Chapter 11 #3
I shifted into a crouch, snatched a stray tent pole—the kind that had an elastic bit inside to keep it connected to a row of other poles—and whipped it hard, causing it to come free from its connecting pole to expose the elastic.
I swung it in an arc toward the lone soldier coming toward us.
The elastic wrapped around his legs, and the poles tangled together, bringing the man down in one fell swoop.
I turned to check on Vix and saw a huge dog dragging him into the shadow of the house. I scrambled toward him, hoping to wrestle him free, but a kick to my spine from the prone soldier sent me sprawling.
Goddamnit. Was I going to be forced to witness yet another kind, if somewhat crazy, person be killed? If so, I’d better not fucking survive it or else I was really going to lose my mind.
I waited for more kicks or for someone to come and try to restrain me, but all I heard was a woosh of air over my head. Then there was screaming. It cut off abruptly, and then more screaming started, only to be cut off just as quickly.
I rolled over onto my aching back and forced myself to sit up.
Before me was Vale, black coat fluttering as he popped the head off person after person. You’d think he was plucking flowers with how easily he did it. And wow, did he look pissed.
Off to one side of him was Gareth, punching a hole through a soldier’s chest with his bare hand and throwing the body into a group of soldiers so hard I heard the crunch of bones and muffled gurgles as lungs collapsed while their owners still tried to use them.
Animals poured from the trees. Birds swooped down, pecking out eyes, while squirrels and rats swarmed soldiers’ bodies, tearing at their gear, stealing their weapons, and going for their throats.
The huge dog had returned with another huge ass dog, and beside them stood a massive man with a shock of white-blond hair, looking as ferocious as a vengeful Viking. Both dogs had blood on their muzzles, so it was clear they hadn’t been idle.
The battle was over in moments. I stood at ground zero, absently marveling at the pattern of blood spreading out like it had exploded from me rather than around me.
Vale dripped with blood, hands covered in gore, when he came up to me. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m not hurt,” I responded. Then I winced as I tried to get to my feet. “Okay, that kick may have done in a rib or two.”
Vale threw a violent glare at a particularly mangled corpse before touching my shoulder. It left a heavy smear of blood and viscera on my coat, and I stared at it.
“Let me see,” Vale demanded. I unzipped my coat and pulled up Vale’s sweater.
“Don’t touch the sweater,” I ordered. “I want to keep it.”
Vale glanced at me oddly before saying, “I’ll buy you another if I get it dirty.”
“No,” I insisted. “I want this one specifically. Not a new one. Don’t get it dirty.”
Vale chuckled softly. “I’ll see what I can do.”
He touched the place on my back where I’d been kicked by a jack-booted thug and snarled. The area grew warm, then hot, and I gasped.
“I’m sorry. The pain will be over soon. It hurts more the worse the injury is.”
That explained why it hadn’t hurt when Vale had fixed my minor sex boo-boos so we could have another round in the shower.
“Just finish,” I said through gritted teeth. Then added, “But don’t fuck up my sweater.”
“You mean my sweater,” Vale said, his fingers heating up against another incredibly tender spot on my back.
“Possession is nine-tenths of the law,” I said, hissing from the pain. “This is my sweater now. Go get your own.”
“I’ll do that,” Vale said. “You should be okay soon. You should be fully healed now, but for some reason, your body is resisting me. I wonder if it has something to do with what Cal did to you,” he mused.
“Cal?” Who the hell was Cal?
“Hmm?” Vale’s eyebrows raised. “Oh, no one. Don’t worry about it for now. I want to get you inside and check you more thoroughly before we do anything else.”
“He means naked things, Echo!” Apple shouted from the porch.
I startled and grabbed Vale. I reached out a hand and pointed two fingers at my eyes and then at Apple, glaring at him for all I was worth. Then I noticed my hands were now covered in dead guy goo.
I checked my sweater anxiously and sighed in relief when I saw it was still unbesmirched.
Apple laughed. “I’m not going to do anything bad to you, Echo. I’m helping! See? Look at Gareth.”
I looked at Gareth involuntarily before realizing my mistake, but instead of throwing up all over Vale, I only felt a tingle of fear run down my spine. It was negligible compared to looking at Gareth before.
“Huh,” I grunted as I watched Gareth drop a severed arm to the snow next to the soldier he’d presumably beaten to death with it. “How did Apple do that?”
“No one knows, and I don’t care,” Vale said. “Now let’s get you inside.”
“Okay. Hey, is Vix okay? He was grabbed by a dog earlier.”
“Who cares? Let Paris deal with him. Now follow me or I’ll touch your sweater.”
I crossed my arms protectively in front of me, making sure not to touch my sweater with my yucky hands. “I’m coming, I’m coming. No need to make threats.”
As I entered the front door, giving Apple a wide berth from where he leaned lazily against the porch rail, Baz ran past, hair wet and disheveled and naked as the day he was born. “I was in the shower for five minutes, and I missed everything? What the fuck?!”