Page 46 of Hunted (Love and Revenge #5)

Footsteps skittered through the vents above. I looked up—and nearly laughed out loud. The fluffy white cat’s yellow eyes gleamed beyond the vent grate. Several rats and a weasel followed her in a procession, whiskers twitching, tails lashing, as she followed the duct work toward the tunnels.

She paused, gave me a slow blink of haughty acknowledgement, then vanished deeper into the walls, her rodent army following. Of course.

Cicely darted into view, arms full of small bodies—an opossum, two snakes, and Cheese Crackers—with Odin riding along on his shoulder like a supervising gargoyle.

What was he doing here? I thought was with the others.

My heart thudded with delayed fear at seeing him here, so near the cult’s improvised entrance.

He grinned, his shiny gold curls flopping into his eyes.

His glamor had slipped, and his true form was visible, little horn nubs and pointed ears peeking through his tangled hair.

The ankles that peeked past his loose linen pants were covered in fur and ended in goat hooves.

I wanted to grab the fool and yank him close, make sure he was unharmed.

But I held back the silly impulse, covering my relief with irritation at his reckless concern for every living thing.

“Go,” I rasped, flinging an arm toward the hallway behind me.

He winked, nodded, and slipped past.

Another shockwave rocked the walls, as if the cult wouldn’t be content until they brought the theater down on our heads. I tasted sulfur.

That was not good. First blood magic, now something demonic? What were the cultists up to? I swore. It didn’t matter. Whatever their means, they were effective. We were clearly out of time.

Sanka’s powerful aura approached from behind and he jogged into the room. “Come on,” he said curtly. “Ceiling is rigged to come down in five.”

I joined him in the hall, trailing darkness and terror behind me in case any other cultists decided to come rushing in through the hole in the foundation. “Everyone’s accounted for?” I said, as we hurried back out of the west wing.

Sanka shot me a dark look. “Almost everyone. Josh hasn’t shown up yet.

Vir’s losing his shit. Yukio says Acacia probably made the vampire run to save her asset.

Robin went off to search the guest wing one last time.

But she made me set the spell to blow the place up anyway—forced the others into the tunnels and went all alpha on us.

” He shrugged. “We can’t wait. There’s cultists surrounding the property—not sure how they hid from us while they planned all this, but I can sure as fuck sense them now.

I can feel them charging up for something big—I think they’re making a circle to cast a net spell.

And whatever bullshit they’ve used to bolster their magic—I can’t take them out this time, dude. ”

His dark brown eyes were full of regret. “I hope Yuko’s right. I hope Josh did a runner and saved his own skin. Because we can’t stay here looking for him when it might mean Ru the rest of us end up property of the fucking cult.”

I ground my teeth together. He was right, damn it.

But... I couldn’t just run away when one of us might still be trapped in here.

Especially a beta. I wasn’t an alpha, but the gamma instinct to protect and defend was still strong—and whatever else he might be now, Josh was still a beta.

And one of ours. He needed my protection.

I stopped. Sanka turned to look back at me, impatience warring with resignation as he studied my face.

“Fuck’s sake, Dusek,” he half reprimanded, half whined.

“Really? You’re supposed to be the practical one.

Tell me to move my ass and stop defying my alpha’s orders.

Remind me I’m a fucking beta too, even if I ain’t half as fragile as the rest.”

I shook my head at him. “Five minutes?”

He groaned. “A bit less than that now that we’ve stood here jawing. Fuck me.” He jogged back to me. “What do we do?”

I shoved a bit of my power his way, urging him back down the hallway toward safety. “ We do nothing. You go join the others. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Dusek—” but I didn’t hang around to listen to his complaints. There wasn’t time. I shoved my magic toward him again, the terror making him take several running steps away before he caught himself. “Fine. Fine! I’m going. Damn it, man. Don’t fucking die!” Then the sorcerer took off toward safety.

I called to the darkness in me, letting myself dissolve into black fear, stretching myself, thinning and becoming one with the shadows, not quite here, not quite gone.

Then I drifted, pushing myself through layers of stone and drywall, through earth and pipes as I misted across the west side of the lower levels, searching.

I almost missed him.

There. A lifeforce, but... not.

He was dead. Mostly. I dropped out of the shadow space, rolling my shoulders to shake off the feeling of wrongness as I compacted myself back into a human-shaped body. Then I crouched near the pile of rubble.

Three dead cultists littered the floor, their skin sliced to ribbons, shredded by vampire claws and teeth. He hadn’t run. He had stayed here and fought with us to defend our home. If Acacia had ordered him away, he had found a way to stay.

“Josh.” My voice was a hoarse whisper as I reached for his pale, blood-covered face. His torso was crushed under rock and earth, one of his legs sticking out at the wrong angle like a broken doll. And yet... dead-not-dead to my bubak senses.

Snarling, I heaved at the debris. But I wasn’t strong enough to move it in this form. And if I shifted into my towering bubak form, not only would I not fit in here, I would likely bring even more of The Fox collapsing down on top of us when I tried to move the weight pinning him to the ground.

He needed Ruya. She could heal him. But I couldn’t bring her to him, there was no time and I wouldn’t risk her life. And also... he’d still be stuck.

I started when his eyelids snapped open and dull hazel eyes zeroed in on me.

His mouth opened and closed, but no sound escaped.

He couldn’t draw breath to make a sound.

