Lothar continued to ignore me, still running so fast, the forest was a blur around us.
“Put me down,” I said more forcefully.
Still nothing.
We were being pursued. Our assailants were camouflaged, blending with the shadows, but they were closing in. I could see the trees moving, the undergrowth being crushed as they moved at a rapid speed after us.
Any moment now they were going to attack, and I refused to be dangling here over Lothar’s shoulder like an idiot when they did. Straightening my back, I hooked my arm around Lothar’s neck, shoved my feet into his hips, forcing his arm from around the backs of my thighs, and flipped, pulling one of my blades free as I did. As soon as I landed on my feet, I let it fly. Nothing, not a scream, no scent of blood. What the hell? I never missed.
Shit.
I shoved Lothar, as I took off. “Keep running, big guy. And, hey, your mouth is hanging open.”
“What the fuck, Roxy?” he snarled, bursting into action again to catch up with me.
“I needed to know what we’re dealing with. If they bleed, we can kill them. And I could say the same thing to you,” I fired at him as we burst through the trees, finally reaching a clearing.
The rocks that would form a gateway into Limbo were just ahead.
We just had to reach them before the immortal killers hot on our tails reached us.
“And do they?” Lothar asked. “Bleed?”
“No.”
“Fuck.”
Fuck, indeed.
Chapter
Nine
Lothar
* * *
We sprinted to the pile of stones at the far end of the field, and I spun around, facing the enemy, covering Roxy. Demons wouldn’t dare attack me, and they sure as fuck wouldn’t have weapons, not like that. I had no idea who was pursuing us, or what they were, but they weren’t getting through me.
“What the hell are you doing?” Roxy fired at me.
I couldn’t think, not with the buzzing in my head and the constant roar of the beast to protect, to kill.
“Are you using your body to freaking shield me right now?”
Honestly, I didn’t know what I was doing. Logically I knew this was fucked, but the beast wouldn’t have it any other way. Growling, I shook my head, trying to clear it, trying to wrestle back control.
Roxy cursed. “The gate needs your blood, Lothar.” She grabbed my hand, yanking me back.
I snarled, fighting the beast, fighting myself to do what I needed to, to open the fucking gate. Zinnia had arranged everything with Death, but in my panic I’d somehow forgotten that the stones needed my blood to open.
Roxy stepped in front of me and shoved me back farther. It was a struggle, but I let her. “Open the damned gate, Lothar. Now.”
Then she spun away, using her body to protect me. That’s when the beast lost it. It was as if the animal part of me was a separate entity, one I didn’t fucking recognize. I gripped my head when another roar echoed through my skull.
“Lothar!” Roxy yelled. “Do it.”
She’d pulled a knife free as figures with no distinguishable features and moving like shadows gathered on the opposite side of the field.
