Page 89 of Marked for Execution
Flashes of his torture ran through the back of my mind as Samuel limped over to the fire, grabbed a piece of wood, and stabbed it into Darius’ throat. The animal fat that stuck to his skin caught fire, sending tendrils of smoke into the air. Samuel fell onto his ass as Remi ran into his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck, taking them both down.
Gunner used the short sword to push himself up to standing, leaning against it while he watched the paralyzed vampire continue to burn and sizzle.
Eliseo put a hand to my shoulder, and I covered it with my own, dropping the crossbow on the dead leaves beneath me.
“You coated the arrowheads. Good girl,” he whispered.
“Didn’t we run over this guy?” Reed asked, perplexed, knife still in his crimson-coated hands.Where was he this whole time, and why was he covered in what smelled like animal blood?
“Clones,” I answered.
The fire crackled as we all stood there, watching the vampire cook in front of us. His hand twitched, and I pulled out a gun and shot him twice just for good measure.
“Babe, you’re going to have to get off poor Samuel. My leg hurts like a motherfucker.” Samuel tried to pry her arms off but failed. The girl was shaking with fear, her mother having died only a few moments ago.
What a damn shit show.
“Remi, come here. I got you. How about you and I go relax in the RV, huh?” I coaxed her.
She shook her head vehemently as Eliseo stood beside Gunner and Reed, talking about where to chuck the vampire’s corpse.What was Clan Corrus doing so far out here?The last thing I remembered was them wanting to use me as a treaty gift to Clan Disaris. Corrus was way up north, towards the snowy regions, much too far to be here.
Unless, they had been searching for me, since the ‘gift’ obviously didn’t make it. Like that, another mark was on my head for execution. We were going to have to find a solution to all this, or else risk being on the run for the rest of our lives.
Samuel rubbed Remi on the back slowly, murmuring things until she finally nodded and let go. We could see him physically exhale when she took her weight off and ran into my arms.
“It will be okay. We’ll protect you, alright?” Crouching down, I rubbed her shoulders. “You know, I lost my mom, too, when I was young. But I’m okay now. I found this great group of people who took me in when I thought I had nothing left, nothing to live for.”
The men groaned as they carried Samuel under their shoulder and helped him sit down on a fallen log a few feet away. Darius broke his leg, but the bone didn’t pierce his flesh, thank goodness.
“Sili, grab me some bandages when you guys get in the RV, yeah?” Eliseo called out.
I straightened and patted Remi on the back, taking her into the vehicle for safe-keeping. “You stay in the back and just relax. Get some sleep. I’ll bring the food to you when it’s done.”
“Are you guys going to leave me? Please don’t leave me!” she begged through new tears.
Corralling her to the back, I laid her down on the fold out bed. “Of course not. Where would we go? We need the RV to travel. We’ll be right outside. How about I open up some of the windows so you can hear us talk? Then you’ll know we’re still here.”
She wiped her face with the back of her hand and nodded, snuggling in a blanket. I grabbed a smaller one beside her.
Leaving her, I looked for one of our backpacks we brought with us and took out an old piece of cotton fabric. Using my knife, I ripped this particular one into strips, walking out of the RV toward the guys.
The men were shaving off a branch to use as a splint as I handed Eliseo the makeshift bandages. Gunner carefully cut off Samuel’s left pant leg without jostling him.
“Here,” I called out, tossing the blanket to Eliseo, who wrapped Samuel’s naked leg.
Reed placed the branches on either side of Samuel’s thigh, and I started wrapping it.
“Just my fucking luck,” Samuel grumbled. “What the fuck happened to the older woman? Did the bloodsucker get her?”
I nodded, tying off some of the bandages.
“Fucking hell,” he exclaimed, running his hand down his face.
Eliseo stood up and went to turn the meat that miraculously remained on the skewer over the fire. Reed, no longer needed to help, went to one of the bags we had outside the RV, grabbed water, and tried to wash his bloodstained hands.
“What are we going to do with the girl?” Gunner asked.
I looked over my shoulder at him. “What do you mean ‘what are we going to do?’ She stays with us. I’m not going to drop her off in the middle of nowhere to fend for herself.”