Replica (The Blood Borne Series Book 2) (30 page)

Mac turned around, and when he saw my open eyes, he put a hand on my arm as if he hoped to hold me down on his own. “How old is she?”

“Old enough,” I whispered, “to outlive you,
Mac
.” I weighted his name as heavily as I could, putting the last of my strength into controlling him. He let out a whimper and his eyes glazed over. He’d been compelled before, which worked in my favor. “Kill Calvin.”

Calvin jumped the moment before Mac leapt at him. They tangled on the floor, biting and snarling. I wasn’t sure Mac could take him, but it would buy me the time I needed. With a sharp jerk that took everything I had left in me, I brought my head forward, splitting the leather strap.

The wristbands came next. I bent and undid the waist and ankle straps while Calvin and Mac continued to smash around the room, like a tornado unleashed indoors. There was a yelp and then Calvin stood. Mac whimpered on the floor, his back at an impossible angle. At least, impossible to survive without a reset.

“What the hell is wrong with you, Lea? Do you not trust me?” Calvin yelled.

“No. Get away from him.” Shockingly enough, he did as I asked and moved to the doorway, peering out.

“If we hurry, we can catch up to Rachel and your other friends. We have a few hours left of dark.”

I ignored him, dropping to my knees beside Mac as the world spun and sparkled, the injury to my head anything but healed. I was about to change that right now. “Thanks.”

“Don’t hurt me,” he whispered.

“You betrayed Ivan and his pack—” I brushed his hair back, “—didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

I dropped on him and buried my fangs into his neck hard, grinding them through muscle and tendons, deliberately keeping the pleasure from him. He screamed, but I slapped a hand over his mouth, holding him down while I drank him down, letting his werewolf blood heal my injuries at light speed.

His memories cascaded over me, most of them of his life in the barracks here, of the borderline sadistic things he’d happily done. But then came the memories of his pack life before...of how much he’d resented Ivan and wanted his wife. How he’d been the one to betray them all and how he’d started kidnapping the pack for Stravinsky, then deliberately took the rest while Ivan was gone.

To hurt the enforcer as much as he could.

In short, Mac was the asshole of assholes. I was glad I’d killed him—and even happier I’d made it hurt. As soon as he was dead, I checked his body for weapons. I took his gun and the spiked club. It was smaller than I’d thought it would be, just a black club the size of a police baton studded all over with half-inch silver stakes. I held it up, looking past it to Calvin. He blanched.

“I’m on your side, Lea. I’m fighting with you.”

“You tackled me.”

“If I hadn’t, his blow would have embedded you with more of the stakes in that club.” He pointed. A part of me knew he was right, I’d seen Mac’s memories of that incident too.

“Three strikes and you’re out. You’ve had two, so in other words—” I tipped my head to the door, “—don’t fuck up again.”

CHAPTER 32

RACHEL

All hell had broken loose, keeping me busy enough not to think about what Stravinsky had said about me being Lea’s servant. I knew she’d played the situation to grab an edge—and I had played my part—but deep inside, I also knew he was right.

But I had to focus on getting out of this melee. I wouldn’t be anyone’s servant, least of all my own, if I didn’t survive.

While General Hamm was here, it was obvious the men he’d brought with him weren’t real soldiers. They were poorly trained, poorly coordinated, and out of their element against a vampire, a werewolf, a Cazador whose hands were still bound, and me.

We were making good progress, but I noticed a group of men moving toward an open garage door I hadn’t noticed in the back corner—and an armored vehicle, specially equipped with nozzles and hoses attached to big tanks. The engines revved.

I was fighting off two guys, but Antonio was closer to the tank. “Stop them!”

“Busy,
mi amor
!” he shouted as he fought off two men with several good kicks since his hands were still bound.

Lea cut a path of blood and destruction as she made her way across the room, getting closer and closer to Stravinsky. After disposing of my two attackers, I got close enough to Antonio to cut his zip tie.

Lea finally made it across the room to Stravinsky, but I didn’t hear what she said—I was too busy watching Calvin tackle her just as a tall guy with arm muscles the size of my thighs swung a thick silver club covered in spikes square against Lea’s head.

I’d seen her take many hits before, but this was different from all the others. Her body went limp and I released a scream as Ivan roared in anguish. I started to rush toward her, but Antonio grabbed my arm and held me back as a new wave of guards rushed through the open garage door.

The muscled man scooped up Lea like she was a rag doll, her bloody head drooping over his arm. Ivan hesitated, torn between wanting to go to her and staying to fight, and released another roar.

I lost sight of her as we fought off the fresh guards, not an easy task since we were out numbered five to one. I fought off my rising panic. Lea had looked
dead
. I reminded myself vampires were hard to kill, but she was defenseless. Calvin had followed them and he wasn’t to be trusted. If she wasn’t dead, she would be soon. I had to get to her.

Especially before the bombs went off.

Oh shit. How much time did we have left?

