by Leia Stone
Creek nursed once in the night, but my mom came and took him in the morning to bottle feed him, and after a large breakfast we went over the drill with the entire bunker. We had them all line up in alphabetical order based on family last name.
And … it was a total shitshow.
Rab had drawn letters on paper, A through Z, and taped them along the hallways, but we’d underestimated how many of each letter there were and people with A last name were lined up all the way into C, which meant C was pushing to move up. It didn’t go well, but we’d adjusted where the letters were, and I had faith that tonight it would work. It had to.
“Knock, knock,” Raven called into the war room as I peered up from the Wolf City maps I was looking at.
I grinned at the sight of my bestie. We’d had no time to catch up, and yet a friendship this old and close made it feel like not even a day had gone by since we’d last talked.
“Hey.” I waved her in and she gave me a quick hug before settling next to me and looking at the maps.
“I heard about your plan to lead the vampires on a chase and I came up with an idea.” She pulled out a small baggy of tiny plastic cap looking things.
“What are those?” I inspected them.
She pulled out a cap and broke off the top to reveal a thin, barely visible needle. “Diabetic needles to test blood sugar. We use them in spell work when we need only a tiny drop of blood.”
Modern day witch tools. I guess it beat cutting your palm open like in the movies.
“I was thinking … in order to get the vampires to scent you and follow a coordinated trail, you could prick your finger with the cuffs off and leave blood somewhere. Then run away from that place and put the cuffs back on. Then repeat this for a few hours until Rab signals that we are all out.”
I grinned. “Raven, that’s genius!”
The blood would be like vampire candy, and make it stronger and easier for them to scent me, allowing me to bring them exactly where I wanted them.
She pulled her nails up to her mouth and huffed on them, before buffing them off on her shoulder. “I mean, no biggie.” She winked.
Reaching out, I took her hand in mine. “You’ve been such a good friend. It’s hard to believe over a year ago we were going to Delphi, and now…”
She nodded, squeezing my hand. “I know.”
We sat there for a moment in the dimly lit and quiet room until finally she stood. “I gotta pack my bag. Excited to get out of here and back into nature.” She looked around at the concrete walls.
I nodded and she turned to leave.
“Hey, Raven?”
She spun to face me.
“I know I’ve been gone and we haven’t had much time to catch up, but…” My voice cracked.
She grinned and tears lined her eyes. “Love you too, babe.”
I chuckled, she always knew what I was going to say.
She left the room, and I tucked the finger pokers into my pocket. I was going to pack a small bag of protein bars and water and then get ready for my night of running.
Of being prey.
I zoomed through the woods at the northside of Wolf City before taking a break to lean against a tree, panting from the exertion. I’d pricked my fingers raw, dapping little dots of blood on trees, or doors of houses or car windows. Then they would heal up and I’d throw on my cuffs before zooming off. It had worked, but now the city was crawling with vampires. They’d pulled everyone from Sterling Hill and the surrounding area and put them on the hunt for me. When my cuffs were on, they couldn’t scent me, not like they normally would. I probably smelled human. I was able to hide behind buildings and catch parts of their conversations. The queen had been called in when they recognized it as my blood, and they all thought I was injured, which was good.
I’d been at this for two hours and I’d already had to kill two of them because they were catching up with me. I was slowing down, getting weaker. I shoved half a hunk of protein bar in my mouth to keep my energy up and mentally checked in with Rab while I chewed.
‘How’s it going?’
‘Good, we’ve got half our people out. There was a bit of a close call with a scout in the woods, but we killed him before he could report back. The first wave of people have reached Paladin Village. Your parents, Astra, and the baby are with them.’
That was a huge relief. ‘Okay, thanks. Check in the moment you’re all out, or if something goes wrong.’
‘Will do.’
I heard the snapping of a tree branch and ripped off the cuffs before taking off into the woods. The issue with wearing the cuffs was that I was basically human with them on, which was good for masking smell but bad for fighting or running fast. I could only outrun the vamps with them off, which led them to my general location eventually.
