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KARI
I looked down. Gorges, rocky cliffs, dry land. I knew where we were. Those cliffs had caves where a nasty old lamia could hide out during the day.
Don’t want to go into those.
Calm. Keep calm. Deep breaths. In, out, in out.
Jake! He had to be okay. Couldn’t cry. Not now. Please, let the Ingenii blood work. Let him not be dead. Shitty, shitty lamia! And even shittier venom!
Ugh! Why did the stupid thing have to take me? Holy moley! It stunk. Like a thousand dogs had pissed on the same lamp post.
Up ahead was the old oak forest. I had a chance.
A sound like dry twigs being rubbed together came from above me. Was Stinky laughing? ‘You think you can esssscape me? Your mind isss sssso open.’
Hells bells. Brick wall ... brick wall, I repeated over and over in my head while keeping my eyes locked on the ground below.
‘Impressssive.’
I concentrated harder. It was trying to break through, making my head hurt. I doubled the brick wall, adding concrete and barbed wire. Try and get through that!
‘Your mind wallsss will not keep me out for long, little one.’
I knew that too. I had to keep it occupied—talking—so it’d stay out of my head. ‘What do you want with me? Why didn’t you just kill me?’
‘Can’t you guessss?’ It laughed again. I wanted to stab it.
‘I hate stupid games. Just tell me.’
Stinky’s wings flapped. ‘Jussstiniussss! I ssssmell his blood in you.’
Okaaaay. That probably wasn’t good. My heart squeezed into a tight knot. Jake! Justinius had been his old name. He only changed it a century or so ago to modernise it. He had to be alive. He just had to. No nasty stinky venom could kill my Jake. The Ingenii blood would save him. But Stinky had pumped so much venom into him. What if even Ingenii blood couldn’t help? Tears burned in my eyes. Princi would help him. Yeah, Princi was smart. He’d save my Jake.
Horrid, horrid lamia!
‘My enemy’ssss child before me. Mine to take.’ It grabbed my chin and forced me to look at it. It licked its lips and slid its pointy tongue down one fang and then the other. ‘Long time ssssince I’ve had a female, and what better than my enemy’ssss.’
No way.
Eewww. Stomach turning. I wanted to vomit and cut the wretched lamia up into a million pieces all at the same time. I pointed with my thumb toward the road. ‘Zoo’s that way.’
Stinky sneered. ‘Do not insssssult me any further, little one.’ It squeezed my cheeks together so hard I thought my face would cave in.
I scratched and clawed at its hands, trying to pry them off. ‘Let go of me, you stinking piece of crap!’
‘What could be better. Take what belongssss to my enemy and make it mine. Take, defile and desssstroy.’ It released my face to raise its slimy head and shriek into the sky.
Oh crap! My stomach flipped. I had to get away. Now.
I looked down. Treetops. Mountains up ahead. Where was Stinky taking me?
Heat flushed through me. I gritted my teeth to stop my lips from trembling and coiled my hands into fists. It’s not going to win, it’s going to win, I repeated over and over. Stinky probably thinks he’s won. I’d show him!
Good thing my arms were free. I sniffed. The wind was blowing in the direction I wanted. It was now or never. Slowly, so as not to alert Stinky, I lifted my arm and bit deeply into my wrist. Ouch! Now I knew how Laura felt. Please, Mister Wind, don’t change direction now. Didn’t want Big Stinky smelling my blood.
I lowered my bitten wrist to my side. C’mon, flow down! I pumped my hand harder. One drop, two, three then four trickled down and plopped on rocks, grass and on the olive groves over which we flew. Unless an animal homed in on the scent and licked it up, it would be enough of a blood trail for the others to follow. And follow they would. I was sure of it.
My stomach lurched again as Stinky swerved through some narrow gorges. ‘Fly more smoothly, will ya? I’m gonna be sick here.’ I yelled up at the big bozo.
Why didn’t it fly higher, above the tree line?
I wasn’t that heavy! Maybe it couldn’t.
I craned my neck to check out its wings. Weren’t the bottom edges meant to be thicker? Instead, they were transparent. Hello! Stinky didn’t have enough power in them to lift us both higher, because those transparent bits hadn’t fully regenerated.
I nearly clapped.
The old oak forest was right below us. Forests were good—lots of lovely sharp twigs and branches that could damage those delicate wings.
Time to take a dive, Stinky!
Taking a deep breath, I felt for the tiny perfume bottle pendant around my neck. It had been a present from Jake, to celebrate the end of my juvenile stage. For just a moment, I saw his beautiful face and wanted to be with him so badly that my chest ached. I hugged the pendant.
Have to do this.
My hands shook as I unstoppered the lid inside my jacket. Deep breath, Kari. You gotta do this. One, two, three ... I mouthed, then splashed the perfume into Stinky’s eyes.
Whoa!
Stinky bucked and reared. It was like being on a rodeo ride. ‘It burnsss! It burnsss!’ He screeched and dropped me.
Ha! Served it right. Ow! Ow! Leaves and sharp twigs smacked me in the legs and arms as I grabbed at anything to slow my fall. We weren’t that high, but high enough that I could break a leg or arm. It’d take too long to heal—at least a day. Stinky would find me.
Oomph! Aaargghh! A sharp pain in my arm as I hooked it around a branch to break my fall. Deep breaths, Kari. I swung there for a second waiting for the pain to recede before dropping to the ground.
Above me, Stinky screeched and circled the treetops.
Ooh, it was mad! Tough nuts, Stinky! I chuckled and cradled my sore arm.
I squat in the giant roots of a she-oak and scooped up a handful of decayed leaves, grasses and dirt and rubbed them all over me to disguise my scent.
Okay, now what? I could stay hidden in the woods till daylight, or make a run for it.
I bit my fingernails. Decisions, decisions. Once out of the woods, it was open landscape. It could easily swoop down on me. Could I outrun it? No way, Jose.
I would have to stay put.
I felt for my blood vial beneath my jacket pocket. What if I’d smashed it against a tree? My heart skipped a beat just thinking about it. I’d last taken it two days ago, which was enough to get me through the new day. I clutched it to me. Thank you, Princi.
Yep, I could wait it out.
Why wasn’t Old Stinky shrieking anymore? I stuck my head out from behind a root and peered up. The sky was clear. Where was he? There was no way he would’ve given up. My skin prickled, as if thousands of cockroaches were crawling over me.
A funny whistling sound ... a thump, the rustle of dried leaves ... the smell of rotting meat.
Oh no! I froze.
Stinky!
My chest constricted, but I had to know how close it was. Peering through the exposed tree roots, there it was, wings folded tight against its body, clawed feet digging into the earth. It angled its ugly, pointy head in all directions and sniffed the air.
Hells bells! It must have dived down through the canopy. If my heart beat any faster, I’d be human. And if I could hear it.... His head snapped in my direction and sniffed. My throat went drier than an old spinster’s tit.
It knew where I was. How?
I sucked in a breath. Jake’s perfume bottle. Some of the drops had fallen back onto my jacket.
Kari, you dope!
I shoved my blood vial down my bra then peeled off the jacket. After I kissed my precious perfume pendant, I flung it high into the trees. It would give me a few seconds to find another hiding spot.
Then I ran.
