Power (Soul Savers) (44 page)

Not caring how inappropriate it
was, she hitched the bottom of her peplos to her thighs, freeing her legs. She
dug her feet into the ground and sprang forward as hard as she could. She knew
she ran faster than most people—speed was one of her family’s unusual
abilities—but she couldn’t outrun these … these undead men.

A hand brushed against her
shoulder and she screamed. She cut sharply to her right and tore through the
woods, forgetting her earlier fear of the beasts that roamed within. She had
worse worries now. She thought. Something crashed through the trees to her
right. She glanced over to see yellow eyes and a mouth of sharp teeth bounding
through the woods next to her, keeping her pace. It suddenly veered left,
cutting her off.

She skidded to a halt, dirt and
leaves spraying in the air. A wolf taller than her stood in her path, its
hackles raised and its lips pulled back from teeth longer than her index
finger. Its yellow eyes burned into her with a wild hunger and a line of drool
hung from its fang. The two men … creatures … whatever they were … slowed their
steps behind her, whether because they feared the wolf or thought they had her
trapped, she didn’t know.

The animal growled. The men
hissed. Cassandra spun to her left and took off running again. She broke
through the edge of the woods into a clearing near home, jaws snapping right
behind her. The sky had lightened considerably with the coming dawn but,
looking over her shoulder at the three beasts chasing her, she didn’t see the
looming figure in front of her. She grunted with the collision, the body hard
and unmoving as she slammed into it.

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