Feral Craving

by D. C. Stone

  They both moved from the cave as she pointed out a thinning of the woods that blanketed the area. The first two hours into their travels went smoothly and without any sign of anyone. A companionable silence wrapped around them, neither feeling the need to chat just for the sake of talking. Instead they focused on getting back to Nantucket or an area of civilization. They rounded a bend along the river they followed closely when he thrust out an arm, catching her by the chest and quickly quieting her with a finger over his lips before he pointed ahead of them.

  ****

  It was their worst nightmare, a few demons, still in human form but identifiable by the red irises of their eyes. He glanced at the gathered crowd, their own presence only hidden by the element of surprise and a few thick trees. His mind scrambled for control, searched for a plan in which they could get through this. Panic flared in his veins at the thought of Mackenzie falling victim to this bunch, and he pictured all the horrible ways they would torture him, trying to gather intelligence before they killed him off and used his body as an example. Working frantically for a plan, his heart dropped as the breaking of a twig sounded behind them.

  He tensed and tried to turn as the cock of a gun chambered against his temple.

  “Don’t move.” There was one way to get through this and as the only option formed in Bari’s mind, his heart dropped, his soul screamed and his body broke into a thousand pieces. He forced his emotions down and locked them in tight as he’d learned to do for so long before.

  “I’ll come with you. Just let the woman go.”

  A meaty palm wrapped around the back of his neck and a rotten smell, one of an egg sitting in the sun for too long, almost something akin to a garbage dump, filled the air.

  “Don’t you think that is against the rules? Letting humans know of our existence?”

  Bari clamped his jaw tight and kept his gaze on Mackenzie’s wide-eyed one.

  “I don’t think there will be a problem. You only have that choice here because there is one thing I’m certain of, I won’t allow you to bring her in. Let her go, and I’ll come willingly.”

  A hiss spread hot acid saliva against his neck, and he flinched as it burned through his skin.

  “Do you think you actually have a choice here?”

  Bari rolled his shoulders and prepared for battle. He’d die before he allowed her to be taken in. Mackenzie wouldn’t become an additional victim in his world—he refused to allow her to die by the hand of another turned Justice Demon.

  “I do. The question is, do you?”

  With his eyes still locked on Mackenzie’s, he spoke to her as if they were alone. “Keep following the river. Don’t stop for anything until you find help.”

  Tears filled her green eyes, and he clamped down on his own emotions. “Get out of here, Mac. Remember what’s important.”

  “I won’t leave—”

  He cut her off. “Leave. I don’t want you here.”

  He ignored her when she started shaking her head. Instead, he stopped and moved slowly, ignoring the tightening grip on his neck, and reached up, taking her face between his palms and forcing her to lock gazes with him. He couldn’t risk speaking to her and instead urged her, pleading with her eyes to agree to the plan. He would have to go into the camp and distract the demons so she could escape. There would be no promises he’d meet her in town, no promises he would survive, nor any made that he would even see Mackenzie again.

  Her eyes pooled as she tugged his face to hers and set her lips to his in a soft kiss. It lingered, caressed and told a thousand stories all with one simple touch. He drew back and as Mackenzie reached out for him, he sidestepped her and turned his back on his soul, leaving her behind as he stepped through the trees with the demon at his back, revealing himself to the rest of the clan.

  Anger surged through him even as he forced himself to leave her behind. He was making promises to himself and any deity that would listen if one hair on her head was harmed, he would kill each and every perpetrator with his own hands. It fueled his inward rage at his self-sacrifice to ensure she got clear, possibly putting himself within danger.

  As he stepped out of the trees a string of curses and alarms were set off. A pair of familiar gray eyes met his, and he knew somehow, saw the knowledge in his eyes that he recognized exactly who he was just as Bari knew him.

  His father.

  “Ah, son, so very glad you decided to join me.” Bari’s head snapped down, and he watched as the demons surrounded him and for the first time in a long time he accepted his fate. He fluttered his eyes closed, picturing Mackenzie and drawing on her strength, seeing her making her way to safety and recalling her laughter from earlier this evening. All of it soothed his tiring emotions, made what he was doing all the more worth it. He wondered if he would end up paying for her life in the end.

  His senses stretched out, and as they felt that brush of familiar darkness, he shuddered. The meaty palm around his neck tightened as his father stepped up to him. Maximus didn’t speak and instead reached out with another hand and wrapped it around the front of Bari’s neck. Power surged inside of Bari, a strength he hadn’t experienced. Distantly he realized the power surge came from his father. Yet it was tainted in evil. He was lifted off of the ground and held within inches of the face that haunted his dreams for so long.

  He gagged and coughed, desperate for air, his lungs kicking into overdrive with a need to get oxygen. His windpipe had been effectively cut off from obtaining any substance, and as he struggled, his legs kicked out, catching nothing but the air his body screamed for. His vision started to darken, black spots clouding the way before he flew through the air, one twitch of Maximus’ wrist sending Bari spiraling across the yard and head first into a large tree.

