Isaac grabbed her shoulder and jerked her round to face the path. Standing there was another one of the creatures, green skin silvered by the moonlight, regarding them with his huge, sparkling eyes. He had a dead sheep in one hand, dangling it by its hind legs over his shoulder.

‘I think,’ Isaac said hoarsely, ‘we’re in trouble.’

Chapter Nineteen: Dinner

CHAPTER NINETEEN

DINNER

‘Humans,’ said the green-skinned creature. He let go of the sheep, and the carcass thumped to the ground. ‘Honest to goodness humans!’

He took a step closer, and a wave ran through the spines on his back, as though they were rippling in the wind. Isaac edged between the thing and Alice, and raised his hands, palms out.

‘Wait,’ Alice said, voice only a little shaky. ‘Listen. We don’t have to—’

‘Do you have any idea how long it’s been,’ the thing said, ‘since I’ve tasted a human?’

His thin mouth spread across his face in a horrible grin, jaw hinging open to reveal row after row of needle teeth with a flickering green tongue lurking at the back.

‘Run!’ Isaac shouted. The air was suddenly full of the sharp scent of new-fallen snow as a cold wind rose from nowhere. ‘Alice, run!’

‘What?’ Alice scrambled up the pile of rocks. ‘But—’

Tiny shreds of white ice, like bits of torn cloud, sprayed from Isaac’s hands and blasted the green-skinned creature full in the face. The thing gave a whistling shriek and spun aside, graceful as a dancer, his spiny mane extended and quivering. Isaac shifted his aim, ice blasting from his hand like water from a fire hose as frost formed across the rocks underneath him. But the creature was too fast. He ducked low, then sprang into the air like a cricket, clearing Isaac’s head in a standing jump and landing behind him in an easy crouch. Before he could turn, he grabbed Isaac around the elbows, dragging his arms back and pinioning them painfully behind him.

‘Now, now. That’s enough of that,’ the creature said, needle-fanged mouth still gaping wide. Looking over his shoulder for Alice, he added, ‘And you had better keep still, if you want your friend’s arms to stay attached.’

But the rocks were empty. Alice was gone.

She’d crossed the little clearing, diving behind the sheltering bulk of the woodpile, and waited for a count of five before risking a peek to see if the creature was following. It took her a moment to find him, aided by a human-sounding shout of pain. The creature had Isaac by both arms, twisted at an uncomfortable angle, and he used this grip to force Isaac to stumble towards the cottage or dislocate his own shoulder.