Chapter 3
Talen cursed to himself as he barreled onto the river road and punched the gas. A beat-up yellow Chevy careened around a bend behind him, gaining speed. Pain lanced into his temples a second before Cara cried out.
Demons had the ability to attack minds with both pain and horrible images. Through the years, Talen had gained a few mental shields, but certainly not enough.
He swerved the truck, ruining their line of sight. Even if there were four of them in the truck, all directing the attack, they wouldn’t be able to keep it up for long, especially over a distance.
Gunfire pattered into the asphalt, sending shards flying.
“Hell.” He swerved again, speeding up while also grabbing Cara’s head and shoving her down. She bent at the waist and he kept pushing until her knees were on the floor. “Stay down.”
She fought against his hold, drawing a green gun from the side compartment. “I can shoot.”
He swerved again, making it too difficult for the demons to continue the mind attack. The pain in his temples receded. “I know, but for now, stay there.” If the woman thought she was going to get up and engage in a firefight, she was fucking crazy.
Even now, the scent of her fear filled the SUV, and the animal inside him stretched to life. His fangs lengthened, and his heart rate slowed as his body prepared for battle. There was no more dangerous creature on the earth than a vampire defending his mate, so he allowed his primal instincts to take over.
Smoke billowed from the right, forcing him to take a sharp left turn and barrel over a narrow bridge.
The truck followed in his wake, a shooter half out the passenger-side window. The next round of bullets impacted the rear of the vehicle.
If they hit the tires, he was screwed.
Trees flew by outside, and soon, smoldering grass lined both sides of the road. The fire had swept through but seemed contained. Hopefully.
Talen punched in Dage’s number.
“What?” Dage drawled.
“We have demons on our asses. Get our location, and send backup. STAT.” Talen swerved again.
Dage instantly tapped in keys. “Shifters nearby to the north. They’re sending help. Are you sure it’s demons?”
“Yes,” Talen snapped.
“I’ve brought you up on satellite. Shit,” Dage said.
Talen nodded. “I know.” The demons had certainly chosen their attack spot carefully. They were in one of the few places in the Pacific Northwest where the minerals in the rocks messed with the ability to transport, which Dage had. He couldn’t transport there and get Cara out. “The second I’m far enough north, I’ll tag you,” Talen barked.
“I’ll be ready to get there,” Dage said. “For now, stay low, and wait for backup.”
Cara kept silent on the floor, her blue eyes wide.
While Talen wanted to comfort her, he needed her alert and ready to flee just in case. “If I tell you to run, you do it.”
She shook her head. “If you’re staying to fight, so am I. It’s not like I’ve spent the last two decades on my butt, Talen.”
No. He’d made sure she trained to fight regularly, whenever she had the strength. But she was still an immortal human without any extra strength or speed. Against a cadre of demons, she’d have to be skilled as well as incredibly lucky. “I understand. Do as I tell you to do.” As the strategic leader for the entire Realm, his orders were obeyed, damn it.
She sniffed and held the gun on the seat, her entire body bunched to strike. “Can we outrun them?”
Only if the demons stopped shooting. Even as the thought crossed his mind, more bullets sprayed, and the back of the SUV lifted in the air. “Shit.” Talen jerked the wheel to the left, trying to keep from tumbling over the bank. “They hit a tire.”
The SUV rocked. Talen swerved, and his side of the vehicle crashed into a series of rocks fronting a forest. “Out. Move now.” In one smooth motion, he grabbed the cooler, grasped Cara, kicked open her door, and leaped from the vehicle.
Her feet had barely touched the ground when he had her around the hood and running into the smoke-filled forest, shielding her with his body in case the demons kept shooting. “Go, and I’ll catch up.” He pivoted and dropped to one knee, simultaneously whipping the gun out from his waist. The red truck screeched to a stop on the dirt road, and he plugged the windshield full of holes.
A scream echoed.
