Dawn by Merrie Destefano

Author:Merrie Destefano [Destefano, Merrie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ruby Slippers Press
Published: 2018-06-26T16:00:00+00:00

Ten

We stood like that longer than I could bear, me with my scythe drawn, Byron sheltering the child and staring down menacingly at a small horde of sangsue while they whispered and cowered, their numbers growing. One by one the creatures came, as if summoned by a telepathic cry, every one of them stopping as soon as they caught sight of Byron. They would pause, cat-like, their movements becoming liquid and slow, lifting their noses to the air and taking a long sniff.

They could tell Byron was both dead and alive, and something about it put them on edge.

“We cannot stay here,” I said to Byron in a low voice. “We have to find Claire.”

He didn’t answer me. Instead, he addressed the sangsue.

“I will kill you,” he said to them, his words more growl than human speech. “Every one of you.”

Their eyes glittered and narrowed, but several of them took a few cautious steps backward. Two sangsue retreated into the inn, where they began to yip and howl like wolves, calling the rest of their pack.

I slid one hand on Byron’s arm, hoping he would realize it was me, and I waited until he looked me full in the face.

“Give me the child,” I told him. It wasn’t a request. It was a command. After he slid the babe into my embrace, I handed him my rifle. “Kill as many of these beasts as you want and stay as long as you like, but the child and I are leaving.”

I began to back away from them then, stopping only long enough to set the white horse free from the carriage. I’m not sure if I hoped the sangsue would pursue the horse instead of me, or if I wanted to give the animal its freedom. It didn’t matter, for as soon as the horse began to gallop away, scores of the blood-drinking creatures emerged from the shadows.

I lifted my head and pulled my braid to the side, making sure they all saw the King’s mark on my cheek. There was no way to know how long this scar would shield me, but I needed every bit of protection I could get. Scythe drawn, I continued to back away from the sangsue, trying to figure out where Claire might have gone. She could have tried to make her way to the river, although that seemed unlikely. My sister knew nothing about boats. She didn’t even know how to swim.

Byron fired the rifle—a loud concussive boom that was quickly echoed by thunder overhead—and the noise caught me off guard. I nearly dropped my own weapon. I glanced back and saw two of the beasts near him as they collapsed to the ground, one with its head blown off, the other moaning like a wounded animal. With a war cry, Byron lunged at the rest of the pack, ripping arms off torsos and clamping his jaws on flesh until it peeled off. Howls shrieked down the narrow street. I expected the rest of the sangsue to come to the aid of those being attacked, but they did the opposite.

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