by H. M. Ward
The sound came faster and louder. She stood at the junction of two tunnels, both equally dark. The dust in the left tunnel was disturbed. That was the direction the King had gone. Backing into the opposite tunnel, Kahli hid her body in the thick shadows. She crouched low to the ground and waited.
As the footfalls came closer, her heart raced faster. As soon as his head came through the tunnel, she’d spring on him and stab him in the heart. That would be enough to slow him down until she severed his head. Kahli breathed slowly, trying to steal her nerves. Every inch of her felt alive, vibrating with anticipation. Her skin prickled as she waited, bouncing on the balls of her feet. It was so dark.
Within seconds a dark head appeared in the tunnel and she leapt. She could just make out the features on his pale face. Kahli sprung from her hiding place, her arm falling fast, but the man turned suddenly, like he knew she was there. The stake scraped the side of his face, leaving an angry red trail of blood down his cheek.
The man’s hand flew up and caught Kahli’s wrist. Smashing it back above her head, he hit her hand into the wall. It shredded the top of her glove, and cut the back of her hand. Kahli kicked out her knee connecting with his gut. The man gasped and bent in half. Kahli’s arm ached, but she was still able to hold onto the stake. Kahli crouched low. The shadows obscured her face. She didn’t have a chance to look at her attacker. It was too dark. It wasn’t until she rushed him and slammed his taut body into the wall again, that she saw his face.
“Cole?” she gasped, saying his name as the air was forced from his lungs.
Cole didn’t seem to see her. He was still fighting; his arm was pulled back, ready to connect with her face when he stopped mid-swing. Cole held his fist there, hovering in the air. “Kahli?” he asked, as if she were the last person he expected to see.
Kahli nodded and shoved him hard, before stepping back. He gave her space and looked behind them. The tunnel was empty. “What are you doing here?” he asked, irritated.
“Assassinating the royal family,” she said casually, like this was a normal part of her daily routine. Breathing hard, she bent over and put her hands on her waist. Her hair fell over her shoulders like an orange curtain. It was the first time she stopped to catch her breath since she ran from Reggie. Kahli sucked in a deep breath, and asked, “You?”
Cole’s chest rose and fell sharply. Sweat clung to his brow. It looked like he had a long night as well. Cole shrugged, like it was nothing, “Somehow I ended up in charge of the vamp’s blood bank—all of them. Cassie wouldn’t leave anyone behind.” Anger flashed across his eyes as he thought of Brent, but he pushed the thought away. Cole never thought he’d be doing this. “So, I’m trying to find a way out that won’t get the rest of them slaughtered on sight. It’s not like they’re the most athletic group.” Cole jerked his thumb back the way Kahli had come. “Where does this lead?”
“The garden at the South wall,” she said quickly, “but there are vamps looking for me in the hills if you go that way.” Everyone was looking for her.
Cole pressed his lips together tightly and swore. After a moment, he looked at Kahli and told her, “The King knows you’re following him.” He told her because he didn’t know what else to do, what else to say. Cole lifted his hand to his face and smeared the blood from his cheek. It mingled with the sweat and made a scarlet arc on his cheek. Cole could still feel the sticky warmth sliding down his face where Kahli cut him. He lifted his fingers away, the tips red with blood, “You could have killed me, you know.”
“I seriously doubt it,” she muttered. Kahli learned Cole was strong during the Purging, but up until that moment, she had no idea that he knew how to fight, too. Holding up her hand, she said, “You practically tore my arm off.” Blood dripped down her white sleeve, wrapping around her arm like red ribbon. Kahli was so tense. They both stared at each other for a moment. “Is Cassie okay?”
“She is,” he replied, still angry, “no thanks to you.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that you messed up everything, for everyone. If I don’t get them out of here tonight, they all die.” He pointed behind him. Every muscle in his body was corded tight, ready to pop. “It might be too late already. They’ll be executed if the Queen is killed.” Cole’s voice dripped with disdain. “This is your fault.”
