Page 43 of Hunt Me (The Skulls #1)

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Ruaridh

T he blood in my veins boils with fury as I stalk outside.

I found my sister, Isla, on the floor with a bloodied head. That was the first blow I felt. The second was realising my little deer was gone, and the only thing she ’ d left me with was droplets of her blood.

I've learnt that one of the shorter women, Amelia, is somewhat of the group's designated nurse. She ’ d been quick to assess Isla ’ s state when I came charging down the stairs with her limp body cradled in my arms. A tightness in my chest began as soon as that sewer rat had opened his disease-ridden mouth, and all it has done since is tighten with every passing second.

Anxiety sinks its ugly claws into my gut with each heavy step I take away from my injured sister, but this is a necessity I must take. I need to find my little deer, and when I have personally exterminated every last one of those sewer rats, I will never let her out of my sight again.

‘ Vish, ’ I bark as soon as I get outside, not bothering to hide from anyone nearby. My mask is back firmly in place, and my two axes will show any watchful eyes that I am not in the mood to be messed with. I ’ d welcome anyone stupid enough to cross my path right now.

‘ Aye, ’ Vish responds. Voice peppy at the same time as Liam asks, ‘ What ’ s wrong? ’

‘ You, ’ I gesture to Vish, ‘ go guard Fauna ’ s group. My sister ’ s pregnant and injured. ’ My molars grind as my blazing gaze finds Liam ’ s wide one. 'You ’ re coming with me. They took my girl, and I ’ m going to make them regret every decision they ever made. ’

‘ Wait, you mean Isla? ’

‘ Go, ’ I bark. Not wasting another second I burst into a jog, heading for the closest opening I can think of.

I hear Vish ’ s curse behind me and his hurried steps running away from me and toward the school.

Liam catches up to me in seconds, instantly matching my pace as he jogs alongside me.

‘ Where is the closest entrance to the sewers? ’ I ask, not slowing down.

‘ Under the bridge. ’

I have all the information I need. I take it and begin to run.

I ’ m coming, little deer, I promise.

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‘ Where is she, ’ I demand as I cut through the pathetic piece of shit ’ s bone.

He wails as the sharp blade of my axe slices clean through his forearm.

The blood boiling in my veins allows a new level of strength to run through me for what feels like days but may be as little as an hour.

I haven ’ t stumbled once, and my adrenaline has not begun to wean despite losing track of the number of rats I have cut through since being down here in hell.

‘ Where the fuck is she! ’ I yell, bringing my axe to his snot-drenched chin. ‘ You think I won ’ t just hack off every limb you have? Answer me! ’

He doesn ’ t, and I know from the way he sobs uncontrollably that he doesn ’ t know a thing. But I don ’ t care, all I see is one of the same people that could have taken my little deer and I refuse even to try to separate the two.

I allow the sharp edge of my blade to slide across his throat. A river of red streams from beneath his mottled flesh. Even his blood seems off as if his entire existence is poison.

The sewer tunnel is bathed in the deep orange glow of the fire. Around it are dead bodies. Lives that I ’ ve ended.

They deserved to die, every one of them.

Liam claps a palm on my shoulder, ‘ Let ’ s keep moving. She ’ ll be around here somewhere. ’

My head lowers for a moment as I try to collect myself.

I ’ ve felt rage before but never on this level, and it has never held this amount of terror with it.

It feels like someone is holding a boulder on my chest, and every minute that goes by without finding Fauna adds another weight.

The only thing keeping me up right now is knowing that the sooner these rats are gone, the quicker I will have my little deer in my arms again.

My lungs expand with a breath that fails to fill them fully, and I turn to face Liam. His expression is hard, not wanting to give anything away to me, but I ’ ve known him for long enough to know what he ’ s thinking.

What if we ’ re too late?

I can ’ t allow myself to go down the same route. Fauna is a fighter, and there is no way she would go easy on any of them.

I motion towards the next connecting tunnel. With all the adrenaline rushing through me, there is no time to rest. I will not rest until I have found her.

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The smell gets worse the further we go and the less human each of these sewer rats seems to become.

Their movements are animalistic, some in the way that they use their arms to aid them in walking, whereas others attack like rabid beings.

They use bones as weapons, ones that have been sharpened, and if I didn ’ t feel like a monster working on instinct, I might cringe at the sight.

The horrors we find in each room become worse than I could have imagined, and with each body I cut down, I see more appear.

Please baby, please be okay. I silently beg as more rancid blood sprays at me as I rip an axe from a rat's chest.

I look to Liam, us no longer using words to communicate.

It has been a while since there has been anything useful to say, and now it is at the point where I don ’ t dare to open my mouth out of fear that my voice will crack with emotion.

The only time I speak is to interrogate one of the worthless creatures we come across, and each one doesn ’ t seem to know shit.

They just beg me. It ’ s becoming annoying, and instead of trying to get any more information out of them, I don ’ t wait a second before I end their disgusting existence.

Liam hasn ’ t tried to stop me; he knows better than to try.

So we keep moving from tunnel to tunnel in search of my girl.