For the Power (For the Blood Book 2) Page 10

  Inching closer, but remaining in the shadows, I focused on the sounds coming from beyond the wards.

  “Sleep now.”

  “One bedtime story only.”

  “Yes, like that, just like that. Oh, Vince. Oh, yes.”

  “—human girl associating with Fangs takes our leader and you’re okay with that?” a male voice queried.

  This one. This was the one.

  “You don’t believe their story?” a female replied.

  “I don’t know what to believe,” the gruff voice said. “All I know is that we’re ready to act now, but it will take at least five days for them to reach the mountains. They’ll have to skirt the Wilds to get to the road leading to the Lake District, and you know what kind of shit populates the north. I think we should—”

  “Wait,” the female said.

  “What?”

  “There’s something out there. I can feel it.”

  Shit. Time to back up. But I had what I needed. I had a direction. I’d catch her scent, and I’d find her.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Another howl drifted toward us, closer this time.

  Logan and Ash exchanged glances, and then Ash signed at Logan.

  Logan nodded. “We’re going to do this in Claw form,” he said. “You and Sage keep moving. Look for the sign for the service station, and then take the dirt track. The Shack is on the basement level. There’s an entrance at the back of the building that should be safe. We’ll meet you there.”

  “Your weapons?” Sage asked.

  Logan smiled. “They’ll stay with us.”

  They’d done this before—appeared clothed and carrying their weapons after a change. I’d have to get details on how that worked once we were safe. Right now, we needed to run because the howls were getting louder.

  “Get going,” Jace said. “We’ll cut them down. And Eva, you need to keep them off Sage.”

  Benji was fast asleep against Sage’s back, unaware of the threat. Let’s hope he stayed that way. The Shack was still an hour away.

  “Can you sprint with Benji on your back?”

  Sage’s smile was a slow-burn fuck yeah.

  We broke into a run, and I pulled ahead, having to slow down for him to catch up.

  “You move fast for a human,” Sage said.

  Did I? I’d never noticed before. The revelation niggled at the back of my mind, brushed aside by the howls now right on top of us.

  Snarls and growls joined the Feral Fang screams. The guys had made contact. No time to stop and look. No time to turn around. We needed to get Benji to The Shack. Logan had said they’d be right behind us, and I needed to make sure the Feral stayed off Sage’s back.

  “You want to go back and fight, don’t you?” Sage said.

  “What gave it away?”

  “You’re wreathed in red.”

  “I hate that you can see right through me.”

  “No, you don’t.” His voice was warm honey.

  He was right. I didn’t. Another weird thing to ponder. The world rushed by as we sprinted without breaking a sweat, without a gasp or a burn in the lungs. What was this? What was happening to me?

  “Eva, two o’clock.”

  The Feral Fangs loped low to the ground, their leathery skin painted gray by the moonlight, bald heads gleaming. There was no way we’d outrun them, there were too many of them. They’d flank us, cut us off, and then we’d be done for.

  I skidded to a halt. A quick glance behind me showed a bare stretch of road. The guys were out of sight, probably still fighting the first Feral batch. Dammit, the Wilds was looking rosy about now.

  “Take the boy,” Sage ordered. “I can handle this, but you need to take him.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  He turned his head slightly, one eye fixed on me, and then the corner of his mouth quirked up. “I’m going to show them how hot I am.”

  Fire … Of course, he had fire literally at his fingertips. “Why didn’t you use it in the Wilds?”

  “Just take Benji.” He turned away, offering me the child.

  The boy moaned softly in his sleep as I used my newly acquired penknife to cut the bindings holding him to Sage. He tumbled into my arms, still asleep. Damn, he must be exhausted.

  “Go,” Sage said. “I’ll be right behind you.”

  The Feral were almost on us, and even though every inch of my body screamed at me to stay and fight, the tiny bundle of vulnerability in my arms forced me to turn and run. Heat blasted my back and hot air pushed me forward. The Feral howls were cut off and the smell of burnt flesh filled the air. Crackle, pop, fizz.

