Night Runner, page 16
“They’re not in control of themselves. At all.” Whirling, I searched for Anthony.
Anthony still fought Darius, both nearly evenly matched. Punch and counter-punch, Anthony bolted between two large trees only to find Darius on the other side. It’s as though they moved in blinks. They were so fast. Kobie charged after them, but he wasn’t able to catch them at all. All around us, they battled, while we defended the pride in slow-motion.
Then I ran after them, too, barely able to keep them within sight.
“No, Maury,” Anthony bellowed.
Darius grinned, a sickly, smug grin. Then he blinked, and he was gone.
“Fuuuuck!” Anthony roared. He darted to my side and grabbed my arms. “Are you okay?” He pushed my hair away from my eyes and peered into me as though he could divine the truth.
I placed my palms on his chest. “I’m fine, fine. I’m fine.” I jerked my head toward the closest rogue shifter. “They’re not in control of themselves.”
“I suspected as much,” he whispered. “It’s some kind of black magic spell.”
“What?”
He shook his head. “I’ll explain later. We need to get to the cabin, take advantage of the lull.” He turned toward Kobie and Laura, then raised his fist toward the moonlight sky. “Forward!”
We charged the cabin where everything had started. But the opposing forces thinned, and we made it to the porch without taking any damage. I peered into the windows.
Dozens of shifters were tied to chairs inside the cabin. Every room was filled with weak and pale-looking shifters. All the images of me were gone. They’d been ripped from the walls, and we were in the middle of a trap. We’d been lured here to participate in whatever mad plan Darius had.
“Fuck,” Anthony finally barked, seething with rage inside him.
“What?”
“Ty’s in there.”
“What? He is?” I hissed, searching the faces inside.
“And he doesn’t look great,” Anthony growled and moved toward a figure in a chair. When he moved to the next window, he shook his head. “Though he doesn’t look as bad as the others.”
“Do you see any of Darius’s cats we should be worried about?”
“None that seem to have any sort of energy. These have to be the ones he’s drawing the most from…”
Laura cringed. “They’re like batteries for him.”
Anthony marched inside, and I followed my mate as we moved around the cabin, freeing shifters from their shackles. So many of them seemed to have been there a long time, and none had the energy to move yet. Most were nearly catatonic. At the edge of the group, we found one who must have died within the last few minutes, and it broke my heart. How close had we been to saving her, too?
I wiped a tear from my cheek, and then fled the building. A moment later, Anthony joined me on the porch. He scanned the woods around the cabin, and then he took my hand and led me into the yard. Kobie and Laura burst out of the shack and off into the woods, probably after another rogue they’d spotted.
Anthony said nothing, but he gathered me in his arms, pressing me to him. “Ssssh,” he said, stroking my hair.
A sob worked up. I knew what it was to be nothing but an object to use, and it twisted up my insides to see them all like that. Hot tears soaked Anthony’s skin. I didn’t know how long we stood like that, but Anthony’s body language changed.
“He’s out there,” he whispered, his body rigid.
I froze as I processed what Anthony meant. He had to mean Darius. Who else would make him react like that? No one. I stepped out of his arms, blinking away the last few tears. “Where?”
“I don’t—”
But then Darius stood directly in front of him with the blade of the jaguar talisman in his hand and raised high.
“Nooooooo!” I reached out, but I was too late, and I couldn’t reach him before Darius made his move.
The blade sliced diagonally across Anthony’s torso, and I felt the pain of the edge as though bearing cut myself. Blood poured out of the gash in floods. Shit!
Another moment and Darius disappeared again.
Clamping down hard, nearly biting off my tongue, I barely kept from crying out, and I bolted toward my mate, hoping the cut hadn’t been the death of him.
He clutched his middle and fell forward to his knees.
Anthony!
I blinked, and in an instant, a thick forearm wrapped around my throat, squeezing so tightly my eyes bulged.
“Hello, Maury,” a thick, disgusting voice breathed against my ear. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
maury
Captured!
