Throwing herself to the ground, she rolled so Manuel didn’t run over the top of her. Gunshots erupted. They reverberated around the compound and pounded in her ears as they repeatedly fired.
Then, they abruptly stopped. She only had a second to ponder why before Manuel threw himself on top of her.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Logan’s heartstopped when the monster, who was once Manuel, fell on top of Elena. The dreadful sounds coming from him were more animal than human as he tried to grab her. Actually, they sounded moredemonthan human, but it didn’t matter what this thing was. All that mattered was getting to Elena before he did something irrevocable.
Manuel’s fangs snapped, but Elena kept one of her hands under his chin, and his face lifted and turned to the right as she used her other hand to deflect the fingers clawing at her. Aware of what the mouse being battered by the cat felt like, Elena twisted her head from side to side to avoid losing chunks of her flesh.
Spittle and black blood flew from Manuel’s mouth and his sliced-open lips. She kept her mouth clamped against the spray as she fervently prayed it wouldn’t somehow contaminate her too. She half expected it to burn away her flesh like it was acid dropping onto her skin, but it was warm and sticky like regular blood as it slid down her face and arms.
Do not let it get in your mouth. Do not let it get in your mouth.She blew out through her nose to keep it from getting in there. She couldn’t do anything about her eyes, but she could do something about her mouth. Or at least she could do a little bit more than she could about her other orifices.
The blood didn’t burn her, but it smelled, or maybe it was Manuel who smelled. He’d smelled this entire time, but it had ramped up to something that had her gag reflex dying to spew something up, but she didn’t dare open her mouth.
Logan crashed into Manuel’s side and, enclosing his arms around the monster, rolled across the ground with the squirming, thrashing beast. Manuel was barely five foot ten, but he felt as big as Andre the Giant as he kicked, hit, and flailed like a fish out of water.
Clinging to him, Logan imagined this was like holding onto a bucking bronco, except he swore Manuel had sprouted more arms and legs. When they came to a stop, he twisted around until he was on Manuel’s back and shoving his face into the ground.
He jerked one of Manuel’s arms behind his back as he flattened his palm against his cheek and shoved his face into the dirt. The man released a sound that curdled Logan’s blood; it was something he never would have expected normal vocal cords to make, but Manuel was far from normal now.
Just when Logan assumed he had the man pinned, Manuel twisted, squirmed, and shoved up with his toes like some kind of super-strong, psychotic caterpillar. No matter how hard he tried to keep him down, Manuel was wiggling free of his hold.
The amount of strength in this man surpassed a human or hunter as Manuel broke Logan’s hold. The thing that was no longer a hunter or man twisted around to seize his throat.
“No!” Elena screamed.
He gagged and choked as Manuel’s fingers dug into his windpipe and squeezed his neck until he would either crush the vertebrae or tear Logan’s head free. The shouts of the others faded from Logan’s mind; they wouldn’t arrive in time to help him.
He’d never wanted to kill another hunter, but this was not another hunter, not anymore. And if he didn’t do something soon, Manuel would kill him. The difference was, he’d feel bad about it; Manuel never would. Instead, he’d move on to someone else, possibly Elena.
That possibility caused the savagery Logan kept so carefully restrained to unleash. Seizing Manuel’s head, he yanked it to the side. A loud crack resonated through the air, and Manuel’s grip on him loosened but didn’t completely ease, even though such a break probably would have paralyzed anyone else.
As Manuel’s fingers dug deeper, Logan’s blood spilled free to trickle down his neck. If he didn’t do something soon, he’d end up paralyzed, and Manuel would once again have the upper hand.
Twisting Manuel’s head, Logan tried not to cringe at the awful tearing sound as he pulled it free of the hunter’s shoulders. He tossed the skull aside, but Manuel’s fingers remained digging into his flesh.
Elena fell to her knees beside him, and grasping the hands, she helped pull them away from Logan’s throat. He fell back, gasping for air as his hand flew to the blood spilling down his throat and soaking his skin.
“Are you okay?” she demanded as she grasped his arms.
“Fine,” he croaked while wheezing for air.
Elene didn’t think he looked or sounded fine, and there wassomuch blood. Spinning, she turned to the hunters running toward them. “Where’s the doctor?” she demanded.
Logan grasped one of Elena’s hands and squeezed it. “I’m already healing; I’ll be okay.”
She wanted to believe him, but more than the wounds were going to affect him after this night.
He’d killed a hunter. She didn’t know how the others would react to that, and it would push him into a darker place. It would increase his chances of becoming a Savage and possibly scar him for life.
Tears burned her throat, but she shoved them aside and tried not to dwell on it. If it did change him, they would deal with it. He had to realize he had no choice; she hoped the others realized it too.
She glanced at the other hunters and crept a little closer to Logan when they approached. Asher came to stand beside him; judging by the set of his jaw and the fire in his eyes, he had the same fear as Elena.
“He had to do it!” she blurted as she positioned herself protectively in front of Logan. “He didn’t have a choice. Manuel would have killed him. You all saw it!”
“It’s okay, Elena,” Juan assured her. “He did what was necessary. We all know that.” Then he looked to Logan. “Are you okay?”
