Arctic Bite

by N. J. Walters

  Egan yelled and blood trickled from his nose. He swiped it away with a free hand. “You’re stronger than you look.” He wiggled the blade in front of him and taunted, “But you’re still no match for this.”

  He and Cassie were really going to have a long conversation when this was done. That’s if she was still speaking to him. Yeah, she’d probably run in the opposite direction. Probably would have already been gone if she’d been able to disappear.

  This bastard and his friend had really fucked things up even more than they’d already been.

  Alexei was slow to anger, but it bubbled up inside him like hot lava in the depths of an active volcano. Once the pressure built too much, he’d explode. It was why he’d always suppressed his vampire tendencies. He feared if he ever let loose, he’d go on a rampage that wouldn’t stop until one of the Brotherhood was forced to put him down.

  He lowered his head and shook it, trying to gain control.

  Then Egan made a huge mistake. He laughed. At Cassie. “Your lover is nothing more than a half-breed, an abomination. An animal in need of being put down. Once I’ve done that, you’re next.”

  He gave a huge chuff that sent the snow around him dancing in the air. His skin prickled with the need to shift. He fought it. He needed to be in this form to fight.

  “I won’t let you harm him.” Cassie shocked him by putting herself in front of him. He expected to see disgust and fear etched on her face. Over the years, he’d seen it all, first from his own family and fellow shifters, then from the few others who’d discovered his secret.

  The only ones to genuinely ever accept him were the other members of the Brotherhood.

  He saw something completely different. Care. Concern. And fear—all for him. “I’ve got this,” she told him.

  He clamped his hand on her arm before she could do something stupid. “No,” he told her and gently eased her behind him. No way would he let her put her life in jeopardy for him. “I’ve got this.”

  Egan was still swinging the blade in front of him, not to attack but to show off, once again proving his stupidity. Any professional would have ended him and disappeared before anyone noticed he’d even been there.

  He was breaking the first rule of successfully taking down a target. It’s not personal. His opponent was allowing his ego to get in the way.

  Alexei had almost made the same mistake. Because this time it was personal.

  He’d need every ounce of strength and guile he possessed if he was going to win. When he stopped fighting his dual nature and simply accepted both as a part of him, a strange thing happened. The internal battle that had raged for two hundred years simply ceased. Something inside him clicked into place.

  The two sides of him were united in their goal—protect Cassie.

  He breathed deeply, his chest expanding. His muscles bunched and relaxed. Blood pumped through his veins, bringing with it increased strength. His shifter side was still dominant. But now it was all enhanced. He was changed but still himself.

  It was disorienting and exhilarating, all at once.

  He narrowed in on his target. Egan was a dead man. Alexei would finish him and accept the consequences of his actions. But first, he had to get that weapon.

  Cassie needed it. With it, she could defend herself from anyone. Whether she’d actually do so was another thing.

  That was okay. He had no problems using it. Egan would be the first to taste the blade. The other reaper should have left her alone.

  Cassie shook her head. “I can’t let you die to save me.”

  He found himself smiling, which seemed to confuse the hell out of the rest of them. Drawing on his preternatural speed, he struck with deadly precision, dragging his claws over his enemy’s arm, going all the way to the bone.

  Blood sprayed from the ragged gashes that ran down his skin. But so did light. It shimmered in the air, as though trying to decide if it should dissipate or return to its host.

  Felicia gasped and scrambled away, her feet crunching in the snow. Cassie was strangely silent.

  The scent of blood hit him hard. He hungered to taste it. The darkness inside him whispered that the light was power, and that it could be taken.

  To press his advantage and to keep his opponent from healing and regaining strength, he mentally called to the light essence. The colors swirled in the air.

  Egan was panting hard, sweat beading on his brow, his face a mask of concentration. The jagged wounds slowly healed, but the light that had spilled still lingered.

  Alexei called again, this time putting a dark and deadly compulsion behind the command. The light twisted and suddenly flew toward him. It twined around his hand and then absorbed into his skin. His big body shuddered as he absorbed the power. It was foreign but it was now his.

  While Egan was still stunned, he jumped forward and yanked the blade away. The wooden handle fit against his palm as though it had been made for him. Gripping it tight, he swung.

  Cassie jumped in front of him. “No. Stop.”

  He came within a hairsbreadth of taking her head off. Only his exceptional reflexes allowed him to cease the forward momentum at the last second. As it was, an inky black lock of hair fell to her shoulder and then fluttered to the ground.

  “What the fuck were you thinking?”

  …

  Alexei’s roar echoed across the tundra. He was not happy. But as much as she might despise Egan, she couldn’t let him die. Only Death could take the life of a reaper. Anyone else who dared was marked for death. Didn’t matter if it was human, shifter, or demigod. None had been spared.

  As it was, he’d managed to injure the reaper. And to her knowledge, that was a first.

  He and Felicia had taken the moment of confusion to disappear, proving they weren’t quite as stupid as they appeared. With the sickle, Alexei was a danger to them all.

  He had the means to destroy her.

  But he hadn’t.

