by Anna Hub
I blushed and the heat of the fire only made it worse. "Partly. Yes."
"You were pretty much all I thought about once my body died."
I stared at the flames, afraid to look back at him, afraid that he might convince me to give in with one more lingering gaze on my lips.
"There's so much about you that I'm sure you can't see."
I nodded slowly. "And vice versa."
He propped himself up. "Why does that sound like a bad thing?"
"I shouldn't have said it like that. I'm sorry." I shook my hair, partly for a distraction and partly to take out my frustration.
He lay back, probably equally frustrated with me. "You can only trust your instinct, and if your instinct says no ... I'll wait."
He closed his eyes and I watched him for a long time, silently satisfied by his persistence before I managed to fall asleep.
“Sel. Wake up.” Brayden shook me awake, his voice barely a whisper. The fire had gone out but the moon was full, our shadows still at our feet.
“What is it?” I sat up.
“Shh.” He pointed into the trees. A whip crack sliced the air. "Run!" he ordered.
We took flight, Brayden easily manipulating his shadow as he ran and I managed to keep up despite struggling with mine. A second whip cracked to our right as a huge brown cat raced alongside us. We followed the curve of the river, tails lashing from behind as we bolted.
"Shall we cross the river?" My breath laboured.
"They're on both sides." Brayden urged me to run faster as the cats kept pace. There was no doubt they were quicker than us. Why hadn't they attacked yet? Plants rustled as the beasts tore through the forest, their bodies flashing past as though they were herding us. My pulse pounded in my ears, chest aching with the desperate drawing of air. Rough terrain tore at my shadow, reminding me of the early nightmares in the shadow world. The wound at my ankle only just healing and the thought of the terrifying whip tails striking me again sent a shock of fear all through my body.
Brayden breathed heavily, his eyes darting around the forest as everything suddenly fell quiet. We slowed down, both turning as we examined the trees for clues.
"Where did they go?" I panted.
Moonlight caught on the grey in Brayden's eyes. Even in the dark, I could tell they were the lightest they'd ever been, but I felt no sense of anxiety this time. I was getting used to trusting in his instinct, believing that it would help us rather than turn him against me.
“They’re gone," he confirmed.
I grabbed at a stitch at my side. "What the hell was that about?”
His expression remained smooth, completely absent of fear. "They were working together. Three of them." He paused to look at me. "I think we should go back."
“What?” We'd finally found evidence of other life and he wanted to turn back. "We can't."
"We can't risk a trap."
I tried to contain my sudden anger. "I can't go back. I need to get out of here."
“We don't have a choice."
Now I knew there might be another way to live in this world; I couldn't return to the constant terror of the forest. Brayden grabbed my hand so suddenly it made me jump. His grip firm in a way that made me feel as though the decision was already made. I snatched my hand back and took a step away.
"It's not safe to keep going."
"We can't keep running through this forest forever," I said.
"We’ll leave as soon as we can. But not now."
"But we will leave as soon as we can?"
"Yes." He held his hand out for me once more and this time, I took it of my own free will.
He moved toward the river, stepping into the knee deep water. "They won't be able to smell us in here."
I lowered myself in, ignoring the icy chill of the water as I waded. The river deepened, both of us covered to our waists. We moved slowly, working hard to remain as quiet as possible. I ignored the slime of the river floor and the sway of plants curling around my legs and tangling with my shadow.
I lifted my head and jumped at the sight of two eyes glowing back. I froze as the moonlight exposed the face of a cat watching us between the trees. "Brayden?"
The cat crawled forward, its front legs low in a crouch, its back raised as if ready to pounce.
"It won't attack," he sounded certain.
"What’s it doing?"
"It wants us to go back. Turn around."
I turned slowly, waiting for Brayden to nod before we made our way upstream once more.
"They are herding us," he said as the plants rustled once more and three more cats stepped free, their eyes glaring straight into mine.
Brayden paused as the cats' tails coiled above their backs, their eyes calculating.
Adrenaline almost took over, the energy in my legs urging me to run. But Brayden grabbed me at the waist, keeping me close.
He stretched his shadow out and wrapped it around his forearm.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“The shadow is stronger than skin.”
Did that mean I should do the same?
Brayden pointed. “The small one can’t use its tail yet.”
The cat’s tail was high in the air but it was closer to straight than coiled. It must have been too young to know how to attack properly.
“The river deepens again in about ten metres, the cats won’t cross there.”
I'd faced fear in the Shadow world many times but this looming danger was by far the worst.
“We’re going to move to the right. The small one will scream so you have to block your ears but its tail won’t strike. Wrap your shadow over the front of your body.”
I pulled the shadow out, shivering with the discomfort of stretching it.
"Their tails can strike as far as five metres. Don't let them get too close." Brayden motioned to a shallow part of the river. "It will be easy to get out there. Don't go near the baby."
I tested my footing, ensuring I was in the best location to make a fast exit.
“They should go for me first. Don't stand too close. Are you ready?"
