Page 24 of The Ember and the Emerald

Gerald turned pensive.

The same shadow I’d seen in the farmhouse bathroom entered the hut, sucking up all the oxygen. Despite the fire, a wave of cold swept over me. My knees quaked. Be my imagination. Just be my imagination.

A slow grin spread over Gerald’s face. Did he not see the shadow? “A he-beast to pit against the beast-beast. Excellent.” He rubbed his hands together. “Prepare the arena. Have the women cook whatever morsels you managed to scavenge. Tonight we celebrate the death of our next meal and the arrival of our oracle. She’ll see what others can’t. Hidden burrows. Migrating herds. Caches left behind. She’ll show us where to find vast resources of food for months. Years!”

The drivers released me, dropped the pack and strode from the hut, passing through the shadow with a shudder. They might not see it, but they definitely felt it.

Not just my imagination. I gulped.

“You go and clean up, Thomas. We’ll finish your studies later.” Gerald motioned for the boy to stand. “As my son, you’ll host the festivities and teach the people to love you.”

Thomas. The name echoed inside my head, a hammer against rock. “Does anyone call you Tommy?” I rasped. If he was who I thought he was—or would grow to be—he would one day butcher humans limb by limb and feed them to his people.

I’d tangled with Tommy. Jasher had killed him.

“Only my friends.” The boy rushed off, passing through the shadow and shuddering as well.

Mind spinning. I had time-traveled again. I was in a trapper village. The same trapper village. Only, they hadn’t descended into cannibalism. Not yet.

A bitter laugh bubbled from me. Words followed, spilling out, unstoppable. “You’ll be thrilled to know your people do, in fact, grow to love Tommy. Especially when he brings in bounties of fresh meat.” Humans, young and old.

Perhaps Elowen’s memory serum was also a truth serum.

Gerald closed the distance. He was a little taller than me and as gaunt as his followers. Excitement danced in his dark eyes. “Fresh meat is exactly what we seek.”

The monstrous shadow moved too, coming closer. Tension stole through me.

Gerald clasped my arms and peered down at me. Earnest. Eager.

The shadow whooshed over to rest hands tipped with smoky claws on his shoulders.

Don’t stare, don’t stare.

Gerald must have sensed the intruder at last; his pupils blew wide, as if death itself had whispered directly into his skull. He released me in a hurry.

The shadow removed its hands, too, and I breathed easier.

My companion relaxed enough to say, “Your queen says you bite. Is that true?”

Ignore the shadow. Ignore, ignore, ignore. I didn’t want it to know that I saw it. “I bite, yes. But only when threatened. And she isn’t my queen.” Deep breath. “You mentioned my…friend.” I wouldn’t call him a pet. “He’s not a monstra, not really. He’s a man. If I’m to find you a vast supply of food, he must be kept safe. And at my side.”

Best course of action: Play along. I had what Gerald wanted. Well, I didn’t have what he wanted, but he thought I did, and that was what mattered. Although, yes, I did wish I had the ability to help him save this village from its terrible fate.

His features hardened. “His safety is up to him. We need him to slay a beast we captured weeks ago. It fell from the sky like a gift from above and injured its wings. We’ve contained it, but we’ve been unable to kill it.” He closed his eyes and licked dry lips. “We tried to cook it alive, but its scales protected it. When your friend kills it, we can skin it. Unless you can provide us with a different feast of meat tonight?”

My shoulders drooped.

“The battle takes place in a matter of hours, then,” he said.

My stomach churned. “And if I refuse to use my…oracle abilities if you pit Jasher against your beast?”

He regarded me through slit lids, and in that moment, I glimpsed the ruthlessness inside him, carved out by hunger’s cruelty.

The shadow shifted again, gliding behind me. To shield? To hurt? My back went ramrod straight. I sensed its nearness. A cold, stalking presence, hovering nearby without actually touching.

A lump grew in my throat. Was it Jasher? Ian? Another monstra? A new type of creature?

Gerald finally shrugged. “You are valuable to me, Oracle, but in this, you have no sway. Either your beast kills mine or he dies trying like so many others, and we’ll eat him instead. Either way, you’ll do what I ask of you.”