Chapter 12
Ihold the scream right in the middle of my chest, my arms finding security around Atlas’s neck. I’m not afraid of a little fall, but as we keep going and going—and fucking going—my stomach sits right in my throat.
After what feels like minutes, we hit the ground with a deep, guttural crack, followed by sharp, splintering pops as the concrete beneath us fractures under the force of our landing. Immediately, my gaze shoots up to Kayn, who already has his eyes locked on me.
It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask if he’s okay, but there’s no discomfort on his face. Because of that, I say nothing and shift my attention to Atlas, who is staring up at the sky.
“Long drop. You’re lucky I didn’t vomit. You know I hated airdrop training, and why I never became a fighter pilot.”
“You can let him go now.” Kayn’s deep voice is more growl than suggestion. A command wrapped in a warning. I hadn’t even realized I was still latched onto poor Atlas, clinging to him like we were still falling.
I remove my arms from around his neck just as Kayn sets both of us down. Then the blond lowers me to my feet.
“We need to go.” Butcher juts his chin behind me, and the moment I turn to see our four-door dark blue sedan, I hear screaming.
“There they are!”
“Stop right there!”
Atlas grabs my forearm and begins rushing us both toward the vehicle. We cross the parking lot relatively quickly, and the moment we’re swinging the doors open, bullets slice through the air.
I raise my hand as if it’s going to block anything from piercing right through my flesh, but I don’t have to worry. A thicker piece of meat belonging to a Vampire that can heal will keep me from being struck.
“Get in,” Butcher commands as he stands between me and the guns firing our way.
There’s no hesitation, I slip right into the front seat. He follows right behind me. Atlas is already in the driver’s seat, key in the ignition, rolling right over the sidewalk. The shattering of glass doesn’t deter him, and when I look back, I see Butcher sitting directly behind me.
I gesture with my head. “Move behind Atlas!”
“No,” he says calmly. “I can’t risk a bullet finding your skull.”
I’m not entirely sure if this feeling rising in me is good or just embarrassment that he’d choose my life over his so-called friend.
Maybe they’re simply acquaintances, but I don’t know many men who would jump to help someone like this if they weren’t at least somewhat close.
I look at Atlas, driving like a madman out of the hospital’s parking lot. He doesn’t seem bothered.
Alright, maybe this is just a Butcher thing. I understand why he needs me alive, so I’ll settle into the reminder: I’m helping him, and he knows if I ‘die’ I’m no good to him, and he’ll have to start at square one.
Still, I haven’t had anyone who needed me in a long time, so it does feel… good.
“Idiots never go for the tires.” Atlas brings his hand down and shifts gears just as we hit the main roadway. “They always try for the kill.”
I settle into the seat and look forward.
“Head toward Kulbolt, we can take the scenic highway straight through.” Butcher leans up between the seats, and as if on instinct, I press against the door away from him. “It’ll be dangerous to chase us, and worst case, we can ditch the car and hike.”
“Sounds good,” his friend hums. “It’ll take us through Sylverton—” I immediately look out the window, completely away from them. “But we don’t need to stop. Wouldn’t want to scare the locals.”
Biting down on my bottom lip, I press my forehead to the cool window. Even with the sun out, the time of year keeps it cold. A chill runs down my body, and I tighten my grip on the sheet wrapped around me.
“Can you hear me?” Butcher’s voice comes through as clearly as if he were speaking aloud.
I nod.
“Why can we talk like this?”
Releasing a weighted sigh, I think about how to explain without angering him. “Our names are powerful things, as is our blood. I mixed the two together and gave it to you willingly. That typically only happens with my kind when… people are very close.”
It’s like I can hear his teeth grinding. “Please tell me you aren’t seriously telling me you—we are—”
“Bonded. Listen, I didn’t know I’d gotten blood on the page.
I swear I didn’t do it on purpose. The last thing I want is to be linked to a…
” I pause, unsure how to finish that. A Vampire was the one who caught me and stopped me from escaping Sylverton that day, but I wouldn’t blame an entire race of people because of that.
Do I hold a slight grudge? Yes… yes, I do. But I wouldn’t hate Butcher because of it.
“Go ahead. Finish your sentence, little slayer.”
Gods, I fucking hate that name.
“A brute. Someone who hates me. The bond is meant for someone that means something to me. So beyond just helping you, and you helping me, I also have to break it—which I don’t know how to do yet, but I’ll figure it out. Don’t you fucking worry about that.”
He tuts and settles back into his seat, sending a soft gust of his scent right into my nose. Fresh pine and timber wood. It’s airy, sharp, and slightly sweet, with hints of earth and citrus. The deeper notes bring a rich, warm aroma—sap, aged bark, and a faint smokiness.
He smells good…
“Well, the feeling is mutual. The last thing I’d ever have wanted is to be connected to the likes of you.”
“Good.”
“Good,” he mirrors, and then I throw up my walls, blocking him from continuing this conversation.
Silence envelops us for the briefest moment, and it isn’t Atlas’s “Here we go” that breaks it. No, it’s the sudden bullets shattering the rear view mirror.
“Persistent,” the Vampire growls. “Keep going. I’ll catch up.”
The moment I jerk around to protest, the door is already open and he’s gone.
“Close the door for us, will ya? He likes to keep them open.”
I undo my seatbelt and turn over the chair, grabbing the handle and slamming it shut. Immediately reseated, I clip myself in and tighten the strap across my thighs.
Atlas hits the gas, and just as he does, the surrounding area slowly shifts from bright greens and blues to pink…
to red. My breath catches, because what the fuck is going on!
? On instinct, I make sure my window is completely rolled up, because the once-clear glass on my right is slowly being covered with… blood.
