by Kim Faulks
Zadoc blurred through my tears. I couldn't look away, couldn't stand to see them watch me cry. "Fuck you, fuck all of you. We'll survive and we'll be free of this place. But you never will. You'll rot here."
The bitch smiled that cruel, sadistic smile and then nodded.
The wolf swung his arm, took aim and fired.
The sound hit me like a blow. I flinched and my insides turned to water, clenching, unclenching, clenching.
He stumbled…turned.
Blood soaked the front of his pelt, seeping through the brown fur in full-formed drops. A trail of crimson slipped under his coat. Drops fell. I followed the fall, until the gun fired once more.
Zadoc jolted from the impact. There was nowhere for the mountain but down. He coughed, spluttered, and dropped to one knee. Blood bloomed like a deadly rose, spreading out from his side.
I shoved my hand through the bars, the air was all I could catch. "No. No. No!"
He lifted his head and looked at me. Anguish echoed in his gaze—but the desperation wasn't for him—it was for me.
Keys rattled in the wolf's hand. He cocked his arm and then swung. The arc stuck in my mind, like a sword heading for the final blow. Knuckles hit flesh. The blow was brutal. Zadoc's head snapped backwards, blood shot out his nose and hit the wolf in the waist.
"Zadoc!" Tears blurred my vision, red seeped into the watery view, blending with the flames. I reached for him as he toppled to the ground.
My nails buckled as I clawed the stones. I needed him. Needed to touch him. Needed to feel his warmth.
"I'll survive." Zadoc's harsh whisper reached my ears. "It's okay."
Through the blur, she came for him. Shoved her boot into his ribs and snarled. "I wanted more. More blood. More torture. Please step out of line. Please do something to make me come for you. There's nothing I love more than to hear a grown man scream, and you've a lot of screaming to make up for, Guardian." She turned to the wolves. "Throw him back into the cell."
They moved as one, crowding either side of him. I dragged my hand back and grasped the bars. Blood trailed after him. I stared at the mess and felt the room sway.
"Don't waste those pretty tears, darling." The vile fucking bitch whispered as she neared. "I can give you something far more devastating to cry for."
She lifted her hand toward the bars, the tips of her fingers brushed my knuckles. "You remind me of my daughter Abrial. I think you'd like her."
I wrenched my hand away, spittle flew as I screamed. "Don't you touch me. Don't you dare, fucking touch me!"
She never flinched, never stepped away. Vacant eyes stared at me, and then in a second she was back. Bottomless eyes sparking with the kind of intensity that made my skin crawl. "I'll be back for you soon, princess."
The lock on his cell snapped shut. Footsteps echoed. I scurried along the side of the cells to where Zadoc lay curled against the ground.
Blood. There was so much blood. Wide wet patches covered the heavy pelt. I shoved the sleeve down, and exposed his chest. The hole was jagged and torn. Blood spilled as he shifted closer to the bars.
"Jesus, Zadoc. Jesus."
My damn hands trembled. I could do nothing more than touch him and bear witness. Thick trails ran from his nose and over his lips. I wrenched my gaze to his shirt on the ground next to the bucket. I shoved myself from the ground. My shoes slid on the stones, losing traction as I propelled myself forward.
The pale cotton shone in the dark. I grasped the end and plunged my hand into the icy water, squeezing just enough to stop the trickle and raced for Zadoc. "Here, let me…"
I gently pulled the pelt from his waist and winced as his blood spilled. His skin was pasty, sweat beaded along his brow. I pressed the damp cloth against his side and rolled him as gently as I could. There was no exit wound. That meant the bullet was lodged inside.
His hand brushed mine, fingers grabbing, feeling for my hold. I eased him back and grasped his hand in mine.
"Don't worry," he moaned, and winced. "I'm immortal, remember?"
"Immortal doesn't mean you don't feel pain."
Dark eyes found mine and bored right through me. He knew pain, lived pain. It was all there in the beauty of his eyes.
"I'm right here." I echoed his own words, clinging tight to his hand. "I'm right here."
I turned my head and glanced over my shoulder. They were gone, leaving us broken and bleeding in more ways than one.
