Chapter 22 #2
This isn’t the same. This isn’t the same storm. These are different people. Banks is gone. Snap out of it.
Lorcan said Ruka would die tonight if he chased.
“This isn’t the same,” I whisper on a deep exhale, my brother’s face flashing in my mind.
Nariko’s heartbeat is there to ward him away.
“What’s happening? Where is Nariko? I can’t move,” he whimpers, shock setting into his body. Every inch of him shakes. His teeth clatter together as if he’s cold.
“Nariko is out cold. She’s okay.” Or I’d already be dead because I’d kill myself before Fate had the chance to. “It’s you we need to worry about.”
“Oakley, I—I—” His teeth are chattering. “I can’t move my left arm. A branch is in me.”
As we drift through the wind, I risk unbuckling myself to get a better view.
I have a better chance at living if we crash.
When I can finally peer over the seat, I swallow my reaction. Flashes of blood.
So much blood.
I suppress a gag as bile works its way up my throat.
“Take a picture,” Ruka rasps.
“What the fuck? You’re worried about a picture when we’re about to crash to the ground, and there’s a fucking tree branch lodged in your left side? You might lose your arm, Ruka!” I yell.
“She’ll be upset if you didn’t. This is the picture of…of…her…dreams,” he croaks.
We’re slammed by a piece of debris, and it dents the entire right side. I fly, crashing to the other side of the truck so hard it knocks the breath out of me.
We spin again, flipping backwards. We’re hit again, metal groaning against metal.
I hit the roof next, then the floor. I’m beat the hell up by the time I pull myself back into the seat.
The longest twenty seconds of my life.
I try to bite into my wrist, trying to remember to feed him my blood before we crash. I need to feed him. Nariko will be fine. My blood is in her system. If she dies, she’ll be a vampire, but her death will probably tilt my world.
But she can’t live an eternity without her best friend.
We tilt backwards, the front end pointing to the light at the end of the tunnel. Nariko’s camera falls onto my lap.
It’s her dream.
And I’ll never be the one to stop her from achieving those dreams.
I don’t know what I’m doing and lift the camera up and take as many photos as I can. I play with the lens, twisting and turning at warp speed until the memory card is full.
We fall, the camera falling from my hands. Time slows. The camera lens smashes into pieces. Nariko’s hair sways over her shoulders. Ruka’s blood drips onto my cheek.
Gravity drags us down, gripping us by its invisible threads.
The familiar whistle of death’s call takes me back to my brother’s lifeless eyes.
His head almost severed from his body.
My brother choking on his own blood.
Alaska’s red eyes.
The crash happens fast. Even knowing we will hit the ground, we never know when. The earth swallows us, and we grind against the surface, uprooting dirt.
The feel of soil on my skin, the soft pebbles light scratching my cheek, insnare the same memory from the first time this happened. I remember the dirt in my mouth. It tasted how you’d expect.
Like dirt.
The truck falls to pieces. The back door rips off and the wheat snaps in half, ripping from its long skinny stem.
Nariko’s heartbeat settles me.
I’m happy she’s unconscious. I’d rather her not witness the destruction this storm has caused. She doesn’t need to see her brother dying as mine did.
I want her free of that pain. It’s too much to carry.
We slide to a stop, the truck creaking at the hinges. My wounds heal, the skin and muscle stitch together. Bones in my legs and arms snap in place, allowing me to move with the speed I need to.
Gasping until my lungs are used to breathing in still air, I kick the door once, and it flies. I don’t waste time. I blur to the passenger side, yank the metal that’s keeping me from my mate.
Mine.
Mine to protect.
“Nariko,” I whine, throwing the door as far as a twister would.
I bend down, cut the belt with my claws, and gather her in my arms. “I got you, Sugar. I got you. You’re okay, baby. You’re okay. You have to be okay,” I sob.
Nariko’s heart isn’t beating.
“Please be okay.” I clutch her in a tight embrace, squeezing my eyes shut as my world crashes around me.
I know in my heart she will be okay. She’d fed from me every day. My blood is always in her system just for this reason.
Still.
Witnessing her death. Not hearing her heart. Having her limp in my arms.
I can’t seem to remember she’ll be okay.
