Page 50 of Taste of Fate

Thorne turned and ducked just in time to avoid a heavy, swinging blow aiming for his head. Long, gnarled claws that had once been fingernails caught the moonlight.

“Stay down!”

I was one hell of a nobody to be yelling orders at my clan leader, but he thankfully did as I said. Taking off at a sprint, I jumped and sailed over Thorne’s crouched form with my dagger aimed and ready. With a hard slam, I crashed into his attacker and we went tumbling.

The smell hit me first. The foulest mix of dirt, rot, and body odor that ever hit my senses. We suspected that the remnants of Rathka’s Order had taken to living rough in the mountains, feeding on animals and probably each other. Nothing prepared me for that smell, though. And with my silver dagger stabbing in fast, controlled bursts, the scent of burning flesh added to the mix.

He fought me for a long time despite my hitting vital organs and blood vessels multiple times, probably due to the adrenaline and whatever animalistic craze that had taken over his mind. My arms had a few bleeding scratches from those nasty claws but in the end, the life drained out of him and he stopped moving.

“Cy!”

I looked up and turned to see Thorne pulling his own dagger from the neck of another figure covered in dried blood, dirt, and filth. The body crumpled to the ground as Thorne began running toward me.

“Cy, there’s more!”

I spun on the ball of my foot, blade covering my throat and facing outward like I’d shown Tavi, but was a fraction of a second too late. How the fuck were they so silent?

My body hit the ground before I knew what hit me. From a sideways angle, I saw Thorne’s booted feet dancing as he fought. My arm felt impossibly heavy as I reached for my neck, trying to find the source of blood pooling around me. I felt the gash in my skin, and the steady pump of my heart forcing blood out of my body.

My brain couldn’t seem to form any coherent thoughts aside from, shit, this is bad.

Some time later, something wrapped around my neck and pulled tight, like it was going to choke me. The sight above me didn’t make sense. Thorne with his shirt off? Thorne with his hands around my neck. I could feel my blood pumping against the pressure of his palm.

“Don’t you fucking bleed out on me, pup.” He sounded like he was underwater. “We’re gonna get you back to your blood pet and get you all fixed up, alright?”

My thoughts were sluggish, like I was losing my grip on them as the blood drained from my body. But the words blood pet brought a single face to the forefront of my mind.

“Tavi,” I gasped through the pain and sensation of life draining out of me.

“Yes, we’ll get you to Tavi soon. Just hold the fuck on.”

I couldn’t see Thorne anymore, couldn’t see past the dark blotches obscuring my vision. Vertigo overtook me and I didn’t know which way was up. I was being flung and thrashed around, manipulated like a doll. I thought I could make out Thorne’s boots hitting the stone pavement, and wondered if he was carrying me.

“Seriously, you better not fucking die on me,” Thorne muttered. “Kalix would have my balls if he ever found out.”

“Kal…” I groaned out his name, grasping at my final memory of him. He was stoic, determined, resolute, while I had been a mess.

I was always a fucking mess. It was why we lost him.

I must have passed out. The next thing I knew, the blurry faces of my clan mates hovered above me. Why did they look so worried?

“Tavi’s coming.” Thorne’s voice sounded close, like he was near my ear, though he still sounded like he was underwater. “Hold on just a little longer, Cyanide.”

A moment of clarity hit me. I couldn’t take Tavi’s blood. It was too sweet, too good and strong, because she was my blood mate.

I would have laughed bitterly if I had the energy. Me, the clan fuck-up with the first blood mate in Sanguine in twenty years. It was a huge fucking joke, and I didn’t deserve to take that gorgeous human’s blood.

“No,” I tried to say, but couldn’t even tell if I had a voice. “Not Tavi.”

“Shut the fuck up, Cy. Come here, Octavia. Hurry.”

Oh fuck. She was here. I must have been truly dying if I couldn’t even scent her. I didn’t want her seeing me like this. She cared so much for others. I didn’t want her to care about me.

And yet I craved it. I craved her blood and the scent of her skin, her plush lips against my mouth, my fangs. I craved her arms around me in a hug, on the back of my motorcycle. How fucking pathetic was I, after what I’d done to Kalix, to be dying here and still want the power of this human to save me?

“I’m not sure what to do. We’ve never…”

“Tavi, get out of here.” I moaned at the sound of her voice. Her scent was in my nose now, though I still couldn’t see her. “Get her away from me,” I said as my fangs descended, throbbing with the strongest need for her yet.

---