Chapter 35

All the pain the Hound felt was heavy in the air. Ren would have been able to feel it even if he didn't have this confusing "talent". Everything was hitting him like a bag of bricks. It mixed with his own.

The men beat the Hound, tearing whimpers and faint gurgling growls from it. Ren wanted it to stop. He knew that he shouldn't feel sorry for it when it had been trying to kill him and had left him with a deep gash in his side.

But it was in misery. It was being tortured.

He couldn't look anymore. His eyes welled up with unshed tears.

"Tell me why I shouldn't shoot you two right now."

Ren pressed his lips together, biting back a "fuck you" that might just get them both shot.

Ashton cockily stepped forward.

"Don't." Remy directed the barrel more toward Ashton. "The next time you do that I'm putting a bullet through your head. Got it?"

Ren was only a little surprised that the Hunter didn't call them blood sucking leeches. She hadn't seemed as bad as the other men, but Ren should have known better to just assume. She was a Hunter after all. She had to be fucked up to even think about being in their ranks.

"We were just walking through."

By the look on her face, she didn't believe him.

Ashton nodded toward Ren. "He lived near by. I swear."

Ashton's swears were empty unless they were joined by blood.

Ren gritted his teeth, pressing his hand hard against his side.

Remy caught sight of the movement.

"Shouldn't you be healed by now?"

Ren really tried to bite down the snippy remark. He seethed and bit his bottom lip, but he just couldn't take it anymore. He was fucking dying and none of them fucking cared.

"I'm a half-breed. Can't you tell?" He couldn't even hold back the sneer.

Remy simply stared. That was the same time when the other two men stepped away from the now mangled compose of the Hound. It looked like roadkill. Ren couldn't look at it longer than a second before he became sick.

Kenny twirled his knife. There was a disgusted look on his face.

"A human fucked a fanger to make you?"

Ren didn't even think about clarifying what had happened for him to be made.

Kenny had this manic look in his eyes that made Ren even more unsettled. It was obvious that Kenny wanted nothing more to slice Ren open. And Ashton.

The guy had even admitted that he just want to hunt down things.

"Stop." Malcolm slapped his hand in the middle of Kenny's chest.

"Are you serious—"

"Shut up."

Malcolm was staring Ren and Ashton down. He felt just as bad as the other two—Ren wasn't an idiot to believe that any of them had a shed of kindness for vampires inside of them. But Malcolm looked like he was thinking about the consequences of killing them.

"What are your names?"

Ren wasn't going to tell them. He didn't care if they threatened to kill them. He wasn't going to lead them to his mom.

He assumed Ashton would do the same.

"He needs a doctor." Ashton hadn't moved closer, but it felt like he had.

It was like he was right by Ren's side, holding him. It didn't ease the pain, but it subsided some of he panic rising in him. The thing was gone—a faint hum in the distance—and he couldn't fall back on it for support.

His eyes drooped. He was hungry and weak. He just knew that he was going to drop to the ground if he didn't stop the bleeding.

Was this how he was going to die?

He guessed it wasn't the most pathetic way to go out. Not everyone could say they died from being torn apart by a Hell Hound.

"Names." Malcolm didn't miss a beat. He didn't even blink.

Cold hearted bastard.

Ren wished he could read minds. He wished he knew what Ashton was thinking. He felt his feelings, but he was so weak that he couldn't make them out like he used to. They were faint whispers he couldn't make out.

Ren glanced out of the corner of his eye at Ashton. He just saw the tic in his jaw. That said enough.

"He needs—"

"You need to tell me your names. Now."

Ren was shaking now. His hands and feet were cold. The frost of numbness was crawling up his limbs, making its way to the center of his heart. It would be too late for him then.

"Ashton..." Ren whispered the name. He wasn't giving it away. He just wanted Ashton to know that it was okay.

Ashton's jaw tightened even more. His name was too hushed for the Hunters to pick up on. And if they saw Ren's lips move, they didn't say anything. Though, it was probably hard to tell the difference between him speaking and his chattering teeth.

Cold. So cold. It wasn't long now. He almost welcomed it. Just to get away from this agonizing moment.

"He's Ren."

"Last name."

Ashton clenched his fists.

"Cornelli," Ren sputtered. He panted. He looked at the Hunter with glazed eyes. "Can I sit?"

He was already falling.

Kenny stepped forward, his hand tight around the handle of his knife. Malcolm held him back.

He was on the ground. He didn't remember if he'd fallen or if he'd sat on his own. He brushed he thought off, worried about the pain and the Hunters.

The Hounds as well. Where were they? Had the Hunters killed them?

That didn't seem likely. Maybe they had gone back to where they'd come from.

He doubted they were going to be gone for long. They hadn't gotten what they wanted.

Him. They wanted him.

It was horrifying and unbelievable. He didn't want to believe it. He didn't want to be believe all the things he was learning. It was burning down the walls of his normal life. He was now finding out that his life wasn't at all normal.

A phone was ringing.

It was Malcolm's.

He answered it. The high tension in the air didn't dissipate as he placed the cell to his ear. The two other Hunters were glaring at Ren and Ashton. Ren wished he had the strength to glare back at them. He felt even weaker knowing that his life was at their mercy.

