by Dannika Dark
“Yes, come in!” he said in a hurried voice.
I moved slowly until my foot tapped against someone. “Take the keys, they’re in my hand.”
“Hey, we’re in here!” a voice shouted from the other side of the hall.
Irritated, I turned around and glared. “I’m here to save you, so could you please shut the hell up?” With my chains removed, my abilities were returning, and I sensed human energy. It was weak, like a dying battery.
A scrawny man emerged from the room. By the looks of his dirty hair and long beard, he had been in captivity for a long time. Ray ignored me and unlocked the door to the adjacent cell. A moment later, a young blonde stepped out with an expression as blank as a chalkboard.
He saw me staring at the room where people were rustling around. It didn’t sound like Nero chained them up, but why should he? “Leave them here. They’re human and won’t get far.”
“I’m not leaving them. He may not have a Creator, but if he finds a replacement, then their lives will be at his disposal. Look, just give me the key.”
“Give her the key, asshole!” one of the humans spat.
“Shut the hell up!” I hissed. “If you want the guards to tie you to a tree and sprinkle blood all over you to attract wild animals, just keep on yelling.”
My sympathy card was played.
“I’ll yell at the top of my lungs if you don’t open the goddamn door,” he challenged.
Ray tossed me the key and the second the door unlocked, three humans knocked me over and took off.
“Do you need my light?” Ray asked, looking down at my feet and the way I leaned to the side.
He was a seasoned Mage, but when I looked at his gaunt features, I decided not to take from his already depleted light.
“No, we don’t have time to waste.”
Ray dropped to one knee and held my foot. A feathery blue light skimmed the surface of my skin, numbing the pain. It didn’t heal all the way, but it was enough.
We scattered across the property like leaves.
“Have you ever flashed before?” I yelled at Ray.
“Of course! I was Samil’s Learner before he gave me over to Nero.”
That chilling revelation stopped me dead in my tracks. The man who beat me in a basement had a progeny he tried to teach?
“You were his Learner?”
Ray pulled Cheri by the hand, glancing back. “Of course. Unlike the others, I’m a man.”
I blinked, and tilted my head. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Men are more valuable than women as progeny. Creators expect loyalty, so the older ones consider it strength building to have men below them—like having their own small army. They see women as more trouble than they’re worth.”
“Well if that isn’t the most sexist—”
“We don’t have time to debate,” he said, cutting the air with his hand.
I shook off a chill and looked back. “What about her? Can she flash?”
“Give me a minute and I’ll work with her.”
I looked for landmarks while Ray gave Cheri a crash course in flashing. The forest was a thick maze of distorted trees and biting vines. Within a minute or two, I was impressed to see the girl could move like a Mage.
I ripped a hole through my shirt with a broken stick, tying strips around branches as we flashed through the dark woods. It was the only idea that sprang to mind in case we needed to retrace our steps.
The hill was a terrible experience. Each time I lost traction and my foot slipped, a terrible pain gripped me. I staggered and fell to my knees when we reached the top, tempted to kiss the dirty asphalt. A road was a symbol of hope, even if I didn’t know where it would take me.
“I need to contact a Mage. Can you keep a lookout?”
Ray nodded.
***
I spent less than a minute at the Grey Veil. Ray knew the name of the road, so I relayed the information to Justus, along with the mile marker. The temptation to go back and confront Nero was strong, but he didn’t live on the property. According to Finn, Nero owned a multitude of homes.
We flew up the road like a flame racing over kerosene.
Ray’s pace slowed to a crawl. “We need to stop. None of us are in a condition to keep this up.”
“We can’t,” I panted. “We’ve got to keep moving. If he has trackers on us, then it won’t be long before they catch up.”
“It’ll take time for the guards to find us.”
“Nero has a history of hiring Chitah. Do you want to take that chance?”
Ray blanched and tugged at Cheri. “Come on.”
The pavement was unforgiving—each step becoming a test in faith.
“What’s your name?” Ray coughed.
“Silver.”
He slowed down, tugging at his beard. “So you’re the one.”
I frowned. “The one?”
“Nero talks about you. We heard you were responsible for Samil’s death.”
He extended his arm and I stepped back. “I want to shake the hand of the person who killed him.”
I shook my head. Ray was his Learner, and maybe he felt the same way I did about Samil, but I didn’t know him well enough to trust if he was baiting me or not. “That’s not our custom, Ray. And I didn’t kill Samil. Come on. Let’s keep moving.”
Headlights sprang up from behind, illuminating us like a guilty party. We sensed the energy moving in our direction. They were flaring on purpose.
“You two get out of here. My friends will be coming soon. Just go!”
Ray grabbed Cheri by the arm and ran. I faced the oncoming car giving the appearance of a panicked woman when the high beams flipped on. I darted off the road into the woods, hearing several doors open behind me.
It was futile to outrun them. In the dim light of the moon, I searched for a tree with low branches, as hiding out seemed a better option.
When I found one, I hoisted myself up. I scaled that tree in one minute flat, thanks to my formative years as a seven-year-old wannabe Olympian. Strength training with Justus also provided me with the endurance to push myself when I thought I couldn’t go on.
