Finn chuckled and leaned in closer. “I’m more afraid for Max than you. All I was doing was trying to give you some advice. Max isn’t like the dropkicks you usually date.”
I glared at him, then exposed my fangs and hissed just to piss him off. It worked. The smile dropped instantly from his face.
“Everything okay here?” Kade asked, giving me a look that told me to put my damn fangs away.
Obliging, I did my best to conceal them, but considering they were there to stay, the tips were just peaking over the bottom of my lip. “Everything’s fine.”
“Good.” He patted Finn on his shoulder and steered him away. “Mason needs to see you before we leave,” he told Finn on their way out of the room.
I was pretty sure Mason didn’t really need to see Finn, but it was a good excuse to separate the two of us.
Max made his way back to me, carrying an assortment of knives and stakes. “Let’s get you fitted.”
Five minutes later, I looked like a freaking assassin, ready to take out an army of vampires, but all I really needed were the two babies on my back. I was about to join the others outside when I saw Max slip a sheath around his waist. “What are you doing?”
His amused gaze met mine. “Getting ready. What does it look like?”
I placed my hand on his arm, stopping him from clipping it together. “You’re not ready. You need to heal.”
His brow raised, and he smirked. “Don’t think for a second I’m letting you go out there without me.” He curled his hand around the nape of my neck, placed a quick peck on my lips, and left me standing there, my heart practically beating a hole through my chest, my fingers brushing over my tingling lips, wondering what the hell just happened, as he strode toward the door, putting his weapons on as he walked.
He was not getting away with that so easily.
25
I raced over to him and grabbed his arm, spinning him around to face me. “You don’t get to do that and walk away.” The tension between us was palpable. I could almost taste his desire, and coupling it with mine was making it almost impossible to think about anything else. With the vampire blood running through my system, I took what I wanted.
Well, that was my excuse, and I was sticking with it.
Standing on the balls of my feet I curled my hands around his face and brought his lips down to mine. The moment we touched, time seemed to stand still. There were no vampires or demons. No war going on. It was just us in that moment. Our hearts and souls intertwining with every brush of his lips against mine.
He wrapped his arm around my waist, spreading one hand over the small of my back and the other curling around the nape of my neck, pulling me tighter against him.
I melted into his embrace, savoring the touch of his skin against mine, knowing we were on borrowed time. I wanted nothing more than to say “the hell with it, everyone could fend for themselves.” But I wasn’t that person anymore. And my mom… She was counting on me. No matter how much I wanted time to stop, I wanted her even more.
Pulling back, I stared up into his eyes, my chest heaving with unspent energy and desire to pick things up where we left off.
He brushed his thumb over my cheek. “Probably not how you imagined our first kiss.”
I smiled. “I don’t know about that. I’ve been imagining it every second I’ve been with you since you first came to my rescue.”
Max chuckled. “Guess there’s no time for romance in a world like this.” He placed one more kiss on my forehead.
Unfortunately, that was the truth. And it was our job to make things right.
He cocked his head toward the door. “We better get going before they send out a search party.”
We headed outside, where every single person from our group was staring at us with knowing looks on their faces.
Squaring my shoulders, I put on my best “I don’t give a shit” look and strode toward them with Max by my side, strapping on his weapons. My heart felt lighter, giving me a new sense of contentment. I could still taste Max on my lips and feared I might have accidentally bitten him and was tasting his blood, not his kiss.
I rolled my eyes to the side, getting a quick glimpse of his lips, trying to find any sign of puncture wounds. There were none.
His lips were just as perfect as ever.
With relief in my soul, I stopped in front of the others. “What’s the plan?”
Nessa opened the van nearest us and tossed a black duffle bag inside. “You’re coming with me, Parker, Joel, Finn, and Kade. Max can go with Liam and the others. We’ll also have another group scouting the edges in a couple of cars, blending in with the other humans.”
I glanced at Max, who returned my worried look. I didn’t want to be separated from him, but I understood why Nessa had made that decision. Max had been injured, and right now, we needed everyone at the top of their game—especially anyone who rolled with me.
I was the target. Not them. Which gave me the comfort I needed.
When everyone dispersed, Kade stayed by Max and me. “I’ve got her back—always,” he said to Max then hopped into the van.
Kade was everything I wanted in a brother, kind, caring, not a douchebag. I wished Finn would take a page out of his book.
Max looked down at me, longing in his gaze. “Be careful, and trust no one from the Society.”
I nodded. “Make sure you don’t get yourself killed.” I smiled.
“You got it.” He winked then headed toward the van behind ours.
Taking a deep breath, I focused on the task before me.
Kill a few vampires and hunters from the Society, retrieve the key, unleash my true powers, and save the world.
That wasn’t so hard.
Yeah, right.
I hopped into the van and took my seat between Kade and Finn, barely paying attention to the conversations that ensued. I had only one thing on my mind.
Mom.
I was lying.
Max was on my mind as well, and no matter how much I tried to ignore the way my lips still tingled from his kiss, I couldn’t.
I hadn’t felt that way about someone—ever.
