: Chapter 44

Savannah

I opened my eyes and groaned. My hair hung below me, and the taste of copper filled my mouth.

The roof under me was crushed, the windshield shattered. I took a breath and moved my arms and legs, making sure nothing was broken or missing or impaled.

Every inch of my body hurt, but I’d gotten lucky. I unclicked my seatbelt and braced myself as I fell onto broken glass.

I had to find Billy.

Adrenaline surged through me, dulling the pain. I reached around and pulled the pistol from the back of my jeans, then slid out of the crushed window. Glass cut my hands, but I felt nothing.

The night was dark apart from the flickering high beams of my truck that shone down the road. I climbed to my feet. Billy’s truck was in a ditch on the opposite side. The passenger door was open, and stuff was strewn around the truck—an empty soda bottle, papers, and trash.

Pistol raised and ready to fire, I crossed the road, scanning the area.

The sides and hood of his truck were dented, and the windshield was gone. I eased down the shallow embankment and peered inside the passenger door, my gun raised. I knew he wasn’t inside, but I had to check. A cellphone on the seat lit up and began vibrating. The letter D appeared on the screen.

As I leaned forward to grab it, the hairs on my neck stood on end. I spun as two ripped arms wrapped around me from behind. Pain shot through my wrist, and I dropped the gun.

No!

Panic surged through me. I slammed my head backward and heard a crunch as it connected with Billy’s face. He grunted, then threw me like I weighed no more than a feather.

I hurtled through the air and landed hard in the ditch ahead of his truck. Pain rocketed through my shoulder, and I gasped. What had I been thinking, going after him alone?

Billy grinned. “Stupid little bitch. I got you just where I need you.”

I scrambled to my feet, searching for anything I could use as a weapon. I wasn’t going down without drawing blood.

And then I saw it: a shotgun at the side of the ditch, halfway between Billy and me. It must have flown out of his truck when he’d crashed.

Get him talking. Distract him.

“You’re a pathetic dog.” I took a step forward and forced out a laugh, trying to calm my pounding heart. “A pet doing the dirty work of a sorcerer. Really, Billy? Considering how much you hate us, I never thought you’d stoop so low.”

He growled, and his eyes brightened. “I can smell your fear, Savannah. You’re not fooling anyone. He’s working for me, and once he drains every last drop of your cursed blood, we’ll both get what we want.”

My chest was heaving now, but I took another step forward, keeping my eyes locked on Billy’s. “And what’s that?”

Fear raced up my spine, and my gaze dropped to the claws that grew from Billy’s fingertips.

“Revenge.” His voice was animalistic, and his body began to shake. I was out of time.

I dove for the shotgun as the cracking of bones grew louder. Cocking it with a quick pump, I rolled onto my back as claws dug into my thigh.

I pressed the trigger, and a deafening boom rang through the air. The butt of the gun kicked into my shoulder, and Billy jerked backward several feet.

I scooted away, my ears ringing and my feet sliding in the dirt. Billy clutched his shoulder, and blood pooled on the ground beside him. Releasing his hand, he looked down at the wound and snarled.

Bone splinters poked out of the ragged flesh around his bicep. I gagged and pulled myself up, cocking the shotgun and aiming it at his head. “It’s over, Billy. Tell me who the sorcerer is.”

He chuckled and spit. “It’s not over until you and every last LaSalle is dead.”

I lowered the barrel to his thigh and pulled the trigger. My shoulder jerked from the kick, but Billy screamed as he looked down at the torn flesh and muscle of his upper thigh.

I pumped the gun again and aimed at his other leg. “Where is he?”

The wound on his shoulder began knitting together, and I froze. I knew werewolves could heal, but seeing it in the flesh was horrifying. The hole in his thigh was also closing. Where were my silver bullets when I needed them?

Billy climbed to his feet. I gripped the shotgun, trying to steady my shaking hands. I was suddenly certain that I’d have to kill him, but I needed answers first.

As if sensing my fear, he smiled. “You only have one more shot. Make it count.”

I raised the barrel to his head. “Tell me who he is, Billy.”

“I’ll do you one better and bring you to him.” He growled and surged toward me.

Billy dove low as the shotgun rang out, but the blast caught him and spun him sideways. He was back on his feet in a second, hand pressed against a bloody patch where the left side of his face had been. “Fuck the sorcerer. You’re dead, LaSalle.”