I let his hand fall and reached for his face, touching his cheek, and then his lips. The bars were cold against my face. I pushed harder, getting as close as I could and whispered. "We have to get out of here, Zadoc. We have to run."
5
Zadoc
Her hands were everywhere, pulling, grabbing, lifting. Pressing. I followed with a muffled grunt, and bit down on a whimper—hard. Her fingers crested my lip and scratched my beard. I wanted to answer her. I wanted to say…Don't talk like that. We can't talk like that.
The blonde bitch lingered in my mind. She'd hurt us…she'd hurt Joslyn, or worse.
Unseen teeth sank deep and savaged my side. The bullet ground into muscle and pinched nerves. My body twitched and every movement sent fire along my skin. Her fingers left me, sneakers squealed against the cold, slick rocks.
My palm hit the ground, fingers curling, searching. Cold pressed to my flesh, rubbing over and over, trailing down my brow and then pressed to the wound. I flinched, and her hand was there, grasping my fingers, falling under my skin like a tiny pebble smothered by the sand.
A spike rammed through my body. This alien thing crawled and clawed to the surface, taking its sweet fucking time. The thud of my heart mapped the passage of time. Seconds turned into minutes…minutes into hours. Each twist of the metal made me jerk and sweat.
"Jesus, Zadoc…there's something…"
I held onto her hand, focused on the warmth of her body and the sound of her voice. I held onto anything I could as the bullet ripped and tore, fighting to get to the surface.
Get it out. Get it out of me.
I squeezed tighter, knowing I was too strong, knowing I was too everything. Brown eyes found me, impaling me as something slipped from my flesh and hit the ground with a ting.
"Christ on a stick. That's a…you just…"
The savage bitch called Pain was callous and cruel. She wasn't done—not by a long shot. The bullet in my chest had lodged deeper. I could feel it twisting through muscle and grinding against bone, edging closer to the surface, dangerously close to my heart.
My pulse picked up speed. The violation rose in a crescendo seeped with panic, tainted with fear. A black fog moved in, stealing the cavern ceiling. Something tore inside me…something…I scrambled for her hold, but my fingers were thick and numb. My body shuddered with one thunderous pulse after another.
"Zadoc?"
I couldn't see her, couldn't feel her. Something yanked my head. My ear skimmed rocks, then something soft and warm. The bars pressed against my cheeks. Warmness brushed my lips. I blinked, fighting the fog into the corners and stared at her dark eyes.
She moved in close. Her breath was warm, soft, comforting, tickling under my nose. I jerked as the bullet shifted, rising like the tide. The thunder of my pulse drowned out everything...everything but Joslyn.
Her lips brushed mine, dragging my eyes open. She was too young, too naive…too…fragile. Human was the word…she was too human. Her thumb brushed my temple. The touch stole me, lifted me…transported me away from the darkness and the cold—someplace warm.
She closed her eyes and moved in. I inhaled, breathing in her air, taking in whatever I could, and waited. Her lips were silk and honey. They were the soft downy wool close to the skin. My heart thundered for a different reason, birthing something pure, something perfect.
"We're going to get out of here, Zadoc. We're going to make it."
I opened my mouth to say something and froze. A sudden blow hit me. An unseen knife stabbed, sliced, dug into the center of my chest and levered someth
ing out. My hiss cast her hair aside, a moan followed, drowning her out in a blinding wave of agony. Metal cut through my skin, stinging, and slipped under my pelt until the fragment hit the ground.
Air rushed in. I lifted a trembling hand and touched the tender point in my chest. Immortal yes, but I still felt pain.
Joslyn waited, her words resounded like a question unanswered. We have to get out of here, Zadoc. We have to run. Run where? We couldn’t escape this place.
A scream drifted to the surface of my mind. A child—a girl, all alone in the dark, alone with the wolves and the demons.
A shudder raced, shaking my bones. I was unhinged, untethered…unsomething.
“We can find her,” Joslyn whispered and I closed my eyes. “That girl out there. We can find her and we can save her. I know we can find a way out of this place. We came in, so we can get out.”
