by K. A Knight
“Like fucking hell I will!” I yell back and run, sliding across the floor to get to his side as they dive-bomb me too. “I’m not fucking leaving you!” I snarl when I reach him, pressing my back to his as I stab and kick at them. “Not ever again, so get the fuck over it!”
One is crawling towards me, so I kick it in the face, the other creatures circling overhead. He turns and meets my eyes, panting.
“Live or die together, remember?” I rasp.
He smiles before shaking his head, his eyes sad. Tyler knows he’s lost this fight. I won’t leave him, which means we have to win or we all die here. Kalen drops next to me and Fin rushes over, Riggs too, until we create a circle.
All of us share a look, an understanding. It’s our final showdown, us versus them. Either we all make it out, or none of us do. There’s no more walking away, no more hiding or running.
No more.
Michael’s death weighs heavily on me, and the idea of any of my men dying… No. It’s unthinkable. I wouldn’t survive their deaths, even if I got free. So instead, we ready ourselves. Kalen pulls a flare and throws it, Fin does also, lighting the room with a reddish glow as they swoop closer to us.
“Apex predators, bitch!” I scream at the mass approaching us, their talons stretched wide and beaks parted to swallow us whole. Tyler drags me down when they dive, missing us with a squeak as some hit the wall and the others flap to reach the ceiling and circle again.
“What’s the plan?” Kalen snarls. “’Cause standing here and dying doesn’t work for me.” He throws his pick, hits one emerging from the water separating the rocks—which we didn’t notice before—and knocks it back in as blood fills the once dark liquid.
“Move together towards the light,” I snap. “Let’s get the fuck out of here and kill as many as we can on the way.”
One flies right at my face, and Kalen leaps in front of me, stabbing as he does and taking it down into the water. I watch him go, wide-eyed, but I don’t have time to panic as another flies at us. I have to concentrate on keeping it back with my knife. A second later, I hear a quiet gasp, and Kalen breaks through the water and climbs back to us, dripping wet and snarling and covered in blood. His or theirs, I can’t tell.
“Move,” he barks.
Sounds like a good idea to me. Keeping low, we race across the rocks, leaping over sections of water. We move as fast as we can, slipping and ducking and weaving to avoid them, stabbing out to kill as many as we can.
One hits Riggs, taking him down to the rock as he fights it off, trying to protect his throat from its beak. I kick it as hard as I can, sending it sailing away as I reach down and help him up. He’s panting but nods that he’s okay, and hand in hand, we follow after Fin, who’s setting the pace and path towards the light.
Our end goal.
I’m running so fast, I don’t see the dark water, the red glow of the flares barely illuminating it. I leap and miss the ledge, and my foot plunges into the water. Grunting, Riggs pulls me free as Tyler and Kalen watch our backs, but just as my foot leaves the water, claws grab it. My eyes widen, meeting Riggs’ frightened gaze, as I’m jerked from his grip and pulled under. I have a second to take a deep breath as everything goes dark.
The water is almost pitch black with hints of red as I sink farther down. I kick at the claws as it releases me and then spin, turning slowly to try and find the creature responsible as I grip my knife. A slash swipes across my back, and I wince as pain flares through my body. I feel it trying to crawl up my back, so I turn and stab until it lets go again.
The red refracts through the water, giving everything an eerie ambiance as I turn, waiting. If I swim up, it will get me.
Come on, you little fucker, let’s end this.
I see it a moment later, swimming right towards me. I brace, and just as it’s about to reach me, I lift my legs, trap it, and stab downwards again and again. Blood swirls in the churning water, its screech loud, even down here. Bubbles escape it as I stab and hack, and when it finally stills, I let go and watch as it floats away.
Take that, winged bitch.
Looking around, I try to determine which way is up—everything can get so confusing in the dark water—but then I spot the fading flares. Holding the knife tightly, I cut through the water, swimming for the light. I break through the surface with a gasp, accepting an outstretched hand, and then I’m yanked up onto the rock with Kalen, who quickly checks me over. Slicking back my hair, I feel something thicker than water drip down my face, and I notice my hands are pink with watered-down blood, but I ignore it.
Tyler, Kalen, and I work together to push them back far enough to jump the distance again and catch up to Fin and Riggs. Fin waves us on. “It’s a tunnel. We have to crawl through!” he yells over the sound of the screeching.
Just then Tyler shouts, and I turn to see him on the ground with at least eight of the creatures on him as he bucks and fights. Kalen gets there first, stabbing and kicking, but I’m right behind him. I try to get one off his side, but as I pull it, it digs its claws in, ripping his skin. Blood pours from the wound, but Tyler gets to his feet before stumbling. I look at Kalen in panic, knowing he can’t walk like that.
“I can’t carry him!”
“Shit!” he hollers, putting his arm around Tyler and dragging him backwards as I slowly move before them, watching their backs as we go. I panic, wondering how badly he’s hurt, but I can’t check, not until we reach the tunnel. Fin goes through as soon as we’re there, Riggs slips in next, and I look Tyler over as they circle closer. He’s bleeding pretty badly, but he’ll make it.
