Grace slid her arms into the holes and tied it quickly around her front.
He knew the Glycon was headed their way, and at the moment, his only thought was to get her safe. Somewhere away from the house and other people from town. The store was the only real option.
Vitus picked her up from off the counter and carried her into the living room. He grabbed her keys off the table by the door and thrust them into her hand.
"If anything happens, you make a run for the store. One of my men will find you there. They’ll protect you.”
Grace trembled as she took the keys from him. "What about you? What’s out there?”
Vitus shook his head and opened the front door. "Don’t worry about me. Just know I'm going to keep you safe, no matter what."
Chapter Seven
The cold night air slipped inside of Grace’s robe as Vitus opened the door. Fear shook her as she followed him out the door. She still wasn’t quite sure what was happening. A nice dream had turned into a nightmare that had turned into reality.
All the while she had been so certain that all of it was a dream. Maybe it still was, and her mind was just going from one dream to another. She could only hope so.
She hissed loudly as something cut through the bottom of her foot. When she lifted it up, the bottom was bloody, and she could see a large shard of glass sticking out from the stupid glass she’d dropped earlier.
Grace’s eyes widened. Blood. That was something she never had in her dreams before. Sure, she’d felt the hard earth scrape her body and branches scratch her legs, but there was never any blood. Only fear. Never-ending fear.
Grace reached down to her foot and pulled out the piece of glass. Already she could feel her foot start to throb from the pain.
Not a dream. A terrifying reality.
Vitus whipped around to stare at her. His nose lifted slightly. Instantly, his eyes zeroed in on the blood.
“You’ve cut yourself,” he said.
Another roar ripped through the tree, and her skin crawled at the sound. It wasn’t natural. Although nothing right now was feeling all that natural, this was different. It was a sound that she’d never heard before, something between the roar of a lion and a scream. It chilled her as another pierced the air.
“What is that?” she whispered. “Is it the Shadow Man?”
Vitus pressed a hand to her back as he lifted her into his arms. “No, but not much better. Your blood will only make him more crazy,” he said. “We’ve got to get you out of here.”
She shook in his arms as he carried her into the night, trudging his way through the snow.
Grace listened now, not for the screams that carried through the wind, but for the sounds that weren’t there. No animals moved in the woods. Not even one bird. The stillness of the woods was always a myth. She’d always found the woods to be anything but still. It just wasn’t the kind of still that most people were used to, especially when you grew up in a rural area.
True quiet was unnatural, even at night, and much like everything else, the woods were responding to whatever horrible monster was after them.
Vitus stopped suddenly and placed her back on her feet. The cold snow seeped through her terrycloth slippers, helping to numb her now bleeding and swollen foot.
Something crashed in the clearing nearby, shaking the trees there as it stepped forward. Something large.
Grace spotted the glowing red dots first. Then the silhouette of a man came into view. Only this was unlike any man she’d ever seen before.
Large didn’t quite cover his height. Vitus was a tall man, but this creature easily towered over him. She still couldn’t make out the new man’s face, but it was clear that there was something wholly inhuman about him outside of the haunting cries.
“She’s mine,” the man said as he stepped into the moonlight.
Vitus let out a low growl in response.
Grace cried out in surprise. The man was hardly that at all. Never before had she seen anything like this. He looked like a twisted mockery of a man. Or at least he looked like he’d once been a man.
Now she wasn’t sure just what he was. Parts of his skin looked stretched in odd ways. His face only half-human. But it was his red eyes that made her shiver.
Her whole body shook as she stared at him. She’d heard what this monstrous man had said. It took a moment for her to even process what was being said, but she realized he was talking about her.
Grace stepped behind Vitus, gripping onto his shirt for some sort of protection.
“Don’t think so, big guy,” Vitus said back to him, his words light, but his tone anything but.
The creature looked between her and Vitus. His eyes narrowed.
“You bonded,” the creature roared. “You bonded with what is mine.”
Grace wasn’t quite sure what he was talking about, but it was clear he was angry.
Vitus shook his head. “Not yet,” he said. This time he was the one who narrowed his eyes. “And she’s certainly not yours, you ugly son of a bitch.”
The creature sniffed the air and seemed satisfied with what he found. “She’s not yours,” the creature said, taking a step forward.
Vitus again shook his head. “Didn’t say that either. Just said, she wasn’t yours. We’re tired of you sniffing around Eagle Ridge.”
Grace watched as Vitus glanced behind to where she stood. If it was a signal of some sorts, she wasn’t exactly sure.
“Then I kill you,” the creature said.
Vitus snorted. “You can try.” He raised his hands and spread out his feet slightly.
Another inhuman roar ripped from the creature as he charged forward.
“Run to the tree,” Vitus shouted.
Grace nodded and ran toward the large oak tree nearby, her heart hammering in her ears.
The two men met midway. Their bodies slammed together with a sickening thud. She winced at the impact.
She watched as they grappled together. Despite his size, the monster wasn’t dominating the fight. Vitus might be shorter, but he was strong. She could see the muscles under his shirt strain as he fought and tried to gain the upper hand.
