Nine
Jett
The guard wasn’t dead. He twitched on the ground as his central nervous system short-circuited. It wouldn’t last. If I’d shot him in the head, it probably would have killed him, but even then it wouldn’t have been instantaneous. There was no help for it now. He couldn’t move, but he could still see.
“Turn him!” I yelled to Gunnar. “At least cover his eyes.”
Gunnar staggered forward. For a second, I thought he was having his own mental issues. Or, maybe having dragonsteel around him for that long did something to his body. As I started toward the woods and looked back, he recovered. His wolf eyes flashed deadly silver as he stood over the guard. Lowell made a choked sound as he tried to get control of his limbs. He might never be able to again. The neurotoxin lacing my bullet might wear off a bit, but it would never leave his system.
“Why isn’t he getting up?” Gunnar shouted.
I went to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “No time now. They’re coming. Even I can feel it.”
Gunnar blinked rapidly. His color wasn’t good. When he turned to face me, my breath caught. This was the first time I’d seen him full on, not peering under a six-inch gap in some hole in the wall.
Gunnar Cole was the biggest shifter I’d ever seen. That should have alarmed me maybe, but instead, heat coiled through me. I felt his heart beating almost as if it were inside my own head. Vera and the others had asked me one question I couldn’t answer, until now. As Gunnar stood before me, his muscled chest heaving, glistening with perspiration, I saw the tattoo.
It was just another rumor whispered through the woods. A fairytale we couldn’t risk believing. Resistance fighters would rise up and take down the Pack. We would know them by the mark they bore.
Gunnar’s eyes rolled back in his head. His knees buckled. I shook him once, hard, and his eyes snapped open again. “Turn him,” I said. “So he can’t see which way we go.”
Gunnar stepped away from me and crouched over Lowell’s twitching form. White foam spilled from Lowell’s mouth. Gunnar moved with such fierce quickness, it took my breath from me. He curved his arms around Lowell’s head and snapped his neck, killing him instantly.
Gunnar turned to me, eyes blazing. “Now he can’t see anything at all.”
My mouth hanging open, I nodded. “This way,” I said. I took a faltering step backward, then turned and ran toward the woods. With each step, a million things ran through my mind. This was crazy. Gunnar clearly wasn’t at full strength, but I’d just watched him kill a shifter with his bare hands. He probably hadn’t let his own wolf out in weeks, maybe months. I knew enough to understand that could make him unstable. And yet, as shouts reached us from the south side of the camp, none of it mattered. The Pack had arrived. If Gunnar stayed, they would turn him or kill him. I just couldn’t let that happen.
“Don’t turn on me,” I said as Gunnar reached my side. He could easily outrun me even in human form. If he went wolf, he could zip out of here at top speed and all I’d see would be a blur of gray. He didn’t though. He stayed beside me.
Gunnar let out a low growl as the shouts from the camp grew louder. “Lowell!”
They hadn’t found him yet. The moment they did, we’d be in deeper shit than we already were. Gunnar had been in that camp for weeks. The Pack knew his scent. What in the ever-loving hell was I doing?
“This way,” I shouted. We’d reached the camouflaged trapdoor leading to the nearest tunnel. I kicked it aside and launched myself into the ground. Gunnar was close behind. He pushed the leaves and branches back over the hole. The tunnel had been built by shifters, for sure. I had maybe a foot and a half of clearance around me as I started to crawl. As I looked back, Gunnar barely had enough room to move. But move he did.
I clicked on the mini Maglite I had clipped to my shoulder. I knew Gunnar wouldn’t need it. His wolf eyes glinted silver. Down and down we went until the tunnel finally forked. At first, the ground shook as footsteps pounded overhead. It had stunned me at first how far vibrations carried through the ground. It felt like our pursuers were right on top of us. But, I knew they were probably fifty yards away and hopefully headed in the other direction.
“Which way?” Gunnar asked. The tunnel branched left and right, or we could go straight ahead. Gunnar wedged himself into the space beside me. My skin prickled. Being this close to him ignited something preternatural in me.
“Right,” I said. “About two hundred yards there’s an opening. We come up near the riverbank. If it hasn’t been moved, there’s a kayak. The river rushes fast. We can be miles away in no time.”
He hesitated, considering my words. His nostrils flared as he tilted his head and tried to catch the scent of whatever was moving above us. My plan would actually take us closer to the Pack patrols, at least for a few minutes. I was right; I knew I was. And yet, Gunnar didn’t trust me. If I had time to be rational, I probably wouldn’t have blamed him. But, the thought of the Pack catching him right now made me more afraid for him than I was for myself.
