Sagittarius

by Kim Faulks

  She demanded I keep fighting, and never give up.

  Gray seeped into my vision, stealing the corners of this room and bled into my world. I swung my hand, grasping his arm as Acheron descended. “We have to go now.”

  The voice was mine.

  The words were not.

  Darkness moved close and with it came the hunger.

  Show me what you’ve done with my son, or I’ll kill your brother, and end your line once and for all.

  “Eva. Where are we? Why have you brought me here…” Austine’s voice shook as Acheron released his hold, leaving me stranded.

  Not home. Lightning cracked across the obsidian sky, and in the distance, the deafening boom of thunder followed.

  I titled my head to the heavens. Heavy raindrops smacked my face, drawing me down, to this moment, this space, to the smell of wet dirt and the stench of rot underneath.

  It was an unmistakable stench, one that lingered long after the memory of this place faded—one I’d know in an instant.

  “No,” the growl burned.

  I scanned the darkness and lifted my gaze. Dark spindled branches reached over pines and firs to claw the night sky. I needed no sunlight, and no path. I knew this place by the heaviness of my heart. One hour north of the Shadistin caverns sat the only Tree of Death in this county, and the one place I vowed to never return. “You sonofabitch. You wicked, sadistic sonofabitch!”

  Show me, Eva. Show me what you’ve done with my son.

  “Eva,” Austine whimpered. “What’s going on?”

  I stumbled down the rise, and behind me the sound of footsteps followed.

  “You’ll not have him, do you hear me?” My rage overflowed. “You don’t get to touch him! You don’t get to see him!”

  Shadows crowded, dragging the ghost of my past closer.

  “Eva…you’re scaring me.” Austine’s fear tried to pierce my hatred. “Please tell me why you brought me here.”

  I sucked in the air and the rain, and stared at the tree.

  Tell him, Eva. Tell him what you have done.

  My lips trembled, inside my head I was unearthing tiny bones, showing my brother the kind of sister I was. Murderer. Betrayer. Killer. But the one thing I wasn’t…was a mother…not anymore.

  Not after that day I rode away, trying desperately to hide the hard swell of my stomach—and the child I carried.

  I took a step, skimming my heels over gnarled roots to kneel at the base of this ancient tree. He was down here, under the crust of the earth, where ancient secrets lay.

  “Eva, I need you to talk to me. Tell me what’s going on.”

  I shook my head. This moment wasn’t for him. It was for us. For the betrayer and the betrayed. For the hatred and the hurt.

  And the truth…for it was the only thing that could set me free.

  I shoved myself from the ground to stand before the Ash tree, and opened my mind. “You want to see? Then I’ll show you…I’ll show you what I have done.”

  I threw open the barriers to my mind, leaving my soul bare. But instead of the cruel touch of Acheron, another answered…something powerful rose and swept through my mind and with his mighty touch came the answers.

  The blood I wore wasn’t the child’s. It was a wolf, one who hurtled through the bushes to attack me. The growls of my memory mingled with the thunder above.

  Lightning cut across the sky revealing movement to my right. Out of the bushes came two of the biggest wolves I’d ever seen.

  Coarse hair glinted silver in the neon wake as one wolf strode from behind the Tree of Death and circled right.

  “Eva.”

  Panic welled in Austine’s voice as movement came to my left. He was the storm this one, black and silver with a bolt of lightning that carried over his head and along his flank. Silver eyes scanned, missed nothing, drifting to Austine before settling on me as he flanked me on the opposite side.

  They came to kill.

  It wasn’t Acheron’s voice that filled me now, it was the darkness…the power. It was Death itself that resonated from the center of my chest.

  The obsidian shard wasn’t part of me any longer…I was part of it.

  Agony lashed, spearing through the base of my skull and into my spine. You are mine, Eva…don’t you ever forget that. Acheron battled the dark power as the wolves neared.

  “Eva…I’m so sorry,” Austine whimpered behind me. The sound of his panicked steps echoed, and then faded as he fled, leaving me behind.