The monster pushed back hard and slammed his fist into Vitus’s ribs. He grunted and spun away, always keeping his body between Grace and the beast.
The monster again slammed his fist into Vitus. This time he made contact with the man’s jaw. For a moment, Vitus staggered back, stunned, and the beast took advantage to stalk his way over toward Grace.
She shook so hard now that she could hardly stand. Although she knew she needed to run, she couldn’t seem to make her feet move, the terror freezing her in place.
Suddenly, the large monstrous man fell in front of her. Grace stumbled away from him, then saw Vitus, his blue eyes striking in the night, pummeling the other man from behind.
With ease, the massive man tossed Vitus off. She gasped as he slammed into the tree next to her. Grace ached to race over to him, but she wasn’t sure what she could do. She’d never been in a fight in her life and would likely only be in the way, even if she wasn’t trying to face some huge inhuman monster.
“I will have her,” the monster roared.
Loud screams ripped through the air. The monster smiled and looked around him. In the forest, Grace spotted several sets of red eyes staring back at her.
There were more monsters.
A lump formed in her throat. If just one of them was hard for someone like Vitus to take down, there was no way he would be able to take more on.
Vitus spit out the blood in his mouth. “You want her, you’ll have to go through me, you piece of shit.”
Grace took a step forward. She couldn’t let him sacrifice himself like this. That wasn’t the kind of person she was. If this creature wanted her, she would go with him.
Loud bangs filled the air followed by more screams in the forest. She couldn’t live in hunting country without recognizing the sound of a gun going off.
She glance
d over to where Vitus stood. A small smile rested on his face.
“Seemed only fair I should bring my friends, since you brought yours,” he said.
The creature snarled and ducked as bullets pelted the ground near him.
Vitus rushed over to her, blood dripping down his head. “Run to the store,” he said quickly. “We’ll take care of them and come find you.”
She’d barely had time to blink before his lips were on hers, kissing her as if his life depended on it.
Another loud roar tore through the night as Vitus pulled away.
“Hurry,” he whispered. “Run and don’t look back no matter what.”
Her heart thundering and fear pushing her, Grace ignored the pain in her ankle and foot and rushed to the store.
Chapter Eight
Vitus watched as Grace escaped toward the store, relieved that she would be safe from Thrax and the other Glycons as the battle grew. Getting her as far away from them as he could was his top priority.
A firm hand gripped his shoulder painfully as the Glycon finally caught up to him.
“Bring her back,” Thrax shouted at him. “Or die.”
Vitus slipped out of the man’s grip and readied himself for the attack. “Not going to happen,” he said. “I’ll do whatever I need to keep her safe, and if that involves taking you down, that’s just a bonus.”
Thrax snarled. His lips curled up over his teeth, and Vitus could tell the man struggled between the inner beast and himself, not quite capable of fully keeping control. That was one big advantage Vitus had over the sad being in front of him.
“I will kill you,” Thrax threatened. “And then I will have her.”
This time Vitus was ready for the attack. With Grace firmly on her way the store, he was able to keep his focus on the battle, something he hadn’t been able to do before. Splitting his attention had made him weak. And it had likely gotten him more than a few bruised ribs.
He didn’t give a crap about how tough Thrax was. He was going to end this threat once and for all.
The hulking man lurched forward toward him. His large frame slowed him down enough that Vitus could slip past him with ease. Thrax stumbled forward and turned to glare at him.
Again the man lunged out at Vitus, his fingers nearly catching him as he did so.
Stalling was all well and good, but although he could outwit the large man, he would never win at this rate. And already far off in the distance, he could hear the wail of sirens getting closer. If the unearthly screams of the Glycons didn’t wake the neighbors around them, it was certain the gunshots would.
His reinforcements could at least keep the other Glycons off him while he tried to finish off Thrax, but he was running out of time.
The last thing they needed was to try and explain all of this to the authorities. Just because they had the mayor on their side didn’t mean the entire town would be willing to accept hybrids in their midst. They might even blame them for the Glycons.
Vitus gritted his teeth. There had to be some way to win against the giant.
He looked around the snowy landscape. There wasn’t much to begin with: an old oak tree standing solidly in the clearing by the house and a pile of wood by the porch. Getting inside was likely his only chance of finding something that might work.
He made a dash for the woodpile, Thrax close behind him. Just within reach, the Glycon swiped out with his claws and raked them along the hybrid’s back. The cold, icy wind rushed through the holes of the blood-soaked shirt Vitus was wearing. The frigid touch was almost soothing as it helped numb his wounds.
Vitus stumbled forward onto the woodpile and breathed in deeply. He grabbed a hold of a log and swung it hard behind him. The wood slammed into the Glycon’s head and splintered.
Thrax stumbled, clearly stunned by the hard blow.
Vitus was losing blood now more rapidly than expected. One wound lay deep in his shoulder, and he could feel the arm growing weak from the pain. He couldn’t count on the other hybrids, who likely had their hands full with the other Glycons.