“Gunnar!” I shouted in his face. “We have to move.” I didn’t wait for his say-so. I dove right and kept on going. Dirt and loose rock showered down as Gunnar made the decision to follow me. Though we moved incredibly fast, time seemed to stand still. I’d never been claustrophobic in the tunnels before. Tonight, I felt like the world was closing in around me.
Thunder shook the ground as groups of heavy footsteps merged above us. This would be the most dangerous part. I looked back. Gunnar’s eyes glinted like diamonds in the dark. They lit up the space around him. As he reached forward with his hands, his claws came out.
“No!” I whispered. “Gunnar, no. Stay with me.” If he shifted into his wolf now, we’d be well and truly fucked. There was chaos and disorder above us. That was a good sign. It meant they hadn’t caught Gunnar’s scent.
“Don’t give them any help!” I said. Gunnar’s eyes dimmed, turning human again. I clicked off the Maglite, pitching us in total darkness. It didn’t matter. I knew the way and we were almost there.
As the Pack moved to the east, my heart eased. A blast of heat hit me in the face as the air shifted and we moved toward the surface. The tunnel widened into a small, underground cavern where we could stand. Just above my head was another makeshift trapdoor. I put a hand on it and waited, listening for any sounds of movement above.
Gunnar came to my side. He towered over me and had to crouch so his head wouldn’t hit the rocky overhang above. His eyes flashed again as he let his wolf out just enough to listen too.
He gave me a quick nod and I pushed the trapdoor to the side. Tree roots hung in a snarl beside me. I grabbed one to pull myself up. Gunnar’s arms came around me. He lifted me as if I weighed nothing. My heart caught and my skin flared hot where he touched me.
As I climbed out of the earth, a blast of fresh air hit me in the face. I squeezed my hips through the hole in the ground and rolled away. Gunnar burst out of the ground beside me. He landed in a crouch, his eyes scanning our surroundings, looking for danger.
“This way,” I said, coughing. I needn’t have bothered. Even I could hear the rushing river straight ahead. Gunnar took a protective stance in front of me. When he seemed sure we were alone, he nodded again and we moved through the trees.
The Rockcastle River flowed roughly this time of year. We edged our way down to the riverbank. My heart started to beat again when I saw the nose of the kayak peeking out beneath the dead branches I’d used to hide it.
Not waiting for Gunnar, I dragged it out. Though the thing was only built for one, it was of heavy-duty construction. It would hold us both, but it would be a tight fit. Gunnar grabbed the other end and we set in in the water. Without a word, Gunnar climbed in first and held his hand out to me. I would have to sit in his lap. Of course it was the only thing that made sense, but now that I was about to get close to him again, I found it hard to breathe.
“Let’s go!” he shouted as the river raged.
Nodding, I took his hand and stepped into the kayak. Gunnar drew his knees up, making space for me. My head spun as I slid between his legs. Every nerve ending in my body sizzled as I pressed my back against the solid wall of Gunnar’s chest. He sucked in a hard breath as he lifted the paddle and started to carve it through the water. He was in pain. Adrenaline fueled him, but the effects of months of torture had to have taken their toll.
We moved through the water at dizzying speed. I gripped the sides of the kayak, praying we wouldn’t tip. But Gunnar fought the raging current with agile grace. Each stroke of the paddle propelled us away from danger. At this rate, we would cover miles in no time. It should have made me breathe easier, but my body stayed alight with fire.
Gunnar’s arms came around me with each stroke. I marveled at his strength and hard-cut muscles. He wasn’t like any shifter I’d ever known. He was bigger, mightier, more powerful. The idea that the Pack could still pose a danger to him shocked me. They did though. I could feel the fear in his wildly beating heart. At first, I thought I just felt his pulse pressed against my back. It wasn’t that though. It was something else. Something deep inside of me. Again, his heartbeat seemed to become my own.
Finally, the current began to slow and the river widened.
“There!” I shouted. A long beach stretched around a wooded peninsula. The trees were dense here, almost as if no humans had ever touched it. Gunnar shifted his weight and carved the oar through the water. In four strong strokes, he beached us. Sand scraped against the bottom of the kayak and we came to a stop.
