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CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

MIKO

I barely dodged the big fucker’s fist, diving into a roll.

I felt the air churn before the impact, the boom shaking the earth. New cracks appeared, spitting pink smoke into my face.

The giant’s laughter whipped up the fallen leaves at my feet, hitting my back in a hot gust of acrid air.

“Nowhere to run, chosen wolf. Nowhere to hide.”

Up ahead in the perpendicular street, slowies shambled into view. Somewhere behind them came the hiss of the speedies.

Damn. Another horde.

“This is most enjoyable,” Dawn drawled. “I like games. I like to play.”

I like to destroy fucked up entities. And it’s pending, dickhead…

I cast my eyes around the street, searching for an escape route, aware of the giant lifting its fist for another round of squash the werewolf.

“Die!” Dawn yelled, going for the kill.

I darted to safety and made for a house in the middle of that perpendicular street. Knocking the door down with my shoulder, I charged through a narrow hallway, meeting a biter in the tiny kitchen. A slowie, both arms missing, was wedged between an American fridge-freezer and the sink. I ignored it, kicking the back door down, its glass window shattering loudly.

Two more slowies stood in the concrete back garden beside rotting patio furniture. Again, I ignored them. They were too slow, no threat to me.

“Chosen wolf!”

Rotten breath hit me again. I glanced back, the giant’s big head cresting the top of the roof.

“Cannot run. Cannot hide.”

It lifted both fists, bringing them down on the house. I vaulted over the back wall in time to miss the collapse, pausing as debris flew overhead, crashing into the wall at my back. Dust sprinkled my hair, but nothing heavy fell on me.

Thank God.

Coast clear, I broke into a run, charging down a back alley, jumping over corpses and piles of rubbish. At the end of the alley, I ran into another street, meeting the horde.

Shit. Didn’t mean to do that.

The speedies hissed as one, releasing a collective, “Eat!”

“Fucking hell,” I grumbled, speeding off into another house.

I cracked a zombie in the face as it lunged at me in the hallway, before zipping out the back door already swinging off its hinges. I vaulted over a garden wall, then another, then another, the giant’s stomping chase vibrating through my feet.

If I stopped, I was done for.

Not going to happen, no matter how much my legs burned.

A massive burp caught me by surprise. God, talk about thunderous. I skidded to a halt, getting in a quick check.

The giant stopped, its head tilted back, pink smoke spilling out of its mouth like it’d swallowed a fog machine with a colorful twist. It stood there doing nothing, even the sounds of the horde seemingly paused.

Its mouth quivered, a rumble in its belly. I started backing off, ready to run again.

A second burp exploded out of it, streams of pink smoke billowing into the sky.

“No!” Dawn cried.

Whatever was going on, I hoped it hurt.

The biter suddenly melted, shrinking like plastic meeting fire. It quickly disappeared from sight, Dawn yelling the whole time.

Interesting. The more Dawn tried to evolve and become something spectacular, the faster it seemed to burn out. But did that weaken it? And was it only a matter of its army of zombies eating more flesh before it got the hang of things?

Shit.

I carried on, the sounds of the horde back in play. I aimed for the direction Paige set out, constantly checking the air for any trace of my pack’s scent. But all I could smell was decay. Earth’s air always carried the stink of death, but this was so much worse.

“Ori?” I tried again. “Please answer me.”

I got nothing but silence.

The worst of all worst-case scenarios dug its grubby fingers into me. I swatted at it, trying my best to ignore any notion of my mate being dead.

But why didn’t he answer?

Why couldn’t I feel his heartbeat?

“Ori? please talk to me. I can’t bear this silence. I need you. I need to talk to you.”

I need to say goodbye, I didn’t add.

I reached a new street, a curving road with woodland at the end. Right. Just through there and I should hit the farmland.

I checked the air again, still catching no trace of my pack.

I broke into a run, repeatedly trying to connect to my gorgeous fae. Just to hear his voice again…

…even if it had to be the last time.