Chapter 2
2
LULU - AGE 11
My shoulders ached. No, my whole body ached. Like I was one big bruise that throbbed with every beat of my heart.
Not only that, but I was cold. And I had to go to the bathroom. The steady trickling of water was a background to the thumping and… grunting?
I peeled my eyes open. It felt like they’d been rubbed with sandpaper, and when I tried to rub them, I realized I couldn’t move my arms. Gasping, my eyes snapped open and I looked up. My wrists were bound above my head by metal shackles that were bolted into the rough, stone wall.
“Easy,” a warm voice beside me murmured.
I turned to see Alexei was beside me, his arms strung up the way mine were, but his legs were also tied together and weighted down by another chain bolted to the floor.
“What…” I licked my dry lips, unable to finish choking out the question.
He gave me a rueful smirk. “They didn’t like it when I kicked one in the face.”
I gaped at him for a beat. “Um… okay.”
A gleeful cackle echoed off the walls. “Looks like the princess finally woke up from her nap.” From the corner of my eye, Beady Eyes unfurled himself from the shadows and took a menacing step toward me while wiping his lower lip with his thumb. “About fucking time.”
“ Stop .”
The deep bark had me going still, and Beady Eyes flinched, seeming to freeze for a beat, before he grinned. “All bark and no bite. Expected a little more from the Dashkov heir.”
I ripped my gaze from Beady Eyes, and they collided with vibrant green. My breath froze in my lungs as icy slush invaded my blood.
Dimitri was in the center of what I now realized was a cave. At some point his shirt had been stripped away, baring his chest and torso, and his arms were chained above his head, too. Dips and planes hinted at the man he was beginning to grow into, but he was still a boy.
A boy covered with bruises and cuts. Even one of those beautiful eyes was nearly swollen shut, and blood dribbled from his nose in a steady stream.
I jerked against my bindings, like I could somehow get to him and… what? What exactly could I do?
I honestly had no idea, but the need to protect him was overwhelming. He’d been kind to me. He wasn’t the monster the coven said wolves were. He’d even tried to protect me.
I wasn’t entirely sure I’d had a friend my whole life, but wasn’t that what friends did? They were kind and protected each other.
Eyes narrowed, I glared at the man beside Dimitri, holding a long wooden stick in his hand, the end tinged red. “Leave him alone,” I demanded in a voice that was barely above a squeak.
“Is she for real?” Stick Guy asked Beady Eyes.
“Bitch might need help shutting up her mouth,” Beady Eyes commented.
Stick grimaced like he’d smelled something rotten. “Chill out, man. You’re not doing your pedophile shit while I’m around.”
I wasn’t sure what a pedophile was, but it didn’t sound great.
Beady’s eyes never left me as he drew closer. “Just step out for a bit, then. I’ll only need a couple minutes.” A hand with bony knuckles touched my hip, the thumb landing in the gap between my shorts and top.
Whimpering, I tried to pull away, but there was nowhere to go.
Stick blew out an annoyed breath. “I swear to fuck— Shit !”
Beady Eyes spun away from me, and we both watched as Dimitri used his legs to wrap them around Stick’s neck. The stick fell from his hands as he clutched at Dimitri’s legs. Grunting, Dimitri tightened his hold, wrapping his hands around the chains above him for leverage.
“Motherfucker,” Beady Eyes swore, storming away from me.
Dimitri let out a roar and a second later, a sickening crack rang out. Time seemed to stop. Even Beady Eyes froze as we all watched Stick drop to the ground, unconscious. His neck was twisted at a strange angle.
Beady’s gaze lifted from Stick to Dimitri. “You’re gonna pay for that, boy.”
Dimitri only grinned. “Try me, asshole.”
Beady Eyes stumbled back toward the far side of the cave where I spotted a gap in the rocks. Since there wasn’t another opening, I could only assume that was the way in and out. Beady Eyes slipped through the rocks and disappeared.
“Oh my gods,” I whispered, my heart beating as fast as a hummingbird’s wings.
“It’s all right, Lucia,” Alexei said. “Dima, are you okay?”
Dimitri groaned. “Fucking peachy.”
“Y-you killed him,” I stammered, still reeling.
Dimitri gave me a nod. “I did.”
“Why?” It seemed like a stupid question—of course he’d killed the man who had been beating him.
“Because it got the other fuckface away from you.”
Okay, that wasn’t the answer I’d expected.
“Beady?” I managed to garble out, stunned.
