CHAPTER 90

Dumbfounded, Abella could only stare until the twang of a bowstring being plucked made her extend her wings forward to protect Velvet. A pair of arrows shattered against her wing, sending pain up into her shoulder.

"It's going to get back up," Velvet said, then turned back toward the Wendigo. It was crawling toward them, both flesh and bone mending on top of its neck.

"How is it still alive?"

Before Velvet could answer, bands of darkness grabbed her around the body and hurled her away from the Wendigo. Abella tried to follow, but the Wendigo stood up in front of her, its skull reformed now. Glowing blue light resided where its eyes should be as skin grew over muscle, and then its eyes reappeared.

It said something in a language she didn't recognize, and then came at her. She jumped into the air and raked its face with her talons. The Wendigo took the hit and grabbed her by the head with both hands and squeezed.

The pressure was incredible. She grabbed at its hands, then its wrists. Her talons scraped off the skin on its chest as her heart thudded rapidly. Her core temperature was rising dramatically now, and her vision was going black.

"You should have stayed at the bottom of that lake." Leeds spoke to her from somewhere nearby. "I only hope that you spared the offspring of the Estakwvnayv. A warrior like you would have been welcome in my new world, but not if you are already harming the natives."

Abella groaned, then bit into the Wendigo's palm. The flesh tasted like oversalted fish that had gone bad.

"I've worked hard to come this far," he continued. "And not only will I get what I want, but you will have lost your life for nothing! Nothing! You stupid gargoyle!"

Somewhere in the woods, Mike screamed in pain.

Abella took a deep breath through her nose, pulling in as much oxygen as she could. Her kind didn't need to breathe, not for survival. No, they had big lungs for something else entirely. All the while, she kept chewing, causing the Wendigo to adjust its grip. Its blood was black, but it was also slippery.

The Wendigo lost its grip and fell backward. Abella fell to the ground and saw the Wendigo was now missing a hand.

Dana stood in the snow, her blade gleaming. The Wendigo reached for her, but she slashed away, lacerating its other arm. Dark shadows wrapped around her waist and pulled her into the darkness.

"Your friends are fighting for you," Leeds told her as she rose. "And they will die for you as well."

"Do you ever wonder why humans cut off our heads and make us gargle rainwater?" Abella rose to her full height and took another deep breath. She didn't bother looking for Leeds, the Nirumbi, or anyone else. Her entire attention was on the Wendigo as it came for her again, a skeletal hand emerging from its amputated limb.

Time distorted and slowed as she took one more breath. On the day she had hatched, she had been the smallest of her clutch. It had been suggested to her mother that she would be too weak to survive, too small to contribute meaningfully. But in those first moments of existing, she had let out a cry louder than any of her siblings, a cry that had commanded attention.

The name Abella meant breath. Although she wasn't the strongest or the biggest of her clutch, it was neither of these things that mankind feared the most from her people.

Mike was hurt. Whether physically or emotionally, it didn't matter. Her friends had fought for her, even though she was stronger and immune to the arrows of the Nirumbi. Her rage ignited within, flooding her whole body with an immense heat that caused her stone skin to glow an eerie red.

When her own kind had turned their backs on her, she had lost her direction, there was no longer any purpose. Protecting the house had been her primary function, but she had come to know those who lived inside. Ever since Mike had moved in, she had also come to know them all better than ever. Her roof, once a lonely place, was shared with Kisa and occasionally Lily. The faeries would tease her until she gave chase, and there had even been a couple of nights where she had sat with Cecilia, the two of them watching romance shows on her tablet.

No, they weren't just her family. They were her clan. She would fight for them, and they for her. And there was no doubt in her mind that they would die for her if needed.

She couldn't let that happen. Her heart pounded, each beat like thunder in her ears. Opening her mouth as wide as possible, Abella used the pressurized air in her lungs to expel the flames that had formed inside, releasing her Heartfire in a high-pressure stream.

The icy-blue flame turned the Wendigo's hand into ash on impact, and she quickly lost control of her Heartfire as she always did. She had to kneel and sink her hands and talons into the ground beneath the snow to keep from blowing herself head over heels as she filled the air with a fire so hot that nearby trees ignited. The Wendigo didn't even have time to turn and flee as its skin then muscle flaked away into nothingness.

Leeds had been so determined to isolate her that she knew everyone was far enough away that they could run if necessary. The woods around her were filled with smoke and steam, and she could no longer see the cabin. Large swaths of snow contained Nirumbi that had been killed so quickly that they looked like smoldering statues.