Chapter 138

Whoever that man was, I couldn’t be caught by him again. It didn’t matter how much everything hurt. It didn’t matter that every step sent bolts of agony through me. I just needed to get away. I couldn’t go back into the caves. He’d find me. He’d take me, and then there would be no way out. I knew this. I couldn’t say how I knew it, but I knew it.

There was light ahead like moonlight streaming through the trees. The people who were running ahead of me seemed to slow down as they reached the outside and looked around. They started cutting through the trees.

“Keep going!” Francia yelled from behind us. “We’ll lose it in the trees.”

My heart lightened as I heard the stroke of thunder. It rumbled and shook the cave as I grew closer. Lightning streaked across the sky, and the rain fell in thick, heavy sheets. I ran into the rain, and a flash of memory went through my mind. For a moment, I was running towards a paved highway. My heart trembled as I looked around waiting for the glint of light from back then that meant a car was coming towards me from the distance.

It meant that Candido was coming for me. He had to be. He would always come for me. He promised to protect me, to take care of me. I almost called his name as a flash of light cut through the air.

Then, someone shoved me forward as they cut past me. I tripped and fell, slamming into the ground. I felt someone run across my leg. Someone else ran across my arm, digging into the ache in my hand. I screamed, but no one stopped to look back at me.

None of them cared about me, but I didn’t need them to. I turned, looking, but there were no lights coming, no thrum of an engine, just more footsteps disappearing behind me and coming up behind me.

I got up and turned back as gunshots rang out through the night. I saw a flash of light cutting through the darkness as the gun went off. Francis and two others darted out of the cave rushing towards me.

“Get up!” Francia yelled at me. “Run!”

The large lumbering beast seemed to slow to a stop as a sound, something like singing, filled the air. Golden light slipped though the air then turned silver as it drifted over my head. I looked in the direction it was coming from and saw a group of hooded figures, blocking the paths of people who were running. One of them shoved someone back.

Another person collapsed to the ground and burst into tears. “I don’t want to die!”

"Please don't kill us!"

"Vampires!" One of them yelled, twisting, and pulling out a gun. "Kill them!"

The man flipped through the air and slammed into a nearby tree. The gun clattered to the ground, and he slumped against the tree. Someone else wailed in fear and dropped to the ground, covering his head.

I looked back as the trail of silver light drifted around the beast. It shuffled forward out of the cave and sank into a crouch like a large dog. Its eyes, filled with moonlight, stared out into nothing.

"No one is going to kill you," a deep, ancient voice drifted through the air. It was a man, I was sure, and it sent a shiver of fear through me. "Most of you, anyway."

Someone wailed. "Please, she's just a baby!"

I heard footsteps and the shuffling of robes as I stared at the beast as it simply watched us. Francia and her companions were bent at the waists panting.

"... but she's not your baby, now, is she?"

I turned back as the woman choked. A hooded figure had her by the neck, the baby in his arm as he lifted her from the ground. Someone let out a frightened gasp.

"You are lucky," he said. "You are more useful alive for now."

He tossed her carelessly towards a group.

"Interrogate her. I want to know how she got this child and how many others there may be."

"Of course, sire."

My heart clenched. "There is only one king."

The hooded figure turned towards me. The rain didn't seem to touch him. He turned again and looked past me.

"You must have been desperate."

Francis sighed with relief. "We were… they set off a bomb in the center of town. I have no idea how many were killed."

"Anyone I would care about?"

She laughed. "No."

"Good. Let them continue with their little war." He walked through the group. "Most them will be little more than fodder by the end of it." He turned back towards the forest. "Separate them. Take the unworthy and useless wherever best suits."

Someone shrieked and more than half of the group seemed to vanish in the blink of an eye.

"Where did you send them? What did you do to them?" I shuddered. "You'll pay for hurting werewolf citizens."

"...I see what she means," he said lightly as he approached me. As he grew closer, my vision blurred. His face was shadowed but the feel of him made goosebumps breakout across my skin.

He crouched in front of me and I couldn't even speak as he pulled his hood back and looked at me.

His eyes were pure red and burning but joy glowing. My heart pounded at how unlike anything I've ever seen before he seemed. Then, I realized that his face was familiar, like Raven… like my mother.

"Sad that this is what I have to show for all of her suffering," he said, his eyes drifting over me. "You are certainly never going to be my favorite niece."

My heart lurched. "Niece?"

He hummed. "Dumb, too. I guess you're pretty enough… It is not as though the Full Moon line is known for its leadership… or for choosing useful spouses."

"I'm not dumb!" I cried. "And don't talk about the Full Moon pack that way! They defeated you, didn't they?"

He laughed, throwing his head back. "At least you are amusing…"

I glared at him. "They killed the vampire king, didn't they?"

He smiled, his eyes glinting with a cold light.

"It has been… so long since I've had to listen to such idiocy. I'm almost enjoying it."

He reached out and pressed hard against my chest, I bowled over, curling away from his touch and collapsing to the ground.

"What did you do to me?" I gasped through the pain. "Candido is going to make you pay for this."

"Weaker than I expected," he sighed. "It seems I have saved your life yet again. Oh, how our line has fallen…"

He held his hand out and let the rain wash away the blood though he was completely dry.

"At least you are alive," he said, looking down at me and pursing his lips with disdain. "...mostly."

"Where is Candido?"

He scoffed. "How would I know and why would I care? I'm not trying to fuck him."

He turned to Francia. "I trust you can manage to follow?" She nodded stiffly. He looked down at me. "And you?"

I glared at him. "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me where Candido is."

He leaned down and grab me by my arm. I yelped as he started to drag me behind him.

"Don't drag me!" I said. "Let me go!"

"I have no time to argue with you about what you will and won't do, nor will I be wasting any power levitating you. You aren't worth it."

My eyes burned. "You don't treat Raven like this."

"No," he said as I tried to get to my feet and kept failing. "Raven would have been smart enough to stay at home, or at least, get up."

I turned trying to get out of his grip, but I couldn't even get his arm to budge. I turned my head and tried to bite him. My teeth clamped down on something that felt more like stone than flesh. It made my teeth ache. air swear I heard one of them crack. I wailed at the pain. He ignored me, still dragging me behind him.

"Biting? It's clear you were raised by wolves," he said. "I hope you've learned a lesson."

"Wait until Candido finds me," I sniffled as tears streamed down my face. "You're going to regret treating me like this."

I hiccupped as more tears streamed down my face.

"He'll make you regret it!"

"Doubtful," he said. "And honestly, I would relish him showing up to take you off my hands. Maybe you both would learn a thing or two about preparedness and general operational procedures."

He scoffed. "Who am I kidding? He's as stubborn as every one of his predecessors and twice as blind."

"Where is Candido?" I asked. "I know you know, so tell me!"

"Even if I cared, would it matter? His whereabouts are the least of your problems."