I can do this … just another hour or so, I thought as my muscles burned and strained to keep up with my superhuman movement. I was just heading west to cut across the stretch of woods that lay in that direction when I felt him.
Sawyer. His presence filled me up so strongly, so quickly, that I gasped, and an involuntary sob escaped me.
‘My love,’ his voice boomed inside my head. ‘I feel you for the first time in a year. I only have seconds. Tell me you’re alive and well.’
I burst into tears at the sudden adoration and completeness that filled me up at his words. ‘I’m alive. I…’ How did you tell someone you had a secret baby in the woods they didn’t know about?
You just did it…
‘I was pregnant before I left and didn’t know. We have a baby boy, Creek Curt Calloway-Hudson.’
Shock ripped through our bond as his feelings filtered into me for the first time in a year, and then a surge of joy and pride followed. ‘Demi. A boy. That’s amazing, you’re amazing. I…’
He was silent, speechless as I would expect.
‘I’m coming to get you,’ I said. ‘I just need a few days to get everyone situated from the bunker to the Paladin Village, and then I’m coming.’
Panic seized our bond. ‘No, don’t. That’s what they want, they’re wait—’
His voice cut off, as did his presence, and I was left with such a sudden empty feeling it made me physically sick. I slowed my run, slapping the cuffs on as I burst into a puddle of tears. I continued to jog at human speed, but my mind raced frantically.
They’re wait … ing for me? To come get him? Is that what he was going to say before he was cut off? Whatever magic they did over our bond must have its limits because he’d been able to push through for a short moment. Which meant that maybe he could do it again now that he knew I was back. What if he’d been trying every few days for the past year? The thought shook me. There was no way I wasn’t going to bust him out of there. But if they were waiting for me to do that, I was more hesitant. I needed a plan. I needed to know more about Magic City Prison before I just went barging in there, right?
I chewed on my lip, my mind engrossed in thoughts of Sawyer and rescuing him, and kissing him, and his wonderful reaction to our son, when I felt the air whoosh past me. Reaching out, I tried to rip the cuff off so I could run super-fast, when a hand clamped over mine to stop me. The fingernails were painted red, and I knew I was about to look up into the eyes of the vampire queen.
“Oh, you have no idea how glad I am to know that you are still alive,” she purred as someone came up and grabbed me from behind. Strong arms yanked my hands behind me and held them tightly against my back, so tightly that I whimpered in pain.
Shit.
‘Rab, I’ve been caught. Plan B,’ I told him. We’d been delighted to learn that with these cuffs I could still mentally speak.
‘On it,’ he responded immediately.
We had decided that should I be caught, we would still go ahead and set off the grenades and create the diversion to hopefully buy me time to get away.
I yanked my arm quickly out of the grasp of the person who stood behind me and my wrist slipped free of the cuff.
> “Hold her by the shoulders,” the queen snapped, her eyes going fully black. “I need these cuffs off to siphon her power.” The iron vise-like grip shifted to my shoulder and tightened. That’s when my fight or flight kicked in. I started to buck like a wild woman against the man who held me. Nothing like the word siphon to really set you off.
Pulling out a sleek back gun, the queen held it to the side of my temple and I froze, going completely still.
Fuck.
There were many things I felt confident outrunning or fighting against. A gun to the head was not one of them.
‘Now would be a great time for plan B,’ I reiterated to Rab. Maybe with the distraction, I could get away from them and not get siphoned or my head blown off.
‘Slight issue. Almost there,’ he called back.
Great.
Queen Drake’s hair was pulled into such a tight bun that it lifted the edge of her eyes in a maniacal cat-like way. “I need to sample the goods, dear,” she purred as her teeth extended, pressing into her bottom lip. “I want to see what all the fuss is about. Something I should have done before.” She reached up with her free hand, and grasped the sides of my face, just as her minion yanked my other cuff off. It fell with a thud to the forest floor.
