As soon as Brodin gave the order, they lifted off.
Brodin watched Accalia disappear behind them. They sailed over the trees and the glint of the lake shone in the distance.
He dragged in a deep breath.
Candela would not get her poisonous hands on Poppy. He’d do whatever he had to do to keep her safe.
Soon, the flyer slowed and moved into a hover.
“We’re at the drop off point for the First Claw,” the pilot called out.
Brodin opened the side door. Annora and Thadd stepped up beside him.
“Good hunting,” Brodin said.
“See you soon.” Without warning, Annora leaped out of the flyer. It was a long drop, but nothing a Damari couldn’t handle.
She plummeted down to the small clearing below.
With a nod, Thadd leaped out after her. Brodin felt a pulse of energy fill the air, as the Zhalton used energy to slow his fall.
He landed beside Annora in a crouch.
As the flyer wheeled away, Brodin prayed that the pair tracked down Candela’s base.
Their small group jogged through the forest. It had rained recently, and the ground was wet and muddy. Poppy leaped over a puddle.
Around her, the cleavers melted into the trees. She couldn’t sense them any longer, but Brodin stayed with her.
“Tolf is going to set off some flares,” he said. “Let Candela know we’re here.”
She nodded, fighting her nerves. She hoped that Thadd and Annora were okay.
“You don’t have to do this,” Brodin said.
She met his gaze and saw the sheen of gold roll over the blue. “Yes, I do.”
He released a ragged breath. Suddenly, there was a sharp whistle and they both looked up. She saw something shoot into the sky.
A flare erupted in sparks of red. Then another one.
“Come on.” Brodin pushed the bushes aside.
They heard shouts in the distance. They both froze. Brodin cocked his head, listening.
“What’s going on?” she whispered.
“I’m not sure.”
They kept moving. They reached a huge tree, with a massive trunk that was enormous. Monkey-like creatures sat in the branches, with huge eyes that made them look cute. The branches spread out wide, and long narrow leaves dripped downward.
Suddenly, the monkeys froze, then disappeared, moving higher up in the tree.
Poppy’s heart thumped. They were scared of something. A long howl made the hairs on the back of her neck rise.
Then, a pained scream cut through the trees.
Brodin tensed. “Someone’s hurt.” He broke into a run.
Poppy followed. Soon, she was sweating and breathing hard. Ahead, she heard the sound of fighting.
An astringent scent made her wrinkle her nose. It smelled like strong chemicals.
They burst out of the trees.
She noted the lake in the background, just as a large, cat-like creature bounded across the clearing and pounced on a cleaver. It took the woman to the ground.
More of the beasts appeared. They looked like large jaguars. Most of them were brown, with darker, mottled patches. They had large heads with huge jaws, and a long tail tipped with spikes.
Oh. God.
All around, the cleavers—some in wolf form, some part shifted—were fighting the cats.
“Poppy, stay hidden,” Brodin growled.
“I will. Go.”
He met her gaze for a searing second, then he pulled his huge axe from over his shoulder.
With a roar, he charged into the fight.
His deadly axe sliced through the air, cutting into a cat clawing at one of his cleavers. Black blood sprayed. The cleaver rolled, and Brodin pulled her up.
Another cleaver used a short sword, hacking into one of the cats. Poppy watched as the animal twisted and hissed. It swiped at the cleaver with massive claws.
That claw looked familiar. She sucked in a breath. This was the creature that had menaced her and those two teens in the forest.
Nearby, another wolf and cat were locked in combat. Then, a low snarl behind her made her freeze.
Oh, shit.
She gripped her dagger, and pulled it slowly from the sheath on her thigh. She turned her head.
A huge, black cat was slinking out of the shadows under the trees. Its fur was mottled.
Oh, hell, it was massive.
Poppy swallowed. Its head was level with her chest and it had a powerful body, but it reeked of decay. Several metallic implants were dotted along its body, and each paw was tipped with ridiculously long claws.
Nice kitty. Poppy backed up slowly.
She saw its muscles tense, readying to jump.
She sucked in a breath. The beast leaped, and she dropped to the ground and crawled under it.
Jumping up, she ran for the nearest tree. Her claws slid out, and she leaped at the trunk, her claws digging into the bark. She climbed.
The Zhylaw cat jumped after her. She felt claws snag on her boot. Poppy kicked the cat in the face, and it dropped to the ground with a snarl.
Rising, she walked along a thick branch. All around, the fight raged. She watched one cleaver dump a cat in the lake. Brodin’s lethal axe was hacking into others.
An enraged hiss made her look down…
Just as the cat hunting her leaped up at her branch.
Heart in her throat, she dodged the claws and kicked it.
The tips of two claws slashed her cheek, her skin stinging hotly.
The cat leaped back down to the ground, but Poppy lost her balance.
She teetered on the branch.
Shit, shit, shit.
She threw her arms out, but not even her new Damari strength and agility could help her. She fell backward.
Poppy had no time to think. She hit the ground on her back, the wind knocked out of her. Her bones rattled.
She groaned, trying to pull in air.
Move, Poppy, move.
She pushed to her feet, her body one massive ache. She spotted the cat stalking toward her, its green eyes glowing.
Another one joined it.
Shit.
Poppy turned, scrambled up, and ran.
She crashed through the trees, pushing for more speed. She dodged around a thick trunk and straight through some low bushes. Thorns pulled and scratched at her leather armor.
A cat leaped in from her right, and she swiveled and ran between two larger trees.
The second beast snarled from the left, and she dodged it. For some reason, they weren’t attacking her.
She leaped over a rotting stump covered with moss.
That’s when it hit her. They were herding her.
She couldn’t hear sounds of fighting anymore, dammit.
Suddenly, a person stepped into Poppy’s path.
She skidded to a halt.
Candela smiled, her creepy, black-and-red hair waving around her thin face like a breeze was blowing.
Except there was no breeze.
“Hello, there.” The warlord held up her claw-tipped gloves. “I’ve been looking for you.”
Poppy backed up a step, but a cat hissed, freezing her in her tracks. Both animals were behind her.
“You seem to have the power to derail all my carefully laid plans,” Candela said.
Poppy lifted her chin. “Good. You’re scum. You have talents, but you use them for evil. To hurt and torture.”
Candela rolled her eyes. “Who says everything has to be good? I like to kill. I’m good at it, and Zavir appreciates my skill. I don’t need your self-righteous ramblings about doing good for everyone.”
Clearly, the bitch was rotten to the core.