“Bead-y?” Alexei repeated slowly.
Dimitri chuckled, somehow looking amused while chained to the ceiling, bloody and bruised, with a dead man at his feet. “Oh, fuck, you named them. Who are the others?”
My mouth moved but no sounds came out.
“I think she’s in shock,” Alexei muttered.
“No, she isn’t.” Dimitri sounded so sure. “She just needs a second, right, Lulu?”
“My name is Lucia,” I blurted out.
“Technically you said Lulu-Lucia. I’m shortening it because we’re friends,” Dimitri explained.
My heart gave a leap. “Friends?”
He glanced down at Stick. “I mean, I don’t just randomly kill dudes for anyone.” He shot me a lopsided grin that made my heart flutter. “So, yeah. We’re friends.”
I looked at Alexei.
Sighing, he nodded his head with a weary smile. “We’re all friends.”
Dimitri’s grin was infectious, and I found my lips turning up.
“So,” he prompted, “what did you name the others.”
“No Teeth and Stick Guy,” I confessed.
Dimitri’s booming laugh filled the space. Even Alexei’s warm chuckle surprised me.
“You’re incredible,” Dimitri told me. “Most kids your age would’ve been losing it. But you’re giving these asswipes names.”
“I’m eleven,” I ground out, not sure why Dimitri viewing me as a kid rankled so much. “How old are you ?”
“Thirteen,” he replied smugly.
Alexei scoffed. “And I’m fourteen. So, you’re both children.”
Dimitri rolled his eyes, but I giggled at the mock annoyance on the usually stoic Alexei’s face.
The moment of peaceful camaraderie was shattered by shouting that vibrated off the cave walls. But it was the sounds of footsteps running toward us that had me starting to freak out again.
“Lulu, look at me,” Dimitri demanded, all traces of humor gone in a flash.
I did.
He held my gaze with his, a fierceness in it I’d never seen before. “No one is going to hurt you. We won’t let them. I won’t let them touch you, okay?”
I managed a shaky nod even as tears filled my eyes.
Dimitri grimaced and looked at Alexei. “Whatever it takes.”
Alexei gave him a solemn nod in return. “Whatever it takes.”
I wasn’t sure what they meant, but it didn’t matter when a line of five men, including Beady, crashed into the space that moments ago had almost felt normal.
You know, except for all of us being strung up by our arms by chains.
One man stepped forward, clearly the leader with a shaved head and a scar bisecting the left side of his face. He stopped short of the reach of Dimitri’s legs and glanced at the man on the floor. “You killed my brother.”
Dimitri made a clicking sound. “Damn. I wasn’t aware Stick had any family.”
“Stick?” The man repeated.
Dimitri gave the best shrug he could. “Not like you guys are wearing name tags. Had to come up with some way to tell you apart.” His eyes narrowed. “I think I’ll call you… Bitch .”
The man’s face turned red and he extended an arm backwards. I watched in horror as a metal rod was placed in his hand. “I think the only bitch will be you.” Swinging his arm up and back, he lowered it in the brutal hit that landed on Dimitri’s ribs.
Air whooshed out of Dimitri and his smug facade dropped away as he struggled to catch his breath.
But Bitch wasn’t done. Next he hit Dimitri’s other side, then his knees before using the rod to attack Dimitri’s feet.
Alexei roared, rattling his chains. “Stop!”
Bitch glanced back at one of his men. “Shut him up, too. In fact, break every single tooth in his goddamn mouth.”
A man with wide shoulders and a red shirt grinned. “Gladly.”
Dimitri gave a ragged cry that ended on a whimper.
No, no, no !
The rod came down again, this time on Dimitri’s back near his shoulder. The socket twisted at a grotesque angle, and Dimitri looked ready to vomit.
They were killing him.
They were killing my friend.
Helplessness gathered inside me, whipping around like a hurricane and threatening to shatter me apart. A dull roar joined the thumping of my erratic heart. I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t.
Darkness tunneled my vision as the wind began to howl, this time not in my head.
The man with the rod stopped. “What the?—”
Power exploded out of me, blanketing the world around us in darkness.
But I could see everything.
Watch each man’s face twist and contort into screams of agony while power pulsed out of me in tidal waves. It was terrifying and… it felt so right.
I sank into the weightless feeling the power gave me. I was almost giddy, watching the way the darkness formed into shadow creatures that gobbled each man up. They tore through flesh and bone like it was made of tissue paper.
