Change of Darkness (The Change Series Book 3) by Jacinta Jade (best new books to read txt) 📕

words out as he reached Siray’s side and was able to take in the full extent of her injuries.

She knew it was harder to see them from a distance, her coat being such a dark colour. But she could feel every rip and tear in her body, and the sharp pain where flesh had been parted to expose the bone.

Only her muscles, her strong and powerful muscles, stopped her from collapsing. That, and a need to finish this. She couldn’t actually say if the stubbornness was coming from her or the sevonix. Maybe both.

But the haze of white fire was receding slowly from her mind, and with its withdrawal, the pain of her wounds intensified. So while her mind was still eager for the hunt, Siray was beginning to realise that her body had been too badly hurt to continue the fight.

It was now three against three, but unless her foes stood still for her, she wasn’t going to be a match for any of them.

Siray was desperately raking her mind for any way they could possibly win this last fight when steps sounded from behind them. Many steps. She whipped her dark head around …

And saw a division of soldiers approaching across the sand, marching in time, all armed.

Siray’s spirit wilted for just an instant before it flared up again, the white fire returning hotter and brighter even than before.

To the death then.

She swivelled her head around to check on the three foes behind them in case they were using the approach of the new soldiers to sneak up, but she was surprised when she saw that, instead, they were actually retreating … quickly. Silently.

Indeed, they were almost at the edge of the arena, and all of them were now in their normal forms. Waiting.

Assured that she, Baindan, and Zale faced a reduced threat from that side, Siray turned her whole body awkwardly around to confront this new division of Faction soldiers, careful to avoid putting weight on her injured leg.

Baindan moved up close on her left, Zale on her right, and together, the three of them faced the approaching mass.

The merest brush against her fur on one side, and Siray knew it was Baindan, assuring her that they would face whatever happened next together. She turned her head to look at him, maybe one of the last times she might do so, and her eyes met his.

They seemed to exchange a conversation in that one instant, a shared understanding of what they were both fighting for. Would have continued to have fought for, if time, destiny, or the Great Mother had granted it.

Siray glanced back at the advancing contingent and gave her most ferocious snarl yet, belying the pain she felt.

Yet she also felt warm, like the fire in her mind might be consuming her, hair by hair, rolling down her body. Her form trying to combat the accumulating effects of the wounds she had received, she guessed.

She would not depart this world easily or lightly, but would fight for her and her friends until her last breath … until the Mother saw fit to take her.

The fire, now definitely in her mind and body, seemed to burn hotter still at these thoughts, and Siray panted a little.

The soldiers halted in one synchronised movement.

Silence.

And her puffing. It seemed loud in the sudden quiet, so it didn’t surprise her to note the turn of Baindan’s head next to her. But when, from the corner of her eyes, she saw him still staring at her, she angled her head as well, wondering what was wrong.

The look on his face arrested her.

Baindan was indeed staring at her—half in wonder, half in shock.

Siray whipped her head around to look the other way, in case she was mistaken and there was a threat approaching from that direction.

All she saw was Zale’s face, and his mouth moving wordlessly as he also gaped at her.

Siray dropped her head quickly and looked at the part of herself she could most easily see.

And realised she was standing on all four legs.

It took her a moment to take this in, but once she had, she raised the previously injured leg to inspect it carefully.

The deep wound she had sustained there was gone, a hot feeling all that remained. And that warm sensation had spread—across her neck and shoulders, along her back, down her sides, and along the length of her supple feline body, all the way through to the tip of her tail.

Siray turned her head carefully to look as far over her shoulder as she could.

Her teeth shone in the light as her jaw dropped open, her shock coming through in a reaction that was purely hers, her feline eyes widening unnaturally. What she could see of her back and sides looked perfect—blood still coated her, yes, but her flesh and fur was no longer bleeding or torn. Even the knife wound in her shoulder was gone, the deep pain a mere memory.

The sounds of wavering steps from the side made Siray’s head snap around, and her eyes quickly found Kovi, several paces away, his head bent over something in his arms as his feet trudged heavily across the sand.

Just lengths away from her, Baindan, and Zale, he collapsed to his knees, and reverently placed something on the ground before him.

Genlie.

***

Siray was running towards the motionless body of her friend before she even realised she had decided to move, and she skidded to a stop, facing Kovi, who still leaned over Genlie and was brushing damp blonde hair away from the female’s forehead.

Siray felt wetness on her face and, reaching up to brush the tears from her eyes, vaguely realised she had Changed to her normal form and was on her knees.

‘Kovi …’ she whispered. ‘Is she …?’ She couldn’t bear to finish the sentence, didn’t want a confirmation.

‘Not yet,’ Kovi said, deadpan. ‘But …’ His voice broke, and he paused, simply finishing with, ‘Blade went too deep.’ His hand brushed Genlie’s face again. ‘She