He shook her, called her name and willed her to open her eyes, but she didn’t. He slid his fingers below her jaw to feel for a faint beat under her warm skin. He found it, but it was weak and thready, almost fading. He had to save her, but the only way he knew was with blood.
He bit into his wrist and dripped the warm, viscous liquid down into her mouth. It stained her teeth and slid down past her tongue. Hope surged through him as he saw a faint swallow, hoping it would work. But she didn’t wake up, and her heartbeat became slower and slower.
“April!” He yelled at her, hoping to startle her awake. “Come on baby, open your eyes. A hand slid over his shoulder, making him jerk his head around to find Miranda. She was squatting next to him, having just checked the redhead who was also unconscious from the festering wound on her shoulder.
“It’s poison. Her talons had some sort of venom excreting from them. I think it’s lethal.” She pointed over to one of the downed warriors, the first to be scratched. His skin was pale with a shade of green tint to it, his chest still and unmoving. “It’s like the vampire withering sickness that turns us green, but works even faster.” Her eyes searched his face, a doomed look slipping into her gaze.
“No, she’s not going to die.”
“The human woman is near death, too. It won’t be long until….”
“No!” He glared at his commanding officer, unwilling to hear her out any longer.
Christian came stumbling over to them. His chest had been slashed by the creature, but it was already healing, weaving itself together. “Move.”
“Don’t touch her,” Rye hissed at the hybrid vampire who obviously was the last person he had expected to see.
“If I don’t give her blood, she dies.” Christian met his stare with equal intensity, trying not to shove Rye away, though he wanted to with every cell of his body. The way he held April was too intimate, too close. He swallowed down the jealous feelings and waited impatiently for Rye to relent.
“I already gave her blood. It’s not working.”
“That’s because you are not immune to the withering.” He ripped away the rest of his shirt, showing blood smeared across his perfect chest. Where the creature’s claws had slashed him, only healed skin lay under the telltale streak. “I am. So, move.”
Rye’s mouth gaped in disbelief as Christian moved to cradle April in his lap. He wanted to shove him back, get him away from April. So this was the man accompanying her out of the underground. How would she have ever agreed to let him help her? She hated Christian with every fiber of her being. She blamed his hive for hurting Helen and breaking her. There must have been a good reason; April wouldn’t trust anyone lightly.
Nicking his wrist, Christian let his blood drip into April’s mouth. Her skin was paler and was taking on a green tint as the wound on her face swelled and bubbled madly. But the moment his blood touched her tongue, it seemed to halt the festering, bringing it into a full reverse as the wound began to heal and weave itself together until only smears of red and green fluid dirtied her skin. Christian handed her back to Rye and ran over to the fallen redhead to give her his blood, too. Within minutes, April and the others wounded by the creature were awake, glancing around and confused about what had happened. Only the one already dead had not responded, his body already cooling in the dampness of the underground mud.
Rye sat confounded. He let his surprise morph into happiness as April reached up to push a strand of his hair away. Her weak smile made him want to jump up and dance. His heart surged as her eyes flickered toward him.
“Rye,” she croaked, her mouth sticky with red splatters of blood.
“Hey. Missed you.” He slid his fingers down the side of her face where the wounds were mere pink lines slowly fading on her cheek. He wiped the leftover blood from it and smiled, pulling her closer and never wanting to let go.
“Missed you, too.” She closed her eyes, looking tired and worn out. He was sure that her time down there had not been pleasant. He realized that he had forgotten about the human guards who were now circling around them. He stiffened, wondering what they were going to do. One of them, a man with brown wavy hair, stepped forward and knelt down to check on April. His grin looked friendly, and he appeared relieved to see her breathing.
“She’s okay?” he asked. Rye nodded, still unsure of the man’s intentions. “Good. She’s a tough cookie.” He stood and walked over to the redhead, who was now sitting up with a couple of the other human soldiers checking her out. He did the same with her before returning to Rye. His dark eyes scanned the tunnel behind them.
“We should go. I don’t think she brought anyone with her, but I don’t want to find out.” He looked down, wary of the hybrid vampire. “I’m Elijah by the way. April’s my friend, and we have chosen to leave the city of Vida and join forces with her.” He cocked his head, an amused twinkle swimming in his brown orbs. “I guess that means we’re allies, too.” He held out his hand for Rye, waiting to help him up.
Rye nodded. He took the hand and stood up above April. If she trusted this man, it must be alright. The secrets she had been keeping lately were piling up, leaving a searing pain in his head. Helping her up, he was relieved to find that she could stand, but the sudden isolation he felt choked him and sat heavily on his shoulders. She had a ton of explaining to do. But for now, they just had to get out of there.
“Who’s going to take care of the city?” Sarah’s voice interrupted them, her uncertainty written on her face. “We can’t just leave them down there. They have no leader now.”
Elijah nodded. He turned toward the others and looked over them. “Anyone want to volunteer to take over?” Four of them stepped forward at his request, leaving him relieved that he wouldn’t have to force anyone to do the deed. “Take her body back there, show them what she really was. It will convince her followers to reject the idea of revolting against us. Get things together, radio me and let me know what’s going on and we will keep contact with you from above.” They gave him a nod and started to retrieve Katrina’s remains.
