“That’s going to bring the rain,” Calvin said.
I was pretty sure he didn’t mean clouds and a gentle patter of raindrops.
“Fuck.”
“Yeah.”
I bolted toward Rachel. As I drew close, all I saw was Antonio standing over her. He was yelling; she was holding a hand to her head.
Like he’d hit her.
Something in me snapped loose. I was on Antonio and strangling him before he could draw another breath.
“Lea, no!” Rachel touched my shoulder and the spell snapped. I backed off Antonio and shifted my attention to Rachel. There was a bruise growing on the side of her head. “Did he hit you?”
She grimaced. “Not like you’re thinking.” Damn, she was protecting him. I shot a glance at Ivan, who shrugged.
I scooped her up, slinging her onto my back. “Time to go. Rain is coming.”
Calvin nodded. “They’ll set the hounds on us.”
“How is that possible?” Antonio slowly got to his feet, rubbing his neck. “Are they not all dead in the explosion?”
Calvin and I shared a glance. I nodded. “Shadow men will not die in a fire, and they can still make things happen. Antonio, will you be riding the wolf or the vamp?”
“Riding?”
“We have to move fast,” Ivan said. “And you’re a slow-ass human.”
Rachel tightened her hold around my neck. “It’s not so bad, kind of a souped-up pony ride.”
Ivan laughed. “Souped-up, nice play on words.”
I felt her smile, and was more than a little freaked out by the way I was picking up on her movements and gestures. Was it the same for her? Or maybe it had something to do with the situation?
Ivan grabbed Antonio and slung him onto his back. “Tally ho!”
Rachel snorted and I took off as fast as I could. “I hate to say it... But I’m glad you brought the wolf. He’s been...a good addition.”
Why was she saying that now?
“Because I’m still not sure Antonio was a good idea. And Calvin gives me the fucking willies.”
I swallowed hard and did my best not to think any more questions. As long as she didn’t realize I hadn’t spoken out loud, maybe—
“Oh my God. You didn’t say anything, did you?”
I shook my head.
“Not now, Rachel. We’ll deal with this, but not now.”
“Why the fuck not?” she yelled.
“We’re being followed!” Ivan called out.
CHAPTER 34
RACHEL
I couldn’t stop to think about the implications of the fact that I’d heard Lea’s thoughts as clear as if she’d spoken them aloud. We had bigger issues—literally. The werewolves from hell were headed straight toward us, and I had a feeling we couldn’t fight these bad boys.
“How did they survive the explosion?” I asked.
“I suspect they were kept somewhere else.”
I still had the gun tucked in the back of my pants, so I pulled it out, then lifted it up to turn off the safety.
“A gun won’t kill them,” Lea shouted.
“It might if the bullets are silver.” It made sense. The guards worked in a facility that housed supernatural creatures, many of whom were not there on their own volition.
I leaned back, trying to take aim, but Lea’s steps weren’t exactly smooth and I was sure the shot had to be through the brain. It didn’t help that the back of my head throbbed where Antonio had hit me. But I had to do something fast. “Lea, they’re gaining on us.”
“Impossible.”
“Yet true.”
“How many?” She glanced at Ivan, who struggled to keep up, Antonio looking none too happy on his back. Calvin ran like he was out for a Sunday stroll, his face devoid of emotion.
“I can’t tell exactly. At least fifteen.”
“Not great odds.”
I snorted. “Since when do we do great odds?” I sucked in a breath, shocked at what I was about to suggest. “We need to stop and fight them. We’ll never outrun them. Antonio and I are slowing you two down. We stand a better chance taking them on face to face. It’s better than them grabbing us from behind.”
I could sense her emotions, her struggle to do what she thought would be safest for me. It was equally reassuring and alarming.
“We’re stopping,” she shouted to Ivan and Calvin. “Be prepared to fight. On the count of three.”
The glare Ivan shot her suggested he wasn’t a fan of this plan, but he gave a sharp nod.
