A desolation didn’t happen.

  I could hear my heart hammering in my ears as Fray pulled both of her hands in between us and pushed on my chest. I let go of her and brushed myself off.

  “Sorry.” I tried to steady my breathing. “I thought that he might desolate, so I tried—”

  “It’s okay.” Fray headed for the door. She paused as she reached for the handle. “Thanks.”

  “Wait!” I looked out the window, but the other plains cats were gone. Once a summoner died, their summons vanished, so I shouldn’t have expected to see them, but I still wanted to check. “There could be more—”

  The giant lizard’s claws screeched against the side of the RV as it stuck its head through the broken window.

  “I can’t fight in here.” Fray threw the door open.

  “Wait!” I raised my gun and fired a single bullet, which arced against the monster but otherwise did nothing. “Stupid elements…” I dropped the clip and caught it with my left hand, then pulled my Ice Shot clip out of my CB and slipped it into the pistol. I dropped the Spark Shot clip on the floor and aimed at the monster.

  RAWR!

  I hit it between the nose, which might have done some damage, but the pink arrow sticking out of its eye did more.

  Aelin walked down the hall wearing her pink gloves that Miel had bought her. The short woman’s triumphant strut put my mind a little more at ease as the giant lizard flopped out of the window.

  “Fray’s outside!” I ran out the open door and jumped into the wet sand. The sticky terrain clung to my bare feet, which reminded me that I hadn’t put on shoes during all of this. I fought the urge to stop in the middle of combat and put on shoes, but it felt like I was moving a lot slower than I should have been.

  The lizard was on its feet by the time I got around the front of the RV. Fray was dancing with it, waiting for it to lunge at her to jump back, then dashing forward with a counterattack that was drawing a line of red in the creature’s side.

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  I aimed for its head and began unloading my clip into its face. The creature staggered and turned to the left, exposing its blind eye to us.

  Aelin fired another arrow into the creature’s side from the broken window of the RV. I swapped out my empty clip for an Acid Shot one and unloaded that into the creature’s head as well.

  It tried to turn to hiss at us, but the moment it opened its mouth, Fray shot forward and plunged her sword into its mouth, then backed up.

  The massive lizard wobbled, then fell over on its left side.

  “Is it dead?” Aelin yelled from the driver’s seat.

  “I think—”

  An arrow zipped in front of me and lodged itself in the monster’s side.

  “REALLY?” I glared at the blonde. “Did you have to shoot it again?”

  “I thought it moved.” Aelin grinned as she whispered the word of her spell under her breath and drew another pink arrow.

  “These things aren’t like normal monsters. They don’t disappear in a puff of smoke and leave behind a crystal.” I shuffled over to the creature and pushed on its side with my bare foot. The scales were cold and while it was firm, there was also a mushiness as I pushed on it. I looked over at Fray, who was standing just behind me with her sword ready. “I think it’s dead.

  CAW!

  “And that’s our cue…” I looked up at the sky. It was still too dark to see anything, but the flutter of wings told me that we were about to see those vultures now that we didn’t need them.

  “Get in the RV!” I motioned at Fray, then looked at the driver. “Aelin! We’ve got to get out of here!”

  “On it!” The brown woman laid her bow down next to her and hit the button to start the vehicle.

  The RV roared to life, but when she hit the accelerator, muddy sand sprayed down the side of the RV.

  “Atlas…” Fray moved beside me. “They’re getting closer!”

  “I know!” I went through the list of items that I had. I could freeze the water around the sand, but I doubted the tires would be able to work any better on ice and there was a good chance that I would freeze the water to the tires, which wouldn’t help us out at all.

  “I’ve got this.”

  I looked over at the passenger’s side, where Ether was standing in the oversized t-shirt she’d slept in. She pulled her shield out of her CB and shoved the round sheet of metal under the tire on her side. My wife banged on the side of the RV. “GO!”

  This time when Aelin floored it, the RV lurched forward. Once the vehicle was past us, Ether collected her shield, her red eyes scanning the three bodies behind me. “What did I miss?”

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