“It’s going to hurt like a bitch, but you need to crawl, baby!” I yell. He nods and grits his teeth as Kalen starts to lower him to the floor. With each second that ticks away, my heart races faster, and I glance back to check on the monsters.
They are almost on us so I step away, swiping at as many as I can. One knocks the knife from my hand, and I hear Kalen yell my name, and then I see what he’s so terrified of.
There are more streaming into the fucking chamber from every nook and cranny, and I’m still being dive-bombed. I look back to see Tyler on the ground waiting for me.
We don’t stand a chance. They will follow us in there, and Tyler won’t have an opportunity to escape. He’s hurt. I look back to see them. Kalen is determined, and Fin and Riggs are shouting my name, wondering what’s happening. They are through, at least, but I’ve got to give Tyler a head start. Kalen too. If I don’t, we are all dead. They will block that tunnel, and we won’t have room to run or fight.
I can’t let them die here, not when I just found them again. They gave me back my heart, my life. I ruined theirs for so long, they deserve a chance, a chance at a better life.
I meet Kalen’s gaze. He knows. His eyes widen as he reaches out to stop me, but I glare, silently making him promise to save them, to protect them the way I never could.
“Go!” I scream, and then without waiting so they can’t stop me, I run towards the mass, snatching up a pick one of them must have dropped.
I hear them shout, but I trust Kalen to get them out. He’ll come back for me, but he’ll get them out first.
Even though there will be nothing left to come back to.
Chapter Forty-Eight
PEYTON
I hold them back as long as I can, and when I glance away, I get scratched and bit, but I see Kalen making his way through the tunnel. I know he’s planning to get Tyler through then come back for me, but I also know I won’t be alive when he does. More and more spill into the cavern, brought by the scent of blood and the sounds of screams.
I need to protect them.
I turn and sprint to the tunnel, trusting them to handle the ones that already crawled through, and with all my strength, I shove against a rock, rolling it. My muscles strain as I hold back a scream, my teeth clenching as they attack my back, scratching and kicking as I manage to position the boulder at the entrance, blocking it. As soon as it’s done and
they are safe, I drop to the ground and crawl to avoid the monsters as much as I can, trying to find a way out. Just because I stayed behind doesn’t mean I plan on dying. Not if I can help it. I’m not the type to curl into a ball and give up. I’ll fight to my last fucking breath, and if there is no other way…then I’ll take as many as I can with me.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Kalen
I kick at the monsters behind me. My heart is screaming, my head too, telling me to go back, but I have to trust her, and I have to get my brother through. I manage to kill the creatures and push Tyler forward, urging him on. The faster he gets to the other side, the faster I can go back.
We break out into the cave on the other side of the tunnel. Riggs and Fin look past me, searching for her as they call her name, and as soon as Tyler is propped up, I dive back into the tunnel, crawling as fast as I can. I cut my arms, face, legs, and sides on the rock, but I don’t care. Each second that passes is a second I could lose her. I can barely breathe through my panic. I know why she did it, but that doesn’t matter. I won’t be okay until I reach her side. Going back means I’ll probably die with her, but I don’t give a fuck.
I clamber over the creatures’ corpses with my heart in my throat. As I draw closer, I hear her scream, and my heart shatters. With a roar, I leap forward…and hit a wall.
Blinking in surprise, I start pounding my fists against the rock that wasn’t there before. It’s too perfect of a fit for it to have fallen, and it’s blocking off the tunnel from her side. That means she did it. She put it here.
To stop us from coming back.
To stop us from saving her so she could save us.
I stare, wide-eyed, as my heart freezes in my chest. No, no, no!
Not her!
Anyone but her. No, I can’t lose her. I ram my fists into the boulder again and again, splitting open my skin. It’s not working. I turn and use my legs, putting all my strength into each thrust.
“Peyton!” I roar over and over again.
I won’t lose her, I can’t!
She’s the love of my life.
She promised me forever. She doesn’t get to leave me this way.
“Don’t you fucking dare! Do you hear me? You left us once! Never again! Get your ass over here, baby, and move this rock. Don’t you dare fucking do this to us, you selfish fucking bitch! Fuck, Peyton!” I breathe heavily, panicking as tears form in my eyes. “Baby,” I whisper. “Baby, please, don’t do this.” A sob racks my chest as I continue to kick, my vision becoming blurry. “Please don’t fucking leave me. I can’t do this without you. I can’t live without you. You’re my whole fucking world. Please, baby, move the rock, that’s all you gotta do, I’ll do the rest. Come on, baby, please!” I beg, the words flowing continuously. “I love you so much, I can’t lose you again, please! I can save you, let me save you.” I choke, the entreaties feeling like splinters against my already raw throat.
Never in all my life have I felt such terror.
I thought watching her walk away was bad.
I thought living without her was hard.
I thought seeing her again would wreck me.
I thought handing her my heart again was scary.
Those things have nothing on this moment. With each second that passes, the chance of me getting to her diminishes. Then it all quiets past the rock. No creatures…no Peyton.
I stare, wide-eyed, as motionless as a statue.
“Baby?” I whisper softly. “Baby, talk to me.”