Kahli wanted to punch him again. Instead she tried to push past him, “I don’t have time for this,” but he stepped in front of her.
“You can’t go that way. You’re walking into a trap. You’ll get yourself killed and Cassie won’t have time to get the others out of the palace.” He folded his arms, refusing to let her pass.
“Move, Cole.” She commanded, stepping closer to him, expecting him to back away.
“Over my dead body,” he said it with complete certainty.
Kahli gnashed her teeth at him, growling, “As much fun as that would be, I can’t kill Cassie’s brother. Now move or I’ll make you.”
Cole didn’t respond. He stood there in the tunnel, blocking her path into the palace, arms folded firmly across his chest. His brown eyes were narrowed to slits, “Make me.”
Kahli screamed and threw her shoulder into Cole’s stomach. Cole took the hit, doubling over and spinning to alleviate the blow. Kahli used her momentum to push past him, and nearly did, but Cole reached out and grabbed her wrist. His bloody fingers wrapped around the exposed skin between her glove and her sleeve. That’s when it happened. Kahli screamed, her wrist burning like her skin was on fire. Cole gasped, flinging her wrist from him like she was poison. They both gulped air as they swore. Cole looked at the palm of his hands, his eyes widening, as Kahli looked down at her wrist.
The remains of the Section 8 runes were gone, burned away. The pale white scar from the wolf’s fang zigzagged across her smooth skin like a bolt of lightning. And as she stared, something else began to appear. Under her skin, a line spread slowly, burning bright. It was like the blood runes on Will’s chest, how they appeared under her fingers when she touched him. A flaming pattern formed, spinning in slow circles, and lifted to the surface, burning the mark into her skin. Kahli clutched her arm, trying to stop the scalding pain. When she lifted her gaze, she saw Cole grasping his wrist, looking at his palm like he wanted to cut it off.
Tilting his head back, he pressed his eyes closed. Kahli could see something branded on his palm, the bright red lines still glowing like wisps of a flame. It was her family crest. It was burned into the center of his palm. Kahli couldn’t breathe. She staggered back from Cole, clutching her wrist, too afraid to look. Before she had a chance to think, Cole’s angry gaze met hers. He grabbed her wrist, his bloody hand curling around her arm. Flipping her wrist over, he looked at the mark with disgust. Cole dropped her arm, and turned on his heel, thrusting his hands into his hair like he was going to scream and pull it out.
“This can’t be happening,” he hissed. “Not with you! Not now!” He rounded on Kahli. The blood on his face coagulated, darkening as it did so. The gash was no longer dripping.
“This can’t be.” Kahli stared at him, her green eyes wide. “My betrothed is dead, along with everyone else. There’s no way in hell, it’s you!” Kahli’s anger got the best of her. She slammed her open palms into Cole’s chest, but he barely rocked back. “Explain this!” she screamed, hitting his chest again. “You’re not wild! You were raised on a farm, with Cassie! You can’t be him!” While she screamed at him, one thought raced through her mind over and over, That life is gone. That life is gone. That life is gone.
Cole grabbed her wrists and flung them away. Hissing in her face, he growled, “Hit me again, and I don’t care what our parent’s agreed, I’ll kill you.” Kahli sucked in jagged breaths, her shoulders rising as her fingers balled into fists at her sides. The King was getting away, but she had to know why her family crest was on his hand. There was no way he could be the one that she was promised.
“You’re not wild,” she breathed too calmly, her vo
ice almost airy. Pointing at him, she demanded, “Explain this. Explain why your cut healed. Explain why my crest is on your palm.”
“I don’t have to tell you a damn thing,” Cole hissed and turned on his heel. He started to walk back the way he’d come. Kahli’s jaw fell open. She froze for half a second and then followed him.
Grabbing his arm hard, Kahli pulled him around. Cole stared daggers at her. “My parents died protecting me.”
“So did mine.”
Kahli stared not knowing what else to say, to do. “It means nothing,” but looking down at her wrist, she knew that wasn’t true. Cole’s blood brought out the rune, his family crest. It was burned into her wrist, just as hers was branded onto his palm. Their pasts connected them in a way that she couldn’t ignore.
