couldn’t believe his luck when the shifter he had been watching met another of the ones guarding the girl. They paused, heads together, and the hunter wished he knew what they were saying to one another, but he didn’t have time to think as he let the bow string go and sent the arrow flying towards its mark.

He watched the arrow pierce through the back of the one shifter and straight through the heart of the one
he faced. They both fell to the ground with the smallest of sounds. As he climbed down from the tree, he moved as quickly and quietly as he could. When he reached his target, both beasts lay dead. His aim had sent the arrow through the top of the first shifter’s heart and into the bottom of the second. However, it had left the arrow irretrievable.

He decided against climbing the tree again
. Instead, he moved himself between the tree and the large overgrown bush that knotted the ground with roots and vines and squatted to wait. It didn’t take long before two more shifters came to investigate from opposite sides of their fallen members. The hunter drew the arrow back, released and watched the beast drop dead. As the other turned to leave, the hunter already had another arrow pulled back across the bowstring but as he loosed it, the beast broke into a run and he watched his arrow dig into the soft earth where the creature had stood.

Three dead, five alive
, he thought to himself as he heard the alarm raised by the one who had escaped.
He didn’t waste any time, neither can I
. The hunter crossed the distance with speed and retrieved the arrow from the ground, swiped it across his pants to clean the dirt from it and held it at the ready. He could hear movement from both sides and they were shouting to each other, but he couldn’t make out more than one or two words. The pounding of his heart was reverberating loudly in the blood rushing through his ears. He couldn’t stay where he was, he was a sitting duck. So he moved with his bow in one hand and an arrow in the other.

****

Alin heard the shouts, but he kept his eye on his target. So far, the goddess hadn’t so much as taken a step. He wondered if her courage had been taken away with her memories and power and the thought nearly made him laugh. He would actually hate her death, the woman who sent him the pups. Each time a child had been turned, she had offered it to the beasts. When her identity had been confirmed, he had reveled in that fact. For so long, sacrifices had been made to the gods.
Now the gods make offerings to me
, he had thought.

He watched her rise on her feet, her back bent and stooped. When she finally decided to move, she ran and he followed behind, paws patting the ground in silence.

****

Sara’s heart was in her throat as she ran straight for her sister, only sidestepping as needed to avoid trees, low branches, and stumps that marred the terrain. She had only waited moments after the shouts had begun. Deep inside, she prayed that her hunter was safe. Her heart broke at the thought of losing him all over again. But she knew those thoughts would only consume her and so she forced them from her mind.

When she reached Meg, her sister was disheveled, her dress torn and dirty and her hair was knotted and in tangles. She had scrapes and bruises over much of her bare skin and her lips were dry and cracked from lack of moisture.

“Meg, can you walk?”
she whispered and worked at the rope holding her sister to the large tree. She worked at the knots for only a few moments before she withdrew the knife from her satchel and cut the thick cord.

“Sara? Sara, is it really you? How did you find me?” Meg asked
, her voice weak.

“Victor found you
,” she told her as she helped her stand.

“Victor’s here?” Meg asked, weak hands smoothing her hair. If the situation hadn’t been so dire, Sara would have rolled her eyes. Meg was so weak she could barely walk, so Sara lifted Meg’s arm and held it across her shoulders, in an effort to support her sister’s weight, and began moving them away, back the way she had come.

They only managed to gain a few steps before a very large shape leapt into their path and blocked their way. Sara had time for one thought.
How?

****

Victor was checking his quiver, when he heard the screams behind him. He had taken another sentry out of the equation and the four that remained were hunting for him with the determination of their species. He paused with his back against the tree, pausing for three long breaths, filling his lungs for the sprint ahead.

Like an arrow himself, he cut through the air with speed, moving as fast as he could towards the sound of screaming, using his free arm to grab hold of the trees and pull himself along even faster. His heart was a steady thrum in his ears and his vision had narrowed in his terror.
Move
, his mind screamed at him and his human muscles did the best they could to comply as he plowed through the terrain. He nearly missed the flash of human skin racing parallel with him through the trees.