That would be fitting. I finally find someone and there was no guarantee of a future together.
Scratch that shit. I was the guarantee, and I wasn’t going to let anyone down.
The drive over to our neighborhood was less than exciting. I expected we’d have to rampage through hundreds of vampires that stood in our way, but the reality was much more boring. It was as if…
I trailed off as the smell of vampires assaulted my senses, awakening my desire to spill blood.
“Vampires.”
26
Everyone snapped their heads in my direction the moment they heard me whisper the word “vampires.” I could hear their hearts skip a beat and begin to pound at rapid speeds against their chests.
All except mine.
My heart remained steady as desire swirled through my soul, ready to feast on their evil flesh.
“Where?” Nessa asked, her bluish tinged hands resting against her dagger.
I tilted my head to the side, focusing on the sound of the monsters and demons screeching in the night that only I could hear. Snapping my head straight, I said, “They’re about half a mile away, and they’re not alone.”
She pinched her brows together. “Explain.”
“There are demons…and also another dark energy that’s different from the demons and vampires.”
“That will probably be Orphelia,” she said then gestured to Joel and Parker. “We’ll take care of her, and you three take care of the vampires.” She picked up a phone and began speaking to the others in the van and cars behind us, warning them.
“How’s it feel?” Finn asked. When I looked at him as if I had no idea what the hell he was asking, he added, “The blood lust.”
Mind-blowing.
There was nothing like draining the life out of a vampire and the energy they gave me in return. It was
all-consuming, and I couldn’t get enough. Of course, I didn’t want to say that considering what he already thought about me, so I decided to go the whole cotton-wool approach. “They taste like chicken.”
Kade barked out a laugh. “How can blood taste like chicken?”
I shrugged. “Better that than telling you both blood is like nothing you’ve ever tasted before. Their sweet, evil essence is like a drug, and I will do anything to get my next hit. It awakens my soul, allowing me to truly live.”
So much for the cotton-wool approach.
They both sat there staring at me, unable to form a single word.
I leaned back. “You asked.”
The car slowed to a stop on the side of the road.
Nessa stood. “We’ll go first. We need to disarm any wards Orphelia has put forth so you can slip through.”
Here I was, supposedly the greatest hunter known to man, yet I was powerless against the witches.
With the plan in place, Nessa, Joel, and Parker exited the van. I stood near the door, ready to make my move. She’d wanted Finn and Kade to stick with me, but the truth was, they would never keep up. I could outrun and outfight them. Once Orphelia was taken care of, there would be no stopping me.
Sparks of electricity shot out around the trio as their hands twisted, circling the ball of energy contained between them. They kneeled down and pushed the balls of energy into the pavement, sending a sonic pulse rippling across the earth.
That was our queue.
Not waiting for the boys, I leaped out of the van and took off toward my house, following the magic, rippling across the ground. A second later, an explosion came from inside my house, glass and fragments of wood shooting through the air.
A second later, a very pissed-off Orphelia strode out, hands raised at her sides, a storm of lights and shadows swarming in her palms. Dark clouds rolled through the sky, swarming above us, lightning crackling through the clouds.
Orphelia raised her arms straight above her, the whispy darkness shooting into the sky. Then she swooped her arms down in front of her, sending a wave of electricity rippling through the air.
There was no dodging her attack. It was coming straight for me.
Pain shot through me as I gasped for air, my lungs stinging and every single muscle in my body spasming, my fingers contracting around the hilt of my daggers, bending them out of shape with my strength, coupled with the force of the electricity running through me.
Blood pooled in my mouth as I bit down uncontrollably on my tongue. Not wanting to lose my tongue, I fought desperately to counteract the effects of the lightning, but it was too strong. I’d been naïve. I was no match for a witch. Especially one with her strength.
The moment that thought let loose in my mind, another sonic boom blasted through the earth, dissipating the electricity into a puff of smoke, taking with it every single effect Orphelia had over me.
Orphelia flew through the air, knocked back by the sheer force of whatever magic Nessa and her crew were using.
As fascinating as it was, I didn’t stick around to watch what happened next.
Lunging off the ground, I raced into my neighbor’s yard and found three vampires hiding in the shadows, teeth bared and bloodlust in their eyes.
Reaching behind me, I withdrew my babies and slashed them through the necks of the two closest together, decapitating them as I kicked the third in the chest, sending him flying into the picket fence, snapping it in half.
He was on his feet before I could close the distance, snarling as his ravenous eyes fixated on me. With his legs slightly bent, he stalked me from a distance as if he were a wild animal waiting for his chance to attack for the kill.
I flicked the blades around in my hands, a maneuver Lana would’ve been proud of, as I waited for him to make his move. And like the animal he was, he couldn’t see he was no match for me as he lunged forward, swinging his arm.
Without their witch’s interference, I was in my element, and I could see him coming a mile away, along with the vampire behind me who thought he had the element of surprise.
Raising my blade, I took out the arm of the one in front of me as I spun around and drove the blade into the side of the vampire behind me, ripping down as I dropped to my knee. I twisted around just in time to shove my other blade into the throat of the armless vampire lunging toward me, teeth bared.
