Chapter 59

ACHILLES. The strangeness of it almost offsets everything else. Almost. I find myself watching as it approaches, a big beast that looks so unlike the other Rogues. Its fur is sleeker, smoother. Its face doesn’t have that rat-like quality that all of them do. Its paws are already stained with dry blood, telling the story about a meal that has long been consumed. But the thing that gives it all away is its eyes. Deep red, piercing through the night like lasers. I set down Andrew, pushing him into Claudia’s arms. ‘You need to run when I tell you to.’ Claudia’s eyes widen. “Achilles, no. We will fight them.” ‘There might be more,’ I reason out. ‘You know it. You can’t smell the one approaching us either. Who’s to say that it’s alone?’ “Mommy!” Andrew cries out. “Mommy, I want to come home!” Claudia opens her mouth to argue about it, but I somehow anticipate the move of the Rogue before it can even make it. As he leaps into the air to cover enough distance between us, I push Claudia