Dark Moon Rising (The Revenant Book 2) (15 page)

Nothing caught on fire. No debris sliced through the air. Nothing fell down around them.

“It’s not explosives!” Lynk yelled, his eyes wide, fixed on the wall in front of him.

Rhys’ nostrils flared, a strong, coppery scent filling his nose. Blood seeped through the cracks in the patched metal, flowing down over the baseboards to run in a thick, warm stream across the ground. It wasn’t fresh, suggesting it had been stored for a long time, possibly frozen in a blood bank somewhere. The thought was less gruesome than the alternative that the pack had drained enough people to create a river of blood, but it didn’t change the direness of their circumstances.

The sirens cut off abruptly, but the red, dome lights continued to flash, creating a horror scene straight from a movie. The vampires scented the blood first, their high-pitched screeches terrifying and inhuman. Beasts in every size, shape, color, and gender spilled through the gates, sprinting into the maze, hungry and searching. The crimson flowing down the walls held no interest for them, not with fresh, living prey so close at hand.

Slipping and sliding, Rhys ran, grabbing Thea around the forearm and dragging her beside him. As they rounded the corner, she skidding sideways, falling to the ground, the goo saturating her clothes and splashing into her face, effectively making her the most appealing member in their group to the predators chasing them.

Cursing, Rhys lifted her by the waist, set her back on her feet, and shoved at her to get her moving again. “Keep running!”

They had nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. For every one of their steps, the creatures behind them took two, closing in on them. At the next intersection, Rhys led their group to the left, heading back toward the place where they’d started. In his brief view of the cage that imprisoned the monsters chasing them, he hadn’t seen any doors or windows, no way for them to escape in that direction.

There had to be a door, a loose panel, a gate, something they’d missed during their first trip through the maze. Their pursuers numbered too many for them to fight, and unless they found a way out, they’d all be dead within minutes.

A startled cry had him glancing over his shoulder, and his heart leapt into his throat when he saw Brody go down behind him. The male tried to regain his feet, but slipped in the goo that coated the ground, going down again. Rhys had barely turned, hadn’t even had time to call the guy’s name, when a female vampire dove at Brody, landing on his back and pinning him beneath her. In an instant, other vampires and Ravagers converged, snarling and growling, screeching and a screaming.

Brody’s cry cut off abruptly, and with a heavy heart, Rhys turned away, knowing he could do nothing to help the male now. The Ravagers crawled over each other, sliding and rolling, some pausing to fight each other. It slowed them down some, but they were still coming.

“No!” Roux yelled. “Stop!” She jerked and twisted when Deke lifted her off her feet, dragging her away. “Let me go! We have to help him. Brody!”

“We can’t help him,” Deke told her, guilt and grief tinting his voice. “Roux, stop. We have to go.”

At the end of the corridor, the captain placed his mate back on her feet, pushing her, urging her forward. Roux hesitated for a heartbeat, taking a last look over her shoulder, then she sprinted down the next long passage, her hair flying out behind her.

Rhys’ pulse raced as he sprinted after his own mate, his blood pumping through his veins, roaring in his ears. His muscles contracted with every stride, his stomach twisted in violent spasms, and sharp pain traveled up his spine. He could feel the moonlight on his back, the tingle that swept over his nape. His body attempted to shift, failed, realigned, then contracted again. After two years, he should have been used to it, but while he’d become better at managing the pain, he still had difficulty focusing when every cell in body was screaming.

“This way,” Deke called, swinging right at a four-way crossing.

“Go, go, go,” Deidra yelled, running half a stride behind Rhys. “Hurry!”

They could run all night, but unless they found an exit, it wouldn’t make any difference. The Ravagers would eventually catch up to them. The vampires would feast.

Roux spun around the turn, her socked feet slipping through the blood, and disappeared into the next strip of the maze. Her scream pierced through the night, a combination of fear and pain. Snarling and huffing, Deke burst around the corner after her, Rhys and Thea on his heels with Lynk and Deidra bringing up the rear.

