by Kim Faulks
But there was no way I could. I fought for her once before, and I’d do it again…I shook my head. I’d fight for her for all eternity. For just one more look from those cold, deadly eyes.
My heart was thundering, filled with purpose as I broke his hold. “I’ll be there. But I need to make sure she’s safe.”
Betrayal shone just as bright as a clear summer’s day. He dropped his hand and took a step backwards as Zadoc lunged for the trees. X followed. Evander crouched, heaved the Vampire from the ground, his long strides quickening as he sprinted toward the others, leaving Marcus behind. Dark eyes glinted as my eldest brother spoke. “She’s lying to us, and she’s a threat. Choose your side carefully, brother.”
And then he was gone, turning to sprint toward the others, leaving me standing there…with my heart wanting to go one way, and my sense of loyalty the other.
I took a step toward them and stilled. Fight her all you want…brother. It’ll do no good. She’s under your skin…and my scales. “Fuck,” I snapped, turned and sprinted toward the goddamn creepy caverns.
The dead wolves haunted me…one in particular. Immortal—that word meant something. It wasn’t possible for a beast to drop dead like that, and as I raced toward the Shadistin entrance the nagging feeling grew.
The ground blurred, trees all looked the same. I let instinct guide me until hard granite replaced the soft forest floor. I slowed to a jog, sucking the night air and dropped into the open stone floor to the entrance.
I blinked, and stared into the darkness until my damn eyes watered. There was no moonlight down here to pave my way, no sparkle of stars to stop me from…
I pitched forward, slamming my hand out to smack hard stone. Agony roared through my bones and welled in my joints. I scurried more than stepped, making my way like a damn spider along the steep fall and into the cavern.
Memories of the cave’s terrain came to me; I worked my way carefully across the floor until my boots kicked something hard. One tap of the front of my boot and I found the first step. This I knew. I lunged, taking as many as I could and stopped at the heavy stone door.
The thud of my heart shuddered my damn chest. I waited, pressing my palm against the dust riddled barrier and gave a shove. There was nothing but the endless quiet, until with a jolt the door moved under my hand.
Stone ground on stone. I sucked in the filth and the dust and pushed in until pale skin shone in the dark. A hand hit the middle of my chest to stop me cold. “Go away, Guardian. You’re not wanted here tonight.”
I shook my head. Fear filled me…was Eva hurt? Was she killed? “The Princess,” I murmured. “I need to see her.”
The scent of old blood wafted into my nose, making my gut churn. “We don’t know where she is. The Prince…the Prince…”
My growl echoed around me as I took a step, buckling the Vampire’s arm. “What about the damn Prince?”
The damn undead never answered…only waited, until the strike of a match flared to life. The brush torch swallowed the flame, lightning up the dark cavern and my escort.
He stared at me with a battle raging in his gaze. Secrets waited on the end of his tongue, one I was about to rip out of his damn mouth.
“All I want is her.” I took a step, meeting his bottomless gaze. “I don’t care about anyone, or anything else. Your business is your business, Vampire. I’m just here for the Princess.”
There was a twitch at the corner of his eye. He turned his head, stared into the darkness and then gave one small nod. Post haste, motherfucker.
I matched his long strides, until both of us were almost at a run. The tunnel blurred under a haze of panic. An ache welled in the center of my chest and flared to life just like the damn torch as the memory of Eva at the mountain came to life.
Have you ever known hunger?
A whimper burned the back of my throat.
The kind that makes you desperate—makes you do things you’d never dream of doing?
I’d known that hunger once, until it died away. Eva’s blood splattered dark hair filled my mind as I lengthened my stride. The strands slipped through my fingers. Her skin…Christ…In my mind I touched her face, her cheek and the hunger raged, until she was all I could taste, until she was all I hungered for.
I tucked my wings in hard against my spine until the tight tunnel gave way for the arena. Fire pits still burned along the floor of this stony theater. My gaze found the stairs, and searched for the stain of blood. She’d been fucking merciless as she swung that sword, and the kind of ruler the Shadistin race needed.
