Blood Bond (46 page)

Something moved between the slats and I
sucked in a breath, silencing my cries. I caught a glimpse of an
arm as someone walked by.

“Hello?” I called.

Then came the sound of feet shuffling,
fabric rustling.

“Hello?” I called again louder this time.
“Who’s there?”

A voice rasped, too low and gravelly for me
to hear. Someone coughed. The voice came again. “I’m Curtis. Who
are you?”

“Tara. Tara Godfrey.” I peered through the
crack and saw a pair of eyes ringed in yellow staring back at me.
They were wide and alert. My chest tightened.

“What happened?” he asked.

“You were unconscious. I injected you with
my blood and it brought you back.”

The eyes blinked, processing my words.
“Thank you.”

His sincerity gave me hope. I sniffled and
blinked away the last of my tears. “Is everyone awake?”

“Um …” The man turned away to survey the
clearing and I caught a glimpse of shaggy brown hair that curled at
the back of his neck. I held my breath while I waited for him to
answer. “Yes. We’re all awake.” Suddenly, his eyes widened and his
features froze in a look of surprise.

“What is it?” I asked, leaning forward.

“I can’t stop it …” he began. His mouth
continued to move but the sound was cut off. His form blurred and
the popping of bones echoed in the quiet.

Then his body disappeared.

In its place stood a yellow-eyed wolf.

Chapter Thirty

For the first time since my wolf half had
woken, I wanted to shift. My skin crawled. My head pounded. My neck
and back burned with tingles. Goosebumps slammed into me so hard I
convulsed. The clearing was still cluttered with bodies—only they
were all Werewolves now. I couldn’t see past the first dozen or so,
but judging by my body’s reaction, I knew many more had survived
than I’d expected. Maybe all of them.

I could feel their eyes on me as they paced
in front of my cage. A few growled. I could hear a fight breaking
out further back. I was glad for the wooden planks that stood
between us.

“That’s her,” one female rasped. “The one
we’re supposed to bring to the master.”

“I can smell her blood,” said another.

“I’d like to
taste
her blood.” The
malice in that one made me shiver.

“Remember what the master said. We can’t
hurt her.”

“We can’t
kill
her. We can taste
…”

Paws landed lightly on the roof. The iron
grated and whined. I held my breath and watched the teeth picking
at the latch. The Werewolf snorted when it didn’t budge.

“Change back so you have fingers, you
idiot,” the female said.

A pause and then, “You try to shift back,
genius.”

“I … can’t.”

“Exactly.”

“Are we stuck like this? Did the master
…?”

“Sshh! She’s coming. I can feel it.”

On cue, footsteps sounded. Human steps. The
wolves nearest me let out a whimper and retreated. I watched
through the planks as Olivia, then Chris, came into the center of
the clearing. Chris was human again and carrying a barely conscious
Cord in his arms. At Olivia’s direction, he dropped Cord in a heap
in the dirt. The wolves growled and pawed at the ground.

“I see you’re all up and around,” Olivia
said. Her voice rang out loudly over the sound of the pack.

I shrank back against the wall as her voice
echoed against the pounding in my head. It was as if her single
voice had become a thousand others, all competing for room to be
heard. I shut my eyes in a vain attempt to block it out.

“When can we hunt?” one of the hybrids
called.

“Soon,” Olivia said. “First, bear witness.
This is the Hunter who killed my son. She has come to apologize,
isn’t that right, Cordelia?”

Cord said something too low for me to hear.
Olivia kicked her and she grunted as the wind left her lungs. I bit
my lip against rage and panic. It was easy to see where this was
going. Olivia wanted Cord’s death public—and slow. I had to do
something. But I couldn’t get past the rushing in my ears, the buzz
in my head.

The door above me creaked open. I had a
moment’s panic that the two hybrids who’d wanted me for lunch had
found a way inside, but then Chris peered down at me. “Get out,” he
said.

I climbed out at an odd angle, using my head
to keep my balance up the steep staircase. Chris waited until I was
on the ground and then took my arm and led me forward. I barely
felt his hand through the throbbing in my shoulder. Olivia smiled
at me, the expression full of malice. “Just in time for the
show.”

