Page 101 of Blood Moon
She blinked once before she rushed us. Julian did a swift kick, pushing her back, the dagger flying across the room.
Abba flew into someone, and then a fight broke loose. They charged for Julian. Punches thrown, kicks landing. Roaring. Bodies flung into walls, through the air. War, dread, no sight of the end. I tried to kick loose, and in my charge, a deviation took place. Not every Blood Lycan fought Julian; some of them foughtbesidehim, allowing him to break away.
“I’m sorry,” he said in a quick breath as he ripped the bands from my arms and feet. “I told you I’d come back for you, that I wouldn’t let them hurt you, and I’m sorry it took this long.”
When I was released, Julian grabbed my hand, and he pushed us past the crowd, protecting me while we fled.
Down the hallway, we raced further away from the chaos. At the sight of stairs, I felt a tug, head suddenly jerking backward. Abba had me by my curls, dragging me against the cement floor, and I screamed so loud, my skin burned.
The sound that hailed from me shattered the lights above us. At once, Julian was on his knees in pain, covering his ears.
Abba released her grasp as she thrashed in anguish, curling into a ball on the ground. When I stopped screaming, I rose to my feet, sparks in the tips of my fingers, zapping as I rubbed them together. A ball of light, a ring of fire.
Abba lunged for me again, flickers scorching her cheeks. Only, Julian got to her, snapping her wrist in a quick move, and she howled.
“Why are you doing this?!” Julian yelled. “You can’t kill her!”
“I can and I will!” she screamed. “She will pay for what her mother did! No one will be happy until I have my sister back!”
A breath, and Julian backed his body against me. “And you think killing her will bring my mother back?” he asked, sadness in his voice. Pain. I felt him break. I sensed the water building in his eyes. “It doesn’t work that way! She’s gone. She’s not coming back!”
“Blood for blood,” Abba bellowed, lurching in our path. There was no end for her.
“It’s an old ritual! It hasn’t worked for us. Living like this, hunting after the vampires that turned their backs on us, it hasn’t helped us heal. We need to change. We need to live. We can’t keep doing this!”
Abba leaped, and Julian caught her, but she escaped, the dagger against my throat. A move, and it sliced at my neck, drawing fresh blood. She leered.
Julian grabbed her by the cloak, threw her down the hall. When she was up again, he caught her, yelling like thunder until she was pinned against the wall with his hand at her throat. “I will end you.Right now.”
Face bloated and red, feet kicking. “Your own family?” she croaked out.
“As if that matters! All you care about is your own revenge!” He said, and Abba lost color as he squeezed tighter and tighter.
“Stop!” I yelled. But he wouldn’t stop, he kept going until her legs stilled and her arms fell limp beside her. I ran to Julian, pulled at him. “Stop! Please!”
Julian dropped Abba, and she fell to the ground, coughing and spitting out blood. She hissed, her voice crooked. “You don’t know what you’ve done. War is coming, boy, and this is only the beginning.”
Julian backed away from her in guarded steps, and I stayed close beside him.
In a flicker, she was gone, and Julian held my hand as we ran out.
CHAPTER50
I have lived a thousand lives, but I’d give it all away to live one happy life with you.
Article VII, Lost Letters from Aadan the First
Outside the narrow stairway was a door that led to the forest. The autumn Blood Moon was fading away, and at the eastern horizon, a soft, pink glow split through thick clouds.
I hopped on Julian’s back, squeezing onto him tightly. He ran fast, dodging every tree in sight as the rain sprinkled on our faces, washing away some of the blood. We were miles away from campus, in a wood that was deep and untrailed, close to Timber Plains Lake.
Julian ran for ten or fifteen minutes. We must have gone miles, zipping through the city until we returned to Lakeland. We came out on the edge, a mile away from the Campus Center, near a desolate parking lot, as the sun edged the eastern line of the earth.
The instant my feet touched the ground, Julian was on his knees, head against my womb as he pressed into me, holding me, whispering something into my flesh.
My fingers stroked his hair, and he rose, scanning my legs, my arms, my chest. “Did they hurt you?” he asked impatiently, looking. He’d found the bite on my collarbone. “Who did this to you? I swear on their gods, I will end them.”
I shook my head, breathless. It didn’t matter. I wouldn’t go back, and I wouldn’t let Julian go back, either. He found more bruises, more gashes, stricken with anger.