A strange sensation came over me. Here, in the kayak, I felt protected, almost as if we existed in some bubble of time. I didn’t have to think or act. I could just be. The moment I stepped foot on land, I would have to turn and face this man. What had I done?
Gunnar got out first. He put a steadying hand on my back then reached for me. “Come on,” he said. “We’ve got to get rid of this thing.”
I opened my mouth to protest. That kayak had been a hard-won prize. Vera found it a few months ago. We’d used it for supply runs, to scout new territory, and to escape faster than we could on foot when the Pack closed in. But, Gunnar was right. We’d traveled so far away from my encampment and downstream, there was no good way to get it back.
“The less they know about how we’re traveling, the better,” he said. Swallowing past a dry throat, I nodded. Gunnar threw the paddle into the kayak, waded out into deeper water, then cracked the thing in two with a volatile strength that shocked me. I knew what he was. And yet, his power still startled me. The wreckage of the kayak sank quickly to the bottom of the river.
I didn’t wait for him. Instead, I trudged up the beach and headed into the deeper part of the woods. We should be well protected here, but there was always the chance the Pack might venture out this far.
Early spring, and it got bitterly cold here in the Kentucky wilderness. Enough water had splashed up to leave me drenched to the bone. I shivered and drew my arms around me. I pulled the shoulder strap of my small backpack over my head. I’d traveled light. The nine, some walnuts for protein, a lighter, and the Maglite.
“We need to make a fire,” I said, my teeth chattering.
“No!” Gunnar came to me, still scanning the tree line. “It’s not safe.”
The moonlight cast eerie shadows, making the trees seem to come to life. Gnarled branches reached out with crooked fingers, closing in all around.
“We’re miles away,” I said. “And the Pack’s headed in the other direction.”
Gunnar seemed unconvinced. He stood with his legs apart in a ready stance. He dropped his head and tilted one ear into the wind. I opened my mouth to protest again but thought the better of it. I knew these woods better than he did. I knew how the Pack moved. But, he could still sense them in ways I never could.
His eyes snapped open and he came to me. “You’re freezing,” he said. He stood inches away, but his body heat reached me like an aura around him. There was a pull between us I couldn’t understand. It frightened me as much as it drew me in.
“I’m f-fine,” I said. “I’ll make a fire. It’ll be all right. I know what I’m doing.”
When I turned to walk away, Gunnar took my arm and turned me back. His eyes blazed with hot fury. “You don’t.”
I erupted. “Are you kidding? I’ve survived out here a hell of a lot longer than you have. You haven’t got the first clue about what I know.”
Gunnar’s shoulders dropped. That silver wrath still lit his eyes, but his tone softened. “Jett, they’re out there. You can’t sense them, but I can. Even miles away, they’ll smell the smoke. Don’t you understand what just happened? Don’t you realize what they’re capable of?”
Something snapped inside of me. How could he ask me that? He didn’t even know me. He didn’t know what I’d been through. “Yes,” I hissed. “I understand. And I also just saved your ass, so please don’t lecture me about…”
A growl ripped from Gunnar’s throat. “Saved me? I killed that guard.”
“You didn’t have to!” I yelled. “He wasn’t going to get up. Maybe not ever.”
“He saw you,” Gunnar yelled back. “Whether he got up or not, he knew what you looked like. Do you get that I’m now the most hunted shifter in Kentucky? There’s a bounty on my head. And the Alpha is here. God, I can still feel him. The pull is still there. It’s all around us. If he gets closer...when he gets closer…”
Gunnar put his hands to his ears. Agony distorted his features and he doubled over.
“Gunnar!” I went to him on instinct. I put a hand on his back. That same heat was there. His skin rippled where I touched him. The instant I did, his breathing grew steadier. He froze then slowly straightened.
He staggered away from me as if my touch burned him. I know it burned me. His expression filled with such desperation, my heart nearly stopped beating.
“Why didn’t you do it?” he said, his voice a choked whisper.
“Do what?”
An ancient, rotted log had fallen a few yards away. Gunnar went there and sat. He buried his face in his hands. His shoulders quaked. Slowly, I went to him. I wanted so badly to put a hand on his shoulder. When he looked up at me, his eyes were hollow.
“You made me a promise,” he said. “You should have kept it and killed me.”
I couldn’t hold back. I put a hand on his shoulder. Gunnar flinched from the instant heat I knew we both felt. He didn’t stop me as I sat beside him. He was right. I had promised to kill him. But now, I knew in my heart that I never could.