The jaguar slowly came to. It rolled to its stomach and shook out its massive head. Ronan didn’t have time for this bullshit. He stabbed down quickly, driving the blade between the animal’s shoulder blades. It let out a pained yowl before its head slumped to the ground. He pulled the dagger out with a yank and scrambled back up the hill, his speed making him a smudge of shadow in the dark as he raced back to the trail that would lead him to Naya.
“Don’t move, Manny. Stay in the circle, understand?”
Naya’s tone was wary but not frightened as Ronan approached. He kept his steps light, though what he wanted to do was rush to her. Hold her. Get her the hell away from anything that could hurt her. But in her soul, his mate was a warrior. Brave. Stalwart. He could no more ask her to back down than he could ask the wind not to blow. Naya was a force of nature, and he had to trust that she could take care of herself.
That didn’t mean he wouldn’t fight by her side, though. And it looked like she’d need all the help she could get.
The mapinguari towered over her. Huge. Much larger than the one they’d fought two nights ago. Covered in coarse, dark fur, this one looked a lot like a bear on steroids. Freakish, supernatural steroids. Each of its massive claws resembled daggers affixed to its paws, and its beady crimson eyes were barely noticeable on its face. The damned thing smelled like death warmed over, and gooey, thick saliva dripped from its maw of a mouth. It regarded Naya with a frightening intensity, much too calm for Ronan’s peace of mind. This wasn’t some mindless beast with an appetite for chaos. The mapinguari had a plan and it simply bided its time before putting the plan into action.
A demon with a brain. Great.
Luz was nowhere in sight, just one more kink in an otherwise perfect plan. Considering the circumstances, the human seemed to be holding up well, which earned a fair share of admiration from Ronan. Because on a scale of one to a hundred, their situation ranked somewhere near fucked beyond repair.
“Behind you, Naya.” Ronan kept his voice even so as not to startle her. “I’m right behind you.”
She let out an audible sigh of relief but didn’t turn. “Are you all right?”
“Five by five, love. You?”
“I will be once I bind this thing and find Luz.”
The beast canted its head to the side, looking over Naya’s head at Ronan. It sniffed the air and a low growl rumbled in its chest. A giant gob of spit dripped from its mouth and landed on the ground with a wet plop. This was seriously fucked up, and Ronan had seen some hair-raising shit in his life.
“What’s the plan?” The thing was obviously sizing them up and Ronan didn’t think that giving it time was going to work in their favor. They needed to put it down before it got tired of waiting around.
Naya turned the dagger over in her palm, a quick twist that Ronan imagined she did subconsciously. “I need to bind it. But it’s bigger than I thought it would be. I don’t know if I can do it without Luz’s help. What about your trouble? Is it taken care of?”
He hoped it was. The cat was at the least incapacitated, if it wasn’t dead. “Think so. Though I have a feeling that someone from your pod has been drinking the Kool-Aid, if you know what I mean.”
Naya cursed under her breath, “Fuck.”
Yup. Pretty much.
The mapinguari shifted and Naya mirrored its movement. It looked past them to where the human stood confined in a ring of salt, and a hungry rumble bubbled from its gut. It brought its enormous snout up to scent the air before its gaze landed on Ronan.
“I can immobilize it.” Probably. The fucker was big. “Just say the word.”
The mapinguari swayed, craning its thick neck once again to see around Naya and Ronan to Manny. Naya followed its movement and listed to the other side. She blocked the demon’s view. It swayed again. Like a cobra and a snake charmer, their strange battle dance continued for another few seconds. A jolt of energy snapped out at Ronan through the tether and a burst of battle-fueled adrenaline dumped into this system.
“Get ready, Ronan. On my count. Three … two … one.”
Ronan sprang into action, but before he could lay a finger on it the mapinguari crumpled to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Fluorescent light bled from its lifeless body, oozing and winding down the footpath toward them. The dark magic inside of him surged, a blizzard of icy cold that raged. He snatched Naya by the waist and spun, keeping her clear of the viscous substance headed their way.
“Holy shit!” she exclaimed. “What in the hell just happened?”
The demon’s essence, blood, or whatever the fuck it was continued on its path, surrounding Manny. The salt circle kept the magic at bay but officially turned the human’s sanctuary into an island. No way in—or out.