Victor surged to the right and then left in an effort to keep the beast at b
ay as his hands fumbled with the bow and arrow. Twice the shifter lunged at him and twice he thwarted it into the trees. The third time the beast leapt for him, his hand gripped tightly around the arrow and he plunged it into the creature’s chest with as much force as he could muster while spinning around sideways. It cried out in pain as the arrow pierced skin, meat and bone, splitting its ribs apart and lodging into its heart. When the shifter finally dropped, Victor almost lost his footing, but somehow he managed to stay upright, keeping his momentum.
Three left
, he said to himself as the trees blurred by and the screams ahead rose in volume.

He was fumbling for another arrow when the air rushed from his lungs with explosive force and he was barreled backwards as though he had struck a stone wall.

****

Kiru had watched five of his
brothers’ die from his perch, high in the tree. He had been charged with the death of the hunter and he would not fail the alpha. The fool was running straight for him. His pace was impeccable as he dropped his weight to the forest floor just in time for the hunter to slam right into him. Kiru held his ground from the impact and watched the hunter’s look of confusion as he struggled for breath that would be long in coming.

“Such
hurry,” Kiru said, “and blind to top it off.”

He watched the hunter scramble to his feet. Kiru wanted to savor the hunter’s death, to make it last. He knew his brothers were closing in on his position; he would make a show of it to those lesser in the pack. As they moved in, Kiru s
ent a deep throated warning out that said “Back!” He watched his brothers snarl in response, but their feet never moved forward as Kiru circled the hunter, crouching at the ready.

“This one is mine.”

****

Victor could hardly catch his breath as the shifter circled him. He had to force himself to keep his wits about him
, as the screams grew more urgent from somewhere in front of him. He followed the shifter with his eyes, slowly spinning as the beast moved around him. He had to stay smart, if he was going to help Sara and Meg and that meant slowing his actions down to a deliberate pace. Each move he made was with purpose as he kept his eyes on the creature, waiting for it to make a try. He had never liked fighting the creatures up close, preferring to let his arrows do his killing from a distance. But at this time, he had no choice and when the shifter finally did make his move, Victor was ready. With a fluid gracefulness, he rolled to the left and pulled his dagger from its sheath at his right side as the beast sprung forward and hit the ground hard where Victor had just been.

With an enraged cry, the beast came at him again, this time quicker and they both hit the ground rolling in a tangle of
human and human-like limbs, each vying for supremacy. The beast was strong as it rolled them over, putting itself astride the hunter. With an iron grip, it locked its hands around his neck and began to squeeze the life from him.

Victor fought for
the breath that was being choked off from his lungs as he squirmed underneath the shifter. His arms felt heavy as he struggled to pull its hands free from his neck.
I’m going to die
, the words rang clear and true through the fog in his head as his brain was deprived of precious oxygen. When he heard the scream, he thought it was himself crying out the word “No!”

His vision was going black around the edges, when he heard the cry again.
No, it is more like a wail, full of sorrow, not terror,
and it wasn’t coming from his mouth. He didn’t have the air or strength. The look in the eyes of the shifter killing him was one of jubilation and it sickened him that the beasts he had helped design would take such joy in his death. He had all but given up when he realized that he was holding something in his hand, little wonder he couldn’t get a good grip on the hands choking him. He started to throw the dagger from him as a nuisance to his situation, when his mind began laughing at him. He had held the key to his release the whole time.

The shifter on top of him was too busy watching the life drain from Victor’s face to realize what was happening. Victor brought the small silver dagger up and to his side and began pounding the blade into the beast’s back. Each time the beast screamed in agony as the blade dipped into th
e flesh, but its grip around the hunter’s neck became even more intense and Victor felt his life slipping. Again and again he swung, until finally the blade hit home and the beast collapsed on top of him, yellow eyes staring at nothing.