He liked the smell of her—layers of complexity, from candy sweet to antiseptic, tattoo ink and something fruity all mingling together. It wafted up his nose as she struggled with the rope that bound him. He inhaled again, letting her scent play on his tongue. This was his woman, and his wolf believed she was his savior in some way as well. There was a sense of calm now, the wolf feeling content that she was near. The pain from the poison and the knife wound still pulsed, but the agitation his wolf had felt before had subsided somewhat.
“You might want to use one of your little tricks to loosen things up.”
She snapped her gaze up to meet his, her brow furrowed. Confusion warred instinct. Somewhere deep inside, her body was transforming. His bite had ignited a change, calling forth her innate powers as a Huntress. Her mind, however, was still processing things as a human.
He nodded toward the door adjoining the two rooms. “That symbol you drew? On the door? Can you do something like that again?”
He hadn’t made the connection at all when he’d first seen her. The designs on her arms had looked like cool tattoos, but now he knew. Watching her etch on the doorknob had confirmed things. He’d heard about the spell weavers, those who etched magical symbols on objects, wielding power. As a Huntress who was raised human, she not only would have no idea of her heritage, but she would have no preparation for seeing him transform into a beast. Luckily, that wasn’t even remotely possible at the moment. His wolf still preoccupied, battling the poison, his body too battered to do anything but attempt to heal itself.
“Summer,” Dy said. The banging on the door had stopped. Vic was presumably going for another method of entry. “We need to get out of here before your boyfriend breaks in somehow. I need you to concentrate on getting me out of these ropes. Do what comes instinctively, okay?”
She contemplated him for a moment, like she was analyzing his words. “Okay.” Summer nodded, her response coming out in a hushed whisper. She closed her eyes, fingers poised, brow still furrowed.
The room was so quiet, only the sound of their breathing audible…and then something else. A little scrape, metal on metal.
Dyami swiveled his head, glared at the door leading to the outside. “Summer,” he whispered. “He’s got the key.”
With eyes still closed, she touched her fingers to the rope and traced a series of lines—swirls, dots, whatever.
Vic burst into the room. The ropes fell free. Summer opened her eyes. “Throw it,” she said.
“Summer, get the fuck away from him, now!” Vic shouted as he charged, knife in hand, coming at Dyami with a fury only a destined mate could understand. She was his Huntress too, after all.
Dy pulled the ropes free, bunched them as best he could and launched the bundle at Vic. Then Dy dragged Summer from the bed, pulling her as far away from the Hunter and his knife as possible.
The rope caught Vic around the waist, then curled and tangled itself around his legs and throat, binding his arms down to his body, immobilizing him as it tightened like a python. He dropped to the ground with a grunt, the air in his lungs coming out in a whoosh of breath.
Now that was some awesome display of magic.
Dy looked from Vic to Summer, pride swelling at the skill from his destined mate. And this without training.
“Leave us alone!” Summer screamed.
“Let’s go,” Dyami kept an eye on the Hunter as he pulled her around his prone body. Vic’s gaze followed them, fury and panic glaring as they left him behind.
It was raining outside. Not a torrential downpour, but heavy enough that they were soaked within minutes. Dy pulled Summer closer, fingers tightly entwined with hers, arms pressed together. She was shivering already, probably more to do with what had just happened than the actual chill of the rain, but Dy knew they needed to get somewhere safe fast. Where there was one Hunter, more would come. If they brought Huntresses with them, which they undoubtedly would, he was as good as dead.
It was only the Huntress who could kill him—Summer included—and he was already in rough shape. The alcohol had burned through his system, making him feel naked to the pain of the poison as it ate him alive. He couldn’t take another hit from a Huntress. He’d be dead the next time for sure. Running was the only option.
He reached into his pocket, pulled out his few remaining bills. Fifty bucks. “Shit.” He sighed, remembering that he’d left a grand sitting on Summer’s tattoo table.
He scanned the landscape. Rundown motel, neon lights flickering, some bulbs burned out. He didn’t even know what state they were in or how long he’d been unconscious. Clearly, Summer’s Hunter had used his powers to subdue them both. If Summer was a magic weaver, so was her Hunter. Although Vic’s powers would be more subtle, whatever her Hunter had, she had. If she’d bonded with him, she’d have all of his training, skills, consciousness of her role as the Huntress and wolf slayer. Because Dyami had bitten her, she was stuck with only instinct and no clear knowledge on how to use the gift he’d awakened.
Too heavy a story to lay on her now.
He wondered if it was too heavy to lay on her, period. Hey, Summer, I know we just met but you’re actually my destined mate and a Huntress, born from an ancient line of powerful female wolf slayers. Now that I’ve bitten you, you’re technically aligned with the bad guys—or at least that’s what the Hunters believe… Oh and it’s possible your magic might be just what I need to save my life. At least, that’s what my wolf thinks anyway.
Oh yeah, she’d swallow that easy.
An SUV pulled off the highway, its headlights washing over them as it turned into the parking lot. The hairs on the back of Dyami’s neck prickled. He pulled Summer down the walkway, drawing them both farther into the shadows. The truck skidded to a halt and before the engine had completely died, Dyami knew. The Hunters had arrived. All four doors opened and Dy felt it again.
A Huntress was among them.
He tugged Summer to the end of the building and around the corner. They only had moments before Vic was discovered. They’d be tracked not long after that. He scanned the perimeter of the motel’s property, calling forth his wolf, begging for assistance. Beyond exhausted, his wolf still distracted by his battle within, he got only a little jolt of awareness—a flash of enhanced wolf vision. Enough to see they were surrounded by forest. His second home.
“Come on, Summer.”
A shout came from behind. The Hunters would be on their trail. Summer dug in her heels. “Where are we going to go?”
Dyami turned, his fingers still clenching around hers. As he met her gaze, he saw she was frightened, confused. Her eyes narrowed, body trembling.
“You need to trust me on this, Summer. I will never do anything to hurt you but we have to get the fuck out of here now, before the rest of the Hunters find us.”
“Hunters? I don’t understand.” She was shaking her head, clearly trying to make sense of what he was telling her. “I feel strange, Dy. I’ve got these things running through my mind. These symbols are all I’m seeing.” Her bottom lip trembled. “None of this makes sense. I don’t know what I should be doing right now. Vic…” She seemed to choke on her next words.
“I’ll explain everything. I will, once we get out of here and find a safe place.” He lifted a hand to her cheek, rubbed his thumb along her bottom lip. “I won’t force you. If you want to go with Vic, you can. I don’t believe he will hurt you. You’ve got to trust yourself, Summer. What does your gut say?”
He held his breath while she stared at him, the rain beating her hair around her face, her eyelashes batting the drops away like tears. “My gut says to trust you.”
With a deep sigh of relief, he nodded and kissed her gently, tenderly. Their first kiss—the sweetest one. He pulled away. “Then let’s go.”
“Okay.” She touched her arm, the one that he was holding and traced her fingers over her tattoos. “Here.” She lifted her fingers to his cheek. “I don’t know why I’m doing this, Dy, but I think I need to.”
He jolted at her touch, his wolf snapping to attention. His eyes went wide as the power of her symbol coursed through him. Dizzy with whatever she’d done.
“I think it’s going to protect us somehow.”
He blinked away the buzz, could feel the darkness surrounding them, cloaking their presence, disguising their scent. She was right. It was enough to throw the Hunters off for a while. His wolf-awareness propelled him into action. Time to go—put distance between them and the Hunters. They moved quickly, half walk, half run, side by side, cutting into the forest like specters, shouts of the Hunters echoing behind them, growing faint.