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“Yeah, you did! That’s my witch,” I say, opening my arms just as he slams into me. I breathe deep, inhaling his citrusy scent, exhaling hard enough to ruffle his hair.

He did it. Now…now I can take him on a date without worrying about what will happen. I can take him on a walk. A road trip. Fuck, I’m going to take him on a weekend away out of state. I’m going to wine and dine the shit out of this⁠—

“Bellamy?” A familiar soft, feminine voice calls from behind us.

Bellamy breaks from my hold, and we both turn toward the woman in the faded blue gown. Her auburn hair tumbles over her shoulder, brighter than it was in my dream, tidy and clean. Her dress doesn’t even have a wrinkle in it. Her bare hands reach toward him.

“Delph?!” Bellamy’s voice cracks with emotion as he runs toward the woman. He’s delirious with happiness, feet splashing in the puddles on the concrete.

The memory of my most recent dream slams into me with force: the same woman, roughed up and distressed. Lace gloves. She was wearing lace gloves, but this imitation has bare arms.

“Bels…” I call, but it’s too late. The illusion is already fracturing, Not-Delphine’s skin sloughing off. Dripping, crumbling, her hair falling to the ground in wisps.

Bellamy skids to a halt, nearly tripping over his own feet.

Before I can move, something slams into me from the side. My hip smashes into the uneven concrete, pain barking down my leg. Smoke dissipates, my assailant vanishing before I can get a good look at them.

Bellamy yells, and I turn my head toward the sound. Dread washes over me.

The creature pursuing him is unlike anything I’ve ever seen, a grotesque vulpine thing with several sets of glowing eyes. There’s a fan of fur around its neck, a mane of wiry hair that looks coarse and horrible. The saliva that drips from its maw has a faint bioluminescent glow, fizzing and hissing when it hits the ground.

The snapping of its jaw spurs me into action, and I grab the only thing I can get my hands on.

A human femur.

I slam it into the wall, shattering the end of it, leaving a jagged edge of bone. It’s brittle, but at least it’s something. Bellamy’s quick on his feet, dodging the creature as it clacks its teeth together again, making a high-pitched keening sound. Bellamy flicks his wrist, sending a plume of dust from the floor into the creature’s eyes.

Clever boy.

I take my opportunity, dipping my shoulder and burrowing it into the creature’s flank. Its musculature is much more solid than it looks, the collision knocking the wind out of my lungs. One of its claws catches my shin, but I clamp my teeth through the pain, blindly lashing out with the shard of bone. It connects, a low whine coming from the hound-like thing when its skin breaks.

Hot, black liquid spills from it, coating my hand. It takes a second before it starts burning.

“Fuck!” I hiss, jerking away and scrambling back up to my feet. I swear I can feel the surface of my skin blistering by the second, breaking apart under the layer of ichor coating it. I stupidly wipe it on my pants, only for it to start eating through the fabric and tunneling slowly into my flesh.

“Get away from it!” Bellamy screams from behind me, and I blindly step back toward him, his waiting hands twisting into the fabric of my shirt. He tries to push me out of the way, to get in front of me, to protect me. The creature is back up now, fur raised and jagged, eyes glowing with rage. Haunches loaded, ready to spring.

Over my dead fucking body.

Bellamy isn’t expecting me to run. My shirt slips through the hold of his trembling fingers as I take off at speed. Even though my body feels weak, I give it everything I’ve got, the quad muscles in my thighs burning. Pungent, hideous breath hits my face a second before I drop to the ground, sliding between the creature’s legs.

It’s a risk, but I take it. I shove my face into my arm, lifting the other in a high arc as I slide on the damp ground. More splatters of burning liquid singe my clothing as the belly of the beast splits on the jagged edge of bone I drag through its skin, momentum carrying me forward as I part viscera.

For a moment, I think I’ve done something great. That I’ve saved us, just as Bellamy saved me.

Doesn’t work out like that, though.

A gnarled, clawed foot punches into the flesh of my thigh. Something snaps, fire licking up my leg, working its way out of my throat as I bellow in pain. My vision goes white as the pain shreds through my nerves, weakly kicking out with my other leg to try to get it off me. Claws sink deeper, puncturing the muscle.

I can’t pass out.

I won’t. I can’t fucking leave him to deal with this on his own.

I force my eyes open, force my lungs to work, force the bile back down my throat as I try to roll myself underneath the dripping rib cage. A tide of energy ripples through the room, then the claws retract, leaving a fresh wave of piercing pain in their wake. Somehow, I manage to roll onto my belly and push myself shakily to my knees, my leg screaming in agony.

My hair hangs damply in my eyes, but I can still see Bellamy with his hands raised in the air, baring his teeth like a rabid animal. He flings both hands suddenly to the side, and I feel it. I feel his magic wrench that vile creature, just as its body cracks into the wall with a sickening thud. A second thud comes when it hits the floor, head lolling to one side.

That should be the end of it.