The first guy scoffed. “Yeah, I wouldn’t count on it. We let her escape with the vamp, let her put a fucking protection spell over wherever the fuck she’s hidden him. Once Zeth rises, heads are gonna roll. I doubt he’ll give two flying fucks about our dwindling numbers.”
“It’s his own goddamn fault! He said she was weak! If we’d have known and he’d given us a fucking heads up, we’d have strengthened the cell with magic. Fuck, the bitch killed three of us! And he made it sound as if she were just some fucking tarot reader!”
“She’s completely drained, though. Must’ve used a lot of her life essence to keep the vamp safe. Crazy cunt. She must be new to it, so maybe he didn’t know.” The first guy sighed. “Look, even if we tried, she’d likely not survive long enough for Pete’s soul to catch. I think she’s tapped out in the bad way.”
Pete’s soul? With horror, it finally dawned on me what they were talking about. Raven had told me once what skinwalkers did with witches they caught. They raped them to reincarnate fallen brothers. And the first guy I’d killed on the stairs… his name was Pete.
So that’s why they hadn’t killed me. They were debating whether or not to knock me up with their friend’s soul.
“I swear, if you try to rape me, I will end you.” It came out as a hoarse whisper, but it caught their attention.
Heavy footsteps came nearer, until two shadowy figures loomed over my in the dark corner they’d tossed me in.
“She’s awake,” the first voice said. I couldn’t see who it belonged to, and I didn’t much care either.
“Barely.” The other guy nudged me with a foot, and I groaned in pain. “If you really want to try, you better fucking hurry. The sun’s down—and once Zeth finds us, he’s not likely to let you get another shot in.”
The first guy grunted something I didn’t catch before he walked away. He came back moments later and knelt down. I tried to roll away from him, but my body was too heavy to respond. And then water dripped on my lips. I drank greedily, and he held my head up so I didn’t choke. It was gone before my thirst had been sated, but it was better than nothing.
“Thank… you,” I croaked.
“You sure you want to do this?” the first voice, Carl, said. “If she lasts through the mating but doesn’t make it through the night—either because her essence is too low or Zeth throws a fit and drains her…”
“I know,” the second guy said. It sounded like he was speaking through gritted teeth. “But I can’t let him disappear.”
And then hands touched my hips, pulling my ruined jeans over my hips and down my legs.
“No…” I moaned, trying to kick at him, but my legs might as well have been dead rolls of flesh. I couldn’t move them, and I couldn’t stop the skinwalker from spreading my thighs and pressing a hand to my exposed sex.
“Fuck, bitch is dry as a dessert. Do we have any grease or something? If I rip into her, she’s gonna bleed.”
I closed my eyes as the first guy walked away, presumably to look for what my would-be rapist requested. If I was going to die tonight, I didn’t want it to be like this. I didn’t want to meet the end with my final memory of being violated so gruesomely. And so, perhaps thanks to the mouthful of water giving me just enough to do so, I reached inside myself with the very last strength I could muster, and found the spindly residue of my power. I grabbed onto it and pushed.
“Sonuvabitch!” The guy between my legs fell backward as green fire flickered around his hand for the briefest moment. “You stupid cunt! What have you done?!”
I didn’t answer him. I just smiled softly into the darkness as cold crept in around me. I knew I was dying—there was no maybe about it now. That last push of power had sealed my fate. But at least I’d die on my own terms.
And Warin was safe. My magic had protected him, even when I’d thought I couldn’t save him. That was enough. Maybe I’d reincarnate. I could find him again. One day.
A deafening bang echoed through the room. Snarls and roars followed, but I didn’t care. Sighing, I closed my eyes and let go.
“Don’t you fucking dare!” It was a furious growl. I vaguely sensed someone hoisting me up off the ground, and tried to open my eyes to see who was disturbing my peace.
Aleric, eyes wild and panicked, stared down at me. He bit into his wrist and pressed it to my lips. “You can’t die. Not again. He won’t live through it. Drink!”
I gasped, trying to obey more on instinct than any conscious thought. But my lips wouldn’t respond, and I couldn’t swallow.
“Dammit, Liv!” Aleric, realizing his blood wasn’t working, pulled his wrist away and grasped me by the jaw. “You’re his soulmate! You can’t give up! Shit!”
And then his teeth sunk into my neck, piercing deep. I gasped again, not prepared for the sharp pain as he drank deep.
“Aleric!” It was a roar—of pain and fury. And it pulled on me, despite the darkness flickering at the edges of my conscience. Suddenly there was no more peace in my death.
Warin.
He needed me. I couldn’t die. He needed… me.
Aleric lifted his head from my throat. “Please, there’s no time,” he said, voice urgent. “If she isn’t Embraced now, it’ll be too late. You can’t let her die. She’s… she’s your soulmate. You met her before. In London—eight hundred years ago. She died. Zeth and I… I didn’t know. I didn’t know! And you hurt… when she was gone, you were… I couldn’t lose you, Warin! I couldn’t… I had Zeth’s witch curse our bloodline. You forgot her. But it’s her—I know it’s her.”
“Release. Her.” The anger in Warin’s voice was like nothing I’d ever heard before—cold and terrible, and so filled with sorrow I wanted to wrap my arms around him to comfort him. Tell him everything would be okay.
But it wouldn’t. I felt myself slipping away, and knew in the depths of my soul that it was too late.
“Don’t leave me. Please, my love, please. Stay. I can’t… I can’t go on without you.”
Warin’s voice followed me into the abyss. The very last thing I sensed was the echo of his despair as I disappeared into the nothingness.
Forgive me.
34
I was safe in the darkness. So completely and utterly at peace. Energy seemed to spark around and inside me, vibrating with the rhythm of life itself. But best of all… best of all was the warm, golden bond that seemed to run from the deepest part of my being to him. I felt his presence in that bond before I even noticed the solid form behind me, holding me so wonderfully tight. It hummed quietly, contentedly as I carefully prodded at it with my mind.
Warin.
A sense of love so pure it made me quiver ran toward me through the bond when I thought his name, and the arms holding me constricted tighter for a moment.
“Where are we?” I asked—but the second I opened my mouth, something gritty and unpleasant fell into my mouth. Dirt.
I hacked and spat, only to get more of it in my mouth. My hands hit more of it as I flailed to free myself from the unpleasant sensation of eating soil.