  A guttural snarl rumbled the air, standing the hair on my arms. A bark of laughter welled in the pit of my stomach. A day ago I wanted this—wanted a way to end it all. The image of the Archer filled me. Royal blood ran through my veins. I was stronger, faster. I was deadly, especially with a sword. But I had no weapon out here. I had nothing but the will to survive.

  And I was outnumbered.

  Something white glinted in the corner of my eye. The snap of a twig snatched the wolves’ attention behind me and to the right. I turned my head as he stepped out of the darkness to head toward me.

  Gabriel’s clothes were tattered as though he’d been living out here. His haunted gaze settled on me. Loyalty raged in clear blue eyes as he heaved the blade into the air and strode forward, placing himself between me and our enemy.

  Our fates would collide here, on this sodden earth beneath the Tree of Death…blood would be spilled once more.

  19

  Lucas

  The Marine stared at the phone as the display went dark. Bloodless lips flattened. Silent screams twisted hard features. There was a flare of his jaw, a tell that spoke clear as fucking day.

  “Get in the car, Marcus,” I muttered as Alpha lifted his head to the Jeep. “Now.”

  The Marine lunged, driving heavy boots into the ground. I spun for the back door, watching Marcus take too fucking long to get across the seat. “Move that fat ass, brother, or you’ll be left behind.”

  “Alpha!” Gunny yelled behind us. Her boots smacked against the pavement, one boot scraped harder as she limped. The woman could move, even with one leg, the thing never slowed her down. She was a damn machine.

  X was on Alpha’s tail, leaping across the front of the car to slide in through the open window. Alpha barely settled before the engine came alive. Doors slammed shut. Gears engaged. We shot forward, redlining the entire fucking way.

  There was a deathly silence as the Marine worked the gears like a machine. I felt air as we took corners hard and shot forward. Red and blue flashed behind us. The Marine cut one hard gaze from the rearview before we turned, then turned again squealing tires, leaving even the headlights behind.

  I pitched to the far side slamming into the brick wall that was my brother. Marcus grunted, and then the favor was returned, crushing my damn shoulder. I tried to find a hold, clutching the armrest. But there was no equilibrium in this hurling steel coffin as we wove through the city. The snarling tone of a phone came from the front as we took the rise hard, skidding back tires as we bottomed-out on asphalt and shot across the bridge.

  Lights whipped by in a blur, cars, streetlights…melted in to one. The ring tone ended, leaving nothing but the roar of the engine as we cut across marked lines passing one car after another. Red and blue came again, this time in force.

  “Ah, we’ve got company back here,” Marcus growled gripping the seat as he glanced over his shoulder.

  There was no answer from the Marine, only a murderous silence. The tachometer trembled. A red engine light flared for a second before disappearing. I swallowed hard and focused on the end…make it Alpha, come on man…fucking make it.

  Rage welled inside the human like a gasoline soaked promise. I didn’t just smell those damn fumes. I choked on them. Drawing them down to that river of need—where the Archer waited ready to light the match.

  My Dragon jostled and rammed, pushing against the confines of this skin, filling me with the kind of hunger that once left bodies in the street.

  She came fo
r our kin…so let me come for her.

  Leather squealed under my grip. I craned my neck, desperate for relief when all I wanted to feel was her blood, and that ease of soul that came when we rid this world of those like the Huntress. I turned my head. Green bridge lights splashed against Marcus’s midnight eyes. Concern flared before he winced as we hit the road hard. “You okay?”

  I nodded and tightened my hold on the armrest. Something popped deep within the mechanics. My hand slipped, pitching me forward as we turned, and then turned again.

  Hate leaked from the human. A hate so raw it seeped through my skin to find a vein. I swallowed hard, dragging my hand from the door—and the armrest along with it.

  Marcus glanced to my hand to stare at the busted bolts and ruptured leather. “Leash it, brother.” Panic flared black eyes wider. “There’ll be no fucking massacres today.”

  “Only one,” I whispered, but the words burned raw.

  I licked my lips and tasted salt as the car slowed, turning the corner hard before mounting a driveway and coming to rest in the front yard of a hulking concrete mansion.