Please, no
.
Not again.

Rhys sent up the silent prayer as he hurried after them, preparing himself for the fight ahead. He expected to see Ravagers, maybe a vampire or two who’d circled around instead of following the horde. He hadn’t, however, expected to see his mother in her tattered dress, her jagged claws digging into Roux’s upper arm as the smaller female jerked and twisted, trying to pull away.

Rhys roared, Thea yelled, and the world stood still as Deke leapt forward, his own claws extended, and raked them across the Ravager’s throat. Rhys’ mother choked, her eyes widening, her grip falling away from Roux as she crumpled to the ground.

Savage rage consumed him, and for once, he didn’t try to fight it. Despite what she’d become, Jenna Lockwood was still his mother, and seeing her broken, bleeding, and lifeless finally pushed him over the edge. Darkness beckoned, a relief from all that he’d endured, a respite from the constant pain, and he welcomed it. His chest heaved with each growling inhalation. His shoulders rounded, his muscles flexed, and his upper lip curled over his fangs.

“Rhys! Rhys, we have to go!” Thea stood in front of him, holding his face between her hands, shaking him, yelling at him. “Rhys, I’m so sorry, but we have to go!”

Behind them, the horde advanced, their growls rising in volume, their footfalls muffled but coming closer. Only one thing mattered more than his anger, more than the pain. His angel needed him, and he’d do anything for her. She was his. His to protect, his to cherish, his to love.

“Mine!”

Primal, fierce, barely more than an animal, he couldn’t think beyond the driving need to claim her as his own. Reaching out, he locked his arms around her like steel bands, crushing his mate to his chest and burying his face against the side of her neck as he embedded his canines into her supple flesh. Bright, blinding light exploded behind his closed lids, and warmth, pure and radiant, flooded him as a magic he couldn’t begin to understand bonded them together as one.

When he lifted his head, the haze had already started to clear, and he felt like he was seeing the world for the first time in perfect clarity. Colors appeared brighter, sounds sharper, and the scent of spiced vanilla surrounded him. His heart pounded when he realized what he’d just done. He’d claimed his mate—at the worst possible time and without her permission.

Surprisingly, she didn’t seem that upset about it.

“Welcome back,” she said with a brief smile. “Now move your ass.”

The others waited at the end of the long isle, shouting their names and beckoning to them. Behind him, the first three vampires rounded the corner. Rhys stared down at his mother’s unmoving form, remembering the way she’d been before Bricksten Chase had destroyed her. It killed him to just leave her there like that, but their lead had already been diminished by his breakdown, and as much as it hurt, there was nothing he could do for her now.

“Go!” he shouted to the others as he and Thea sprinted toward them.

They made another left, racing past the flashing clock that had started it all, and ducked down a narrower corridor on their right. The tunnels seemed to stretch on forever, in every direction, and every time they turned, there were only more walls, more scraps of metal, more tunnels.

“This way!” a male called to them, standing in the intersection with a semi-automatic pressed against his shoulder.

“Who the hell is that?” Thea asked through panted breaths.

“Does it matter?” Deke countered.

“He’s human,” Lynk added, as if that made him worthy of trust.

“Come on, come on. Let’s go, let’s go.” The male waved them past as he unloaded a spray of bullets into the approaching mob of Ravagers and crazed vampires. He backed away, turning only once he’d rounded the corner, then sprinted ahead of them. “Follow me.”

After several twists and turns, races down dark corridors, and another encounter with a lone vampire, they slowed to a stop in front of a stretch of wall that looked like all the rest. They all stared at each other, some wearing masks of disappointment, others confusion. Thea, however, was pissed.

“Who the hell are you?” she demanded.

“Captain Luca Moretti,” he answered, pounding his fist against a slab of corrugated tin.

A section of the wall slid back, opening into a vast field. Three males, dressed similarly to Luca in black, long-sleeved shirts, utility pants, and boots, motioned them through. As they passed, the new captain nodded at Thea, offering her a tight grin.

