Page 73 of Hunted

“What I am owed.” He bent so that we were at eye level, lips twisted in a cruel smirk. “Guillermo Montemayor underestimated me. He denied me my rightful place to one day rule the wolves on this continent, elevated your mate to his chosen successor. And now I will take what is mine.”

Matteo’s gaze shifted to the right. A split second later, a massive black werewolf materialized out of thin air. I screamed, the impact knocking the breath from my lungs. Quinn’s wolf slammed into Rossi in a snarling tangle of teeth and claws. The black wolf seized Rossi’s shoulder in his fangs, whipping his head from side to side as Rossi pummeled his head with his fists.

“Quinn,” I screamed, instantly feeling Rossi’s mental hold loosen. Quinn was a shield, able to resist all forms of moon magic. It would drain Rossi’s power to try to hold him, especially in a fight.

Jori, who had materialized him in, dropped to the ground a few feet away. She began inching towards me, but was forced to back off when Rossi shifted into his wolf form, the two massive werewolves tearing into each other on the sidewalk between us. I knew if Jori could have dematerialized to me and jumped us both to safety, she would have. Rossi must still have enough control to paralyze her in place, or must have injured her somehow, breaking her mental shields. And yet I knew she wouldn’t leave me, even if it meant she and Quinn were killed protecting me.

I tried to lift my arms. The wolves were a ferocious tangle of snapping teeth and slashing claws, the blur of fur moving faster than I could track. They ripped into each other savagely, blood spattering the concrete as they fought, both wolves wild with the feral blood lust of the fight. Matteo Rossi’s wolf slammed into the ground inches from my head, snarling, teeth gnashing. Razor sharp claws raked down my arm, trailing hot fire in their wake. I screamed, clutching my bleeding arm to my chest. An inch at a time, I crawled towards the bushes. I knew if I stopped, one of them would rip out my throat in a haze of feral wolf madness.

Abruptly the snarling stopped. The wolves had gone still. Or at least, one of them had. Matteo Rossi shifted back to his human skin, his clothes ragged and bloodied. Fiery pain screamed along the length of my arm from where the wolf’s claws had gouged me. Dark red blood pooled on the sidewalk where I’d managed to drag myself a few feet away. I stripped off my hoodie, momentarily seeing stars at the pain. Wrapping it tightly around my bleeding arm, I applied pressure. Jori lay frozen on the ground beyond Quinn’s body. I felt the buzzing pressure begin to creep into my mind, my limbs going cold and numb. Rossi pulled a silver dagger from his belt, raising it over Quinn’s still form.

No, I tried to scream. Please.

But before my lips could form the words, the dark street exploded into a thousand fractals of light. I shivered through the familiar nauseating sensation of having my stomach sucked out, dematerializing something I’d never gotten better at no matter how many times I jumped. Jori always tried to make jumps gentle for me, saying she felt like the worst bodyguard ever when I immediately ran off to the bathroom down the hall to be sick after she delivered me safely to the lab.

This was not one of those jumps. And that meant it wasn’t Jori who had me.

I slammed onto a rough gravel surface hard enough to jar every bone in my body loose. Cold wind screamed in my ears. I was immediately sick. My body shook with violent spasms, other little details filling themselves in too late. How quiet it was except for the roaring wind wherever we were up on the rooftops. I slid my hand towards my jacket pocket, reaching for Sofia’s knife. Before I could get there, the strange vampire seized my arm, dragging me back into the nothingness between jumps.

The next time I came to, I was lying on my side. A dark-haired vampire I didn’t recognize with neck tattoos and black fingernails paced ten feet away on a cell phone, voice anxious.

“I told you, she isn’t well.” A pause. “She was injured in the attack. She needs urgent medical attention. And she’s human. I think it’s dematerialization sickness.” Another pause. “Well, you did say you wanted me to bring her back alive?” He growled. “Fine.”

I felt for my phone, only to remember Rossi had taken it. My fingers came back sticky and covered in blood. Rossi was probably using it to text River right now, pretending to be me in order to lure him into a trap. He would figure out how to unlock it, would be able to mimic our old texts. My heart seized, panic taking over. If anything happened to River—

Focus, I ordered myself. River can take care of himself. My fingers closed around Sofia’s knife. When I staggered up, the vampire froze, hands outstretched.

“It’s okay,” he said softly. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“I’ll bet you say that to all the girls you kidnap.” The knife shook in my hand. I kept my stance loose, my feet shoulder width apart like I did when Meera and I sparred at the gym. Unable to hold the pressure wrap in place, I felt blood stream down my wrist, dripping onto the rooftop.

“That isn’t what this is.” He lowered his hands. “You’re in danger, even now. We can’t stay here.” The wind gusted. I swayed in place, lightheaded, and the vampire took a step towards me. “And I won’t let you bleed out.”

“Don’t touch me. You killed my protection detail.”

“You’re… standing very close to the edge of the building. I only didn’t want you to fall. And I’m not with Rossi. My name is Felix and I’m with Zara’s elite guard. She sent me personally. The last thing I’ve come to do is kill you. You are doing the most important work on the planet right now, work that could change the future for all vampires. My orders are to make sure no harm comes to you, to step in front of a bullet if it comes to that, just like your other guards.”

My traitorous voice wavered. “If you’re telling the truth, then take me to my friends. Take me to London Blake at the North Austin pack house.”

“I can’t do that.”

My heart sank. “Why?”

“The team that is hunting you could be upon us any second. They could have a backup team waiting to ambush us at the pack house. If the lab was a target, London Blake’s residence isn’t safe either.”

Damn, but he was right.

“I have to jump you to a safe location.” Felix nodded to the knife. “If you stab me mid-jump, there’s a very good chance neither one of us will come through alive on the other side.”

“Take me to River,” I begged, backing away from him. “Please.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, grabbing my wrist and dragging me back into the dark.

* * *

EVERY PART OF ME HURT. You know that scene in The Wizard of Oz where Dorothy and Toto get sucked up by the tornado, then spit back out in a land of flying monkeys and scarecrows? Picture that but with no badass ruby red slippers and the house landing on you instead of the Wicked Witch of the East. Sidebar: The sheets in Oz? Killer. Wait, why was I in a bed?

I forced my eyes open. The bed I was lying in was easily twice the size of the queen I slept in at home, maybe bigger. Shimmery satin sheets in a dark midnight blue swam in the light of an actual freaking chandelier that hung suspended from the high ceiling overhead, its ornate antique fixtures fitted with soft electric lights. The effect was lovely and goth and Hayden would have killed for pictures. The walls were painted a textured sandstone and hung with lavish large paintings—all landscapes—in heavy gilt frames. A large bookcase filled with fantasy novels and thrillers stood beside a desk and chair. I knew instantly that I wasn’t in the North Austin pack house, or any safe house controlled by the shifters. I’d been taken back to one of the vampire covens.