Persephone's Wolves, page 73
We’re off in seconds, flying through the air and up the wall by the city gates. My stomach feels like a tumbleweed as he flies up and I look back, unable to even scream as an angel slams into us. Callahan roars in excruciating pain, nearly dropping me as I hold on to his neck, and the angel leers at me as he grabs Callahan’s hair. I scream as we all fall through the air, and Callahan spins, kicking the angel off him. The angel flies up and flies right at us, aiming for me. He grabs my arm, and I lean over, stabbing Morganis through his arm and pulling the dagger back. He cries out and falls, and Callahan keeps flying higher.
“Callahan!” I say, looking down at his stomach and seeing why he is slowing. There’s a small sword sticking straight through his lower stomach. “Oh, gods.”
“I’m alright,” he says, trying to make me feel better, but even the rain, thunder and wind can’t hide the pain in his voice.
Callahan groans as he flies us right to the top of the fall, and then he lets us fall on the other side, diving through the air. Tears fill my eyes from the wind, and I try to keep an eye around us as Callahan glides and flies through the air, deep into the sandy desert. He barely manages to pick up his wings to keep us in the air, and the longer we fly, the better I feel about escaping the city and the worse I worry about Callahan passing out. I can feel he’s barely holding on, and I hold him tighter.
“We need to stop somewhere,” I shout to him.
He looks at me, his forehead lined with sweat, his eyes bloodshot and his lips marked with his blood.
“I agree,” he hisses out.
“You can’t die on me. Breelyn would straight up skin my wolf if you died,” I shout to him. “Think of Breelyn and stay alive. That’s an order.”
“Yes, my wolf queen,” he replies with a croaky laugh. We fly in silence for a while before we both see the outline of an old human city in the distance, hidden mostly by sand. I search around for Levi, but thankfully I don’t hear any of them.
“The city, you need to get us there,” I shout to Callahan. He swoops in the air, nearly falling, but manages to get us higher once more. We sway in the air, and I feel powerless as we keep getting closer. “Just a little longer.”
“Pull the sword out of me, or I won’t heal. If I die, tell Breelyn, I’m sor—”
“You’re not dying!” I interrupt him. “No. You can tell her yourself.”
The tall, once high-rise buildings are soon around us, and Callahan flies straight through the first one on the highest floor and through a gap where glass windows used to be. I scream as he passes out halfway through the room, and we both crash onto the floor. I groan as my shoulder flares with pain.
“Callahan!” I say, my voice panicked as I reach for his passed-out form in the darkness. “Callahan, don’t you dare leave me here alone! You’re my friend, and you can’t die here!”
The building creaks and groans in the storm, and I can’t see much as I pull Callahan onto his side and feel for his breath, relieved to feel it on the back of my hand. I need to see where we are. I lean down and pull out Morganis, her bright green light brightening up the entire area around me. I’m going to guess this was an office building once, but there’s not much left in here, and it’s too open because half the building has fallen in, and the glass has been shattered. Any angel flying past could look in and see us. The Levi could easily kill us here.
I pat Callahan’s shoulder with a shaky hand as I stand up, my soaking wet clothes sticking to me as I look for somewhere to hide. There is nothing but fallen over desks and chairs, which have been chewed on by animals or Levi. I head further into the building, avoiding a few gaps in the floor before getting to the top of what used to be a staircase with a door on the right. I walk over and pull it open, happy it’s not locked. Inside is a small room with shelves, but it’s a good enough place to hide for a bit. I rush back to Callahan and lean down, pushing my arms underneath his shoulders and lifting him up.
He weighs a tonne with all the muscle and the fact he is about seven feet long.
“Gotta get you on a diet if we have to do this often, buddy,” I mutter, then I slowly tug him across the floor, my back screaming in protest. Eventually I get him into the room, and I collapse on the floor, breathless, and only the sight of the line of blood across the dark carpet makes me stand up. I shut the door and see a lock, switching it to the side. I don’t know how good a lock would be against a hell-bent king of the angels, but it makes me feel better. I put Morganis and Iris on a shelf, and they glow brightly, making it possible for me to look at Callahan and this sword.