  The stench hit the back of my throat, and I came to a stop, gagging and choking. Benji stirred but didn’t wake up. Fuck, it reeked. I looked back to see Sage’s silhouette against a wall of fire. Figures danced in the flames, twisting and pirouetting to the tune of death. He’d done it. He’d annihilated them.

  And then the huge djinn dropped to his knees.

  Shit.

  Benji moaned. “Mum?”

  “No, kiddo, it’s Eva.” A quick glance back at Sage. He was slowly toppling to the side. “You need to wake up, Benji. That’s right. Up.”

  I glanced around desperately, trying to find somewhere safe to stash him for a minute. The tree line loomed to the left. Yes, a tree.

  “Eva, what’s happening?” Benji rubbed his eyes with his fists.

  I strode over to the nearest tree. “You ever climb a tree, kid?”

  He nodded.

  “Good.” I helped him into the branches, and he began to scramble up. “You stay there, you stay hidden. I’ll be back for you.”

  “Promise.” His voice trembled.

  I locked gazes with him. “I promise.”

  Tearing away from his frightened face, I ran back toward Sage. He was on the ground now, lying still. The wall of flame had eaten away at the Feral wave, but it was dying rapidly. Enchanted flame shelf life probably wasn’t too long. It was probably meant to hit its target, turn it to cinder, and be done.

  “Sage.” I shook the big guy’s shoulder. “Sage, can you hear me?”

  Nothing.

  He was out cold. Had using his power knocked him out? It would explain why he hadn’t used fire in the Wilds. Several more Feral howls lit up the air beyond the flames. He’d got a bunch of them, but it looked like there were more headed our way. More waiting for the flames to die down. Damn, he was heavy, but I managed to hoist him into a sitting position. Come on. I’d lifted a huge mirror for God’s sake, I could carry a djinn. Muscles straining, I almost had him in a fireman’s lift when the fire went out.

  The Feral hovered beyond the line of scorched earth for a moment, as if stunned by the turn of events. Slowly, carefully, I lowered Sage back to the ground and then fluidly pulled my Talwar from its sheath.

  Thanks for waiting, guys.

  The Feral attacked, and I met them head-on, dancing around Sage to cover the djinn with my blade. No time for music in my head. Didn’t matter. There weren’t that many Feral—five, no, six … Wait, seven. Done. We were done. But the howls in the distance told me more had been attracted by the blood and carnage. Parasites, bloodsucking fucking parasites.

  I dropped onto Sage, straddling his hips, and shook him with everything I had. “Sage.” I slapped him hard.

  There was no way I could carry him fast enough. There was no knowing how many were headed this way. I was good, but not invincible, and there was Benji to consider. Could Feral climb trees?

  Sage’s face was calm and serene in repose, my handprint fading into his tanned skin. His lashes were inky fans against his cheeks and that mouth that liked to laugh and tease was slightly parted. I ran my fingers across his lips.

  “Damn you, Sage. Damn you.” My voice was grit and indecision.

  The Feral’s bloodcurdling screeches were closer now. Minutes away. I’d have to leave. I’d have to leave him here to die.

  I pressed my hands to his chest, anger a mini t
sunami in my chest. “Damn you!”

  The rage, hot and potent, rushed down my arms and slammed into him. His body lit up amber beneath his clothes for a second, and then his eyes popped open and his gasp tore the air.

  “Sage?”

  He stared at me, at my hands on his chest, and then his fingers curled around my wrists. “What did you do?” His gravelly voice was tinged with awe.

  “I … I don’t know. I …”

  He sat up quickly, so we were chest to chest. “Feral are coming.” His breath caressed my lips, leaving them aching for the pressure of his mouth, but some other awareness pricked at my skin.

  “They’ve shifted direction.” I scrambled off him. “Get Benji. He’s in the tree up ahead. Get him and get to The Shack. I need to go back. I need to warn the others they have incoming. The Feral are upwind; the guys won’t smell them coming.”

