Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
DECLAN
After Lena’s appearance, Donovan and I immediately made our way to the village.
The sparrow shifters moved around us in near silence, their footsteps light, their hands steady as they prepared.
Weapons were distributed. Some knives, some makeshift spears, anything that could slow down a rabid vampire.
Donovan stood a few feet away, phone in hand, his fingers moving quickly over the screen.
He was texting Kit, setting the trap.
I hated that he was willingly putting himself in the crosshairs of the Guild again, hated that we had to deal with Kit and his team at all when the real threat was coming for us.
But I understood the necessity.
I exhaled sharply and rolled my shoulders, adjusting the grip on my knife. The sparrow shifters weren’t ready for this fight, not really, but there was no running now.
The rabid vampires were coming, and they had a leader. One we knew nothing about.
I turned to Donovan just as he slipped his phone into his pocket. His eyes met mine, steady despite the storm brewing behind them.
“It’s done,” he said. “Kit agreed to meet.”
I nodded. No backing out now.
Donovan asked me to trust him, and I did. Without hesitation, without doubt. He had a plan, and I’d follow him through fire.
Besides, our initial plan to run from the Guild, from Kit, from the sparrow shifters and their fight, felt like the coward’s way out. And I wasn’t a coward.
I didn’t want to die, but if it came down to it, I’d rather go down fighting than spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder, wondering if today was the day the Guild finally caught up to us.
If we died here, then so be it. We died choosing our fate, not running from it.
But my biggest regret was time.
The time I could’ve spent with Donovan, without fear, without knives pressed against our throats.
Time getting to know each other better. I clenched my fists, pushing back the ache in my chest.
Not yet. We still had time, I told myself.
The woods were deathly quiet when we arrived at the meeting point, too quiet for comfort.
The moon hung high above the treetops, casting pale beams through the dense canopy, illuminating the small clearing where Kit and his hunters stood waiting.
Weapons were already in their hands.
I stepped slightly ahead of Donovan, angling my body just enough to shield him if things went south.
Kit’s sharp eyes flicked to me before settling on Donovan, suspicion darkening his features.
“What the hell is this?” Kit demanded, his fingers twitching near the grip of his gun.
His team stood tense, their postures coiled tight, watching us like they expected an ambush.
Donovan’s voice was calm, steady. “We need to talk.”
Kit’s jaw tightened. “You said you’d come with us. Alone.”
“I said I’d agree to come,” Donovan corrected. “Doesn’t mean I actually planned to.”
Kit’s expression darkened, and I saw the split second where he decided whether or not to pull the trigger. My muscles tensed, ready to strike first if I had to.
Then the woods erupted with sound.
A deep, guttural snarl cut through the night, followed by the sharp snap of breaking branches. The air shifted, thick and heavy with the scent of blood and rot.
I knew that sound.
Rabid vampires.
Kit’s team snapped to attention, their weapons swinging toward the trees.
My own grip tightened on my knife, adrenaline spiking as my body prepared for the inevitable.
And then they came.
Dark, blurred shapes launched from the undergrowth, eyes glowing red, mouths twisted in snarls.
They moved fast, too fast for human eyes to track. But I’d fought them before. I knew their patterns.
The first one lunged for Kit’s second-in-command, a woman with a crossbow.
She barely had time to react before I was already moving, my blade slicing through the air.
The vampire’s head snapped back as my knife plunged deep into its throat.
Blood sprayed, hot and foul. The creature shrieked, its claws raking toward me, but I twisted away before it could tear into my skin. It staggered, gurgled, and dropped.
One down.
Around me, chaos erupted.
Gunfire ripped through the night. Snarls and screams mixed together, blending into a violent, bloody symphony.
Kit’s hunters fought with trained precision, but the vampires were relentless, their movements unpredictable.
Donovan was beside me in an instant, a blade in one hand, a gun in the other.
He fired a shot into the chest of an incoming vampire, then turned and drove his knife into another without missing a beat.
I had no time to admire the way he moved.
A heavy force slammed into me from the side, knocking me off my feet. I hit the ground hard, air punching from my lungs as claws raked across my arm.
The vampire loomed over me, lips peeling back in a snarl. I twisted, barely avoiding its snapping jaws as it lunged for my throat.
I grabbed the knife from my belt and drove it straight into its eye socket.
The creature shrieked, jerking back, but I didn’t stop. I tore the blade free and stabbed again, this time straight through its temple.
The body convulsed, then stilled.
I shoved it off me and surged to my feet, blood pounding in my ears.
Across the clearing, Kit was locked in combat with a massive vampire.
He barely dodged a swipe that would’ve gutted him, his face twisted in a mixture of fury and desperation.
Then, a new presence filled the clearing.
The leader.
The air thickened, pulsing with something ancient, something wrong. The other vampires hesitated, pulling back slightly as a figure emerged from the darkness.
Tall. Broad. Well-dressed. And eerily calm.
His eyes glowed with an unnatural light, intelligent and assessing as he looked at us like we were nothing more than insects under his boot.
A slow, cruel smile stretched across his face.
“Well,” he said, voice smooth as silk. “What do we have here?”
The moment he spoke, the rabid vampires stopped. Just stopped.
Their snarls faded into eerie silence, their bodies unnaturally still, their glowing red eyes locked onto him, waiting.
