Eli didn't even have time to scream.
One second, the serpent was a blur of blue light below them. The next—darkness.
It was too fast.
"—shit—!"
Kairo's curse cut through the air just before the world snapped around them.
A deafening crack split through the clearing as the serpent lunged upward, its jaws unhinging wider than seemed possible.
The impact was like a storm breaking open. The force ripped them off the branch in an instant—Eli's stomach dropped, his breath leaving him as everything became noise and teeth and wet, crushing heat.
They didn't even hit the ground.
The serpent's mouth slammed shut around them.
Eli's ears rang. His world was black and slick and suffocating.
"Kairo—!"
"I know!" Kairo barked, his voice raw, breath ragged.
He was swearing under his breath, every curse louder than the last as he clutched Eli tightly with one arm and reached out with the other, trying to anchor himself against the creature's inner jaw.
