Fred (Book 6): Undeading Bells by Hayes Drew

Author:Hayes, Drew [Hayes, Drew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Urban Fantasy | Vampires
Published: 2019-12-18T05:00:00+00:00

9.

Were I in a less frantic state of mind, I might have mulled over the humor of an undead man dropping into a dead sprint, but the giant axe-wielding monster giving chase kept mirth to a minimum. Instead, everything I had went into running, all my vampire strength that went unused the majority of the time finally having a proper outlet. My feet were a blur as I tore ahead, bounding toward the end of the hall, where I could put some turns between us.

Except… the end of the hall didn’t seem to be drawing close as fast as it should, and I could hear the minotaur gaining. I’d thought myself largely free of ego, yet seeing my skill at fleeing fail did feel a tad deflating—that was, until my eyes darted low and I noticed the way the floor was shifting. Every time I laid a foot down, the stones shot backward, robbing me of the vast majority of my progress. It was the equivalent of trying to run up an escalator, or backwards down one of those moving walkways at an airport. Doable, especially with my speed; however, it did slow the effort down substantially.

Worrying as that was, my larger fear was whether this was an existing trap we’d been herded toward, or one the minotaur had somehow caused to happen. The first notion was worrying; the second meant we were as good as chopped. Seeing as I had no insight, whatever the truth might be didn’t change my options in the moment. Fighting that thing was a no-go from the start. In these narrow quarters, it would rob me of even my ability to dodge or run. This had started as a contest of speed, and it was going to be resolved as one.

Setting my jaw, I ran harder, though I didn’t have a lot left to give. The giant minotaur hadn’t exactly put me in a state of mind to hold back. Yet, to my surprise, my progress suddenly increased by a noticeable margin. And, now that I was paying attention, there was something else to notice: the sound of Neil’s voice whispering arcane gibberish. I didn’t mind it one bit. He was resting a hand on the back of my neck, and with every passing syllable, I felt my body growing stronger. It wasn’t comparable to the time I’d had a drop of Gideon’s dragon blood, but this was the closest I’d come since that time.

The efforts of the floor to drive me back were no longer adequate. I was making real progress again, which was good, because the minotaur was definitely gaining, the floor offering it no resistance in the least. I chanced a single look back to see it thundering along, the teeth in its vast snout smashing against each other like it was trying to take bites of us even from that far away.

If I’d needed more motivation, that certainly did the trick. In truth, I think it was less my terror and more Neil’s spell that moved us forward.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.