Page 101 of Griffin Undone
“It won’t work this time, you know,” Maddox taunted. Why didn’t he just jump me and get it over with?
Because he liked the anticipation, the torture. Wolves loved the hunt, the chase. I’d seen the state of those females. Sick bastard.
I didn’t have to fake the utter fatigue when I spoke. “Of course it won’t work. Look at me.” Did I look like I could fight anymore? I certainly felt like I was dying. I stumbled sideways until my shoulder slammed into a wall. “Guess my power wasn’t all you hoped for.”
“Youarea disappointment, but at least I’ll get something for my effort.” He licked his lips, eyes trained on me. I used the wall to keep myself upright as I scooted backward. “Where are you going?”
“Away.”Come closer.I needed him close.
He shook his head. “Don’t bother.”
I made a run for it. Maddox pounced, slamming me onto the dirty floor. He pinned me, his claws breaking the skin, his weight crushing my bones. A quick flip and he leaned down until the smell of him drowned my senses. Fangs, long and dripping, caught the light before scraping along my jaw, my chin, that tender skin beneath. I couldn’t stop the terror that roared up in me as I waited for the chance I knew would come, but it had to be soon, before my power dissolved altogether.
Maddox reared back, one fist gripping my vest as he raised his claws to slash away the straps. Before he could, I drove my hands straight into his chest, slammed my knee up between his legs. “Off!”
Electricity shot through Maddox’s groin, shoving him headfirst over me and across the floor.
I had no more time to think; it had to be now. As Maddox spun back toward me, I came up on my knee and slid to face him, hands out. Energy screamed around me, through me, and I pushed it out with all my strength, every last drop, straight toward my enemy. My shout shattered the darkness. Maddox managed a furious howl before the impact, and then his body disintegrated in a spectacular explosion that burned my retinas with its brilliance.
Better than fireworks on the Fourth of July.
Unfortunately I was unconscious before I saw any part of Maddox turn to ash and blow away.
ChapterForty-Four
Arik
Animal and human were filled with a killing rage. It had taken way too fucking long to get through the swarm of Anigma soldiers and follow Kat, to protect her from the bastard who had killed my family. That she had drawn Maddox’s attention to herself deliberately in the first place… My griffin roared as we made the leap through the broken front window of the warehouse.
Kat’s fear as she’d faced off with Maddox in the courtyard had been so strong I could still taste it on my tongue. My own fear rose in tandem—I, who hadn’t feared a fucking thing in hundreds of years until I met Kat. The terror beat like a drum in my blood, urging me to hurry, to find her, to save her. It was my griffin that took control, zeroing in on the two sets of footprints and two trails of blood leading toward the back of the building.
Kat.
I could feel her just ahead, the electric buzz of her power, but even more, the bond that connected us soul to soul. As if the blast had destroyed whatever barrier she’d used to keep me out, our connection was alive, burning deep inside me, a siren song drawing me onward. My animal stopped me outside a set of swinging doors when I would’ve torn through without thought. A quick look assured us both that nothing lay in wait. I went in low, found nothing, and moved left. Kat was there, pulling all my focus like a lodestone. My mate. I had to get to her.
Reeling through the maze of boxes and pallets and shit, I found along with our link was the sound of fighting, snarling, voices. When I circled a stack of tarp-draped containers, there she stood, hands out, surrounded by a glow that seemed to radiate from deep inside her. A glow that flared brighter and brighter until all I could see was the light blinding me, torching my retinas before abruptly blinking out.
Everything froze. Stumbling forward, I called my griffin up to help me see. What I saw was Kat slipping to the floor, almost in slow motion, her body limp and graceful—and bloody. So much blood. It coated the lower half of her face, her vest, her hands, highlighted by sparks of power flashing in the air around her.
Nooo!
I caught her before the floor did. Lowered her body gently to rest on my thighs as I sat on the ash-covered concrete. Maddox’s ashes, most likely, though I was surprised to find I didn’t give a damn about being able to wallow in the fucker’s demise. All I cared about was the female in my arms. With hands that shook, I held her close, desperate to keep her safe, but she didn’t move. Didn’t flinch or moan or cry. For a moment I thought she didn’t breathe, and I searched frantically for signs of her skin turning to ash, but when her chest rose and fell, long and slow, hope, the traitorous bitch, rose within me.
“Kat. Kat, baby,” I whispered. Oh God. “Kat?”
She didn’t respond, not even a twitch.
Fuck.“Sun!”
A deep slash through my wrist had blood welling up. I shoved the gash against Kat’s mouth, forcing it open, but she didn’t swallow. Watching my blood seep from her mouth, I called for Sun again, frantic, desperate. Afraid to move, afraid to breathe, I did the only thing I could think to do—curved my body around hers, as close as possible, and prayed. Helpless. I’d never felt so damn helpless in a thousand years, not even when my parents died. I knew without a doubt that, if I lost Kat, I didn’t want to live. Not without my mate.
Lyris had been right; I’d taken away any choice either of us had the second I’d accepted Kat’s gift. And I was damn glad I had.
Just beneath my lips, Kat’s eyelids fluttered open. I jerked my head up to see bloody tears rolling back into her hair. Her eyes juddered in their sockets as her brain seized, scaring the fuck out of me. I never wanted to see her like this again, ever. If I could bring her out of this, I’d make damn sure she never fought again.
I brought my bloody hand up to hold her head steady.
“Kat? Kat, it’s okay, baby. I’m right here. Don’t move. Don’t move, okay?” Where was Sun? Where the hell was help when I needed it?
