Free Unhidden (The Gatekeeper Chronicles Book 1) by Dina Given Page B

Alex made a move forward, presumably to stay true to his word and help me, but Zane blocked his path. Unworried and uncaring about what happened to the two of them, I focused my attention on the shadows.
    They might not have had brains to speak of, but they weren’t stupid. They came at me together, claws bared. As they approached, I was able to get a closer look at them, although their full features never really came into focus. The most I could make out were glowing yellow eyes in long, gaunt faces, with flowing shadowy cloaks hanging from their skeletal shoulders.
    I had nothing to wield against them other than Zane’s sword. Therefore, as claws slashed at me, I raised the weapon in an attempt to block them. I didn’t expect it to work against these insubstantial beings, but relief washed through me as steel clanged against talons. Their bodies might be shadow, but those claws were solid enough to rend, tear, and sever the life from my body.
    I swung the sword wildly. It arced through the air with no technique and even less control. Thrust, parry, slash . I struggled to think through the right movements, the most solid stance, the best grip. My over-thinking made my movements choppy and uncertain, but I had been holding my own until one of the creatures saw an opening and slashed my left side.
    I cried out as a spike of icy pain speared through me. Zane and Alex both paused in their fight as they heard me. I hadn’t been paying much attention to them until this point and saw they now both held wooden staffs and were sweating and panting. How were they fighting each other with sticks, while I got stuck with the actual deadly nightmares? Not fair at all.
    “Don’t kill her!” Zane reminded the creatures.
    Alex noticed the trouble I was having with the sword and said, “Don’t think. Let your instincts take over.”
    Asshole , I thought. How the hell did wielding a broadsword for the first time ever—and against shadow demons, no less—come as instinct to anyone?
    Ignoring both men, I focused on defending myself and retrieving my gun, which was being kicked around unceremoniously by the two men as they fought each other. Why was nothing ever easy?
    The area right below my ribs where I had been injured was wet with blood and becoming numb from cold. There wasn’t much pain anymore; however, I was losing the use of those muscles to hypothermia, limiting my movements as I tried to wield the large sword with two hands. The bleeding slowed as the area grew colder. Shivers set in, racking my body as my core temperature dropped a few degrees.
    I blocked another slashing attack from the creature on my right and ducked as the claw of the creature on my left passed over my head. I knew they wouldn’t kill me, but Zane had said nothing to stop them from maiming or crippling me. In any case, I had no intention of allowing them to capture me either.
    I went on the offensive, slicing the sword through the air, cutting uselessly at shadows. Landing another blow on the claws of one demon, it let out a piercing shriek, but whether it was in anger or pain, I couldn’t tell. It gave the creature extra motivation that it probably didn’t need, since I was losing anyway. It came at me in a fury before I could recover, slashing my shoulder.
    My left hand fell away from the sword limply as a deep freeze spread down the length of my arm and up into my collarbone. The sword tip clanged on the pavement before I could compensate for the weapon’s added weight in my single hand. Although, let’s face it, if I couldn’t wield the damn sword well with two hands, there was no way I could do it with one.
    With fluid grace, the second shadow demon swept in and sliced ribbons into the back of my right thigh. With a cry, I fell to my knee, my quickly numbing leg no longer able to support my weight.
    ’Using the sword as a crutch, I staggered back to my feet, placing all of my weight on my good leg. The shadow demons held back, knowing