It’s buried deep in his lower abs, right below his armour, which would have protected him. They knew where to hit.
“I’m sorry about this,” I tell Callahan, brushing back his wet hair and trying not to be sick. My hand shakes as I wrap my palm around the hilt of the sword. Without thinking about it too long, I pull it out in one quick slide.
He shouts out in pain before passing out once more, and I throw the sword to the side. I rip the bottom of my cloak with Morganis to make strips of fabric and carefully tie them around the wound to stop the bleeding.
“Bree,” Callahan mutters, stirring as I tighten the bandage and pull off my cloak. I hang it on the shelves, and I pray to every god listening that he makes it through this.
I search the room, only finding cleaning supplies and a broom, nothing else, before blowing out a breath. I pull off my top and leggings, hanging them up to dry, and swiftly shift into my wolf. My wolf takes up a lot of space, but I’m not as cold in this form, and I can hear much better. My wolf lies down and listens to the angry storm as the angels search the skies for us.
Eighty-Six
A hand rests on my paw to jolt me awake, and I didn’t even realise I had fallen asleep. Callahan! I look up in my wolf form to see it’s Callahan touching my paw, and he is slowly sitting up against the old shelves that groan under his weight. He tensely smiles at me, looking around at the tiny room we are in. “Shift back, Mai.”
I tilt my head to the side, and he sighs before closing his eyes, knowing I don’t like to be naked in front of everyone. Some things friends don’t need to see.
I shift back, my wolf wishing we could have run around a bit, and Callahan keeps his eyes closed as I pull my damp and stinking-of-sweat clothes back on. In fact, this entire building smells terrible, but it does mask the scent of Callahan’s blood.
“You feeling okay?” I ask him, kneeling down at his side as he opens his eyes.
The bandage I put around his waist is soaked with blood, as are his trousers and shirt, but it mostly looks dry. I look up and search his amber eyes, noticing how pale and tired he looks even though he slept for hours.
“We need to leave,” Callahan states. “I need blood to heal.”
I place my hand on his shoulder. “No, you need to rest and heal. You...well, you can have my blood just this once.”
He knocks my hand off his shoulder and struggles to his feet, swaying a little. “No, Mai. Sharing blood is a lifelong bond between supernaturals. Humans, we can take from freely, but wolves mean we are bonded. We fly now.”
“Callahan...,” I say, stepping in front of his stubborn ass as he reaches for the locked door. His blond hair is a mess of locks, and he shoves his fringe out of the way to glare at me. “No, you—”
“Mai, this is all for nothing if we get caught. We have to go, and I’m telling you I can do this,” he firmly states, locking his eyes with mine.
“The pack is going to be surrounded. It won’t be as easy as walking in,” I remind him. “You need blood to be strong. What kind of bond are we talking about?”
He pinches the bridge of his nose. “I will be able to connect to you, talk in your mind and you in mine. Apparently, the bond might even let a strong alpha like yourself see inside the other’s mind.”
“Like a pack bond then?” I question.
“I’m not sure. I don’t make a point of testing the supernatural bond by biting wolves,” he tells me. He is grumpy, but I don’t blame him at this point. I don’t want to be testing this right now, but he looks seconds away from passing out. “Nor do I have a clue what a pack bond is.”
“Neither do I,” I admit. “But you’re my friend, my pack and my family. I’m not leaving until you feed.”
“Mai—”
“Callahan,” I mimic and offer him my wrist. I won’t force him, but we both know we are flat out of options here.
He looks into my eyes for a second before nodding and picking my wrist up. He pauses right before he strikes, digging his fangs into my wrist, and I gasp, not in pain, but as it feels good. The pleasure makes my knees feel weak, and he only drinks for a minute before letting go, and I stumble away from him.
“Sorry, I can’t stop how it feels,” he says. “It’s been a long time since I bit anyone, and I’m not thinking straight.”
