by Tijan
“We have to wait.” But as Roane said it, he knew they wouldn’t.
He smelled the wolves’ blood thirst. It was intoxicating, even to himself. It was bringing the Hunter in him alive again, the Hunter that he thought was long gone. Even now, as Christian started to speak, Roane wasn’t paying attention. The Hunter mark on him started to burn. It was awakening and he closed his eyes. He needed to allow it to return. He had been stripped of his Hunter privilege, but for a reason unknown to him, it was being returned to him. He was no longer only powerful because of Davy’s blood, but because of his ancestry.
“. . . We have no choice,” Christian was saying.
Pippa added, “We have to go.”
Roane didn’t look at her. He hadn’t paid attention to the wolf that was Davy’s friend. It hurt too much, remembering the times when Davy fought for this one, proclaimed she was friend and not foe. That had been when Davy was safe, not like now. She’d been gone for so long . . .
Wren stepped next to him. “The witch is gone, but we’ll fight with you.” She glanced to Roane, then back to Christian. “It’s why we all came here.”
“It’s not time.” Roane shook his head, but he knew it was pointless. They were going. They had waited too long.
“It’s time, Lucas Roane, Hunter of the Hunters’ bloodline.” Christian spoke to him, but he wasn’t paying attention anymore. His gaze was directed beyond Roane’s shoulder and he turned to see all of the wolves there. They were waiting. Then, one by one, they began to change into their wolf form. When they were all done, they turned as one and formed a line. Two by two, they began to leave. Roane stepped back with Bastion and Wren. As they watched, Christian and Pippa transformed as well and followed their bloodline.
They were going to war.
Wren said, when they left, “It’s not enough. They’ll all die.”
Roane asked Bastion, “You sent your man?”
Bastion nodded. “I did.”
“Would he have had time?”
“I don’t know. I . . .” Bastion took a breath, hesitation on his face, but it cleared. He was the fastest of Roane’s men. “I could go, if you want me to.”
“What?” Wren’s head whipped around. “You are not thinking what I think you’re thinking. You are not leaving . . . are you?”
“I can go. He would be there by now, but coming back—”
They needed help. Roane realized that as soon as he saw how many Benshire wolves and Romah vampires there were. He had his own men, and he sensed them now. They heard the exchange. They knew the wolves were heading out, but they were waiting for their own leader. Roane didn’t want to send his men to fight. They would die. There were too many Romah vampires. They were older, and they had magic. Davy was their ace in the sleeve, but they couldn’t get to her.
“Roane.”
He glanced down to the ground. Wren spoke his name, standing beside him, and he knew why. He felt his men. They had come, standing not far, and he knew why they were there. It was the same reason they came on this journey with him. It was time to fight. It was that simple. The wolves, who had come to be their ally, were going. They would go to their deaths. They didn’t have Davy, but he couldn’t put it off any longer.
It was time.
He turned around. Wren turned with him. Bastion was on his other side. It was too late. If he sent Bastion, he wouldn’t get back in time. No matter what, the war was here and it had already started.
He spoke quietly, but every vampire heard him as he said, “We came to fight.”
The excitement and adrenaline filled the air. Each vampire was on high alert.
Wren said, “We’re ready.”
Roane nodded. “Then we fight.”
He turned and led his men to join the Christane wolves. So be it who fell and who lived at the end.
DAVY
She could feel the Mori. She knew exactly where they were, even the little babies in the mothers’ wombs, and she walked toward them. Her feet glided soundlessly over the forest as she kept moving forward. Davy walked and walked. She wasn’t aware of the time, the weather, even where she was. She could’ve been walking on a cliff’s edge and she would’ve kept going.
Everything was tuned out, except for the Mori.
