by G. K. DeRosa
Neither of us spoke until the first rays of sunlight seeped through the thick copse of trees. The sun meant the vampires were gone, and we could finally return to camp, or what was left of it. I’d cradled her against my chest and carried her the whole way back.
And what we found, was the stuff of nightmares.
Shaking my head out, I loosed the dark images from my mind, returning them to their home in the depths of my subconscious. Those pictures would never fade, but I could keep them locked up tight.
As I walked toward the cot, I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror. I jumped back, the hair on my arms shooting up. Pressing my hand to my chest, I willed my heartbeats to slow as I took in the stranger in the mirror. Vera had done a phenomenal job. My brilliant red hair had vanished, replaced by a short blonde bob, my green eyes were now blue and more importantly, my entire face had changed. My long straight nose was replaced by a cute button one and my cheeks were fuller, face rounder all together. No one would ever recognize me. Would Ransom?
The errant thought whizzed through my mind. If the cloak covered my scent, how would he know it was me?
I reached for bardy, strapped to my back and unleashed my favorite weapon. He’d recognize this for sure.
The crackle of dry leaves sent my heart leaping up my throat. I moved to the doorway and peeled back the flap a sliver. My eyes darted across the darkness, squinting to make out the muddled details through the thick mass of trees.
Electricity buzzed through my veins, ramping up my pulse like a mystical defibrillator. Ransom. They were here. Drawing in a steadying breath, I sought the calm before the storm. The clarity that always came before all hell broke loose.
The footsteps grew louder, growls and snarls echoing in the silence. My fingers tightened around bardy. “Get ready, buddy,” I whispered. Ransom had warned me to wait, to let the serviles wander through the camp before making my move, but I couldn’t. I wouldn’t let those monsters claim one life tonight.
I held my breath as the dark shadows danced across the tent, the fangers’ silhouettes highlighted by the flickering flames of the bonfire. Ten. I’d give Ransom ten seconds to take Dinah out before I unleashed bardy.
Ten. Nine. Muffled noises flitted across the camp as the tigers began to “wake”. I clenched my teeth, fear racing through my core for their safety. I had to get out there. I couldn’t wait any longer.
Five. Four.
A scream shot out through the stillness, sending goosebumps racing down my arms.
Fang this.
I whipped the flap open and raced into the night. Serviles spilled into the camp, their lumbering bodies searching the tents. I raised my weapon and brought it down in a lethal arc, decapitating two of them in one blow. The skin on my upper arm tingled as a pair of kill marks carved into my flesh.
I scanned the clearing. Where was Ransom?
A few of the tigers were already in the midst of the fighting as more and more serviles poured in through the murky forest. Another vamp jumped in front of me, his lithe form and sinewy muscles marking him a Royal, instead of the mindless hungry fangers. I swiped bardy to the right, and the blade tore into his flesh.
He let out a curse and lunged. I kicked, and the heel of my boot connected with his jaw. A sharp crack rang out through the muddle of battle groans. He staggered back and I arced my weapon high, the moon glistening along the silver blade. His head rolled off his shoulders, eyes wide and mouth curved into a capital O for the rest of eternity.
I kept moving, scanning the mass of jumbled bodies for Ransom. Hisses and snarls echoed from every direction as I moved through the masses, cutting the bastards down as I ran.
Ran toward him. Because I knew who I’d find right beside him.
My blood pumped out a ragged beat as it rushed through my veins. My feet instinctively guided my mad run. I might not have been allowed to kill Dinah, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t have a little fun with her. And if anyone was snapping the vamp’s neck tonight, it was me.
My gaze landed on vampire Barbie across camp, just on the other side of the bonfire. She and Hardy were battling it out. I pumped my arms faster, barreling through dozens of fangers and shoving them out of my way. I’d come back to finish them off later. Right now, I had Ronin’s trusted friend in my sights.