I hold my wrist, putting pressure on it to stop the bleeding. “I don’t feel this bond you warned of.”
“Not yet,” he says, and I realise he looks a little better already.
“How are you feeling now?” I ask.
“They won’t expect an angel to fly in the top.” He straightens up and winces as he holds his stomach wound. He doesn’t answer me, but I think we both know he might be okay to fly, but the blood isn’t a miracle. “Hopefully, the barrier lets us both in.”
It will, or I’m murdering the trickster sooner than I planned to. I know it’s going to be more than a few hours of flying to get to the pack lands, and I can’t help but be worried as Callahan grabs his sword and leaves the room. I pull my torn and bloody cloak back on, and grab Morganis and Iris to shove in my pockets before following him out. Callahan looks back at me and nods as I walk to him. It’s silent outside, the storm gone, and hopefully Cenwyn with it. I know the chances we won’t run into any angels on the way to the pack lands are slim, and by now, everyone will be looking for us. Callahan wraps his arm around me, pulling me onto his good side, and I clasp his neck as he runs and jumps out of the building, using his wings to fly us high up and into the clouds.
“The clouds should hide us for a while,” Callahan tells me, his voice barely understandable over the wind. Callahan is stronger than I thought as he flies for hours, never stopping or wavering under the weight of carrying me and the grave injury he hasn’t recovered from. Like my heart beats faster, I sense when we are getting close to my home, and my excitement turns to dread when I see the angel army outside. I can’t see all the way around the gold barrier hiding the pack lands, but this side I can see is thick with tents and rows of angels. They aren’t flying around the top, just like Callahan said, but they are flying around the base like they are doing patrols. Callahan keeps us hidden in the clouds as we look down, and I try to count the army outside. There must be half a million angels here, and we need to fly right into them.
“How are we going to survive this?” I ask Callahan. He looks at me, and his eyes soften.
“I’m going to get you home,” he tells me and leans closer, pressing a kiss on the top of my head. “I never had a genuine friend before, and when we met, I felt a connection. Truthfully, I thought it was just lust, as you are beautiful, but it wasn’t that. It was a connection for friendship, and what happened with Breelyn...well, I didn’t know what to think. I was angry at myself for not realizing how goddamn much I liked her, and I lashed out at you. That was wrong and I am sorry for it, Mai.”
“I was wrong,” I remind him. “You don’t need to say sorry to me.”
“I need to say it to her,” he replies, watching the shield. “And gods be damned, I’m getting her best friend home.”
“Callahan!” I gasp as he propels us through the air, faster than I’ve ever felt him fly before, and it literally takes the air out of my lungs. I duck my head to stop my neck from feeling like it’s being snapped off, and Callahan only goes faster.
A scream rips from my throat as something sharp goes through my calf, and I look down to see an arrow in the middle of it. Callahan swoops and dives, spinning through what feels like a hundred arrows, and I can’t think as I pull my head from his chest to look forward just as we get closer to the shield.
“Sor—ry, M—Mai,” Callahan’s voice fills my mind, and it shocks me. I can sense him, and he feels like pack, and he just spoke in my mind.
“Callahan—” I scream as I fall through the air as he drops me, and I manage to spin to look up in horror to see Callahan passing out, dozens of arrows in his wings and back. More arrows are flying right at us, and angels right behind them as we both rapidly fall.
Callahan might even be dying. We both will if he doesn’t wake up. I scream his name louder and try to reach for him as we both fall right down, and I feel the second I crash through the barrier, back into the Fall Mountain Pack lands. My home, my pack, fills my soul, and any relief is quickly taken away because I’m thousands of feet in the air.
I scream and scream as I fall, losing track of Callahan in the air, and everything starts to go black, as I can’t breathe. My life and everyone I care about seems to fill my mind, like my body knows this is the end and is giving me the people I love in the last moments. I look up at the gold barrier and think only of them, knowing I’m going to hit the ground any second now.
Valentine.
Silas.
Ragnar.
Henderson.