  Sage pulled himself to his feet, looking torn.

  I held up my sword. “I got this.”

  He inhaled through his nostrils, nodded, and backed up, his gaze on my face. “We talk. Later …”

  “Later.”

  We turned away from each other and ran in opposite directions. My boots left soft thuds in my wake, and the sounds of ripping and tearing grew nearer and then the guys came into view, highlighted by a proud moon—three massive figures tearing up the night. The final Feral dropped, and they turned to face me with snarls.

  Terror flashed through me at the sight of their monstrous forms, but then their lips dropped over their snarls, and they lowered their heads. My heartbeat slowed. Ash, Jace, and Logan. These were the guys. Golden and silver and obsidian wolves. Fangs.

  I walked up to them. “More are on their way, upwind. We need to go. Now.”

  Ash raised his golden head, silver eyes glinting where the moonlight caught them. He sniffed the air, and then growled low in his throat. Jace looked to the tree line, and padded a few steps toward it, his sleek silver body dappled with Feral blood stark against the night.

  I followed behind him. “A shortcut?”

  He nodded his huge head.

  “We can lose them. Is there water?”

  His head bobbed side to side, unsure.

  “Let’s go.”

  Jace led the way off the road and into the murky woodland. Slender, wicked branches stabbed at my skin and snagged my clothes. The wolves ran at my side, flattening the ground with their paws with each bound. The wind whipped through my hair, raking at my scalp, and for a moment there was nothing but Jace’s silver form ahead like a beacon, Ash’s golden bulk to my left, Logan’s sleek black form to my right, and the melody of freedom in my blood. Ash turned his head my way, and I swear, he looked like he was grinning at me, tongue lolling slightly.

  Eyes on the path, Eva.

  Jace leapt into the air, and I followed instinctively, scaling a fallen tree trunk with ease and landing lightly on my feet. The air was moist here with a significant tang that signaled water. Sure enough, the rushing sound of a river hit my ears a minute later.

  Track through water, and wash off the blood, wash off the scent.

  Jace hit the water first, his silver body diving down and coming up clean of the crimson splashes of Feral blood. Logan and Ash met the water at the same time as me, swimming either side of me like lupine bodyguards.

  The earth was moist beneath my boots as I scrambled out. The chilly air slapped my soaked skin, and my teeth were instantly chattering. No sign of the Feral behind us. Thank goodness, we may have lost them.

  Up ahead, Jace was shaking himself dry. Oh, shit.

  “Wait!” I held up my hands, too late, as Ash and Logan chose that moment to shake off the water clinging to their fur.

  Double soaking. Shit, my lungs ached.

  Ash nudged me with his nose and then jerked his head, indicating his back.

  “You want me to ride you?”

  Logan made a strange choked sound. Dirty bastard. I climbed up onto Ash’s back, clamped my thighs into his side, and slid my fingers deep into his fur before clenching my fists. Thick, golden silk. Is this what his hair would feel like if it was longer in Fang form?

  He chuffed in question.

  “I’m good.”

  And then the ground was flying beneath us and the woodland was thinning out. A shadow loomed up from beyond the trees. A three-story building. The service station, a place where travelers would have stopped to refuel, shop, or sometimes stay the night. This was our haven for the rest of the night.

  We’d made it.

  Chapter Sixteen

  The Shack was a sporting goods store at the basement level of the service station. We entered via the hidden exit Jace had told us about and onto a fire exit. A flight of metal stairs brought us onto the basement floor, dark and abandoned, and using flashlights we found our way to The Shack.

  Sage was already there. He’d made a nest for Benji using sleeping bags, and the kid was already asleep again. The djinn stood up hastily at our arrival, eyes aglow.

  I waved him back down. “Relax. We’re all accounted for.”

  “And the first thing we need to do is get Eva’s clothes off,” Logan said.

  Ash shoved Logan hard. The dark-haired Fang staggered back, hands up, grin on his face.

