The Pure-Hearted Princess and the Kiss of Darkness novel Chapter 9

~ KATALEYA ~

I speed up, breaking into a run, not worrying about the three who run after me. I need to get out of here. As long as I’m alone, I’ll be able to handle them. They’re here for me and that’s all they want.

“Oi! What are you doing?!” Alondra shouts.

I can feel the light being sucked from around us, feel the air becoming heavier and they are oblivious to it.

How did they find me here so quickly? Was it when I used my powers last night?

My eyes blaze pink as I emit a large part of my aura, a beacon to call them to me, drawing them to the powers that they desire.

I’m down the stairs as fast as I can go, my heart thumping when I hear the shuddering rattling of their ragged breath, the air becoming cold.

“She’s a witch!” Gabriela shouts, looking at me as she backs away. “Alpha! Alpha!”

They may not have picked up on it as fast as me, but they’re sensing them now. It’s hard not to when they are this close.

I hear Alondra gasp. The fear in them is only going to make this worse. They feed off it.

I’m about to reply when I see the first one, the tall, stretched shadow that looks like it belongs to a man, but with far longer limbs. Its arms reach past his knees and on the end of his wrists where there should have been hands were knife-like blades, four on each hand.

Shadowed men, or as we have come to know them as, Crawlers, monsters from the other world who feed on power… Two years ago, Sienna began seeing these beings in her nightmares and then, three months ago… we faced them- well me and Theo. We were the first to encounter them, but since then they’ve been popping up everywhere.

They are like nothing we’ve seen before: powerful, extremely fast, deadly… and chillingly intelligent.

It runs at me, and I take a deep breath to calm my nerves.

I need to draw it away! I turn the corner, running down the second flight of stairs. The good thing is, that it’s not hard to protect others because they’ll only go for those with powerful energies.

I can’t hear him anymore. I stop, turning sharply as I look back up the steps. Wait! Did it go after them?!

My heart pounds as I turn, running up the stairs, ripping free from the rope that binds me as I pass the trio, who are on their knees, their bodies trembling. The effect the Crawlers have on ordinary wolves.

My stomach plummets and I freeze; realising who they’ve gone after. Enrique!

His aura is immense too!

I rush past them, hearing the rattling shriek that seems to emit from inside my head, but it’s coming from his office.

I was right!

The thunderous growl that reaches me makes my heart skip a beat. Something shatters, forcing me to shift, not able to hold back and run to the door. A blast of my power slams the door open. I’m instantly hit by icy cold air and something… deathly. That’s how it feels.

Rushing inside, I scan the room, assessing the situation. Seeing Enrique in wolf form, he’s huge, his wolf a deep brown with liquid gold eyes and his power aura radiating off him.

He’s attacking one of the two Crawlers, and I feel myself calm a little. Yet the office isn’t large enough for combat, Enrqiue’s wolf itself is huge, but I can use that to my advantage!

Thank the Goddess he is handling himself perfectly. He’s trained well because even with a missing paw, it does not hold him back and I can’t help but admire him, but there’s no time to do that now. I quickly look around as I growl, drawing one of the Crawlers to turn to me.

The door swings shut, and the room becomes darker, a darkness that even we cannot see through. Blinding our senses… but it’ll hit Enrique worse.

It opens its mouth, letting out a rattling, hoarse roar, and I jerk my head to the left, sending a blinding shield of pink right at it. It hisses, cowering into one of the dark corners of the room as Enrique launches himself at him.

He slashes through him and the shadowed body splits apart, but it simply rejoins again, throwing Enrique back.

To kill a Crawler… is not something we have figured out, but we can vanquish them with enough light.

I run forward and so does the Crawler, ready to attack me, but Enrique snarls, stopping me as he leaps in front of me, almost… defensively.

My heart races in excitement, but now isn’t the time for this!

That moment is all the Crawlers need as they launch themselves at him.

No! You don’t let a Crawler- Ah!

I blast them back before they can even touch him, and he growls warningly at me. Clearly telling me to stay back, I growl back, hoping he understood, but my growl comes out as pitiful as a newborn pup’s.

We both jump back as the Crawlers lunge forward, their sharp hands hacking into the wood floor.

I push past Enrique, but once again he tries to block me, and I step back, snapping my jaws at him.

I know how to deal with them!

But there’s no way I can relay that message to him! Goddess!

I flinch when the Crawler launches itself at him, my eyes widening in horror as I realise he is not planning to attack but to feast.

As fast as I can, I shift to human form,

“Move back!”