Forging the Guild (The Protector Guild Book 2)

by Gray Holborn

  We continued on for I don’t know how long—time started to disappear and grow hazy with tension.

  I was close to giving up altogether when a large shadow cut off our path. My breath hitched and I let out a thankful, desperate laugh. I ran towards the large, shaggy dog, and threw my arms around his neck. He should have been long gone by now—running back home. Instead, he was here. I just had to be happy that we found him before anyone else did.

  “You’re okay,” I said, breathing in the now-familiar, woody scent of the hellhound.

  Ralph’s large tongue swept up the side of my face, but I was so relieved to see him that I didn’t even care about the slobber. He let out a playful chirp when he saw Ro, but then moved away from us, dragging us deeper into the forest.

  Ro’s fist clamped around my sleeve, stopping me from following him just yet.

  “Max, we found him. We should hide him and then get the hell out of here,” Ro said, his eyes moving side-to-side as he studied every shadow, every tree. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

  The woods around us were silent, except for the calming sound of the wind sweeping through some leaves, so I ignored Ro, and went tearing after Ralph—he’d picked up speed during Ro’s hesitation, and while I was fast, I wasn’t hellhound-fast.

  We came into a small clearing, grass trampled from a fight, to find Declan and Eli pinning Darius down to the ground. It looked like they’d injected him with something, because his eyes were hazy and he shot me a loopy smile as we trudged closer. Part of me wanted to peel them off of him and check to make sure he was okay, that they hadn’t done any permanent damage. But I stamped that impulse down as quickly as I could, flashes of the dead protector floating through my mind. Atlas, Declan, all of the guys—they were right. Darius was a killer and the brief allyship he’d shown me was just that, brief. He needed me and I needed him but that alliance was over. And I was kidding myself if I thought he wouldn’t go ripping through humans the second they let him up.

  “Max?” Declan’s voice held an air of surprise, but was gruff with exertion—even though it was a losing battle, Darius fought against the effects of the injection. “Damnit Max, get the hell out of here. Do you not follow any instructions? You’re going to get yourself and everyone else killed.”

  The leaves to the left of them rustled and I reached to my thigh to grab a throwing knife.

  I came up empty. In my rush to get out of the house before Wade could stop me, I’d forgotten to grab a weapon. Careless mistake. Such a careless fucking mistake.

  A breath of air pushed through my teeth in relief when the branches moved to the side revealing Atlas. “Atlas,” I said, letting out an alarmed chuckle. “You scared the shit out of me.”

  He was wearing nothing but a loose pair of shorts and his eyes were almost completely yellow, levelling me with a glare that knocked the wind out of me more than Reza’s fist had. Next to me, Ralph tensed, his lips pulled back to reveal a set of sharp, terrifying teeth. It was the first time since I’d encountered him that he looked the part of hellhound, filled with fury and menace. I took a step back, alarmed by the transformation and watched as he crept between me and the guys, like he was trying to protect me from them.

  I stuck out a hesitant hand and rested it on Ralph’s back. “Easy, boy. They won’t hurt us, it’s okay.” I hoped like hell that they’d let Ralph go, now that they had Darius under control. Their focus definitely seemed targeted on Darius, but a rush of frustration beat behind my eyes at the realization that Ralph drew himself straight to them. It was like he was trying to get thrown back in the lab cellar.

  “What the hell’s wrong with him?” Ro asked. I felt the breath of his words against the back of my neck and could hear the layer of fear in his quiet, usually calm voice.

  I shook my head and studied the members of Six. Declan and Eli looked from Atlas to me and Ro, unreadable expressions on their faces. I took a step forward, standing beside Ralph and studied Atlas. Something about that gold tinge in his eyes unsettled me; they were so bright now that they were almost glowing. His chest was pumping hard with heavy breaths as he pressed his hand into a wound on his side. His abdomen was wet with blood.

  I dug my hand hard into Ralph’s thick fur, my breath coming out in quick gasps, like my body was filling things in just a second before my mind. My mind raced, cataloguing all of the pieces: the first night I met Ralph, the mystery scar on Atlas’s arm, Jer’s blade tonight, the secrecy and mood swings, the way Eli and Declan acted around the wolf earlier tonight.

