“Declan?” Willow gasped.
“I’m fine; keep going.”
She knew he wasn’t fine as the scent of his blood permeated the air, but she didn’t try to look back as the bullets whizzing past her head struck the buildings. A large chunk of a brick cut her in the cheek, a trickle of warmth tickled her flesh as it ran down her cheek. Over the booms of the guns firing, shouts sounded in the distance as the Savages alerted their brethren to their presence.
From the corner of his eye, a Savage emerged from a building across the street and sprinted toward them. “Keep going,” he hissed at Willow when she started to turn toward it.
Willow’s instincts told her to face the approaching enemy; she didn’t run from a fight, but she pushed herself faster. The footsteps slapping against asphalt grew closer as the Savage’s stench permeated the air.
Declan waited until the Savage was almost on them before spinning toward it. He glimpsed red eyes as he grasped the Savage, lifted it over his head, and threw it into the brick building beside him.
He didn’t have time to finish the prick, and as headlights raced toward him, he turned and sprinted after Willow.
CHAPTER 41
A split second before the truck would have hit them, Declan grasped Willow’s arms and lifted her off the ground as he leapt up. Crushing her against his chest, he cradled her protectively as he landed on his back on the hood.
He pulled his legs up, and she jerked her legs into her chest a second before the truck crashed into a building. Metal screeched in protest as it bent and crumpled; smoke coiled out from the sides of the ruined hood as the engine made a strange clattering, roaring sound.
The impact jarred every bone in her body, and her teeth clacked together so hard, she was sure some of them cracked. Declan’s arms constricted around her. The hood had crumpled like an accordion, and she was sure his back was either against the windshield or inside it.
Chunks of brick broke free from the top of the building. They thudded off the hood and sidewalk; she bit back a yelp when one smashed onto her shin. It was bad enough when she hit her leg on something, having a brick land on it was like taking a nail and driving it into her bone.
Then, an ominous groan filled the air. Willow’s blood ran cold as she forgot all about her brutalized shin and lifted her gaze to the wall hovering precariously above them. The truck’s impact had knocked the lower half of the wall out from underneath it. And now, gravity was doing its thing.
Before the wall collapsed on top of them, Declan rolled to the side with her. When they hit the ground, she was on the bottom. Asphalt embedded in her knees and palms when they smacked off the pavement, but she scrambled to her feet.
Declan kept one arm around her waist as they staggered forward. A brick caught the back of his boot, tripping him as more tumbled around them. Pulling her forward, Declan shoved Willow ahead of him as the rest of the wall gave way and crashed around them.
The bricks crashing against his heels and knees shoved him to the ground. He managed to get one leg free, but the other remained buried beneath a pile of rubble. Cursing, he grasped his trapped leg and yanked as he twisted over and strained to pull himself free.
“Declan,” Willow breathed as she fell beside him.
Her blood dripped onto the bricks as her skin tore, but she clawed and yanked at them with a frenzy she’d never experienced before. He was trapped, and they were coming!
Feet slapped against the pavement as the driver’s side door of the truck creaked open. She watched as legs swung out of the vehicle; arms rose in the air as the bastard stretched leisurely. Her lips skimmed back to reveal her fangs as the fucker strolled around the back of the truck.
“Run,” Declan said and pushed at her hands.
“Not without you.”
“They can’t catch us both.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
Grasping Declan under his shoulders, she braced her feet against the ground and yanked with all her might. He kicked at the bricks with his free leg, and they gave an inch but no more. Gritting her teeth, Willow closed her eyes, braced her feet, and pulled.
She gasped when the building released its hold on him. Stumbling back, she dragged Declan with her until she tripped over another brick and fell on her ass. Declan fell on top of her, but he was already pulling from her arms as he turned to the side. He grasped her arm and lifted her as he rose before her.
Taking her hand, he pulled her toward the back of the still running truck as the Savage who hit them rounded the bed of the vehicle. The white-blue eyes of a turned hunter met Willow’s gaze before the asshole smiled at her.
“You,” Willow whispered.
It was the same hunter turned Savage she’d seen in the woods before she went over the waterfall. He was the asshole who tracked them here; she did not doubt it. Something about the hunter’s smug smile unnerved Willow more than all the other Savages closing in on them; he was too confident.
Declan pulled Willow back a few feet, seized the passenger side door of the truck, and tore it from its hinges. Spinning back to the turned hunter, he whipped the door at his head before shoving Willow into the vehicle. The hunter ducked the door as Willow scrambled across the bench seat toward the open driver’s side door.
When the hunter’s eyes returned to him, Declan sensed the emotions churning beneath his surface. Rage, hatred, and cruelty festered inside the man like lava inside a volcano preparing to erupt.
And this was not the natural cruelty of the Savages; this was the cruelty of someone who relished watching others suffer. Declan itched to destroy him, but there were too many Savages descending on them, and he had to get Willow out of here.
He dove inside the truck and across the bench seat before leaping out the other side. He pulled one of his swords free before claiming Willow’s hand and running. The hunter and Savages followed as they sprinted toward the woods only a hundred feet away.