Not missing a beat, I stood and kicked the vampire, dislodging the blade from his neck. I licked the blood off the blade, unable to ignore the call of blood any longer as I waited for my next kill.
Kade and Finn caught up, weapons raised but no imminent danger in sight.
“You good?” Finn asked.
I nodded. “As long as Nessa keeps Orphelia busy.” I looked around, wondering where Max was and hoping he was okay. I couldn’t see him and wished I was able to smell my family and friends the way I could vampires.
Kade kicked the arm on the ground. “If you’re wondering where Max is, he’s with the others in the street behind us.” He gestured to the house at the back of mine.
I nodded again. “You guys ready? There’s another group waiting in our backyard, which I’m assuming is a trap since they haven’t come after me while I was having a playdate with their buddies.”
Kade chuckled amongst everything that was going on. And it felt good to know that even though we were caught in the middle of what seemed to be an unwinnable war, we still had moments.
Finn stalked toward the broken fence and peered over the hedge, his hand resting on the quiver of an arrow on his back, ready to load up. “I can’t see anything,” he whispered.
“You may not be able to see them, but I can sure as hell smell them.”
The earth began to shake, which I wasn’t taking as a good sign. Orphelia was no doubt fighting back, and we needed to get that damn key from under the bush.
I leaned in closer to Finn. “I’ll go in first while you two cover my back.”
Finn nodded as he drew the arrow and loaded it, ready to shoot.
Eyeing the bush, I sniffed the air, trying to work out the placement of the vampires in relation to my goal. Orphelia had to have brought other hunters with her, but then again, how would she explain that the vampires were now working with them against me?
I needed a vantage point.
Clutching the daggers in my hands, I pushed off the ground and landed on the roof of the neighbor’s house, making such a loud sound they were bound to call the cops if they hadn’t done so already.
The police wouldn’t be an issue, though. They didn’t come for calls of vampire disturbances. It was a fight they couldn’t win—and weren’t willing to die for.
Peering into my backyard, I could see the full scope of Orphelia’s army of vampires. There were approximately ten out back and who knew how many in the house? The vampire I’d drained was no longer hanging from the back porch, but the others I killed were still strewn across the lawn, their rotting flesh assaulting my senses, making it harder to pinpoint where the live ones were.
With my blades raised, I focused on the group hovering over their fallen buddies, eating the decomposing flesh from their bones. I jumped off the roof, and landed right behind them.
Simultaneously, their heads snapped in my direction, as I swung my daggers, decapitating two as an arrow pierced the forehead of the vampire to my left, leaving seven—make that six blood-crazed vampires, whose hungry gaze devoured me, as another one fell by an arrow to the head.
I had a hunger of my own, one that couldn’t be satiated while there were living, breathing, vampires around me.
Another arrow wizzed past me, taking out a vampire lunging toward me before I could connect my blade into his flesh.
Five vampires left.
Changing my target, I drove the knife into a scrawny vampire then ripped through his flesh, before striking the vampire to his right as the remaining two began screeching into the night air, calling on their buddies as they descended upon me.
/> Blood splattered from every strike I made, covering me in their evil life force, sending them into a frenzy of vengeance and me into a fight for life, whilst my insides were burning with the desire to sink my teeth into them and rip them limb from limb.
But there was no time for such pleasantries. I couldn’t enjoy the kill as much as I would’ve liked. There were simply too many of them.
Hunters from my new crew spilled into the yard, surrounding them from the outside and little old me on the inside. Blood sprayed, heads flew, and organs spilled in the slaughter. Black smoke billowed around us as demons spilled from the bodies of a chosen few and slithered into the shadows of the night.
When there was only a dozen left, Finn yelled, “Go.”
I nodded. And as much as I wanted to take a little pop-top for the road, I forced myself to leave the fallen vampires behind and take off toward the only flowering bush in the yard, but not before decapitating another one who stood between me and the key that would guarantee my freedom from any demon wanting to possess me.
My heart pummeled against my chest as I stared at the white flowers. The single most important object in the world lying beneath it, out in the open, for anyone to take. All I needed—
Lana landed in front of me, blocking me from reaching the bush. “I can’t let you do that.”
27
Staring at Lana standing in front of me, I raised my blades, ready to fight. “I can’t let you stop me.”
“Stand down, and we can go home and forget about everything you’ve done,” she said, raising her daggers. “There’s still time to make the right choice.”
I barked out a laugh that came out a little sadistic. “That’s what I’m doing. Making the right choice. Joining the right team and fighting for the right cause. The ones who are not in bed with the evil monsters you pretend to despise.”
Her eyes narrowed on me, and I couldn’t be positive, but I almost thought she had no idea what I was talking about. I didn’t have time for anymore conversation. For all I knew, Lana was sent in here to give Orphelia more time to fight back. “Move, or I will have to make you.” When she didn’t move I added, “I don’t want to hurt you, Lana, but I will if I have to.”
Shadow Realms- The Complete Series Page 31