  Those eyes.

  Those fucking eyes.

  My feet started moving back, one step and then two as I shook my head. “Oh my god,” I breathed out, a small sob breaking through. “It’s you. This whole time, it’s been you.”

  I shook my head, turned, grabbed Ro’s hand, and took off into a run as Ralph trailed behind us.

  Atlas was a fucking werewolf.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Max

  My forehead was slick with sweat as I ran, my feet pounding into the soft ground. I wasn’t entirely sure where I was leading Ro and Ralph, whether we were going back towards The Guild or farther away, but I needed to be anywhere but where we were.

  All of this time it was Atlas. I had been living with a werewolf. And they had the audacity to be mad at me for letting a vampire out of a cage? Did Seamus know? Did Alleva? Was I the only one left in the dark on what Atlas really was?

  It felt like I was living in a bad episode of Teen Wolf. Ro’s steady breathing as he followed helped lull me back to reality, back to something familiar and understandable and normal.

  “Max, what the hell are we doing?” Ro asked, his arms pumping at his sides as he tried to keep up with my frantic pace as I zigzagged here and then there. “Where are we going?”

  I shook my head, unable to offer any more explanation, grateful when the gesture stopped further questions.

  A loud laugh echoed through the trees, and I skidded to a halt, only half aware of Ro’s body colliding with mine as we went crashing down.

  “You okay?” he asked, giving me a hand up from the ground where I’d landed. “What was that?”

  I watched him as the confusion in his eyes transformed into determined focus. He was scanning the area around us as he pulled me to my feet. Dusting stray dirt and leaves from my butt, I followed suit. That laugh didn’t belong to Declan or either of the guys and I looked a few feet over to Ralph. He seemed two steps ahead of the situation at all times, and what I saw when I looked at him sunk dread into my belly.

  His hackles were up, a low, menacing growl emanating from his chest.

  I looked from the direction he was pointed towards the trees and stifled a scream. Four figures were walking towards us—three men and a woman. There was something in the way they carried themselves that was just a bit off. The girl’s limbs were contorting and bending in odd directions. Gray fur lined her arms and I watched in morbid fascination as her fingers curved into claws. I’d never seen a wolf transform before.

  I swallowed my gasp as Ro and I instinctively moved towards each other, for comfort and protection. I scanned the surroundings for something that could be construed as a weapon. I wasn’t sure if the other three were vampires, wolves, or what. Either way, our options for defending ourselves were pretty limited.

  Shit, shit, shit. This night was like a never-ending dream from hell.

  Ro’s large hand swallowed mine, and I ignored the knot in my throat when he squeezed. His body was steady, but I could feel the small tremor in his hand. He was scared. And I was the reason he was here. We were going to die and it was all my fault.

  The realization that I would be the cause of my brother’s death stole my breath and I blinked away the glossy lining of tears in my eyes.

  Pulling my hand from his, I looked into his face, trying to memorize every angle and expression. He was the most important person in the world to me, and it would be worth my life if I could save his.

&n
bsp; “You need to go,” I said, my words coming out in a soft croak.

  He shook his head, anger creating familiar lines through his forehead. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

  “Listen, Ro.” I nodded towards Ralph. “I have protection. You need to run, you need to go get help. Ralph and I can stay here, distract them until you get back, and you can go find somebody. Anybody. Even Atlas.” I didn’t trust Atlas, but he hadn’t killed me yet, no matter how often he looked like he wanted to, so maybe he wasn’t completely evil. It was a risk I was willing to take right now. “We have to stop them before they get into town or to The Guild. We need backup. And now, or else too many people will die tonight.”

  “Fine,” he said, resolve steeling his voice. He knew I was right—that if we both died here, these creatures would go attack and kill more people. “You go then and I’ll distract them.”

  I let out a puff of air, not surprised by his stubbornness but annoyed all the same. We didn’t have time for this.

  I would be stubborn too, leave him no option but to leave us here and go get help. We both knew that he had a better chance of retracing our steps anyway. My tracking skills were shit.

