Astra.
Underfed, dirty, and banging that little drum like her life depended on it. Her ankles were shackled, brown limp hair so long it was well past her shoulders. My heart nearly stopped right there at the sight of her. When she looked up at me, her hand froze in midair and a grin swept across her face. She looked so grown up … but there was a darkness in her blue eyes that hadn’t been there before. They’d broken her, taken her innocence.
Motherfuckers.
“Ahh, the demon has finally shown up,” one of the Ithaki said, holding a long whip in his hand. Another half dozen Ithaki stepped out behind them, and I knew I wasn’t getting Astra out of that cage without a fight.
Unbridled rage surged up inside of me as I slowly unslung baby Creek and handed him to Sage. “Go to the bunker,” I said through clenched teeth. “I’ll meet you there. Get him safely inside.”
Sage’s eyes widened as she took the baby. “No way. I’m not leaving you to fight alon—”
“Run, and don’t stop until you reach the bunker under the school,” I ordered her.
“No,” Sage growled, her eyes going yellow as she looked at the dozen Ithaki now pulling weapons from behind their backs.
“Yes,” I growled. “I need to know Creek is safe or I can’t fight properly,” I told her. “I need you to trust me, Sage. Everything is different now. That cave changed me. I’ll kill every single one of these motherfuckers before they lay a finger on me or Astra.”
She eyed the dozen Ithaki behind me, who had now started to advance with weapons drawn.
“Yousureyou have enough power to fight them all?”
I grinned, magic coursing through my veins stronger than ever before.
“They’ll wish they never laid a hand on Astra.” Then I quickly kissed Creek’s soft head. “Mommy loves you.”
With a final nod, Sage took off running.
I wasn’t worried about her ability to take care of herself or my baby now that she was out of the cursed woods. Sage was a badass who wouldn’t stop until Creek was safe in the bunker with Sawyer. But I wasn’t leaving here without Astra.
No way in hell.
“Let her go and I won’t kill you,” I calmly told the Ithaki as magic built up inside of me.
They burst into laughter, looking at each other with wide expressions like I must be joking.
Astra peered up at me, collapsing back into the cage in exhaustion, her little drum falling at her feet. Something dark and feral snapped inside of me.
I thrust my hands out, sending a shockwave of energy at the group of Ithaki. Their bodies blew backward as if they’d been hit by a car, and I kicked off the ground, running right at them with vampire speed. The first one looked up at me with wide, terrified eyes and pointed ears right as I put my hunting blade to his neck and dragged it across his throat, before moving to the next.
My time in the Dark Woods had taught me that there was no joy in watching an animal have a slow torturous death. Whether it be a rabbit or a deer, I always made sure to make their end as quick and painless as possible. But for these monsters, I wanted to carve their insides out before their watching eyes, but there was no time.
Leaping to the next fallen man, I cut his throat too. At the same time, I kept whatever power I’d thrown over the Ithaki pressed down upon them so that they were essentially pinned to the dirt, waiting for death.
How dare they cage Astra like an animal?How fucking dare they!I leapt from body to body in a blind rage, using my vampire speed. When I reached the last one, a female, she was crying, bucking against the invisible restraints I held over her. She looked up at me with tears in her eyes.
“Please,” she croaked. “Have mercy. I have a child.”
The unbridled rage fueling my murder-fest left me like a popped balloon.
She was a mother…
With the absence of my rage also came the absence of my power over her. The second I freed her magical restraints, she lurched forward and slammed her forehead into my nose.
Pain exploded between my eyes as blood spurted over my face in a gush. Blurry tears swam in my vision, and dizziness washed over me as I fell backward off of her and she scrambled to get up.
“Look out!” Astra screamed.
Everything was blurry as I blinked back the tears to clear my vision, just in time to see the Ithaki woman charging me with a knife. My wolf surged to the surface, leaping out of my chest and coming at the woman before I could even respond.
