Rogue (Relentless Book 3) (39 page)

“What are you talking about?” Nikolas took the notepad from me. He peered at the drawing then looked at me and Emma. “Did she tell you that?”

“No. I drew it from memory, from a memory I took from the vamhir demon before I killed it.”

“You took the demon’s memory?” Jordan asked, wide-eyed.

“I asked it about the Master and it showed me this house. I forgot about it with everything else that happened.”

Nikolas handed the notepad to Chris who studied it closely. “How do you know this is the Master’s house?”

“I don’t for sure, but something feels off about it. Emma feels it, too.”

Emma nodded. “It gives me the creeps, and it seems familiar.”

“I told you what Emma said about the Master being so paranoid that he compels other vampires to forget him. Eli took her with him when he visited the Master and she was compelled to forget. But no one can erase your mind that completely, and I think I found a memory he missed.”

Chris exhaled loudly. “Jesus, if that’s true...”

“We need to get this to our guys as soon as possible,” Nikolas said.

“Already on it.” Chris whipped out his phone and snapped a photo of the drawing then fired off an email to someone.

I took a photo of the drawing with my phone as well. “I’m sending this to David. If anyone can find this house, it’s him and Kelvan.”

No one argued, so I texted David, asking him if he could locate the house for me. He replied with a smiley face and asked if I was joking. I told him not to worry, that the Mohiri were on it. His last text said he’d get back to me soon.

When the pilot announced our approach into Boise my pulse picked up. We were almost home.

“Boise? That’s where you live?” Emma asked.

“Not quite. It’s about an hour away.”

I grinned when I saw the two red-haired warriors waiting for us when we left the plane. It seemed fitting somehow that Seamus and Niall were the ones to drive Jordan and me home, after the way we’d left Westhorne. The little smirk on Jordan’s face told me she was having similar thoughts.

The twins took the front seats, and Nikolas and Chris took the middle. That left the last row of the large SUV for me, Jordan, and Emma. Within minutes we were on the road toward home.

Jordan and I told Emma about Westhorne while the four warriors talked among themselves. It started to snow, and Emma said she didn’t have boots or a coat, or anything else for that matter. I laughed when I saw a familiar gleam in Jordan’s eye. Poor Emma. Jordan had just found a new dress-up doll. I really hoped my new friend liked shopping.

“You’ll like Terrence and Josh.” Jordan moved on to the subject of boys. “They’re pretty cool.”

I missed her next words as cold bloomed in my chest. “Vampires!”

Nikolas and Chris turned around at the same time to stare at me just as something slammed into us from behind. We jerked forward violently in our seats. Shouts filled the SUV as it swerved toward the edge of the icy road before Seamus got it under control.

My stomach and chest hurt from the seat belt, but I twisted in the seat to look behind us as a large white van with tinted windows and a crumpled grill came at us again. Emma let out a terrified scream, and I pulled her against me to shield her as much as I could. Jordan covered Emma’s other side, and the three of us clung to each other as the other vehicle plowed into us.

“Jesus Christ!” one of the twins yelled as we skidded across the shoulder and flipped down the embankment.

The SUV rolled
over twice and landed hard against a large tree at the bottom of the ten-foot drop. It was lying on the passenger side, and I found myself hanging by my seat belt over Emma and Jordan.

“Sara?” Nikolas released himself from his seat belt and reached for me. “Are you hurt?”

My whole body ached, but I didn’t think anything was broken. “No.”

“Stay with Emma,” he said as he helped Chris to his feet. Then he pulled up the seat he’d been sitting on and the two of them grabbed swords. Seamus and Niall were already jumping through the front driver’s window with swords in hand. Within seconds, Nikolas and Chris were out of the vehicle and speeding up the embankment.

A scream tore through the air.

Jordan climbed over the seat and withdrew a sword from the weapons stash. “Help Emma,” she said before she followed the others.

More screams. Shouts.

“Emma, can you move?”

“Yes.” There was a click and she fell against the side window. She moved into the cargo area to give me room.

I braced my feet against the seat in front of me as I reached for my seat belt buckle. It wasn’t enough to hold me, and I tumbled to the other side. Groaning, I climbed into the back with Emma, who stared at me with eyes glazed over from shock.

“Sara,” she gripped my arm tightly and cried over the sounds of fighting above us on the road. “Please, don’t let them take me again.”

“I won’t.” I silently prayed I could keep that promise.

We were sitting ducks in the overturned SUV. If I was going to defend us, we had to get out of this thing. I tried to push open the cargo door, but it was wedged against a tree.

Scrambling into the back seat, I grabbed a dagger from the remaining weapons and slammed the hilt into the passenger side window. The window shattered on the fourth blow and glass sprayed over the snow, leaving about eighteen inches of space between the door and the ground.

“Follow me.” I squeezed through the opening. Emma came behind me and we pushed through the snow and trees. Snow fell thickly around us.