I cocked the gun, but the magazine was empty. Billy wasn’t lying—I’d used my last shot. Dread rose in my throat. My eyes flicked to the ground by his truck for my pistol, but it was too dark, and there wasn’t time to search for it.

Run, Savy.

I chucked the shotgun at him like a hatchet and sprinted down the road.

A low chuckle followed me. “Run, LaSalle. I’m coming for you.”

Nausea took root in my stomach, and the taste of bile burned my throat.

A truck rumbled to life behind me, and I glanced over my shoulder. Despite the damage it had suffered that night, Billy’s truck lurched out of the ditch and bounced onto the road, the headlights illuminating me.

This was bad. Really freaking bad.

I careened right down the embankment and ducked into the woods. I was wearing my magic boots, but if he shifted, I wouldn’t stand a chance.

The forest was dark, and a light mist began to fall. I tripped over a root and stumbled. With the thick vegetation, it was impossible to step lightly when I had supercharged boots. I had no idea where I was going, but I just had to keep moving and come up with a plan. Billy wasn’t going to give me the answers I needed, so I’d have to incapacitate him. Jaxson would get him to talk.

My stomach lurched as a blur shot through the trees on my left. I pivoted right and slid down a gully, scraping my shin on a boulder. Bushes tangled around me, hooking on my clothes, but I clawed my way up the other side of the ravine. And that’s when I saw him.

A black wolf.

Terror pushed me faster, even though my body was so tired. My eyes finally started to adjust to the darkness, and the vegetation cleared once I reached the top of the gully.

I could almost feel Billy breathing down my neck, and goosebumps prickled my skin. I weaved around trees, and then stopped short as the inky expanse of the lake appeared ahead. I stood at the edge of a cliff.

Dead end.

A low growl erupted behind me, and I turned, meeting Billy’s wolf. I knew it was him. The scent, the signature, all of it filled with hate.

I stumbled back closer to the cliff as his body contorted—his shoulders and spine popped and realigned as he heaved upward in a macabre dance. Fur and fangs receded, leaving a stark-naked human standing before me. The true monster.

His eyes remained a wolfish yellow, and his face was cut with a crazed expression that made my skin crawl.

“You know what you are?” he growled.

I eased my breathing, trying to force down the panic. “And what’s that?”

He began circling me. “Dead.”

I flinched and started moving, so he couldn’t pin me against the water and cliffs. “That’s where you’re wrong. No matter how much you hate me, the sorcerer needs me alive. He needs my blood. So where the hell is he? Why did he send his lap dog?”

“You’ll meet him soon, if I don’t kill you.”

He smiled and lunged toward me. I turned, but he was too fast. He twisted my arm behind my back and gripped my hair with his other hand.

I gritted my teeth against the pain, hoping he wouldn’t twist my arm any further.

“You’ll be their undoing, you know?”—he leaned close, and his hot breath sent shudders in its wake—“We’ll slaughter them all.”

What the hell madness was he speaking?

He kicked my feet from under me and shoved me down, and I cried out as I landed hard on my stomach. Fear clenched my heart. “Get off me, you asshole!”

I kicked and clawed at the ground, grabbing a rock. Searing pain shot across my back, and my vision flashed as his claws cut through Sam’s leather jacket. Anger surged inside me.

Fight.

I flipped over and brought the rock in my fist down on Billy’s head. The crack reverberated through my hand.

He grunted and fell back. Rage flashed across his face, and he grabbed my ankle and dragged me toward him. I kicked him wildly with my free leg, but he backhanded me so hard, I nearly passed out.

He climbed on top of me and squeezed my throat. Blood dripped down the side of his head. “If you don’t stop fighting, I’ll fucking kill you, no matter what the sorcerer needs.”

I’ll never stop fighting.

I slammed my palms into his chest “I said, get the fuck off me!”

Time seemed to stop. Ice water flowed through my body, starting from my fingertips and toes, then spreading up my legs and arms. It narrowed to a point in my chest, then exploded through my hands.

A scream tore from Billy’s throat as the force blasted into his chest and sent him flying back into a tree. Shadowy tendrils snaked around him, and he fought them off as he writhed.