Another servile lunged at Hardy from behind, and he staggered forward. I watched in horror as he fell right into Dinah’s grasp. She clamped her arms around him, and her fangs descended. She chomped down on his neck, and a scream ripped from my lungs.
I pulled my arm back and hurled bardy right at her. The weapon flew end over end as I watched without breathing. The sharp blade buried itself in her left arm, and she let out a shriek, releasing Hardy.
The big tiger crumpled to the ground.
Shift! Had I reached him in time?
Dinah jerked the blade from her shoulder and lunged at me before I could check on Hardy. I freed the stake strapped to my waist and drove it toward her sternum. Her eyes locked on mine, a flash of something unreadable streaking through the crimson depths as the pointy tip broke the surface of her flesh.
From behind, a pair of hands wrapped around her head and twisted.
Before the stake could penetrate her ribcage, she dropped to the floor.
Ransom appeared where she stood a moment ago, a scowl etched into his unfairly good-looking face. “Naughty girl, Red, you know Dinah’s off limits.”
“Nice of you to finally show up.” I shrugged, skewering him with a glare. “She was trying to kill me, I was just protecting myself.”
He shot me a good eyeroll. “By the way, I’m really loving this new look.” He motioned up and down my body with a long finger. “I knew blonde was the way to go.”
I almost opened my mouth to ask how he’d recognized me, but I decided it was better not to know. Anyway, bardy had to have been a dead giveaway.
“Let’s finish off the rest of them and get out of here. It reeks of unwashed bodies.” He crinkled his nose.
“That would be your cousins the serviles.”
His lips curled into an exaggerated pout. “Don’t be racist, Red. You can’t lump all of us immortals in one big category. I smell delicious. Or at least that’s what all the ladies tell me.”
It was my turn to roll my eyes at the cocky bastard.
A servile leapt in between us, and I jerked my stake up just in time. He shriveled to dust before I could yank it out, covering both of us in a fine layer of vamp ash.
“Ugh, yuck,” I muttered. “Why do they explode so easily?” I brushed the disgusting soot from my clothes.
“They’re practically nothing more than skin and bones.” He shrugged. “The weaker they are, the easier they die.”
“Thank Thanatos for that.”
Once every last servile had been dispatched straight to hell, I surveyed the damage to the camp. Five of the men were injured, but none too serious. Hardy had taken the worst of it. I knelt beside him as he held a towel to the wound on his neck, guilt eating away at my insides. I’d promised his daughter I’d protect her dad, and I’d failed. The bleeding had slowed, and his supernatural tiger healing had already begun to mend his flesh, but I still couldn’t shake the guilt.
Ransom stood behind me, and the tiger beta’s eyes never deviated from the vampire.
“Are you sure you don’t want a little taste?” Ransom offered him his wrist and a smug smile. “It’ll heal you right up.”
“Never,” Hardy snarled. “I’d never take anything from a fanger.”
“Well, this fanger saved your sorry camp from annihilation.” Crimson pulsed through the dark obsidian as his eyes narrowed on the tiger.
“Enough,” I barked. “I’m just glad everything worked out.”
Ransom ticked his head toward his blonde friend splayed on the ground. “If we want our story to hold, I need to get Dinah back to the Darklands before she wakes up.”
“I still don’t understand why we can’t kill he
r,” Hardy growled.
“We need her for our cover story. Otherwise, your miraculous survival will be too obvious.”
The beta grunted and wrapped his arms across his wide middle.
“Is there anything I can do before I go?” I asked. “Help out with the injured?”
He shook his head. “We take care of our own here, Phoenix. I know Deacon speaks highly of you, but I don’t care for the company you keep.” His golden irises flickered to Ransom. “Perhaps it’s time for you to go home.”
I nodded quickly, swallowing down the surge of emotions the word brought along with it. Home. Would I ever find my real home? It wasn’t with the wolves or the tigers, and it sure as hell wasn’t with the vampires.
