Page 84 of Call of the Blood

“Fuck you,” I hissed, and knowing it was going to hurt like hell, I grabbed the handle of the knife and pulled it out of my foot. He’d buried it into the tile and concrete as well, and I could feel the awful little debris. Bones were broken, but I pushed myself to stand. I yanked open the mini fridge under the bar and grabbed a blood bag, drinking it as I hobbled after them, each step beginning to heal my foot. It was healing wrong, but I knew that could be fixed later.

I was in a run again by the time I got out of the building, and I pushed hard, seeing what my top speed could be while I was in my right mind.

Am I sane right now?

I was certainly not as my vision went entirely red, and it looked like the world was washed with blood.

32

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

ALEXIUS

Alexius swung to a stop at the end of what he hoped was the driveway the text tagged Lexi had said. Only a minute later, two more SUVs rolled up. Out of each, a Tribunal member.

“I’m very sorry about this evening, Callahan,” Maria said casually, as if it was two friends here to help move furniture.

“It’s what I get for allowing one of my wolves to date a human connected to the vampires,” Callahan replied, a long-suffering patience in the words. Alexius could see his flat, unbothered expression. He wasn’t here for war. He was here to get his wolf out because his wolf shouldn’t have been in the car with Everly coming here.

“Sir… Alpha, I am sorry…” Lucas was nearby.

“I’m not,” Yiva said, smiling. “Our daughter needed something hard to deal with. This will be good for her in the long run.”

“Yiva…” Lucas gave his wife a look. Other werewolves gave the Viking woman a wide berth.

“Maria, we’ll make a perimeter,” Callahan said, ignoring Lucas and Yiva.

“One wolf and one vampire at each point? That way if Lexi comes out first, your pack can get her out,” Maria said, smiling.

Alexius was impressed. They were on the same page. Had they talked on the drive? Or perhaps, because Los Angeles was large and so packed with supernaturals, they had to work on this together before. Werewolves, even the Alphas, were good at working with people. They had to be.

“No one goes to the house,” Alexius ordered, cutting through the Tribunal members.

“My daughter⁠—”

“Made her choices, but if we all rush into that building, we’ll end up killing each other. Henry is one man. There are two trained supernaturals in the building with him already. You will give my vampire time to get out.” Alexius glared at Lucas. It was Yiva who came forward, still smiling.

“My mate is overprotective. Our girl is strong and quick. She’ll get out. You told us she stitched up her own wound tonight. That’s strength I’ve been hoping to see from her.”

“You married her,” Callahan muttered in Lucas’s direction as the wolf stared at his wife like she was insane. “You knew what you were signing up for when you mated with a werewolf from my wife’s pack. Don’t start judging her for it now.” Callahan looked at Maria and nodded before looking at him. Alexius raised his chin, allowing the Alpha to inspect and think on his choices.

Finally, Callahan nodded.

“We listen, wolves. We defend this position and everyone in it if necessary. This isn’t our circus. Alexius⁠—”

“Look!” Maria and Alexius whirled, looking up the long winding drive or what he could see of it.

“Hold!” Callahan roared, looking at the wolves near him. None of them moved as Lexi, with Declan over her shoulders, ran for her life.

“I’ve got this,” Alexius promised, taking a step forward. “Maria, be ready to assist Declan while the pack checks on Lexi.”

He started running because he could see the shape following Lexi. She was losing ground. He needed to get to her first. He saw the moment her expression changed as she realized help was just down the drive, right where she could see everyone, and they could see her. She didn’t seem scared of him, recognizing him, and kept running at her best speed.

He barely crossed her in time. If he had been a second later, the vampire would have landed on her back. Instead, Alexius used Henry’s own momentum against him and could take the brunt of any damage better than everyone else in the state. He grabbed Henry’s arm, spun himself around, Henry in tow, and flung him back to where he came.

A flash of ginger hair jumped out of the dark, a bullet of red that slammed into Henry from the side before he landed, and both of them rolled off the drive. Alexius turned and grabbed both Lexi and Declan, helping them finish the run back to the group because he knew this wasn’t over.

“Throw up,” he ordered Lexi the moment he released her. He didn’t pay much attention to her, but he was certain she did immediately. He’d moved her faster than she had ever gone. It was only reasonable that it did a number on her gut.