Serendipit—
I gasp as someone catches me and we both reel to the side before slamming onto the ground, and I roll several times before smacking into a wall, hitting the side of my head. The world spins as I try to sit up and look over at a blurry angel running towards me.
“Lady Mairin!” Arinya, the silver-haired angel who’s Alisander’s mate, shouts as she kneels in front of me. She is head to toe in armour, and I’m sure I’m dead now if she is here, inside the pack lands.
My eyes widen, and I push her hands away. “Callahan! You have—”
“Alisander has him and is flying him to the alphas,” she tells me, but I barely hear her, feeling like the world is disappearing into a trance. I’m barely aware of wolves surrounding us, bowing to me, as I hear an echoing set of howls.
I know those howls anywhere.
My alphas are here, and I let myself finally fall into the awaiting darkness.
I’m home.
Eighty-Seven
I look down at an extremely bloody battlefield filled with piles of bodies in every direction, and the sound of screams, pleas for the gods to show mercy, and cries fill the daylight. The sun shines high in the sky, casting an almost orange tint on the field of blood-stained grass. It’s a massacre: blood, bone and destruction everywhere. High fires whip up in the distance, powered by an unnatural wind, and thick smoke fills the sky as it burns its way around the field. Sickness rises up my throat at the awful smell, and I have to hold it in as I spin around to figure out why I’m here.
Why I’m here.
This is a dream, a memory of Persephone, and I hope she didn’t do this. I have a sinking feeling she did, and this is only a tiny blip of the destruction she caused to make the gods kill themselves to stop her.
Goose bumps rise on my arms as I sense someone coming close. I feel him looming behind me, and I turn to greet Hades.
I don’t know how I knew it was him, but his presence washes over me like his magic, greeting and seeking, controlling, and possessing. I feel like a part of me belongs to Hades, just like the rest of my soul belongs to my alphas. He walks through the battle towards me, casting his net of power wide and reaping in a way only the god of death can. Smoky red wisps float out of the dead bodies in droves and follow him like he is singing a song only they can hear. The handsome god walks through death like he owns it.
And he does with a brilliance only he could.
The souls swarm into a flow of magic that trails behind Hades, right out of his back. He seems to walk straight towards me, like he can see me, and perhaps in this dream, I am his Persephone.
Hades stops a few inches away, and his presence is so overwhelming that my body stiffens. There is male beauty, and then there are gods. My alphas are beautiful too, but they are real, and Hades feels like a painting of a man instead of a real one. His dark hair is like the night sky, each lock painted with tiny stars, and his eyes are truly pits of darkness. He wears black leather from his neck down, and he isn’t as muscular as I thought he would be. He is slim, and a long black cloak is wrapped around him, clipped on his right shoulder by a black circular pin.
The only reason I don’t give into the fear is how similar he feels to them, my alphas. This god was born from darkness, wears and owns it, and it’s natural to fear him. It’s built into him to be feared.
Yet I don’t move.
“I always loved her,” he tells me, his voice deep and somehow beautiful.
I’m certain he really sees me now, even more when he carries on. “You’re the only part of her left in this world, Mairin Elysia Astra Fall. Child born on the day three stars shot across the sky and left stardust to fall down upon you.”
“How is it possible you’re in my dreams, Hades?” I question. I’m talking to Hades, a real god, and I don’t know how I’m not more freaked out.
“You’re in one of her many memories.” He pauses to look around. “One of the more disturbing memories, I’m sure.”
“You’re the god of death. I’m sure this is nothing to you,” I respond.
He smiles at that, and his smile is devastating. “Every part of my soul is touching you; therefore, we can speak like this. I had to meet you, Mairin.”
“Why?” I question. “I know you think I’m her, but—”
“You’re not,” he coldly states. His eyes flicker with pain in their dark, endless depths. “Mairin, you’re not her, but parts of you are. You are her, reborn, but different. For what it may mean to you, I loved all of Persephone and forever will. I am not here to claim you when I know your heart is claimed by others. Unlike your alphas, I will not share.”