I couldn’t see the dude holding me from behind, but I could tell by the strong grip that he was powerful. His fingernails dug painfully into my shoulders while she held a gun to my head.
There was literally no way out of this for me. My wolf rattled my skin in an effort to break free but I kept her down. I didn’t fancy leaving my son without a mother.
A buzzing vibration started to radiate from her fingertips. The same buzz I’d felt when I’d shaken the prime minister’s hand. That must be how they sensed my power or something.
“Oh yes,” she hummed, and brought her lips closer to mine.
I recoiled the tiniest bit, unsure if she was going to kiss me or bite me or what. That’s when the white light started to leak from my skin. She breathed in, and it funneled into her mouth, her eyes lighting up the same deep blue hue as mine, which made her look even more psycho than she already did. How the hell had breathing in my power changed her freaking eye color!?
Before I could dwell on that, pain laced up my spine as I felt her feeding off of my essence. I bucked a little, but then she pushed the gun harder into my head.
“Now, let’s see if your blood is even more potent.” She grinned like a lunatic, and the next second her teeth sank into my neck. I gasped as pleasure and pain slammed into me with equal measure. The tips of vampire teeth had some type of mild narcotic on them that made you crave their bite. It was psychologically fucking with me to have her feeding off my neck and have it feel good.
“No…” I whimpered.
What happened if she fully drained my essence? Would I die? Or would I just no longer have these extra powers? I had a son to live for now, I had to get out of this situation fast, but I couldn’t make any sudden movements or she’d blow my head off.
‘Would she really? She needs you,’ my wolf said.
My wolf was right. She wanted my power juice, she wasn’t going to shoot me … right?
‘Boom time in three,’ Rab’s voice called out through our bond and I steeled myself. Just in the nick of time. ‘…two … one…’ An explosion rocked the eastern border of our land. The queen jerked her head back in shock as her eyelids fluttered open. Crimson blood stained her lips as she glanced over her shoulder to look at what had caused such a great noise.
It was go time.
Striking out with my thumb, I rammed it into the armpit of her hand holding the gun to my head, and that arm collapsed to her side. Then I butted my head backward and was met with a satisfying crunch and a yelp. Wasting no time, I twisted out of his hold and crouched to the ground where my cuffs lay. Snatching them up, I burst out from between the queen’s legs, knocking her over with a yelp of surprise. Then I ran faster than I ever had in my life, still a bit cloudy from the effects of the bite. I had just broken through the thicket of trees when I felt an unseen force slam into me and knock me to the ground.
What the…?
Tripping over my feet, I fumbled and tucked my head in as I did a full barrel roll. Pain exploded in my shoulder, but I ignored it and popped up quickly. The queen cackled somewhere behind me.
“Oh this feels good!” she shrieked with glee.
Dread sank into my gut like a heavy stone. She was using my own powers against me. On instinct, I pulled out the silver stake I’d placed into my waistband earlier and chucked it about ten feet off to the side. If she wanted to play at this game, I was going to play. Hadn’t Sawyer said when he’d kissed me the first time and accidently taken my power, that he’d been able to run really fast but it wore off quickly? I could only hope that was the case here, because at this rate I wasn’t going to be able to get back to Paladin Village without her trailing me.
I stood, just as she skidded to a stop before me. “Oh, my darling,” she purred. “You are delicious, and worth every inconvenience. Now, be a good girl and come with me so we can harvest a plasma serum from your essence. After that, you are free to go. You have my word.”
Plasma serum.
“Plasma serum for what?” I asked. Curiosity killed the cat. And the wolf too.
“To permanently enhance my people with your abilities of course.” She rubbed her hands together in greed.
Oh hell no. I wasn’t a fucking lab experiment.
“Enhance this, bitch.”
