Soulbound Read Online Free Page B

floor was covered with leaves. There weren’t many prickly bushes and weeds, but what were there had found me with ease. It was going to take hours to remove all the woody thorns from my legs. A slight breeze rustled the treetops and several leaves showered down on me. The woods smelled crisp, like fall, even though summer had just begun to fade. It wasn’t entirely unpleasant. But I was tired and, as my stomach insisted on reminding me with its gurgles and grumbles, I hadn’t eaten anything since lunch, almost seven hours ago.
    A sound reached my ears, one that sent a chill through me. Had it been a screech, like the one I’d heard the night that I’d lost my best friend to a monster’s hunger? Or was I imagining things? Exhaustion did funny thingsto a person’s imagination, so I wasn’t at all certain that I could trust my senses. I listened for a moment longer, but when I heard nothing but the usual forest noises, I reached down, gripping the trunk’s handle, and turned to continue my trek up the hill. But then I froze in place, unable to even unleash the scream that was building in my throat. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move, couldn’t even blink, taken over by instant terror.
    All I saw were teeth. Hundreds of large, sharp, glistening teeth—row after row after row of them—attached to an enormous, animalistic mouth. Just inches from my face and terrifyingly familiar.
    “Don’t move. Don’t make a sound any louder than a whisper.” A man’s voice to my left—confident, commanding. I was enormously relieved to hear his voice—at least I wouldn’t die alone. It was easy to follow his instructions, as my muscles had forgotten the basic concept of movement and, at the moment, I wasn’t sure that I had ever possessed the power of speech. Besides, he sounded like he knew what he was talking about—he was giving advice that mirrored my father’s, after all.
    I hoped he did, anyway. For both our sakes.
    I swallowed my screams and was careful not to move, though my body shook against my will. So much for priding myself on bravery. I wondered if Avery had seen the beast’s teeth closing in on her, or if she’d been attacked from behind, ripped away from life without somuch as a warning. She must have been terrified. Keeping my voice a breath on the wind, I said, “I’ve seen one of these before. It’s a—”
    The name escaped me momentarily, largely because a long strand of drool had begun stretching from the creature’s mouth to the forest floor.
    His voice was just as soft, his breathing calm and even. “It’s a Graplar, and only half as dumb as it looks.”
    The beast growled under its breath, as if it couldn’t quite understand what he’d said, but knew it was insulting.
    A Graplar. Of course.
    I inhaled and at once I was hit by the rancid, foul breath of the beast before me. It was all I could do not to gag. I had to close my eyes for a moment to stop seeing those horrible teeth, so I’d stop imagining what it must have been like for Avery in her final moments. A shiver crawled up my spine and I resisted the urge to bolt. Something deep inside of me said that he was absolutely right, and that moving right now would be a huge mistake.
    Opening my eyes again, I hoped against hope that the thing would be gone. But it wasn’t. I squeaked, “Why hasn’t it attacked us?”
    “Graplars thrive on movement. They love the hunt. It’s waiting for us to run.” His voice was stern, but calm, like he’d faced these things a hundred times before. Oddly, there was a modicum of respect for the beast in his tone.
    My heart was beating in a crazy panic, but I willed it to steady, to slow. Freaking out would not help at a time like this. In a hopeful, trembling whisper, I asked, “If we stay still, will it go away?”
    “No. It’ll just kill us slower to punish us for not running.” It was twisted, but I was pretty sure I heard a smile in his statement. Bemusement. Maybe he thought facing hideous