Blood Craft: The Shadow Sorceress Book Two Page 18
“Graham’s awake and I’m just waiting to get a lift back to the city,” I said, turning to face Nic.
“That’s great, but why aren’t they taking you to the hospital,” he said, dropping down next to me, concern etched into his face.
“Nah, it’s just a flesh wound….”
“Amber, did you show it to anyone? It didn’t look like a flesh wound earlier, it looked a hell of a lot more serious than that….” He tugged at the edge of my shirt, dragging it up to reveal the ragged-edged cut that was rapidly healing. It seemed the bone blade Zeck had cut me with was more than just a weapon.
Wincing, I dragged my shirt back down, covering the mark up. “I really don’t want to go to hospital, it’ll be fine. I promise….”
“You know you’re a fool, right?” He said, anger colouring his words.
“Really? I’m the fool?”
“Yeah, and we both know it. A little common sense would tell you to get it seen to. Who are you trying to prove how tough you are to? Because whoever it is doesn’t deserve it.”
Pushing up onto my feet, I bit back my whimper of pain as I started back towards the cars.
Nic’s hand wrapped around my wrist, jerking me back around to face him. “You’re one of the most infuriating women I’ve ever met—why won’t you listen to anything I’m saying? Why is everything some major suicide mission?”
“Don’t be ridiculous…” I started to say, but Nic dragged me in against his body, his lips crashing down on mine as his kiss took me by surprise.
My body responded to his, unbidden, my arms lifting to twine around his neck as he traced his tongue along my bottom lip, before he sucked it in between his teeth. This time, I didn’t bother to keep my whimper to myself; I moaned and deepened the kiss, crushing my body against his rock-solid chest.
I broke the kiss first, my mind whirling into action, throwing out every possibility and way this could end in tears. He stared down into my face, his eyes heavy with lust as he searched my face.
“I care about you, Amber, I….”
Jerking out of his grip, I raced across the dry road and signalled to Anthony, who was packing up one of the Elite trucks.
“You heading back into the city?” I asked.
“Sure, need a ride?” Anthony asked, tossing the last gear bag into the back.
I didn’t answer him, choosing instead to simply climb into the truck and slam the door behind me. Anthony climbed in next to me, some of the other members of the clean-up crew jostling around in the back, their gentle teasing of each other making it easier to take my mind off what had just happened.
This kiss hadn’t been like the one in Sanctuary.
“Drop you at your apartment?” Anthony asked.
I nodded and stared out the window, purposefully staring in the opposite direction of where I’d stood with Nic. I didn’t want to witness his anger; I needed time to think, and I wouldn’t be able to do that if I couldn’t get the thought of his lips against mine out of my head.
* * *
“This do you?” Anthony asked, pulling the truck to a halt at the bottom of my street. I nodded and pushed open the door, climbing down without a backwards glance. The ride back into the city had been blissfully silent.
I slammed the door and started the walk back up the street. Night had closed in and the street lights flickered on and off as I picked up my pace. A sense of unease rolled down my spine and I paused as someone stepped out of the darkness up ahead.
“Elite bitch … you need to be taught a lesson. You don’t just kill one of our pack and walk away scot-free.” The voice melted out of the darkness, gruff with the promise of violence.
“He went rogue, you know the law….” I took a step forward, but something slammed into the back of my shoulders, sending me sprawling to the ground.
Laughter followed, lots of different voices, and the first real tendrils of terror spread up through my core. There were a lot of them; a few, I could take, but not this many….
Crawling forward, I searched my surroundings for a heavy weapon I could use, but there was nothing. My Glock was gone, taken as evidence after Anthony and the rest of the clean-up had arrived.
“We don’t need to do this…” I said, biting down on my tongue as someone wrapped their hands into my hair jerking my head back.
“Yes, we do,” the first voice spoke again, and the first kick landed in my side. Claws ripped at me, kicks and punches rained down on my head. They moved fast, their blows coming so hard and fast that I didn’t even have the chance to call on my magic.
Instead, anger and rage spread through me as I struggled to get away. I wasn’t a victim, I wasn’t helpless, but I was outnumbered and they were shifters, their strength and speed far beyond that of a normal human’s.
Darkness rolled through me, fire burned in my veins, and my demon mark stirred, spreading through my limbs as my vision went black and I was lost to the blissful ignorance of unconsciousness.
Chapter 33
“Amber!” A familiar voice called to me, pulling me out of the darkness.
I opened my eyes, but there was something wet and sticky in my lashes, making it hard to blink.
“Amber, what happened?” Nic said, panic bringing back my memories in a cold rush of reality.
“They jumped me…” I said, my voice hoarse and alien to my ears as I blinked and tried to focus on my surroundings.
Everything was red. The sidewalk I was kneeling on was bathed in what looked like red paint. Glancing down at my hands, I realised the paint extended up my arms as far as my elbows.
“Amber, what happened after that? Who did this?”
“Did what?” I said, my brain refusing to make sense of the scene in front of me.
It wasn’t paint.
The realisation washed over me and stole my breath. None of it was paint; it was blood, and I was bathed in it.
The urge to rip them all limb from limb washed through me and I scrambled backwards on the pavement. I’d done it all.
“Nic, it was me, I did this….” My brain continued to refuse to put together the pieces lying around me—and that’s all they were, pieces. I’d done exactly as I’d thought and ripped them all limb from limb. But how? How was this even possible? My body ached and I could only imagine what a lumpy, bruised mess I was. So how had I managed to get the upper hand and do so much destruction?
Grabbing the edge of my shirt, I pulled it open and stared down at the place where the demon mark sat; it, like the rest of me, was soaked in blood, but that wasn’t what bothered me. The black veins extending down and across towards my heart were far more worrisome.
“Nic, what’s happening to me?”
He shook his head and crouched down next to me. “I don’t know, but we’ll figure this out. We’ll figure it out together. I promise I won’t let you slip away, Amber, no matter what.”
His declaration gave me hope, or at least, I wanted to believe him, but as he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close, I couldn’t help but look around at the carnage surrounding us.
As much as I wanted to believe it, this wasn’t something you could just forget. And it wasn’t something you could just clean up and pretend never happened. No matter what happened now, things were irrevocably changed and there was no going back.
My only hope of getting out of it all with my soul still intact was to hope and pray I could get rid of the demon mark. If not, then it would be only a matter of time before I went completely dark side, and once that happened, there would be no redemption and no happy ending.
Tears started down my cheeks as I stared at the broken bodies on the sidewalk. Could there even be a happy ending for someone like me? And if there was, at what cost would it come, and would I be willing to pay it?
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