Page 67 of Blood & Claw

Shouting followed, and iron rang against stone. As they fought, the tattoos that covered the warriors’ arms, shoulders, and neck glowed an eerie silver.

Kayla jolted at the sight. Only enforcers could channel earth magic when they fought. And these men weren’t warrior druids. She’d known there was something different about them from the first.

Clod-heads. What were they messing with?

There was no time to dwell on her discovery, for a trow lunged for her.

She dropped low and scrambled back. Kicking out, she caught the imp in the chest, and it recoiled with a snarl.

A blade took its head off an instant later.

Maol moved fast, but they were still surrounded.

Gerrad, who’d been injured during the first onslaught, went down with a cry. A trow clung to his back, sawing at his throat with a jagged stone.

“Get it off!” he screamed before his voice severed in a wet gurgle.

Heart punching against her ribs, Kayla looked away.

One down. Five to go.

The others surged, cutting the trows down one by one. Blood soaked the ground, its iron tang filling the air.

The shrieking faded. Eventually, silence fell, broken only by ragged breathing.

Kayla pushed herself upright, muscles tight and ready for another attack.

Gerrad lay spread-eagled on his back, face frosted by moonlight. His mouth gaped, and his eyes stared up at the sky.

Car ground out a curse.

Maol stood over the body, his face grim in the moonlight. “We’ll wait the rest of the night out here,” he rasped. “And move on at first light.”

No one argued with him.

A frosty dawn crept over the land, chasing away the darkness. The sky blushed pink to the east.

Kayla had never been so relieved to see the sun rise.

Rising stiffly to her feet, she meekly let one of her captors lead her over to her horse.

Around her, the others were all mounting up. Silent and stone-faced. It had been a rough, sleepless night. Their gazes were all shadowed this morning.

Gateway had nearly bested them.

They pushed on, leaving Gerrad’s corpse behind without a second glance. This band was driven by one single-minded purpose. How Kayla wished she knew what it was. They’d told her little, only that they were taking her into The Uplands. But after seeing those tattoos burn silver … she understood a little more.

They wanted her skills; she was sure of it.

Something cold hardened in the pit of her belly at the thought.

Shortly after they set off, the trees drew back, and the ground rose ahead into a low, flat-topped hill.

Kayla’s gaze lingered on it. The hillock was too smooth and round to be natural. Her breathing slowed as she studied it.

A knowe.

They’d made their salt circle beside a trow burrow.