The All Consuming: A Shifter MC Novel (Pureblood Predator MC Book 4) (27 page)

I hope my sister finds her way. I really do.

“Smoke?” Mia says, offering Lily a cigarette.

I swat Mia’s hand away. The mocking is part of how she protects herself. Once I understood this about Mia I couldn’t stay angry with her.
 

She flashes me a pretend pout, tosses the cigarette to her lips, takes a drag and says, “Gunna be a bummer when we run out of these. Need to learn how to grow tobacco.”

“Need to learn how to live clean,” I say.

Lily ignores us, looks out over the valley at the pyramid.
 

Vuk’s eyes are closed. He’s so still he looks dead, but I scent the life in him. “Can you hear it?” Lily asks, nodding at the pyramid.

“What?”

“The ringing.”

“No.”

Lily jerks her thumb at Mia. “She can. Though she’s doing a good job hiding it.”

Mia shrugs, pretends to straighten her leather riding gloves, blows a few smoke rings in Lily’s direction.
 

“Soon the noise will become unbearable,” Lily says. “And if the Purebloods insist on traveling closer to the Pyramid of the Sun, the ringing will eventually shatter their eardrums, then drive them batshit. They’ll butcher one another, then turn their claws against themselves—”

“Good times,” Mia says.

“Which means the Risen ride to the pyramid alone,” I say, feeling oddly relieved.

Lily shakes her head. “Aaron’s traveling with us. He doesn’t hear it.”

I silently curse the alpha wolf’s strength, but say nothing. I would prefer just the three of us go. Aaron only complicates what needs to be done, which is save Pimniq.
 

“The three of you against the entire Stricken army,” Mia scoffs. “How about them odds?”

“Four of us,” Lily says, smiling in a way that doesn’t reach her eyes. “Trish isn’t affected by the pyramid’s curse. She’s riding with us.”

“Oh, that’ll even it up.”

“The Stricken are occupied,” Lily says, pointing out over the smoke-choked valley that used to house one of the largest Skin cities in the world. “See there? Where the fires still burn? Someone’s attacking the Stricken. Drawing them away from the pyramid.”

“Who?” I ask.

“Our brother Rodas. Creating a diversion for us. If we’re lucky.”

“And if not?”

“Someone we don’t know who’s powerful enough to make a territorial claim in the Age of Discord.”

“A challenger,” Mia hisses.

“A world up for grabs,” Lily says, her voice distant. “I’d imagine that would inspire all kinds of fuck-ups and wannabe despots—”

Vuk’s eyes suddenly shoot open. He draws a long, gurgling breath, clutches his hands to his wounded shoulder, then breaks into a horrible cough. He doesn’t have long to live.

“Get some rest, Anik,” Lily says, eyeing the crew surrounding Aaron. From the shocked expressions on Nash and Blue’s faces I can tell he’s just broken the news that he’ll be riding to the heart of enemy territory without his most trusted brothers. Blue’s looking at the Prez like he’s nuts. Which maybe he is. “We ride at nightfall,” Lily says before taking off to join her bloodmate.

When Lily’s gone Mia looks at me for a long while. I ignore her and continue studying the pyramid. Occasionally the smoke shifts, revealing the beginnings of another pyramid across from the original. Its base is four times as large as the old one. I see wooden towers and scaffolds and winches and even a few pieces of heavy machinery. A monument to a new empire. Started too soon, and if events go as Lily and Aaron intend, never to be completed.
 

But the look in Aaron Arud’s eyes when he held Vuk by the throat?
 

The fury? The hatred? The kill-lust? I wonder.

Maybe the second pyramid will be completed even if Lily and Aaron triumph over Vuk. Maybe the wolf’s newfound power will corrupt him as surely as Vuk’s corrupted—

I close my eyes, willing myself to focus on the now. Then I turn my attention to the Pyramid of the Sun.
 

Pimniq’s there. I sense her pain.
 

I
hear
it: a soft, halting wail.
 

Her screams are with me constantly now. Driving my animal mad.
 

It takes every bit of willpower I have to wait for Lily and the rest.

There’s a reason Vuk’s on Lily’s bike. They don’t trust me with him. Afraid I’ll take off—

“I hope you free her, Anik,” Mia says, her voice soft. “I only knew her briefly. She doesn’t deserve such suffering. No one does.”

