It was vicious and messy.
I hadn’t realized how civilized she kept things around all of us. How powerful and lethal she really was. Her hunger when we’d landed on this side of the fence had overwhelmed her so much that she had taken more blood than she meant to. But even in her state of bloodlust, she’d bit carefully. She still hadn’t let herself become wild. But now…now she was ripping men to shreds.
“Well. I take it back. Now I know why we don’t recruit vampires. Damn, she’s amazing. But I’d be fucking scared shitless if she was on a team with me. How do you handle being bitten like that?”
“It’s not like that.” I paused. “I’ve never seen her quite so…”
“Vicious?”
I nodded. She’d looked straight at me after finishing off another soldier. The embarrassment and shame in her expression made me want to hold her and tell her that even though her vampire side was more terrifying than I’d imagined… I would never fear her.
She wiped her face with her shirt and blurred from view. “She’ll jump the fence in about ten minutes. I need to go warn Jared.”
The radio on Park’s belt crackled. “Commander, over.”
Park pushed the button. “Commander here.”
“Commander, this is sniper seven. The female friendly took down forty-eight soldiers by my count. Lost visual. Will continue to watch.”
“Eyes open, sniper seven. Commander out.”
I crawled away from the fence and stood. Something hit my chest like a mule kick, and I coughed, trying to catch my breath. Air wouldn’t go in, and pain shot through me like I’d been hooked up to the live end of an electrical line.
“Killían! Fuck.” Park leapt for me and yanked on my arm, dragging me to the ground. His radio crackled to life with shouts from different officers. Park’s voice carried in the forefront of my mind. “Rounds fired! Duck and cover. Find and shoot the sonofabitch that hit Master Sergeant North.”
The pressure on my chest was so intense. Everything around me was going dark. All I could feel was the pain and the sensation of choking. It was like I was drowning, but there was no water.
I squinted. Park was over me, and his hands were on my chest. He appeared to be shouting, but I couldn’t hear anything anymore.
Jared’s face came into focus next to Park’s. He was snarling something at Park as he pulled out a flat glass cell phone from his pocket and turned away.
Fuck. Everyone knew the satellites were tapped. Why the hell would he call someone on a cell phone?
The blackness was closing in. The pain from earlier was rapidly becoming a distant memory. It was colder now, too. My sluggish mind strayed to Eira. I tried to picture her face, but the black spots in my vision were growing. No matter how hard I fought to suck in a breath, nothing happened.
It wasn’t fair. She’d hate me for leaving her again, and it wasn’t my fault.
Chapter 31
EIRA
As we landed on the other side, my crouched legs took the brunt of the landing, sending shock waves through every fiber of my body.
Though I was tired, after my smorgasbord of SECR soldiers and an extra sip from Mikjáll before I left the lakehouse with Charlie and Travis, my thirst wasn’t nearly as overwhelming as it had been after the first trip. Confidence surged within me. I needed to feed again. But at least I wasn’t tearing into the closest living being this time.
“Thanks, Eira,” Charlie said as I released her waist. Travis mumbled the same before following after her.
Several soldiers were nearby, but none of them said anything to us. I scanned the surrounding for Jared and Killían. Neither of them was in sight.
Sucking in a deep breath, I carefully sorted through the scents in the air until I came to one that nearly made my knees give out —Killían’s blood. A lot of it.
I blurred to the place where it was the strongest near the wall and knelt to the ground next to a dark stain on the dry withered grass.
“Killían!” The scream tore through my chest like someone had run me through. People stared, but no one approached. My vision darkened, and all I could hear were heartbeats. I knew my eyes had reddened, and my fangs were completely descended. Anger seethed through my cold body, and I searched the air again. His body had to be somewhere, and Jared would know where. After I saw him… Then I could kill every soldier in this godforsaken compound.
Jared’s scent was faint, but it was mixed with much more familiar ones.
What were Erick and Bailey doing here?
I blurred toward the scents. Into a tent, past several soldiers, and stopped beside a bed. My Killían lay still, but his heart still beat. He was alive.
Sinking to my knees, a cry of relief heaved out of me. My hands sought his and squeezed, taking comfort in the warmth of his palm.
Jared stood on the other side of the bed. Erick and Bailey were at the foot.
“What happened?” I calmed my rage, and slowly, my vision returned to normal. My fangs retracted, and I took in a deep breath of Killían’s soothing spicy male scent.
“Sniper,” Jared said softly.
“He lost so much blood. I saw it outside.” My gaze turned to my friend.
Bailey’s eyes were filled with empathy. “Jared called us to come. He needed—”
“Blood,” I said flatly. I’d nearly lost him. And now I owed my friends more than my life. They had saved the only person in the world I truly loved.
Tears burned trails down my cheeks, and sobs began to shake my body as I buried my face against his chest. The idea of losing him terrified me. I’d only had him in my life again for a short time. But I had loved him for a dozen lifetimes. My heart had never wavered.
He was the only one.
Footsteps shuffled around me, but no one asked me to move. Killían lay tucked under a taupe-colored sheet. Machines beeped in time with his strong heart.
Soft hands touched my shoulders, and Bailey’s scent surrounded me.