“Kalen, what’s going on?” I hear the others shouting. “Fuck, they’re trying to come through the walls. Kalen, bring her back, we gotta go!”
I turn to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I want to stay right here, in the dark, waiting for her to save me again. But they need me, and I promised her.
So even though turning away makes me gag, I force my hands and feet to move as I crawl out of the tunnel. I stand and meet their worried eyes as they glance past me. Even Tyler struggles to his feet, his face pale as he watches me, his brow furrowed.
“She’s gone,” I rasp. “She blocked the tunnel. I can’t get through. I heard her—Fuck!”
“There has to be a way back, we can find one!” Riggs snaps.
“Yeah, yeah, we gotta.” Fin starts running around, searching for a way to get to her, but I just stare at Tyler. We know there isn’t, and we know the likelihood of her still being alive is extremely low.
As I observe my brothers, my heart shatters. The broken, dark pieces of the organ she put back together and breathed life into.
All I can think is one thought—I failed her. She deserves more than to die alone.
Peyton Andrews deserved the world and then more. She lived exploring the darkest, farthest reaches of this earth, exploring the unknown, loving those too hardened to love, and saving those who needed it.
She left us again.
TYLER
“No,” I whisper, staring at my brother’s stricken face. He looks broken, more so than after the war, more so than after she left us.
He looks…hopeless.
“No,” I repeat louder, even as my brain latches onto the fact she’s gone. If even Kalen has no hope…
“No!” I scream and hobble towards him. He lets me come and doesn’t even try to stop me as I slam my fists into his chest. He takes it stoically with tears streaming down his face. Kalen thinks he deserves it, he’s blaming himself, tearing himself down.
I know he thinks he lost the woman he loved, but I can’t stop. I can’t. “No!” I howl, and he finally wraps his arms around me as I start to fall from my wound. He holds me up as I press my face against his chest and sob.
My heart cracks with the force of my pain, and I’m unable to catch my breath without her. The ring around my neck burns against my skin. It belongs to her, just like I do. Always. I can’t lose her.
I can’t.
I sob harder as he helps me down, rocking me back and forth as he cries too. Her name is on both of our lips and stamped across our hearts. Our love for her is deeper than any ocean, any cave.
Fin and Riggs keep searching until I hear them start to cry, realising there is no way. Their arms wrap around us, and we huddle together, sniffing, sobbing…broken.
Unable to move. Unable to think.
We’re shattered messes without our heart.
Without our girl.
We hear the creatures coming for us then.
Let them kill us. At least in the next life, I will be with my love again.
Chapter Fifty
PEYTON
I manage to rush away from the rock, trying to lead the creatures away, but one hits me from behind, sending me sprawling into the water. I sink under the surface as they dive in, chasing me. The water churns around us as they attack, but I twist and swim away, hardly able to see.
Some latch onto my legs as I paddle up and up and up, hitting a rock as I surface.
I grab onto the rough edge, kick at the creatures clinging to my legs, and finally dislodge them. I drag myself from the water, gasping for air as I heave myself onto the slippery ledge, smacking something sharp and solid with my left hand.
Then they grab me again.
I don’t scream as I’m ripped back under, no, I take a deep breath and clutch the object. I take it with me, seeing it before I’m pulled down… It’s the sharp end of a bone.
I sink lower and lower, being attacked from every angle. My blood pollutes the water as I stab and slash, refusing to give up. I use every ounce of strength and energy I have. If I can, I’m getting back to my men, and if I can’t, I’m taking as many of these fuckers with me as possible. One grabs onto my hair, nearly making me scream as it rips out strands, yanking me with it.
It’s swimming up.
Fuck.
We break the surface, and its wings flap, lifting us into the air. We rise higher and higher as I twist, reaching up to grip its taloned foot to reduce the pain as tears stream down my face. Others circl
e us, screeching, as it flies across the cavern, heading for a large patch of rock filled with skeletons. My arm with the bone dangles in the air, and I grip it tighter, despite my fatigue and pain.
Fuck that.
I swing my weapon up, screaming as loud as I can, and I manage to pierce its leg. It releases me immediately as it careens through the air, only we aren’t over the rock yet, so I plunge into a different section of water, sinking…
Down I go.
My eyes flare wide as I look for another monster, preparing for an attack.
As I search, my gaze catches on a dark hole, a possible cave entrance with a water current filtering through it. Fuck this. Uncaring about the noise, I swim down as hard as I can. My lungs hurt and my body aches, and black dots my vision from blood loss, exhaustion, or lack of air, I don’t know which, but I keep going. My complete focus is on that dark fucking entrance. I swim until I get near it…
And then I’m sucked inside.
I don’t know how much later I wake up, but I’m alive…I think.
I’m floating in a pool of shallow water with my arms to the sides, my legs spread, and my hair floating behind me. The ceiling has speckles of light across it, and the soft splash of the water entering the room is loud as I’m pushed and pulled across the cavern.
I need to move, to find a way out, a way back to them, but I’m so tired.
My body hurts so badly, and black still spots my vision, letting me know I’m more injured than I thought. Moving will be agony, surviving even worse. I look down as far as I can to see my blood clouding the water around me, making me wince as I lay my head back down, trying to gather my strength.