I mounted the stairs and strode through the hallway to the private rooms, leaving the memory of the beheading behind. Stones and skulls still sat around the edges of the ritual circles. I tore my gaze from them finding the warm glow farther along the walkway.
I passed the sitting room where we spoke with the Prince, and kept going until the orange glow danced against the doorway, stilling my steps. I turned to glance over my shoulder at the lean Vampire. Shadows bounced against his shaved head as he gave a nod, urging me forward.
“Prince,” a weak croak slipped from my lips. I turned sideways, moving into the room one wing at a damn time and tried again. “Prince Austine.”
There was no answer, not even a damn sound. I moved in, finding the fire raging and the back of the Prince. “Can you hear me?”
He straightened with my words, and then turned. My gut tightened at the darkness of his wide eyes. His lips trembled as he shook his head. “I could…couldn’t stay there. I left her.”
My damn heart lunged as I closed the distance. “You left her where?”
He flinched, scurried backwards like the spineless piece of shit he was. Prince or no Prince, I’d kill him. I’d show him there was someone other than his sister to fear. “Where did you leave her?”
Still he shook his head, even as I gripped the collar of his damp shirt and wrenched him close. “Where the fuck did you leave her?”
“With the wolves…” The trembled words slipped free. “I left her with the wolves.”
I dropped my hands and took a step backwards. The words slipped free like the tip of a blade. “You left your own sister? What kind of fucking man are you?”
There was a fear in his eyes, and something else. Something that glinted of cruelty….
Mindless, cruel, fucking cunning.
There was nothing left for me here. Nothing but weakness. I turned and strode from the room, leaving the Shadistin world behind.
And with every slam of my boots against this stony path a growing feeling took over. Haruin’s wolves were here for a reason. The Huntress was here for a fucking reason. I strode through the doorway and lunged down the stairs making my way to the tunnel once more.
My bald companion waited with the lantern held high. Anger coiled in my gut like a fucking snake. He knew his Prince was a fucking weakling. He knew he wasn’t the leader they needed, and yet they did nothing to protect her. They did nothing but wait down here in their fucking stony tomb.
Except for Gabriel.
The warrior had been hurt… Had he taken the Prince’s place and protected Eva? The warrior respected her, feared her… Hell, in a way I think he almost loved her.
Loyal fucking sonofabitch.
He would have answers…good or bad. He’d tell me the truth. I never slowed as the opening echoed. My undead companion held out the lantern and whispered. “Find her, Guardian. Bring her back to us.”
I grasped the wooden stave and raced down the stairs, working my way out of the cavern. I cast my wings wide and heaved. Wind buffeted, stealing the stony floor from under my feet until I scurried from the underground lair and into the forest once more.
My body was tired, legs heavy and weak. But my will raged like a damn inferno, driving my boots into the ground, and under the clearing storm I headed for home.
Twigs snagged my torn shirt and scratched my eyes. I felt nothing but the icy air in my lungs and the fire in my heart. Black obsidian became my wor
ld as the beast took over pushing this human body harder than I could. The ache to shift was like a damn climax. I climbed, pushed, pumping my fucking thighs but the Archer kept it out of reach, using the desire to spear me through the forest until the familiar slowed my pace.
I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t slow. Couldn’t do a damn thing but hurl myself across the stony driveway, past the scratched-up stolen Mustang, and barreled through the front door.
The crowded dining room all turned and stared at the goddamn madman who crashed through the front door. I stared, blinked with the glare—and tried to find the bundle of black. “Th…”
The word was a hiss of air. I worked my thick tongue, trying to find moisture in my mouth before I tried again. “Thorn.”
“She’s safe,” Marcus growled. His hair was disheveled; sweat still gleamed on his skin. His knees locked and let go as he stumbled toward me and gripped my shoulder. “She’s okay.”
“Of course she’s okay,” Xael answered. She never snarled, never even raised her voice—but she didn’t need to. Her chilling words whispered of a dark promise. “You think I’d let someone take what’s mine? Think again.”