His fangs dropped, and he turned to run after his woman. He’d hit at least two targets, because he could smell their blood. But bullets would only slow them down and definitely not stop them.
The ground smoldered, and flames still licked along dead grass. He opened his senses and immediately found his mate moving quickly to the west, her sweet scent overlaid with fear. Every instinct he owned told him to turn around and take the demons out, but her safety came first.
He’d find seclusion and then go hunting.
The smoke impacted his vision, and up ahead, Cara coughed quietly.
He reached her in long strides and quickly ripped a piece off his shirt.
She frowned and leaned against the trunk of a pine tree, her eyes watering, her nose quivering.
There was no immediate heat around them, so hopefully the fires were just smoldering. Leaning forward, he gently tied the material around her head, masking her nose and mouth. “This should help filter a little bit.” Making sure it was tight, he leaned back. “You all right?”
She nodded, her eyes red. “Fine. Just don’t like smoke.”
There was his blue-eyed fighter. Fierce and stubborn, she’d battle furiously to live. He nodded toward a barely discernible trail through several cottonwoods. “Let’s head that way.” Hopefully the smoke would mask their scents until they reached backup, which should be coming from that direction.
“Okay.” She visibly shook out her shoulders and then launched herself into motion.
He strode into a jog, keeping track of her steps, his senses on full alert for any danger around them. The smoke screwed with his perceptions, too.
They ran for nearly an hour, winding along next to the river in case the fire descended upon them. Cara’s breath became labored, and her steps slowed until Talen could walk briskly and keep up. He directed her through another series of trails until they came to a cabin set against the hill.
She paused next to a blue spruce and leaned over, hands on her knees, her breath panting out.
He stilled and listened, using all his senses to track the area. Nothing.
Finally, she lifted up and jerked off the material around her face. Her eyes softened, and she eyed the cabin. “Our first time was in a cabin like that,” she whispered softly, her voice hoarse.
“I remember.” He studied her breathing and frowned at the slight wheeze from her chest. “’Twas the best day of my entire life.” And it was. He’d mated her in a cozy cabin after rescuing her from the enemy. The moment she’d become his, he’d become whole.
She nodded and coughed out smoke. “Mine too.”
He set the cooler on the ground and pressed a hand against her upper chest. “Are you all right?”
“Yes.” She nodded and patted his knuckles. “Just inhaled some smoke.”
His own chest burned from her obvious pain. Every hurt she experienced settled deep inside him. “I’m sorry.” It was his responsibility to protect her, and he was doing a piss-poor job of it.
She rolled her eyes. “Unless you started the fires, you don’t need to apologize for anything.”
“Yet I am.” He released her.
“You don’t control the world, Talen.” She straightened and brushed dirt off her jeans.
How many times had she told him that through the years? “We need to get going again.”
She glanced with longing at the cabin.
“That cabin isn’t secure enough, sweetheart. We’ll find a better spot,” he said, retrieving the cooler of virus samples.
“All right.” She cleared her throat and moved again, edging into a jog.
Talen followed right behind her, his instincts sizzling along with the fire that felt like it was coming closer. But if they stuck to the river, they’d be all right.
Well, until the demons found them. He had to get Cara to a safe place before he fought. She was his only priority.
* * *
Cara concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other without tripping and falling onto her face. Tension from Talen all but choked her, competing with the smoke swirling around. The gun lay heavy against her rib cage. She’d use it if she had to, but it had been a while since she’d practiced with a target.
If the demons caught up with them, her husband would take them all on and order her to run. She couldn’t leave him to a mind attack, not when she could at least shoot and disrupt the demon brain waves with a bullet to the head.
Her foot slipped on dry leaves, and she stumbled.
He instantly grasped her elbow until she’d regained her balance. “You’re doing great,” he said.
His heat warmed her from behind as he kept pace with her—so solid and protective.
She ducked away from an overhanging branch. “They must want the samples, right?”
“That’d be my guess,” he said.