Waiting for a command.
This wasn’t just some brute leading a pack of mindless monsters. This thing was the equivalent of the ruler of a vampire nest, something stronger, smarter.
The leader flicked his gaze over the battlefield, taking in the blood, the bodies, the barely-contained tension between Kit’s team and us.
Then, his eyes landed on Donovan.
I didn’t let him look any longer. I launched myself at him.
The moment I moved, the other vampires exploded into action. I barely registered the chaos breaking out around me. I had one focus.
The leader. The creature moved fast, but I was faster. I slammed into him, my knife already swinging toward his throat. He caught my wrist mid-swing.
The strength in his grip was monstrous, bone-crushing.
Pain shot up my arm, but I didn’t hesitate. I drove my knee into his ribs, twisted my free arm, and stabbed my second knife toward his side.
He let me go at the last second, jerking back just enough to avoid the strike. My blade barely grazed his skin before he retaliated.
A brutal punch connected with my ribs, sending me stumbling back. I gritted my teeth through the flare of pain and lunged again.
He grinned, like he was enjoying this. Behind me, I could hear the battle raging. Gunfire, snarls, the clash of steel against flesh. But I couldn’t afford to look back.
I had to keep him focused on me.
If he was busy dealing with me, he wouldn’t be giving orders. I dodged a strike aimed at my temple, twisted around him, and sliced at his back.
He spun too fast, blocking with an unnatural grace, and slammed a fist toward my chest. I barely had time to brace before he was on me again, a blur of speed and claws.
I twisted, dodging by inches as his hand cut through the air where my throat had been moments before. A fraction slower, and I’d be bleeding out on the forest floor.
My knife came up fast, aiming for his ribs, but he caught my wrist again. This time, he twisted hard enough that pain shot up my arm.
I gritted my teeth and lashed out with my other blade, aiming for his gut.
He released me at the last second, dodging with inhuman precision. Then, to my annoyance, he laughed.
“Impressive,” he murmured, his voice smooth and taunting. “Most people would be dead by now.”
I spat blood to the side. “Guess I’m not most people.”
His grin widened, flashing elongated fangs. “No, you’re not. That much is clear.”
He lunged, and I barely had time to block before his claws raked across my arm, tearing through the leather of my jacket.
White-hot pain flared, but I shoved it aside, twisting into a counterattack.
My knife sank into his shoulder. It was deep, but not deep enough The vampire just smiled.
“Tell me,” he mused as we circled each other. “Did one of my rabid pets bite you?”
That pissed me off. I launched at him, my attacks faster, harder.
My knife found his ribs, but he twisted, deflecting some of the impact.
He countered with a brutal strike to my side, knocking the wind from my lungs. I stumbled but didn’t fall.
He chuckled. “Ah, struck a nerve, did I?”
I didn’t answer. I just fought.
I slashed, ducked, spun, striking whenever an opening presented itself. He was fast, but I was relentless, fueled by adrenaline and fury.
Still, he wasn’t just some brute relying on power alone. He was toying with me, testing me. And that realization sent a shiver of rage through me.
Then, casually like we weren’t locked in a fight to the death, he asked, “Why are you with the sparrow shifters?”
I tightened my grip on my blades and didn’t answer him. He blocked my strike, then leaned in, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “You could be so much more.”
I kicked him hard in the chest, sending him staggering back. “Not interested.”
He wiped a smear of blood from his mouth and sighed, shaking his head. “Such wasted potential. You could be my second-in-command, you know.”
“Not interested,” I repeated.
His expression darkened slightly, but then his smirk returned, slow and knowing.
“I was once part of a prominent nest in Paris,” he mused. “Respected. Feared.”
I didn’t care. I feinted left, then drove my knife toward his throat. He dodged, but this time, I was faster. I slammed my knee into his ribs, making him grunt.
Still, he kept talking.
“I was exiled,” he said, brushing off the attack like it was nothing. “My own kind turned on me. I wandered for years until I found the rabid vampires in these woods. At first, I thought they would kill me. But then I realized I could control them.”
He smiled, eyes gleaming with something dark and triumphant. “Imagine what we could do together, you and I.”
I wasn’t listening, because I was done with this conversation.
I lunged again, striking fast and hard. He was strong, but I was ruthless, fueled by pure, unrelenting determination.
I carved a deep gash across his chest, making him snarl in pain. But he wasn’t done either. He retaliated with terrifying speed, his clawed hand closing around my throat.
He lifted me, slamming me back against a tree. Stars exploded in my vision, and my knife slipped from my grip.
His grip tightened. “Such a shame,” he murmured. “You would’ve been perfect.”
Then a gunshot rang out.
The leader jerked as a bullet tore through his shoulder.
Donovan.
I gasped for breath as the vampire leader staggered, his grip loosening just enough.
I wrenched free, dropping low and grabbing my fallen knife. Before he could recover, I drove the blade up into his chest, right through the sternum.
He screamed, his body convulsing.
But I wasn’t done. I yanked the knife free and slashed again, this time across his throat. Blood sprayed, dark and thick.
His hands clawed at the wound, his mouth opening and closing like he couldn’t quite process what had just happened. Then Donovan was there, gun aimed. One final shot.
The leader collapsed.
Dead.