Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 117167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 586(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 586(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
“He’s cursing his father and our luck,” Yichen replied.
“Aren’t there any weapons in this car?” Rei shouted.
“Long black case closest to the door,” Xiang said without an ounce of hesitation.
“What’s going on?” Chen’s sharp voice cut through all the noise Rei was making.
Long, loud baying echoed through the quiet of the night, followed by deep barking. The sound was getting closer, too. Something was coming after them. Something big.
“Are those dandy dogs?” Moon shrieked. The words cracked into jagged shards. “King Zalramon and the underworld promised to stay out of this fight with the fae.”
Rei turned toward the front with a small quiver of arrows and a short bow his fingers were attempting to string. “Not dandy dogs. Those are Black Dogs. They make the dandy dogs look like harmless puppies.”
“Rei—” Yichen began, needing more of a description than that, but Chen’s frantic demands cut through his question.
“What’s going on with the lights? The lights on the car are becoming dimmer. I can barely see the road.”
Rei lunged forward. “A dark mist accompanies the Black Dogs, running ahead of the pack. They lead travelers astray. Once off the road, the dogs slaughter the humans, tearing their bodies apart. You cannot stop. No matter what, keep moving and stay on the road.”
Yichen looked out the window on his left, and the night seemed even thicker and bleaker than it had. The passing lights of homes and buildings had vanished. The front headlamps of the SUV no longer even caught the tiny white and yellow reflectors in the road or on the guardrails. Emptiness had swallowed them whole.
The barking of the Black Dogs grew louder and more frantic as they closed in on their quarry.
Yichen jumped when Rei hit his shoulder.
“Open your window. I’m going out,” Rei instructed.
“What?” Yichen squawked like a disgruntled chicken.
“I’m going out on the roof to shoot them. You got a better idea?”
Yichen’s mouth bobbed open and shut several times while the wheels in his head spun. Nothing was coming to him. Moon couldn’t use magic, and Chen’s entire focus was on driving so he couldn’t shoot ice at the dogs.
“I’m not going on the roof!” Xiang announced. “He’s already done it, and he’s great at it!”
Before he could argue, the window lowered without him pressing the button.
“Someone needs to do something. Our only other option is stopping and facing them head on,” Chen snapped.
The window was still sliding into the door when Rei crawled over Yichen and out the window, leaving Yichen swearing under his breath. The second the elf placed his foot on the door to boost his body, Yichen was diving for the black weapons case.
“Tell me you packed something useful,” he grumbled at Xiang.
“And what would you count as useful against a bunch of fae dogs?” Xiang snapped. “Dog treats? A rubber ball?”
A rubber ball didn’t sound bad, but he doubted they’d go for it. He needed something to throw, since they did not intend to get close enough to fight them with swords. Thankfully, Xiang had packed six silver throwing daggers. It wasn’t much, but combined with Rei’s arrows, this might be enough.
“Be ready to back us up if we have to stop,” Yichen ordered as he lunged for the window.
“Be careful!” Moon’s shout was almost completely lost to the wind that whipped past his head and blew his hair into his face. Great. This was just fantastic. He was climbing onto the top of a moving vehicle with a lunatic while a bunch of dogs chased them. He must be out of his fucking mind.
At least that was what he’d thought until he saw the “dogs.”
Gripping the railing for the luggage rack, Yichen started to pull himself up, but every muscle froze when he glimpsed the creatures chasing them. Their eyes glowed red, while flames flickered within their giant mouths. Thick shadows cloaked them, but he could pick out minor details from the lights coming off the SUV. They appeared to be a mix of Great Dane and German shepherd, but were the size of horses. And right now, Chen was barely staying ahead of them.
“How many are there?” Yichen shouted as he climbed the rest of the way up onto the roof next to Rei. The elf was standing as if the wind and the swaying of the vehicle were nothing to him. He cocked his head to the side for a second.
“Eight.”
“I’ve got only six daggers,” Yichen replied.
“Take out the leader of the pack, and they’ll give up the chase.”
“Which one is the leader?”
“No idea.” The damn elf turned his head to look at Yichen and grinned. “Don’t miss.”
Yes, this was his luck. Six daggers and Rei likely had fewer than a dozen arrows. Even if he hit his target on the first shot, he would need more than one arrow to take a single beast down.