“Many do,” I growl as my sister’s screams crash through my mind, enraging my animal spirit.

“Yeah,” Mia says. “Maybe you’re right. But doesn’t it seem…the ones who deserve it least suffer the most?”

I meet Mia’s eyes.
 

I can tell she wants to say more.

But instead she gives me a quick nod, kicks the Harley to life and returns to her crew without a backward glance.

M
Y
CREW
’
S
NOT
psyched about about staying behind.
 

Shocker.

But they’re feeling the pyramid’s curse, so they know I’m not bullshitting. Fact a few of the weaker ones have already succumbed to the maddening ringing. They’re the ones leaning over their bikes while blood streams from their ears.

“Think of it this way,” I say to Nash and Blue, who are both still insisting they’re gunna storm the pyramid at my side. “After I kill these motherfuckers, the Stricken are gunna run wild. Stampede out of the city. I want you guys here to cut them down. More we kill now means the fewer we have to hunt down later.”

Nash and Blue share an uneasy glance.

“The First Fallen,” Nash says.

“Shiori,” Blue adds.

“Lachlan.”

“The Minions.”

“Maybe that Rodas douchebag,” Nash says, slamming half a bottle of cheap rye.

“Oh yeah,” Blue nods. “Almost forgot about him. “Maybe Anik, too, if shit goes sideways, which it
will
—”

“You guys done fucking with my day? Or are there any more enemies you’d like to remind me of?”

“You need us,” Blue says.

“Fuck yeah I do. I need you
whole
. Look at you, Blue. I know you hear the ringing. Face all white and sweating. Digging your fingernails into your palms. And we’re still a hundred miles off—”

Truth is I don’t want them with me. If I lose and they’re this far outside the city they have half a chance of getting out before Vuk tracks them down.

But that’s bullshit, too.
 

If Vuk doesn’t die my bro’s are dead as sure as I am. I’ve been face-to-face with Vuk’s animal. I saw inside him. I was an idiot to try and turn him. I shudder, thinking about how it felt to have that blackness creep into my veins. What I’m realizing is…when I turn someone I establish a link. Between animals, spirits, souls, whatever you want to call it. That link’s a two way street. Leaves me vulnerable. And when I touched Vuk’s heart and felt what he’s made of, what makes him tick…I force the thought away.
 

I swallow hard. No use dwelling on what’s already done, or letting that slimy bastard worm his way deeper into my psyche than he already has.

I got a blood challenge to win.
 

A cool bead of sweat slides down the back of my neck.
 

“That a command, Prez?” Blue asks, giving me a bit of side-eye.

“Bet your ass. Now. Props for having my back when shit got real with Lil.” I turn to take in the entire crew that stayed loyal, both old MC bros and new arrivals. “So. Thank you all…and fuck off.” I look at Nash and Blue again and say, “Break the MC up into three crews. One for each of you and one for Mia. Wrap around this destroyed shithole of a city and kill anything that tries to get out.”

Me and my inner circle fist-bump and smack shoulders.
 

No goodbyes. Just business. Stone-cold predators.
 

But as they ride off I can’t help but think it’s the last I’ll ever see of them—

“Anik might not make it until nightfall.”

Lily. With her jerkoff brother riding bitch. Only thing that made the last few days tolerable was seeing how much Vuk is hurting.
 

“He’ll have to,” I say.
 

“We should leave now.”

“Now? Fuck no.”

“Why not?”

“I prefer hunting in the dark.”

Truth is I still don’t feel a hundred percent healed from my little stunt with Vuk. Hand’s still numb where it went black. Arm feels heavy. Sluggish. I hard swallow again. Fuck sakes. Eyes on the prize, Prez. But a part of me’s wondering: maybe I’m making bullshit excuses? Dithering because I’m afra—

“I can’t wait anymore,” Lily says, her voice cracking. “Pimniq and my son…”
 

I follow Lily’s gaze upward. Circling through the clouds above us are several dozen giant black vultures.

“Lachlan,” I say, trying to keep the loathing from my voice. He’s a wildcard in my plan. The creepy Stricken kid has his father’s blood in his veins. Lily’s son has to die if the Stricken are to be stopped. But I know she has other, more motherly ideas—

“Shiori and the rest know we’re here. They’re not attacking,” Lily says.

“Why not?”

