Chapter 7
Ifell backward, my eyes locked with Slade’s as the wind rushed past me. With death rushing toward me, I couldn’t feel the cold anymore.
That strange presence churned inside me while my blood remained calm, mixing with the warmth of what could only be hope in my chest.
Slade lifted a hand, and his face twisted with fear as he focused on me.
He was going to watch me die.
Somehow, that made it worse.
I closed my eyes and imagined Raffe, not wanting Slade’s face to be my last memory, and water surrounded me. My back stung from the impact, but the water forced my body to slope downward like I was riding a wave to the center of the deep pond.
Slade.
He’d used his magic to save me.
As my body became immersed in the water, the wave settled back without even a ripple. I wasn’t sure how that was possible, but the respect I had for Slade and his abilities grew. There was no way an amateur could’ve done that.
In the still water, my body sank. The wounds on my neck burned, and my eyes smarted. I surfaced and gasped, treading water. My blood was eerily calm. Normally, it would’ve been fizzing. I feared that maybe my loss of blood was making me woozy.
How bad would it be to drown after what Slade had done to save me? I didn’t need to help my bad luck out by forgetting to swim.
As I paddled to the bank, the wound on my wrist stung, but I bit the inside of my cheek, needing to make it out of the pond. There was no telling how fast the vampires and the witches could break through the rock, and Slade and I couldn’t fight them off much longer, especially with Slade climbing down the rocky edge with broken ribs. I suspected if he could’ve used his magic, he would’ve used his connection to water to help us escape faster. He must have used up most of his magic by helping me.
I reached the edge of the pond and clutched onto grass, roots, and weeds to hoist myself onto dry land. My limbs felt like heavy weights. My wrists and neck burned, and the fatigue from the blood loss and the exertion was catching up to me. Then, the sound of rocks jostling behind the waterfall had that presence inside me surging forward, forcing me up to my full height.
The vampires and Glinda were working on getting out. I didn’t have time to rest.
I studied the waterfall. The water poured continuously, making the area behind it hard to see, but even if it hadn’t, the illusion spell hiding the entrance meant I wouldn’t be able to see what was happening.
Slade was close to the bottom, his movements jerky, revealing his pain.
The sensation in my chest increased in warmth, making my body ache. The yearning sensation was most definitely not my feeling.
I hurried around the pond to reach Slade. He needed assistance, and even though I was weak, I had to help him. He was the reason I was free.
As I reached the edge, he lost his grip and slid the remaining ten feet down. His face hit the rock, reopening the wound on his nose, and he tried to gain traction against the wall with his fingers, bloodying the tips.
I grabbed him and managed to slow him down by placing a hand on each ass cheek.
Lovely.
“You’re at the bottom,” I grunted as I tried to keep my balance and ease him down. When his feet hit the ground, I released him, and he crumpled. I managed to grab an arm and wrap it around my shoulders.
That was when rocks shot through the waterfall and splashed into the pond beside us.
Warin, Glinda, and the others were either out or too damn close for comfort. Slade and I needed to put distance between us and them, especially since the vampires could move faster than us.
“Go. You can run farther without me.” Slade tried to jerk his arm free, but he moaned from the effort.
In hindsight, helping him like this wasn’t good for his ribs, but it wasn’t like he could get on my back. Even if he could, I couldn’t support his weight. “I’m not leaving you. You got me out of there, and we’re in this together.” I refused to sacrifice someone else to save my own ass. I couldn’t live with myself.
“Fine,” he gritted out as we moved.
We started out awkwardly and out of sync. Every time I moved my left foot, he would move his right. But after a few steps and several whimpers, we found a groove.
“They’re right there. See, I told you they wouldn’t get far,” Warin called from the waterfall’s ledge.
My blood jolted. I had to keep it from activating.
“Dammit.” Slade missed a step and grunted. “I can’t use my magic much anymore. I’m too hurt and drained. That little bit I used to save you when you fell was pushing it.”