"We're—" Malcolm pressed his lips together. He looked at the sky. His jaw tightened.

Ren could hear the voice through the receiver. It was distorted by static and the words were being spoken too fast to make out any of it. He doubted he would have been able to hear it even if the conversation was clear given his state. The headache was so bad that it felt like his head was being squeezed to the point of exploding.

"I heard you." Malcolm ended the phone call.

As he shoved the cellphone into the pocket of his coat, he turned and walked away.

"Let them go. We have a job to finish."

Kenny sputtered. "What the fuck Mac? They were obviously tailing us!"

Malcolm shook his head. "We're leaving."

"Mac—"

Remy shoved Kenny. "Go. They're nothin' but little fangers."

Ren spat blood onto the ground. Remy gave him the side eye. She still held her guns in her hands, but she'd lowered them to her side.

The Hunters moved fast. They weren't agile or discreet as they disrupted the peaceful forest. They clamored like everything belonged to them or that they deserved any sort of respect.

When they were finally gone from Ren's eyesight, Ashton dropped to a crouched in front of him.

He grabbed Ren's wrist and pulled his hand away. Ren hissed as a new shot of pain pierced the area around the wound. His skin felt like it had been seared off. He could barely feel it, but he was sure that was because his mind was trying to block out the pain.

"Hold onto me."

Ren didn't have time to ask what Ashton was doing before his arms were being thrown around Ashton's neck. Ashton slipped his right arm under the back of his knees and his left under Ren's back.

If he wasn't being assaulted by the piercing stabs in his side he would have flushed. He would have tried to fight out of Ashton's grip. A little out of his mind, he didn't mind being handled like this. He pressed closer to Ashton's chest, sighing in relief as he let his body relax.

Ashton was warm. He was like a furnace while the dark forest was a freezing pit. Ren let all his embarrassment drift away. He didn't care at the moment if Ashton was a Mantel. The thing didn't care either.

The forest was a blur as Ashton walked far away from the dead Hound. He walked in the opposite direction of the Hunters. Ren was drifting in and out of sleep. He felt Ashton. His steady heart beat, his gentle but firm hands that were keeping Ren safe, and his hard chest that was just as comfy as a pillow.

"Hey."

He was so out of it that he hadn't realized that they'd stopped. Ashton had placed him down in a grassy area of the forest, still holding him so that his weight wasn't fully on his bad side.

Ren didn't want to keep his eyes open. He just wanted to sleep.

"Cold," he whispered. His bottom lip caught on his fangs.

He furrowed his brows.

He hadn't noticed he was hungry either.

Ashton furrowed his brows. He grabbed the hem of Ren's shirt and lifted it up. The look on his face was one that Ren didn't want to see. For that split second that Ashton couldn't keep a poker face, he showed Ren that the situation was worse than bad. This only cemented the fear inside of him.

He shivered.

He'd come to terms with death long ago. It was the elephant in the room that he had to address before he could continue on with his life. But he didn't want to die. He was afraid of what was on the other side—if there was anything.

And he didn't want to leave behind his mom. He didn't want to leave her alone, knowing that there was no way for her to see him at all.

But fear was a thing that no one could explain. He couldn't explain why he wasn't angry at the world for letting death exist and he couldn't explain why he was so scared of the darkness that would greet him in the end.

Ashton peeled away Ren's shirt. It felt like he was ripping off a part of his skin. He was numb, but he could still feel the soft shocks of pain shooting up his spine. Tears slid down his cheeks, yet, he wasn't crying. His mouth was distorted into a grimace, but his eyes were wide open, staring down at Ashton was doing.

Ashton pressed his thumb right to the edge of the wound. Ren jerked forward with the last bit of strength he had. He clenched his teeth and glared up at Ashton.

"Fuck! Are you trying to kill me?"

Ashton's facial expression didn't change. He simply stared down at the wound.

"It's not healing."

Ren growled in the back of his throat. "Wow. You're a fucking genius."

Ashton's intense stare flickered away from Ren's wound and up to meet Ren's eyes.

"I mean," he punctuated, "It's not healing at all."

Before Ren even had a chance to contemplate what Ashton meant, Ashton ripped Ren's shirt from the collar all the way down to the bottom hem. Ren gaped as Ashton nonchalantly pulled the fabric to the side so that he could get a clear look at Ren's chest.

Ren flushed from his cheeks down to the top of his chest, but Ashton wasn't paying attention to that.

He was looking at the old scar on Ren's left shoulder. The wounds had healed days after the attack, but it had been three long painful days that had taken a lot of his energy. This time the bite of the Hound was worse.

He lightly set his hand on Ren's shoulder. He ran his thumb over the scar, tracing it from the crease of his armpit and up to the curve of his neck. Ren swallowed. He held still as Ashton took in the mark. Ren couldn't read him at all. His face was a blank slate.

Ren wished he was stronger. He wished he could have overcome the pain. He wished he was more vampire than witch so he could heal.

He wished he was brave enough to give up.

"Please," he spoke. It was a broken plea that he didn't know where it had come from.

Ashton's eyes slightly widened, but Ren was closing his eyes so he missed the small gifted expression.

The last thing he felt before he fell into darkness was Ashton picking him up once more.