The powerful blow ripped him backward and tore his arms away from Willow. Her fingers scrabbled over his flesh as she tried to keep hold of him, but the current pulled her away. Whatever had hit him was gone. However, the damage was done as the waterfall sucked him under it once more.
Like a cork exploding out of a bottle of champagne, Willow broke through the surface. When she gasped in air, she got a mouthful of water and hair with it, but the burning in her lungs eased as oxygen once again filled them.
She spun and kicked against the current as she searched for Declan through the spray and the white water. She was so focused on getting back to him that she didn’t see the boulder until she crashed into it. At first, she tried to push herself off the rock, but then she realized it was an oasis in the chaos.
Blood trickled from her broken flesh as she clawed her way up its surface to collapse across the top. Cleaving to it, she inhaled as tremors shook her frozen body, and her eyes ran over the churning, white water in search of Declan. She realized her tremors weren’t entirely from the cold when she still didn’t see him anywhere.
Where was he?
A body, with a stake jutting out of its heart, floated past her, and she realized that must have been what hit her and Declan and tore them apart. Tipping her head back, she gazed at the cliffs high above her and the four figures standing at the edge of them—Vicky and the others.
When she lifted her hand to wave, they waved back. She suppressed a sob as joy, exhaustion, fear, and hunger warred within her. At least something had gone right lately.
They were okay, but where was Declan? Was he trapped beneath the waterfall with countless gallons of water falling onto him and keeping him trapped?
Whatever happened to him, and wherever he was, clinging to a rock in the middle of the river wasn’t going to help her find the answers she sought. She would find him; she wasn’t leaving here without him. She wasn’t ready to throw her fate back into the rapid current, but she didn’t have a choice.
Taking a deep breath, she pulled herself over the rock and down the other side of it. The current propelled her away from the safety of the rock, dropped her down a couple of feet, and then pushed her up again. She ignored the discomfort in her ankle as she kicked toward the rocky shoreline.
After another couple hundred feet, she finally made it to shore and pulled herself onto the rocky riverbank. Her muscles shook as, with most of her energy sapped by the river, she dragged herself further onto the shore. Collapsing onto the rocks, she pressed her cheek onto the cool ground as she inhaled a shaky breath.
The idea of lying here and going to sleep was entirely too enticing, but she pushed herself up. Her arms almost gave out when she got onto her hands and knees. The hunger that had been building these past three days was turning into a fiery inferno burning through her veins with every beat of her heart.
She needed to feed, but first, she had to find Declan and get out of here. Shoving herself to her feet, she bit back a snarl when she swayed and nearly went down, but she managed to catch herself before falling.
She was sick of these things, sick of being scared, and sick of not knowing where Declan was. If he were dead, she’d make every one of these things pay for it. She’d tear them apart piece by tiny piece.
She couldn’t recall a time she’d ever been so angry, but it helped fuel her as she limped her way back toward the waterfall. She scanned the river as she walked but didn’t see Declan anywhere. Refusing to give in to her rising panic for him, Willow made it back to the cliff before tearing her eyes away from the water.
Her gaze ran up the rocky cliff face to the edge, but her sister and the others were gone. The cliffs stretched on for a few hundred feet before vanishing into the trees. She didn’t know what lay beyond there, but she hoped the others didn’t try to come down. By the time they found a way down here, she and Declan would be gone.
Or at least she hoped they would. He had to be here somewhere. Her attention returned to the water pounding into the river. Was he trapped under there?
Willow gulped at the possibility and turned to search the shoreline again, but it remained empty. There was only one way to learn if he was trapped or not, but she had to make sure he hadn’t washed up on shore on the other side of the river or further downstream first. If she couldn’t find him, she’d dive back into the water to search for him, but she couldn’t risk getting trapped too if he was somewhere else and required help.
The idea of him somewhere in danger propelled her faster down the river. She wanted to call out for him, to shout his name to the sky and back, but she didn’t dare open her mouth. There were still too many Savages out there for her to risk it.
A crunch sounded behind her, and she whirled to find the Savage who pulled her off the cliff barreling toward her. She didn’t know where he’d come from, but he was almost on top of her. Willow pulled a stake free and prepared herself to fight, but he only made it two more feet before his head disappeared.
Willow felt as if she’d tumbled into a bizarro land as the body continued to run at her. She jumped to the side to avoid the body and the blood it pumped before it hit the ground.
Turning her attention away from the still twitching Savage, she discovered Declan standing five feet away. His shoulders were rigid, and his fiery red eyes burned so hotly they looked like they could torch the earth.
The Savage’s head thudded on the rocks when it fell limply from his grasp. He ran a hand through his drenched hair, pushing it away from the chiseled planes of his handsome face. The unexpected urge to throw herself into his arms hit her, but she restrained herself as she regained control of her volatile emotions.
“Are you okay?” Declan’s voice came out rougher than he intended, but between her emotions and the sight of that thing charging at her, he wasn’t in complete control of himself.
“Yes. Thank you. I was looking for you.”
