CHAPTER 24
"Be silent, abomination," Lucian's voice was a whisper, barely audible over the sound of her own thudding heart.
He was leaning heavily against her, his weight almost crushing her into the dirt. He was trembling—not with fear, but with the sheer effort of staying conscious.
His other hand was gripped tight around a jagged piece of wood he'd picked up, his knuckles white.
Through the gap in his fingers, Isabella could see why he had hidden. Through the mist, not twenty yards away, a low thudding was approaching.
It wasn't the sound of boots. It was the sound of something much heavier, something that made the very earth beneath Isabella's feet shudder.
The mist curled and parted, Isabella's eyes grew wide, her heart hammering so hard against her ribs she was sure the thing could hear it.
Towering over the ferns was a creature that defied every law of nature she knew. It was a mass of matted gray fur and protruding bone that stood easily twelve feet tall.