I came up short when I heard another vehicle approaching. Tires screeched. More shouts filled the air. I shoved Emma behind a clump of snow-covered underbrush. “Stay down.”

A figure appeared at the top of the embankment, and his eyes narrowed on me. His lips curled to reveal long fangs.

The vampire came at me like a mountain lion pouncing on its prey. He hit me before I could react, and I flew backward into the snow with him on top of me. My head banged against a tree, and the weight of him knocked the wind from me. I struggled to breathe as he rose up with a triumphant gleam in his eyes. Instead of attacking, he jumped to his feet and slung me over his shoulder. I was too dazed to fight him or call out before he plunged into the trees.

He was old, and he moved fast. We were a half-mile away from the SUV before I was able to catch my breath and summon enough power to bring him to his knees.

He dropped me, and I rolled a few feet in the snow. I rose up on my hands and knees, but he was on me again before I could stand. The blow to my face stunned me, and I was helpless when he pressed me facedown into the snow. I choked on the fresh powder, and panic filled me as I fought for air. I struggled to throw him off me as blackness closed in.

“Not so strong now, are you?” he spat, his claws digging into my back through my jacket.

My body grew heavy. Soon I’d be unconscious and completely at his mercy. In desperation I let power flood my body and heard his hiss of pain.

Suddenly, the weight was gone from my back. I tried to move, but my body refused to cooperate. I heard the sounds of fighting as if they came from a long tunnel. A vampire screeched.

Someone rolled me over. I coughed as I sucked air into my starved lungs.

“Sara!” The fear in Nikolas’s voice made my eyes fly open.

“Nikolas,” I rasped.

He stood, lifting me into his arms while still holding his sword. “It’s an ambush. I have to get you out of here.”

“What about the others?”

“It’s you they want.”

“But Emma –”

The words died on my lips as five vampires materialized in front of us. Nikolas lowered me to my feet and pulled me behind him. There was no way he could fight off five mature vampires and protect me at the same time. Power flowed to my hands until they glowed, casting an eerie white light over the small clearing we were in. Five pairs of eyes turned to me.

Nikolas blurred and one of the vampires screeched when his severed arm landed in the snow. Four of the vampires began to circle Nikolas. The fifth one came at me.

The vampire hit me so fast I was momentarily stunned. Claws raked my throat, and I spun off balance. He grabbed for me again, and as soon as his hand closed over my arm, I turned my body into his and brought my other hand up to his throat. He bellowed at the power in my touch, and backhanded me so hard my head snapped back and I saw stars. He could have killed me with one blow, but he struck only hard enough to stun me. The knowledge that he wanted me alive drove my fear to an even greater height, and I screamed as I lunged for him again. This time my hand slammed into his chest. He let out a strangled cry and fell face-first into the snow.

I moved in to finish him and Nikolas shouted, “Sara, look out!”

I spun to find two more vampires standing ten feet away from me. The female reached into her coat and pulled out a gun.
A vampire with a gun?
I thought a second before she pointed it at me and fired.

For one heart-stopping moment I waited for a bullet to pierce my chest, and I knew with unwavering certainty that I was going to die. All I could think of in that moment was Nikolas.

Instead of agonizing pain, all I felt was a sharp sting in my right shoulder. I stared down in shock at the tiny dart sticking out of my coat. Had they tried to use a tranquillizer on me? They could not know that most drugs didn’t work on the Mohiri because of our accelerated metabolism and healing. Or maybe they thought it would work on me because I was only half Mohiri.

The two vampires began walking toward me. Either they were confident they could take me or they expected the drug to knock me out at any second. I wasn’t going without a fight. I summoned my power.

Nothing happened.

I reached down inside for my power. I could see it swirling at my core, I could feel its heat, but it refused to come. It was as if an invisible wall had sprung up between me and my magic, cutting me off from it.

Blood pounded in my ears as I lifted my eyes to the female vampire who wore a knowing smile. What had she done to me? I backed away, though I knew there was no escape.

Behind me, I could hear Nikolas battling the other vampires. I almost cried out his name, but it froze on my tongue. If I distracted him, he could die. Terror threatened to smother me. I had no weapons, and I was helpless against two vampires without my power.

Nikolas made a sound somewhere between a growl and a shout as the vampires stalked me. They halted and turned wary eyes toward him. I didn’t need to see him to know he had gone into a full-blown rage. It might be the only thing that saved him.

God, please keep him safe,
I prayed.

Without my power, there was no wall between me and my Mori and I felt its fear for Nikolas acutely.
Come,
I told it. We joined and its strength filled me. I didn’t know if it was enough to fight off two vampires, but I would do anything to keep them from taking me from Nikolas. He and I would survive together or we would die together.