“I just got to shore.”
“Yeah,” she muttered, unsure of what else to say.
“We have to go.”
She would have given her left hand for a hot shower and a bed, but as much as every aching muscle in her body begged for a break, her brain propelled her into motion. More Savages would come; they couldn’t stay here.
She didn’t realize Declan held his hand out to her until her fingers slid into his like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Chapter Fourteen
Willow didn’t know how much more running she could do, but every time she thought she didn’t have the strength to continue, she somehow found it. No matter how tired, ravenous, or battered she was, she couldn’t slow down, and she couldn’t stop. At least her jeans had finally dried out; running in them while they were wet was extremely uncomfortable.
She and Declan didn’t talk as they raced through the woods while the sun crept lower in the sky. They hadn’t bothered trying to find a way back up the cliffs. It would have taken too much time, and there was a good chance any Savages who survived the others would be coming after them.
They had to find somewhere to stay soon. Once the sun set, the Savages would be out in full force.
When they arrived at the bank of a small stream, Willow’s abused ankle twisted out from under her in the loose dirt. She bit back a cry as she fell beside the water. When she first joined the Alliance, part of her training was running, and during that time she’d run more than she ever assumed possible, until today. Today she’d run more than she ever had, and she would run more before it was over.
All that training had prepared her for this, but she still struggled to catch her breath as her fingers dug into the cool, loose earth beneath her. Then she realized there were probably worms in there and yanked her hands free.
Cupping her hands, she dipped them into the stream. Water trickled down to wet the sleeve of her jacket and black shirt, but she ignored it as she washed her face.
Declan knelt beside her. “Are you okay?”
She finished washing h
er face and pushed away the straggling strands of hair sticking to her face. Undoing the elastic that had barely managed to stay in her hair, she pulled her hair into a knot and retied it. “Yes.”
“When was the last time you fed?”
There was a time when she knew the answer, but it eluded her now. “I’m not sure. Three days… maybe four.”
Declan sat back on his heels as he studied her. Her skin was far paler than usual, and her cheekbones were more pronounced since the last time he saw her. She had to eat. He glanced around the forest before focusing on her again.
“We’ve put a lot of distance between them and us,” he said.
“How do you know that? They could be anywhere in these woods.”
“True,” he admitted. “But we’re far from where we last saw them.”
“Do you know where we are?”
“I have no idea. I’m hoping if we continue in the same direction, we’ll find civilization. But first, we have to find you something to eat.”
Red flashed through her eyes, and he spotted the hint of a fang before she turned her head away from him. Her hunger beat against him as she shuddered and lowered her hand to the ground again. He had to get her out of here.
It was most likely useless, but he reached into his pocket for his cell phone; it was gone. Even though he knew where he put it, he searched his other pockets too. He still had his stakes tucked into his inner pockets with some lollipops, but no phone.
“How many of them are there?” he asked.
“I don’t know. There was no way to count how many of them came out of that tunnel. It was like a horde of fucking rats.”
She spat the words as bitterness laced her tone. When Declan rested his hand on her shoulder, the contact brought an unexpected wave of longing and calm with it. She bowed her head as she marveled at the warmth seeping through her.
“Do you know what happened to Lucien?” Declan asked.
He resisted running his thumb across her full bottom lip. Exhausted and battered, she was still achingly beautiful with her lush lips, high cheekbones, and enticing body. Desire coiled within him; he tried to bury it as he had for centuries, but it was impossible around Willow… which was why he went to Mexico. Being this close to her, and touching her, tested every ounce of his restraint, but he was so glad to see her that he didn’t care.
“The last I saw Lucien, he was fighting off the Savages in the clearing. He commanded us to run, and he was trying to get away, but it was all so… so confusing, and there were so many,” Willow murmured.
She swallowed to wet her parched throat as the memory of those Savages descending on Lucien played through her mind. Lucien was a ballbuster and about as friendly as a rabid raccoon most days, but she’d learned a lot from him and respected him.
He’d told them all to run while he bought time by fighting off the Savages. Lucien was faster and stronger than all of them, he could have run and easily gotten away, but he stayed to save them. She didn’t care what it took; she would find him.
Willow’s attention shifted back to Declan, and she gulped as she gazed into those astonishing silver eyes so full of turmoil. She’d grown close with all the guys in her training class; it was impossible to go through their intense training together and not form a bond. She’d come to consider the Alliance her home and the place where she belonged, but her relationship with them was nothing compared to the one the original, core members of the Alliance shared.
They’d been doing this together for centuries, they were brothers, and the sorrow he felt for Lucien etched lines around his mouth and eyes. Without thinking, she rested her palm against his stubble-roughened cheek.
Her hand tingled as little bursts of electricity ran from him to her and back again. She’d never experienced anything like it, and when her gaze fell to his mouth, she couldn’t stop herself from imagining kissing him.
BAD idea! BAD, BAD, BAD idea! Getting involved with someone in the Alliance would be a piss-poor life choice on her part; getting involved with one of the originals could be a disaster.