And somehow amongst the lost and lonely, I linked myself to her. She was my anchor. She was my something.
No one said you were off limits. That makes you fair game.
Those vile words sifted to the top. Four days. That’s all it’d been. Four fucking days in this goddamn cold, waiting for someone to come. I licked my lips and stifled a cruel bark of laughter. Who in the hell did I think was coming?
No one. That was who. No one was coming. Not to Hell. Even if they did, it wouldn’t be in time. Sickening images hit me harder than any bullet.
They’d come for her. They’d tear the clothes from her body. They’d take her in front of me, and leave her bruised…bleeding…or worse.
Maybe not today.
Maybe not tomorrow.
But one day.
The wolf’s face haunted me. Dark eyes, made even darker by that sick look of ravenous desire. I’d fight. I’d kill. But eventually the demons would come, and what then?
A growl echoed inside my head. The Wretched shook and rose from the dark depths. Red eyes branded me. We die…we die to save her. It’s our destiny, and hers is to live.
Joslyn’s voice pried its way through the cracks of my armor. “There has to be some kind of portal, some kind of way to slip back into our world. Maybe she knows more than we do. Do you think?”
I turned my head and stared at the dark circles under her eyes. “Do I think what?”
Her brows narrowed. “That she might know how to get out of here? What’s wrong?”
My lips twitched, more of a grimace than a smile. “Nothing. Nothing at all. If we run, they’ll hunt us down.”
“They’re coming for us either way, or have you not listened to a word they’ve said?” Joslyn lowered her head until she captured my gaze. Those brown eyes looked into my soul. She consumed all my desires, and swallowed all my fears. “You’re afraid for me.”
She flinched, and pursed those perfect lips. “I won’t go down without a fight. I won’t sit here and wait for them to…to…to hurt you. I can’t see that again. I can’t…”
Her fingers trembled. Nails scratched my cheek. A dark need closed in… I created this from the first moment I heard her. I forced the cause, and the effect was here, this very second with her words rebounding inside my head.
It was our actions that defined us. What we were willing to give another—what we’d take for ourselves, and what we were willing to die for.
I closed my eyes…she wanted to fight—so we’d fight.
If we were going to die—we’d do it on our own terms. “If we’re going do this, we do it my way.”
Her hood dropped to cover her eyes as she nodded.
“No arguing. No going off on your own, agreed?”
“Agreed.” She swept the leather back from her face. “Can’t you just burn the bars down? You’re a Dragon, right? Puff puff.”
I swallowed and stared at her.
Puff puff?
The Wretched coughed drawing my attention. Maybe it was that easy…maybe I could…I reached for him. His growl was quick, and brutal, echoing like distant thunder that spoke to words, back off… “That’s a no.”
She shook her head and sat back on her haunches. “Why does he hate you so much?”
Because of a million different reasons. “I betrayed him, tried to cut him out of my life. I couldn’t stand to listen to all the hate, all the violence…” I lifted my head, my voice echoed in the cells. “All the screaming.”
Tell her…tell her, you spineless bastard.
Tell her the truth.
Because you tried to kill me…that’s why I hate you. But I would…I would burn this place to the ground if it meant I could save her.
Why? I stared into Joslyn’s gaze and searched for the answer. What was it about her that filled me with this…need?
Do it…he snarled. Tell her. Reveal your lies… Tell her when you shattered our connection…you also shattered me…
A wave of hopelessness consumed me. Battlefield memories moved in—both of us had walked from the wreckage alive—but forever broken in ways I couldn’t comprehend.
I closed my eyes. It wasn’t a question of would he burn down these walls…it was a question of could he. I could shatter. I could crush…but what was a Dragon without the fire in his heart?
Nothing…his answer rebounded. A shell…half a Dragon…half a man…
“No.” My words were brutal. I swallowed regret like the poison it was and expected to taste blood. “We do this my way and Dragon?”
The snort of breath was all the acknowledgment I needed. “There will come a day when I make amends.”
