41. Chapter 41
Chapter 41
I run for my life, my heart slamming against my ribcage as I leap over the rubble, the bushes, the soldiers, headed straight for the Wall. I know I won’t be able to go over — the wards would likely kill me on the spot, but if I make him think that’s what I’m planning… I have a better chance of making him keep following when I take a sharp turn right and into the Lycan Forest, all in the hopes of distracting and tiring him out until my people make their escape.
And I’m already halfway there and I still can’t sense him catching up, so I might just pull this off.
But just as I start nearing Lilith Tower, something nudges me to look up. I don’t manage to listen to my instinct, because the next thing I know, something incorporeal but powerful is slamming into me from above and making me crash to the ground.
His shadows.
I don’t stay down, nor do I let panic overtake me. I immediately pick myself up, but I don’t have time to think. I lunge at the tower walls in front of me, grab onto the stone with my claws and start furiously climbing, until I’m flying over the caved-in ceiling.
To go through the opening, I shift back midair, all my muscles tensing as my boots hit the floor.
It’s in the center of the moonlit, crumbling circular space that I land, most of the walls around me intact but swallowed by vines.
Now where?
I don’t get the chance to think. I only manage to stand straight before I sense the presence behind me, making me spin around with my heart pounding in my chest.
I barely manage to spot the shadowy figure filling the room with its broad frame before I find myself gasping for air — taken by the throat, lifted high into the air and slammed into the wall behind me.
Fuck.
The choking is making my eyes water, but the man who’s brought my face to his level, I can still see him, one corner of his lips curled into a victorious smirk.
I freeze in place.
I’m looking straight into Cain’s masked face, no doubt about it.
It’s the eyes that surprise me, though. Beautiful, hooded and black as the night, their gaze intelligent, calculating and unwavering.
My wolf starts sniffing wildly, but there’s no scent.
I watch the general narrow those eyes at me and step back, letting go of my neck only to calmly reach for one of the swords strapped to his back.
That’s what snaps me out of my haze. Suddenly on high alert, I use my Movement to dart to the side, hearing the brutal clang of the sword against the wall I’ve just run from.
But I can already sense him moving towards me again, so I spin around, dig my feet into the ground and shoot a blaze of fire straight at him.
It makes me stumble back, inhaling sharply, when I see him casually step into the fire, a smirk dancing on his lips as he raises a giant shadow.
The next thing I know, the wall right next to me is crumbling to the ground, destroyed by a single blow.
And now the man who dealt it is stalking over to me.
Once again, I spin around and lunge for the opening he’s just created, already starting to shift so I don’t die in the fall.
My feet are already off the ground, my body propelling forward, when he materializes in front of me, his shadows bursting out to wrap around my entire body and lock me tightly in place.
Fuck.
But before he can squeeze the life out of me, there’s this blast coming from outside.
It’s so powerful, it sends him slamming into me. We fly back and hit the ground, and my ears are ringing, I’m gasping under his weight, and he’s already moving to make his next move.
But before he can do anything, I use my thunder to send electricity throughout my entire body, hoping to shock him into unconsciousness.
It only makes him jump to his feet and away from me, as if burned but not hurting.
He’s a little dazed from the explosion, however, so I manage to get up as well, already moving to escape through the opening behind my back.
Then, out of the corner of my eye, I spot his helmet flicker.
And all of a sudden, I find myself turning around and freezing in place, staring at his face at the same time his scent suddenly hits my nostrils.
It’s like a sensory overload that makes time itself seem to come to a stop. This is just like…
I shake my head, my mind reeling. “Is he…” I start to ask my wolf.
It’s her stunned silence that confirms my doubts.
But the next thing I know, he’s regained control of his magic, the helmet is back on and he’s reaching for those damn swords again.
“Wait,” I mutter, and he stumbles a little, but then he lunges at me.
“Don’t,” I yell out as I avoid the attack, and it feels so stupid to say, but he’s obviously not getting it. “Don’t you see?” I duck again, the blade cutting the air right above my head. When I stand straight, I’ve captured it with a thunder whip. “You’re my mate, asshole,” I insist through gritted teeth, panting.
The words make him pull the sword back and tilt his head at me, making hope explode in my chest.
Then he gives a long, quiet laugh, the sound of his voice seeming to stoke the fire his blood lit in my veins. “You know what I see?” he asks softly. There’s a cutting hint of a smile with a flash of fangs. It’s in a whisper that he answers his own question. “A witch I’m about to capture.”
Then he raises his shadows again and attacks, so quickly and with such force that I find myself slamming into the wall behind me, feeling air leave my lungs and my ribs crack.
I watch him start stalking over to me, my eyebrows pulling down as I try to wrap my mind around the situation.
Is he really still going to attack me?
Yes, he is.
I scramble to my feet and move for the opening to my right, but the pain and the fatigue are making me so slow, while he seems as fresh as when we started fighting.
By the time I’m grabbing onto the edges, he’s almost right behind me.
My head snaps back to him when I sense his power start invading my blood. “Don’t,” I plead quietly.
But as soon as he starts using blood magic on me to stop me, he freezes. I watch his nostrils flare.
That’s right. He hasn’t actually smelled me so far. He’s only smelled the fake scent I’ve been smearing all over myself.
Perfect, now he’ll see I was right.
Then I see his lip curl in disgust, and the reaction hurts, but I take the moment of confusion to hoist myself over the edge of the opening and fling myself down, shifting midair.