Bite of Vengeance (Shadows of War #3)

31. Kali

Chapter 31

Kali

“ M ove her where?” Zan hissed, failing to hide his panic.

I didn’t fight when a soldier came up and shoved a needle in my neck. I pretended the pain was excruciating, letting out a scream. If they were going to move me, then they couldn’t know the hawthorn only felt like a small sting now. My body wasn’t rejecting it like it used to. Zan was screaming threats, tearing his skin as he fought against the chains.

“Sir, we have a problem.” A PARA member entered the room, fear in his voice.

I closed my eyes, playing the part of being in pain as I threw my hearing to listen to their conversation.

“What?” Rowan snapped.

“They’re walking in the woods, getting closer to the city—the vampires,” the guy’s voice shook slightly. “Hundreds of them. I don’t understand. The sun is up. They already killed all the men who were scouting the forest.”

My heart skipped. Not vampires. Shadows. They were coming for me. How did they know where I was? Zan was quiet, and I was positive he was listening too. Rowan cursed, and I heard his footsteps.

“Even if they get in, they’ll never find us. We’re floors underground.” He paused. “But we need to up our timeline and get Kali out. Organize the men. Two of you stay. The rest, go suit up just in case. I don’t want them getting over the walls. We have enough weapons to make sure that doesn’t happen. Go now.”

“Give it a few minutes for the hawthorn to fully take effect,” he ordered someone. “Then I want her moved.”

“Yes, sir.”

There was a flurry of noise as everyone exited, and then there was silence, making me believe that Rowan and Keeva had also left. I cracked an eye open just to be sure and witnessed two PARA members coming up to me.

“One wrist at a time,” a guy said uneasily. “She looks out of it.”

My heart thumped wildly as he released my right arm. They waited a moment before unlocking my other wrist. The second it was free, I lashed out and grabbed his neck. My body protested weakly from moving for the first time in days. I squeezed harder, making the guy choke out a small breath.

“Let him go,” the other one screamed in panic. He grabbed my wrist, trying to wrench me away, but even in my weakened state, he was no match for me.

“Look at me,” I said quietly, yanking the guy closer.

Fear was etched on his face when he met my eyes. “I’m full of hawthorn.”

I smirked wickedly. “Thanks to you—so am I. And I’m so damn thirsty.”

He screamed wildly as I pulled him close enough to bite his throat. I sucked hard, the slight burning proving that hawthorn was present. For some reason, I was now immune. Energy flooded my body with each swallow, and before I had nearly enough, I looked to the side to see the other man pulling his gun out. Since he hadn’t backed away, it was simple to let go of the PARA member I was feeding from and snatch the weapon out of his hand. It took me a second to pull the trigger and put a bullet in his skull.

“Don’t,” the man cried, trying to scramble away from me. “I’m sorry.”

Grabbing the collar of his shirt, I dragged him back as he struggled. “Lying will get you nowhere.”

Sinking my fangs back into his throat, I drank and drank until his heart slowed and then finally stopped beating. I drew in a long breath, my mind clear for the first time in days. My veins were flooding with strength.

“Kali.”

I snapped my head up, meeting Zan’s gaze. He gave me a small grin, even as his eyes still swarmed with panic. His battered body had my gut churning. I needed to get him out of here before Rowan came back. They never planned on letting him live.

“Are you okay?” he asked quietly.

I smiled, the man’s blood still wet on my lips. “I’m better than okay.”

“He has the keys in his front shirt pocket. I saw Rowan give them to him.”

I maneuvered the man’s body until I shoved my fingers into the pocket, feeling the ring of keys. After pulling them out, I felt on the collar around my throat until I found the small keyhole. It took four tries before I found the key that fit. Relief flooded me when I twisted, and the collar popped open. There were no noises coming from outside the room, and I realized it must be soundproofed in here. I had no idea when Rowan and his men would be coming back.

I quickly unlocked the cuffs that were trapping my ankles before sliding off the chair. I stumbled, my first couple steps uneven as I got my balance. I grabbed the man I’d shot, and dragged him to Zan, propping him up. I bit into his throat, sipping to see if he was full of hawthorn too. But it didn’t have the bitter edge the other soldier’s blood had. I moved his body closer to Zan.

“Feed,” I urged. “We need to get out of here.”

“Kali, you need to go,” he said gruffly. “Leave. I’ll be fine.”

I narrowed my eyes. “I’m not leaving without you. If you argue, it’ll only take longer.”

He scowled but didn’t say another word before tearing into the man’s throat. He gulped down the blood as I held the body up so he could keep drinking. Soon, he pulled away, licking at the blood dripping from his lips.