“How did they find us? I mean, how did they know we were delivering the samples today?” She jumped over a downed tree.
“I’m not sure. Best bet is somebody at the lab in Seattle, because I can’t imagine anybody at our headquarters doing it,” he said mildly, his footsteps silent in the forest.
The air heated, and she lifted her head, stilling. A crackle filled the afternoon. Slowly, she turned to the right. “Fire,” she whispered.
Talen grabbed her hand, looking around.
Cara gulped in smoky air. The demons were behind them, the river to their left, the rock mountain to their right, and fire up ahead.
“Across the river.” Talen charged down the grassy bank, heading for the water.
Cara kept pace, her tennis shoes slipping on moss, her gaze on the rushing river. “Looks deep.” Even though it was fall and snow hadn’t dropped yet, the river rushed as if a full snowpack was feeding it.
“Wet summer and fall,” Talen said tersely. They reached the bank, and he glanced down at her shoes. “Is there any traction on those?”
She slowly shook her head. “Not really, but I’ll be okay.” She tried to peer past the rushing water to see how slippery the rocks looked, but white and frothy bubbles masked the bottom of the river.
“Too risky. Stick to the bank and run.” He released her hand. “I’ll be right behind you.”
She nodded and moved off rocks to the smooth grass, her gaze on the ground. They ran for nearly fifteen minutes, mostly uphill. Her mind was so full of fear that she missed the end of the trail.
Suddenly, she was falling.
“Ack!” she yelped, her hands windmilling, her legs kicking the air.
The rocky mountain blurred by, while the rushing sound of water echoed up. She glanced down.
Holy crap.
The river. The wild, tumultuous rapids below her held more rocks than water. In a ball, in a ball, in a ball. She curled tight.
A jagged rock caught her eye, and she tried to angle away. It would split her open.
Just as she was about to hit, a hard body crashed into her, sending them away from the rock and into the water. Freezing cold covered her head, and she shut her eyes. Scrambling, she fought for the surface. A roaring filled her ears. Panic blew out her air.
She broke the surface, immediately going under again.
A rock scraped her arm. She kicked off another boulder, her head emerging into daylight. The current smashed her against a rock and swept her farther downstream. She gulped in oxygen, searching frantically for Talen.
He shouted a warning. Giant, turning waves propelled the massive vampire right at her. He swung the green cooler away from her head. She screamed as they impacted, and she went under again.
Hands under her armpits, he yanked her up. She spit out water, clutching his waterlogged shirt. The cooler bobbed next to them. He tucked her head into his neck, his body bouncing off dangerous rocks as the river battered them downstream.
A rushing sound echoed over even the wild river. A waterfall! It sound huge, long, and deadly.
She struggled against her mate. They needed to get to the riverbank.
He tucked her closer. “Hold still.”
Seconds later, he kicked against a looming rock, propelling them out of the middle. Grabbing an overhanging branch, he paused. The water piled up against them, gaining power.
The branch snapped in two.
She cried out. The water swirled them around and around, while bouncing Talen off rocks. He growled low each time he impacted, his body stiffening.
He grabbed another branch, and the bowed wood splintered away from the tree.
“Damn it,” he muttered.
The waterfall loomed closer, the river foaming. Oh God. They were going over.
Talen wrapped one arm around her waist, shoved off from a rock, and leaped for a sweeping branch. He connected, swinging in the air. With a harsh grunt, he swung her back and tossed her toward the bank.
She landed in shallow water, splashing mud. Her hands scraped off rough rocks. Turning, she gasped in relief as he maneuvered hand-over-hand along the branch, the cooler hanging off his arm, until he dropped next to her. She blinked water from her eyes.
Grabbing her by the scruff of the neck, he hauled them both out of the river and under a tree.
He lay on his back, eyes closed, chest heaving.
She followed suit.
They were alive. Only his strength had kept them so, and she rolled over to put her head on his thundering chest.
Pain instantly flashed into her brain.
The demons had found them.