They didn’t stay there; I felt them race through the cavern, destroying everyone they found until there was no one left. I lost count of the amount of souls my shadow beasts claimed until they finally returned to me. The shadows prowled the perimeter of the room, looking for another meal to devour.
One of them turned, fixing its sightless eyes on Dimitri.
No , I told it. Friend.
But the monsters I’d conjured didn’t seem to listen. They swirled closer to Dimitri.
The chains above my head snapped, dropping my body like a sack to the ground. Blood rushed back into my arms, causing them to knot and cramp.
But the monsters were still circling Dimitri.
“No!” I screamed the word and hurled myself at them. I would protect my friend.
I touched Dimitri’s chest and held out my arm to the monsters. “Go away!” I ordered the beasts as my hand vibrated against Dimitri’s chest.
The shadow beast that looked like a dog snarled and tried to jump at Dimitri, but it hit an invisible wall.
Not a wall.
A barrier .
I’d created a barrier around Dimitri that they couldn’t break through.
“Lu?” Dimitri panted my name, his face twisted in pain. My hand was glowing against his skin. It felt like touching the sun as energy crackled between us.
Another growl from a shadow beast as it tried to come closer. Tension knotted in my chest. “I said no . He’s mine !” I shrieked the last word, and the shadows howled as they began to shatter like ash on the wind.
As the last of the smoke dissipated, I looked around. I dropped like a stone onto the dirty ground. My hand slipped from Dimitri’s chest, throbbing and as red as if I’d dunked it in boiling water.
I looked up at Dimitri and gasped. My handprint was welded into his chest, which was heaving as he tried to catch his breath. His head hung low, dark hair drenched with sweat. Slowly, his head lifted and our gazes collided.
Mine .
The single word slid through my brain like an insidious whisper.
His throat worked as he swallowed. “K-keys.”
I still could only stare at him from my kneeling position. Like he was a god I was swearing fealty to.
“Lulu,” he tried again, “get the keys.”
I looked around, not sure what he meant. When I lost the connection of our gazes and looked around, my stomach lurched.
All five men were dead. Blood saturated the sandy floor. It was painted on the walls in grisly splashes. Some of it was even on Alexei’s pants.
What had I done?
Horrified, I pulled my knees to my chest.
“Come on, Lulu,” Dimitri tried. “Get the keys so we can get out of here, okay?” He choked out a wheezing cough.
Still, I couldn’t move.
“Lulu.” There was a sharper edge to his voice now that had me unable to stop myself from looking at him.
Once our eyes met, he smiled softly. “That’s my girl. I need you to grab the keys over there, okay?” He jerked his chin to the left. “Can you do that for me?”
I could do anything for him.
I would do anything for him.
Nodding, I forced myself to stand and pick my way through the carnage to grab the blood-stained ring of keys. Once I did, I froze yet again.
“Take them over to Lex and undo his legs.” His voice stayed even and gentle.
When I hurried to Alexei, I knelt to unlock his legs. It took a moment of fumbling to find the right key.
“Good job,” Alexei praised. He opened one hand. “Can you toss them up to my hand?”
I nodded and tossed them up to his waiting hand, and then I stepped back while he used his legs to crawl up part of the cave wall. Between that and using his arms to leverage his frame, it was enough to slacken the chains. It took him seconds to unhook them, and he landed on his feet with a gracefulness that made me jealous.
He touched the top of my head. “Thank you, little one.”
Alexei tore across the room and helped unhook Dimitri, who wasn’t able to stifle his groan.
“Easy, brother,” Alexei told him, easing him to the ground. “Fuck, Dima!”
As soon as Alexei lowered Dimitri to the ground, the dark haired boy collapsed, unconscious.
Panic lanced through my chest, and I staggered to my feet to get to him. I dropped to my knees, the force of my legs crashing to the floor enough to knock my teeth together.
Alexei’s hands hovered over Dimitri, not sure where he could touch without causing pain. His blue eyes were wide with fear. “I don’t know what to do.”
I touched his hand and felt it.
He was dying. Slipping away like water through my fingers.
A broken sob welled in my chest. I couldn’t lose him. Not like this.
I gripped his hand in both of mine and felt another wave of power rising in me.
But this wasn’t like before. Darkness churning with shadow beasts that were hell bent on annihilating anything in their path.
This surge was slow and warming, like sunrise over the valley that had each blade of grass and flower petal gently thawing after a long winter.
