Serpentine

by J. Kearston

  Aiden’s voice is full of self-deprecation as he adds, “While you might be incorruptible, the people around you aren’t. They very likely had no idea what you were for years, and then couldn’t withstand the draw of power.”

  Stryker slithers closer and I stretch out a hand, Devin tensing behind me, but not making any move to threaten either of us. Winding around my arm, his tail flicks against the chains on my hand that suddenly seem heavier than before.

  “I ruin people.”

  “No.” Xander’s voice is as stern as his face as he gets to his feet, eyes flitting between Mason, Stryker, and Bane with distrust. “You make them more. All your blood does is enhance what’s already there. You don’t poison or corrupt anyone; you’re above that.”

  I can’t help the watery laugh that bursts out, unsure if the tears on my cheeks are from guilt or hysteria. “Tell that to Zane. You really think that I could take down a fucking puma? I can barely climb a tree without getting killed.”

  “What are you talking about, love?” Bane asks, dropping his arm and walking towards me, though he doesn’t stow his gun.

  Devin and Mason hold each other’s gaze for a few tense seconds before they each withdraw their weapons, stepping away from their hostages. Stryker rests his head on top of the bandage on my shoulder as Bane helps me to my feet, hissing in a sharp breath as he sees the damage to my side.

  “He did that to you?” he demands and I clam up, realizing there’s a very serious possibility that one of them will shoot Aiden before letting me explain it was my fault.

  “Risa?” Mason prompts, seeing right through me as I try to pick apart my potential wording so that I don’t lie.

  Sighing, I lean into Bane’s side as Devin rejoins his pack. Backpedaling to when I woke up in the back of Zane’s car before he shot Bennet, I give them the abridged version, filling them all in. By the time I’m done with the story, Stryker back on two legs, butt-ass naked, we’ve fallen into a sort of silent truce, all of the hostility directed towards a series of dead bodies.

  A faint scream has us all jerking to attention, pulled out of our pensive thoughts and heads swiveling back towards the house we left behind.

  “Addie,” I whisper on a horrified breath.

  Pulling away from Bane, I grip my bloodied side and start jogging, shoving down every jolt of pain that stems from each step. It’s got to be over a mile. I’m never going to make it in time. And even if I did, what would I do?

  Breathing heavily already, worn out from everything, I meet Caleb’s eye, begging everything that is holy that they weren’t lying. “She’s one, too.”

  His eyes widen in shock and he whips around to face Xander. Cursing, he pulls to a stop, running a hand through his hair as he looks at my blood that’s keeping them from being able to shift.

  Looking back at Devin, he starts rattling off commands as he strips off his shirt. “I’ll hold my breath while you muzzle me. Just keep it loose so I can break out of it when I get there, depending on what I find. And for fuck’s sake, somebody throw her in the creek or something.”

  With that, he shifts, Devin tying the black shirt around his muzzle in a single knot. In a grey blur, he sprints ahead, leaving all of us in his wake. Clearly anxious to get away from me after last time, Aiden volunteers next, bolting after him.

  “Stay with her, just in case,” Devin orders, receiving the same treatment from Caleb, the black shirt wrapping around his mouth and nose blending in seamlessly with his fur.

  “I can’t just leave them,” I pant, clutching my knees and trying to catch my breath.

  Stryker brushes his knuckles over my cheek, looking pained. “It’ll just make it more dangerous for everyone if you rush in there, beautiful. They can’t help anyone if you drive them mad; it’d put that little girl at risk of them turning on her.”

  “I’ll go,” Mason says, leaning in to kiss me quickly. “Make sure that the mutts aren’t lying to us. I’ll make sure the kids are alright, you just worry about getting cleaned up, okay, angel?”

  Choking on my uselessness, I watch Mason sprint away through the trees, the wolves already small blips in the distance.

  “We have supplies in the trunk,” Caleb announces. “You can change your clothes when they’re done feeding you.”

  I give him a strange look. “What do you mean, feeding me?”

