“Yes…that’s what it is.” Jude licked his lip as though tasting the magic again. “Some kind of sleeping spell.”
“I’m not kissing a princess.”
Jude smiled. “The spell is broken, so you’re safe from unwanted kisses.”
“If the spell is broken, what was put to sleep?” The creature was his first guess, but Mack hoped he was wrong.
“Let’s find out.” Jude walked on, stepping over broken tracks and rocks and rubbish in his fancy boots.
Mack followed because he had to keep Jude alive. He was not going to pine away and die because of a stupid bond he’d never wanted in the first place. They reached the fork in the tunnel.
“Left becomes a shaft in about ten yards.” A kid a few years older than him had fallen down it and died. His body had been retrieved, but his ghost hadn’t hung around as a warning to others, despite what the rumors had claimed.
“And the right side?”
“I don’t know. This is as far as I came. I only did it to win the dare and the six-pack of beer.” He’d gotten drunk and in so much trouble.
Jude walked a few paces down each leg then came back to him. “I think it’s down the shaft.”
“Then we should come back another time with ropes and gear.” Climbing down the shaft was a fool’s errand. “You know what the magic is, is that not enough?”
His gut tightened. If someone had put something to sleep down here, it was with very good reason. That it was now awake and killing was an excellent reason not to be here. A whiff of something rotten caught his nostrils. “Jude…”
Animals often lived in old mines, and while there were small rodents in here, whatever was scrabbling around in the dark was not mouse-sized. He grabbed Jude’s shirt and hauled him back a few yards.
“What are you doing?”
“Can’t you hear it getting closer? Can’t you smell it?”
Jude stared at him like he was a mad man. Mack didn’t release him, he kept walking, dragging Jude with him. Jude didn’t struggle, but he didn’t hurry either. The need to flee rushed through Mack’s body. The end of the tunnel came into view and was too far away in his opinion.
“I think something died in here.” Jude coughed and raised his hand to his nose. It had taken him this long to smell the sweetish scent of decomposing meat.
“Yeah, us if we don’t get out.” He gripped Jude around the biceps and ran.
Jude stumbled and struggled to keep up.
The scrabbling got louder, then stopped.
“Shit. It’s just a dog.” Jude gave a nervous laugh.
Jude’s light illuminated the black animal. It looked like a dog. But it grew bigger with each pace. Not bigger as in closer, but bigger and less dog-like.
He blinked to be sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks. They unfortunately weren’t. “That’s not a dog.”
“Aufhocker,” Jude breathed the word as though too afraid to swear out loud.
Mack didn’t give Jude time recover. Getting out was their only hope, and even then getting to the car would be dicey. “How about a little magic, witch?”
“I can’t do anything while you’re pulling me along.”
“Run then.”
“It’s only walking.”
“All the more reason for us to run.” He hoped there wasn’t a second one waiting outside.
Jude tripped as his boot caught on something but picked up speed. When they reached the entrance, Mack stopped and sniffed.
Jude put his back to Mack’s as though it was the most natural thing to do. “Um…it’s still walking toward us. Shall we run for the car?”
The scent of carrion filled his nostrils and clogged the back of his throat, making it hard to tell if there was another one or not. The car was ten yards away, and as tempting as it was to make a run for it, Mack wasn’t stupid. He camped and had seen real bears while he was shifted and as a human. Wild animals were to be treated with caution.
And the thing with even more caution because he didn’t know what it was, only that it wasn’t a natural animal. It was a creature out of myth and nightmare. It had been put to sleep, and now it was awake and hungry.
The overhang of the mine prevented him from seeing if there was another waiting above. He wouldn’t know until he stepped out and got pounced on. They needed a distraction. A way of keeping the beast busy.
“Can you make a rockfall? Trap it in the mine?”
“I’m not an earth witch.”
“I know that, but you can still do shit.” Couldn’t he? What was the point of having magic if it couldn’t save lives? Their lives?
“I don’t want to kill us accidentally.”
“Well, that thing will kill us deliberately, so I’m happy to take my chances.” He didn’t want to end up gutted like the cow. Mack glanced over his shoulder. The not-a-dog was still gaining as though in no hurry, and it was deadly silent. No growling or snarling, just a sentient shadow. How had he ever thought the creature resembled a dog? It was the wrong shape. Too big in the shoulders and too wide in the head.
“Any time now would be good. If it gets any closer, we will get trapped in the rockfall.” Mack inched toward the opening, trying to get a better scent from the outside, but his nose was so clogged with the scent of death that he wanted to scrub the inside of his face with bleach.
“I’m thinking,” Jude muttered.
Static made the hair on Mack’s arms and the back of his neck prick to attention. He smelled the storm a second before it struck. The shock went through him liked he’d stuck his finger in a socket. His heart contracted, and his breath escaped. He stumbled forward, his legs like a newborn foal’s.
Jude steadied him, then the world tumbled down around them.
Chapter Eight
Jude coughed on the dust his