“Better?” I asked as I tossed the body to the side without any remorse, before taking a guess at which key unlocked his cuffs.

“I’m still weak,” he admitted. “I will be for a while. Which is why you need to go.”

I shot him a dark look before going behind him and pushing keys into the wrist cuff until one slid right in. He let out a groan as his arms fell free, and I hurriedly moved to the collar around his throat. I finally found the right key and twisted it right when Zan jerked.

“Behind you,” he yelled.

I whirled around, seeing Rowan aiming a gun at me from the doorway. I ducked, the bullet aimed for my head flying over me. I jumped to my feet, sprinting across the room as he shot again. This one hit me in the shoulder. I gritted my teeth against the pain, the hawthorn embedded bullet stinging slightly. Rowan’s eyes widened as I continued coming after him, and he backed up firing off another shot.

I lunged to the left, the bullet narrowly missing me. Before he could shoot again, I slammed into him, knocking us both into the hall before slamming into the wall opposite of the doorway. He was quick, already pulling a stake out from his belt, attempting to stab me wherever he could reach.

I wrapped my fingers around his wrist, relishing the sound of his panicked racing heart as I overpowered him. His walkie-talkie sputtered to life, the voice on the other side shouting in fear.

“They’re in. The walls have been breached.”

Adrenaline flooded my system as I forced Rowan to drop the stake before I slammed him against the wall.

“Hear that?” I murmured, danger lurking in my voice. “Those Shadows out there don’t obey you. They follow me. And they’ll destroy anything in their path. PARA is nothing against Shadows.”

His eyes spat out hatred as I grabbed his throat. “Your sister is right. You are the dark. The one who will ruin humankind.”

“You know nothing,” I growled, trying not to let his words get to me. “But you’ll never know what happens.”

Letting my fangs come out, I moved to bite him until a noise from behind me had me spinning around. I took Rowan with me, putting him in front and wrenching his arm behind his back.

“Let him go, Kali,” Keeva ordered, pressing the stake harder into Zan’s chest as she held him.

My pulse thrashed as we stared at each other. She must have entered the room from a different door to get to him. Zan didn’t move a muscle, but I could see his legs shaking slightly as Keeva gripped his hair tighter. The blood had helped him, but he needed more to gain strength again.

“Let him go,” I snarled.

“We’re evenly matched,” she said, ignoring my demand. “You know how strong I am because it’s your strength. You know I can drive this stake into his heart before you move a muscle. Let go of Rowan or I’ll kill him.”

I stood utterly still. She would do it, and I was too far away to stop her. My eyes went down to Rowan’s leg where a gun was strapped to his thigh.

“Don’t do this,” Keeva pleaded. “Let me kill him. He’s the reason you’re like this. Come with me, Kali. We can do what we were born to do.”

“Kill him, and I’ll kill you,” I threatened, my heart leaping into my throat when black blood dripped from Zan’s chest as she dug the stake in even more.

“Kali, go,” Zan ground out. “Get the hell out of here.”

Keeva gave me a sad smile. “You can’t kill me. Don’t you remember our mother’s words? One cannot survive without the other. We’re tied together in this life. If I die, so do you.”

A loud alarm began blaring. “ Lockdown. Shelter in place .”

Red lights flashed from the ceiling, and I shifted, knowing we had to leave soon, or we’d never get out of this building.

“Let him go,” Keeva repeated, losing her patience. “Or I’ll sever the bond you have by killing him.”

I slowly released Rowan’s arm before snatching the gun from the holster and shoving him to the side. Keeva let go of Zan to duck out of the way when I shot at her. I pulled the trigger again, hitting her in the stomach. An anguished scream tore from her throat as she dropped to her knees.

“I guess it’s a good thing they didn’t torture you with hawthorn,” I murmured, walking up to her. “Or this wouldn’t have worked.”

“You’ll regret this,” she huffed out, grabbing her bleeding stomach. “You chose the wrong side.”

I shot her in the head, and she slumped to the floor.

“You won’t leave this building alive,” Rowan shouted over the deafening alarm. “Listen to me and I’ll spare him.”

Before I could shoot him, footsteps alerted me that my time was up. Multiple men in PARA uniforms flooded the end of the hallway, already raising their guns.

“Shoot them,” Rowan screamed.

I grabbed Zan’s arm, hauling him to his feet and pulling him with me. Bullets hit the walls around us, and I let out a hiss when I was hit in the leg. Limping forward, I shoved open the closest door and was met with stairs that went up as far as I could see.