Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
DONOVAN
The woods were silent now, save for the ragged breathing of the survivors. Blood soaked the ground. The air stank of death and gunpowder.
I sucked in a breath, scanning the clearing, my chest heaving. We’d done it. Against all odds, we’d survived. Everyone on our side was still standing.
But then I saw Kit. A rabid vampire had him pinned, its grotesque face inches from his throat, fangs bared, ready to rip into flesh.
Kit fought, his knife wedged between their bodies, barely holding the creature back. But I saw it in his eyes. He was losing. He wouldn’t last another few seconds.
My gut twisted. I had led him into this. I’d baited the trap. And if he died here, if I let him die, I’d never be able to shake the guilt.
But before I could move, Declan did.
He was a blur of motion, crossing the space between them in a heartbeat. His knife flashed under the moonlight, burying itself in the rabid’s side.
The creature shrieked. Kit used the distraction to shove it off, scrambling away just as Declan struck again.
His blade carved clean through the vampire’s throat, severing flesh and bone in one brutal motion. The rabid slumped. Dead.
Declan stood there, blood splattered across his face. His body tense, like he was waiting for the next threat to come. But there was none. It was over.
A hunter rushed to Kit’s side, hauling him up. He was a little unsteady, but he was alive. Alive, because Declan had saved him. And my gamble? It had paid off.
I let out a breath, taking it all in. The battlefield was a mess. Blood and bodies littered the ground, the scent of death thick in the air.
The echoes of the fight still rang in my ears. Clashing steel, bullets flying, and guttural growls.
But somehow, against all odds, we were still standing. Kit. The hunters. Declan. Me.
We were all still breathing. The fight had pushed us to our limits, forcing us into impossible choices. But in the end, we’d won.
A gruff voice broke through the heavy silence. “What now?”
I turned to see one of Kit’s men, a broad-shouldered, battle-worn hunter, surveying the aftermath, his jaw tight.
His gaze swept over the wreckage before landing on me and Declan. His lip curled in disdain.
“What do we do about them?” he demanded.
The question sent a ripple of tension through the remaining hunters. I felt Declan stiffen beside me, the muscles in his arm coiling like a spring.
Easy, I told him without speaking, my fingers wrapping around his wrist in a silent command. Wait.
Kit stood in the center of it all, his expression carefully neutral. But I saw the subtle twitch of his fingers, the way his throat worked as he swallowed.
He wasn’t just considering our fate; he was weighing something, something deeper.
Then, before he could speak, the woman, the one Declan had saved, stepped forward.
“We let them go,” she said, her voice steady, clear.
I didn’t know her name, but in that moment, I was super grateful she spoke first. Predictably, the reaction was instant.
“The hell we will.”
“They led us into this!”
“They should pay for it!”
Angry voices clashed like a second battle brewing in the wake of the first. Kit raised a hand, and just like that, the arguing died.
One look from him was all it took. Even exhausted, bloodied, and bruised, he still commanded respect.
A long breath left him. His gaze flicked to me, then Declan.
His expression hardened, but underneath that steel was something else. Something reluctant. Something resigned.
“I see it now,” he murmured, his voice carrying through the clearing like a quiet declaration. “How much you care for each other.”
I didn’t move. Didn’t even blink. Kit exhaled, shaking his head slightly.
“And I won’t forget that if it weren’t for him.”Kit nodded toward Declan.“I’d be dead.”
Silence stretched, thick and heavy.
Then, one of the hunters scoffed. “Yeah, well, doesn’t change the fact that Donovan lured us into this trap.”
The woman turned on him, eyes flashing. “Shut it.” Her tone was sharp.
And that worked. The hunter clamped his mouth shut, his frustration evident, but he didn’t argue.
Kit’s gaze lingered on Declan for a moment longer before he turned back to me.
His jaw clenched, then unclenched. He let out another slow breath, like he was about to do something he really didn’t want to.
“I’ll let you off this time.”
The words hit like a gut punch. I didn’t dare breathe.
“I’ll tell the Guild we found you,” he continued, his voice steady but firm. “But you died during a vampire attack.”
A cover. A way out. A second chance.
Then his eyes darkened, and his voice dropped to something low and lethal.
“But next time?” His gaze cut into me like a blade. “I won’t go easy on you again.”
I met his stare. Held it.
“I understand,” I said, my voice even.
Kit studied me for another beat, then nodded. A short, final thing.
Then he turned to his hunters. “Let’s go.”
One by one, they moved, peeling away into the trees. The sounds of their retreat faded, their presence swallowed by the darkness of the forest.
Declan and I stood frozen, listening, waiting. Minutes stretched. No movement. No sounds. And then finally they were gone.
Relief slammed into me, stealing my breath. My heart was still hammering, my body still buzzing with adrenaline.
Every inch of me was shaking from the high of battle, the impossible stakes, the razor-thin margin between life and death.
I turned to Declan. He was already looking at me, those storm-dark eyes unreadable.
Something inside me snapped.
I lunged for him, grabbed the front of his shirt, and crushed my mouth to his. It was desperate, furious. A collision of relief and adrenaline and need.
Declan growled low in his throat, his arms snapping around me, pulling me flush against him.
He kissed me back just as hard, just as desperate, like he needed proof that I was here, that I was alive.
I fisted my hands in his shirt, holding onto him like a lifeline, not caring about the blood or the dirt or the exhaustion weighing down my limbs.
Nothing else mattered. We had survived. And somehow, against all odds, I had managed to get the hunters off our backs.
The walk back to the village felt different this time.
The gnawing dread that had followed us for weeks, the constant threat of the hunters, the rabid vampires were gone.
