Declan followed the hunting cries of the Savages as he raced through the woods. The others kept pace as the flat terrain gave way to hills before returning to flat once more. He had no idea how much distance they covered before they discovered the first body.
Asher knelt to examine the body and the bite marks covering it. “Leonard.”
“Fucking pricks,” Logan growled.
Logan’s shoulders heaved as he turned and punched one of the trees. With his head bowed, he took a few deep breaths while he reigned in his control again.
“He was young,” Logan said.
“We’ll make them pay for this,” Declan vowed. “But you have to keep yourself together. Can you do that?”
Like Logan, he would like nothing more than to tear into the assholes who did this, but they couldn’t be reckless about their pursuit of them. Right now, they had the advantage of the Savages not knowing they were here, and they couldn’t blow it.
Logan’s head turned, and the white-blue eyes of a pissed-off turned hunter met Declan’s. “Yes,” Logan said.
Before Declan could reply, a series of ear-splitting shrieks erupted. They sounded more like excited baboons than anything once human or vampire. Many of these Savages were probably tortured into becoming these monsters, but he wouldn’t hesitate to kill them all.
His fingers brushed one of the lollipops in his pocket as he contemplated removing it, but he didn’t want to calm down. No, instead, he welcomed his rising fury. He would use it to destroy every one of these bastards, especially if they’d harmed her.
“We can’t leave him here,” Logan said.
“Were not carrying a body around with us,” Saber said. “We’ll come back for him.”
“What if we can’t remember how to find him?”
“That’s a problem for later.”
“I hate these assholes,” Asher muttered.
“We all do. Come on,” Declan said. “They’re getting further away from us.”
He led the way through the woods as they followed the hunting cries.
***
Willow jerked awake so fast that she nearly fell off the branch, but her belt did its job and yanked her back. With a racing heart, she took in her surroundings before leaning over to peer into the shadows below. She held her breath as she waited for a pair of blood-red eyes to meet hers, but no one else was in the tree.
Taking a deep breath, she rested her head against the trunk and looked at the stars. Despite knowing she was alone and safe, her heart continued its riotous beat as howls echoed over the land.
She must have taken the sound of those cries and incorporated them into her nightmare, but she’d woken to another nightmare. The Savages weren’t going to give up, and if she didn’t get out of this tree soon, she’d be too weak to fight.
Wiggling her toes, she smiled when she discovered that she didn’t dream her healed ankle. She started to undo her belt strap when a howl sounded from so close that she searched the tree to make sure she was still alone.
She bit her lip as the howl went on until it became an endless wail vibrating through her body until it became a part of her—a part that would drive her insane if it didn’t stop soon.
She almost slapped her hands over her ears to block it out, but she wasn’t a child who could bury herself under the covers or crawl into her parents’ bed when she was afraid. She was a trained killer, and as much as she longed for her mom and the safety of her home, she’d chosen to join the Alliance, and it was where she belonged.
In the beginning, she hadn’t known what would come of her choice, but in the Alliance, she discovered a second home and family. She’d also found a purpose that felt as right to her as the air she breathed. It was a deadly choice, and one day it might kill her, but she would never regret it.
Please don’t let that day be today.
Sticks cracked beneath her. Checking her inner jacket pockets and her belt, she breathed a sigh when she discovered that part of her nightmare was also wrong; she still had her stakes. She removed the one from her belt when a Savage emerged.
If it was only one of them, she would take it, but as she thought it, three more materialized. She cursed as she glowered at them. If her incessant thirst and having to heal hadn’t weakened her, she might try to take them, but she didn’t have a death wish.
When they stopped beneath her tree, Willow’s grip tightened on her stake. They stood together as they scanned the forest. If they looked up, they might see her, but she doubted it. It was nighttime, the branches were thick, they didn’t expect her to be there, and she exposed little of her head to their view.
Finally, they moved away and vanished into the forest as another unnatural cry sounded. Willow tried to swallow, but she was so starved she had no saliva left in her parched mouth and throat. She’d give anything to have her feet on the ground where she could feed and run, but she would wait until morning.