Miranda gave Rye a reassuring pat on the back. He knew the concern in her eyes was the same reason he was feeling awkward. He watched as Christian talked to Elijah, making motions with his hands in the direction they had all been headed before they were attacked. He didn’t know what these two meant to April, and his eyes followed her as she eased herself over to listen in on the discussion.
The way her eyes hovered over Christian was disheartening. It was almost as if she had some sort of connection to him. He continued to watch them, keeping the flame of jealousy contained within. Something was off. He could feel it in his bones and in the air around him. He’d seen that look on others, other hybrids who had chosen mates.
Seraphin’s face briefly flashed in his mind. He thought about how they had chosen their new names of Rhystrom and Seraphin once they had changed. The way she had loved him so intensely and then the way she had tried to avoid Alan’s stare when he had joined their hive. She had flushed bright red whenever he had been near. Rye remembered the fear in her eyes when she had told him what had happened and explained away her affections for Alan, unable to fight the connection that called her to him. She couldn’t have helped it. He was her mate and she had to join him, leaving Rye alone. There was no resisting the match. The hybrids were cursed with this phenomenon.
But what of the ones who never found their mates? What of the ones without any connection to another hybrid? Rye turned back to April, his heart sinking. Even if a person chose another, there was always the fear that a new vampire would become matched with a chosen partner, taking them away forever.
That couldn’t be the case here, though. April was human. She was not a hybrid vampire, but a hybrid in another way. How this could happen was beyond him, and he silently prayed that it wasn’t what it looked like.
They followed Christian and Elijah to the end of the tunnel, where a door to a darkened hangar full of windowless vans stood, dusty and undisturbed
. Cranking the engines with the vampires stowed in the back, where the rising sun would not disturb them, they drove out of the hangar and into an underground tunnel, disguised as a floodwater drainage channel.
Surprised by how they had hidden the underground city’s back entrance so cleverly and in plain sight, Rye let his head drop back against the metal of the van’s interior, trying to relax in spite of it all. Miranda had suggested that they all head back to the hive where he was sure Blaze would not be happy to see them with new people. Closing his eyes, he sighed, happy that April had quietly slid in next to him in the van while Christian rode in another. She laid her head against his shoulder and closed her eyelids, weary from her ordeal as the van lurched and rolled over debris strewn across the waterway, heading home.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Raining Fire
April
THE ROAD HOME seemed longer now, with the knowledge of all I had seen in the past few days hanging over my head. After cleaning up in the hive airport headquarters and getting a good lecture from Blaze, I was finally heading home. Jeremy had been ecstatic to see me once more, squeezing me so tight I had to peel him off. He was staying at the hive now, my mother free to roam at our bunker in the mountains.
I smiled at the memory of his face. My kid brother had told me that he’d known all along that I would be back. Nothing would ever hold me back from him. “That’s for sure, Jer,” I had agreed as I took in his face, happy to see it outside of a memory while squeezing the bejesus out of him in a tight hug.
Now the road home to my bunker in the mountains called to me. I was desperate to see my mother, Helen. The news that Christian would help her was the best thing I’d heard all year. He would take her to the notorious Rick and have him fix what had gone wrong with her. She would be saved. That was all I could ever ask for.
I glanced into the side mirror, smiling slightly to myself at the black SUV following close behind ours. Sitting back in the chair, I caught Rye watching me in my periphery and flushed under his stare. I didn’t dare meet his gaze dead on. I felt bad enough that my feelings for Christian were distorting everything I had thought was for certain. At least this unwanted connection had made me accept the fact that I did love Rye. Fighting the bond between me and Christian was tedious but necessary. We had avoided each other as much as possible, hoping the distance would keep us stable. But would it be enough in the end?
Putting the vehicle into park, I studied the outside of the cabin that stood above our bunker. It looked so peaceful, untouched by the ordeal we had gone through. I jumped out of the cab and slammed the door behind me. I was relieved to finally be home. It may not be the most comfortable place in the world, but for now, it was enough.
“April?”
I turned back to find Rye’s warm smile, a smile that made me want to run back into the comfort of his embrace and breathe the calm of his scent. I could see that he felt the same, and it was okay with me. It didn’t make me want to run. In fact, it felt like home to me. I wondered briefly why I had fought it so much before. The despair of it yanked at my heart, making my regret sting just that much more. I should have let him in sooner. But every day was a new day, and the past was the past. This tiny hope that blossomed in me as I grinned back at him made my heart happy. I knew he would take care of it, even when I didn’t.
“Yes?”
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I think I’m going to be just fine.” A strange calm wrapped itself around me like a cocoon. This moment was the best it could be, and for that I was thankful. I stepped forward, turning on my foot as I continued toward the bunker.
