“I swear if we live through this I’m getting whatever lessons I want. Fighting, riding, black magic-”
“I’d offer to help, minus the black magic, but given the state I’m in you’ll probably kill me,” I said, trying to keep things light. The tension around my neck was agonising as the locket pulled more and more. If I ever remembered who gave it to me I’d shove it down their throats, if they weren’t already dead.
Suddenly the front door was thrown open and splintered wood showered the entranceway. I clamped my hand over Lavender’s mouth as she gasped and raised a finger to my lips. She clung to me. I felt her hands shaking as her eyes watered. Despite being a Demon there was still very little she could do if she hadn’t been taught; that must have been more frustrating to deal with than my situation by far. I released her, tapped my dagger and pulled it up to my chest. Lavender nodded and repeated my actions. At least we’d been smart enough to mask our scent. Willow wouldn’t be too pleased to return to an empty shelf of scented oils but I’d make up for it somehow.
I peered through a gap in the stairs as footsteps sounded. The first two Berserkers I didn’t recognise but when Roan walked through the gaping doors I knew I’d lost him again.
“Shit,” I breathed. Roan knew my scent better than anyone and it was only a matter of time before he caught on to it. My mind worked frantically and I pushed Lavender flat to the floor, covering her with the scented blanket. “Whatever happens, stay hidden.”
She started to protest and I clamped a hand over her mouth. Lavender’s eyes were fearful but eventually she understood and nodded. I pulled the cloak up from next to me and dabbed a few more blobs around the neck and fastened it around my shoulders, pulling the hood up to cover my hair. The Berserkers had spread out further into the house, though none of them had come far enough to the right to see our hiding spot. Lavender grabbed my hand one more time and I kissed it, silently promising I’d come back for her. I would. Then, with their backs turned, I pushed myself from under the stairs and quietly snuck around them.
I took one final breath to muster all the courage I could and removed the oil-scented cloak at the entrance. As soon as the fabric hit the ground the Berserkers turned and bared their teeth. They wanted me, not Lavender. They’d kill her if they found her. I locked eyes with Roan and waited until all three of them started toward me. They had to be close. Nothing could remain in the house with her.
“You’re looking for me, right?” I asked with faux confidence. They advanced slowly, too slowly. “Well, I don’t have all bloody day,” I snarled.
Before they’d taken their first stride, I was running as fast and as far away from the house as I could. After a few seconds I looked behind me quickly. Good, they were following me; all of them; more than I’d counted. Oh Daeus. My confidence slipped. I ran, dodging swung fists and leaping over downed, torn-up bodies, all the while making sure none of them looked familiar. If I was fast and if I was clever, I could lose them. I’d survived three Berserker run-ins so far, what was another one?
Roan appeared in front of me and I skidded in another direction. The one thing I’d forgotten about. Roan was a senior; the fastest, strongest and smartest of them all. Gehn. Again, I took my eyes off him and he appeared somewhere else. In front of me, to the side, snapping at my heels, I couldn’t shake him. Finally, he rushed ahead and drove a fist into my stomach, winding me heavily.
“Now, this is a sight,” a voice said from beside me. A pair of dirty, unkempt feet came into view in half-broken boots as their sharp toenails had split through the leather. “Were you trying to escape, little sparrow?” He used the name mockingly.
“Yes,” I lied. “I was afraid – thought I could get away while everyone else was busy.” I lifted my head to look at him. His blue eye was gone.
He considered me, searching my face for any sign of hesitation. “I don’t think so,” Daniel smirked. “Did you check the house completely?” he asked a Berserker behind him.
“No, Senior,” the Berserker managed.
“You might want to do a more thorough inspection. We’re one little lady short of a wild night.”
“If you even think about harming her I’ll cut out your other eye,” I spat.
Daniel smirked again and motioned to me lazily. A rough hand tangled itself in my hair and hoisted me up straight. “My, my, how much like your father you are, and how much bolder you’ve become since we last met in battle.” The Berserkers surrounded me. “Of course, you were just a little girl back then. But now you’re not.” Daniel touched my face. “You’re even more beautiful than your mother.”
With one quick motion I bit his fingers as hard as I could and he screamed. When he retrieved his hand he laughed and looked at the bloodied mess as I spat a remnant of blood and flesh back at him. He licked his fingers and struck me across the face, his nails cutting into the flesh around my eye. I cried out.
“You’ve got Adrian’s courage. He was always too sharp for his own good.” He pulled out a knife and pressed the flat side against my bloody brow. “Perhaps I should take your eye for what your mother did to me, and for what you did to my brother.”
The hand loosed itself from my hair and criss-crossed over my front instead. Daeus, my head started to split.
“But oh, how he’s been waiting to see you again. Ever since that night you escaped him in Wetherdon he’s wanted nothing more than to take it himself,” Daniel said. “I can’t deny my darling brother that joy.”
“Gabriel is a monster,” I spat.
“We all are,” he replied, “in one way or other.”
“I’m looking forward to seeing the man my uncle has become if his subordinates are as cowardly as you.” I struggled against the hands that held me.
“Keep using that mouth of yours and you won’t live to be reunited with your dear old uncle,” Daniel said.
“That would be a blessing in itself,” I said quietly. Someone called my name in the distance and I shook my head again and again. Deep in my mind I knew something terrible was about to happen.
He chuckled darkly. “Don’t let her go,” Daniel said to Roan and he turned to the opposite treeline.
Roan pulled me closer to him. I felt the dull heartbeat in his chest. Strangely I also felt something else inside him. A poison. The edges of it poked and prodded up my spine as if looking for a way out.
“Daniel,” somebody snarled as two forms burst from the thick foliage in front of us. Ethan glared at him; a mercury rage burned brightly at the sight of my bleeding face. Ric didn’t hesitate as two of the Berserkers, a man and a woman, began their attack. He dug his claws into the ground and ran, tearing through them in his haste.