Dying Wish: A Novel of the Sentinel Wars by Shannon K. Butcher Page B

was a huge black spot on her credit. What if she couldn’t even find a place to live? And if she did find a home, how was she going to protect herself from monsters every time she got a paper cut?
    A faint sound made her lift her head. She looked at Iain, but he was motionless except for the slow expansion of his ribs as he breathed.
    She heard it again—a soft scratching sound. Coming from outside.
    Fear made her freeze in place. The last time she’d left Dabyr, she’d been attacked by clawed monsters who’d tried to scratch through a car to get to her. If it hadn’t been for a magical barrier Andra had erected to keep them out, she would have died that night.
    The sound came again, louder this time. “Iain,” she said, but it came out as little more than a shaky whisper of sound.
    She heard another noise. A thump against the glass, only a foot from her elbow.
    Jackie yelped and jumped from her chair, scrambling away from the glass. “Iain.” His name was louder this time and filled with the same panic skittering around in her chest.
    From the corner of her eye, she saw him turn his head. Then there was a flash of motion—a blur of skin and steel—as he leaped toward her.
    She continued to back up as he placed himself between her and the danger.
    “It’s just a bird or something,” she said, trying to convince herself.
    “Let’s find out.” He jerked back the curtains and right there, not ten feet away, were two glowing green eyes set in the head of a monster.
    It stood on two legs, nearly as tall as Iain. Its body was fish-belly pale, covered in random patches of black fur. Pointed teeth filled its mouth, and fluorescent yellow saliva wet the front of its body. The thing was heavily muscled, its jaw sloping down to its thick shoulders, totally forgoing the need for a neck. Each finger was tipped with a black claw at least two inches long, and it used them to scrape at the glass.
    Its eyes—disturbingly human—landed on her, and a sickly green light flared within them, as if it recognized her.
    “That’s no bird,” said Iain. “We need to get you out of here.”
    Fear had a tight hold on her. She’d been fighting it ever since her rescue, but her system seemed to go back to that terrified state so easily, locking up her body so that she couldn’t act.
    “Now, Jackie!” bellowed Iain. “Move!”
    His command cut through her fear, and she scrambled toward the door, grabbing her purse and suitcase handle.
    “Leave it. There’s nothing in there worth your life.”
    She let go of the suitcase, but her purse was already strapped to her body. Besides, that’s where she carried her gun, and she wasn’t about to leave her only weapon behind.
    He drew the curtains shut and raced across the room, grabbing a leather jacket from the top of his bag. She was already at the door, fumbling with the locks, failing to open them.
    “Move your hands. I can’t risk touching them right now.”
    Right. The pain could incapacitate him, leaving her to defend herself.
    What a laughable thought that was.
    She did as he asked, moving out of the way so he could open the door. A moment later, he peeked out into the hall. “It’s clear. We’re going to run to the exit at the end of the hall, okay? Head straight for my truck. Don’t look back.” He pulled the keys from his jeans pocket and dangled them. “If anything happens to me, leave without me. Don’t stop driving until you’re back at Dabyr.”
    “Nothing’s going to happen to you,” she said, as much for her own benefit as his.
    “Take the keys. Put this jacket on. It will protect you.”
    “You take it. You’re the one who has to stay alive to fight.”
    “Do what I say, and we’ll both be fine. I saw only one of them. It’s probably just a scout. I won’t even break a sweat taking it out.”
    Jackie took the keys and the jacket, being careful not to touch his skin.
    He gave her a satisfied nod. “Stay close.”
    He didn’t need to tell her