  Alpha shouldered the door and was out, slicing white headlights as he cut across the front of the car for the house.

  The Archer and I melted into one as I yanked the handle and scrambled after him. There was nothing but the hard thud of the Marine’s boots that mirrored the boom in my chest. Silver glinted in the dark as the human drew his weapon.

  There was no saving, no protecting—for someone like Alpha. He stabbed something dark against the wall and the snap of a lock disengaged. Overhead lights came to life as he yanked the door hard and stepped inside.

  “Aunty,” he called, pulling his weapon close and stepped into the hallway.

  I scanned right and followed the human deeper into the house.

  “Margaret. Are you here?”

  Silence was heavy, wrapping around me like a wet blanket. I swallowed hard and inhaled as Alpha stilled at a doorway, dropping one hand from the grip to fumble for a switch. Soft white light spilled as I stepped close and moved to the side.

  The neatly made bed showed no sign of a fight. The bedroom was bare and neat. The Marine cut me a glare before he pushed past, and in that moment I saw all his fears.

  Lights bounced against pristine stainless steel. We made it halfway through the kitchen, before the human pulled up hard.

  One dark drop looked out of place against the pristine white floor tiles. Alpha dropped to his knees, not touching, only looking and lifted his gaze.

  “Alpha, let me,” X whispered at my side.

  Her eyes were wide, tiny nostrils flared, and it was as though the spell was shattered. I could smell it now. The thick heady scent of fresh blood. It washed through me like a wave. I licked my lips as the human took a step.

  The gun trembled as outside the scream of tires echoed. The barrage of boots filled the air as Alpha left the kitchen behind and moved through the dining room. Pictures lined the walls, one big one shadowed them all. A man in military green. His chest covered with gold and for a second I stared at all the ribbons before I took in the hard jaw, and harder eyes. His facial features too familiar, even without the name I knew he was Alpha’s kin, as the Marine stopped at a doorway at the other end of the house. The flick of a light was a spark to his terror, illuminating the carnage inside.

  For a second I was back there in the dirty streets of Mernan, standing in front of the slaughter. Those I left behind deserved every bit of their sentence…but not this human woman.

  She was nothing more than collateral damage.

  He wobbled…clawed for a hold on the doorway. Behind him crimson coated the walls and splattered the glass. The Huntress was right…there was no body. Alpha’s kin was nothing more than a spray. He spun from the sight and raised his gun—eyes wide—too fucking wide. The scream was looming, slamming against his walls, desperate to get free.

  And for a second I was frozen…not with fear, but with the weight of this room and this air. It wrapped around me like a lover’s hold—one that made your fucking skin crawl.

  The muzzle moved closer, aligned with his cheek.

  Do it, a whisper filled my ears, and with the words that feeling took hold.

  End it…you’ll never win. There’s only more suffering for you, Alpha. Kill yourself. Put that gun into your mouth and pull the trigger.

  The boom of my heart echoed…I couldn’t move, couldn’t scream. The dark need seemed to swell like another beast inside me. And for a second I imagined him going just as the words said.

  The bullet wouldn’t taste good.

  It would stick into his heart…it would stick into all our hearts.

  You humans think you can betray me? Think you can turn on me, and then run and hide? Your uncle might be the first, Alpha, but he won’t be the last. Acheron was the only one I loved, the only one I sacrificed for, and you…you took him from me! So I’ll take too… I’ll take his Dragon child. I’ll take his whore. I’ll paint this world red. And I’ll start with you.

  The need to end it all rose in a crescendo. X whimpered beside me and slammed her eyes closed. White fangs peeked out from under her lips. She could feel it too—growing, filling…and with the dark need came the Archer—roaring to the surface.

  “Marine!” The bark of a command shattered the spell.

  His eyes twitched as the heavy boom of Gunny’s boots filled the air. She pushed in, cramming the rest of us out of the way. The young wolf stumbled backwards as though somehow she knew what her mate needed, and in this second it wasn’t her.

