The Shadowglass (The Bone Witch #3)(34)

The Veiling rune had been dropped for the time being, for me to see the village through my brother’s eyes. A great number of houses had been destroyed, a host of injuries reported. Althy had her hands full attending to the victims, and Khalad helped her.

Who’s been hurt? I demanded. I was sitting on a fluffy cushion in the Valerian asha-ka with my legs folded underneath me, but I could also feel myself walking across the ground, the sun’s heat beating down on my head at the same time. It was a dizzying sensation, and I had to remind myself not to step forward using Fox’s feet instead of mine.

Sadness touched Fox’s thoughts. “Old Kebble and his wife died when their roof caved in,” he said aloud. “Their children were injured but are out of danger. Their aunt is attending to them. The Habbat twins were hit by some debris and they’re sporting a few concussions. And Mrs. Drury has a broken leg. She was more terrified at seeing me again than at the prospect of losing a limb though.”

Why am I not surprised? Mrs. Drury had been the first to turn against us after I’d resurrected Fox. Who was blighted?

“That’s what Daisy and Kalen are trying to find out.”

“No longer trying,” Daisy said. She hurried toward my brother. Her face was pale. “It’s Sam, Fox. Sam Fallow.”

The name sounded familiar. Wasn’t that Daisy’s old flame?

“I’m not sure that’s important right now, Tea.”

“Who are you talking to? Is Tea in your head? Lady Zoya tried explaining, but she lost me in the middle of it.” Daisy placed her hand against Fox’s forehead. “Tea? Can you hear me?”

“That’s not how this works,” my brother growled. “She can hear you the same way I can. Has Kalen tracked down Fallow?”

“He and his Deathseeker friends are saddling the horses as we speak. They think he’s fled to the Kingswood.” Daisy shuddered, tears filling her eyes. “They said he had antennae and bulging eyes like an insect. Why would anyone do this? Can you save him, Fox?”

“I’ll try, Daisy,” Fox told her, skirting away from an actual answer. “I want you to stay here and help Khalad and Althy. Do whatever they tell you to do and don’t stray too far from them until we return.”

“I’m coming with you,” Inessa said firmly, emerging from the forge. “You’ve been training me for more than a year. You said I was good at it.”

“Not that good yet. I want you to stay and protect Daisy and Khalad. Don’t fight me on this, Inessa.”

The princess glared but, sensing his urgency, relented. Fox had borrowed Chief for the journey and lost no time vaulting on my horse and cantering off in the direction of the forest.

He quickly caught up with Kalen and the others along the edges of the Kingswood. “I’m surprised Inessa isn’t with you,” Kalen remarked.

“Not for want of trying. Any luck?”

“Ostry’s found signs it passed through this way. Is Tea with you?”

What can I do to help?

Fox relayed my message.

“Can she locate the creature the way she can locate daeva?”

I cast the Scrying rune and focused, but all I could find were faint thoughts coming from the other Deathseekers. Fox shook his head.

“Worth a shot. We’re trying to corral the borders and see if we can close in on it from—”

A yell rose up nearby. I recognized Levi’s voice.

“Over there!” Kalen wheeled his horse around, riding hard toward the sound.

Fox followed suit, Chief beating the other steed by a few yards.

Levi was on the ground. A quick check told me he was unconscious and wounded. Ostry was trying to drag him away as he struggled to put up Shield runes between himself and the strange creature that stood a few meters away.

There were certain similarities between this blighted beast and Garindor’s assistant, but there were marked differences too. This one was insect-like and taller, seven or eight feet at the most. It had leathery, mothlike wings that beat futilely at the air behind it. Three pairs of large beaks sprouted along its chin, and its hands were like crab pincers.

Fox raced forward on Chief, drawing his sword and blocking the creature’s attack, giving Ostry ample time to drag Levi away to safety. “Aim for its head!” I heard Kalen shout as more Deathseekers arrived.

The creature let out a heavy wheezing sound and tried to attack again with a pincer. Fox moved to obstruct it again, and Chief reared up to give the monster a swift, hard kick to the face. It stumbled back, and arcs of fire—courtesy of the Deathseekers—sailed toward the creature. The blighted squealed. Its leathery wings folded around its hideous frame, and the flames burned uselessly against its hide. I felt the shift in the air when Kalen summoned cold runes instead, but they had the same effect. The ice seemed to melt even before it touched its wings.

Fox slid off Chief and moved in closer, hacking at the furred feathers with little effect. Frantic, I tried to throw myself into the creature’s head and encountered resistance.

In the past, that meant another mind was in charge. Faceless like Aenah and Usij were fond of such tactics. But here I could detect no other thoughts, could find no outside forces commanding its actions. Instead, I felt a roiling, red hate that drowned all cognitive thought. It was the same malevolence I’d felt when I’d tried to control Yarrod. Whatever Sam Fallow was before this transformation, he was long gone.