I nodded, doubled over and tried to find my lungs in the fire of my chest.
“The Princess?” Marcus urged, dragging my head upward once more.
“She’s not there.” Hate spilled from my lips as I turned to my sister. “But the Prince is. Said he left her to fight the wolves on her own.”
There was a glint in her eyes, one that stole the burn from my lungs.
I’d never leave her…never betray her—even at the risk of being hated by my own kin. And it was this knowing that shone from my sister’s gaze. We held a secret…we held a pact—one that would outlast our immortal lives.
“The Huntress never came,” Marcus broke in. “We waited, but there’s nothing.”
“Not yet,” Alpha growled. “But that doesn’t mean the bitch won’t come. She can’t just disappear like that. It doesn’t feel right.”
I nodded and tried to find feeling in my leaden legs. “Thorn?”
Alpha jerked his head toward the rear of the house. “With Joslyn, Doc. We’ve got this place surrounded. If she’s coming, we’re going to know about it.”
And in this moment it was enough. I leaned against the wall. My breaths slowed…we waited…
Waited while the sun peeked over the horizon.
Waited while it rose in the sky.
Waited while the wolves moved through the house around us.
And we sat at the table and watched the door.
24
Eva
My body twitched. Blood flowed, and pain followed.
Fire lashed along my arm, and cut into bone. I swallowed a whimper and cracked open my eyes. The heady scent of warm blood filled me. Screams replaced shrouded memories. Terrible unmerciful screams.
Wolves…wolves and Gabriel. My stomach clenched, driving Acheron’s touch from my mind and the empty void of my memory widened.
Acid rose in the back of my throat turning my voice husky and raw. “Where am I? What did you do to me?”
But the sonofabitch was quiet now. Leaving me to stare at the dappled light that filtered down from overhead. Leaves rustled above me, the cold earth cupped my ass. I was in the forest, the storm…now long gone. Crimson sparkled bright and fresh, drawing my focus down.
A gash opened my right arm from elbow to wrist, black blood seeped through. The other was blistered and broken. Skin split, and peeling, all the way to bone.
It wasn’t my blood that shone neon against my skin. I licked my lips and swallowed—and it wasn’t my blood that welled in the back of my throat. I swallowed a whimper and leaned to the side. Strands of hair pulled taut until they snapped. I held on, dropping my head to rest while the wave of agony reared. Darkness crowded in, threatening to take me down to the ground.
I wonder what will break first…your spirit, or your body?
I wrenched my head upward. The words rang clear. “Who’s there?”
The wind answered, whipping through the branches overhead. I pushed, dragging one knee up until my boot slammed into the ground.
A moan slipped free as pain sank its fangs into my back. My muscles screamed as I drove my body upward and waited. The gnarled trunk wavered. I speared fingers into the wood, and held on…I could make it…
Rule, my Queen…rule them all.
Gabriel’s voice burned, pushing the pain aside. I shoved, stumbled, feet found momentum and kept on going. Sunlight danced like sparks of perfection in my gaze and the harder I looked, the more real they became. Energy surged from the heavy thud in my chest.
I followed those sparks of sunlight and with each step the pain sank into the darkness of my mind. Gabriel’s words lingered, urging me forward as I slipped over mossy logs and through the trickling brook.
Queen…Queen…Queen.
My brother left me. He left me out there to die.
A dark chasm waited. Death no longer dwelled there. It oozed from my skin, it pounded with my heart. I pushed through the trees, and crawled when I fell. Rocks slipped behind me, as I scurried and climbed, still I kept on moving until the sun rose high in the sky and slipped from its throne until I stilled…unable to walk anymore.
A red laser blinked, dancing on my ruined arm. I lifted my hand, watching the glow bounce and settle in the middle of my chest. I knew what it was, death hovered a hair-trigger away… The thought was gone as my knee buckled and I hit the ground.
I had nothing, no fire, no darkness. I lay there, staring at the ground, listening to the slow crunch of boots on pine needles, until a shadow stole the sun. I rolled my head, my top lip curled from long fangs as the human came into view.
