Chapter 47
FORTY-SEVEN
DIMITRI
“Punch it!” I shout and brace for impact as we barrel towards the front of the compound. The truck engine roars. The RPM gauge redlines. And Alexey, much to my annoyance, screams with excitement at a higher pitch than I thought possible.
We crash through the gates, slamming both sides of the fifteen-foot entrance inward while skidding across grass and dirt.
“Bring me to the front of mansion,” I demand, unclipping my seat belt and opening the door slightly.
Alexey’s face goes slack. “I thought you said you don’t know how to kill these things?”
“Only one way to find out. What will you do?”
He gives me a smirk and shrugs, veering to the right. “I’m going to see if vampires make good speed bumps.”
I force back a grin as we approach the front doors. “Do svidaniya.”
“Do svidaniya,” he repeats, offering a military style salute.
I kick open the passenger door the rest of the way and jump from the truck, landing with a roll to soften the blow.
The werewolves are on the offensive now, using their incredible speed to separate the soulless and pick them off one by one.
Nikolai leads the charge, clearing a path for the rest to follow.
There’s something different about him, though.
His eyes. They aren’t the same glowing gold I’ve seen so many times before.
His eyes are as red as the moon peering down on us, and somehow, even brighter.
Could he be— No. It isn’t possible.
I fire an arrow at the soulless closest to me, and the silver-coated head splits through the creature’s thigh. Wretched screams fill the air. I might not be able to kill these things, but I can at least slow them down and give the wolves a fighting chance.
As if reading my thoughts, Nikolai pounces on the injured soulless and buries his teeth into its throat.
Blood spurts from the creature’s neck and stains the brown fur on Nikolai’s chest. Only when the abomination stops thrashing does he unhook his jaw.
I fire another arrow, clipping the next creature in the ankle.
And right on cue, my friend springs to attack, shoving his deadly claw into its stomach well past his elbow.
It’s working. It’s actually fucking working.
The stories said these things were almost impossible to kill, but Nikolai has taken out three so far, and the rest of the wolves continue to gain the upper hand.
My eyes land on the smallest in the pack, a brown and white pup cowering near the side of the mansion.
He’s not alone. Two soulless lurch forward, slashing their misshapen hands for him and blocking any chance for an escape.
I take aim and draw in a breath, lining up the sights of my crossbow.
And before I have a chance to release the bolt, a truck races by me, nearly running over my foot.
“Yeehaw!” Alexey screams out of the driver’s window. Thumpf. The soulless bounce off the front bumper and hurl backward, landing with their arms and legs sprawled and twisted. “That’s two, big man!” he yells, voice fading as he takes off toward the tree line, turning around for another pass.
Always fucking games with that one. The wolves continue to spread out, creating enough distance between them and the brood to stay safe from an unfair advantage.
From what I’ve seen so far, one soulless is manageable.
Two will overpower an inexperienced wolf.
Three, well, there’s more than enough wolf bodies scattered around the property to know what happens then.
Nikolai is able to fight off a few more unscathed while the rest of the armored wolves earn claw marks on the exposed parts of their lycanthrope bodies.
This doesn’t stop their assault, though.
Clément and his pack seem to harness the blood moon, fighting with a fury these creatures can’t match.
But with the amount of soulless still on their feet, we’re nowhere close to surviving the night. Not by a long shot.
A deafening roar erupts from behind us, and when I turn for the trees, my eyes widen.
Stalking out from the woods on its hind legs is a wolf, fur a mixture of black and gray while the underbelly is stark white.
It can’t be. I take a few steps forward for a closer look at the beast I don’t recognize, watching the way it sniffs the air and scans the wolves first, then the creatures.
The markings. Not a wolf born with the curse but bitten.
Ida wasn’t a solid color when she turned, and this wolf is no different.
The eyes. My chest tightens. They are her eyes.
“Ms. Nat,” I murmur.
Another howl, this one overwhelming the growls and hisses from both sides. She did it. She transformed. And with her sights landing on the first creature in the distance, Natalia drops to all fours, bares her teeth, and charges straight toward it.
No. I fire an arrow at her target, and when it misses the mark, I fire again.
And again. Three different shots split the air and miss the creature by inches.
