Page 128 of To Ashes and Dust
It hissed and shrieked as it twisted onto its hands and claws, launching at me in a fluid motion. I ducked beneath its outstretched claws, grabbing its throat, ramming my dagger up into its chest. It shrieked, disintegrating into dust, and I dropped my hand to my side as I panted.
I looked back to the survivors, meeting their terror-filled gazes.
“I’ll be back,” I promised Anna, the fear I felt for my own mate reflected in her pale eyes.
I slipped back into the shadows, appearing in the hall of the first floor. “Is anyone here?” I called, hurrying from door to door, listening for any sign of darklings or survivors, but I was only greeted with silence. I passed through the shadows to the second floor, finding nothing but a few dead bodies. I resisted the urge to grab them, to bring them so their families could mourn, but there wasn’t time. There may still be others who’d survived.
Shrieks rang out from the stairwell at the far end of the hall, but nothing emerged from the door. My heart lurched. Were they going after Cassie?
I whipped around as a door creaked open, revealing a female carrying an infant, the one we’d encountered when we’d arrived earlier that night. A young girl was glued to her side, trembling hands clutching onto her. Relief washed over me as her eyes lit with hope. She wasn’t alone, a pair of recruits right behind her. I knew them; they’d been in the training program for months and were close to taking their vows. I’d trained with them numerous times.
“Grayson, Cora, thank the Gods you’re okay. I’m getting you out of here, but I can only take four of you each pass. Someone will have to stay behind and wait.”
“Take them,” Grayson said without hesitation.
Cora shot a look of concern toward him. “No.”
“Do it, Lord Damien. I’ll be fine,” Grayson said, pushing them toward me as he looked back down the hall.
I grabbed their hands, nodding to Grayson, before I turned to slip into the darkness.
Damien!
I froze as Cassie’s voice shot across my thoughts. I responded to her immediately, both relieved to hear her voice and terrified at the fear in her tone.
Mea luna? Are you ok? Are you hurt?
She didn’t respond, and I tried again.
Cassie?
Nothing.
The females stared at me, confused and terrified as I tried to reach out to Cassie once more. She didn’t respond, and I swallowed, reaching out to the darkness. The doorway opened, and I pulled the females in. “Don’t let go.”
We emerged on the other side, pain searing across my temple, and I released them both to dive back in. