Vow of a Healer #2
Trees grew overhead, creating a tunnel effect. Rocks smoothed into the dirt kept all but the most determined of plants from growing, making a natural path that led to the crumbling remains of a tall, stone bridge.
Dirt crunched as Havali jumped into the stream bed with her.
“There,” he pointed to the bridge.
Scarlet was already tired from the long, wild sprint, but she didn’t hesitate to take off down the path. The shadows of the bridge closed over them, and she crouched down just as Havali did. He used his body to block the sight of her in the dark.
It was a place to rest. To catch their breath. But they couldn’t stay here. They would be found too easily when their security team caught up.
Something warm dripped onto her leg, surprising her. Scarlet wiped it away, reflexively, before looking at her hand. Something dark was smeared on her skin. It smelled heavily metallic.
“Havali, you’re bleeding,” she whispered, reaching for him.
“I’m fine,” he assured her, glaring out into the darkness. “Does your phone have signal?”
Scarlet went to pat her hip where her purse should be, but it was gone. It must have fallen off at some point during the flight through the woods.
“I lost it,” she grimaced. “Sorry.”
He shook his head. “This park is bigger than I thought. We can keep trying to cross it, but I don’t know where it will lead.”
“You were shot, weren’t you?” Scarlet asked, thinking back. She didn’t even remember half the run through the forest. The inciting gunshot had been so fast, those memories were fragmented too. But she could guess.
Havali lifted his hand, reaching towards the other arm, but stopped short of touching it. That was all the hint she needed.
“Take your jacket off,” she ordered, sitting up on her knees.
Havali hesitated only a moment, no doubt debating the benefits of doing this now versus later, before doing as she instructed. His jacket and shirt came off, leaving him in only his tank top as he continued to look into the trees.
It was dark, so she investigated the wound with only her hands. His hot blood was sticky, still sluggishly dripping from a hole right through his upper arm. The bone seemed stable, it appeared to only go through the meat, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.
“Can you move your arm?” She asked. “Your fingers?”
He lifted his hand without looking and wiggled all his fingers. “It’s painful, but I don’t think there’s anything too damaging. At least, nothing that will kill me.”
“Give me your claws,” Scarlet ordered.
He offered his good hand, and she used his sharp nails to cut his silk shirt into long strips which she used as bandages. She tied them around his arm to stop the bleeding.
“Anything else?” She asked.
He shook his head. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah.” There were a few scratches on her body that she could feel burning on her arms and legs, but nothing bad. At least, she hadn’t been shot.
“Do you hear anything?” She asked softly, knowing his ears were better than hers.
“No. But they’re well trained. I might not hear them until they’re close. Wait here. I’m going to the other side to see if I hear or see something there.”
Scarlet nodded and watched him crouch walk away. The moment he stopped moving, she immediately lost him. She narrowed her eyes, moved her head, tried to spot him, but he was just gone. The darkness and shadows certainly helped, but it was still impressive just how well he disappeared.
Turning from him, she looked out into the trees as well.
It wasn’t still. There was a breeze in the night, rustling all the leaves.
She heard animals, birds especially, moving around.
She didn’t know how she would be able to tell the difference between normal nature sounds and a man crunching over detritus.
Biting her lip, she stood up a bit, resting her hand on the stone of the bridge.
It suddenly depressed, upsetting her balance, sending her falling against it. Her weight broke through stones that had been piled without mortar.
“Scarlet!”
Dust fell over her, making her cough as she tried to sit up, rocks poking her painfully all over as the musty smell of stale air filled her nose.
“Are you alright?” Havali was there, waving away the dust and moving the rocks and bricks, giving her space to sit up.
“Yeah, I think so,” she grumbled, rubbing her aching hip. She landed on it when she fell inside… the bridge?
Confused, she looked around, but couldn’t see anything in the darkness. The moonlight didn’t penetrate here.
“There’s stone steps here,” Havali said, seeing more than her. “Looks like they head down.”
“Down? Why is there a down under a bridge?” Scarlet asked, getting to her feet and squinting into the blackness. Of course, she saw nothing.
“I don’t-”
“Over there!”
The call made them both turn.