  “Can you feel her, this bitch, this fucking Huntress?” Gunny snarled, stepping in close, until they were eye to eye, chests touching, until she was all he could see. “It’s a spell, Alpha. A fucking spell she made just for you. She wants you to put that muzzle to your mouth. She wants you to end your fucking life, because you're a threat. Can you feel your hate? It’s a fucking demon. It needs her, her fucking blood, her screams. That’s the only thing that will give you peace. You’re a Marine, and we eat pain for fucking breakfast. We drink that shit down, soldier, and we ask for more. You want a reckoning? So let’s get it. Get your shit together, Alpha. Now.”

  A sickening snigger floated through the air as though it was carried on the wind.

  The faint rumble filtered through. For a second it didn’t register, until the growl of an engine came from the front of the house.

  “She’s here,” Alpha growled. “She’s fucking here!”

  The scream of tires filled the house like a banshee. All heads turned, and then we all moved at once, lunging for the hallway. My heart was thundering as I followed Zadoc as he pushed through the exit and sprinted for the cars.

  The engine ticked, steam hissed, leaking from the gaps in the hood. In the distance the growl of an engine grew faint. We weren’t going to make it, not in that thing. Marcus dove into the open back door and Alpha scrambled for the driver’s seat.

  “Lucas, get in the damn car!” my brother screamed from the rear.

  The other car filled. The engine turned. Headlights splashed across my feet and were gone.

  “Fuck!” I dove into the seat as the Jeep moved. The vehicle fucking limped, reverse whined as we spun the front of the Jeep around.

  First gear thunked, shuddering the goddamn seat and for a second there was nothing until the vehicle surged forward.

  Gunny’s headlights were a red flare in front of us, urging us to go faster.

  “The Huntress is getting away,” X growled and turned to Alpha. “We won’t make it.”

  A sickening snarl echoed from the human’s lips, making me wonder if there was a mortal cell in his fucking body. He gripped the gears, slipped the lever low and pushed the car harder. Tires found speed, surging ahead. Seconds…that was all it took. Mere fucking seconds and we were neck to neck, gunning the engine.

  “Move that ass, Gunny,” the Marine snarled.

  I leaned into the middle and scanned the cars ahead.
We weren’t heading for the bridge this time. Instead the bitch was leading us south. Neon signs beckoned us forward into the nightclubs and all night restaurants.

  The red engine light flared in the dashboard, and this time it didn’t die. The engine coughed, spluttered. The speedometer faltered, before we surged again.

  “Come on.” Savage words slipped through Alpha’s clenched teeth as Gunny’s rear lights slipped from our grasp.

  Small crowds of humans gathered, standing on sidewalks, staring not at us—but at the roaring Ford Escape in the distance, leaving us behind. Gunny’s Jeep shot forward. But we fucking limped, and then died. The car coasted to the curb behind an idling midnight Mustang.

  “Fuck!” Alpha punched the wheel and then sucked in a hard breath.

  In front of the dying Jeep, the Ford’s idle filled the early morning air with perfect white plumes. The Marine glanced to the open driver’s door and then turned his head. I knew what he was thinking, even before he did.

  “We doing this?” I growled and yanked the handle. Three other doors opened and boots hit the ground.

  The car’s owner had his back to us, standing in front of an ATM. The poor bastard never had a chance as Alpha neared the open driver’s door and slipped inside.

  Marcus eased open the passenger’s door with barely a sound and bent low, sliding the seat forward before he climbed inside. X followed, leaving me to take the front.

  The biting scent of fresh leather hit me like a blow as Alpha rested his hand on the gear shift and gave a quick nod.

  The thud of a door dragged the owner’s gaze. Fear filled his eyes. Green fluttered from his grasp as he lunged. “Hey! Hey, that’s my fuck—”

  The hard roar of the engine drowned him out. I slammed into the seat as the Mustang shot forward with the kind of force that made my cock twitch.

  Blue dashboard lights seemed to brighten with the speed as we surged. Gunny’s rear lights were nothing more than a damn hope. Darkness paved the path for us. Green traffic lights flicked to amber as we thundered…and then the light clicked to red.