Page 85 of Deals and Daggers

“I’m sorry,” he muttered, tearing his gaze away. “I’ve just never… never felt this before.”

“What?” I asked. “Anger? Rage? Like a fucking bad ass who just slaughtered an entire field of demons?”

He shrugged. “This actually isn’t the first time I’ve done that.”

I huffed. “Figures.”

More blood spilled from the gaps between his fingers, falling to the forest floor beneath us. “Shit,” he muttered. “I’m losing a lot of blood.”

My own stomach curled at the sight. “I know.”

“We have to keep moving,” he huffed. He turned to keep walking, but I pulled his arm over my shoulders to support him. Thank god, too, because he practically fell into me.

“One foot after the other,” I said aloud. “One foot after the other.”

Natalie was the first to lay eyes on us as we stumbled into the lake house, covered in dirt and blood and surely looking like we had just been through hell.

“Oh my god!” she screamed, running over to us. Wrath was next, nearly dropping his drink as his eyes landed on us. “What the hell happened to you two?”

“Marcus is dead,” Alek mumbled. “He wanted to build an army with the souls from the veil to take over Night Raven.”

“That son of a bitch,” Nat hissed. “What about you? Are you okay?”

I took a quick scan of my body. Besides the throbbing in my head and the adrenaline seconds away from killing me, I was fine. “I’m okay, but Alek got shot. He lost a lot of blood.”

“Shit,” Wrath cursed, hurrying over. “Is the bullet still in you?”

I pulled up his shirt and looked and his back, scanning his body for the second hole.

“No,” I answered for him. “The bullet passed through.”

“Good,” Wrath answered in relief. “We’ll bandage it up and you’ll be fine soon.”

“Are you kidding?” Natalie argued. “He was shot, Wrath!”

“Demon blood,” Wrath replied. “He’ll be healed by next week. He spun on his heel and raced to the kitchen.

Leaving Natalie and I alone with Alek.

“I need to explain to him what happened,” Alek panted, his voice cold.

“Right now?” I asked. “You’re hurt, Alek! Just take a second and—”

“Wait here with Natalie,” he insisted, already pushing away from me and following his brother to the kitchen. “I’ll come find you later.”

CHAPTER 23

Alek

The craving for blood did not just grow. It catapulted through my body, taking over every sense, every thought. I walked to Wrath before grabbing him by the bicep and pulling him to the back of the kitchen. “You need to come with me,” I hissed. “Right fucking now.”

Wrath didn’t have time to react. I was already dragging him outside, pulling him to the back of the lake house where the water lapped over our voices.

“What the hell?” he barked once we were away from the crowd. “What’s going on?”

“Something’s wrong. Ever since the fucking veil closing in the woods, something has been wrong. Before then, even. But I can’t—I can’t explain it. I can’t control it.”

“What are you talking about, Alek? Slow down.” My brother’s voice, even concerned, held a certain calmness. He would know how to help. He would know what to do.

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