The Mori meant more magic, more power. And as she kept going, she moved with a serene and ethereal quality to her. Gavin, Gregory, and Tracey followed behind. They were no longer guarding her. They were merely trailing now. It was as if they didn’t exist, and more than once the three vampires shared a worried look. This was a Davy that they didn’t know, and while the humans didn’t know the old carefree Davy, they reacted on a primal level to this new Davy as well. They were silent and had grown pale. Their bodies started to tremble from the exertion they were being put through. Showers erupted in the sky and drenched their group. The two humans shivered. They accepted blankets that the vampires offered, but when Cal’s teeth’s chattering overpowered the sound of his own heartbeat, Gavin knew they had to stop.
“Davy.” He reached for her. “We have to stop.”
A part of him felt she wouldn’t, but when she did, he was surprised. Some hope sparked in him. His senses were telling him she wasn’t human anymore, had slowly been transitioning in that direction, but since killing the Mori, he could see The Immortal’s power over her. As he stared at her, he could only see small traces of the old Davy.
Her chocolate almond eyes, that usually danced and laughed, were dead. There was no life in them anymore. Her cheeks, that would pink and plump up whenever she would grin at something Lucas said or if she was caught staring at Gavin’s best friend, they barely moved. The color was gone. A white, almost tranquil, glimmer had formed over her skin.
“Why?”
She asked that one word, but instead of the impatience or even understanding that the old Davy would have, she sounded careless. It was like she was curious, as if the idea of exhaustion was a new concept to her.
He gritted his teeth and tried to quell his anger.
Davy’s eyes sharpened. Her head tilted to the side and the age-old hierarchy was switched. He was no longer the predator that every vampire was to a human. He was her prey. Gavin knew it, and Davy knew it. A faint grin teased at the corner of her mouth, but it only remained a faint glimmer. Her eyes remained cold and soulless.
He shifted to the back of his heel. “The humans need to rest.”
Davy stepped aside so she could see Cal and Spencer. As her dead gaze left him, Gavin could breathe. He’d been under her attention, which was a spell in itself now. He had to do something. This couldn’t continue. She would be gone and the allegiance he owed his best friend, to watch over his lover wouldn’t be upheld. He would be letting Lucas down. He couldn’t do that. As Davy continued to study the humans, Gavin cast a quick look at Tracey and Gregory. He saw similar unsettled looks in their faces.
“You are too tired?” Davy asked Cal and Spencer.
Neither answered. They glanced behind them, tucking their hands against their sides. Their shoulders hunched down, like they were trying to make themselves seem smaller. They wanted to run from her.
Davy’s eyes narrowed. “You are not too tired? Why are you not answering me?”
Gavin cleared his throat. His hand went to his sword, but he only gripped the handle. He didn’t pull it out. “Davy, this is enough.”
She looked back. He braced himself, knowing how her gaze now felt, and as it settled on him, he felt all his breath being stolen. It was being drawn out of him, slowly, and at a torturous rate. Her eyes fell to his sword and though there was no reaction on her face, he felt her attention sharpen.
She asked, “You would use that on me?”
“Davy . . .” He wavered, but he had to address the problem. “You’re different. You’re almost unrecognizable.”
He searched her face, but nothing. There was no response. There wasn’t even anger. Just . . . nothing. Her face remained flat as she asked, “How so?”
“Bat shit crazy,” Spencer supplied, moving forward.
Cal snorted behind him. “Ditto on that. I used to think she was hot.”
“Yeah.” Spencer said over his shoulder to him, “If you’re into Terminator Dominatrix.”
Davy was quiet, but she asked, “I’m like a robot?”
“No.” Cal and Spencer started to talk at the same time. Gavin threw both a look. “Shut up.”
They did.
He turned back to Davy and held a hand out toward her. “Davy, this isn’t you. This is The Immortal taking over you. It’s happening. What you didn’t want to happen, losing yourself to her, it’s happening. You’re losing your humanity.”
He waited, almost hoping for a murderous reaction from her.
“My humanity?”
He closed his eyes. She was gone. That one question was spoken as if she’d been asked the weather. There was nothing left. He saw that now. His anger buried deep in him, but alongside it was an anchor, pulling it low and helping to drive it further inside of him. She was gone. He had let Lucas down.
