Page 113 of A Monstrous World: The Complete Series

Chapter Fourteen

Nadia

E cho drives much like I’d expect an ancient immortal vampire to drive. He zips around the precarious mountain curves, as though his passenger isn’t very much mortal.

“Ridge Hawthorne is an elder,” Echo says with zero prompting.

“What?” My mouth does an impressive impression of a fish. “He looks thirty or thirty-five.”

“How old do I look?” Echo asks.

Okay, I walked right into that one. Wolves and other shifters do age, though it’s much slower than a human. The only exception to that is the literally ancient wolves before they began breeding with humans and watered down the lines. We call those ancients or old-blood wolves.

“Thirty?”

“I was turned at thirty-two. I’m nearly three-hundred and fifty,” Echo says with a smirk.

“Sorry.” I glance out the window at the winding mountain road. “That’s a long time to be tied to that stellar example of a maker.”

“Mmm, you’ve no idea,” he says, his voice slipping into an old accent I don’t recognize.

“Did you purposely set me up to break your sire bond?”

“You think I have that type of power or sway?” he replies incredulously.

“No, Constantine was tired of losing witches. The barrier is on the brink of dissolving. They need you to be successful. Imogen wasn’t pleased that I would be the next guardian.

However, she quickly realized that I am the most capable option. ”

“She’ll never have that level of control over you again,” I say absently. “I’m sure she’s not going to be very happy about that.”

“I’m Imogen’s greatest failure,” Echo says, shifting gears.

The road curves up the mountain, and on the right side, there’s a small pull off that must be the parking lot.

Gravel crunches under the car tires as he pulls into a spot.

“The only of her progeny that didn’t inherit one of her ancient gifts.

” He stares out the window. “Much to her disgust and horror.”

“Fuck her.” Unbuckling my seat belt, I glance down. “I probably should have changed into the hiking attire I brought. You whisked me right out the door. I didn’t even think about it.”

My car is still packed with stuff back in the parking lot of Echo’s apartment.

Echo eyes me carefully. “I’ll carry you, it’ll be much quicker.”

“That’s not necessarily a good thing,” I grumble as he appears at my side.

The door quickly opens, and Echo quirks an eyebrow at me. “Come on.”

“I really should have worn pants today,” I mutter as he wraps an arm under my bottom and lifts me out of the vehicle.

“You’re perfect just the way you are, baby darkling,” Echo murmurs against my head as the trail begins to speed by too quickly for me to pick out any identifying landmarks.

“That’s so insulting,” I tell him, trying not to let the pace disorient me.

“What? Why? One of your ancestors definitely fucked a demon. You’ve got demon and witch blood.”

“Yeah, I do know that,” I say.

“Then there’s the fact that something about you smells very much like a vampire, even though you’re clearly not.

I can hear your heart beating. At first, I assumed it was your blood magic, but I’m beginning to think that’s not the case.

Tell me more about that,” he prompts. There’s no compulsion in his words, but for whatever reason, I still feel obligated to answer.

Maybe it’s the connection between us. I’m not sure.

“I’m shadowborn, which is obvious. When I turned thirteen, my mother realized I was a blood witch and...” I blow out a heavy breath. “Tried to kill me? Actually succeeded? I have no clue. All I know is Uncle Jack found me and brought me back or managed to save me using his blood.”

“He’s a vampire.”

“He is,” I agree. I don’t know why I’m even telling him this story.

It’s my most painful memory. Maybe it’s because he was vulnerable about his connection to Imogen.

“He couldn’t subdue my mother. It got ugly and.

..” I snuggle into his shoulder as he guides us deeper into the forest. “She died that day instead of me.”

“Shit,” he says, nuzzling his cheek to the top of my head. “So, your uncle killed his sister? Can a witch or warlock be turned into a vampire?”

“Not to my knowledge. I mean, I guess, if you’re willing to take the risk.

The higher the percentage of supernatural blood, the larger the chance of dying a painful death rather than being successfully turned.

That’s what I was told. Anyway, Uncle Jack isn’t related to me.

He was my mom’s friend? Boyfriend? Fuck buddy?

Who knows. He was around a lot, but after that, he.

..” I pucker my lips and blow as I try to put it into words.

“He acted in the moment and felt guilty?” Echo offers.

“I think he resented me,” I admit. Shortly after that, Nan moved us to a different town. Eventually, we ended up in Haven, which incidentally, is where she grew up.

“It wasn’t your fault.” His tone is different, more sincere than I’ve ever heard from him.