With my heart pounding inside my chest and my stomach sick with fear, I would never be ready for what was about to happen.
"Go!"
Brayden launched himself out of the water, heading for the biggest cat first as it flicked its tail toward him. He was ready for it. His armoured limb seemed to wrap around the whip before it could curl on him. The cat released a piercing scream as he yanked on the tail, forcing the animal to spin around. Brayden dragged it toward him and sliced through the tail with his blade. The cat yelped and dropped its backside to the ground.
Three more cats approached, snarling as their whips cracked. Surely he couldn't fight that many at once. I looked around desperately for something to use as a weapon, about to reach for a rock when the small cat circled around me. A fierce scream erupted as its mouth opened to reveal razor sharp fangs. My head spun, the cry disorientated me like never before. I held hands over my ears, afraid the cry might distract Brayden too and give the cats the ultimate advantage. But he didn't react as the larger cats screamed in unison. He’d already rolled the amputated tail by his side, holding the blade between his teeth and his shadowed forearm out like a shield.
I'd never seen him like this before. The hunter in him was awake.
Despite the realisation that he might never be the same again, I couldn't stand by and do nothing. I grabbed a stick, flinching as the small cat screamed once more before gripping the stick in its teeth and trying to wrestle with me. Using the stick as a distraction, I managed to lure the cat away from the rocks, eventually dropping my weapon and reaching for the rocks instead.
A whip tail flew at Brayden once more. He dodged it with ease but when a second tail struck him, he caught it and flicked the amputated tail out in retaliation. It hit the cat on the first try and split the skin on its hide.
The third beast lurched forward to distract Brayden but it didn’t work. Its lasso
reached for him but he twisted to avoid the contact. Still gripping the second tail, he pulled the cat closer and dropped the blade from his mouth into his waiting hand. He cut the tail free and I held my hands over my ears as the creatures hissed and screamed their rage.
I still held my rock but even as the remaining whips flew at him, Brayden managed to angle himself away and avoid the brunt of the blow. Before I could even throw my weapon, the cats retreated, bleeding where their tails had been cut free.
Brayden dropped the whips and did a final check over the forest. From behind he was still the same man but I was afraid that when he turned around, his face would be replaced with that of a hunter—the human never to return.
Chapter Nineteen
I stepped back, hitting a tree as Brayden turned. The grey still hung in his eyes, his face stained with blood.
"Are you hurt?" He stepped closer.
I shook my head, gaze drifting down to his torso. There were lines where the whips had lashed his skin. Blood rested at the surface. I rushed forward.
"It's fine," he mumbled.
"No. You're hurt." I pulled the shadow from his arm, revealing dark bruises where the whips had hit. "Sit down."
He lowered himself to the ground while I used his upper shadow to cover the splits on his stomach.
“They're fine; you don't need to do that." Somehow, even his voice sounded different. I looked briefly into his eyes before turning back to the wounds. He wasn't a hunter but he wasn't quite himself either.
“Are you okay?” he asked after a while. I nodded. “Your ears are sore?”
“Yes.” The screams didn't seem to affect him in the same way. "You didn’t feel it?”
“I heard them, but they sounded distant. Like there was a shield between me and the sound."
I sat back. "I've never seen you fight like that before," I whispered.
He did a double take when he caught the expression on my face. "I can't explain it. It was like I could see their moves before they made them."
"You're different."
He stared at me, the grey retreating from his eyes as his expression softened. "I've never experienced anything like it before."
I had to tell him. "That's not exactly true."
"What?"
"There’s something I’ve meant to tell you. Something I noticed after your shadow became real.” I hesitated. “To begin with it was subtle, it was hardly—”
“What, Selena?”
“Your eyes. They’ve been turning grey.”
He frowned and the brown flashed back through. "Like the hunters?"
I swallowed, nodding slowly.
"That can't be right."
When I didn't say anything, he went to check his reflection in the river. He hovered above the water, fist clenching by his side. The silence dragged on for too long. I wasn't sure what to say that would make it any easier but anything had to be better than this silence.
“It doesn’t happen all the time. But there's a pattern. It happens when you’re concentrating really hard or if there’s danger nearby."
"Why didn't you say anything sooner?" He turned back.
"I wasn't sure what to make of it."
"And now?"
"I'm still unsure what it means."
He ran a hand through his hair, nodding as though he finally understood why I'd kept him at arm's length.
"When your eyes change, you're different. As though you have this enhanced extension of human instinct. You seem to know about things you have no history with. And in fights, you can predict things in a way no human could."
"But I feel the same."
"Do you? Because there are things you don't even remember. How would you even know how you felt then?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I spent two weeks in a coma but you only remember a couple of those days without me. Then again, when I died in the old world. We were apart for two days but you don't remember them."
He exhaled sharply. “We have to get out of here.”
I nodded, knowing that was the sensible thing to do despite our incomplete conversation.