Darius had me, and his arm was around my throat. My brain screamed. The rogue had me! Mentally, I begged Anthony to stay smart about how he meant to attack, because I already knew Anthony’s counterattack was inevitable. He’d rip the earth in two to get to me.
Anthony rested on his knees in front of us, still holding his middle where the dagger slice had been deepest. He lifted one knee and slammed the sole of his foot down on the ground. Then he leaned forward and brought his other leg up. He straightened, and his eyes burned with bright hatred fire. His upper lip curled in a snarl.
“Careful, careful,” Darius sing-songed in my ear. “Warn him to be careful.”
“Never,” I rasped. Oh, shit. Be careful, Anthony. Yet no matter how much I wanted him to save me, I would never show weakness to the asshole who had me.
Darius reached up with his other hand to clutch my neck below his forearm. His hand was a paw, and his giant claws were at my throat, extended, sharply pressing into my skin. I swallowed and then cringed as the points ripped my skin.
“Don’t you dare hurt her,” Anthony roared, and he charged toward us, his arm across his middle as though he was trying to keep his bowels inside him.
But it was too late. The tips of the dagger claws pressed deeper into my skin, and droplets ran down my neck. The metallic scent filled my nostrils as he proceeded to smear my blood all over my skin, and I bit back a gag.
Don’t take the bait, my love. I pushed the thought toward him, willing my mate to hear me through our bonding. Pushing the pain aside, I kept calm.
But Anthony caught sight of the blood already on me. “Fuuuuuuck!”
One of the claws pressed into the throbbing artery in my neck, and more bright red poured from the puncture, in a stronger rivulet.
“Don’t come a step closer or I’ll kill her,” Darius warned.
I drew in a breath, as another claw dragged down my neck, spilling more blood.
Anthony stopped short, indecision on his face, and he clutched himself. Kobie and Laura burst into the clearing, rushing to Anthony’s side and catching his arms to keep him from injuring himself further.
Darius threw back his head and his laugh reverberated over the swamp. “I have her. I’ve won,” he crooned. “She’s mine, and you can’t do anything.”
Anthony tried to break free from Kobie and Laura. Blood poured from his wound, too, but they didn’t let go, and Laura’s eyes turned pleading as she stared at me.
Kobie stepped in front of Anthony. “Don’t play his game, Tony.”
“No, no, you can’t,” Laura said, squeezing Anthony’s shoulder as tears sparkled on her cheeks. “You’re too hurt.” I’m sorry, she mouthed to me.
I tried to smile, but my chin quivered too much to work one up. Their anguish broke my heart, but they were keeping my love safe. That’s what I wanted. That’s what the pride needed.
Darius had made all the rules, and he’d bested us at his own game. I coughed on the smell of blood and my own fear.
Shit. It was the night of Darius’s first attack all over again, but so much worse as my two closest friends and my lover looked on. Terror boiled up in my middle and churned in my stomach. Fucking hell. I couldn’t breathe. Shadows surrounded me, and my vision condensed to a small view hole.
“Anthony!” I gasped. “Keep him away!”
“Shut up!” Darius yanked me backward against him, choking off everything else I wanted to screech at them all. Save him. Save him. The words pounded through my head in time with my galloping pulse. Anthony had to survive.
Darius dragged me backward up the steps of the cabin. “You’re mine,” he rasped in my ear, his breath hot over my skin. “I cannot wait to draw all your power from every cell in your body.”
Anthony held his stomach as blood poured over his hands and covered his front, and Kobie and Laura kept him from coming after me. Oh, cats, so much blood. I flashed hot and cold and then hot again, reaching for my mate.
But Darius pulled me up the steps and into the oppressive darkness and stink of the cabin, halting on the threshold. I kicked and struggled against him until the whole front of my shirt was blood-soaked.
Anthony broke free of Kobie’s grasp and charged toward me. Laura tried to catch him, but he shook her off. My mind screamed at him to stop, but I couldn’t do anything. I searched for him in my mind and then felt the searing pain of the slash across his body.