Silence lingered in every crevice of my mind. That was okay. He could feign all the ignorance he wanted. I exhaled a breath I must’ve held for thousands of years. I’d taken the first step, but there were many more to go.
“So, I take it that’s a no?” Joslyn muttered.
I shook my head. “Not a no, exactly. More like a not now.”
She shoved against the ground and stood. “That’s good, we can take that. But it still leaves us with no plan.”
My mind was filled with one on one fights, of the very few fucking ways I could get one of them to open my door. And then that left the other wolf to kill without making a sound.
“I can do it,” Joslyn murmured.
I shook my head. No, that wasn’t happening. I wasn't putting her in danger.
The scuff of boots wrenched my gaze higher. One frantic glance to Joslyn and I knew she thought it too. She shrugged out of her jacket and dropped it onto the ground next to the bars. “Zadoc, I can do this.”
Shadows splashed against the cavern’s wall. I had no time to make a plan. No time to damn well think.
“No, Joslyn,” I whispered, but she was already gone, scurrying like a rodent toward the middle of the cell and dropping to her knees.
I rolled to my good side and climbed to my feet. The keys were already jangling, the captor’s steps already slowing. A whimper slipped free from where Joslyn lay. The sounds were punctured with heavy breaths and filled with pain.
Joslyn.
She curled her knees tighter. Tortuous sounds filled with anguish and agony incited the Wretched. My Dragon shuddered and sniffed the air, drawing in her scent, letting the soft musk of her body fill him along with the bitter taint of fear.
I pulled myself up as the wolf appeared through the bars at the end of the hall.
Her whimper tore free. “Please, help me. It’s the baby…there’s something wrong.”
I shook my head and winced. Muscles cramped at my side, making me weak. Minutes were all she needed…fucking minutes—but how?
A wave of panic flooded over me.
This wasn’t going to work—it was never going to work.
“Hey! Hey!” The wolf hollered, his eyes widened, steps stuttered.
A new wolf. A young wolf. A naive wolf.
Joslyn lifted her head and reached for him. “The baby, please, something’s wrong with my baby.”
His eyes widened, fingers fumbled as he shoved the key into the lock and turned, leaving the key
s. She was just a human. Just a fragile, pregnant human.
He charged in like a knight in this place called Hell and dropped to one knee. “What happened, what’s wrong with you? Jesus…the Huntress. I need to find her.”
He started to rise, until Joslyn reached out and grasped his hand. “No! Wait! My jacket. It’s too cold for the baby.”
The young wolf scanned the cells, lingering on me and then stopped at the dark mound at the end of her cell. There was something in his gaze, some kind of acceptance, as though he knew what was coming—as though he knew this would happen.
The feeling left me, just as quick as it came, smothered by the roar in my head, and the ache in my chest. One quick nod from the wolf and he was climbing to his feet. “Wait right there.”
He lunged for the rear of the cells. Just a second was all he’d take. Just a fucking second. I drove my heels into the ground and charged, stabbing my hands through the bars, reaching for the bastard. Give her time. Time to do what she needed to do. The Wretched was there, playing, fucking laughing. The sonofabitch thought this was a game.
My nails darkened, turning into black pointed talons to crest the end of my fingers. The wolf stopped, stumbled as I skimmed his shoulder with my nails. “Get away. Get away from me.”
The guttural growl from my Dragon was the only reply.
The cell door closed with a bang. The bars vibrated in my hands, echoing the tremble inside. I turned my head and backed away.
The wolf shot to his feet and spun. His lips curled. “Goddamn bitch! Let me out of here!”
Joslyn stood on the other side of the locked door with the keys in her hand, her eyes wide, skin pale. Trembled words spilled out. “I did it. I told you I could. I did it.”
The wolf rushed the door and slammed against the bars. “Let me out of here, or so help me I’ll…”
I made for the door as something dangerous echoed from my soul. “One more fucking word, wolf and I’ll skin you…without a goddamn knife.”
His mouth snapped shut.
The keys shook in her trembling hand, dragging me to where I needed to be.
“It’s okay,” I murmured. Her eyes were bright, too bright. Her breaths, short and sharp, punched in and out of her chest.