Still, she couldn’t bring herself to move her hand away. She’d touched him so often in her dreams, but the warmth of him was way better than any fantasy as she relished his stubble pricking her palm.
She’d never wanted to touch or kiss a man as badly as him before. She would give anything to push his jacket back from his shoulders while she ran her lips down the curve of his cheek to his neck. Making her way lower, she’d unbutton his shirt to expose the muscles etching his tall, chiseled body.
Willow shook her head to rid it of her completely inappropriate musings. Now wasn’t exactly the time to be fantasizing about one of her bosses. Actually, never was an appropriate time for that; she couldn’t control her dreams, but she wouldn’t do anything to risk her place in the Alliance.
She set her hand in her lap. “Did you go to the tunnel?”
Declan missed her touch as soon as it was gone. It had been centuries since he experienced any tenderness from another; he’d forgotten what it felt like. And now he craved more of it. He almost snatched her hand back and returned it to his face, but he couldn’t force from her what she’d freely given seconds ago.
“Yes,” Declan answered.
“What did you find there?”
“Blood, ashes, and burn marks from Savages, but no one from the Alliance. However, some of the blood might have been Lucien’s. We found a hunter’s body in the woods.”
“Was it Leonard?”
“Yes.”
“He’s the only one I know for sure is dead, but I heard screams from someone else…” Her voice trailed off as she recalled those awful sounds. “I don’t think they survived, but the Savages could have captured them.”
Willow focused on the shifting shadows created by the swaying trees. They danced like fairies in a garden, but these shadows were far more sinister than any fairy playing on a flower. These shadows held death in their midst.
“Why was my sister with you?” she asked.
“Because she refused to remain behind,” he said.
“And where was Nathan?”
“She told him to stay with Wyatt.”
Willow lowered her head and rubbed at her temples. “Stubborn idiot.”
“I bet, if you ask her, she feels the same way about you.”
Willow chuckled before lifting her head. “Probably, but it doesn’t matter if Vicky approves of my choices or not.”
“It seems you’re both stubborn.”
“Hmm,” Willow grunted. “She better go home. Wyatt needs her.”
“Believe me, Nathan reminded her of that before she left. But nothing was going to change her mind. If it makes you feel better, I don’t think any of them will follow us after the waterfall, or at least I hope they don’t. We were too far away for them to catch up, and they know it. I think they’ll continue to search for the others while waiting for us to make contact.”
“I hope they go back,” she whispered. “I have a bad feeling about all this. What were the Savages doing in the tunnel?”
“Digging.”
“For what?”
“I have no idea, but I think they found it.”
“That can’t be good.”
“No, it can’t. You were limping when we first left the river behind,” he said to change the subject. “What happened?”
“I broke my ankle the first night I was in the woods and spent two nights in a tree waiting for it to heal. They found me after I climbed down. When we hit the water, I tweaked it again, but it’s better now.”
“If it took that long to heal, then you must really need blood.”
“I do,” she admitted.
“We’ll have to hunt for deer before the sun sets.”
Uneasiness twisted inside her as streaks of pink and gold stretched across what remained of the day. She loved watching sunrises and sunsets; they were usually her favorite times of the day, but she dreaded this sunset.
The Savage
s would be out in full force once more. She preferred to believe they’d left those assholes far behind, but she suspected they’d hear their howls again.
“You should probably tell me everything that happened,” he said.
Willow took a deep breath before filling him in on everything she’d been through for the past three days.
Declan’s fingers dug into his palms as he reminded himself to stay focused on the here and now. She’d been through hell, and he’d love to dismember every one of the pricks who terrorized her, but he couldn’t change what happened. He could only work to make sure she survived this.
When she finished, Willow dropped her hands into the dirt again, and her fingers dug beneath its cool, damp surface. When she felt something wiggling against her skin, she yelped and tore her hands free.
“What is it?” Declan demanded. “What’s the matter?”
Willow dipped her hands in the river and scrubbed at them. “Worms.”
“Worms?” he asked incredulously.
“Yes, worms; you know those things that crawl through the earth, shit, and catch fish? Worms.”
“I saw you tear the heart out of a Savage, but you don’t like worms?”
“They wiggle, and they have no eyes. That’s not normal.”
“It is for a worm.”
She scowled at him as she continued washing her hands. Declan stifled a laugh.
“So why this hatred for the underground burrowers?” he asked.
“They have no eyes.”
“Is that it?”
Her scowl deepened. “Maybe it’s irrational, but I’ve always hated them. They’re slimy, and they wiggle, and they have no eyes.”
“That eye thing is a real dealbreaker, huh?”
“Damn right it is.”
Declan couldn’t stop himself from laughing. “Good to know.”
“When I joined the Alliance, my younger sister, Cassidy, stuffed worms into one of my bras. I discovered them while I was unpacking.” Willow almost gagged at the memory. “I still owe her for that, which means we have to make it out of this.”
Bound by Torment (The Alliance Series Book 5) Page 7