“Get back, Anthony!”
Darius caught his wrist with his other hand, and the crook of his elbow nearly crushed my windpipe as we slipped into the cabin.
Shit. Shit. Shit. I sucked at the air, the heavy air in the bayou. Not enough of it. More oxygen. I needed more. Spots danced in the remainder of my vision, and I squeezed my eyes closed. Too much blood. Not enough oxygen. I clawed at the muscular arm around my neck until my knees weakened and finally gave out, cinching down the choke hold even more. Darkness pressed in.
We’d come so far, so far, and it was going to end where it had started. Footsteps marched across the porch, confident and strong. Anthony appeared at the threshold, but he came no closer.
Darius’s grip loosened slightly. “Stand up, bitch,” he snapped. “I want you to see him die.”
I bit back a whimper and closed my eyes. Don’t watch me die, my love.
“Maury, Maury, look at me,” Anthony bellowed, and pain laced his words.
“Look at him one last time,” Darius commanded. When I didn’t, he shoved me. “I said look.”
I forced my eyes open and searched for the eyes of my mate. He stood in the clearing in front of the cabin, holding the slash across his body, but the flow of blood hadn’t slowed.
Anthony… This was our end. Shit. It had been so beautiful. My heart squeezed in my chest. Anthony, I love you.
Anthony crumbled to his knees. “Maury! When you feel it, use it!”
I frowned as his words bumped through my sluggish thoughts.
When I feel it, use it…
Darius dragged me toward the back of the cabin. I still didn’t understand what he was doing or why he needed me. All this for the power of a lowly shifter? Maybe he’d only wanted to hurt Darius, to take over the pride.
I wanted to slip to the floor, to disappear into nothing. Anthony was dying out there, and I was dying in here. I curled around myself, and Darius cursed at me.
“Stand up, you bitch.” He tugged the familiar jaguar knife from his waistband and the blade glinted in the dim light.
Suddenly, my toes warmed, and my muscles bulged. Energy bolted through me, and I didn’t understand what was happening. My body straightened as if someone else controlled me. My limbs went rigid as power seeped into them. Now or never!
I reached up, slipped my hand into the crook of Darius’s arm and pulled his arm away as though it was nothing. In an instant, I understood what Anthony had done. He’d given me the power of the pride. My lips peeled back in a maniacal laugh.
Darius grunted. “What—”
But I didn’t wait for him to figure it out. I brought my head forward and then back until my skull slammed into Darius’s face. His nose cracked.
He stumbled backward.
“Use the power, Maury,” Anthony called weakly. “It’s yours now!”
Another rush exploded through me, and I trembled. Energy coursed through my veins, and I knew this was our triumph. Whirling toward Darius, I launched myself across the cabin, shocked by the speed of my movements. I focused on my hand, the way Darius had, shifting only my hand into a clawed paw which I swiped at him.
My claws dug into his skin, creating deep ravines through his flesh, and I shrieked a feral, feline scream. I swiped at him again. As if in slow motion, his neck split into two sides and his flesh gaped wide. Blood spurted from him.
Three stumbling steps backward, and he went down, falling to the ground between two tied, nearly dead shifters. The gurgling sent shudders through me, but no regret followed.
His eyes went wide in shock, and he clutched at the gaping gash in his throat. “How-how-how is this possible? She said…”
I peered down at the rogue as his blood spread over the floor slats, dropping down in between. Two of the cationic shifters on either side of him stirred slightly as the drain on them lessoned. Darius grew pale as his blood seeped from him.
“How, how?” he repeated, rocking back and forth as his body turned ashen. “You shouldn’t have been able to beat me. How did you suddenly become powerful?”
I pulled back my shirt and exposed the jaguar mark on my skin. “We’re fated mates, asshole, and he pushed the power of a pride who loves him into me. You’ll never have that. Love wins every time,” I spat.
“Maury, get out here!” Laura yelled. “Do something!”
Abandoning the now-dying rogue, I rushed out of the cabin and into the clearing. Sunrise wasn’t far and already sent pale yellow through the night still in the sky. There! Anthony had crumpled on the ground.