We also needed to stop that tank, but I couldn’t do it with this gaggle of asshats in my path.

A new burst of rage channeled into energy, and I took out three men as Antonio and Ivan cut down the men surrounding them.

I had a clear shot to both the garage and the hall Lea had disappeared down, but who to follow? My head told me to try to save the village, but I felt a strong tug toward Lea.

Was it because of our friendship, or did I really have a supernatural bond to Lea that superseded everything else? It pissed me off to think she’d tricked me into something so permanent without my approval, but I’d deal with it later.

I had to get to her.

I heard the first explosion as I bolted across the room.

I gasped and shot a glance toward Antonio and Ivan.

“Time to go,” Antonio said after his fist connected with his last attacker’s temple, sending the man crumpling to the floor.

“I have to go after her,” Ivan said, but I grabbed his arm.

“This whole place is going to blow, Ivan. We have to get out now.” But even as I said the words, I felt the same urge.

“Lea…”

“Is a vampire. She’ll survive this too.” If she was still alive, but I had this weird sense that she was. “We’ll come back and find her.”

He started to protest, but another explosion shook the building and sent a chunk of the ceiling crashing to the floor.

Ivan’s mouth pursed, but he nodded and we ran toward the garage. Shots rang out, ricocheting off the concrete walls. I ducked behind a tool bench and tried to assess the situation. A group of men were on the other side of the garage—a concrete tomb that could fit half a football field—hidden behind several pieces of machinery, but as soon as they realized we weren’t shooting back, they began to advance, sending a wave of bullets toward us.

Antonio cursed next to me. “They took our weapons.” He shot a glance toward Ivan, who was hiding behind a transport truck.

Ivan held up his empty hands.

Shit.

Blade still in my hand, I was prepared to take out the first man who rounded the tool bench. I press my back to the cool metal, waiting to make my move.

Only the first threat came from the opening behind us. Two men stood in the doorway, smiles curling their lips as they lifted their weapons to fire.

Instinct took over and I threw my knife at the one on the right. The blade lodged in his throat and surprise filled his eyes as he reached for it, dropping to his knees.

His friend turned to him in shock, giving Antonio the opportunity to follow my lead. He leapt at the guard, slitting his throat and sliding his gun across the smooth concrete floor. I caught it and peered around the side of the bench to take stock. I had no idea how many bullets were in the clip, but knew I had to make each one count. I saw three men across from me. I ducked back around the bench as bullets sprayed toward me. I took a deep breath, then peeked around the side again, aiming for the man on the end.

He fell as I ducked back to safety.

Several shots went off beside me, and I swiveled to see Antonio shooting a semi-automatic rifle while Ivan wielded a handgun.

I swung around to shoot again, taking out a man less than six feet away.

The gunfire cut off abruptly, and I glanced at Antonio. His jaw was set and his eyes glittered with anger, but they softened when he glanced down at me. “Let’s go.”

The temperature in the garage had risen and smoke now filled the room behind us, burning my lungs.

I nodded and got up to make a break for the exit, but an anchor bolted my feet to the floor, my body insisting I run back into the fire.

“Rachel!” Antonio shouted. “Come on!”

I tried to take a step forward and fell to my knees, fighting the urge to turn around and run toward Lea. “I can’t,” I said in a panic. “I have to go back for Lea.”

“
Mierde
,” Antonio spat out in dismay. “The bind is calling her.”

“Shit,” Ivan said, looking torn himself. “It means she’s still alive.”

“She’s not alive!” Antonio shouted. “She’s already dead, and for you to go after her would mean certain death for you too!” He looked furious. “I know you want to save her, but the bind works both ways and you know it. If Lea’s actually alive, what will she do when she finds out you let Rachel die trying to get to her?”

Flames flicked at the space behind us and the lights flickered.

“We have to go!” Antonio shouted. “The door is electrical, and we won’t be able to get the garage door open once the power is out.” The large garage door was at the end of a twenty-foot-wide and thirty-foot-long tunnel, and appeared to be our only way out.

“Fuck,” Ivan growled, then grabbed me and tossed me over his shoulder.

But the urge to fight him was overwhelming. I kneed him in the stomach as I beat on his back, trying to evade his hold.

His arm pinned my legs tight against him as a new terror rose inside me, eclipsing the fear of being crushed underneath the walls and ceilings of the collapsing building.

The large garage door groaned in protest as it opened in a jerky movement.

My pulse pounded in my head, exacerbated from hanging upside down. “We’re not going to make it!” And part of me—a part that freaked the shit out of me—didn’t want to make it. Not without Lea.

“We’ll make it.” Ivan’s voice was a low rumble.

I fought him with every step he took, even as he ducked to make it under the partially opened door.

Then it crashed to the ground with a thunderous noise that sent panic through me.

Ivan continued to run, not stopping until we were several hundred feet from the building. As soon as he let me slide to the ground, I bolted toward the building. He grabbed me around the waist and hauled me back.