“When I went for your chest, mine was wide open. I assume you’re not holding that blessed bone dagger for shits and giggles. Try harder.”
This time, when I launch toward him, I feign right before crouching to sweep my leg, connecting with the backs of his knees so he falls back into the thick snow on the ground. He shouts, but the moment I’m on top of him, ready to strike, he finally finds a new opening and drives the dagger into the place where my heart would be.
Fuck, that hurts. I didn’t expect him to actually land the blow.
Still, the thrill of finally meeting someone worth fighting has me grinning as the agony spreads through my chest and my blood dribbles onto him.
“Much better.”
Douglas blinks down at the blessed bone in my chest, then squints at me.
“What the hell kind of freak of nature are you? They said you were a revenant. This should have killed you.”
It might, temporarily. I was having too much fun, and now I’m at risk of passing out from blood loss, which would be really fucking inconvenient.
Instead of addressing his confusion, I shrug. “I’d return the favor, but you’re surprisingly fun to fight. Between you and me, I miss daily combat. So I’ll let your little ambush slide—but the next time you find me, if you target any of my matches, I’ll rip your beating heart out and feed it to you. Got it?”
Before my words can fully sink into his ginger head, I slam Pierce’s butt into his temple hard enough that he’s knocked out cold. Blood steadily trickles from his nose as I stand to check my surroundings. Several bounty hunters lay frozen or dead in the snow alongside hellhounds, but I still hear fighting on the other side of the cabin.
I want to check on my matches, but first, I need to make sure they don’t have a synchronized aneurysm seeing me stabbed through the chest yet again.
Yanking the blessed bone blade from my chest, I watch it crumble to ash. That’s the kicker to blessed bone weapons—they’re only good for one use. Grimacing as my vision wobbles, I use the hellhound’s life force for a patchy healing spell to get rid of the worst of the damage inside my chest.
By the time a very blood-spattered Crypt appears and pulls me into his arms, I’m no longer on the verge of fainting from blood loss. Everett is at my side a moment later. I check them both for injuries, but aside from a hellhound bite that's already nearly completely healed on one of Crypt's arms, they're okay.
Where are you and Baelfire?I send to Silas.
Not far. He was shot with a shifter-specific tranquilizer that prevents him from healing, but I’m fixing it.
My teeth clench at the knowledge that Baelfire is hurt, but Everett gingerly lifts the edge of my sweatshirt and swears.
“There are fuckingbulletsin your stomach,” he seethes.
I glance down and pick one out, flicking the bloodied metal away. My head spins since I’ve lost more blood than I anticipated, but I ignore it like I was trained to, just like I ignore the lingering waves of pain in my stomach and chest.
“They didn’t hit anything too important. More importantly, that was far too small a group of bounty hunters for the threat we pose. Others will probably arrive soon.”
I need you to transport us away from here,I tell Silas telepathically.
Are you running low on life forces to wield, my vicious revenant?he asks, teasing.
Yes, actually. I don't want to risk dipping into Somnus’s life force before we find etherium.
In that case, I can certainly?—
He goes suddenly silent.
I tense.Silas?
His voice is strained, even telepathically.Gods above, I will never grow accustomed to seeing souls reaped. I have yet to see the reaper goddess’s face, but I dread the day I finally do.
Meanwhile, Crypt's tempestuous glare drops to Douglas, who is still passed out in the snow. “Shall we take this one's head as a trophy before we go, love? It's the least he can repay for harming you.”
I shake my head as Everett carefully pries another bullet from my side. He's so upset by my injuries that he's trembling, but to his credit, there is no frost climbing up his arms. In fact, the only frost here is blooming wherever he gently brushes his fingers, skillfully sealing my wounds with a numbing cold that somehow soothes the pain.
I've never seen his ability so accurate.
Interesting.