Ransom dug his elbow into my side. “Come on, Red. I’ll race you home.”
Chapter
Thirty-Three
Ransom
* * *
Adrenaline still spiked through my veins as I shut the door behind me. The hunt, the kill, it awoke something deadly from within my dark depths. Even if it was my own kind I was slaughtering. Twisted, so twisted.
As a wolf, I’d often felt the beastly urges, but it was nothing like this. The fight had awoken that damned hunger. The violence and the bloodlust seemed to go hand in hand. And now, I was trapped in this apartment with her.
I watched Red through the crack in the bedroom door as she yanked off her boots. It was odd seeing her in this stranger’s body. She sounded like her, talked like her, but she wasn’t my little sicari. Though her scent was different, she still smelled like… mine. It must’ve been my blood running through her veins.
I trudged to the kitchen and rifled through the cabinets. Now, where was it? I’d smuggled in one of my favorite bottles of bourbon the other night while Red was asleep. Feeling around the back of the last cabinet, my fingers closed around the sleek bottle. Gotcha. My lips curled as the smooth, oaky flavor ghosted over my tongue.
Yes, I needed this tonight. This would drive the urges back and camouflage the turmoil in my mind. I’d been so close to running. Racing straight through the camp and disappearing deep within shifter territory. The queen wouldn’t waste her resources on me, not when Ronin kept her sicari running in circles.
I’d reached the edge of the camp, and the pathway split. One led to the tigers and the other toward freedom. A gentle wind had drifted Red’s scent to my nose. She may have been cloaked, but I’d recognize it anywhere. From the corner of my eye, I’d watched Dinah as her nose twitched, my lungs paralyzed. Would she recognize it too?
But nothing noticeable flashed across her expression.
She kept her eyes trained straight ahead at the cluster of huts at the edge of the clearing. She turned to me, a wicked grin pulling up the corners of her lips, then signaled for the serviles to move.
I remained rooted to the spot, fighting against the inexorable urge to move, to go to her. My blood buzzed at her proximity, as if it needed to be reunited with its missing parts.
Red sauntered out of the bathroom, and my thoughts of the night vanished. She tucked her damp, short blonde hair behind her ears, her fingers grasping for hair that was no longer there. Her nose, her lips, her eyes, everything was different. And still… everything was the same.
I should’ve run. I should’ve run far, far away.
She wore short shorts and a skimpy tank top, offering me a perfect view of the dozens of sicari marks tattoed up and down her upper arm. “You going to share?” She eyed the bottle I hadn’t realized I was clenching in my fist.
Clearing my throat, I loosened my hold on the bourbon. “Of course. I didn’t think the always in control, strait-laced Phoenix Morana liked to let loose with a little drink.”
Her eyes widened as I spoke her name as if she were surprised I knew it. Though I didn’t use it often, I was very familiar with it.
“I like Red better. It suits you,” I added.
“So clever and not at all obvious.” She smirked and marched into the kitchen, returning a moment later with two glasses. “I’d rather not drink your saliva if it’s all the same to you.” She handed me the tumbler.
“Aren’t we picky. You’ll drink my blood but not my spit? What other bodily fluids do you draw the line at?” I threw her a lopsided smile, beyond satisfied with my witty comeback.
Rolling her eyes at my comment, she reached for the bottle, but I held it just out of her reach.
“Please, allow me.” I uncorked the vintage bourbon and poured a healthy serving into her glass, then mine. Lifting the tumbler, I clinked it against hers. “To a successful hunt.”
Her eyes met mine, and she nodded before taking a sip.
“Who knew we’d make such a good team?” I took a long pull, savoring the full-bodied taste. Nothing calmed my cravings like a fine bourbon—well, except for blood.
“I don’t think we should celebrate just yet.” She folded down beside me, tucking her knees to her chest. “We’ll have to see what Dinah makes of the mission when she wakes up.”