  I looked at Ralph, and it was like he could see my plan as it unfolded in my mind. With a nod, we went bounding through the trees, towards the group of creatures. I grabbed a large branch on the way, but I wasn’t dense enough to think it would do much more than cause a temporary distraction or annoyance. A twig up against a werewolf would be nothing more than a pathetic game of fetch, with my bones as a nice tasty reward.

  “Jesus, Max,” Ro whisper-yelled behind us. “Just. Don’t die.” I heard the fear lodge in his throat as I choked back tears. “I’ll be right back in two minutes. Seriously, I’ll kill you if you’re not still alive. Bring you back and kill you.” He was already tearing off in the direction we’d come from, faster than I’d ever seen him run before.

  A small smile crossed my face when the four creatures focused on me. Ro stood a chance, if I could keep them occupied for a few minutes, he’d be okay. That was enough.

  More than enough. It was all I needed.

  My body collided with the female wolf just as she shook her head, the final pieces of her humanity slipping away. She was smaller than Atlas’s wolf had been. Small mercies.

  We collapsed in a pile of bones and limbs and I felt, rather than saw, Ralph going after the others. His long, deep howl resonated through the air in a bone-shaking battle cry.

  My fists rammed into the wolf’s ribs as I kept her underneath me. It took all of my strength to keep her teeth twisted away from my thigh, but I kicked my left leg and felt her jaw snap.

  I bit back a grin at the satisfying crunch of bone. I couldn’t do much without a dagger, but I’d do what I could for as long as I could.

  Her high whine alerted her companions and I paused just long enough to look up. Ralph was head-to-head with another wolf, this one brown and slightly larger than the girl, maybe by thirty or forty pounds. The other two still looked like men and I had a feeling they were vampires. I briefly wondered whether this was the group Wade had encountered, but shook the thought away quickly. It didn’t matter right now.

  One of the men turned towards me and the she-wolf, eyes narrowing in anger while the other advanced on Ralph and the other wolf.

  The clash had gone on less than a few seconds, but it was like I was watching it all unfold in slow-motion, a macabre protraction of my eventual death.

  Using her as a jumping board, I leapt off the wolf, backing up a few steps. Her claws had decimated the material of my leggings, and I was vaguely aware of blood dripping from my arm. I fisted my fingers, pleased that no bones felt broken. Maybe I could hold this vampire and wolf back long enough for Ro to return with help.

  Maybe.

  “Looks like your friend abandoned you, girl,” the vampire said, his dark eyes watching the blood drip down my arm with a sick hunger. “I always said protectors were an unreliable lot. Lucky for me, you’ll make a nice appetizer.”

  His hair was dark, long, and pulled back into a low ponytail, and I was struck by how completely stereotypical he looked—it was like he’d walked off the set of a cheezy B movie.

  I took several steps back, drawing him away from Ralph and the other two—I wanted Ralph to have as good of a chance as possible, so I’d keep these two occupied as best as I could.

  The wolf pulled herself up next to the vamp, the two of them stalking towards me. Her gold eyes were focused, her lips pulled back. I could practically feel her rage soaking into every nerve of my body.

  After a few minutes, they grew tired of their slow descent and simultaneously pounced. I stepped back and twisted, successfully pulling away from the wolf, but landing right underneath the vamp. His sharp teeth sank into my arm as I flailed underneath him and kneed him in the balls. His breath heated my neck as he grunted in pain, but it wasn’t enough to get him to unlatch. The wolf no longer had a functional jaw, but she dug her claws into my shoulder and already-damaged arm. I could feel each nail as it sunk and pulled so deep that I knew she was gouging out chunks of bone.

  Anger and adrenaline soared through my blood and I used every last ounce of energy I had to push the vampire off before he could sink his teeth in again. He was only a foot away from me, but I used the brief reprieve to throw my weight on top of the wolf and ram my only functional arm over and over against her already ruined muzzle. I vowed that I would kill one of them before they took me down. This time, I’d earn my fame for fighting off a hellbeast solo.