*

Olivia was relentless. Kick after kick
landed in Cord’s ribs. I couldn’t watch. I couldn’t look away. When
Cord began screaming, the hybrids howled, their high-pitched voices
melting into one. The buzzing in my head reached a crescendo,
drowning out the sound in my ears. I squeezed my hands into fists
behind my back. My nails dug into my palms, but the numbness from
the binds made it hard to feel the pressure. The arm I’d twisted
burned from shoulder to wrist.

Beside me, Chris shifted restlessly. “You’re
hurting,” he said in a low voice.

It took me a moment to understand the full
implication of his words. I jerked my gaze to his. “How do you know
that?”

“I can …” He pressed his lips together, shot
a glance at Olivia. “I just do.”

He wouldn’t meet my eyes, and for a second,
the cacophony in my head calmed. I tried to focus on it, separating
individual threads. I strained to make out words, voices. They were
there, just out of reach. I held my breath. It was too much to hope
for.

Slowly, I picked out a single feeling. Like
an emotion attached to a vivid memory, the feeling had a taste, a
certain flavor, and I knew it was the one I needed. The one that
just might save us.

I braced myself for how deeply this would
change everything. Then, just like that day at Astor’s, I opened my
mind and let go.

Chris’s eyes widened. He pressed a palm to
his forehead. “What’s happening?” he whispered.

I couldn’t answer him.

Feelings, emotions, some as strong as a
thought, poured into me. The wall came down, the buzzing became a
roar. My knees gave out. I hadn’t stayed fully conscious the first
time I’d done this. I wasn’t sure how much longer my feet would
hold me up with such a crowd inside my head.

It took only seconds for the rest of them to
notice. Their eyes shifted from Olivia to me and back, clearly
confused. Some of them blinked and shook their heads, pawing at
their ears. Was it this loud for them too?

Olivia paused and looked around at her
audience, finally noticing their break in concentration. “What the
hell is wrong with all of you?” she demanded.

One of them let out a wailing howl. A few
others joined it. I welcomed it, since it drowned out the internal
noise, but Olivia looked furious. “What are you doing? Silence!”
she screamed. A few listened to her, their jaws clamping shut so
firmly it looked like Olivia had hit an off switch. The rest
continued to wail.

Something heavy pushed against the feelings
inside me. They were fighting it. I didn’t know how to manage all
of the different flavors and feelings, much less push back. Hunger,
rage, desperation, pain, heartache, hatred, loathing. The list went
on and on.

Olivia marched up to one of the wolves and
struck it across the nose. “What is the problem?” she demanded.

It backed up and lowered its head to the
ground. “I don’t know,” it said. “I feel …”

“Feel? You don’t feel. You obey.” Her eyes
cut to Cord, then back. Her voice dropped low and she pointed.
“Master says feed.”

The yellow eyes dilated. The wolf looked at
Cord. Saliva pooled at its jowls.

The hunger inside me became overwhelming.
Olivia’s eyes gleamed, silently willing the wolf to attack. I
swallowed the acrid taste in my throat and concentrated. The wall
slid back. The wolf shifted its weight. Our eyes met.

Do. Not. Harm.

I felt the command sink into the wolf’s
awareness. Its fur stood on end and its form shimmered at the
edges. The air crackled with energy. It stared at me.

Olivia followed the wolf’s gaze and her eyes
landed on me. “You.” She covered the distance between us in three
strides. Her hands grabbed my face, squeezing and shaking. “What
have you done to them?” she demanded.

“I—” Olivia’s knuckles struck my cheek and
my head jerked sideways.

Something inside the hybrids snapped.

The wall crumbled. Emotions flooded in—and
out. The wolf Olivia struck shot forward. Its teeth sunk into her
calf and she screamed.

“You did this! What did you do?”

I was too shocked to respond. I hadn’t asked
for them to attack her, but now that one had led the way, the
others followed suit. They stalked toward her. I could feel their
hunger.

How would I ever manage all of them?

“Wait,” I called, my voice loud and firm. I
had to exert authority from the beginning if I was going to make
this work.

They hesitated.