“Come on, Sugar. You’re strong. You’re so strong. I need you to survive this transition. You have to. You both have to. I can’t be without you.” I push her hair out of her face, run my knuckles down her bruised cheek from hitting the side of the door so much.
She has so many injuries.
“Both of you.” I palm her stomach, pouring all my love into the bond, filling her body with my soul in hopes she will answer. “I can’t be without my family.”
Family.
Fuck.
Ruka.
“I’ll be back, Sugar. Okay?” I bend down and kiss her forehead, ignoring how I sound like I’ve gone mad. “Don’t move. I’m here. I love you. I have you. Everything is okay. We’ll be okay.” My tears fall onto her lips, the iridescent liquid glittering in the night.
I lie her gently on the ground, then move her arms to her sides. I want her to be as comfortable as possible.
I’ll be right back.
I speed to Ruka, tearing the door off. It flies like a frisbee when I throw it to the other side of the pasture.
“Ah, damn it.” I lace my hands on top of my head as I stare down at him. His arms are above his head, blood drips from his mouth, and the branch that pierced the engine went through the dash, then his left shoulder.
“Ruka, hey, talk to me. Talk to me.” I can’t have my fated mate’s brother die in my arms.
He might curse me for not asking for his permission to change him into a vampire.
Luckily, somehow, he still has a heartbeat. It’s slow, weak, and barely hanging on, but that’s all I need.
He has to be alive when he’s fed the blood. That much I remember from Alaska, my sire.
Grabbing the thick branch on the lower half, I snap it in half, then do the same up top where it’s piercing the seat.
“I’m sorry for this. All I hope is you don’t hate me for all eternity.” I slide the giant spear out of him, blood spilling like a waterfall onto the ground.
I bite into my wrist, tear the skin, hesitate, and groan in frustration. “Fuck, don’t hate me. I just need you to live, and you can’t die like this.” I press my arm onto his mouth, my blood sliding down his throat.
The smallest part of our DNA binds, my blood mutating his. Our own bond forms. I’ll only be able to feel when he needs help or if something is seriously wrong, like a father to a child.
I never thought I’d ever be a sire.
Especially not to my fated mate’s brother.
He’s going to fucking hate me when he wakes up.
“You’ll be okay.” I carry him to be next to his sister. “I promise.”
I stand, circling to take in my surroundings, when I see her stumbling towards me.
Snarling, my claws are at the ready. I slide to the left to protect my family.
I finally have a family.
“Where is he?” she cries again, stumbling left and right. “I feel his storms. Here. Right here. I feel them. They burn.”
I have no idea what she’s saying. She’s rambling.
As she comes closer, her bright blue eyes struggle to ignite like they did before. They spark and fizzle as if she’s running out of energy. The right side of her is charred, ash drifting into the air with every step.
Lightning brightens her veins as she chokes, struggling to breathe. I catch her before she hits the ground, placing her over my knee. Now that I can see her up close, I can tell she’s a paranormal.
I don’t know what kind. By the scent of her, she smells like multiple.
Lorcan would know more about that.
“I only wanted to find him.” She inhales deeply between every sob. “That’s all I wanted.”
“What’s your name?” I ask, wanting to know the woman who will die in my arms.
“It’s all I wanted. Him. His storms. I’m so—I’m sorry for—” She glances around, her eyes bouncing left and right. “For everything. I’ll be back. Tell him…” She gasps, her mouth opening and closing, trying to suck in as much air as possible. “Tell him I’ll be back.”
“Who? What’s his name?”
A tear leaves the corner of her eye as her pupils blow. The last bit of air rasps from her lungs.
“Damn it.” I hang my head in exhaustion and sadness. “I’m sorry you didn’t find who you were looking for.” Her body dissipates into ash, and they find the current of the wind, swirling, dancing to the person she’s looking for, I hope.
A black feather lulls to the ground between my boots. I pick it up, running my fingers up and down the silky threads.
What was she?
I tuck the feather in my back pocket, then spin on my heel when I hear the first breath taken.
I’m by her side in a second, lifting her onto my lap. Her body is caked in mud, and her clothes are stained with blood. She would have died without me.
I would have died without them.
The emotions slam into me, adding to my own of relief.
I press my head against her stomach and break, my shoulders shaking with every sob. I clutch onto her, my fingers digging into her sides to leave bruises. Her fingers play with my hair in tired, weak strokes.
She’s alive.