Page 112 of Taste of Forever
Those creatures were better friends and family to me than anyone else I’d ever met, despite knowing me for a fraction of the time. So my choice was made. The only question was how it would be done.
I was still terrified, but did my best to meet Soren’s eyes. “Do it quickly, please.”
If or when Laith found me, it wouldn’t matter if I was covered in blood or not. He deserved the minuscule comfort of knowing I didn’t suffer. He would be devastated regardless. Thinking of the pain he’d be in was already breaking my heart.
“You’re sure?” Soren asked.
I hesitated for a moment. I could try giving false information, which could buy more time, but I didn’t know what they already knew, and they’d probably end up torturing me anyway if they figured out I was lying.
“Yes.” I forced the word out through a painfully tight throat, a throat that desperately wanted to scream and sob rather than quietly accept a death sentence.
“Then look up.”
My head lifted until I felt the press of the silencer against my forehead. I squeezed my eyes shut, but wasn’t fast enough to stop the tears from rolling. I shook so hard from fear, my teeth rattled. But I forced myself to stay there, my final breaths tight and ragged.
I heard the creak of leather as Soren’s gloved finger curled around the trigger, and waited for my end.
Chapter 31
Laith
My skin and throat stung like hell, but when my vision finally cleared enough to see, it wasn’t difficult to follow Heather’s trail.
Her blood called to me, pulling me to her on an invisible lead. It had nothing to do with sight but everything to do with instinct and the bond we shared. Her lifespan may not have been tied to mine yet, but her blood was in me. We were already two parts of a whole, never meant to be separated.
Temkra herself seemed to guide me, showing me the correct turns to take with a gentle hand. I drove as fast as I possibly could without laying my bike down on the hairpin turns winding through the mountains.
It wasn’t too far from the park Heather hiked through to find Sanguine, although at a much higher altitude.
After roughly forty-five minutes, I spotted the van from her apartment parked in front of a remote cabin, along with a small army of humans, kitted out with guns, masks, and body armor, surrounding the structure.
I cursed under my breath as I counted at least a dozen. Even in my current state, I could handle three or four humans on my own. The two at the apartment had had the element of surprise,not to mention that liquid silver. If I’d been ready, we would have been evenly matched. I’d been hoping it would be just the two of them again, but no such luck.
Without backup, I couldn’t rush in all fangs and fury. I had to go in peacefully. Or least, give the impression I was doing so.
I pulled up next to the van and was immediately approached by the two guarding the front entrance. By the time I dismounted and turned the bike off, they had their assault rifles mere feet away from my chest and spray canisters lifted toward my face.
My hands went into the air, palms open. Surrendering was the last thing I wanted to do, but one hit of that liquid silver would put me at a serious disadvantage. I probably should have called Thorne on the way over, but I’d been too messed up about Heather. Getting her out was the priority.
“I won’t fight,” I announced. “But I’m not leaving until Heather is released.”
“You got any weapons on you?” one of the humans demanded.
I moved slowly, retrieving the silver daggers from inside my boot and my jacket and tossed them in the dirt a few feet in front of me.
One human collected my weapons while the other brandished a pair of metal cuffs. “Turn around. Hands behind your back.”
I complied, turning to face the dark, surrounding woods. More humans arrived with rifles trained on me. The bite of metal around my wrists was expected, but the sudden burning heat was not.
I hissed in surprise, jerking against the cuffs which only drew them tighter. The man fastening them chuckled at my reaction.
“Silver alloy. Got those made especially for you, fangface.”
He took hold of my elbow and led me into the cabin. For the first time, I felt no small amount of alarm at how much these humans knew about us. The liquid silver wasn’t just some hokey experiment based on superstition. They had made cuffs and now had my weapons. What else did they know?
They brought me inside and I scanned the small space. It was a single room, with the barest of essentials. Instead of beds, several sleeping bags stretched out on the floor. The circular dining table’s entire surface was covered in laptops, cell phones, guns, radios, and other devices I couldn’t name.
No sign of Heather.