“I know.” My gaze moves to our surroundings. It’s a mistake as my eyes register exactly how quickly we’re moving.

“Don’t worry, baby darkling. I’m fully capable of avoiding trees and keeping you safe.” Echo laughs. “Our souls are literally tethered. Isn’t immortality one of the benefits? I mean, outside of having an active vessel?”

My jaw falls. I hadn’t considered that. I honestly don’t know all the details. “But wouldn’t it go both ways? Maybe I could pull energy from you to survive a moderate wound, but if I died, then would you die too?”

“It’s not like they gave me a handbook of what to expect,” he mutters. “Just a very clear statement that, if you fail, we both die. If I fail to protect you, then I’ll cease to exist.”

Well, that’s not exactly comforting, now is it?

Several hours later, I’ve bled my fair share, and Echo has too.

Ridge has prowled the two peaks we’ve completed, but he hasn’t interfered.

“We should’ve started at the farthest mountaintop from the parking lot,” I grumble as Echo lifts me. “That way, when we’re done, we would have been closer to the car.”

“Yes, perhaps,” Echo agrees. “I didn’t realize you’d be worse than a desiccated vampire.”

“It’s not fun work. I learned that real quick.

Nan is too honorable for her own good. She volunteered to replenish the ward in Haven.

I wasn’t going to sit back and let her do it alone.

That was a big mistake.” I’m pouting, but I know Octavia wouldn’t have put me in this situation if she knew what the outcome would be.

I yawn into his chest. He gave me his comfortable knit sweater a while ago because it really is chilly up here, but it’s not doing much, and my legs are freezing.

Echo is only in a white button-down, but the cold clearly doesn’t bother him like it does me.

The main cornerstone and one of the two runestones are done.

I just need to complete this smaller one, and we’ll have completed a quarter of the ward.

Normally, I would never go this hard, because I’ve spilled more blood than is healthy, but also, I need to finish this shit fast. People are dying because the ward is failing to keep them out.

“You’re like a sleepy kitten,” he muses into my hair as he heads up the top of the last peak.

“Get us close to the runestone, and we can just sit this time,” I mumble.

“Are you too tapped out to do this?” Echo asks, finally slowing down.

“No, I’m cold because someone didn’t let me change into proper mountain climbing attire,” I say. He’s no warmer than the conditions around us, but it is convenient that he’s able to hold me up. I’m close to empty. Not there yet, but after this, I will be.

My mind races as I realize I still have to contact Octavia and get the information about the pregnant woman I’m supposed to check on. I wonder if there’s a way to alert her that something is off without breaking any of the rules. A sharp pain jolts through my temples.

“Come on, mutt,” Echo calls to the woods off the path. “Perhaps you’re needed, after all.”

Ridge pads forward and nudges my hand with his snout. It seems really uncool to pet a wolf that’s also a shifter, but maybe he’s okay with it. His head tilts like he’s assessing me.

“I can manage,” I assure him.

The utter confusion on his face makes me snort. The giant alpha wolf looking baffled is officially the cutest thing I’ve seen in a long time.

Ridge immediately trots off, transforms back into a man, and prowls toward us. I keep my eyes above his very generous alpha package. I’m totally a respectable woman. I nearly snort at the thought. I think blood loss is getting to me.

“Put her down, bloodsucker,” Ridge says in his deep tone. My eyes bounce between them as tension radiates around us.

They continue to posture, neither of them willing to blink or look away first. No sane witch wants to be in the middle of a fight for dominance between a wolf and a vampire.

I’m confident they could do significant damage to one another, and I have no interest in being caught in that crossfire.

“He does look kind of warm.” I pat Echo’s chest to hopefully offset some of the sting of my words.

“She drinks blood too,” Echo replies drolly.

“Come here, little witch,” Ridge instructs.

My knees wobble a bit as I get used to standing on my own again. The corded muscles of his chest and stomach flex as he holds a hand out to me. His massive shoulders are tight with tension until I’m close enough for him to grab.

“Up you go,” Ridge says softly. “Feed.”

Once I’m wrapped around his warm chest, I study his handsome face. “I thought wolves didn’t care to be fed on.”

“They don’t,” Echo says. “You apparently fall outside of normal parameters for this particular wolf.”

“Eat,” Ridge says. His eyes glow the yellowy-green color. “Now.”

The command in his words leaves me no choice. I don’t worry about Echo seeing my baby fangs... No, I strike.