He nudged Willow in front of him, but the gunshots had stopped. There was no reason to keep shooting at them when the Savages were almost on them. And then, something pierced through his back and erupted out of his chest. The pain burning through his body set his veins on fire as his gaze fell to the wooden shaft jutting out of him.
No, no, no, no, no!
Blood pooled in his mouth and rolled down his chin. When his eyes settled on Willow, a different pain bloomed inside him. If he didn’t survive this, she wouldn’t either. He couldn’t let her die in this town. They were supposed to have a future, a life, and happiness, and he was going to love her for eternity.
But even as he thought it, more blood spilled from his mouth, his step faltered, and the sword clattered against the sidewalk as it slipped from his hand.
CHAPTER 42
Willow was almost to the woods when she realized Declan wasn’t behind her anymore. Spinning, her heart lurched into her throat when she spotted him ten feet behind her. His knuckles rested on the sidewalk as he knelt there. The blood trickling from the corner of his mouth plopped onto the sidewalk, and when he hunched forward, she saw the bolt going through his back.
“No!”
She hadn’t meant for it to happen, but the word came out as a ferocious battle cry as she sprinted toward him. When Declan lifted his head, his red eyes met hers, and he shook his head as she fell to her knees beside him.
Her hands trembled as she rested them against his shoulder and leaned forward to inspect the bolt. Her heartbeat was a rapid staccato in her chest, and a coppery tang filled her mouth as it went dry.
Slow. Time was so slow yet so fast as it continued relentlessly onward. She’d give anything to turn back time for a few seconds, just a few measly seconds. It wasn’t so much to ask. It was only a moment of her life to have back so she could push him out of the way, warn him, save him.
Not through his heart. Please don’t let it be through his heart! But as her hands flitted around the edge of the bolt, she couldn’t see how it missed his heart. Not a direct hit
. He’d be dead if it was.
But it was enough of a hit that he was weakening as he lost blood. She slid her arm under his to lift him and carry him out of here, but it was already too late. She wouldn’t make it a foot before the Savages descended on them like a pack of wild jackals.
“Run,” Declan commanded.
Willow didn’t listen as she released him. “I’m sorry,” she said before she grasped the bolt and yanked it free.
Declan grunted as the wood tore from his flesh; his fingers spasmed on the pavement, and he coughed up a clot of blood that broke free of his lungs. He coughed out more blood as his body heaved and shuddered.
Willow kept her hand on Declan’s back as she removed a stake from inside her jacket. She didn’t know if he would survive, but if he died, then she would take as many of these assholes with her as possible before following him.
And then the Savages were on top of them.
Willow caught the first one that leapt at her and threw it aside. She backhanded the second away from her and spun to plunge her stake into the heart of the third. A fourth one hit her with the force of a charging bull.
Thrown backward by the impact, Willow somehow managed to land on her feet as another one came in low and wrapped its arms around her waist. Willow plunged her stake through its back and straight through its heart.
Yanking the weapon free, she twisted out of the arms of the dying creature as it slid down her legs to hit the ground. Fighting through the rush of monsters pouring around her, Willow shoved against them as she tried to get back to where Declan was struggling to his feet.
The hands grasping at her tore the sleeve of her jacket and yanked out a clump of her hair as she staked another. She lost sight of Declan when they swarmed her like a nest of pissed-off yellow jackets. As she removed her stake from her newest victim, another Savage delivered a bone-crushing blow to the side of her face.
Staggered by the punch, she stumbled sideways as a ringing sounded in her head. From the corner of her eye, she saw the swelling already forming on what she was positive was a broken cheekbone.
Ducking the next punch, she used her growing hatred for these things and her concern for Declan to fuel her as she slammed her hand into the Savage’s chest. The vamp’s eyes widened when she gripped his heart and tore it free. Before she could release the still-beating organ, three more Savages pounced on her.
When they drove her to her knees, the heart fell from her fingertips as she lunged at the legs of one of them. Encircling her arms around its calves, she yanked the creature off its feet. Another one grabbed her from behind; its hand tangled in her hair and ripped her backward. Willow bit back a scream as she tore at the fingers holding her and kicked at the group closing in on her.
She searched for Declan through the mass of monsters, but she still didn’t see him in the chaos. Please let him be okay.
Through the bond connecting them, she sought his mind and came up against a wall of nothing. Did that mean he was dead?
She didn’t realize the animalistic sounds filling her ears were coming from her as she snapped, kicked, and clawed at the Savages while an inward unraveling pushed her toward the brink of madness. She’d make them pay for touching him by tearing them apart. When she finished, she’d hunt down the demons and offer the mutilated bodies of their cohorts to them before killing them too.
Even if they hadn’t killed him, they’d hurt him, and she would make sure they paid for it. Tears stung her eyes as the Savage yanked on her hair. Twisting in his grasp, she ignored the hair he tore from her skull as she swung upward and plunged her stake up through his groin.
As he screamed, she yanked the stake free and sank it into his thigh; she ripped downward. Blood poured from the Savage’s shredded flesh as he released her and staggered back.
