Free Luathara - Book Three of the Otherworld Trilogy by Jenna Elizabeth Johnson

hiding in the false safety of their tents.
    I didn’t have much longer to think about whether or not the C u thra could actually be heard, because in the next second Cade lunged at it.  I almost screamed as I ducked my head.  What was he thinking?  That monster’s reach was far greater than his and it was obviously much stronger.  When the C u thra bellowed again, I risked a peek.  Cade was back to where he had started, his chest heaving, his sword, dripping in near-black blood, held to the side.  He had managed to cut the faelah, but now it looked angrier than ever.
    Cade hesitated, and as I squinted in the pale moonlight, it looked like his eyes were closed and he was trying very hard to concentrate.  The C u thra moved forward slowly, back on all fours, twitching its tail like a lion about to pounce.  I wanted to shout out a warning, but then I realized what was happening.  Cade began to grow larger, his hair gathering in spikes.  His arms seemed to dislocate and his eyes grew wild.  The riastrad .  When he was done with his transformation, he was a full two feet taller than usual and more closely resembled the C u thra than the young man I loved.
    The sword he carried looked like a dagger in his hand, but as his battle fury took full control of him, Cade made quick work of the C u thra.  It wasn’t an easy fight, not in the least, but I could tell by Cade’s quick movements and the monster’s flagging strength that soon the problem would be gone and we could return to the tent.
    As I watched the fight from afar, I spotted a few more of those little faelah I’d shot before the C u thra arrived.  A pack of them, like rats smelling blood, waited on the outskirts of the ensuing struggle .  Feeling a rush of adrenaline, I aimed my arrow and shot.  The first creature squealed and fell to the ground, twitching.  I readied another arrow and took aim at another one.  Twelve arrows later, they were all dead.  I wondered at their intelligence, since none of them fled after witnessing their comrades fall.  Perhaps they were too focused on the smell of blood to car e.
    “Well done Meghan.”
    I jumped.  I had been so fixated on killing the faelah I hadn’t noticed that Cade had finally killed the C u thra and morphed back into his more human-looking self.  I grinned sheepishly and glanced up at him.  He looked tired and bedraggled in the torn remnants of his clothes, but not nearly as exhausted as he had the day he fought the mutated C u morrig.
    He must have seen something cross my face because he asked, “What’s wrong?”
    “Oh,” I flapped a hand, “nothing.  I just thought you would look more, uh, worn out after your riastrad .”
    He grinned, that grin that made my bones melt.
    “Normally it takes a lot more out of me.  But a C u thra, in the mortal world, isn’t that tough to defeat.”
    I blinked up at him.  He thought that had been easy?  Of course, I shouldn’t be that surprised.  After all, he had managed to take on ten of the Morrigan's giant hounds at once.
    We headed back to our tent, staying alert in case any more faelah showed up.  It was when we were returning our weapons to Cade’s car that the glare of a flashlight fell on us.
    “Meghan, what the hell?!”
    I froze.  Robyn.  Of course.
    “Is that, is that a sword?!  Crap, I thought you guys were just going out for a make out session or something .”
    She gasped.  “Is that blood?!  What happened to Cade's clothes?  What have you two been doing?”
    I sighed and started to turn around.   Maybe I could make up some excuse . . . But when I noticed Tully, Will and Thomas standing behind her, all three of them with looks of horror on their faces, I knew there was going to be no easy way out of this.
    “What’s that smell?” Tully asked, crinkling her nose.
    Oh no.
    “Hey, what’s that over by the dumpster?”
    Will adjusted his glasses and picked up a lantern, Thomas close behind.  Robyn cursed and started