I dropped to my knees beside my unconscious mate and cradled his face in my hands. Filling myself with all the power and energy I could muster, I filled my mind with healing thoughts. Then I sent energy flowing back toward Anthony. Nothing happened, and I placed my hands over the slice in his torso.
Kobie paced circles around us, and Laura stood nearby with her arms crossed. A scuffle sounded inside the shack, and the pair darted inside. A chilling wail emanated from within, but I couldn’t leave my mate.
Oh, god. His chest wasn’t moving. Death had no place here, and I willed it to flee.
I leaned over Anthony and pressed my lips to the jaguar mark on his skin, washing his wounds with my tears. As the sun cracked the horizon, a burst of sunlight struck us.
But… I raised my head and frowned. The glow was different, sparkling somehow.
It wasn’t sun at all! Magic settled in a cloud around us, and his wound began knitting together. Within moments, he’d healed. Then he sputtered and took a halting breath. “Maury,” he groaned. “Where’s Maury?” He groped at the air until I caught his hand.
“I’m here. I’m here, my love.”
“Did it work?”
“It worked,” I whispered.
Then Kobie and Laura reappeared on the porch with stony expressions. They took one look at Anthony and bolted toward us.
“No shit. I thought you died,” Kobie yelled and then blew his nose on a handkerchief.
Laura jabbed Kobie in the ribs.
I helped Anthony to his feet, pleased his color was already returning. I nodded toward the cabin of horrors. “What happened in there?”
Kobie pressed his lips into a tight line as a figure moved over the threshold. Laura gestured over her shoulder. “They finished him off.”
“They?”
Laura continued the story. “Apparently, the moment you nearly killed Darius, it set them free. It didn’t take long for them to break free, realize who was bleeding on the floor, and figure out he’d been weakened. Then they reminded him of the strength in numbers.”
Kobie pushed his hand through his hair and down over the back of his neck. “They ripped him limb from limb.” He shook his head. “Gruesome.”
More and more shifters stumbled from the cabin until the clearing had filled with them. As the sun illuminated the bayou, smiles dawned on their faces. The stronger helped the weaker, and they huddled around us.
“Is it true you’re fated mates?” one of them asked.
I said nothing, half-wishing our truth hadn’t gotten out now. But it was too late.
Anthony wrapped his arm around my shoulders. He pointed to his mark and then showed them mine. “We are fated mated, bonded and sealed together.”
I winced. So much for no announcements. It was out there now. An awe-struck murmur ran through the collecting crowd.
I shrugged. “Guess the cat’s out of the bag now.”
“Literally,” Laura said.
As all the shifters pressed closer, I plastered a smile on my face. Dozens of hands stroked us as though we were now a talisman to them all.
Ardor filled their expressions, and I met Anthony’s gaze. He gave me an apologetic look.
“It was going to come out eventually,” he said.
I didn’t answer, but I had no idea what this meant for us now. Sure, I’d done it to myself, but it seemed like they were going to want to turn us into spiritual icons whether we liked it or not. And I wasn’t up for being an icon or a saint or a spiritual anything. I barely had my life together and spiritual leader was not in my future.
And I didn’t want to be an icon or a talisman for a whole desperate shifter community.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
maury
Kobie and Laura helped Anthony up onto the front porch steps as a dozen enforcers from our pride surrounded him, eyeballing the rogues we’d just freed. They dragged one of the empty chairs out from the inside of the cabin so he could sit in it. None of our enforcers seemed comfortable with the new shifters yet.
Slowly, Anthony lowered himself into the chair. Then Kobie and Laura joined me again in the clearing out front of the cabin. While Anthony wasn’t actively bleeding, he wasn’t healed all the way, and it seemed to be taking a while. He needed to take it easier than I did, especially without the strength from the pride in him.
“Well, well, well,” a voice announced from the shadowed part of the forest behind the shack, from deeper in the bayou. “Look at what you’ve become.”