Feeling like a Savage herself, Willow bared her fangs at the Savage, who turned and limped away from her. She didn’t blame the creature for running; she was remorseless in her determination to find Declan. Even if he was dead, she had to touch him one more time.
Then, the sea of monsters parted, and she glimpsed Declan fighting off the group of Savages encircling him. If she wasn’t so determined to kill every one of them, she would have cried with relief. He was alive, and despite the blood soaking his shirt, he was fighting.
His eyes were like the fires of hell as he tore the head off one Savage and used it to bash in the skull of the next. When Willow tried to reach out to him again, she encountered the wall once more.
She knew mates could shut each other out, but she didn’t understand why he would do it now. However, it didn’t matter; she had to focus on getting out of this mess. She could ask him about it when they were free of this place.
Willow yanked the foot out from under one of the Savages and used his leg to kick another one who lunged for her. She staggered to her feet as hands clasped her arms. She jerked against their grasping touch, threw punches, and kicked at them, but they kept coming.
They succeeded in gripping her arms and holding them straight out from her sides, and they managed to avoid her feet as she kicked at them. Then they twisted her arms forward until something popped in her shoulders, and they pushed her to her knees.
Panting and irate, Willow continued to thrash against them as the hunter driving the truck strode through the crowd. The Savages all stepped back to let him through like he was Moses parting the Red Sea.
And he was coming for her.
Declan couldn’t think beyond the fury pulsating through him. When he saw one of them hit Willow in the face, the rage that exploded through him enabled him to get to his feet. Every beat of his heart caused more blood to ooze from the hole in the center of his chest. The bolt must have nicked an artery.
It was the closest he’d ever come to death, but his fear for Willow and her blood in his veins healed him faster than ever before—as did the emotions swirling around him. The intensity of the Savage’s bloodlust and hatred slipped beneath his skin and battered the walls he’d built around his empathic ability.
But it was Willow’s terror and determination that affected him the most as it flooded his system and increased his desperation to get to her and keep her safe. The emotions were pushing him toward a precipice he’d never experienced before.
And this time, instead of resisting, he relinquished his control over the demon part of him and his ability. Killing anything standing between him and Willow became his main focus as the power pulsing through his veins caused his muscles to swell while his body worked to repair itself.
This was the something more he’d always sensed about his ability. This fueling of his powers that made him capable of doing things he could never do before, like healing a heart injury in minutes instead of hours or days.
While he welcomed this release if it meant saving her, he also feared he might not return from it. Through the crowd surrounding him, he spotted Willow as the Savages succeeded in pushing her to her knees.
He bellowed as he shoved Savages out of his way, but a stake to the back of his knee knocked him to the ground. With a snarl, he tore the weapon free. Rising, he turned and plunged it under the chin of a Savage coming at him.
When he looked to Willow again, he spotted the hunter from the truck approaching her. Staggering to his feet, Declan gripped the shoulder of a Savage and used it to pull himself forward.
Willow lurched forward and nearly succeeded in breaking free of the hands grasping her before they yanked her back. She didn’t see the knee coming at her face until it smashed into her nose.
She instinctively tried to grasp her broken nose as blood gushed from it, but it was pointless. Feeling as if someone had taken knives and jammed them into her cheekbones and nose, Willow blinked away the involuntary tears filling her eyes.
She bit back a startled cry, refusing to give these pricks the satisfaction of hearing it when they tore her jacket off and threw it aside. There went all her weapons.
Through the crowd, she saw some
one hit Declan in the back with the door he’d torn free of the truck and thrown at the hunter. When he tried to rise, the Savage lifted the door over its head and bashed it off the back of Declan’s head. He collapsed onto the sidewalk.
CHAPTER 43
Willow had refused to cry out for herself, but now it tore free from her, and she lurched toward him. The hands on her arms and shoulders yanked her back as the hunter stopped in front of her.
She didn’t look at him as she craned her head to see around him. Savages blocked her view, but she caught a glimpse of Declan lying on the ground. She found it increasingly difficult to breathe as terror constricted her chest and blood clogged her nose.
Kneeling before her, the hunter clasped her chin and jerked it toward him. Willow bared her fangs at the piece of shit. The turned hunter examined her with a coldness that caused her skin to ice over.
They’d succeeded in turning him Savage, but something about the man told her it wasn’t a difficult task. Her skin crawled when his thumb stroked her cheek. When she got the chance, she would make him pay for this.
“Under normal conditions, you are quite lovely,” he murmured.
“Leave her alone!” Declan roared. “Let her go and take me.”
The hunter turned away from her, and the Savages standing behind him parted until she had a clear view of Declan again. He lay on the ground with his hands pinned behind his back while eight Savages knelt on top of him.
The black and red color originally in the corners of his eyes now encompassed his face, neck, and what she could see of his skin. It made his eyes shine brighter as violence oozed from him. If he broke free, he’d destroy them all… and possibly himself.
“We already have you,” the hunter purred.
“I’ll leave here without a fight,” Declan said.
Bound by Torment (The Alliance, Book 5) Page 22