Cole’s jaw tensed, like he was going to say something, but he didn’t. Instead he turned on his heel with newfound determination lining his shoulders. He took a few steps and stopped. Turning around, he looked back at Kahli, at the girl his parent’s choose for him, and his fingers curled into fists. She stood there looking at him, not following. He snapped at her, “Come on.”
Confused at his change of direction, Kahli asked, “Where are we going?”
“To save the others. We’ll lead them back to this passage way and tell them to follow the footprints out. Cassie can lead them to the hills and get them started toward the safe house.”
“And what about you?”
Cole glanced at her like Kahli was a thorn in his side. “I’ve been marked for other things. Apparently, our fates are intertwined.” Cole’s gaze was hard, unforgiving, as he studied his hand. At the center of Kahli’s crest was a wolf, savagely growling, bearing its teeth. Vines surrounded the animal, twining together at the top and the bottom with sprigs of flowers that hadn’t been seen in centuries. He didn’t even know what they were called. Blinking hard, he lifted his gaze to meet hers, “The King only expects to see you. You’re more likely to survive if I go with you. Let’s get this over with.”
Kahli’s lips lifted into a grin. There was no telling Cole differently once he made up his mind. And having him along might help. “I always knew something was wrong with you.”
Cole glanced over his shoulder. Lifting a dark brow, he said, “Yeah, apparently all this time I was engaged to you, the biggest pain in the ass I’ve ever met.”
CHAPTER 37
Cole directed Cassie to take everyone out through the garden and to continue onto the safe house without him. Although Cole didn’t want Kahli to see Cassie, he couldn’t leave her in the hallway. There were too many vamps as it was. Cassie squeezed Kahli so hard that she couldn’t breathe.
“You’re alive!” Cassie looked over her friend in awe.
Kahli nodded, trying pull out of Cassie’s overly crushing hug. It felt good to be missed, but so much contact made her feel awkward. Cole watched as Kahli wriggled away. He said nothing. “It’s good to see you, too.” She smiled briefly and then became serious again, “Listen, we can catch up later.” Cassie bobbed her head, nodding.
“You better get going,” Cole said to Cassie. His face was stern, his voice unyielding. There was no room for debate. Cassie nodded and walked over to her brother. She gave him one last hug, and walked next to Chaucer who was waiting at the door. “Oh,” Cole added, tossing Cassie a lighter. It arched across the room, and Cassie caught it. She looked at it confused and lifted her gaze to Cole, “Light them. Any downed vamps, any live vamps—all of them. I don’t want to leave anything behind. The palace will be a pile of ashes after tonight. I already rigged something outside, too, something to discourage them from chasing after us. Torch the spot at the south exit after everyone is through. Got it?”
Cassie nodded, pocketing the lighter.
Kahli looked back and forth at them, wondering where this change came from. Before she left, Cassie acted like she wouldn’t hurt anything, and now she was okay with torching any vampires in her way. Brows knitting together, Kahli said, “You can’t be serious?”
Cole spoke over Cassie, “I’m not defending our actions to you.”
“But a bunch of them are under the King’s thrall. You can just light them all on fire. It’s not—” By a bunch of them, she meant Will, and other Bane that were property just as much as they were. Never in her life did Kahli think she would be speaking up against slaying vampires, but Bane were different. They had no choice. They were slaves, caught between the greed and blood of the old vampire régime.
“Not what?” Cole bit off. “Humane? They aren’t human, Kahli.” Lifting his gaze toward Cassie, he nodded once, affirming his original order.
Cassie looked back at Kahli. Something flashed in her friend’s eyes. She wasn’t sure if it was uncertainty or an apology. “Will’s out there,” she finally said. She left him lying in a heap of dead vamps. The look on Kahli’s face said everything. Cassie opened her mouth, her head tilting to the side as though she was about to say she wouldn’t torch Will.