  Caleb scrunches up his face in confusion, turning between me and the guys. “So you can heal faster?”

  Stryker keeps hovering a hand nearby, about two seconds away from picking me up to carry me, like my hobbling is driving him crazy. “We tried that when we turned her; didn’t help.”

  Caleb snorts. “Well yeah, because she didn’t need to heal, she had to transition. Can’t rush something like that.” He tilts his head to the side. “But it’s probably why her blood’s poisonous. Instead of just activating the latent gene, having your blood in her system while she was going through the change likely affected the process. Since an incorruptible enhances everything, it probably took the genetic coding or traces of venom in your system that keeps you immune to your own venom and exacerbated it.”

  Bane asks, sounding like it’s all going over his head, “But wouldn’t that turn her into an antidote?”

  Stryker tentatively interjects, “But he said she enhances qualities that are already there, which is why people become corrupted by desire if they aren’t inherently good people. And we sort of,” he trails off.

  “Want to kill everyone?” Caleb suggests, and both of them snort, not denying it. It’s hard to pay attention, though I really try to buy into the distraction they’re going for so I don’t go crazy, my mind on Hunter and Adelaide.

  “But it would help her now?” Bane confirms.

  “There aren’t any poisonous ones back home, but I’d assume the same principle applies,” Caleb responds with a shrug. “Doesn’t hurt to try, at least.”

  Stryker bites into his wrist without hesitation, thrusting it in my face and forcing me to pull to a halt. “Drink.”

  Rolling my eyes, I grab his arm. “You want me to suck you off, you just have to ask.”

  The teasing falls flat even to my ears, my stomach twisted with worry, but I know that Mason will take care of them. I hate that I’m walking farther away instead of running towards them, but it’s the only thing I can really do to help, why I ran in the first place to draw the wolves away. My blood is a curse, and the only way I can help those kids is by keeping my distance.

  Wrapping my lips around the self-inflicted bite mark, I gently pull, letting his blood flow over my tongue. As soon as I start, I understand exactly what they were talking about, finding it hard to stop. Stepping into him, the rest of the world seems to fall away as I focus on the next drop rushing down my throat, on the heat of Stryker’s hand on the back of my neck.

  “There we go,” he praises, gently rubbing my neck, keeping his wrist pressed against my lips. Softer, he murmurs, “Do you have any idea how terrified I was? We’ve been out of our mind for weeks, but look at you, being all badass.”

  There are some muffled words that I can’t make out, losing myself in the moment, in the rush that flows through my veins like a live wire. All of the pain, fading a bit more with each pull that I take.

  Bane steps behind me, kissing the crown of my head. “Didn’t need us to save you at all. You fought so hard, beautiful, did so good.”

  Carefully, he skims his fingertips over my side, inspecting the damage to discreetly see if I’m healing. Stryker’s wrist is taken away from me and I nearly whimper, but Bane’s replaces it a moment later. Nails digging into his arm as I latch on to him, I lean back against his chest.

  Softly sighing in contentment, his free hand splays over my stomach, holding me close. “You kept yourself alive long enough for us to find you, so let us take over from here, alright?

  After a few more moments, he breaks contact despite my protests, long enough to spin me around. Snapping out his pocket knife, he slices across
the skin at the juncture of his neck, lifting me up so I can wrap my legs around his waist. Not needing any prompting, I flick my tongue across his neck, vaguely aware of him carrying us the rest of the distance to the car.

  By the time we arrive, I’m feeling worlds better, even the pain of abusing my muscles running disappearing. Sliding to my feet, feeling every delicious ridge on the way down his body, he opens up the back hatch of the black SUV, rooting around in a duffle bag and withdrawing fresh clothes with a grimace.

  “I’m not sure if having you smell like one of the mutts is actually better,” he states, acting as my shield as I strip and change into the t-shirt and gym shorts, rolling them at the waist.

  “The others leave to give us privacy?” I ask in confusion, looking around and trying to remember the last time I was actually aware of their presence.