It was gut wrenching to watch, even for me.

I cast about frantically, looking for a shard of glass, a sharp stick.

.. my eyes landed on Josh’s hand, flung out limply between us—and tipped in wicked vampire claws.

Not giving myself time to think, I grabbed his index finger and used his claw to slash a line across my arm.

Then I shuffled closer, letting my dark blood trickle onto his face, trying to get as much as I could into his mouth.

I grunted when he lifted his head enough to bite me, striking out with lighting speed and deadly strength.

“We only have a couple of minutes before this whole place comes down on us,” I ground out. “Take what you need, but do it fast. Don’t worry about hurting me.”

I wasn’t sure if he was really in there right now. But either he understood, or the monster in him took over. Either way, he bit deeper, sucked harder, drew on me fast and deep. I just hoped it was enough. Eventually, he lifted his free hand, wrenching his fangs from my skin and shoving me away.

Then he gritted his teeth together and thrashed.

I helped as much as I could, lifting up on the stone that pressed down on him.

In a sudden burst of supernatural strength, he pressed his free hand under the rock, drew his broken leg under him, and heaved, lifting the rubble just enough to roll free as the pile shuddered and threatened to cause an even worse collapse.

I darted backward and stood, reaching out a hand for the vampire.

.. who was no longer where he had been. I blinked and found him standing right next to me, stooped and holding one arm over his middle as he drew in a gasping breath and let out an inhuman sound.

His body was shattered, but he stood next to me and shook, his hazel eyes no longer dull but flashing with hunger and power.

“Fuck,” he coughed out. “Dusek... your blood... your power ...” those newly alive eyes lit on my neck, and I scowled.

“Not now,” I snapped, shoving him toward a hole in the opposite wall. “We need to get to the tunnels before the spell Sanka set goes off and brings the ceiling down on us.”

His eyes widened and he gave me a curt nod. “Go. I will follow.”

I started to run, but I knew we weren’t going to make it. There wasn’t enough time. I had wasted too much time trying to free him.

He blew past me, stopped and waited impatiently. “Hurry, Bubak!”

I blinked at him in surprise. Then I laughed, the sound unhinged and a bit frantic. “You’re faster than a human.”

He rolled his eyes. “And you can become shadows. Move, now.” His smooth voice cracked. “I don’t want to die like that again.”

The haunted look in his eyes was enough to make my bubak nature perk up with sly interest—being crushed nearly to death and left there to rot in his not-quite-dead state was a nightmare as awful any I could conjure.

I clapped a hand on his shoulder, then took shadow form and rushed forward, scouting out open routes as he followed as vampiric hyper speed.

Every second that passed was a death knell in my head.

I’d probably be able to phase out and escape the explosion, depending on what kind of spell Sanka had set.

But Josh wouldn’t be so lucky. It seemed like an eternity before I finally reached the entrance to the tunnels, sweeping into the cool darkness and turning to look for Josh.

The vampire’s toes crossed the rough threshold. Sadavir yanked the man into his arms in a crushing embrace. Sanka slammed the reinforced steel door shut. The spell detonated just as the door sealed, a roar of sound and magic that destroyed any possibility of returning to our sanctuary.

Robin silently herded us forward, all of us deafened by the explosion. When we reached a bend in the tunnel, she paused to assess. She, Sanka, and Yukio started talking about spells while I slumped into a shadowed corner to catch my breath and steady myself. Close. That had been so damned close.

Ruya fussed over Josh, forcing him to sit on the dirty ground while she crawled nearly into his lap, her hands flitting over him, pouring golden healing magic into his broken form. He’d be okay. Thank fuck.

Sadavir drifted over to me, back in human form.

His eyes still glowed, and his alpha aura was expanded, pushing outward with a fury and determination that made even a gamma want to bow.

I straightened, but I didn’t get a chance to form words before he was on me.

Strong arms hauled me into a fierce embrace, and he squeezed me so hard I wheezed.

“Thank you,” he whispered in his halting, blunted tones. “I owe you a life, bubak.”

I swallowed hard, uncertain what to do with this blatant outpouring of gratitude, or the way he was hugging me like my mere presence didn’t cause terror.

He shuddered, then stepped back, still gripping my upper arms. His citrine eyes met mine and he pressed his forehead to mine in some formal gesture before finally freeing me to sign.

“ I am glad you are unharmed as well, beautiful nightmare.”

I cleared my throat uncomfortably as I felt my cheeks heat up, not quite sure what to do with that . Robin stood behind us, her eyes narrowed, and her entire body covered in ash and dirt. Her gaze swept over Sadavir, took in his proximity to me, then landed on me with a weight I really didn’t like.

“Are we all whole and accounted for now?” she asked, her husky voice brisk and no-nonsense.

Ruya stood next to Josh, clasping the vampire’s hand as if she’d never release him. “Minor injuries left,” she said, tilting her head as she reached out her magical senses to check on us all. “I can fix them as we move.” She swung her sightless gaze back toward Robin. “What do we do now?”

Robin shook ash out of her long hair and squared her shoulders.

“Now,” she said easily, as if her light tone could disguise the fury radiating off her.

“We abandon the nest,” she said, spinning on a heel and heading down a side tunnel, a ball of flame held in her hand to light the way. “Safehouse. Now.”

I glanced back at the warded metal door that stood between us and our home, then followed her into the dark.