A death grip landed on the back of his neck, and he reached out for anything that might be of use. His hand touched smooth wood. For a moment, he wasn’t quite sure just what he’d stumbled on.
He grunted. A hatchet, likely used to trim the smaller logs to bring inside.
Before he could grab the handle, Thrax lifted him up in the air. The Glycon stared at him with his red eyes before smashing him against the woodpile once again, the pain shooting all through the hybrid’s body. This time the Glycon leaned over Vitus, his firm hand wrapped around his throat.
“Now you die,” Thrax hissed.
Vitus struggled for breath. He could feel the strain of the windpipe as the Glycon squeezed harder.
“She is mine,” Thrax said, his eyes glowing blood red now. Vitus knew that if he didn’t do something, not only would the Glycon kill him, but he would likely eventually kill Grace as well. He wasn’t a man who had been fused with a beast. He was a man who had lost to the beast.
No matter what, Vitus couldn’t allow Thrax to have Grace.
He reached over his head. He could feel the blood vessels in his eyes starting to burst as Thrax squeezed harder, his claws digging into the sides of his neck.
He might have let out a sigh of relief if he had any air left when his hand finally found purchase on the handle of the hatchet.
With one swift swing, the hatchet found its mark on the hand that was resting on the woodpile.
Thrax released Vitus and screamed in pain, clutching the bloodied stump still attached to the other piece of his hand. It hung now limply as blood freely flowed from the appendage.
Sirens closed on them. So close that Thrax couldn’t help but notice the sound.
“The humans will be here soon,” Vitus said, his voice still damaged by the strong grip. “They will shoot you where you stand. You’re nothing but a fucking monster they’ll put down.”
It’d do neither of them any good if they were discovered now. The moment it made the news, the Horatius Group would be there trying to get them once again. It was better they stayed hidden. Given that the Glycons around there were rogue, even Thrax had to understand that.
The hulking Glycon glared at Vitus before turning to sprint off back to the forest.
Vitus leaned his head back against the woodpile and took in several deep breaths. His throat burned and his side ached, but he would live.
Joran reached him first. The hybrid was covered in blood, but it was harder to see against his black skin in the night.
“Put these in,” he said quickly, pulling out some contacts from a case in his pocket. “You deal with the police, and we’ll pursue the Glycons.”
“Take the damn piece of him,” Vitus said, nodding toward what he’d separated from Thrax.
Joran grimaced.
“Too many questions if the cops find it.”
The other hybrid nodded.
Vitus took the contacts. It went against his nature not to follow Thrax and the Glycons into the woods, but he knew he needed to check on Grace, and someone had to deal with law enforcement.
Joran reached out and handed him the gun he had on him.
“We weren’t able to take any down,” he said. “This group isn’t like the others. They are tougher. I know I put bullets into more than one, but it didn’t seem to do much but slow them down. It’s like they’ve suddenly gotten a lot more powerful.”
Vitus nodded. He wasn’t all that surprised considering that Agatha now had the blue stone and was likely using it to her advantage. They had all seen what Anassa had been able to do with it. With time, there was no telling what Agatha would be able to do. She was a danger to them all.
“We’ll report to Rem if we find anything,” Joran said. “Go check on your woman. I think the time of hiding in the shadows from her is over now.”
Vitus sighed. He’d waited as long as he could, but Joran was right. She needed to be somewhere he could pr
otect her at all times. Thrax was a threat, and he would do whatever it took to get to Grace. That was obvious now.
“I know,” Vitus said quietly.
The younger man stared at him for a moment, his blue eyes fixed on his, before he nodded.
Although Joran might be inexperienced, he certainly wasn’t naive about the world. It was clear just looking at him that he had an understanding of things that most didn’t.
Vitus watched as Joran grabbed his bloody trophy and disappeared into the woods before putting in the contacts.
He still had no idea what he was going to say to the police. He supposed he’d have to wing it. His first priority was checking on Grace. Anything after that, he would just deal with it as it came.
Chapter Nine
Grace hid, huddled in the office in her grocery store with her body hunched up under her office desk as if it offered some sort of protection against the red-eyed monster. The fact was, there was no protection from whatever that was out there.
Monsters were real, and they lived in the woods around Eagle Ridge. She now understood so many things: the mysterious animal attacks, the strange effort put into the sonic barrier.
She gasped. Her sister was the mayor. She had to know what was going on.
Grace rubbed her arms, trying to stop trembling. The screaming had long since stopped as well as the gunshots from Vitus’s people, but the horrors in her head didn’t go away so easily. She could still see the massive man as he tossed Vitus around like a rag doll and his blood red eyes roving over her as she stood there in the cold.
Another shiver ran over her as she tried to put those thoughts out of her head. They would do her no good now.
Vitus would scare the creature off. He just had to, or so she hoped. She didn’t know what she would do otherwise.
In the distance, she could hear sirens as they drew closer. As much as she wanted to run toward the police, Grace hoped they would turn around. They were no match for the monster, and she didn’t want their deaths hanging over her head. Whatever that creature was, it seemed like it was targeting her.
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