“Never met an Umbraen, huh?”
I turn my head toward him, a smug smile on his face. At least he’s looking ahead—this two-lane road and its curving incline already have me nervous. Now that it’s quite literally sprinkling blood, I’m even more on edge.
“I’ve heard of them…” There are different classifications of Vampires, Umbraen being one of them. I thought they were extinct.
Wait…
“Butcher?” I ask before Atlas can say anything.
He chuckles as he slows to take a curve, passing under a tunnel carved into the mountains. “Yup. He normally doesn’t summon the Crimson Dawn unless someone pisses him off, or if someone asks him to.”
“Why?” I’m genuinely curious. Why wouldn’t he want to use it? He’s permeating the air with blood that should exponentially boost his already outrageous strength.
“He says he doesn’t need the extra help. Plus, it’s messy, as you can—” A massive crash against my side of the car cuts him off, as does my scream of surprise. “What the fuck?!”
I can’t see anything out my window, and if it weren’t for the windshield wipers, we wouldn’t be able to see anything in front of us. But when the next hit crashes into our car, the thing’s dark black fur scrapes across the glass, clearing it just enough for me to see what’s attacking us.
“Oh shit,” I fumble. “Please tell me you have a gun!!”
His hand appears right in front of my face, a pistol in it. I thrust my hands to the sides of my head and cover my ears just as he fires straight through the window.
A harsh wind from our speed rushes through, popping my ears that had just been clogged by the loud ringing of the weapon. Whimpering follows, but it doesn’t deter the Werewolf—it moves away only to immediately slam its massive body back into our vehicle.
There’s nothing Atlas can do to control the car. We swerve, hit the barricade, and completely careen off the road.
“Atlaaaas!” I scream, tucking my body tight and squeezing my eyes shut.
He screams profanity, but it soon turns to grunts as the tires hit the rocky mountainside. Then we are tumbling.
Once.
Twice. Then I’m shrouded into darkness.
When I blink, we aren’t moving, and all I smell is gasoline. The faint pops of air and falling glass are the only sounds in my ears. My arms are floating over my head, and that’s how I know we’re upside down.
“A-Amarah?”
I groan, turning my head slowly toward the driver’s side to see Atlas slowly coming to as well.
“You alive?”
“Mhmm,” I manage to hum weakly.
“Good. Kayn may have killed me if you weren’t.” He begins moving, and when he undoes his buckle, he falls hard onto his shoulder. An uncomfortable sigh escapes his lips as he starts shimmying out of the front window.
I slowly use my good arm to fumble around for my seatbelt. The moment I hear the click, I hold my breath and take the short fall onto the ceiling of the car.
As I’m moving to climb out of my shattered window, I hear the cocking of a gun and a low, menacing growl.
“Listen, I’m not an animal killer,” Atlas jokes. The sound of his crunching boots on the rocks isn’t close, which worries me. “But I will shoot you, right between the eyes.”
“Give me the Witch, and you don’t need to die, Mundane.” The male’s voice is threatening, and it tells me he’ll kill Atlas if given the chance. “We won’t even press charges against you, but the Vampire—he’ll be in one of those cells right beside that bitch.”
“Yeah, sorry, dog. That’s not happening.”
I move, shuffling on my shoulder and getting halfway out of the window when I lift my head to see a Werewolf standing just ten feet away from the blond Mundane.
He leans back and lunges. My throat closes, and as Atlas shoots—and misses the spot between his eyes for a direct kill—a chill races through me.
The beast’s large paw slams into him, sending him flying into the car’s tire. He lets out a choked scream and slumps down onto his knees. One hand grasps his chest, the other trying to keep him from collapsing.
Quickening my escape, I pull myself free of the wreckage, leaving the sheet behind as I stumble through rocks and scattered debris. My bare feet dig roughly into the uneven ground, and I position myself between the Werewolf and Atlas.
“Inmate 0338. Lily of the Valley. Save a life and let it be done. Come.”
The Mundane groans behind me. “No…”
I flex my hands in and out of fists. He can’t think I’m that stupid. Even if I went with him, he’d turn around and kill Atlas—blame it on the crash, and no one would be the wiser.
So, I widen my stance and stay planted. “Leave, before the Vampire comes and tears your head off.” I press my toes down between the rocks, finding the soft soil beneath them.
Every inch of my body aches, but I can’t let that deter me. I’d rather not have any more death on my conscience, and having Atlas die because they’re after me would hurt…
“My child. There you are.”
I gasp at her voice, tears springing to my eyes. Vendra.
Lightning sparks straight through my bones, heating every inch of my insides, and as the Werewolf howls, I grab onto the threads of power… and channel.
The moment the beast lunges, I swipe upward.
Tendrils of energy lace like fine threads from my fingers, going taut at the contact of flesh.
Like slicing deli meat, it’s clean and precise.
The massive wolf splits into four equal portions—the two center cuts going straight through its eyes and down its back, the outer ones slicing through its shoulders and completely severing the limbs.
Blood splatters across my entire front, but before any of the pieces of its body can slam into me, they hit the ground just to my sides with a heavy thump.
Bright lights like fireflies sprinkle across the small space around me, circling my ankles and rising to my wrists, where channeling marks are drawn down my fingers. In the center of my palm is a rune that pulses, and I release a shaky breath.
It’s back…
I clench my hand and close my eyes.
“Well…” Atlas breathes out, the pain in his voice making it clear he won’t be moving on his own for a moment. “Now I can see… how you did it.”
“Vendra… thank you.” I smile, and fall roughly onto my knees.
“How you slaughtered an entire town…”
“My Amarah. I have found you.”
“But, Amarah… your back. What the Beyond happened?!”
Oh, fuck.