Wren

Corson’s shoulder brushed mine as he leaned forward. When we’d finally disentangled ourselves from each other, I’d been eager to break in my new bow. Now, we sat next to each other on a tree branch, our legs dangling over it. I kicked my feet over the open air, feeling more alive now than I had in fourteen years. Not just because of Corson, but because I also took a moment to appreciate that I was alive when so many weren’t.

I didn’t think I’d ever paused to recognize the fact so many had been lost, yet I was blessed or lucky enough to remain. I acknowledged it then as I inhaled the wintry November air, relished the warmth of Corson’s body, and listened to the clicking branches swaying over my head.

I was alive, and it was glorious.

Lifting my face, I basked in the noon sun. When I lowered my head, I focused on Corson as he gazed over the side of the branch and my heart swelled with love for him.

Neither of us had spoken of love, I didn’t know if demons talked about it at all, and it had been years since I’d spoken the word out loud to another. I’d never believed I could feel like this for someone, but Corson had me thinking about a future I’d long ago stopped considering.

Surviving a day in the Wilds was a great achievement. It felt like tempting fate to contemplate what tomorrow would be like, never mind a week or two from now. However, yesterday I’d found myself imagining what a child of ours would look like before abruptly shutting the fantasy down.

I could not bring a child into this world. I’d been greatly relieved when my period arrived last week, yet I’d experienced a twinge of sadness over it. Our first oops might have been my only chance for a baby.

Corson scratched a chunk of bark off the trunk with one of his talons. Once removed, he broke the bark apart, held a piece out, and released it. Leaning forward, I nearly burst out laughing when I spotted Hawk and Vargas standing under us. The bark bounced off Hawk’s head, and he rubbed it absently.

Corson dropped another chunk onto Vargas’s head, who did the same thing as Hawk. Corson’s grin widened when he released another piece on Hawk before dropping two more onto Vargas. When they tilted their heads back to look at us, Corson released the pieces that remained in his hand.

“Asshole,” Hawk muttered as he darted to the side to avoid the falling debris. Vargas wasn’t as fast and took two bits of bark to the cheek.

Corson laughed as he wiped his hands on his thighs. He’d once told me adhenes were mischievous, but it was rare he exhibited that trait. There were times like this though, when he let down his guard, and his face lit with delight over irritating his friends, that I glimpsed it in him. If things ever became settled, and there were no more craetons to worry about, I suspected Corson would take great joy in pulling pranks on his friends.

“Your heads were too big to resist,” Corson called down to them.

“That’s what all the women say to me too,” Hawk retorted, and Corson laughed while Vargas and I shook our heads.

“Move along now, we’re hunting in this area,” Corson said with a wave of his hand.

“I’m going to start hunting assholes in trees,” Hawk replied, but he and Vargas strolled out from under the tree. They moved deeper into the woods until they disappeared from view.

Resting my head on Corson’s shoulder, I inhaled his fiery scent. When his hand slid over mine, my heartbeat picked up with anticipation. One look or touch from him and my body readied to do what he asked of it. His hand slid over my thigh and down to grip my knee. Sex in a tree would be a first, but I had no doubt he could pull it off.

A doe stepped from between the bushes across from him. “Sorry, demon,” I murmured. “That will have to wait.”

He flashed a smile at me, leaned against the trunk, and propped his hands behind his head. His arousal was apparent in the bulge in his pants, a bulge that only grew when he watched me pull an arrow free and nock it against my bow. I had no doubt I could hit my target with this bow.

Shifting my balance, I lifted the bow and was about to let the arrow fly when the bushes parted, and a manticore swooped into the clearing. I locked my legs around the branch to keep from toppling over backward at the sudden emergence of the monster. With the body of a red lion, a very human-looking head, and green, translucent wings, the manticore was one of the ugliest creatures I’d ever seen. The fact it had a red scorpion tale and an eight-inch horn jutting from the center of its forehead did nothing to improve its hideous looks.

The manticore’s stinger speared the doe, injecting its venom into the deer and paralyzing her instantly. Corson leapt to his feet as I released the arrow, catching the manticore in the center of its chest. The creature didn’t seem to feel the arrow as it swung its tail up and its mouth opened impossibly wide to reveal its three rows of razor-sharp teeth. Using its tail, the manticore shoved the doe into its mouth and swallowed her whole.

My stomach churned at the disconcerting spectacle of the deer sliding down the manticore’s throat before the monster turned its attention to us. With a trumpet-like screech, it rose into the air and dove at us.

“Shit!” Corson snarled.