The bark scraped my arms and feet, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop.
Perched high on a branch, I pressed my body against the aging tree. I saw blackness below, and guessed I had climbed at least two or three stories. My stomach knotted as figures moved through the brush, so I silenced my heavy breaths.
“That way,” someone shouted.
Energy radiated from all directions. My breath caught when voices drifted up from below.
“I don’t know. I mean… I can feel her.”
“Circle that way,” the other said. “She’s holed up somewhere.”
I panicked because my energy was leaking.
A gunshot shattered the silence, and I clawed the tree to keep from falling.
“What the hell are you doing?” someone shouted.
“She’s up there. Look. You see her now? Just above the branch… to the right.”
“Fuck me,” a voice exclaimed. “How did she get up that high?”
“I don’t know, but I’m not going after her if you catch my meaning.”
I heard the safety release. Another gunshot fired. This time, the branch above me cracked as the bullet flew by.
“I haven’t had a good target practice in a while. How many bullets you got on you?”
When the third shot exploded, I involuntarily screamed. That one grazed my leg. They laughed as if they were at a carnival, and I was the target.
“It’s my turn. Let me try.”
“I think I got her that time.”
Another shot fired off, followed by a high pitch laugh.
The air charged with energy, and the hairs on my arms stood up. In the distance, something was tearing through the forest, growing louder and louder like an oncoming locomotive until it collided with one of the men.
A blood-curdling scream cut off, followed by
a terrible silence. Then more struggling as the gun went off again.
Twigs cracked in the silence as something circled the tree below me.
A chilly breeze rustled through the branches, and a few strands of hair licked around my neck. I suppressed a shiver, remaining as lifeless as a statue. The tree became my best friend as I hugged against the rough grooves of the bark.
Whatever found us was deadly, and I wasn’t about to take any chances. I lived in a new world now, where monsters were real.
My muscles were shaking when I heard the crack of wood below. It was climbing up.
It was coming to get me.
My heart hammered against my chest so insistently that I became dizzy. It moved closer, and the branches creaked until it was directly below me. I had nowhere to go, and my energy was not restored enough to give me any form of self-defense after the flashing.
I thought it would be Justus who would come to get me, but Logan was every bit the tracker he professed to be. With unbelievable agility, Logan swiftly pulled himself up to my branch.
“Don’t ever say I didn’t go out on a limb for you.”
My teary eyes were wide with fear, and his humored expression quickly faded.
“Put your arms around my neck,” he said, turning himself about and gripping a branch overhead. He angled his body so I could piggyback off him. “Do as I say, and hold on tight.”
I spread over his back and he reached around, pulling my legs one at a time until Logan was the only thing holding me up. I looked down nervously, and nestled my face in his hair. He sensed my fear and turned his head so that our cheeks touched. “Do not be afraid, female. You’re safe with me,” he said.
“I can’t hold on, Logan. I’m going to fall.” Heights terrified me.
“You have my word that I will never let you fall.”
Logan pushed himself away from the tree and we sailed through the air to a lower branch of another tree. The impact loosened my grip, but his arm swiftly locked around me.
He leapt to a lower branch and I let go. Logan caught me by one arm as I swung in midair. His hand was an iron grip that would not let go—as promised. With impossible determination, he lifted me into his arms. My entire body shook, like one of those leaves trying desperately to hold on to the tree. All the worry melted away when his soft lips kissed my neck just seconds before he jumped. We hit the ground, and a rush of air punched out of my lungs.
Logan buried his face in my neck, rolling me on my side. A strong vibration rose within his chest and the full force of his scent embraced me. This time, I did not push away, but pulled myself in tighter.
“Logan, are you alone?”
His voice was just a whisper, but it unleashed a chaos in my soul.
“Not anymore.”
He carried me in his arms, running through the woods at an uncalculated speed. I was uncertain of our direction, but I knew one thing with perfect clarity: I was in the arms of a man who loved me.
Chapter 31
“What is it?” I whispered.
He fell to one knee and scanned the woods. I slipped off his back and sat down.
“How many are out there?”
“At least eight. Subtract the three I put in a coma.” He flicked a glance at me and read my mind. “Yes, they still live. The one that tangled with Justus wasn’t so lucky, but he was a pain in the drain.”
“Who else is with you?”
Logan lifted his chin, opened his mouth, and captured a breath. “Where are you hurt?”
He smelled the blood. The earth crunched beneath me when I shifted my body.
“As much as I’d love you to lick me, I’m not coming out of these jeans.”
“Maybe not now, but you will later on.”
“One of the bullets scraped my leg and my feet hurt; I’ll just slow us down.”
He slung me over his back as if I weighed nothing. We hit Chitah run in a few strides, but it didn’t last long. I flew off, flipping over several times until I slammed into a tree.
I spit a leaf out of my mouth and looked up to see what happened. Two men were closing in on us. Logan faced off with one of them, while the other Mage moved to the side, walking in my direction.
In the pale moonlight, Logan’s eyes were wide and animalistic. All four incisors gleamed as the men considered their strategy.
