Chapter 30 · Eating My Own

"Move!" Kane slammed into me just as the black thing's hand closed around my throat.

His shoulder hit my ribs. We went down hard, his injured side taking most of the impact. A wet claw scraped across the front of my neck instead of crushing it.

I landed on top of him.

"You shoved me!"

"You're welcome. Get off."

The thing hit the wall where my head had been. Black slime sprayed across the stone. It moved like a person pretending to be a spider, arms bending the wrong way, face stretching and collapsing between shapes.

Then it spoke in Mara's voice.

"Little sister."

My stomach twisted.

"Don't call me that."

The thing smiled with a mouth it hadn't owned a second ago. "You always say that."

Kane grabbed the back of my coat and dragged me behind him. He was bleeding through the bandage at his side. His breath came rough, but his sword was already up.

"Stay behind me," he said.

"You can barely stand."

"And you can barely think when it says her name. So we're both having a bad day."

The creature lunged.

Kane met it with steel.

The blade cut through one arm.