But Cole cut her off, “He’s one of them.”
“He is not,” Kahli bit back, rounding on Cole. “He’s one of us.”
“How stupid are you?” Cole scolded, “Will’s a vampire. He’s on their side.”
Kahli’s voice was deep and menacing. “Will risked his life for me. He’s not a vamp. He’s a Bane,” there were a few gasps around the room. It was a secret she was supposed to keep. Will didn’t tell anyone what he was. They all assumed that he was a vampire, but he wasn’t. He aged, he bled, he breathed. Kahli couldn’t have Cassie drop a torch on that pile of dead vampires in the courtyard. She couldn’t let them kill Will. Kahli continued, her eyes locked with Cole’s, “He’s half human. You can’t kill him.”
“Even if he is a Bane,” he said, voice stern, “there’s no such thing as a half-breed. If he needs blood to survive, he’s one of them, he’s a vampire. We can’t afford to make a mistake tonight, Kahli. All vampires are evil. You know this…” Cole’s voice drifted off as he stopped speaking. He acted like explaining something so remedial to Kahli was absurd. Kahli hunted and killed vamps. Just because Will was a Bane, didn’t mean he didn’t have blood on his hands. To Cole, Will was a vampire. End of story. Disgusted, he turned to his sister. Glancing at Cassie, he nodded, repeating, “Kill him.”
Kahli’s body tensed, her fingers curling to fists at her sides like she’d punch Cole if he kept talking, but Cassie started hissing at them. The forcefulness of her voice made them both look at her in surprise. “Stop fighting. Now.” She glared at them. After a second she said, “We’re leaving. I’m not killing Will. He helped me too many times, Cole.” Cassie knew that Kahli had feelings for Will. Although they hadn’t spoken of it much, she knew. Cassie nodded at Cole and slinked out the door before he had a chance to say anything else.
Tension lined Kahli’s shoulders and arms. “Have you forgotten what murder is, Cole?”
He rounded on her. Using his body, he shoved Kahli hard into the wall. The movement was fast and hard. Kahli’s head banged into the plaster, pieces of it flaked off into her hair on impact, “Don’t assume you know crap about my life.” He held his arm on her neck. If he threw his weight into his arm, it would crush her throat.
Kahli couldn’t let him think he was right, “There’s no justification you can give that makes it right, ever. I have blood on my hands. Vamp blood. Human blood. It was my decision.” She choked the words out. Cole’s arm remained in place as she spoke. “Never for one moment did I pretend that it wasn’t wrong.”
“But you killed them anyway,” he breathed. “You hunted the Trackers and picked them off one by one. You attacked Will and tried to kill him yourself when you first got here. You’re honestly telling me, given the chance again, that you wouldn’t slaughter the lot of them?”
Kahli’s throat burned. Cole dropped her, and stepped away. Kahli fell forward, and sucked in air, choking. Cole was dangerous, more so than she thought. When she stood, Kahli straightened her spine and walked up to
Cole. Inches from his face, she said with utter conviction, “I wish they never existed. I wish they never found us, never hunted us, never needed us to survive. If I had it to do over again, I’d want to kill every last vampire, but I wouldn’t…”
With a bewildered look on his face, Cole asked, “Why?”
Kahli answered, “Because some of them are as trapped as we are. Some of them are worse off than me and you. Their families were slaughtered, too. They’re weak and dying, starving to death. This isn’t right. The way the world works is broken, Cole. You can’t kill everyone in it and start over. Life doesn’t work that way.” Disgusted with him, Kahli shook her head and moved toward the door.
“I don’t understand you,” he confessed, but it sounded like an accusation. Cole fell in step behind her and Kahli pulled the door open.
Looking at him over her shoulder, she said, “Join the club.”
CHAPTER 38
Reggie made the mistake of arriving alone. The Queen’s guards were at his back, his insane sister in front of him. “Darling, Sophia. How’s the evening progressing for you? Out for a bit of fresh air?” he asked smiling. The wind blew harshly, blowing his coat open.