  Pain flew through his body, jolted his mind into the unknown of hurt. And as he coughed, wheezed, tried to gulp in air, his lungs burned and his eyes clouded over. Dark liquid poured over his eyes just as he glanced up and through the reddened sight saw his father stalking over to him once more with a deadly intent in his eyes…

  ****

  Mackenzie kept along the bank side of the river, carefully treading her way over terrain becoming increasingly rocky. Now with several traveled miles between her and Bari, each of them was an agony for the separation and a measure to her control that she hadn’t turned around to return to Bari’s side. She muttered a string of curses as her footing slipped on several loose rocks. Stopping to survey the area, she thought she was going the right way, but something was not right. She felt it down in her gut, and alarm bells rang.

  Not caring about the shifting rocks beneath her feet, she ran, her legs spreading distance as she fled through the forest. Her run wasn’t due to fear, but a testimony to the need to get help for Bari as she ate up the ground looking for the edge of the cliffs that now dwarfed her, the ones that would give him back to her.

  She rounded a corner, the cliffs breaking free into an open field ahead of her. Mackenzie’s heart pumped and gave an erratic jolt against her chest as she recognized the house looming on the other side of the field. At the bay of Nantucket, spread out to her side and to the back of the house held the ocean. The tire swing sat out front, a reminder of childhood memories shared with him.

  Bari.

  Dear God.

  The fear pounding through her body urged her to push herself, and she sprinted across the field. Her lungs sawed for breath, her muscles strained and shook, and as she reached the front, bounding up the steps, she collapsed into Tyler’s arms as he opened the door.

  “Mac, where’s Bari?”

  She gulped for breath and tried to find her voice. Her throat choked on oxygen, and her vision dimmed. Distantly she heard Tyler calling out for his team as he gathered her close and sat with her on the porch’s bench. It took several agonizing moments, but finally she was able to get the words out.

  “They’ve got him.”

  ****

  Bari came to and found his hands bound above his
head. Behind his eyes, a pulse pounded and throbbed, each simple movement, even the blinking of his eyes, caused him to wince. He tried to shift his body, felt the chains digging into his wrists and found only the tips of his toes touched the floor. Good God, so this was it, huh? This was how his life would end. His eyes fluttered closed, and his head rolled back on his pulled shoulders as he fought emotions clogging him. Twisting and pulling, he tried anything to break free of the bonds, but as his muscles tired, and his body screamed out with pain, he found it hopeless.

  Bari heard a movement behind him and snapped his head, crying out in pain at the movement as he tried to get a look. Maximus stood there watching him, his eyes gleaming evil red as he held a look of amusement and anger all rolled up into one on his face. He stepped forward and let out a tsk, his eyes glancing down to something he held in his hands. Bari’s eyes followed the path and widened as a reflection off of metal made its presence known. He struggled with a renewed force against his bonds, and when they didn’t budge, he tried to keep his calm, fought against the panic and realized he was lost in a situation he had no plan for.

  “What are you doing?”

  Maximus walked up, and his head shook back and forth. He brought the blade up quickly and held it right under Bari’s chin. It forced him to still, his face to lift up and meet red eyes. The eyes used to be gun-metal gray and now the swirling darkness, the bloodied colors he saw there reflected the gaze of a stranger. He remembered when those eyes changed—it had been so abrupt. And his mother was lost soon thereafter, killed by his father’s hand in a fit of what Bari could only compare to the devil’s rage. They reflected a knowledge he should have known, showed all the compassion he did not have, and all the murderous intent he stood for.

  “Son, I’ve been looking a long time for you.”

  Bari’s fists clenched above him and he willed his limbs to stay awake, as it stood now, they prickled with the blood rushing away. “Don’t call me that. You lost your right to call me that long ago.”

  Maximus raised one brow, an almost amused look marring his features. Bari was almost a replica of his father, except for the color of his eyes and even now, signs of aging missing, if he didn’t know any better, they could be considered twins. “Do you not have my blood running through your veins?”

  “You gave that right away, Maximus, when you turned. There is still hope for your soul though. You could let me free so I could put you out of your misery.”

  “Ah, my child. What lies you spew as if I am some fledgling looking to be taken under your wing.” His head dipped, and Bari flinched. Maximus breathed deeply by his ear, ran his nose along the length of Bari’s neck.

  “You reek of her, Bari. And now, you both shall pay…” With a flick of his wrist, Maximus sliced down the front of his shirt and as the blade met his flesh, Bari screamed out in agony.

  “You son-of-a-bitch! Get away from me!”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Several hours passed before Maximus left him alone, and Bari felt every bit of the pain the man painted across his body, every bit of the strength he stole, and with the drain he was under, he recognized he wouldn’t last another round. His head lolled on his shoulders, his strength not nearly enough to hold it up. Red blood dripped continuously from his body, and he could only watch as his life’s essence dripped onto the dirty ground beneath his feet. His arms had long ago gone numb, both the pain and fatigue of being held in this position for so long draining all the blood from the extremities. His skin felt chilled and with the higher body temperatures of his kind, he knew that wasn’t a good sign. He blinked unhurried and thought on Mackenzie, hoping with everything he was that she had made it to safety.