He stopped to pick up the severed whips, blood still dripping as he looped them over his shoulder. “You should drink now; we’re not going to walk alongside the river anymore.”
“Where are we going?”
“We’ll move further to the right to avoid the cats’ trap, and then we’ll aim for the mountains.”
My head spun while we walked. I couldn’t tell if it was fatigue or if the cats had damaged my ears when they screamed. They hadn't affected me so badly in the past. Perhaps things had changed when I died in the old world, like my timeshare used to protect me a little from this place.
The wind rushed over my shadow, feeling stronger than it did on my real skin. I wrapped the black form around my chest, trying to minimise the surface it covered. Each step stretched it like it was somehow too small for my body.
Brayden pulled his own shadow away from his stomach and I checked to make sure his wounds weren’t bleeding. Perhaps the instinct had something to do with that too. Maybe it had somehow stopped the whips lashing too deep.
"It will be morning soon. We should stop for a break now, and then we can travel at full pace once the sun rises." Brayden motioned to a tree with huge roots spilling over each other to create a nook.
I wanted to get out of the forest as soon as possible, but he was right, we needed to rest if we were going to travel all the way to the mountains tomorrow.
We sat beside each other, Brayden's arm pressed against mine in the confined space. At first we were silent, both listening to the wind blow through the trees. Then he relaxed back, sighing before he turned to me.
"Are my eyes grey now?"
"Barely."
He clasped his hands together. “I hadn’t noticed it but now that you’ve told me, I do remember there being a sensation in my mind. Like tension. An ache.” He stared at the ground and I found myself holding my breath. “When the cats surrounded us I felt something take over. I don’t even know if I would have figured it out if you hadn’t told me. I know it was real because at the time I was aware of it, but now ... it’s hard to remember.”
"I was afraid you might lose yourself. Become like the others," I said.
His hand slipped into mine. "I promise that won't happen."
My eyes shut momentarily. "How can you be so sure?" The grey faded, leaving a lump of emotion in my throat.
"I can't explain it."
"You didn't even know this was happening. How can you have any control over it?"
“Whatever this is, I’m not like the others. But I don't know how I know that.”
So far, his instinct had helped to protect me too. "We can't be sure of the future though."
"How could I hurt you when you're all I want?"
Had he really just said that? "Why? What do we have in common? We're nothing alike."
"Do you think any of that matters in this world?"
"Of course it matters! Chemistry is ... everything."
His fingers slipped into mine. "Exactly."
I shook my head, fighting the fluttering in my stomach. There was chemistry. I took my hand back. "Just because we're the only ones here, doesn't mean we should be together."
Brayden sat back, watching me with his intense eyes. "You've never wondered what it would be like?"
I shrugged.
He smiled to himself. Somehow he'd seen right through me. But he dropped the subject and I was relieved to finally have his gaze diverted.
Nestling back into the tree roots, I shifted until I found a comfortable position. My calves were throbbing with all the exercise and the lack of food probably didn't help. I massaged them, sighing with the relief.
"How long do you think it will take us to reach the mountains?"
"Perhaps half a day." He looked up again.
"Will we have the chance to stop for water before we set off?"
"Yes. We
'll need food too." The grey flashed into his eyes as he finished speaking and I couldn't help jerking back. "What is it?” he asked.
“Your eyes.”
The grey spread and he rose into a crouch to scan the forest. A growl rumbled through the trees and my body stiffened. Brayden's hand hovered over the three whip tails as a long hiss reached us with the wind. I shifted my position, preparing to run, but Brayden held a hand out to steady me.
"They're just letting us know they're here,” he whispered and lowered himself to the ground.
A whip cracked and I jumped.
“They still have their tails," he noted.
How many cats stalked this forest? I'd seen a few of varying shades and sizes, but now that we were so close to escaping, it seemed they had started working together.
"Are we safe here?"
He dragged the tails closer and curled a hand over them. “They won't attack right now. It's like they know I can beat them.”
His tone had changed again, and even without looking into his eyes I knew the grey had taken over completely.
"You should rest. I'll wake you if you need to be alert," he said.
With arms wrapped tight across my chest, I sunk lower, struggling to release the tension building at my neck. Despite his presence, I somehow felt alone. Once again reminded of how life with him would never be normal.
Eventually, I closed my eyes but I couldn't let go of the confusion and the thoughts troubling me. And the cats’ movement shocked me back to reality every time I came close to relaxing. Brayden remained in exactly the same position; his expression blank. Almost as though the instinct cut off part of his mind. Normal human thoughts didn’t exist and we’d already discovered the grey made his memory weak. But I guess this baser instinct for survival was better off without emotions.
Chapter Twenty
Brayden woke me to a sky of grey and purple streaks, the sun rising behind rain clouds.
“We should get going,” he said.
“Are they gone?” I cleaned sleep from my eyes.
“No.”
We’d, at least, survived the night. I stood up carefully, sticking my shadow in place as I caught paw prints in the earth. They'd come so close and yet they hadn't attacked. Brayden was right about their intention.