Just like someone else I knew.
“Too many alphas.” I pressed my thumb into the bridge of my nose. “Not enough brain cells.”
“Your fault. You killed them all yesterday and this morning, princess.”Warwick’s gravelly voice brushed up my neck, my eyes flicking up to the real man with a glare. His lips twisted in a smirk.“Though I wouldn’t mind your mouth wrapping around my cock right now.”
“You really are insufferable,” I grumbled, the side of his mouth hitching higher.
“Tracker,” Luk said his name like an order.
“Fine,” Tracker growled. “You can lead, but weallgo.” Tracker plopped back down on the bike.
Warwick’s shoulders flexed, and I knew he was about to toss Tracker into the river.
“Warwick.”Invisible hands traced up his back and around his abs, my fingers following down his V-line, producing a slight rumble from his throat.“Behave.”
“You should know I don’t behave.”His actual hand clutched the top on my thigh, yanking me closer into his body, his thumb rubbing along the seam of my crotch.“If you want me to not kill this guy, you owe me. I’ve slaughtered men for less.”
“I promise to destroy those few brain cells you have left if we get through this.”
“Now I’ll make sure we do.”
“Hey, fuckers!” Ash yelled at us, our heads snapping to him. “Stop mentally screwing each other. Focus!”
It was a switch. Warwick cut off the link, his attention going in front of us, the warrior mode on.
“Follow me,” Warwick barked, revving the bike forward. The moment we crossed the invisible line on the bridge, we would enter the Buda side.
Killian’s realm.
The princess was about to steal and betray the dragon guarding the most coveted treasure in the world.
If he caught me, he would burn me to ashes.
Rubble and fragments of the old citadel were scattered across the hill like headstones. A sinkhole buried what was hidden under the stone and earth, but I swore I still heard the phantom cries of agony and the stench of death bubbling up to the surface. Everything was left exactly how it was after the bombing. A time capsule.
My stomach twisted into knots, a chill shivering my frame when Warwick stopped the bike at our old “residence.” The place still plagued my dreams, my soul forever stained with blood and trauma.
I climbed off, my feet taking me closer to the ruins, my chest tightening. I stopped at a chunk of stone. The notable statue, the woman holding the feather, used to look over the city and was a symbol in Budapest. Part of the woman’s face stared blankly up at me. A corpse left on the battlefield. The haunting screams and terror still saturated the ground.
This place can’t hurt you anymore.I inhaled deeply, trying to loosen the rope strangling my lungs. I didn’t think being back here would affect me so much. When I was here, I hadn’t been outside more than twice. Now, like vibrations from an earthquake, I could feel what was still underneath my feet, empty of life but filled with the ghosts who died, as if the Games and life in Halálház had never stopped. I had little doubt that below me were dead bodies of people I knew now were entombed forever.
Was Tad there? Did he make it out?
“Hey.”Warwick’s shadow pressed into my back, his warmth cutting out the cold wind gusting over the hill.“This place might have hurt and changed you, but they didn’t break you, Kovacs. You survived... came out stronger. Don’t let it take anything more from you.”
My attention darted to the man who was busy hiding the bikes, acting like he wasn’t also over with me, patching parts of my soul with his words. He could feel my weighted gaze on him, his eyes darting to me for a moment, connecting, before he looked away again. It would seem like nothing to the outside world, but to me, it felt like everything.
“Brex?” Ash waved me over, the rest of the group waiting for me. We might not have much time until another patrol came through here. We had seen one pass through the area right before us, not even stopping, just making sure everything looked undisturbed and quiet. This part was no longer of use or of importance.
Sneaking down by the bombed building, we came to the area where I remembered coming out. The almost seamless private door leading us straight into the heart of the fae city was hidden by foliage and large pieces of debris. The bomb had left this place in shambles.
The seven of us rolled the wreckage away from the door, then Ash stepped up to it first.
“Fuck,” he hissed, and I quickly understood his reaction. The door had no knob, the entrance seamlessly part of the wall. I had only come out of here, not in. I had no idea there wasn’t an actual door handle on the outside.
“Do you guys have a knife blade?” I peered around. “I can jimmy locks with a flat blade.”
Warwick snorted, reaching for the one he kept in his boot.