I won’t let her fight these things alone.
Not after turning for the first time. Whatever has taken control of her body has no idea what it’s up against. None of us do.
But there’s no stopping her wolf now. She cuts the distance from the tree line to the field with terrifying speed, closing in on the lone soulless in seconds.
I strip off my tactical vest and sprint forward, not daring to let the added weight of silver slow me down.
It's when the creature takes notice of her that a chill trickles down my spine. It doesn’t hiss.
No, it only watches her curiously. Then, a stomach-curdling grin stretches across its face, revealing a horrible row of knife-like teeth.
Shit. I load an arrow to shoot the damned thing but it’s too late.
The creature dashes away before I can stop it. And it runs directly for Natalia.
“No, Ms. Nat!” I shout, though I know she can’t hear me. Not when the bloodlust has taken her the same way it took a hold of my sister. There’s a murderous glint in her eyes. A hunger. A need that can only be satisfied by blood and flesh.
A hundred yards remain between them, and it dwindles by the second. Fifty. I watch with horror, willing my body forward. I’m not going to make it. I’m not going to get there in time to st—
Crunch. The ghastly sound of collapsing metal plagues the property.
And the next noise to be heard is the violent cries of her wolf as she crashes into the dirt.
The air rips out of me in a choked gasp.
She can’t move, not with the bear trap biting into her bones.
More howls erupt, these no different than the ones I heard that night.
A helplessness I haven’t felt for many moons settles low in my rib cage.
She’s trapped and seconds away from being shredded to pieces by the thing closing in.
My legs give out. My arms fall uselessly to the sides.
I can’t do a single thing but watch this creature descend on the wolf I swore to protect.
I’ve failed. I feel the blood drain from my face. I’ve failed again.
In a few moments, that thing is going to attack. Rip her apart. Bleed her dr—
Every story I’ve ever heard of the soulless comes flooding back in an instant. Blood. It’s how these things survive. They need to feed to live, and not on werewolves. Humans. They prey on humans.
“Hey!” I yell, my voice carrying as far as the tree line. Dragging the arrowhead into my palm, I slice through the soft flesh, pooling blood until it drips down my wrist. “I’m right here!”
The lone soulless skids to a stop, kicking up rocks and dirt in its wake. I lift my bloody hand, praying that everything I’ve heard about their thirst is true. The creature tilts its head, and a pair of cold and lifeless eyes meet mine.
“That’s it. Come and get me!”
A low hiss. A single step forward.
I squeeze my palm, painting my entire forearm red. “This what you want?”
The creature doesn’t say anything. It continues to advance a few more steps before it stops completely.
What? I squeeze again, allowing fresh blood to reach as far as my elbow.
The creature sniffs the air, and the ravenous expression carving the lines of its face distorts.
Twists almost. Jaw unhinging, it no longer looks at me like I’m the next meal.
The vampire stares at me vacantly as if I’m not even on the menu.
It doesn’t make sense. It should want my blood.
It should be starving for it. Only this thing doesn’t for some reason, and now, it turns its full attention back on her wolf.
“Get back here!” I scream.
The lone creature pays me no mind. It stalks closer to her, footsteps as silent as they are swift.
She fights against the chain, pulling frantically when she finally sees what’s coming.
Death. I’m not going to make it. The arrows won’t stop this thing.
She’s going to die just like Ida. Only this time, I’ll be forced to watch.
A low rumble shakes the dirt, and spotlights shine on the soulless a few feet from her. No. Not spotlights. Headlights.
“Three!” Alexey yells triumphantly, his voice dampened behind the hard thump of the truck colliding with the creature.
The windshield cracks. The front end crushes inward.
And the soulless is swallowed underneath the truck and dragged nearly thirty feet.
He slams on the brakes and pokes his head out of the window, every inch of his face beaming with satisfaction.
“You said these things were difficult to kill.”
“They can heal like the werewolves, half-wit,” I fire back. “Running them over won’t stop them.”
Alexey dismisses me with a scoff. “Until I see them stand back up, my count is still—three!” he screams the last word as he’s ripped back inside.
I drop my crossbow and sprint for the truck teetering from the struggle. “Alexey!”