“One,” Lea counted.
Antonio noticed my gun and prepared his. I briefly considered grabbing my knife out of my boot, but I couldn’t hold onto both weapons and Lea. The gun would work out of range of the werewolves’ claws and teeth, but I had to calm my nerves and steady my hands. It all depended on my aim, how many bullets I had, and if they were silver. There were a lot of ifs there.
God, I hoped I’d made the right choice.
“Two.”
Antonio shot me a cocky grin that said, You can do this.
Damn right I could.
“Three.”
Lea turned sideways so my right hand aimed forward as she skidded to a halt, sending a plume of dirt into the air around us. The dust filled my nose and stung my eyes, but I didn’t dare blink in case I missed my opportunity.
I lifted my gun and aimed for the eye of a werewolf approaching us at full speed.
Doing my best to keep the gun steady, I squeezed.
The recoil jolted my arm. The werewolf continued his forward momentum—spittle hanging from his open mouth, sharp claws out, ready to grab me—and for one horrifying moment, I wondered if I’d made the wrong call. But his body was just several seconds behind the misfiring dying synapses in his brain. His feet twisted beneath him and he fell forward, his body skidding on the ground to a stop.
Confused, two werewolves behind him looked at him, then stared at us, their eyes glowing red. They were pissed.
“One down,” Lea said as I jumped to the ground and lifted my gun. “Fourteen to go. You take the one on the left.”
“Got it.”
She pulled out a short blade, her face looking like a statue of an Amazon warrior.
I took careful aim at my mark and squeezed the trigger just as Lea leapt onto the back of her attacker and jabbed it in the eye with her stake, digging deep.
Antonio had shot several rounds from his semi-automatic rifle, but the werewolf he’d targeted just looked pissed. Not a good thing.
“You’re the only one with silver,” Antonio shouted as he evaded the reach of another werewolf. “Make them count, Rachel.”
The problem was I had no idea how many bullets I had left.
Ivan was in a tangled mess with two werewolves. Even Calvin was in a fight with a werewolf, although I still didn’t trust him.
Another werewolf bounded for me, and I stood my ground as I aimed and shot. The werewolf fell, its body skidding to a halt at my feet.
Lea was in her own messy situation. I tried to see if I could take a shot at one of her attackers, but they were too close to her, not to mention their movements were too jerky to allow me a clean shot.
“Rachel!” Antonio shouted. “Behind you!”
I crouched and spun on the balls of my feet, staring up into the face of a snarling werewolf. I grabbed the knife from my boot with my left hand and swung it up, slashing the creature’s throat. While I knew that wouldn’t kill it, the wound might slow it down. I gagged as the smell of rotting flesh filled my nose. Its claw was in a downward arc toward my face.
Then there was a blur of movement behind me, and someone tackled the beast to the ground. I gaped in shock when I realized it was Calvin.
Had he really just saved me?
I didn’t have time to dwell on it. Another werewolf was already charging toward me. I picked up my gun, forcing my nerves into submission after my close call, and squeezed.
Nothing.
My heart rate incr
easing, I squeezed again. Still nothing.
“I’m out of bullets!” In a desperate move that was probably foolish as hell, I threw my silver blade for the werewolf’s head, using every ounce of strength I had.
Unbelievably, the blade jammed in its eye socket and the creature fell into a heap, my blade buried somewhere underneath it.
Calvin ripped off the jaw of the werewolf he’d knocked off me, then reached deep into its head through its mouth and pulled out something I was fairly certain was the werewolf’s brain.
He turned his cold eyes on me.
I stood, tossing my now-useless gun aside as I edged toward the werewolf I’d just killed. It was then I realized we were a good twenty feet away from the others, all of whom were busy in battles of their own. We were next to a transport truck I hadn’t noticed before. “Get away from me, Calvin.”
“I just saved your life.”
And while that was undeniably true, the glint in his eyes told me he had an ulterior motive. “Is this the part where I’m supposed to say thank you?”
