This was not a strategic run. It wasn't something that came out of tactics or training or any of the combat fundamentals I'd read about. This was a pure, unhinged flight response — my body screaming at my brain that if I didn't move faster, I was going to die.
And the fact that Kassie had suggested it made me wonder for a split second if there was ever a time in her life when she'd had to run like this. When she'd known, bone-deep, that standing and fighting meant death.
I couldn't picture it. I just couldn't see it.
I ran deeper into the cave, because that was the only direction available. The beast's footsteps thundered behind me, each impact shaking loose dust from the ceiling, gaining ground with every stride. I could hear its breathing — wet, rasping, furious. The sound of something that wasn't going to stop until it had me.
A tentacle lashed past my head, close enough that I felt the displaced air whip across my cheek.