My magic. I scrambled to my feet and looked down at my palms. How do I do that, again?

Billy crouched and growled, his eyes bright yellow. He was wolfing out, and I was pretty sure he was actually going to kill me.

I spun and sprinted along the ridge above the shoreline. The dark water lapped against the worn rocks below.

Billy’s feet pounded the earth behind me. I leapt over a mass of twisted tree roots, fear clawing at my chest. My breaths came in ragged bursts. I couldn’t outrun him—even with my boots, he was too fast.

I dipped under a low branch and glanced over my shoulder. His claws were out, and hair bristled over his arms. Billy had checked out, and there was only a monster left where the man had been.

Not good.

Up ahead, a small ravine cut through the ridge. Dread settled over me. The gap was at least ten feet across.

Could I make it?

Only one way to find out. I sent a silent prayer into the universe and launched myself over the ravine. Weightlessness took over as the dark expanse flashed by below. My feet hit the rocky ledge, and my boots absorbed the shock.

Holy crap!

But before I could celebrate, a solid force—no, a body—hit me from behind, expelling the breath from my lungs. Claws sank into my arms as my feet were knocked out from under me. We hit the ground hard, and a stabbing pain shot through my shoulder. I screamed as Billy and I rolled across the ground, entwined together. We came to a stop, his weight painfully pressing my back into a rock. I gasped as warmth seeped into the front of my shirt. Blood. Was it mine?

Fury flashed through me, and my mind slipped away as rage settled into the driver’s seat. A burning sensation pulsed under my fingernails, and pressure built under my ribs, like my chest was breaking in two.

I was having a heart attack. My poor heart had given out from the terror, and I was dying.

Not without a fight.

My adrenaline surged, and I punched Billy in the nose, feeling it crack against my knuckles. Blood dribbled from his nostrils, and the metallic smell filled my mind. He stared down at me. Horror and confusion streaked through his tawny eyes. “It can’t be.”

A white-hot anger I’d never known before burned through me.

Tear his throat out.

I grabbed the front of his shirt, and rammed my other fist into his chest. That cool energy from earlier returned, erupting through my fingers in a painful flurry. Billy let out a guttural sound as his body launched backwards like a rag doll and disappeared over the ledge.

My muscles spasmed, and I collapsed. Exhaustion weighed down on me.

Get up, Savy.

I shook my head but crawled over to the ledge and peered down. Water lapped against the rocks—water mixed with blood. I could smell it, though that made no sense at all.

I gripped a tree root and climbed down the steep, rocky slope. My boots slid on the dirt, and I landed on a limestone boulder. My heart pounded so hard I could feel it in my temples.

The moon’s reflection glinted on the dark water, and I scanned the shore and froze. A dark shape lay motionless at the lake’s edge, rocking gently in the waves, shielded from above by an overhang.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped closer.

Blood seeped into the water from the black wolf. Billy was dead, and he’d reverted to his original form. Just like the monster who’d attacked me at the Taphouse. Wolfborn. Like Sam. Like Jaxson.

Crouching down, I gripped his wet fur and rolled his body over. Several deep red gashes cut across the wolf’s chest. They looked like…

Nope.

Confusion and panic clouded my mind. I turned away and doubled over, squeezing my knees with my palms.

Deep breaths, Savy.

Billy must have scraped himself on some branches while he was chasing me. That’s why I was covered in blood.

I opened my eyes and saw my reflection in the water, illuminated by the moonlight. Horror rocketed through me. Staring back up at me in the water was me. But my eyes…

Oh, my God.

My eyes were fucking glowing honey gold.

I screamed and tripped, landing hard on my butt. As I scooted away from the lake, ice chilled my veins, and panic took hold. I couldn’t seem to get enough air. I clutched my heart and stared up at the starry sky. My vision blurred, but the vastness of the black expanse above was calming, like the presence of an old friend. After a few minutes, my breathing eased.

I’d just experienced a trauma. Billy had attacked me. I’d pushed him over the ledge, and now he was dead. Shock had made my mind project things that weren’t real. Hadn’t Jaxson told me the same thing the first time we’d met?

And he’d been lying.

I dragged myself to my feet and peered at my reflection. My eyes weren’t a honey color. I sighed with relief but couldn’t shake the dread that had seeped deep into my soul.

It had just been my wild imagination.