The Mage swiped his arm and Logan ducked. I heard a blade slice through the air with chilling intent.
I pulled myself up to fight when Logan shoved me to the ground and forced himself over me.
“Don’t you dare!” I shouted.
That’s when I saw them. His eyes were as black as midnight ashes. Logan was no longer present—replaced by the primal creature that lived within him. Not a single fleck of gold remained.
“Logan, let me up!”
I reached out to the man with the knife, trying to pull the blade, but the metal would not yield. It was made of something I couldn’t manipulate the energy from, or it was tempered with magic.
The Mage on our right tossed a flashlight to the ground, blinding us. He made a quick move and Logan lunged at him, shouting out when the other Mage plunged the knife into his side.
I screamed.
“Keep it up. We can get him this way!” one of them said.
They cut him again.
As fresh blood trickled down his arm, and dampened his shirt, it became evident that Logan Cross was willing to lay down his life to protect me.
Me—his enemy.
That fact sank in each time the blade sliced through his flesh.
The Mage continued to bait him and I fought against Logan to get up, but he muscled against me with the weight of his body. They were using his instincts against him.
“Let me up!” I yelled, punching at his arm. “You can’t take them both if you’re protecting me. Fight them! Get off of me and let me help you.”
Logan rose to his feet, tall and brave, as a man who knew no fear. The Mage sliced the cold blade across his chest. When Logan cried out, it shook me to the core. It was not the feral roar of a warrior—one I had heard him use. This time, it was filled with pain. It struck a chord so deep within me that instinct kicked in like an adrenaline rush.
I flew at the unarmed Mage and popped him in the jaw. In a heartbeat, he wrapped his long fingers around my neck. I choked, and that singular sound provoked an explosive reaction.
But not from me.
Caged fury spread across Logan’s face like a pandemic, hardening the lines around his jaw as he peeled back his teeth. Raw malice glinted behind dark Chitah eyes. I readied myself to fight by his side, but instead of attacking, he knocked the Mage away and smothered me with his body. His chest was wet and warm, and his breath ragged as he struggled for air. The blood loss was taking its toll, and it was everywhere—on his chest, arms, and a gash across his forehead. The intensity in his gaze was so overwhelming, I was afraid to look at him.
“Give her up, Chitah. We have the upper hand. You can walk out of this alive, or die—your choice—but the woman belongs to Nero and we’re not leaving without her.”
Logan’s fangs shone in the moonlight like daggers. He dragged my body even tighter beneath him. I couldn’t move, not one inch. He spread across me like a shield.
Logan flicked his head from one Mage to the other. He could kill them and I knew it because I had been a witness to his unmerciful violence. I cursed Logan once for never having told me what a Chitah’s weakness was. In that moment, I discovered what could bring him down.
His weakness… was me.
Everything clicked in that moment. I never asked how his woman died, or the guilt he must have carried from her death. Did he try to protect her? Did he even get the chance? Logan could have abandoned me to fight, but that never happened.
Someone burst through a thicket of bushes.
“Brother!” Levi roared, colliding with the Mage wielding the knife.
Simon stumbled across a fallen limb and skidded to a stop. “
Bloody hell.”
“Simon, get the other one!” I yelled, and he vanished.
A man screamed, and Levi drove his fangs into his victim—releasing a punishing death sentence.
Logan flicked his attention behind the tree where the sounds of struggle ended. I rolled to my side, but he held me down, pressing his forearm over my clavicle. He was firm, but gentle. Rich, black eyes focused on me for a moment, and his hair tickled my face. He wasn’t in there anymore, and the savage growl that sounded from his chest sent shivers across my spine.
Justus charged through the shadows, stalking forward as he looked between Levi and Logan. Levi crouched with a twitching body in his arms. Logan was covered in blood and covering me.
“Silver!” Justus yelled. The look on his face was familiar, one I never wanted to see again. “Come at me, Chitah!” Justus challenged. “Fight me like a man.” The fingers on his large hands flexed.
Logan’s body tensed, ready to spring.
“Get back,” Levi warned. “His switch is flipped; he’ll kill anyone who gets near her. If you die, she’ll have no Ghuardian.” Levi’s voice was calm, as if he were merely discussing the weather report.
But that’s exactly what Justus was trying to do—get Logan away from me.
I had to do something.
“Logan, you’re bleeding.” I reached up, caressing his cheek with my knuckles. “Please look at me. This can’t be normal. Let me help you,” I pleaded.
His hollow gaze fell on me and my heart quickened. There was something so primal in his body language, expression, and eyes that I had little hope of getting through. He leaned forward and breathed in my scent. The short bristles of stubble pressed into my cheek as he nuzzled—such an unexpected gesture given the circumstance. He had a power over me I couldn’t explain, and my body yielded to his touch. I relaxed, slowing my breathing, feeling his body over mine, and a strange calm sank into my bones. Logan’s head snapped up to the men circling around us.
Simon emerged from between two trees, brushing dirt from his shoulders with a casual flick of the wrist.
“Sodding bastard. Did you know he actually tried to pull a gun on me? Well that takes care of—”