“We take care of our own, Eira. We’ll be outside if you need us.”
I nodded, grateful for the small bit of privacy they were affording me and for getting here as fast as they had. Both of them had to be exhausted after that run.
Looking up, I traced Killían’s cheek. “I love you so much. This type of carelessness is completely unacceptable. Do you hear me?”
“Yes, ma’am.” His deep voice rumbled from his broad chest, and a smile spread across his face. He pressed a tender kiss to my palm before his eyelids fluttered open, revealing my favorite color of blue —so light, like the sky in Norway before it snowed.
“This is not funny. I almost lost you.”
“How did you return fast enough to save me?”
“I didn’t. Jared called Erick and Bailey. One of them had to have fed you. I just crossed the fence with Travis and Charlie a minute ago.”
“Oh.” His hand squeezed mine, an effort to reassure himself as well as me. “I guess it’s nice to know I have friends with vampires on speed dial.”
“Still not funny. What happened? How?”
His hand moved to cover my mouth, and I jerked away, wiping tears from my cheek with the back of my hand.
“It had to have been a sniper they missed. It could’ve happened to anyone.”
“I will kill them all,” I growled, my voice carrying enough malice to send chills over my own skin.
“I’m sure Park’s men are already working on that, though you made a pretty serious dent in their forces before you left.”
“Why did you watch? I didn’t want you to see me like that… to see that side of me.” Shame enveloped my mind like a shroud of doom. What I had done on that riverbank was vicious and barbaric. None of those had men stood a chance.
Jared’s voice was hushed outside the tent, but I could still hear it. “She has to return for the others. There are still eleven people counting on her.”
“Give her a minute. She nearly lost her mate. With three of us here now, we can help move the ot
hers out as soon as she is ready to go.” Bailey’s reply was little more than a murmur, but it filled my heart with hope. Instead of trip after trip on my own, we would only have to make maybe two passes to carry everyone to this side of the Mississippi.
“The others still need you, love. I’ll be fine. I already feel like I could sit up.”
Killían’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts. I shook my head. I wasn’t ready to leave his side again. “Not yet. I can take just a minute longer.”
“No, you need to go. Every minute they stay in that house is a minute the SECR comes closer to finding them. One satellite image and a launched missile will end them. They’ll never see it coming.”
He squeezed my hand and then brought it to his lips. The tenderness in the kiss melted the resolve in my heart. He was right. I hated being wrong. But I was. We needed to hurry.
“Bailey and Erick are going to help. It will only take us two trips. I’ll be at your side again in no time. Please just rest.”
“I’ll be fine, my beloved. Go.”
I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his, absorbing the taste of him and wishing I could just crawl into bed and stay with him forever. Instead, I was going across the river to slaughter more soldiers and save people I considered family before the fucking SECR or Xerxes could murder them.
“I love you,” I whispered across his lips.
“I love you, too. Be safe, my beloved.”
I blurred from his side and stopped next to Erick and Bailey. Jared stood directly across from us. “Let’s do this. The lake house is a long run. We need to drink a lot before we start.”
“Luckily, we have an army to eat on our way out,” Erick said, rolling his neck from side to side. He licked his lips. “It’s been quite a while since I enjoyed a buffet of human blood.”
Bailey’s body quivered with excitement, but her face was masked by dread. “I’ve been training over the last few months, but I’m not sure I can really kill those men.”
Erick’s arm encircled her shoulder and pulled her tight to his chest. “I’ll take care of it, love. You will just need to drink your fill so the thirst doesn’t overtake you on trip back.”
Her head jerked, and her mouth quirked slightly, still not completely convinced. But I could see that she trusted Erick explicitly. He would make sure she was safe. Between him and me, we would easily be able to take out a hundred soldiers before they sounded the alarm. The way the SECR soldiers were spread out along the river bank made them easy to pick off in small groups.
It wouldn’t take them long to realize vampires were hunting them after this run. Our last trip would be the hardest. But there wasn’t time to think on that now.
One step at a time.
“Let’s go. We don’t have a lot of time before the sun rises. With no shadows, we are more easily targeted. If we do this right, we can come and go twice before the sun shows its face.”
I nodded. “Follow me.” I took off at a regular run, but sped to a blur by the time I reached the fence. Launching myself into the air, I cleared the hot wires and landed softly on the crunchy grass. Together, we sprinted toward the riverbank and hurled ourselves over to the rushing river.
The cold ground met my feet with a thud, and I crouched low, touching the muddy bank with my fingertips to feel for vibrations. Two thuds on my right signaled they had made the leap as well. Now the hunt was on.
Chapter 32
EIRA
We moved swiftly through the thin ranks of the SECR soldiers. Killían had given me Jón’s Dragonbreath and it cut through their bodies, ending their existence in this life. Their blood ran dark, filling me with the energy I needed to save my friends.
I didn’t feel guilt in the slightest over killing any of them. They would’ve killed each and every one of my friends without thought.
The world was a better place without them.
I glanced up from my latest kill and whispered Erick and Bailey’s name on the breeze. A moment later they were at my side, both wiping the last traces of their kills from their lips.