“Sorry we’re late.”

A barrage of gunfire sounded in the distance as Nikolai moved through the group, unlocking the collars around their necks. Thea tilted her head to one side and then the other, shaking out her shoulders and fighting the urge to shift.

“Took you long enough,” Deke said, clapping the vampire on the shoulder. “We kind of thought you were dead.”

“Not for lack of trying,” Nikolai commented as he finished with the last collar, freeing Deidra from her shackle. “It took me most of the night to figure out where the hell to find a beach and lagoon.” He eyed the she-wolf and snorted. “The polar bear enclosure isn’t exactly the first thing that comes to mind.”

“My description was quite accurate.” Deidra sniffed.

The vampire chuckled and turned to introduce them to the other males standing a few feet away. “Sean and Nathan Chambers.”

Twins. Interesting.

“Miles Irati,” Nikolai continued, “and you’ve met Luca Moretti. They’re Revenant out of Kansas City.” When he’d finished, he looked at Thea and the rest of their group for a long time, his expression impassive. “This is all of you?”

“This is it,” Thea confirmed, her heart pained by the admission. “Zerrik and Brody are dead.” She choked a little on the last word, but cleared her throat and kept going. “Abby and Cade were traded to the Abraxas coven, along with two other humans.”

“Abraxas?” Luca slid a fresh magazine into a .22-cal pistol and passed it to Roux. “Well, that’s a problem for another day.” He nodded when Roux took the handgun. “You know how to use that?”

She smirked up at him as she released the magazine to count the rounds. Then she slid it back into place, cocked the hammer, and aimed the muzzle into the distance as she stared down the barrel. “I think I can figure it out.”

Nodding, Luca passed a similar handgun to Rhys, then a 9mm to Deidra.

Deidra frowned. “Why do I get the bloody peashooter?”

“Because it has more rounds, and you’re a lousy fucking shot, O’Malley.”

Thea coughed to cover her laughter, but when the female glared at her, she couldn’t hold it in any longer. “You two know each other?”

Luca snorted. “We’ve met.”

“It wasn’t my fault.” Deidra inspected her gun, then slid it into the waistband at her lower back. “If you hadn’t gone charging into that warehouse like a madman, maybe I would have had more time.”

Jerking his head up, Luca pinned her with his dark gaze. “You shot me in the ass, O’Malley!”

“I barely grazed you,” she argued. “You completely overreacted.”

Thea wondered if that was the reason the female had ended up in Valley Falls. “Okay, we’re missing all the fun. Let’s move.”

Luca and Deke both gave her approving nods. Lynk and the Chambers twins stripped out of their clothes and knelt of the ground in a row, their bodies contorting and writhing as they shifted. When it was over, an enormous white tiger and two sleek leopards stared back at them, the moonlight reflected in their eyes.

Thea hooked her thumbs into her waistband but paused when she caught Rhys staring at her. He wouldn’t be able to keep up with her, and while she was hesitant to leave him, she was also eager to shift after being restrained for so long.

Reading the hesitation on her face, Rhys stepped in front of her and took her chin gently between his thumb and forefinger, tilting her head up for a slow, sweet kiss. “Go, angel. I’ll be right behind you.”

“I lov—”

He kissed her again, cutting her off. “No goodbyes. I’m going to be right behind you.”

Nodding, she stepped back and stripped out of her sweatshirt, laughing when Rhys growled and moved to shield her nude body from the other males. Before the Purge, her transformation had been almost instantaneous, with only a dull ache at the back of her skull, but the virus had changed everything.

The pain was excruciating. Her bones crunched as they snapped and realigned, her face contorted and lengthened, and her fingers snapped, breaking in several places before swelling out into big, padded paws. When the pain passed, she stood and shook her massive head, clearing the remnants of confusion. Flicking her tail, she butted against Rhys’ thigh, purring when he reached down to scratch behind her ear.

“I should have known you’d be beautiful like this as well.” He winked when her purring sped, increasing in volume. “Now, go.”