I swung the bow over my back as his arms wrapped around me and he pulled me backward. I curled inward and didn’t make a sound when we plunged out of the tree. Corson’s body enveloped mine, and he grunted as his back crashed off a limb. My heart lodged in my throat; my body was jarred, but uninjured from the impact that spun us around and bounced us off another branch.

“Corson!” I tried to reach for him, but he’d pinned my arms against my sides when he grabbed me. He hit another branch, and the sickening crunch of one of his bones sounded. He had to be in pain, but instead of his grip on me easing, he cradled me closer. “Are you okay?”

He didn’t respond as he hit another branch before we plummeted into the open air. His breath exploded out of him when we crashed onto the ground. Before I could move, he rolled so his body was on top of mine with his chest to my back.

“Stay down,” he commanded in my ear, and his weight was gone in the next instant.

Lifting my head, I turned to watch as the manticore dove at him. Corson dodged to the side and caught the manticore’s stinger. With a fierce jerk, he yanked the beast out of the air and drove it into the earth with enough force to leave a ten-foot dent in the dirt. The manticore trumpeted again as Corson sliced his talons up its tail and stomach, gutting it. When the manticore attempted to curl up to protect itself, Corson sank his claws into its throat and sawed its head off.

I launched to my feet at the same time leaves crunched behind me. Judging by the sound, whatever stood behind me was too close for me to use an arrow on it. Spinning, I yanked my knife free. I had only a second to register a gobalinus barreling toward me before it was in front of me.

Swinging down, I plunged my knife straight through the head of the two-foot-tall monster with yellow eyes and warts covering its green, leathery skin. Its piranha-like teeth snapped at the air; its small hands flailed at me while I held it away.

Seizing its shoulder, I ignored the skin flaking off beneath my palm as I yanked my knife free and sliced it across the gobalinus’s throat. Slimy green blood spilled over my hand, but the creature came at me again. Propelling the gobalinus back, I fell on top of it and cut the rest of the way through its neck. Its head rolled away and stopped against a tree trunk. Its hands clawed at me once more before the body went limp beneath me.

Lifting my head, I studied the woods it had emerged from to find Corson standing in the center of three more dead gobalinus. Blood dripped from his talons as he stalked toward me. His gaze raked me from head to toe and back again.

“Are you hurt?” he demanded.

“I’m fine. I only had one ankle-biter to deal with.”

His eyes continued to scan me before scouring the woods. His touch was tender when he grasped my arm, helped me rise, and pulled me closer to him, but his muscles vibrated with barely contained violence. Clasping my hand, he wiped away the cloying, green blood before turning it over to inspect my palm.

He looked around the woods again. “We have to return to the others.”

“Do you sense something more out there?” I inquired as I studied our surroundings.

“No, but we need to get back to check on them and regroup. That was too many craetons together and coming at us for my liking.”

He maneuvered me so I stood in front of him, his chest protectively against my back as he kept his hand on my waist. “I don’t need you behind me,” I said.

“Yes, you do.”

I opened my mouth to protest as a twig broke on our right. He drew me abruptly against him and unleashed his talons. When nothing emerged from the woods, Corson eased his grip but didn’t let me go. I didn’t try to argue with him again. Now was not the time for a fight when more of our enemies could be enclosing on us, but later…

What? I’d tell him he was an idiot for trying to defend me? I could be more than a little bitchy, but that was pushing the limits even for me. If I were going to be in a relationship with this demon, then I had to accept some things would never change about him. He had to accept that about me too.

Corson kept me against him as we continued through the woods to where we’d left the others camped in a safe house at the edge of the forest. When we came around the trunk of a birch tree, I stopped when the house came into view through a grove of oak trees.

Caim lay on the porch roof with his back against the house, his hands propped behind his head, and a pair of sunglasses on. His legs were stretched out and crossed at the ankles. His black wings were spread out behind him as if he were trying to tan them.

Five paliton demons were gathered around something on the porch. One of the demons tugged on it while another one stomped its foot. Having returned to the house already, Hawk and Vargas opened the door and stepped outside onto the porch. Erin exited the house behind them.

Vargas pointed to what the demons held and then at himself. Erin shrugged before shading her eyes to survey the sky. Hawk examined what the demons held before suddenly leaning in and ripping whatever it was from the demon’s hands.

The demon launched a punch at Hawk who ducked it. Hawk shouted something at them while Erin stepped forward with her hands raised as if to intervene. One of the demons shoved Erin back, which caused Hawk to lunge at him, but he still didn’t release whatever he held.

Vargas caught Erin before she could crash into the porch banister. He set her back on her feet and pulled out his gun to aim it at the demon who had pushed her. If Vargas shot the demon, it could start a fight none of us were prepared to wage; one that might end with all the humans dead.