  His grimace says everything that he doesn’t. “Went to help the others.”

  Pausing, I scan his face, cursing myself for getting so lost in the moment feeding that the rest of the world fell away. “How bad is it?”

  Balling up my ruined clothes, he walks several paces from the vehicle, using the matchbook he stole from the duffle bag to torch them. “They should be here any minute.”

  My stomach flips. “They’re okay, right?” At his silence, I grab his arm, forcing him to look away from the fire and face me again. “Who?”

  Before he can answer, the sound of Addie crying draws my attention as they crest the hill. Stryker’s in a pair of sweatpants covered in droplets of blood that don’t belong to anyone here, holding Adelaide’s hand as she swipes at her tear-stained face. The wolves chose to remain in that form, apparently taking the smoke as a sign that it was safe. But it’s Hunter that I focus on, unmoving as Mason carries him down to us, his face a taut mask.

  I don’t trust any of my senses right now, unintentionally slamming the sensory block in place to protect myself, choosing denial as the only manageable option. “Is he...?”

  “He’s alive,” Bane hurriedly assures.

  As they come into view, the sky beginning to lighten, it illuminates not only how torn up Hunter is, but the wrecked look on Mason’s face as he tries to hold it together. Getting to the SUV, the wolves shift back and get dressed, trying to figure out how we’re all going to cram in.

  Addie releases Stryker’s hand to run towards me, latching on to my side and burying her face against my hip. Hand trembling, I stroke a hand over her hair, but I’m not even sure if it’s more for her comfort or mine at this point.

  “What happened?”

  Mason’s voice is gruff. “That goddamn asshole we ran into at the store and the club. It wasn’t Blake that was stalking you, after all.”

  Stryker pulls out a cellphone from his stolen sweats, pissed off, and extends it for me to look. As Mason carefully slides into the backseat with Hunter, I swipe through photo after photo, dating back to before I was ever kidnapped in the first place. When I can’t look anymore, Stryker takes it back, ushering Addie and me into the car while the others cram into the back, Aiden firing up the engine.

  Beside me, Addie sniffs. “He stopped us and showed us a picture, asked if we’d seen you. Said you were his wife and someone took you, tried to warn us that there were dangerous people around and we shouldn’t be out here alone.” She curls into my side. “But then he started acting funny, like Uncle Zane did before he... before you...”

  Wrapping an arm around her, I shut my eyes tightly, wishing that when I open them, all of this will have been a dream. “And Hunter tried to stop him from going after me instead of running.” She nods, crying in earnest again.

  “He’s going to be okay,” Mason declares softly, trying to convince himself as much as the rest of us. As we drive, he keeps his attention rapt on Hunter’s face and a balled up shirt pressed against his stomach, like he can use sheer force of will to make sure it happens. “He’s going to wake up tomorrow, good as new.”

  Tearing his attention away from him for a brief moment, he meets my eye; determination, hope, and so much hatred warring within their depths. “It might be distant, but he’s still related to you. There’s no way the change won’t take. I bit him in time; I’m sure of it.” His expression begins to fracture as he looks back down at the unconscious boy fighting to draw shallow breaths. “This time tomorrow, we’ll be wanting to chuck him off a cliff, he’ll have so much annoying energy.”

  Chapter 27

  Risa

  “You fucking liar.” I scoff, narrowing my eyes at Xander as he bursts into raucous laughter.

  As we emerge from the woods after an obscene amount of hiking, we look out over the sea from the top of the cliff. A smattering of tiny islands are interconnected by sandbars, or close enough that you could swim if you were determined enough. The low tide leaves a strip of land as a bridge between the coastline beneath us and the first island. Several have dense forests in the center, while some of the ones in the distance rise high enough that they very well may be dormant, miniature volcanos. It’s a combination of sandy shores and rocky outcroppings, arcing out in a crescent shape.

  And the only way to reach them is either by boat, or the narrow land bridge that will be eaten by the tide come evening.