  Despite his condition and past the pain, he realized if he died here today, her continuing life would be the ultimate gift, the greatest outcome in what he had been thrust into. His team would care for them, his family. That was the only thing he hoped for now.

  His father wanted him to break, join in on his fight. It had to be of his free will though and wasn’t something that could be faked. Much like the blood bond he initiated with Mackenzie, he’d have to taint his body with the evil acid running through Maximus’ body and accept his fate. The thought of becoming anything like his father, a fear he’d held for too long, resolved his decision as he prepared to die.

  A noise, the door opening, had his body tensing slightly and without having any control over his actions, he hissed between swollen lips, thinking Maximus had come back for another round, this one very likely being the one to finish him off. His eyes pricked and burned, a sure sign of weakness, something that sure was going to piss off his father, but he really didn’t care anymore. Swollen eyes closed, and he thought of his happiest times. It really wasn’t a surprise when Mackenzie and Byron entered his mind, filling him with such love and passion, a unique connection before any others they had known for years. And as a set of hands wrapped around his chin, he kept his eyes closed and then heard a voice that sounded nothing like Maximus whisper his name. His eyes flashed opened and met the very concerned gaze of Tony.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” Bari’s voice sounded slurred even to his own ears.

  “Trying to save your ass, Princess, that’s what.” The deep rumble of Tony’s voice sounded almost like angels singing to Bari’s ears. He’d never tell that shit to Tony though.

  His hands were released and as soon as he was free of the bounds, his legs touched the floor, and if it hadn’t been for Tony taking the brunt of his weight, he would have hit the floor. As it was, his legs stumbled weakly even with Tony’s help, and he couldn’t seem to catch his footing on the floor. Tony clamped a hand over his mouth as he started to moan. He glanced up and saw the caution in his eyes as Tony lowered him to sit on the floor. He couldn’t feel anything, his entire body past the point of even feeling pain, but that made a problem for him as he also couldn’t control his muscles and had no way of moving or fighting.

  Tony lowered him to the ground and propped him up against the wall, immediately reaching down for a dagger held on his hip.

  “You need to drink from me, Bari.”

  Bari drew back, winced at the pain in his head and then tried to eye Tony warily. He didn’t know how much of his expression came across his face because Tony didn’t react, only waited with what seemed like annoying patience while they were in the middle of harm’s way. At any moment it felt as if someone was going to walk in the room.

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  Tony sighed and then rushed on to explain. “I don’t have a lot of time to answer questions, Bari. Here’s the deal. You’re hurt.” Bari opened his mouth, and Tony lifted a hand to ward off whatever he had been about to say. “No time for bullshit, just accept some help, for once.” Tony paused, met his eyes and then continued on. “We need this bond, Bari. Relying on Mackenzie only put her in danger, and that’s something our kind has a really fucking hard time doing. She’s your soul and without her, without her cleansing of your soul, you’d be lost to us forever. We won’t take that risk again. You understand.”

  Well hell, when he put it like that he did. Bari nodded.

  “So I need you to drink. It’s also going to help you have the energy to get out of here. We can’t have anything slowing you down.”

  Bari’s eyes shifted restlessly around the room and then back to the door. He tried to control his breathing, and watched as Tony slashed the blade across his wrist. Tony held out the bleeding limb and whispered an urgent command for him to drink. Bari glanced at it in question. Tony pushed his wrist closer, giving him a silent, urgent plea.

  The sweet scent of blood filled his nostrils, and he set his lips to skin. At the first taste, he gagged from the crimson liquid, sputtering out droplets from his mouth. His body had been worked over so roughly it seemed to not want to cooperate with what his mind was telling it to do. Tony’s insistence and growing fear forced him to try, and as he swallowed hard, he forced the fluid dow
n his throat. He needed it make its way into his body for the replenishment of lost substances he required, to help with energy he was without.

  After a few minutes he released Tony’s arm and lifted his head. Power surged inside of him, a strength he hadn’t sensed before. The bond between he and Tony, the braid of a link seemed to shine brighter than before. Bari wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand, cringing as his body’s pain made its presence known.

  “Guess it’s not the cure all, huh?”

  Tony arched a brow and the twitch of his lips gave the indicator he heard Bari. Instead of responding, he rose and moved back to the entrance to the small room. Bari took the time to finally look around. Before, his focus had been so drawn to Maximus and the pain he hadn’t paid any attention. Long wooden logs lined the four walls and above him the ceiling held a colonial point. Only one door provided for a means of exit, and the room was completely devoid of windows.

  “We need to move quick, my man. Coming in we didn’t run into too much interference but going out may be another story.” Tony passed back a hooded sweatshirt sitting to the side, and Bari reached for it.

  “How in the hell did you all find me?”

  Tony peeked over his shoulder and held out another black SIG and a thick hunting knife. “Mackenzie.”

  Bari frowned, but inside his heart galloped, and he rejoiced silently that she was safe. “None of you know the area, hell, she grew up here and she hardly knew the forest. How did that happen?”

  Tony shook his head, almost in exasperation. “You sure do ask a lot of questions during a rescue mission. You completed the bonding with her, didn’t you? That answer your question?” Without waiting for an answer, Tony inched open the door and paused before he shifted to look outside.