He cast a sideways look to Tracey and Gregory. A deep sadness clung to both.
She was gone.
“Davy—” Gavin cleared his throat.
“The humans are tired. That’s what you’re saying.”
She didn’t get it. So much more happened here than just those few words, but he nodded. He felt a heavy weight on his shoulder, heavier than he ever remembered experiencing before. He murmured, so softly, “Yes, Davy. They’re tired. They can’t keep up with you.”
“Then stay here with them.” She angled her head to the side again. “Or kill them.”
“Dude!” Spencer cried out. “What the fuck?”
Cal groaned. “Why do I get the feeling this isn’t going to end well?”
Davy started toward them. “If you cannot keep up, you’re no longer useful. I can relieve your pain right now.” Her hand stretched out, a single finger pointing toward them.
Both jumped back. Their hands came up, and they were shaking their heads. Their arms began waving back and forth in front of them.
“No, no.”
“That’s okay. Thanks, though.”
Spencer added, “We’re good.” He coughed, hitting his chest. “We can keep going. No problem here.”
“Pretend we’re not human.”
The anchor stopped. It was all the way to the bottom of his feet, but Gavin knew what had to be done. He let go of the sword. He couldn’t plunge it into Davy. He couldn’t do that, not yet anyway, but she had to be handled. She stepped toward the humans and he moved behind her.
Spencer gave her a thumbs-up sign. “Really. We’re good. We’ll march all night.”
Cal nodded, his eyes gleaming from fear. “Yep. Me, too. All night.”
Davy shook her head. She said quietly, “No. I can help you. You’re human. I remember what that feels like. So much pain. So much misery. You feel worthless half the time and then struggle to even feel that much the other half. It’s a disease.”
“Oh God.” Spencer gulped. He backed away as Davy advanced. Cal was right with him. “Really. I like my humanity.”
Cal jerked his head up and down. “Me, too. Lots of pain. I live for that shit.”
“No, you don’t.” Davy let out a sigh. Sympathy laced it. “You were high when I met you. Both of you. You sought other planes of consciousness. No one does that if they’re happy. They seek to escape life. They seek to distract themselves. It’s why you went on your study abroad in the first place. I felt your reasons, in both of you. You wanted to get out of your home. You wanted to travel, seek new and exciting places to be. You were searching for yourself. That’s what you were doing. No, no.” She stopped in front of them. As they cowered, she seemed to grow in size. She didn’t move, but she was suddenly looming over them.
Gavin kept with her, moving as she did. She couldn’t know he was right behind her. He moved as silent as she did.
She paused, gazing at the humans for another second. “I used to want what you have. I wanted to cling to my humanity desperately, but I was wrong. It’s so much more freeing this way. There’s no sadness, no regret. You’ll see what I’m talking about. The others know. They understand.”
Spencer and Cal shrunk down. “Come on, Davy. Can we—please no . . .”
Spencer didn’t say a word. He saw what was coming and clasped his eyes shut. Sucking in a breath, he started to envision somewhere else, somewhere safe. He hoped to be there whenever this psycho bitch did whatever she was going to do.
Davy lifted her arms up. She closed her eyes, too, and started to say the words.
And Gavin moved.
His hands grasped both sides of her face, and as she stiffened in reflex, he snapped her neck. He let her fall. He didn’t catch her. This wasn’t a normal being. Another vampire and he knew they would have a few hours before they woke. This was Davy. She was something entirely else, and he had no idea how long she’d be out.
He turned to Tracey and Gregory, saying, “We have to go. Now.”
They both nodded, and in the blink of an eye, the vampires were gone. They snatched the humans with them.
Davy’s body was left on the ground.
Davy’s eyes snapped open, but she didn’t move from the ground. She remained there, staring at the sky, as she realized what happened.
“Well.” The Immortal sat next to her, her legs crisscrossed. “I can’t say that I didn’t think this was going to happen.”