His words weighed on me. Was that why he was struggling more than he had been? I laughed humorlessly. “And you thought I would leave you.” All the hesitation I’d had about becoming friends with him again vanished. He’d tried to pressure me into a relationship, but maybe he’d thought that was the best way to protect me, and I’d read the situation all wrong. I’d felt like he didn’t care about my wants or needs. I hadn’t thought twice about it due to how Raffe had reacted and the fact the two of us had gotten closer. Regret squeezed my heart. I should’ve been willing to talk to Slade alone.
Howls sounded in the distance, and my heart leaped. Was it Raffe?
But they’d never reach us before the vampires and witches caught us.
We had to delay Glinda and the vampires.
The trickle of a spring caught my attention. Maybe the mud could hide us. I turned right toward the sound.
“That’s not the way out.” Slade tried to continue straight, but I pressed forward.
“There’s shallow water running this way,” I murmured, quiet enough that the vampires couldn’t hear. “Maybe mud will mask our scent. We won’t get far before they catch up.” Animals like white-tailed deer and Tuatara lizards rolled in mud to mask their scent from predators. If it was good enough for the animal kingdom, where there was always a threat, then I’d follow suit in the hope of continuing the survival of the smartest.
Slade stopped fighting me and followed my lead. We passed through fir trees, and the stream came into view. It was a couple of feet wide but not deep enough to swim in.
The two of us plopped onto the embankment and slathered mud over ourselves. Luckily, there weren’t too many rocks, and we made good time, but my wrist and neck stung from caking mud on my wounds. This would probably lower our core temperatures and cause infection in our wounds, but if we didn’t do it, we might not live long enough.
“This way,” the woman vampire said.
The voice was way too close for comfort, close to the end of the pond. I quickly finished covering myself and turned to help Slade, who had only covered his face and hands and was struggling to bend over.
Without hesitation, I worked from the bottom up. The mud stuck to us like oatmeal to a bowl, and chills racked my body.
Once he was covered, a twig snapped close by, and my heart raced.
The vampires were nearly on top of us.
More howls sounded, much closer than before. The odd presence inside me inched forward. We’d bought some time, but if we didn’t move, the wolves would never reach us. I waved for Slade to follow me.
Warin stepped into view fifteen trees away, on the path where Slade and I had come from.
As I feared, they were following our scent.
“They’re this way,” Warin murmured. “What are the four of you doing?”
“Don’t you hear the wolves?” the dark-skinned man asked. “They’re close.”
“And so are we. We still have time to find them and leave.”
Slade gritted his teeth and lifted a hand. Suddenly, a portion of the stream next to us hovered in the air and slammed into Warin. The water splashed down, obscuring our path.
Warin flew backward several feet as Slade and I climbed to our feet and ran away from the trail that led to the bunker.
Adrenaline had to be rushing through Slade because he kept up with me despite his injuries. Still, he was moving slower than normal, just keeping pace with a human.
Trees blurred past as we ran, but I could hear the pants of the vampires gaining on us. I shuddered, feeling very much like prey again. It reminded me of the first time a vampire attacked me.
Slade’s feet dragged against the ground, helping the vampires track us. We had to hide before they were on us. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed thick brush and snagged Slade’s hand, leading him toward it.
He nodded, and we dropped to our knees and shuffled under the brush. I went in as deep as I could, the limbs digging into my back. Slade’s front half stuck out. I grabbed his waist and yanked him as hard as I could, the brush limbs rustling.
The vampires’ footsteps slowed.
“Did you hear that?” The shortest male vampire stepped into view, scanning the area.
A breeze picked up, rustling the branches and causing some needles to fall to the forest floor.
“It’s the wind, Mylo.” The woman vampire rolled her eyes and sniffed. “But where the fuck did they go? I can’t smell them, and I don’t hear them running anymore.”
I breathed slowly, doing my best not to make any noise. I pulled up Raffe’s face in my mind, picturing his strong jawline and full lips. As usual, my blood calmed, which was exactly what I needed so the vampires wouldn’t sense me.
Warin stepped into view, his nostrils flaring. “How can we not smell them? That’s impossible unless the warlock is using magic. But he’s injured. Even fully healed, I doubt he could handle that much magic without his coven working with him.”