  She’d thought she was dead, her life over, but he’d managed to pull back.

  It was clichéd, but her life had flashed before her eyes. Eons of time, and the only moment that had truly mattered was her time with Alexei.

  He dropped the weapon onto the ground and yanked her against his powerful chest. Heart thumping so hard it hurt, she clung to him.

  Had Egan been telling the truth? Was he some sort of hybrid? Felicia had scented vampire.

  It didn’t matter. To her he was simply Alexei, her quiet and protective polar shifter. “What was I thinking?” she demanded, the words slightly muffled against his sweater. “What were you thinking?” She leaned back and pinned him with her most ferocious glare, the one that had been known to send subordinates scurrying for cover.

  He didn’t seem even remotely fazed. “I had to protect you.”

  “You can’t.” As touching as it was that he’d kill for her, she couldn’t let this go.

  She ignored the heat flooding her chest and other regions of her body. The adrenaline racing through her body wasn’t helping. After almost dying, the urge to celebrate life pounded through her veins.

  He picked the blade off the ground and shook the snow off it. “I can with this.”

  “No.” She placed her hand on his wrist, needing him to understand beyond a doubt the consequences of such an action. “Your life would be forfeit. No questions asked. And I…” She broke off and sighed. “I couldn’t bear that.”

  A smile crossed his face. “Bear that. That’s a good pun.” He retrieved the lock of her hair from the ground and tucked it into his pocket.

  He was making jokes at a time like this? Her fingers itched to smack him.

  Instead, she gripped the front of his sweater and yanked him down as she went up on her toes. All the worry and angry heat was channelled into a panty-melting kiss.

  Both of them were frantic, as though rea
lizing they’d almost lost each other, lost this. Their lips melded, and teeth clinked as they struggled to get closer.

  His tongue stroked hers, hot and seductive. He lifted her off her feet, one arm banded beneath her ass, the other across her back. The tip of the sickle touched her neck. The shock of the metal against her skin made her tremble.

  “Sorry,” he muttered, moving it away.

  Then he kissed her. There was just as much heat, but it wasn’t quite as frantic. Taking his time, he stroked every corner of her mouth before licking at her lips.

  “We need to go.” Her voice was hoarse with passion, her brain muddled.

  “Okay.” He carried her toward the SUV. The motor was still running.

  Most men would have demanded an explanation before doing anything. She had no doubt he had a million questions, but her word that they needed to move was good enough for him. In spite of the cold and her near escape from total annihilation, she was warm inside.

  He set her on the seat and placed the weapon in her lap. The weight of it was more than physical. It represented so much of her past.

  “This belongs to you.” He shut the door and went around the front of the vehicle, scanning the horizon.

  Yeah, he was definitely going to have questions.

  “Do you need anything else from your apartment?”

  She shook her head. “No. Everything important is in my pack.” Which was stored in the backseat alongside his.

  After putting the SUV in gear, he headed back toward the road at a fast clip. “What’s the plan? Do we head back to your place?”

  “No, it’s too easy for them to find us there now.”

  “I figured that.” When he pulled onto the road, he kept heading away from town.

  “I’m surprised no one else showed up after you cut Egan. You actually cut him,” she repeated. “And you didn’t use one of our weapons. Only your claws.”

  “I did.” His icy-blue eyes flashed red for a brief second. “He was slow.”

  Only Alexei would say such a thing. What he’d done should have been impossible.

  “When Death takes a reaper, there is no drain of power,” she explained. “They’re simply gone. Some say their essence is absorbed back into him. Others say we’re just gone.”

  “Is there no afterlife for your kind?”

  “Many believe we have no soul. That to be able to do what we do for so long we can’t have one. Otherwise we’d go mad. We come from Death and return to him. We live forever or are simply gone.”

  “All the more reason to stay alive.”

  She laughed in spite of the tension pressing in on her. He did have a way of breaking things down, cutting through the crap to get to what was most important. “It is. But Egan bled power. Where did it go? It didn’t go back to him. It just sort of disappeared. Maybe it returned to Death.”

  He shrugged one massive shoulder. “It was just sort of hovering there. Letting him get it back wasn’t an option, so I called it.”

  “You what? You called it?” What was he talking about? “I don’t understand.”

  He pulled the SUV into the parking lot of the bar. She hadn’t thought they were coming here. After he shut down the engine, he swiveled in his seat to face her. “I mean I called it.” He dragged his fingers through his hair. “I called and it came. It absorbed into my skin.”

  “Into you. How is that even possible?”

  “Don’t know.”

  How was he so calm?

  Don’t freak out.

  “How do you feel? Are you weaker? Stronger?” This could be bad, very bad. She’d never heard of such a thing. And she’d pretty much been around since the dawn of the universe.

  He tilted his head to one side and considered her question. At any other time, she would have appreciated his calm deliberation. If she’d thought it would do any good, she’d try to shake some sense into him. He didn’t seem to appreciate the gravity of the situation, the unnecessary danger he’d put himself in.

  “I feel fine.”

  That’s it. I feel fine.

  “Elaborate.” Before she pulled her own hair out with worry.