“How many?”
“Eighty between the two of us,” Erick answered.
Bailey cringed when he spoke the number.
She was so young. So innocent of how many deaths followed a vampire through their life.
“That should be enough. Follow me.” I started at a jog, giving them a moment to find their bearings. Then I leapt forward, blurring across hundreds of miles of hills and forests before coming to a stop in front of the lake house.
Heartbeats of those inside pounded loudly. Mikjáll’s orange eyes glowed bright in the darkness through large bay window. He met us at the kitchen door.
“It is good to see more help has come, but how will we feed all three of you? Alek and I are the only donors left.”
“We ate a lot before we came. If you could spare each of us a little, we will be able to make it back safely,” Erick responded.
The Drakonae male nodded and produced a small blade from his waistband. “After this, I cannot feed you again this night.” He slit his upper arm and allowed it to fill three small glasses on the table. His skin was ashen, and his movements sluggish as he cleaned the knife and healed his wound.
He truly had given everything he could to save people he didn’t know and claimed to care nothing about.
“You must take me and Riza this trip. I am no use to you here any longer. I need to rest.”
“Of course, friend,” Erick said, picking one of the glasses on the table. He handed the first to Bailey and the second to me before downing the third himself.
I lifted the cool glass to my lips and took in the delicious scent of Drakonae blood –a mix of sunshine and pure magickal energy. Nothing on the planet tasted better. Energy rushed through my body, invigorating every cell.
“I’ll fetch Riza and the baby.”
“Thank you.”
I passed Alek in the hallway and stopped. “You have to stay for the last run. We will need to feed again to make the last trip safely. Your blood is the only other source of powerful magick.”
He nodded. “I know. You need to hurry.”
The urgency in his voice made my heart clench. He was right. With everything happening at the Vicksburg bridge, Xerxes had to be closing in.
“We will.”
I turned away and hurried into the living room. The scent of Riza and the baby was strongest there. Sure enough, they were cuddled into a large recliner in the corner of the room.
“Riza. It is time.”
The small woman’s eyes opened and flashed black for a moment. I cocked my head to the side and considered her curiously.
“What are you, Riza?”
“A Kitsune,” she said softly, re-wrapping the baby’s blanket to swaddle it tightly.
“From Japan? I’ve only ever heard whispers of the Kitsune.”
“We were hunted nearly to extinction. Only a few hundred of us are left in the entire world. My baby is the first born in nearly fifty years.” Her tired voice dragged, filled with pain and grief. She’d lost a lot. Ended up in Xerxes’ prison.
“The baby’s father?”
She shook her head. “He died, trying to keep us out of Xerxes’ hands. The monster slit his throat in front of me.”
“I’m so sorry. You will be with good people in Sanctuary. Mikjáll seems to have made you his personal charge as well,” I added. “You won’t find a better bodyguard than a Drakonae for you and the little one.”
“He is very kind. He reminds me of my husband. And we both share the bond of losing our spouse. It helps. In a small, strange way.”
I moved to her side. “Tuck the baby tightly against your chest. Remember how fast we went last time.”
“We will be fine. I remember.”
“Ready?” Mikjáll’s voice questioned from behind us.
“Yes, come outside. It will be easier if I don’t have to blur through the house.” I jogged out of the room and through the kitchen do
or, took the porch steps two at a time, and waited for the others to join me.
The night air was warming slightly. The soft glow of sunrise was turning the horizon just a shade warmer than the sparkling midnight blue that stretched over our head now. The stars were fading. Soon they would be invisible again as the sun rose and its light bathed the land.
The door slammed open and shut several times. Heavy footsteps pounded on the rickety old porch. Soon I was surrounded. Bailey stood next to Jesse. She was so young Erick wouldn’t let her carry two people for the trip. It was probably a wise choice. Beside Erick stood Malachi and Garrett. To my right, Mikjáll stood behind Riza, who clutched her baby so tightly her knuckles were turning white.
“I promise it won’t last long,” I said, trying to give the small woman a little reassurance. “Let’s do this.”
Bailey and Erick gave a nod. We each grabbed our passengers and leapt into a run toward the forest. Minutes later, we emerged on the bank of the Mississippi. One more leap and we would almost be there. I took it first, panting as I carried the very uneven weight of a Kitsune in one arm and Drakonae in the other.
I lunged forward, landing on the western bank a half dozen feet from the water’s edge. A few running steps led into a vertical leap that cleared the wire fence.
The ground sped toward us. I made sure to lift them high so my legs could take the brunt of the landing. My ankle snapped, and I screamed through the pain, refusing to let either of them hit the ground.
“Eira!”
I released Riza, and she stepped away with the baby. Mikjáll knelt beside me on the ground. The smell of his blood filled the air, and I turned to him, gritting my teeth through the pain of my body knitting together the broken bones.
Bailey and Erick landed a few feet away with the others only a few moments later.
My fangs descended, and I nearly bit into Mikjáll’s exposed forearm.
His hand encircled my throat and pointed my mouth up, so that the blood from the cut he’d made dripped into my mouth. A few minutes later, he released me.
Sanctuary, Texas Complete Series Box Set Page 63