My lungs seized. Of course the covens could perform spells together; I’d seen it in movies and read about it in books, though I’d yet to see the coven members I knew do it. When I’d watched them practice in the woods outside the apartments, they’d always used their magic separately. What sort of power did the covens have when they joined forces?
“So where are they, sire?” the dark-skinned man asked.
“I don’t know, Demetris.” Warin’s nostrils flared as his cold eyes glanced everywhere. “You and Tatiana search the area behind us. Maybe they hid and circled back to the bunker. Mylo and I will focus our efforts on this side.”
“But the wolves—” Mylo started.
“We have time,” Warin snapped. “If they get close, meet at the vehicles. You know the emergency route. Glinda is already heading that way, preparing for our return.”
I flinched. Emergency route. I shouldn’t have been surprised. They were a secret society trying to take down the wolf shifters, so of course they’d have a backup plan. Their mission wouldn’t go up in flames if this site was compromised. Our escape had only prevented them from using me against Raffe … unless they found me again. Though I wasn’t certain Warin wouldn’t just kill me.
The two groups split, and my arms and legs started itching. The mud was drying. Not only was I turning into an icicle, but an itchy one at that. My wounds were the worst. They’d gone from feeling as if they were on fire to me wanting to claw my skin off.
I dug my hands into the ground underneath me, grasping anything I could so I wouldn’t scratch.
I don’t know how long Slade and I lay under the brush, but my eyelids became heavy, and my blood chilled. It could’ve been minutes or hours, yet I kept waiting for someone to grab us and pull us from our spot.
A howl sounded close by, but for all I knew, it was my imagination.
I snuggled into the ground, thankful I wasn’t cold anymore. In fact, I was rather warm.
“Sky, we’ve got to go,” Slade said.
I started, but my body didn’t move. I didn’t have the energy to jump. “Nuh-uh,” I slurred and closed my eyes. “Nap.”
“Listen, the wolves are close, and Warin and the other guy aren’t coming back.” Slade shimmied out from under the brush. “The wolves will know something’s off if they smell mud here, and some of my mud is flaking off. We need to climb a tree or something to get off the ground so they can’t find us as easily.”
“Raffe,” I rasped. If the wolves found us, Raffe would know where I was. Even if he’d acted questionably, he was my fated mate. He’d protect me, surely.
Slade grabbed my hands and tugged me out of the brush. “These wolves may not be loyal to Raffe. There are a handful of shifters out here searching for you that are part of Warin and Glinda’s society. If they find us, we won’t be safe.”
Some of the fog in my brain cleared. “What? No. Only vampires and witches are part of that group.”
“When they thought I was unconscious, I heard them mention that some wolves loyal to them were out patrolling.” He yanked me harder then released me and clutched his chest, wincing. “They wouldn’t have told you about them because of your connection to Raffe. Think about it. Now move. I can’t drag you, and I refuse to leave you behind.”
Wolf shifters were part of the Veiled Circle? My heart pounded as determination fueled me. The spot in my chest warmed to scorching hot, adding to the warmth surging through my body.
If what Slade had said was true, I had to move and survive so I could warn Raffe. I struggled out from under the brush as Slade moved to the tree closest to us. He gestured and said, “Come on. Climb.”
That strange presence inside me tried to surge forward. It seemed wild and feral, like nothing I’d experienced before. I pushed it down and rushed to the tree. Clutching the trunk, I tried to climb up, but I struggled to grasp any handholds, and my feet slid down, unable to find traction.
Fear settled in my chest, mixing with the heat and the strange presence.
There was no way I could climb.
Strange tingles spread across my skin, and I froze. We were being watched.
“Sky, hurry,” Slade rasped.
There was no point. We shouldn’t have left the brush. “They’re here.”
That strange presence grew stronger, but my blood remained calm. It hadn’t been acting normally since the vampires had drunk from me, but no matter what, I was determined to die with dignity.
I turned around, ready to glare down my killer and fight with everything I had left in me.