Burned Bones by Hignett Lauretta

Author:Hignett, Lauretta [Hignett, Lauretta]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fantasy, Paranormal, Vampires
Amazon: B0C7MZ3M2M
Goodreads: 175985751
Published: 2023-07-31T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 15

The next day at first light, we started our journey. Bron warned us that the way was dangerous, but I wasn’t quite prepared for how… well… how wild the Wilds were. The landscape would change in the blink of an eye. After trudging through low-lit green forest for half a day, we came out into what seemed like endless rolling grasslands, with wide-open lilac skies above us. The sun seemed enormous here; it beat down on our heads, hot and merciless. Bron showed no sign of discomfort at all, in fact, his skin seemed to darken perceptibly under the harsh rays. I manifested a sombrero for myself, and another one for Max, Bron’s sharp eyes studying me carefully when I did it, but he stonily refused the pretty bonnet I manifested for him.

I was just trying to break the ice. Bron was not amused.

The thick golden stalks of something similar to barley covered the hills, coming up to mid-chest. The urge to duck down and hide within them to scare Max was overwhelming. I resisted. Mostly.

Towards the last light of the day, Bron, leading the way, hesitated for a moment, and brushed his hand over the stalks. His mood, always somber, grew more serious.

“What is it?” I whispered.

“We are being hunted.”

“Hunted?” My eyes swept left and right, but all I could see was endless chest-high fronds waving gently in the breeze.

“The beasts that dwell in these plains have caught our scent,” Bron said gruffly, his tone low. “They shift through the grass silently, stalking us.” His eyes flickered left, then right.

“What are they?”

“A species of cait sith,” he murmured. “Wild creatures, not magical, but feral and deadly. They are skinny and lithe like your earthly felines, but their paws conceal deadly sharp claws, and their teeth can tear and rip human skin to shreds easily. They are governed by not reason or intelligence, but instinct. Their hunger rules them; they will do anything to satiate it.”

“Oh.” I shrugged. “So, they’re like normal cats, then.”

He looked at me. “They are not normal cats.”

“We used to have a tabby that would bite me on the nose every morning until I got up and fed him. The little bastard gave my sister Beth a nasty infection when he bit her finger instead of a catnip toy she was dangling in front of him. She almost died.”

Bron sighed. He was already sick of my shit. “These are not normal cats.”

“Cats are cats. They’re all assholes.”

“The cait sith will rip you to shreds before you can blink,” he growled.

The grass ahead of us shivered. Another shiver, over to the left. And then another at the right. “They’re closing in,” Bron whispered. He held out his arms. “Stay behind me.”

Max let go of my hand and changed. In a heartbeat, an enormous wolf pressed himself against me, then moved behind me, covering my six. He was so still, he might as well be a statue.

“Cats,” I muttered.

I knew a little about cait sith. Some of

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