After giving him one last nuzzle, she whipped around and darted off across the field, following the sounds of gunfire. The wind breezed across her face and ruffled her fur, the cold exhilarating rather than biting. It had been weeks since she’d been able to shift and run, and she rejoiced in the sense of freedom it gave her. She felt strong and powerful.

She felt invincible.

Paws pounding across the frozen ground, she darted up a grassy knoll and turned on a burst of speed, letting loose a rumbling roar that echoed through the night. The male guards might be bigger than her, but she was faster.

Sprinting through the field, she passed Lynk first, chuckling internally when he growled at her. A few yards later, she sped past the twins, bounded across the open courtyard in front of the art museum, and threw herself into the battle that stretched to the north parking lot of the zoo.

The gunfire slowed as the combatants ran low on ammunition, most already turning to hand-to-hand combat. Shifters prowled through the feuding bodies in their animal forms, cutting down foes, their claws slashing through the air with deadly accuracy. Vampires and werewolves dueled, their movements so fast, she could barely track them.

Twenty feet from her, Joseph Haymaker pointed his gun at the back of a Revenant guard she didn’t know. She’d pegged the enforcer for a bully the moment he’d stepped into the cabin the first night of her captivity, but she hadn’t realized the depths of his cowardice.

With an angry screech, Thea pushed off from the ground, leaping through the air, her front legs extended in front of her. Her claws found their target, sinking into the enforcer’s back as she dragged him to the ground. Rolling to the side, she landed on her feet and prowled in a semi-circle, watching, waiting for her opening.

Clumsy and reacting with anger instead of skill, Haymaker whirled toward her, teeth bared, and lunged, trying to tackle her. Thea skirted left, chuffing when he fell face down into a pile of snow. Staggering back to his feet, his face red, his eyes bulging, he dove at her again. This time, she swatted at his cheek as he fell to the grass.

“I’m going to rip your goddamn head off and mount it on my wall!” Scrambling sideways, he fumbled with his left pant leg, pulling a pocket pistol from his ankle holster.

Thea froze when he swung toward her, the barrel pointed directly at her head. She was fast, but not that fast. Her fight or flight instinct fired on overdrive, and with nowhere to flee, she crouched low and prepared to attack.

A shot rang out, and she flinched backwards, but there was no pain, no blood.

Stumbling, the enforcer stared down at his chest and wheezed. The grip on his gun faltered, relaxed, and the weapon fell to the grass with a quiet thud, the werewolf tumbling down after it.

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to play with your food?” The guard she’d saved from being shot in the back stood behind her, his gun still pointed at the werewolf.

Thea imagined rolling her eyes at him but settled for a grunt. She lowered her head in thanks, then dashed back out into the fray. She had an alpha to find.

Bodies lay scattered across the field, some wounded, some dead, most of them werewolves from what she could tell. Slinking through the battle, she kept her head up, sniffing…searching. She stopped to help where she could, taking down one enforcer before he could open the throat of a fellow Revenant guard.

She didn’t see or smell any sign of Alpha Chase.

At the edge of the fight, three SUVs pulled to a stop, the flare of their headlights shining out over the field. Deidra and Roux jumped out of the nearest, hurrying back up the hill toward the museum. They disappeared into the shadows, returning moments later with several pack members who’d clearly decided they weren’t willing to die for their deranged alpha. Thea recognized the female from the café who’d given her coffee. An average-looking male ran beside her, his arm wrapped protectively around her shoulders, and she guessed him to be her mate.

Deke waited by the SUV, ushering the wolves inside while maintaining a close watch on the battle for signs of encroaching danger. Irati slid out of the driver’s door of the second vehicle, leaving it hanging open as he ran into the battle, gun drawn, eyes alert.

Rhys and Luca exited the remaining SUV, their movements more reserved, their gazes cautious. Her mate came directly to her, dispatching a werewolf with a single blow as if the male had been made of nothing but dust. There, he dropped to one knee and smiled.  The hands that had just doled out such violence cradled her face gently, and he bent his head to rest his brow against hers.