The entire time she’d been standing there, I’d been wrapping my power around the silver stake on the ground like a force field, slowly raising it into the air. Now at my will, it shot forward and slammed into her torso from behind. The stake popped out the other side of her chest, bringing with it a sludge of black blood. Her eyes widened; she yelped in shock. It wasn’t a direct kill hit, more near the armpit, but it would buy me time.
I spun, snaking through the trees like a maniac. My heart beat so loudly I could hear it in my brain. It felt like a drum pumping throughout my entire body. Crossing the grasslands, leaping over farm fences, I finally jumped into a barn, skidding to a stop inches from a cow, and slipped my cuffs on so that I hopefully couldn’t be scented.
The cow mooed and I nodded to him. “Hey, buddy. Mind if I hide out here a while?”
His tail swished, but he turned away from me, unconcerned with my presence. If I could lay low here for an hour to make sure I wasn’t followed, then it might be safe enough to head back to Paladin Village. Assuming everyone was out. Reaching up, I traced the two small divots in my neck, already healing, only a slight scar there that would be gone in an hour. A shiver ran through me at the memory of her sucking on my blood.
I quickly checked my body for cuts, or blood, or any abrasion that might lead the vampires to sniff me out, even with my cuffs on, when my gaze fell onto the giant cow dung patty that lay on the floor.
The pungent odor was vile, but also strong enough to mask everything else.
Sometimes survival was gross, but I was going to have to do what it took to stay alive and lay low. Grabbing a handful of cow dung, I rubbed it onto the front of my black army fatigues, gagging through the process. I rubbed two strips along the front of my legs, and two along my arms, before backing away from the dung in an effort to escape the smell. Except I couldn’t … now I was the smell.
Gross. I fought down a gag as I scanned the space for a place to lay low. I spied a tack room in the corner, with a sink inside, and ran in to wash my hands with soap. On the far wall, hanging near some saddles and helmets, was a handkerchief.
Thank God.
Using my clean hands, I wrapped the hanky around my nose and mouth, breathing a sigh of relief that the smell had lessened to a manageable amount.
‘You okay? Did it work?’ Rab asked suddenly.
‘I got free. Hiding out now in a barn. Will wait an hour and then meet you. Everyone get out?’
I felt his
relief through our bond. ‘Everyone but the Independent Council of Douchebags. They decided to stay.’
I almost growled, but in case the queen and her men were stalking around the barn, I didn’t want to call attention to myself with noise. ‘Well, it’s their funeral. I don’t care,’ I said grumpily.
But I did care. I wanted all of us together. I didn’t want Sawyer to come out of prison only to see his people broken into multiple groups, but I couldn’t control them, so whatever.
‘All okay at the village?’
‘We had to take care of a few Ithaki on the outskirts, but I’m heading there now. Arrow went with the first group. He says it’s deserted and completely fertile for planting crops. Fully restored. Good job, Alpha.’
I grinned, taking pride in his praise. It might have taken me a year to restore that damn land, but I restored it and that’s all that mattered. I settled into the tack room, sitting in a corner and staying out of sight, expecting at any moment that the vampires could track my scent, but they never came. Maybe I’d injured the queen worse than I thought. Maybe she was in need of some lifesaving surgery or something. That would be awesome.
I was so tired that my thigh muscles quivered even though I was sitting. I’d run too long and hard and my body was hurting. The minutes ticked by agonizingly slow, and my eyelids started to droop.
No.
I couldn’t fall asleep here. That would be a death sentence. Popping up, I paced the room to stay awake, trying to ignore the exhaustion pulling at my limbs. I’d run nonstop for hours, then the queen stole some of my “essence.” It was a wonder I was still conscious.
After a while, I decided it was now or never. Time to head to Paladin Village.
I tiptoed out into the main barn, seeing that the door was still ajar, just as I’d left it. I would keep the cuffs on and have to just rely on my normal human jogging speed to get back to the village, because I wasn’t going to risk spreading my scent around for the vampires.