  “I could but this isn’t the time. We need to make a decision.”

  Calm. She needed to stay calm. Hyperventilating won’t help the situation.

  Having to rely only on her five senses sucked. How did people manage as well as they did?

  His palm cupped the side of her face. She jerked back, surprised by the touch. His mouth tightened, and he withdrew his hand. “Don’t be afraid. You have the means to defend yourself if you’re scared of me now.”

  Unbelievable. “You think I’m afraid? After the way I kissed you back there?”

  He gave another one of those maddening shrugs. “Figured maybe it was adrenaline. You’ve had time to calm down now, to think things through.” His eyes were sad but filled with fierce determination. “I’ll never hurt you.”

  “Oh, Alexei.” She moved the blade carefully to the floor before throwing herself into his arms. “I know that.”

  She never doubted her welcome, and he didn’t disappoint. He drew her across the seat and into his lap. It was a tight squeeze, but they managed.

  “The female reaper was correct. I am part vampire.”

  “Will you tell me about it?” It was a first for her. Some species interbred, but a vampire and a shifter? That didn’t seem likely. Vamps tended to stick with humans. Occasionally two might bond, but there were never offspring. And anytime one had bitten a shifter, they’d fought until the shifter eventually died of blood loss or the vampire was ashed.

  “I will. But later. We can’t stay here. We have options. We can take the road to Teller. I can swim across the Bering Sea and take us to Russia.”

  “Swim? It’s February in the Arctic.”

  Alexei just laughed. “It’s a nice swim for me. We can even stop at Big Diomede or Little Diomede. They’re islands along the way.”

  “You might be a polar, but I’m not.” Her toes were frozen just thinking about it. He talked about swimming in the frigid ocean as though it were a dip in some tropical sea.

  “Wouldn’t you be protected because of what you are? You could cling to my back. I could go pretty fast. I have homes in Russia.”

  Made sense that he’d have real estate there considering the history between Russia and Alaska. And hey, his last name was Russian. Dead giveaway.

  “I’m not sure. I’m not immune to the elements like I was. I’m becoming weaker as time goes on, becoming more human.”

  “Right.” He stroked his hand over the side of her face. “Then we go to the Kigluaik Mountains. I’ve got a place there.”

  “In the mountains? I didn’t think anyone lived out there.”

  “Not now, but a couple hundred years ago there were some settlers there. It’s safe and away from people.”

  Which was a major consideration. She rested her head briefly on his shoulder before moving back to her seat. “Let’s go.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Worry preyed on him. Cassie had been quiet since they’d left civilization behind. He’d had to dump the SUV, hiding it as well as he could among some rocks. If he had his way, he’d pick her up and run with her all the way to his home. Once he had her there, he’d feel more secure.

  Although maybe there was nowhere safe. And maybe a part of him wanted her someplace it would be harder for her to run…from him. Who knew how she’d react once he told her the whole truth? Right now, she needed him.

  Not really, a voice in the back of his head kicked in. With that weapon in her possession, she could pretty much take on all comers. And since it was hers, he figured she had to know how to use it.

  They were walking toward the mountains. On the off chance anyone might see them, they’d look like hikers. Crazy ones to walk the snow-packed
ground this time of year, but hikers nonetheless.

  He hated going slow. Worried about her getting too cold. At least the physical exercise should help keep her core temperature up.

  “How are you doing?” he asked, his voice a low growl.

  “I’m fine,” she told him. But she wasn’t. There was a tremble in her voice, and fine shivers wracked her body.

  The hell with it. “I’m going to carry you. I can sprint. We can be safe and warm in a matter of minutes.”

  “Not yet. Still too risky.” The woman was stubborn. Determined, too.

  “You really think it matters?” He hated seeing her cold, but she was the one who understood reapers best.

  “It matters. Everyone has an energy signature.”

  He thought about it as they trudged onward, keeping his stride shorter so she could keep up with him. “Then wouldn’t they notice me even though I’m just walking?”

  “Not necessarily. Reapers don’t pay a whole lot of attention to anyone beyond the person they’re sent to guide. They can’t afford to get things wrong. Unless you do something to bring it to their attention—like race across the snow faster than the eye can see—you should blend. Hopefully,” she muttered under her breath.

  While it made sense, as far as he was concerned, faster was better. But she was the expert. “So that blade belongs to you?” She’d hooked the sickle onto a strap of her pack, keeping it at hand.

  She stumbled, almost taking a header in the snow. He tugged her upright. “Thanks.” She kept on walking for several feet before answering. “Yes.”

  “You’re one of those head reapers?”

  “Yes.”

  He was beginning to understand just how frustrating others must find it to talk with him. She was taking a page out of his playbook, keeping her answers as short and succinct as possible.

  “It’s seen death. There’s blood on it. Ancient and not human.”

  She spun around, her mouth open. “You could tell?”

  He tapped his nose. “Enhanced sense of smell.”

  “Does this have anything to do with your vampire side?” Snow drifted down, landing on her hair and face. Her cheeks were pink and the tips of her ears were turning red.