“Did you find him?”

The fur along her spine stood on end, and she hissed.

“We will,” Rhys promised. “He’s not going to get away with this.”

“You bitch!” a familiar, feminine voice squealed from behind her. “You’ve ruined everything!”

Thea looked up, eyes wide, watching as Kara’s clawed hand swept toward her face.

“Now, is that any way for a lady to behave?” Luca taunted, catching Kara’s arm in its downward stroke. His lips parted again, but he froze, his gaze fixated on her wrist. “Where did you get this?” Jerking her arm up, twisting it at an unnatural angle, he tore the thin, silver bracelet from her wrist and shook it at her. “Tell me where the fuck you got this!”

Thea recognized the amber charms that dangled from the delicate chain, had seen them a hundred times. It pissed her off that the female had it, that she’d even touched it, but she didn’t know why the hell Luca cared so much. It wasn’t as if he even knew Abby.

Kara stared back at him defiantly, her lips pressed together in a thin line. She betrayed her next move by flexing her shoulder, and when she swung at Luca with her free hand, he ducked it easily and shoved her away. The female just didn’t know when to quit, though.

Pulling a dagger from a loop on her waist band, she roared as she drove forward, swinging the blade wildly. With a sigh, Luca stepped to the side, grabbed her wrist, and wrapped his arms around her from behind, redirecting the blade directly into her heart.

“I really didn’t want to do that.” Carefully, he lowered Kara’s limp body to the ground and shook his head. “Go,” he told Thea and Rhys. “Find the alpha. I want this done.”

He stomped off into the fight, head down, Abby’s bracelet still clutched between his fingers.

Thea wouldn’t exactly mourn the loss of Kara Chase, but she understood what the captain had meant. The female hadn’t needed to die. She could have walked away. Even if Luca had rendered her unconscious, they didn’t have the means or the authority to arrest her, and if they let her go, she would have just taken her fury out on someone else, another innocent.

War was Hell.

Thea dropped her head and swung her sleek body around, but Rhys touched her back, stopping her. Sitting back on her haunches, she stared up at him, watching as he scanned their surroundings. The battle was drawing to a close, most of the pack either dead or having escaped with Deidra and Roux. A few of the enforcers knelt in a line, their hands behind their heads, while guards stood watch over them. Maybe the rest of the pack wasn’t as crazy as their alpha after all.

“Brick won’t be here. He’s too selfish for that.” Rhys shuffled around in a slow circle. “He’d want to watch, but not be in the crosshairs.”

They were running out of time. Alpha Chase might want to watch the carnage, but when the fight ended, he wouldn’t stick around for long.

“The KC guys shut down the security cameras when they came in, so he’d have to be close.” Stopping, Rhys cocked his head to the side, his eyes narrowed. “There.” He pointed to the second-story roof of the museum. “Let’s go.”

Charging back up the hill, Thea pulled ahead of her mate, passing the giant statue in the courtyard, and hurdled up the front steps to the entrance. Forgetting she didn’t have opposable thumbs in her current form, she snarled at the offending door, scratching at the wood with her claws until Rhys arrived.

He smirked when he pulled the door open, but she didn’t wait to see if he’d say something witty. Claws clicking across the linoleum, she hurried into the empty atrium, slinking through the dark to the service stairwell near the welcome desk.

Again, she had to wait for Rhys to open the door for her.

“Maybe we should stick together,” he suggested.

She was already gone, taking the steps three at a time to the second-floor landing, where she paced while waiting once more for her mate.

Rhys knew he shouldn’t laugh, but he couldn’t help it. “You are so stubborn.” Footstep beyond the door drew his attention, and he flattened himself against the wall, motioning for Thea to do the same. “He’s coming.”

The door swung open, and Alpha Bricksten Chase hurried through it, right into Rhys’ waiting grip. Tightening his fingers around the male’s throat, Rhys spun them around, slamming his former alpha against the wall.