No sooner had I taken a step, an assault of air slammed into me like a brick wall, sending me flying back from the blast. Bits of the cabin flew over my head, landing in crumbled pieces, some on fire across the landscape. I collided with the jeep, the crunch of metal and glass hitting me as I kept on, rolling over the hood and onto the rocky dirt. It had knocked out the breath from my chest, leaving me dazed with the world spinning.
What the…?
A moment or two passed before the searing burn of air finally seeped back into my lungs. Secondary explosions sounded off from the bunker, shaking the ground all around me. Stunned, I could hear nothing but ringing in my ears, throwing my balance off as I struggled to push myself off the ground and back onto my feet.
Rye….
My eyes darted around, relieved to find him moving on the ground near me. I brought the view of the bunker into my line of vision, a knot of doom formed tightly in my belly.
Oh my God…Mom!
The sudden surge of panic enveloped me as I pulled myself up, awkward and unsteady, gripping the door handle to heave myself up. My skin burned like needles prickling the surface. I checked my arms and my shoulders, finding shards of glass and wood embedded in the flesh. The right side of my face was swelling rapidly from slamming into the jeep. Everything wavered as I stood up and peeked over the jeep to the inferno of what had been my home for over a year.
No….
“Mom!” My voice was a harsh whisper with my breath still struggling to filter through the shock of the impact, my throat stinging. “Rye?”
“I’m here.” His pained voice made it clear he had not been spared the wrath of the explosion. He stood near me, his side scraped by rock and debris. Blood spots littered his shirt where shrapnel had hit him. If I had stopped to think about it, I was pretty sure I looked the same. Instead, reassured that Rye was okay, I stumbled toward the inferno that crackled before us, consuming the cabin and bunker in its unforgiving wake.
“Mom!” My voice was louder now, the ringing fading as I limped toward the heat of the flames. It seared my skin, an inferno that sizzled and hummed, stopping me from getting any closer. The fire roared from the inside of the bunker, a column of flame and smoke pouring out of the door, incinerating everything in sight. Nothing would be left after it was done enjoying the propane fuel and gasoline that fed it. Shattered wood and concrete littered the yard, some still smoldering from the explosion. The house was destroyed, leaving nothing recognizable. No one could have survived it. Not even my mother, who was, more than likely, still inside.
The scorching heat did not let me step any closer, leaving me feeling helpless, desperate to get to her. I couldn’t even get near enough to peer inside at the remnants of the building without the heat of the fire threatening to sear my skin off. What had caused this? Who had done this? I didn’t even notice the tears streaming down my now dirty face as my legs gave in and I slid to the ground, onto my knees.
Rye’s hand slid over me as he knelt down and pulled me into a fierce hug, letting me bury my tear-streaked face in his shredded shirt. It wasn’t until then that I realized I was sobbing, my face drenched with dirty tears, streaking my face. I couldn’t save her, I never could. The likelihood that she had caused this herself was so high that I wanted to bury this information into the crevices of my brain where things were shoved for the purpose of forgetting. I didn’t want to know anything anymore. I didn’t know if I could handle it much longer.
“Rye? Helen….”
“I know, shhh,” he whispered into my hair as I let the pain escape, shaking my body as I cried for everything I had lost. I was glad Jeremy wasn’t there. He had stayed behind at the hive, enjoying the new people to challenge him on his video games. He would have run inside immediately the moment we had arrived. But he was safe, and that was the one thing that helped me as the pain ripped through me. She had done it while we were both still gone. But had I rushed in like I had wanted to when we’d arrived, I might not have been so lucky. Why had she waited until I returned to do this? Maybe seeing us pull up solidified her resolve to end it. I wish I knew. But now, I will never know.
Oh mom, why this? How did it come to this?
So I cried. I let the despair take me in its embrace, swallowing all of my senses and drowning my resolve. I felt it tear through my insides, pulverizing anything good I had ever felt, f
illing my world with pain, so much of it I wondered if I would ever know what it was like to feel no pain. Could I even remember such things? No, there was never no pain, there was always the hurt and disappointment waiting in the wings to take over when anything good ever came along, only to exit stage left just as fast. We must accept this, especially when that is all that is handed to us.
But I’d never see Helen again. I had been too late to save her. She had been doomed for so long, and in the end, nothing I could have done would have helped her. I knew that now. She had made this decision, probably ages ago. But it had been so sudden, so final. It had left me numb, unable to process it when it came.
Christian had pulled up right after the blast and jumped from the car after barely putting it in park. Running over, his eyes were wild and shocked as he looked at the blood seeping from my shirt, glancing over to the house and then back again. I could tell he immediately understood what had happened. He had come to help me, to help my mother. But now that purpose was lost forever in the all-consuming fire that had claimed her life.
There would be no atonement for him. There would be no absolution for any of us.
Kneeling down next to me, he waited patiently as Rye continued to hold onto me. I knew the ache that Christian must have felt, waiting there, unable to hold me, unable to take the pain away like he had done so before. It would be agonizing to him, like a different kind of starvation. I felt the ache in my own body as well with him so near. A strange subconscious longing betrayed my heart. It was easy to ignore these problems in the midst of devastation. It was easy to fall into Rye’s arms when I wanted to feel nothing but numb.