Page 55 of Revealing Fate

Santhe stepped up beside him, equally transfixed by the scene below. Kal glanced at the timekeeper. Barely a fraction of the sand filled the bottom glass. Too slow.

The grim reached the first boulder. Kitty hid behind the second. She edged toward the far side just as the grimalkin slunk around. The colossal cat couldn’t see her, but it knew she was close. From that distance, it could likely hear the blood gushing through her major vessels. It paused, head raised, listening, scenting. Its round eyes glowed even in the daylight.

“Why hasn’t she shifted?” Santhe asked.

Why indeed.

The grimalkin pivoted and leapt onto the closest boulder. Kitty craned her neck, attempting to peek around. The edge of her axe scraped gently against the stone. Fool! She snatched it away, but not before the soft screech of metal reached the cat’s keen ears. Kitty’s eyes squeezed shut, her face twisting with despair.

Santhe gasped and looked at him. Kal couldn’t meet her gaze. He knew her expression mirrored his own. Knew they reached the same conclusion.

Kitty was no Asterosian spy.

“Move,” Kal urged under his breath. “Fucking move.”

The grim moved first. It sprang forward onto the largest boulder, Kitty still trying to look around.

Up, you idiot woman. Look up!

The grimalkin lowered itself, shoulders churning, tail twitching, prey in its sights. Kal went rigid. Finally, Kitty glanced up, a cry escaping her lips. The grimalkin pounced.

Kitty stumbled back, axe swinging out awkwardly. A heavy paw collided with Kitty’s chest as her blade buried itself into smoky fur. A woman’s pained cry rent the air, skewering a fragment of Kal’s soul. The sound mingled with the great cat’s yowl.

Kitty fell under the feline but did not let go of her axe. Another monstrous paw swipe missed her by a fraction. The grim danced to the side, wrenching Kitty forward with the movement. The axe came free from where it had lodged in the animal’s shoulder joint. Kitty scrambled to her feet, red staining the dirt. She wheeled and ran, dust kicking up in a furious cloud behind her.

Kitty reached the fallen tree and dove into the knot of branches. The limbs tore at her clothes, ripping her shirt and pulling her hair. The grimalkin snarled, swiping right behind her. Kitty pulled herself deeper into the tangle of leaves just before the creature’s claws found her flesh. The grim roared again, reaching into the hollow. Kitty roared back at it, and Kal caught a flash of steel. The beast retreated, paw bloodied, and Kal drew a breath.

Half the sand rested at the bottom of the hourglass. Five minutes, Kitty girl. Just five more minutes.

The grimalkin renewed its attempt to extract Kitty from her thorny haven. It clamped powerful jaws onto trembling branches. Wood snapped. Deadly claws pulled at the thicker limbs. Leaves shook. Kitty swiped Daybreak again, and the grim dodged. The beast tore a hole in the tangle and shoved its gaping maw through.

Its jaws came away bloody, something fleshy clamped between its teeth.

Santhe gasped and gripped Kal’s sleeve. Kal squinted, heart lodged in his throat. Something pale and skinny hung from the grim’s jaw. A finger? Had it taken her hand? Fucking gods…

Behind the creature, Kitty wrenched herself free from the tree. One hand gripped her axe. The other…pressed to her collarbone. Intact.

“It’s a rat,” Santhe exclaimed. “She fed it a dead rat.”

Kal’s eyes shot back to Kitty, who had retreated to his side of the arena. She turned her back to him and faced the distracted beast.

Kitty stood close enough that the scent of her blood hit Kal’s senses like a bad drug. The tang of her fear pierced the cloying stench of shurii emotion that floated on the air like a decaying fog, eating away at his self-control.

She was hurt. Bleeding.

Kal’s grip tightened on the rail. A tremor worked its way up both arms. The iron railing crunched.

“Kal?” Santhe’s worried voice wavered next to him.

Breath sawed in and out of his lungs. The grim snarled in the pit, its appetizer consumed. It refocused on the main course. Kitty stood there, back to him, trembling.

Santhe’s attention drifted back to the ring. “Gods above,” she breathed. “She’s not going to shift, is she?”

Kal was wound too tightly to reply.

His eyes stalked the grim.

The grim stalked Kitty.