“Untie me.” I shoved my wrists at Chris and
waited, half expecting him to refuse. His fingers brushed my hands
as he untied the knots and let the binding fall. I rubbed my wrists
gingerly until they tingled with renewed blood flow.

Olivia’s face was ashen as she’d bent over
to press a hand to the gash in her leg. Blood seeped from beneath
her fingers. She watched in silence as I stepped forward to address
the hybrids.

My hybrids.

“We aren’t going to kill her,” I said.

No one argued, but they didn’t back away,
either.

“Not until I say. Do you hear me?” I asked
when no one moved or spoke.

Emotions slid into place. Acquiescence, then
certainty, and finally, loyalty. For one moment, the dozens of
threads buzzing within me became a single chord.

“We hear you … master.”

I nodded like it was the most normal thing
in the world to be addressed that way.

“But you’re … you’re not …” Olivia trailed
off.

“A wolf?” I finished for her. She could
barely nod. “I’m more of one than your son was, apparently.”

“
He—he couldn’t shift. His
father … Leo gave him something to stop it. Stole it from
Jeremiah’s lab…”

I didn’t bother asking her to finish. I
retrieved my bindings and handed them to Chris. “Tie her up.”

I watched him secure her hands. The other
hybrids stood, shifting their weight restlessly. I could still feel
their hunger for revenge. I couldn’t blame them, but I couldn’t
allow it, either. If I did, I’d be no better than they were, than
Olivia.

“What do you want me to do with her?” Chris
asked.

“Put her in the box,” I said.

When Olivia was locked up, I went to Cord.
She wasn’t moving. I couldn’t tell if she was breathing until I put
my hand over her face and felt the wisp of breath against my
skin.

“Cord?”

She didn’t respond. I traced the purple
circles that covered her arms, blinking back tears. I had no idea
where we were, but it was safe to say help wasn’t close. I had no
idea what to do for her or if it would even matter if I tried.
“Cord?” My voice broke.

I sensed someone behind me and turned. Chris
stood there, his hands limp at his sides, his expression blank. I
didn’t feel any particular remorse through the bond, just
uncertainty.

“Where are we?” I asked him.

“Warm Springs. It’s part of the George
Washington National Forest.”

“We’re still in Virginia?”

“Yes.”

“How far to a hospital?”

“An hour’s run.”

I nodded and swallowed the burn in my throat
from the tears. Behind Chris, the hybrids crowded around, watchful,
silent. I looked down at Cord again. Blood stained her shirt from
underneath. I pulled up her shirt and found cuts across her abdomen
from where rocks and twigs had scraped her. Purpling bruises
blossomed across her ribs and stomach. Some were knotted and
swollen. Some were already black with blood congealing under the
skin. The damage was too much.

I couldn’t stop the tears. They fell on my
cheeks and onto Cord’s shirt, splashing wet spots on the fabric.
Chris and the hybrids stayed close but no one interrupted. The buzz
in my mind dulled in comparison to my grief.

I’d failed.

Cord could die.

Nothing else mattered.

Not the hybrids, or the bond I’d just formed
with an entire pack of them, not Olivia, who’d begun ranting and
screaming obscenities at me from inside her wooden cage. Her curses
were drowned out by my own mental tongue-lashing.

I’d been stupid to come, and Cord would die
because of me.

Chapter Thirty-One

The yelling and crash of branches came to me
in a fog. Tears blurred my vision, making it impossible to
understand what was happening until it was too late. The first
metal stake buried itself in the heart of a hybrid near the
outskirts of the group. Its howl cut off sharply. The sound rocked
me to the core. The pain on its heels was worse.

I clutched at my chest and bit back a
scream.

Chaos followed.

Bodies—humans wielding shiny weapons—broke
into the clearing. Half a dozen at first, then at least three times
that surged from the trees. The leaders let loose a battle cry.
Their eyes blazed, their expressions a mask of determination and
controlled hate.

Hybrids dropped by the handful before the
first intruder’s face registered. Even then, I wondered if I’d
imagined it. No mistake, these were Hunters, but I could swear I’d
seen some of them before. I couldn’t be certain through the
pain—sharp jabs in my chest, twisted pangs in my gut. And my throat
burned with invisible flames. I couldn’t think, I couldn’t
move.