Chapter 344

• The creature Marinella rode was ancient, its presence exuding a stench that blended the rot of a mass grave with the stale mustiness of an attic long forgotten. One glance at the beast was enough to make my stomach churn, every instinct screaming for me to flee.
• Its sleek body glistened under the sunlight, its short fur shimmering like liquid darkness. A jagged maw jutted out from its head, lined with twin rows of razor-sharp teeth, each one poised to tear flesh. Its whip-like tongue, unnervingly thin and impossibly long, lashed out at anything in its path—Fae and werewolf alike, friend or foe.
• Marinella's form retained the delicate beauty of her Fae heritage—slim, ethereal, with high cheekbones and striking midnight eyes. But her skin betrayed her. Cracks webbed across her face and arms, some fine and subtle, others gaping and grotesque, revealing the festering decay beneath. The left side of her forehead and one eye had peeled away entirely, exposing a mottled black underlayer. One eye still held the midnight hue of the skies, but the other was an empty abyss, devoid of white or pupil. Both were locked on me.