Another growl filled the woods and it swiftly turned into a roar. The trees shook and snow fell off them in clumps as a dark shape zoomed over the tops of them.

My mind barely had time to register the scaled body and leathery wings before the wyvern dove at the two vampires who had stopped to stare at him in shock. Their surprise quickly turned to terror, but they had waited too long to flee. The female screamed as flames engulfed her.

The male turned to run, but the wyvern snatched him up and tore him apart with his teeth and claws. Blood sprayed across the snow and hot drops splattered against my cold face.

Bloody pieces of vampire hit the ground as Alex circled the clearing. His crocodile eyes swept over the battle below as if he was choosing his next target. I looked at Nikolas who was in the thick of the fight with the two remaining vampires, and so vulnerable to an attack from above.

“Alex,” I shouted hoarsely, and his head swung in my direction. The last time I’d seen him he’d been chasing vampires away from Westhorne after he’d saved my life. I hoped he remembered that and wasn’t just out hunting anything that moved.

I didn’t sense the new vampire until he was only a few feet away. Alex dove toward us and I lunged to the side to give him a clear path to the vampire. A scream ripped from my lips when I felt clawed feet close around my waist instead. I struggled for several seconds until my feet left the ground. My stomach dropped as quickly as the ground as we rose into the air. I caught a glimpse of Nikolas swinging his sword and at least seven bodies on the ground before we flew over the tops of the trees and the clearing disappeared from sight.

Over the wind and the flapping of Alex’s wings, I heard Nikolas shout my name.

“Oh God!” My stomach churned as I stared at the snow-covered trees rushing by beneath me. I didn’t want to think about where Alex was taking me or what he would do when we got there. He’d saved my life before, but I didn’t know if that had been intentional or because he liked the taste of vampires more. The image of him ripping apart the vampire played over and over in my head. I had to fight the panic building inside me and the urge to struggle. If he dropped me from this height I was dead.

Miles of forest passed below us. Alex flew leisurely over rivers and around hills until I lost all sense of direction. I kept my chin tucked against my chest to try to protect my face from the stinging snow and wind, but my cheeks quickly grew numb from the cold. I tried to use my Mori’s power to warm me as Nikolas’s Mori did for him, but we’d never done that before and it lasted only a few minutes.

I wasn’t sure how long we were in the air – maybe twenty or thirty minutes – before we began to descend toward a river winding through the trees. Alex dipped until my feet were almost touching the rushing water, and I could feel the spray on my face. I held my breath, afraid he was going to drop me into the river. Without my power, the water would kill me. I was a good swimmer, but even if I made it to shore, I’d freeze to death.

He followed the river for a few minutes before he circled a large rock formation along one of the banks. I tried to brace myself for the landing, but my legs were cold and unsteady after being in the air. I stumbled and sank painfully to my knees on the icy rock.

Alex circled me and landed a few feet away, settling down into a watchful crouch. His breath sent huge puffs of steam into the frigid air and small tendrils of smoke curled from his nostrils. I huddled in a ball and watched him out of the corner of my eye, afraid to move. His flames had at least a three-foot reach, and I’d seen what they could do.

We sat like that for at least an hour. Every now and then Alex’s head swung in my direction, but he made no move toward me. With every minute that passed, my body got colder until I began to fear dying from exposure more than Alex. The sky began to darken and the snow thickened until I could barely see the other side of the river. I knew I had to move soon or I would die on this rock.

Something moved in the trees below us, and Alex’s head tilted as his slit eyes turned in that direction. A few seconds later, he lifted off and sped toward the trees. I watched breathlessly, terrified that a vampire had followed us. A small reddish shape darted across the snow then spun and fled when it saw the wyvern coming toward it. I released a slow breath when Alex began chasing the fox through the trees. I hoped the animal escaped, but at the same time, I was grateful Alex was hunting something besides me.

My body was cramped and my hands and feet were almost numb, making the climb down from the rock painful and difficult. It was almost dark by the time I reached the ground, and I rested for a minute in the shelter of the rock, stamping my feet and tucking my hands under my arms to warm them.

I searched my pockets for my phone and almost cried when I came up empty. It could be anywhere between here and the SUV. I wasn’t sure if I could even get a signal out here, but it would have been a small comfort to have a phone with me.

I quickly made a decision. It was a long shot that this was the same river that ran through Butler Falls, but it had to lead somewhere. I was in the middle of nowhere with no hope of finding my way back to the road. Nikolas would be looking for me – I refused to believe he was unable to – but if I stayed here until help came, I would die.

Trekking along the river in the dark was slow and treacherous. I had to feel my way around rocks and trees and be careful not to step too close to the edge of the bank. The snow changed to freezing rain and within an hour I was drenched to the skin. My body shivered so hard it hurt, and I grew tired and sluggish. I refused to stop. To stop moving meant death, and I would not die out here. I had survived too much to just lie down in the snow and give up.