  I grabbed Ash’s shoulder. “He’s right, Ash. I need to get out of these clothes, or I’ll catch a chill.”

  Ash’s shoulders tensed. He signed rapidly and then stalked off.

  “He said there are changing rooms at the back of the store and to meet him there,” Jace said.

  But my attention was on Logan. “That wasn’t funny.” I headed toward the back of the store.

  “It so was.” Logan trailed after me. “You should have seen his face. I thought he was going to hit me. He’s going to love sharing you with Tobias.”

  My cheeks flushed. “I don’t want to talk about it.” Thank God, there was the changing room with the half door and hopefully a fucking lock.

  “That’s right, just bury your head in the sand,” Logan drawled. “You know the more time you spend together, the stronger his feelings are going to get, right?”

  I stepped into the cubicle, and he slammed the palm of his hand on the door to stop me shutting it in his face.

  He canted his head. “It’s happening to you too, isn’t it? Not just with Ash, though …” He stepped into the cubicle, forcing me back against the wall and trapping me in the cage of his arms. “You felt something back there in the Wilds when I kissed you.”

  “Yeah, I was horny, we all were. It didn’t mean anything.”

  “And what about in the hall of mirrors? Were you under a horny spell there too?” His tone was far from teasing now. It was probing and invasive.

  Why did he give a shit? “You caught me off guard.”

  “So off guard that you kissed me back for a full thirty seconds?”

  “Wow, you were keeping count. Sexy.”

  The corner of his mouth quirked. “I am, aren’t I?”

  I breathed a sigh of relief; this cocky Logan I could handle. “And arrogant and full of himself.”

  His brown eyes darkened so they were almost black, and dark veins radiated out from them. Hunger. This was hunger.

  “What is happening to you, Eva?” His voice was thick with need. “What’s happening to us?”

  The question knocked my bravado on its ass, because yes, there was something different about me and it had begun as soon as I’d been picked up by Ash, as if a door inside me was slowly being dragged open. But I wasn’t ready to examine what lay beyond it.

  I shoved at his chest, but he was unmovable muscle. “It’s not feeding time yet, and the only thing happening to me is that I’m freezing my arse off.”

  Ash’s scent drifted over Logan’s shoulder. Thank God he was back. Logan didn’t move for a long beat, keeping me trapped in the cage of his arms, and then he smiled thinly and stepped out of the cubicle to be replaced by Ash.

  The silver-eyed Fang looked at me
questioningly, like, do I need to kick his arse?

  I shook my head. “I’m fine. Just cold.”

  He handed me a bundle of clothes and then stepped out of the changing room. Logan was still standing outside, arms crossed.

  “Thank you, Ash.” I shut the door firmly.

  “Spoilsport,” Logan said.

  I quickly stripped out of the wet clothes and pulled on the dry, slightly too large ones. Gray joggers and a long-sleeved polo top. Going commando felt weird but there was no way I was keeping the sopping wet knickers on. The men’s clothes hung off me, but damn it felt good to be dry. Ash was standing outside the room when I opened the door. He scooped up my wet things and wrung them out so they were almost dry. He held up my panties. And arched a brow.

  I smacked his shoulder, unable to keep the smile off my face, and then he was stepping into my space, crowding me with his body until we were against the wall. He hoisted me up, and I wrapped my legs around his waist. We remained like this, eye to eye, for a long beat, and then he rubbed the tip of his nose against mine and brushed his lips across my mouth. He pulled back, his pale eyes all pupil. My heart felt too full, and three words sprang to my lips. I bit down on my bottom lip to stop myself from saying them, because despite this strong connection, despite this need to be in each other’s gravitational fields, it was too soon. We barely knew each other, and once those words were out, there was no taking them back. I wanted to, needed to be sure.

  His eyes crinkled, and his mouth moved—three little words that crushed the air from my lungs and brought tears to my eyes.

  I exhaled sharply. “Damn you, Ash. Damn you for saying it.”

  He gently lowered me to the ground and walked away.