“They can’t risk harming Vuk.”

Bastard must be loving this
, I think.
Not long. Not long until the kill—

I squeeze the fingers of my right hand into a fist, making sure I’m turned away from Vuk so he can’t see me if he opens his eyes. I know he’s listening to every word we say. Fingers feel okay. Fuck it. Lily’s right. Time to get this show on the road. Another reason I’ve been delaying…been trying to think of a way I can keep Lily away from the battle zone. Yeah, just like Phoenix. But there’s no way.
 

“Good. Fucking
excellent
, in fact. Get that idiot bear brother of yours and lets roll.”

Lily squares to me. Holds her ground. Gives me a tight-lipped look.

Shit. I know what that look means.
 

“I need you to swear, Aaron.”

Oh fuck.
 

“Swear you won’t harm my son.”

A mother’s love. She makes it sound like her son’s on the fucking honor roll. Helping old ladies cross the street. Not rolling ram’s horns and a razor beak with an AKA like the Carrion Cloud. Lachlan’s a Stricken. Pure and simple. A black-blooded abomination.
 

So what do I do? I lie.
 

“I won’t harm Lachlan,” I say.

Lily’s eyes blaze. She’s not a fool. But she’s rolling with me anyway. Why? Because she needs me to do her wet work. That’s the cold truth. Needs me to be the lethal strength she’ll never be.
 

The remorseless killer.
 

It’s who I am.
 

And whether or not she’ll admit it, it’s partly why she loves me.
 

Listen, I never played at being a saint. Hell no. Lily’s known what I am since day one. An outlaw. A fucking apex predator. If I can’t turn Lachlan like I couldn’t turn Vuk, and the creepy vulture-kid lives, the One War continues in his name. The Stricken will rally around him as heir to the First Fallen’s empire.

I won’t let that happen.

Lily knows it.

So she’s washing her hands of the whole thing. Making me offer a promise she knows I can’t possibly keep. That way when I rip out her sick fucking son’s beating black heart she can be pissed at me and still feel okay about herself.
 

Is it fucked? Yes. Normal? Bet your ass.

Lily reaches out and holds my forearm. I try and ignore how electric her touch feels. My wolf’s pacing his cage, yearning for his bloodmate, but she’s not answering—
 

“Do you feel my animal’s mistrust?” Lily asks.

I nod.
 

“She sensed what you did to Anik. How you banished the bear. She fears you. You should have told me, Aaron.”

“I wasn’t certain.”

“How close do you need to be?”

I lean against my Harley and light a smoke. “Close enough to kill.”

“Could you banish my animal right now?”

“I think so. Yeah.”

Fear clouds Lily’s face. She swallows hard.

“What? Thought you wanted her gone? All you’ve done is hate on her.”

Lily’s eyes flash. Man. Sometimes I think I say shit just to piss her off cuz she looks so good angry.

“When we get to the pyramid, make sure Tornarsuk isn’t around,” Lily says. “I’ve seen what the bear does when Pimniq’s threatened.”

“Goes apeshit.”

“Bearshit?”

I grin. “Yeah. Anik’s gunna hate me for banishing his animal again.”

“You’ll be saving his life. A
lot
of lives. As long as we hand over Vuk and get Pim back from Shiori no one has to die.”

“Except Shiori,” I say, real quiet.

Lily’s jaw tenses. “Except Shiori.”

“You can say it, you know.”

“What?”

“That you
want
to kill her. That you’re psyched to murder the creepy little bitch.”

Lily gives me an odd look. “I’m not psyched about killing anyone.”

“What about your brother?”

Lily shakes her head. “With Shiori dead he’ll never Become. He’ll live out his days as a Skin. I’m going to imprison him. Let him live as an example of…”

Lily’s voice trails off. She’s looking down, fidgeting with her fingers. She was going to say forgiveness. Maybe mercy. But she suspects I think it’s bullshit.

She’s right. It is bullshit.
 

Vuk’s going to die tonight.
 

And his son too, if I can’t turn Lachlan’s black blood red.

“What about our blood challenge?” I say. “That shit is real.”

“Vuk won’t Become,” she repeats, like she’s trying to convince herself. “It means nothing for you to murder a Skin. You have to let that go.”

Lily stares into my eyes. She can’t read me. But she knows me pretty damned well. If she’s having second thoughts—