“I could kill you,” I whispered. “Faster than you could aim that gun.”
Khaki green filled my view as the human crouched, rifle in hand, and answered with the stony voice of a killer. “I know. But you won’t will you?”
My lip trembled as I stared into his hard gaze. There was no fight, and even if I wanted to I wouldn’t hurt him…I wouldn’t hurt any of them. My lips stuck, and then rolled, falling back into place.
“That’s what I thought,” he answered and then looked down at my body.
His breath quickened, and that steady thud of his heart surged. Still this mortal fought the panic, taking his time to find my gaze. “Your eyes are different, Princess, and I don’t quite like how they feel on my damn soul”
I blinked and looked away, finding the sunlight through the trees as he crawled his fingers under my shoulder.
“I’m going to lift you now,” he growled and moved closer. “And you’re going to try not to scream.”
Agony roared with the movement, taking a sledgehammer to my chest. He gripped my arms and lifted. A scream tore along my throat. I clenched my jaw as his hands slipped under my legs. Sunlight glinted, filling my eyes with the blinding blur as the fetid taste of my own blood filled my mouth. He took a step, and then another.
My lips trembled. A whimper slipped free.
The bang of a door ripped through the air, heavy boots followed, racing toward me.
“What the fuck? Eva…Eva! Get your hands off her!”
I closed my eyes with the familiar growl and he was there, his hands, his scent. His darkness. “Archer.” The word slipped free and the undead flesh in my heart took flight.
The bitter tang of fear flared for a second before the scent died away. I opened my eyes to the soldier as his hand slipped from my lower back. There was a hardness in his gaze, an emptiness…loner, the word floated before it was gone.
“Jesus Christ, your eyes…what the Hell happened to you?”
I turned my head, leaving the Marine behind and found something I never thought I’d see…a Guardian in full panic.
The white mammoth house reared behind him as he turned. My stomach hardened. Fear sped my heart. The undead muscle tightened until all I could feel was the lump in my throat
. I shook my head and clawed for his arm. “No…not in there.”
I kicked my feet, finding a surge of power.
He gripped my thighs as I thrashed. “Hey, easy…wait. Wait a goddamn minute.”
“No…not in there. Not with them…”
The Bloodletter filled the doorway. His hard gaze on me. I couldn’t be here. Couldn’t…be.
“Lucas!” Marcus roared.
I tried to tell you… I gripped his arm as he dropped his gaze.
“Bring her in here!” the Bloodletter finished.
You found me…
The Archer whispered in my head, and I was spellbound, held by the silver flames in his dark eyes as the Guardian leaned close. “It’s okay,” Lucas murmured and pulled me close.
But another voice finished whispering through me. No one will hurt you, not while I’m here.
A moan trembled my lips. “I can walk. Lucas…I need to walk.”
He stepped onto the landing and stopped. His big hand steadied my arm as he eased my feet to the ground. A wave of dizziness hit me, but then passed. “I’m okay.”
Those silver flames burned brighter.
“I’m okay,” I murmured and stared up at the Bloodletter.
She called me without words, her pain…her rage. I took a small step and listed to the side. Lucas’s grip tightened as I reached for the door. I pushed in, past the Bloodletter as he stepped to the side.
I knew the layout of this house. Knew where the child’s room had been, but it wasn’t to that room she called me. Lucas’s hand fell from my arm as I turned right and made my way along the hallway past the dining room and the kitchen.
Darkness and Death pulled me along the hallway. A door stood open, books lined the shelves…a study.
I kept on moving, past closed doors to the end of the hall.
“Princess,” Lucas warned me, but I was already gripping the handle and bearing down.
Their hurt was a riptide, coming up from underneath to pull me down. I clawed for the door and found a warm hand. Lucas gripped me tight as the Wretched turned.
Fresh tears glistened on his cheek. Dark eyes flared as he met mine, but then there was nothing but hurt…nothing but empty rage.
