He was huge. The only goblins Megan had ever encountered were less than four feet tall, but this one had to be close to six.
If it weren’t for his shaggy blond hair, Megan wouldn’t have recognized Nate. Partially obscured from her sight with the goblin standing between them, he dangled, limp, about a foot off the ground. On either side of him, great wings spanning five feet shuddered and shook. A choking sound escaped from her throat. He was dying.
“Hey! Leave him alone,” Megan screamed as she stepped off the deck with the cleaver in her shaking hand and she rushed toward the goblin. For once, it didn’t matter if it saw her, or even if it attacked. She had to get it away from Nate. Fury roiled in her chest, making it hard to breathe, but she pressed on.
A soft hiss, quickly followed by a moan, drew her gaze to Nate.
“No.” She barely heard his anguished whisper. He lifted his head, only to have it fall to the side as his strength faltered. “Run, Megan.”
It was too late for that, and she wasn’t about to hide, not when Nate had spent more than a decade by her side, comforting her and supporting her through the most difficult days of her life. The fact that he’d deserted her in the last while didn’t erase all that.
“I said let him go.”
Before she could get within two feet of the goblin, heat engulfed the hand holding the cleaver, searing her skin. The goblin kept one hand up, the blue light streaming from its palm holding Nate hostage.
“I knew she wouldn’t tolerate your pain, Nathaniel. She’s so human.” Two rows of razor sharp teeth filled its wicked mouth. Its green, leathery skin wrinkled as it smirked at her. “The only reason she has survived this long is because of you. But that ends now. The Master wants her.”
The goblin moved closer, then as if realizing he still had Nate within his clutches, he flung his arm to the side, sending Nate through the air and crashing in a heap at the base of the old oak twenty feet away.
Rage, hot and sharp, filled her until all she could see was the creature stepping toward her. The goblin grinned wider when it pulled a short, glowing dagger from its pocket and pointed it at her. “You’re coming with me, one way or the other, so decide now. Do you live, or do you die?”
Megan didn’t bother responding. The air all around her pulsed with life and power. Instinct drove her as she pulled the invisible force to her.
The goblin’s eyes widened, and doubt crossed its bulging brown eyes. Megan stared at the dagger, imagining it shaking loose from the goblin’s grip. Her heart pounded, and pressure built behind her eyes as she focused her attention. With another few steps, the creature would be upon her. She couldn’t let it get any closer. She brought her hands up, the right with the palm facing out, the left closing into a fist as though gripping a rope. Jerking her left hand toward her, she ripped the dagger from the creature’s hand with the invisible pull. It came flying through the air at her, and she sidestepped to avoid it slicing into her arm before it clanged to the patio floor behind her.
Her elation died quickly. In an instant, the goblin was upon her. The goblin’s momentum sent them both crashing to the ground, knocking the air out of her. Its sharp teeth snapped only inches from her throat, and its putrid breath wafted over her like a thick fog. Her head hit the deck boards with a loud, resounding crack, sending black dots swimming in front of her.
The creature growled and straddled her middle. Long, knotted fingers wrapped around her neck, compressing her throat. Kicking and thrashing, she tried to dislodge the goblin, but its weight kept her pinned. Shadows skirted around the edges of her vision, darkening more and more until everything went black.
Chapter 3
Megan blinked hard. Opening her eyes intensified the pounding in her head, but she had to move. Where was Nate? Sitting up, she gasped, the sound weak and wheezy as air rushed through her aching throat. She reached up, wincing as her fingers came across the sticky mess where she’d banged the back of her head. The gash wasn’t bleeding anymore, but it hurt like hell.
White walls, white marble floor, white linens and blankets on the bed—nothing was familiar, and the comfortable mattress certainly wasn’t hers. Megan walked around the room in search of the door but found nothing. Blank walls with no openings. It was like a bright, airy coffin with no means of escape. She raced around the room again, certain she had to have missed it, but still, nothing.
“Ah, she awakens. Good,” a deep, masculine voice said from close behind her.
She whipped around, drawing her hands before her.
“It’s okay, Megan. I’m a friend of Nathaniel’s.” The dark haired man didn’t come closer, but he smiled and held his hand out to her. “I’m Jordan.”