  I looked back, surprised the vampire hadn’t regained his footing and pulled me from his furry partner. A mixture of relief and fear rushed over me at what I saw, adrenaline running so high that I couldn’t properly sort out my feelings.

  “Wade.” My voice croaked and caught on his name, raw with wear, and I realized belatedly that I must’ve been screaming during the attack.

  His normally glowing complexion was pale and clammy, with droplets of sweat soaking through his t-shirt. He was exhausted just from standing earlier, so I had no idea how he’d managed to store up the energy to get out here. He must have followed me when I ran out on him. The thought alone punched harder into my gut and with more sting than the werewolf had managed.

  Exhausted or not, he met the vampire blow-for-blow in a steady dance, his fingers clasped around a silver-coated blade as he tried to ward him off and push him away from reaching me. There was so much power emanating from him, even though I could see the energy draining from his limbs. He needed to go, he couldn’t be here.

  The realization that I’d endangered him so soon after his last brush with death twisted my stomach with a ragged, stormy guilt. I wouldn’t leave Wade to fight the vampire alone, I couldn’t give up, couldn’t die on him. Not now.

  We’d fight together and then we’d go home and I’d follow whatever rules Cyrus and Seamus saw fit. I was done resisting, done trying to prove myself. All I managed to do was fuck everything up.

  Determination filled me and I felt along the ground for something, the branch I’d grabbed long abandoned. A grotesque grin spread across my lips as my fingers grazed the smooth surface of a large rock. I crawled over the wolf as she dug her claws into my side, completely oblivious to the pain, until I closed my good hand around it, fingers gripping with every ounce of my remaining strength.

  With one huge breath, I lifted the stone above my head, screaming in anguish as the pain made itself known in my left arm. Then, with one final surge of energy, I brought the rock down onto the wolf’s skull with two heavy blows.

  She stilled instantly. I wasn’t sure if she could survive that, since I hadn’t decapitated her, but she was unconscious, at least, which was good enough for now.

  I rolled off her and looked at Ralph. The wolf lay in two pieces besides him, the head no longer attached to the body. Blood painted the ground, but none of it appeared to be the hellhound’s. His large canines sank into the vamp’s neck and I sighed in
relief. Maybe we would all actually survive this.

  As soon as the thought passed through my head, I saw the outlines of more creatures leaving the shadow of trees surrounding us. With a dull realization, my heart sank. There had to be at least ten more ready to join in on the fight. And all that I was armed with was a damn stone.

  “No,” I said, my voice dripping with defeat. We were doomed. I’d doomed us all. Why didn’t I listen to Ro and just go back to the cabin with Ralph. I could’ve found a way to protect him and left it at that.

  Wade turned around, his eyes searching for me and I saw the realization cross his features as soon as he saw the bodies surrounding us, closing us in their circle step by excruciating step.

  They took their time, knowing we couldn’t go anywhere. My body vibrated with fear and all I wanted to do was clasp my arms around Wade’s neck and will us out of here—will us home.

  Why was he here? Why did he have to come after me? Why didn’t I just get a sip of water like I’d originally planned and then fall back asleep?

  The vamp snuck up behind Wade as he stared in horror at our circle of doom and gripped his head. I ran with every ounce of energy I had left, desperate to reach him before the inevitable.

  I was too far away to do anything, way too far. Tears clouded my vision until I could barely see Wade standing in front of me.

  “Nooooo,” I screamed as terror like I’d never known saturated every ounce of my being, seeping out of every single pore.

  Wade’s eyes found mine, their blue depths filled with a chilling acceptance and fear that would haunt me for as long as I breathed.

  And then all I heard was the resounding crack as the vampire snapped his neck, like it was little more than a twig. It was quiet, but the sound ricocheted in my head as if it was my own spine breaking.

  I watched, stunned, as Wade’s body fell to the ground.

  The noise of the battle slipped away—the sounds, the smells, all of it gone. Until all I could focus on was Wade’s eyes, open and empty as they stared unseeing in my direction. This wasn’t like before, he wasn’t in a peaceful sleep, he wouldn’t be brought to Greta for treatment. There wasn’t any waking up from this.