He grinned, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Probably not. Death by werewolf would have been better.”
“What the hell do you want?”
“You stole her from me.”
“Who? Lea?” His non-answer was enough. “Are you shitting me? We’re doing this now? Here?”
He continued to advance and I edged closer to the werewolf I’d killed. I had to retrieve my blade. “Here and now is perfect.” He was ten feet away, stalking toward me like the perfect predator.
“It didn’t take you long to adapt to becoming a vampire.” I rolled the creature over with the toe of my boot, keeping my eyes on Calvin as I squatted and pulled my blade free.
His grin was more genuine. “I’ve watched the best for decades.”
He slid to the side when I stood, blocking me from the others, driving me toward the truck. “What do you want from me, Calvin? I’m sorry you became a vampire. I’m even sorrier if you blame me for it after you begged me to kill you to keep it from happening.”
“No,” he said earnestly. “I was wrong. Today has been a revelation to me. Turns out becoming a vampire was the best thing that ever happened to me. I wasted so many years blaming Lea for being what she was, when in truth, she’s beautiful in every way.”
“You love her.”
“Yes, more than you could possibly understand. We would be the perfect match, the perfect mates.”
I wanted to ask him why he’d treated her like shit for years if he really loved her so much. “Ivan might have a thing or two to say about that.”
He scoffed. “She could never love him. He’s a dalliance. A distraction after losing me. But now I’m here and I’m hers.”
“So go get her. Help her fight off the werewolves instead of acting like an angsty middle-schooler with a crush. Do you want me to ask her if she wants to go steady with you?”
“No. I want you dead.”
I felt so, so stupid. How had I not seen this? The trap. His real plan. We were behind the truck now, hidden from the others’ view.
“You feel threatened by me.”
“Not feel, Rachel. I am. You have a bond with her that will prevent me from being her true partner.”
I lifted my hands in surrender. “Hey, whatever you’re thinking is off-base. I don’t swing that way.”
He moved closer and I held the blade in a defensive stance.
“It’s deeper than sex, Rachel. You have a true blood bond she never shared with me.”
“Because you fucking wouldn’t let her, you uptight prick. You broke her heart for decades and now you think she’s just going to start something with you? Because you changed your mind?” I was pissed as hell on her behalf.
“I’ve seen the error of my ways. I love her. Love her with a depth you could never understand, but Lea and I will never share a true bond if you stand in the way. So I need to eliminate you. Stravinsky made me special. I’m stronger and more durable than any other vampire created. With Lea by my side, no one will be able to defeat us. We can rule the world for eternity.”
“Then you never really knew her at all,” I spat. “Because that’s the last thing she would want.”
He was only two feet away now, and he bared his teeth, his fangs glistening in the moonlight. “I would tell you this wouldn’t hurt, but that would be a lie,” he sneered. “I want it to hurt. I want you to pay for stealing her from me.”
I swung my blade upward at his chest, but his hand darted out too fast to see, knocking the knife from my hand hard enough to break the bones. It clattered against the side of the truck.
He slammed me against the truck, his hand around my throat. Bright lights shot through my vision as the already sore spot on the back of my head screamed with pain. I gasped for breath, clawing at his arm, but he just grinned, showing me his other hand. Claws sprang from his fingertips.
“I can make this look like an unfortunate werewolf attack.” He slashed at my right arm. “And Lea will never know the truth.”
Hot burning pain filled my bicep, but my scream was stifled from my constricted airflow.
He tilted his head. “I could go for the humane kill—a deep slash to the gut—but where’s the fun in that? I’ve learned I like to play with my victims.”
He slashed at my left leg, tearing through fabric and flesh. Blackness had replaced the bright lights, and my lungs were burning from the lack of air. I tried to kick him, but my un-oxygenated muscles lacked the coordination to make it effective.
He grinned as he lifted me to eye level, my feet dangling beneath me. “Naughty girl. I would love to play longer, but I think it’s time for the kill.”
