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My gaze darted around the bunker. The entire place was a maze of small rooms, and the one we were in had shelves of weapons. Stakes and guns with wooden bullets surrounded me, and I eyed the one closest to me. Maybe I could sneak some back when we left. I felt naked without weapons and hated being in the vampire city without at least a stake.
“Don’t think about it, Kali,” Viggo murmured without looking at me. “We came here for one thing, and that doesn’t include you bringing back things that can kill me.”
“Vampire scum,” Jill spat out, raw hate morphing on her face as she swung her gaze my way. “And you. You fucking betrayed us. Your family.”
“Hawthorn,” Viggo muttered, his eyes trailing down Jill while his hand stayed on her throat. “Where is it? Or did you ingest it?”
“You can’t get in my head,” she snarled. “You never will.”
Viggo’s head whipped to the side, his burning glare landing on me. “She has a tattoo, doesn’t she?”
“I can explain?—”
A loud bang echoed in my ears, and Viggo let out a snarl of pain, his body falling into Jill’s when he was shot in the back again. Black blood began seeping from his wounds, and Jill screamed when another shot rang out. I spun around, spotting the guy peeking around the corner, a gun in his hand. He shot again, and I heard Viggo grunt. Jill had gone silent, but I didn’t chance looking behind me as I lunged forward.
I didn’t recognize the man, but his eyes widened when he caught sight of me. He aimed, but I was already close enough to knock his arm up before he could pull the trigger. I rammed into him, knocking him back a couple of feet as I reached for the gun.
“They told me about you. Fucking traitor,” the guy gritted out as his free hand collided with my cheek. The sting traveled over my jaw, but I didn’t slow down, digging my knee into his balls. He shoved me away, doubling over in pain for a moment before stumbling toward me, raising the gun.
I flung myself to the side, reaching for one of the knives that were hanging on the wall. My fingers closed around it, and I quickly swung it in front of me, grateful he was still within arm’s reach. The blade sliced his arm, and he let out a hiss, yanking his hand away from me.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” I said, my chest heaving.
He didn’t answer, launching himself at me instead. I angled my knife higher, the sharp edge sliding into him as he slammed into me. I hit the wall hard enough that my breath was stolen from me. The guy groaned, his weight smothering me as we both fell to the floor. I pulled the knife out and stabbed him again when he pointed the handgun in my direction. His warm blood seeped into my clothes, and I realized it was a fatal stab when his strength began waning.
“Fuck,” I breathed out, pushing him off me.
He stayed on the floor, and I shakily climbed to my feet. He was choking, gurgling as blood dribbled from his mouth, making me believe I’d hit his lung. Guilt washed through me as I stared at him while catching my breath. The entire reason I’d come was to prevent death.
Forcing myself to move, I backed away a few steps before turning around to where Viggo and Jill were. Black and red blood were mixed in with the dirt, and I crept closer when neither of them moved. Viggo had been shot twice in the back and once in the head. He’d be out until the bullet worked its way out of his brain. But he’d live. Jill was still beneath him, and I crouched down, rolling Viggo off her.
My heart sank when I saw the wound on her chest. One of the bullets had hit her, and I reached over, pressing my fingers to her neck. My chest tightened with remorse when there was nothing. No pulse. No movement. She was gone.
I scooted backward, wrapping my arms around my legs and staring at her before my eyes cut to Viggo. I could kill him. Even tell Zan it was an accident. Would he believe me? Probably not. For some reason, he could read me better than almost anyone.
I could run. Pack a bag and flee before Zan and Pax realized it.
Until I remembered the necklace weighing heavily around my neck. Zan’s words resurfaced about being able to track me. I ran my hands down my face, detesting the other thought nagging me. Running would mean being alone again. Something that seemed just as bad as being stuck with vampires.
I silently debated my options as I got to my feet and grabbed the lantern that was on the shelf next to me. I flicked it on before hurrying around the back wall that opened into another small room. The only reason I knew about the journal was because I’d seen Tim writing in it one time while I was here for a tattoo session. He hadn’t seemed pleased that I’d seen it since it was a guarded secret. But by then, I’d been with the Clovers for years, and I’d earned trust.
This room was stacked full of clothes. Some were PARA uniforms; others were just extra clothes of all different sizes. The bottom shelves had boxes, and I began digging through them, knowing the journals were in one of them. After the third one, I finally found the one filled with the small spiral notebooks.
I reached for the one on top, my hands shaking slightly as I opened it to the last page. Like I expected, it was all about Zan. I sat down, scanning the page for anything I didn’t know.
Black blood. Heals more quickly than other vampires. Shadow? Something else?
Has an interest in Kali (female human). For what? Sex? Blood? Mating? She’s useful.
Torture did not have an effect on him. He would not break.
Vampire city is heavily guarded. No known way in without being seen.
I read it again, realizing that the Clovers were just as clueless about him as I was. I flipped back a few pages, curious about what else they’d been up to since I left Project Hope. My eyes froze on one page, my stomach knotting painfully as I read.
An unscheduled convoy entered the city in the middle of the night, and the next day, PARA added more guards around building 1403. Attempts to infiltrate have been unsuccessful.
Other cities are staging protests against PARA. The government is trying to silence it all, but word is slowly spreading. Clovers in that city were caught and killed on sight.