The battle was behind us, and for the first time in what felt like forever, I wasn’t looking over my shoulder, waiting for the next fight.
Kit’s warning still echoed in my head. Next time, I won’t go easy on you.
I knew he meant it. If our paths crossed again, it wouldn’t end with mercy. But I wasn’t thinking about next time.
I was thinking about this time.
About the impossible truth that we’d made it out alive.
Beside me, Declan walked in silence, his long strides unhurried, as if he could finally relax now that the weight of survival wasn’t pressing down on us.
His face was unreadable, but his shoulders, so often tense and coiled for a fight, were looser. Lighter. I wanted to ask him what he was thinking, but I didn’t. Not yet.
The village came into view, lanterns glowing soft and golden against the dark.
The sparrow shifters had been waiting for us, their small, tight-knit group gathered near the fire, expressions wary but hopeful.
As soon as we stepped past the threshold, Jonas and Lena moved forward. Jonas’ sharp eyes swept over us, taking in every bruise, every streak of dried blood.
“You’re back,” he said, voice steady, but I caught the way his shoulders eased just a little.
I nodded. “It’s over. Those vampires won’t be bothering you anymore. We killed their leader.”
A ripple of relief moved through the crowd. Someone let out a breath.
Someone else murmured a quiet prayer of thanks. A few of the younger shifters exchanged glances, their tension unwinding at last.
Jonas, ever the cautious one, wasn’t satisfied just yet. “And the hunters?”
“They think we’re dead,” I told him.
No reason to hide the truth. The sparrow shifters had given us shelter, and they deserved to know exactly what had happened.
Jonas pressed his lips into a thin line, considering that. Then, after a long beat, he gave a sharp nod. “Good.”
Silence stretched between us, but this time, it wasn’t heavy. The air smelled of damp earth, pine, and the faintest trace of smoke from a nearby fire.
For the first time in days, I let myself believe that maybe we were safe.
Then, finally, Jonas spoke again. “The offer still stands.”
Something in my chest tightened. Declan shifted beside me, and I felt the subtle movement of his gaze flicking toward me.
“You’re welcome to stay,” Jonas continued. “Build a new life here.”
His words settled into me like a weight, not a heavy one, not a burden, but something grounding. Something real.
A home. A future. A choice. I turned to Declan, already knowing he was looking at me.
The fight was over. We didn’t need to worry about the Guild or rabid vampires. We could finally think about ourselves, and best of all, we weren’t running anymore.
Declan held my gaze, his eyes dark and steady. Then he asked, voice low but certain, “What do you want to do next?”
The simplicity of it nearly undid me.
What do you want?
Not what’s the plan? Not where do we go from here? But what do you want?
For what felt like forever, I hadn’t had the luxury of asking myself that.
Survival had dictated every move, every step. But now… now I could want something. I did want something.
A slow smile curved my lips, but I didn’t answer. I didn’t have to, because Declan already knew.
His lips twitched, like he was fighting a smirk. He reached out, his fingers brushing mine, and I took his hand without hesitation. Warm. Solid. Real.
I turned back to Jonas.
“We’ll stay,” I said.
A murmur passed through the gathered shifters. Some exchanged glances, some smiled faintly. Lena exhaled softly, her expression something close to relieved.
Jonas only studied us for a moment longer before nodding, something knowing in his gaze.
“Then welcome home.”
The words hit me deeper than I expected, sinking into my bones, settling something inside me that had been restless for years.
Home. Not a hiding place. Not a temporary refuge. A home.
Jonas gestured toward the fire pit at the center of the village. "Come. Eat with us."
It wasn’t a question. I glanced at Declan, but he only gave me a slight nod, his expression unreadable.
"Alright," I said.
We followed Jonas through the village, past wooden cabins and woven lanterns that bathed everything in warm, flickering light.
The air smelled of roasting meat, fresh bread, and something spiced that made my stomach ache with hunger. It had been too long since I'd had a real meal.
Declan and I took a spot near the fire. The shifters welcomed us easily, passing food and ale, their conversation easy and familiar.
I let it wash over me, not needing to contribute, just existing in it.
Declan didn’t eat, of course, but he sat beside me, close enough that his knee brushed mine, and he looked relaxed. Almost at peace.
It was such a rare thing to see him like this.
His sharp edges, the constant wariness in his eyes, softened in the glow of firelight. He wasn’t tense, wasn’t scanning the dark for threats. He was here. With me.
And that was enough.
After dinner, Jonas stood, brushing his hands together. “You’ll need a place to sleep.”
He nodded toward a nearby cabin, set a little apart from the others but close enough that we wouldn’t be isolated. “It’s yours. For as long as you need it.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I just nodded. “Thanks.”
The inside of the cabin was simple but comfortable. A sturdy bed, a fireplace, a small table. It smelled of wood and something herbal, like dried lavender tucked into the corners.
Declan and I took turns in the shower.
I let the hot water run over me longer than I probably should have, scrubbing away dried blood, dirt, and the tension still lingering in my muscles.
By the time I stepped out, toweling my hair dry, Declan was already sitting on the edge of the bed.
I climbed into bed, sighing as I sank into the mattress. It was soft. Not a creaky motel bed, not the hard ground of the forest. Just comfortable.
I reached out, found Declan’s hand, and laced my fingers through his.
He didn’t pull away.
Didn’t say anything.
Just squeezed back, firm and steady.
The fire crackled softly in the hearth. The sounds of the village, laughter and quiet voices, faded into the background. For the first time in what felt like forever, I let myself close my eyes.
And with Declan’s hand in mine, I slept like the dead.