I waved a nonchalant hand. “She’ll be fine. I was with her up until I snapped her neck, and she didn’t suspect a thing.”
“And you’re sure she didn’t see you coming?”
“Positive. I’m like a ninja, Red.”
She snorted on a laugh, then buried her nose in the glass. After taking another long drink, she leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes.
My gaze drifted over the new Phoenix. The fuller cheeks, slightly wider nose. If I closed my eyes just right, I could still see the original version beneath the glamour. A deep rumble rocketed through my insides, and I tore my eyes away from their slow scrutiny.
Red peeked at me through slitted lids. She’d totally heard that. But did she recognize the sound?
“I’m still waiting for a thank you,” I blurted. Anything to change the subject.
Her brows furrowed, and she sat up straighter. “For what?”
“For coming up with the master plan that saved your friend’s ass and executing it to perfection.”
Her mouth opened and I waited for the scathing comeback, but instead she seemed to reconsider and blew out a breath. “Thank you,” she muttered.
“That’s a good start.”
“Start?” she squealed. “What else do you want?”
Everything. “What about a kiss?”
Her blue eyes widened, light brows shooting up to her new blonde hairline. “You’re out of your mind, fanger.” She kept watching me, gaze fixed to mine as she searched for answers I’d never give. “Why would you even want that?” she finally asked.
“I told you, I think you’re hot as a blonde, and I’ve never had a sicari.”
Her brows knitted, and she wrapped her arms across her perky chest.
“Not that you weren’t hot in the original packaging, of course.”
She encircled her arms around her legs, drawing her knees tight against her chest. “You’ve already kissed me anyway,” she muttered.
“Doesn’t count if it was forced.”
“Not at the club,” she blurted. “At my apartment.”
I wagged a finger at her. “Ah ha, you do remember. I’m glad my kisses have been so memorable.”
“Whatever. It’s so not happening again.” She drained the contents of the tumbler in a single gulp.
“Your loss.” I reached for the bottle and refilled her glass, topping off my own. Her gaze was still heavy on me as I lifted the drink to my lips.
A lengthy silence filled the air, and just when I was certain she wouldn’t speak to me for the remainder of the evening, she put her glass on the table and pivoted her body toward me.
A wry grin split her lips. “One kiss in exchange for your story.”
My jaw snapped shut, teeth grinding. “No deal,” I gritted out.
“Your loss.” She shot me a teasing smile and rose, unsteadily. Her head bobbed back a second before her hand shot out scrambling for purchase, and I leapt to my feet.
She leaned against me, fingers tightening around my arms. “No, I think it’s—” Her words fell away as a golden mist crawled over her body. It moved up her legs, over her torso and finally blanketed her face. The potent scent of magic filled the air, and my nostrils twitched.
Once the gilded fog cleared, my Red stood in front of me, my arms still tightly entwined around her waist. I sucked in a breath as I took her in. Those lively emerald eyes, cute pert nose, and those lips.
Her gaze was still hazy, expression a little foggy as her fingers curled around my upper arms. A curtain of brilliant red hair covered one side of her face, and I couldn’t control my fingers from sweeping the silky locks behind her ear. My thumb grazed her cheek, and the fog blanketing her expressive irises cleared.
“Don’t,” she mumbled, but her cheek pressed into my palm as she spoke.
“Don’t what?” I ran my thumb down to her full, bottom lip and inched closer.
Her eyes locked on my mouth, and I dared another inch. Her tongue darted out, wetting her lips and another growl vibrated my chest. Her hand moved up my arm and rested just over my heart.
“What is that?” she murmured, her lips mere breaths away from mine.
“I don’t know,” I whispered.
Her eyes chased to mine, the emerald glossy and shimmering with emotion. “You don’t know, or you don’t want to know?”
“Maybe a little of both.”
She nodded slowly, her palm still pressed against my chest, her warmth bleeding through to my skin. Gods, it was taking every ounce of my willpower not to throw her back on the couch.