Havali
The human males had found them. And they weren’t being subtle about it.
They were calling out to each other in the darkness.
He didn’t think they spotted them. The way the humans called out didn’t indicate that.
It was more like they had spotted the bridge and were bringing it to someone’s attention in order to investigate.
“Stay here,” he hissed at Scarlet, yanking off his tank top, leaving his chest bare. It made him vulnerable, but it also allowed him to camouflage better.
Leaving Scarlet in the new opening into the tunnel under the bridge, he jumped back out into the shadows underneath and ran around. Away from the voices.
He wasn’t running. Not so long as his mate was hidden there. But if he could make his way around to the other side…
Two of their security team had found the bridge and were approaching slowly, guns raised, carefully putting one foot in front of the other.
Havali was silent but quick as he closed the distance between them while hidden in the trees. They were too close to where his gravid female was hiding.
He grabbed the first male by the neck from behind, claws sinking into his neck.
He used his grip to turn his body, catching the bullets that his companions immediately unloaded.
His shield jerked and shook with each shot as Havali lifted and threw him.
His claws jerked free from his neck, sending blood spurting everywhere.
The other human caught the man’s body and shoved it to the side, sending him crashing into the dirt, out of his way. He tried to raise his gun-
-but Havali was already there, grabbing his wrist and shoving the gun up and out of the way. His other hand grabbed his shoulder and jerked the man in close. His fangs sank into his throat, into the throbbing artery right below the skin.
He was already swallowing, anticipating the heated sweetness of human blood.
It was a bad time for him to come under the aphrodisiac effect, but he had bitten Scarlet enough that he was accustomed to it.
He could power through, and the fresh blood should provide him with strength and vitality while fighting any others.
He took two, large gulps of the rushing, pulsatile blood before he registered the flavor.
Simultaneously sickeningly sweet, sour, and vile.
He ripped free with a cry of disgust as he gagged. The cloying flavor clung to his tongue even as he tried spitting what remained in his mouth. He dropped the human male, his body collapsing, already bleeding out.
Havali gagged again. There was a heated warmth in his belly, but it wasn’t at all similar to the heat that drinking from Scarlet brought him. It was the churning, unsteady heat of building nausea.
Groaning, he stumbled away from the males as he returned to the bridge.
He had to grab the stone, holding his gut, as he panted, sweat beading on his forehead.
“Scarlet?” He groaned, stepping towards the hole.
“Havali?” She immediately sounded worried, like she could hear the distress in his voice.
She poked her head out of the hole and gasped, rushing for him.
“What happened?!”
“Drank… the males… wrong…” he panted, struggling to remain upright.
“What? But why? You-”
She broke off as the sound of more males calling out through the forest echoed off the tress. Gritting her teeth, she tugged Havali into the hole.
He struggled to keep himself upright as she put his arm around her shoulders and tried to take his weight. He succeeded only until she guided him through the hole in the bridge. The abundance of stones, the drop in elevation, was too much and he went sprawling.
Cursing, Scarlet dropped down beside him. She fretted, but he waved her worry away.
“Need to… hide…” He panted, his belly cramping painfully, head spinning. His mouth flooded with spit like he was about to vomit, but the nausea just continued to churn, twisting, his gut refused to empty itself.
“Okay, come on.” She put his arm back over her shoulder and began walking them into the darkness, using her free hand to feel along the wall. They were both careful, putting one foot slowly in front of the other.
The dusty muskiness did nothing to ease his aching nausea. The steps lead down into a cold, echoing tunnel that seemed impossible to descend on suddenly weak legs.
He had to keep standing. He had to get Scarlet somewhere safe.
He could barely think. He could barely breathe.
He gagged but, again, nothing emerged.
Scarlet
Fuck.
What the hell happened to her mate?!
The question was brief in her mind because the what wasn't important. Right now, the thing that mattered most was that she was treating him in the dark, underground, while they were being hunted.
She had no idea where they were. It was pitch black.
She had put one hand on the oddly lumpy left wall and just followed it as far as she could before Havali collapsed.
She had no idea where they were – if it was a room or a hall or what – but he was too heavy for her to move, so they were stuck there.