“You’re fucking out of time, all right,” Lea growled as she crashed into him, throwing him sideways to the ground.
I could feel the fury radiating from her as she smashed his head with her fist, over and over until his grasp on my neck loosened.
Strong hands pulled me away from the now blurry pile, and I breathed deeply, trying to refill my lungs as tears stung my eyes.
Antonio swung me up into his arms, strode to the side and handed me to Ivan.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Ivan asked, gently taking me.
“I’m going to fucking kill him.”
Ivan’s smile was grim. “I think you’ll have to fight Lea for it.”
CHAPTER 35
LEA
Calvin jerked in my hands, but I tightened my grip on his forearm until the bones ground together. He stared up at me. “Kill her, Lea. She’s the only thing between us.”
I saw it in him, something that happened to many young vampires. He was not the Calvin I’d known; his mind had cracked under the strain of the change, and I’d been too stupid and blind to see it. There was no way I could let him go now, not like this. And there was only one way to truly help him—to honor the person he’d been.
I pulled him with me, dragging him toward the carnage of the werewolves. Back the way we’d come, a second chorus of howls lit up the night air. “How many more are coming, Cal?” As I purred the words, I could hear Rachel barking something at me. She wanted to know what I was doing, and I couldn’t blame her. He would have taken her life if I’d gotten there a moment later.
Killing him kindly. His mind is broken.
I knew she didn’t fully understand what I meant, but she relaxed—which allowed me to focus. Whatever information Calvin had, I wanted. It might just save us. But that would mean drinking him down. I pushed him to his knees. “I’m going to bind you to me.”
His eyes lit up, like a child in candy store.
I ran a hand over his head and tightened my grip on his hair, tipping his head sideways. I didn’t give him warning, but I softened the bite and pushed a sense of pleasure into it. A final goodbye. He sighed and dug his fingers into my waist, gripping me hard.
His memories flowed through me. I saw myself through his eyes, the mix of love and hate, of pride and
disgust he’d felt for me throughout the long years we’d spent together. And then the night Stravinsky had turned him and broken his mind, how he’d put him back together just enough to function.
An image of the old man he’d been wavered in my mind, the old man I’d loved with all I’d been able to give him.
“You’ve done good, Lea. You have. Don’t forget it, no matter what happens. You were right to bind her to you. It’s the only way you’ll both survive this. I never really was a good bond, I know that.” He let out a sigh and snorted. “Go on, save your friends.”
“You are my friend, too.”
“I know. Now get the fuck out of here, bloodsucker. Go save the world; that’s your job now.”
I jerked my mouth off his neck. His heart was still beating, but it faded fast. Judging by the sound, the second pack was at best a mile away. I drew my silver stake and drove it through Calvin’s heart, twisting it once for good measure. “Goodbye.”
I ran from him, tucking the blade back into my boot as I moved. I scooped up Rachel as I went by, ignoring Antonio’s protest that he could carry her. “More wolves.”
“Yeah, we heard. Calvin?” Rachel asked.
“Dead.”
“For sure this time?”
“I drank him down.”
Ivan grunted. “His memories, was there anything in there to help us?”
Fuck, I’d barely paid attention to that. I fast-forwarded through the last weeks of his life as we bolted across the desert. “There’s an oasis up ahead. Weapons and the antidote to the toxin are stashed there.”
“Now, that’s what I like to hear,” Antonio said.
A trickle of concern rolled between Rachel and me. I nodded. “Yeah, some of Stravinsky’s boys could be lying in wait. But that could work in our favor. The pack behind us is big.”
“How big are we talking, and how the fuck can you tell?” Rachel spat out, the words jarred by the bumping of my stride—which also made her wince with pain I could feel as if it were my own. I looked at Ivan and gave him a nod.
“The howls are the Alphas calling their packs to them,” he said. “There was at least four sets of howls.”
Replica (The Blood Borne Series Book 2) Page 20