Davy turned her head to the side. She knew only she could see The Immortal, dressed just as herself, but she didn’t care. In fact, as she remembered Gavin snapping her neck and the others were gone now, she didn’t care about that either.
In fact, she didn’t care to comment back to The Immortal so she remained there and looked back to the sky.
She used to care . . .
Why had she cared . . . What had she cared about?
It was nagging her, in the back of her mind, but she couldn’t remember. Humanity. That was what she had been talking to the humans about when Gavin broke her neck. Was that what it was? Was that what was missing from her now?
“I’m dead,” she spoke out loud, as much to herself as to The Immortal.
“Yep.” The Immortal sighed, sounding impatient. “You are. Welcome to the official world of Immortality.”
“My human body is dead.”
“And you’re still here. Still talking. Still breathing, well—” The Immortal leaned over and pressed her ear to Davy’s chest. She paused, then straightened back up. “—you don’t need breath anymore, but you’re still breathing because that’s what is natural to your body.”
“Like vampires.”
“I guess.” The Immortal let out another sharp sigh, glancing around. “I think we should get going. The Mori aren’t far now. We can get there before nightfall.”
Yes. That was what Davy had been thinking about—the Mori. She needed to get there. She needed to take their magic. She wanted their power too. That was all she’d been focused on before, but now, she had a moment to rethink. Her neck being snapped wasn’t something to be taken lightly. This was important. It meant something important . . . or it should.
Davy moved her head, her eyes finding The Immortal again.
She was just like herself. Her brown hair was longer. Her dark eyes were watching her back, but while Davy felt shut off inside, The Immortal’s eyes had a glimmer of rage, impatience, and thirst. She wanted more. She needed more. She was going to demand more. Davy was separate from The Immortal right now. Before they had been walking side by side. Their hands had grazed each other’s. Davy knew the others couldn’t see The Immortal, but she was among them as much as they were. But there was distance between
herself and The Immortal right now. Davy could think for herself . . . or so she thought.
She mused to herself, “What if I stayed here?”
“That’s a joke, right?”
Davy shook her head. The sky was clear, but some stars were starting to show. It’d be dark in a few hours. She could do it. She could stay there. She could watch the rest of the stars appear and she could wait, do whatever she wanted. The Mori weren’t leaving. No one was going anywhere. She could do as Gavin had requested for the humans. She could rest—that was what she would’ve done before.
She had been human before.
She would’ve needed to sleep as well, just like Cal and Spencer.
Davy frowned, marring the lines on her forehead. She brought them to her for the very reason she just tried to kill them for. Humanity. Weakness. Emotions. She had been trying to hold onto it, but it was gone.
She knew that now.
Inside was nothing. She felt nothing. She knew that when she would stand and resume her journey for the Mori, The Immortal would walk with her. She would become infected with The Immortal’s wishes once again. Hunger. Need. Thirst. That was all The Immortal wanted, but Davy needed to remember what had guided her before all of this.
She was losing herself, and she was in a place right now where she needed to remember who she used to be. Who she used to be was vital. Davy knew that and she closed her eyes, trying to dig deep into herself. She needed to find that girl once more.
“We need to go.”
“No.” Davy kept searching. Somehow she had switched placed with The Immortal. The human she used to be was locked away . . . Where had she gone? “I think I’ll rest.”
“Why? You don’t need to rest. You’re not a weakling anymore. You’re not controlled by the same needs as them.”
The Immortal was getting riled up. Davy almost smiled, but she masked her amusement.
“Davy!”
“No.” Davy shook her head. “I’m going to stay a moment. I’d like to pretend I’m normal again.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.” She was honest. “But I feel it’s important, so that’s what I’m going to do.” She rolled her head to the side. If steam could’ve left The Immortal’s head, an entire cloud of it would’ve exploded from her. Her cheeks puffed out and her lips pursed together, she was about to argue, but Davy held up a hand. She motioned it to the side and because she willed it, The Immortal’s neck was snapped.