  "We didn't drive them into the sea, technically." Devin’s eyes light up as he gazes down, looking suddenly anxious to get home. "It's easier to protect them when you only have one point to guard. Anyone arriving by boat we’d see coming from miles away, and the bridge is only accessible for half of the day."

  Hunter speaks softly, eyes flicking to where Addie still has his hand in a vice grip, like she has ever since he woke up two days ago. "So you're able to protect them, but still have a life of your own, because there are less things to watch out for."

  Caleb claps him on the shoulder on his way to lead us down the long path carved into the stone to our right, to the coast beneath the cliff. "It's not as hard as you might expect, either."

  At his words, Bane frowns. "There's no pull. If one incorruptible draws people in, islands full of them should be impossible to hide."

  Aiden snorts from behind me. "Oh where, I wonder, did tales of sirens originate?"

  "We solved that issue over the last century, though!" Caleb hurries to assure, pointing at the outer cropping of islands. "There's a powder we make from a plant that grows at the base of the mountains. Dissolve it in a daily drink, and it suppresses that draw down to a manageable level. Only way anyone is going to notice it is if they get within a mile of this place, and that's where we come in."

  At this point, pristine, white sand starts spilling into my shoes as we make our way across the beach towards the bridge, each step increasingly uncomfortable, but I refuse to take them off and risk cutting myself on a stray rock or shell. "What about me?" I nervously rub one of my arms, self-conscious, and Stryker takes a step closer, throwing an arm over my shoulders. "Since mine seems to be worse than you're used to."

  Aiden looks away guiltily. "I'd recommend upping your dose to three times a day. You know, just to be safe."

  We have to walk in a single file line across the path that extends about a mile between the coast and the first island, gentle waves making the algae covered ground even more slick. At the guys’ not-so-subtle urging, unwilling to have their backs to the wolves as we dive into uncharted territory, they ensure the pack leads the way so we have a clear exit. Bane goes next, followed by me and the kids, while Stryker and Mason pull up the rear. And with as closely as Hunter’s taken to shadowing Mason since he woke up, it’s a miracle that our mutual sire hasn’t tripped over him yet.

  I might be needy for their touch, but the kid’s little better than a baby duckling. For two days he’s been glued to his side, looking at Mason like he hung the moon, and wants to emulate his every action like the guy’s his new idol and mentor.

  The pressure to not fuck up is already threatening to make Mason crack. While he thinks he’s hiding it well from me and the guys, he’s epically failing
, especially with the emotional bond working against him where I’m concerned.

  Xander clears his throat. "But after it builds up in your system a bit, it should be fine. We'll have to test it out in about a week or so to be safe, and until then, we'll warn the other shifters to stay masked up. Hopefully, by the end of next week, everything will be back to normal."

  "You say that like we've already agreed to stay," Mason points out, raising an eyebrow that Hunter quickly matches with a scowl in support. "We said we'd hear you out, take a look around; that's all."

  Stryker chimes in, reinforcing the notion that they’re still skeptical in case there was any possible doubt. "We don't even know how many people you're talking about. Twenty? Three hundred? If that medicine you make actually works, there's no reason we'd need to stay here. We can stock up and come back for more when we start running low, but could live anywhere, it sounds like."

  I try to ignore the stab of disappointment that lances through me with their words, but as much as I’m already tired of running, they aren't wrong. We could very well be walking straight into a trap, tricked into living in a glorified animal pen with hundreds of other incorruptibles, ripe for the draining. Even if the wolves aren’t lying, if our short stint at the rental house showed me anything, it’s that as much as I may not want to be alone, I don't really want to be surrounded by people either.

  But Hunter and Adelaide clearly don't feel the same way. They're starved for social interaction, to have something normal for once in their lives. And now that Mason is Hunter's sire, too, we need to think about what's best for them; not just me, or what the four of us may want. They're not our kids, but it's not like we can abandon them either. And after what a shitty experience Mason had with his sire? He's determined to do better, be better... but things are weird, everyone simply making the best of a tragic situation.