“Lulu?” Alexei’s voice sounded dubious and far away, muffled like he was underwater and trying to speak.
Closing my eyes, I let the tide sweep me away until I found him.
Dimitri was drifting on a cold river that was taking him away. I shifted my sunshine onto him, beckoning his return. And slowly, he came back to me. As if he was driftwood caught in a new tide, he came back.
The chill of death whirled around us like a furious wind, trying to reclaim him.
I poured every ounce of sunshine and light into him, until there was nothing left in me. Until my bones were brittle and my chest ached from the cold.
Until I felt my insides turn to ash the wind had come to claim. I was in pieces, heading for a deep, vast nothing.
But Dimitri, my friend, was going to be okay. His aura was bright now, vibrant with life.
And it was coming for me. I felt his presence barreling toward me, like he couldn’t lose me.
His soul reached for mine, but it was just barely out of grasp. I turned, reaching, and our fingers touched.
Light exploded like a supernova catching fire and scattering all the darkness. Until it was just us.
“You must stop!” A hard hand grabbed my shoulder, breaking my connection to Dimitri.
A pained hiss. “Dammit.”
I blinked my eyes open and it took a moment to focus on Alexei, clutching his hand to his chest. “Wha… What happened?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted, “but look.” He jerked his head at Dimitri on the ground.
Perfect, healthy, whole Dimitri. The bruises were gone. The blood had vanished. All that was left was a faint, silvery glow from where my handprint had been.
And just like that, Dimitri gasped. His eyes popped open and he shot off the ground. My sluggish brain could barely process what was happening before he wrapped his arms around me.
I slumped against him, feeling the warmth of that residual sunshine.
“Dima—”
“I’m good, Lex,” Dimitri whispered hoarsely. One hand cupped the back of my head. “I’m good.”
A sob broke free, and I wrapped my arms around him. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
“You saved me, Lulu,” he breathed, stroking my hair.
But I was a trembling, overwhelmed mess. I had no clue what I’d done or how I’d done it.
I’d just killed a dozen men in these caves and somehow saved Dimitri.
Dimitri made a soft soothing noise and drew back. His green eyes widened. “You’re bleeding.” He touched just above my lip.
I sniffled, tasting blood at the back of my throat.
Yuck.
“Here.” Alexei pushed a piece of cloth into my hand, and I glanced down to see he’d ripped off a piece of his shirt.
I pressed it to my nose as Dimitri started looking around. His jaw set and he took a deep breath. “We need a plan. We’ve gotta get out of here. If there are more?—”
“There aren’t,” I managed. “I… they’re all dead. The ones here and… out there.”
Dimitri’s eyes widened, but he quickly schooled his expression. “Well, that’s good to know.”
Alexei stood. “I’ll see if one of them has a phone so I can call the Alpha.” When Dimitri nodded, Alexei walked away.
“The Alpha?” I choked out. If wolves were bad then the Alpha was the worst one.
“My dad,” Dimitri confirmed.
I chewed on the inside of my cheek. “Will he… Is he nice?”
His green eyes widened. “Yeah, of course. He’s the Alpha .”
“And that’s a good thing?” I kept pressing.
His head tilted. “What the hell are they teaching you in the witchy world? Of course the Alpha is good. He’s the best of us, the one who protects the pack.”
“Didn’t stop them from hurting you,” I muttered.
“No.” He smirked. “That would be you . Thanks for that.”
I stared at him.
“For saving my life,” he clarified, rubbing a hand over his chest and hissing a breath when his touch met the silvery handprint over his heart. “Uh… what is this?” He pointed at the mark.
I didn’t have an answer. “I don’t know.”
“Is there anything you do know?” he teased.
A tremulous smile twitched on my lips. “I know that I saved your life.”
He grinned, even white teeth flashing. “Hell yeah you did.”
“Dima?” My eyes were starting to close, and I didn’t even realize I’d called him what Alexei had.
“Yeah?” He pushed a curl back from my forehead.
“Thanks for being my friend,” I whispered as my body relaxed.
There was a scuffling sound, and then Dimitri was at my side. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and gently repositioned me so I was leaning against his chest. My hand came up, instinctively splaying out where I’d marked him. “Always, Lulu. Pretty sure you’re stuck with me now.”
I tried to mumble a response, but it was too late. My brain and my body had endured enough. The adrenaline was gone, and I was hollow.
But I could’ve sworn I felt lips brush against my forehead before I fell asleep.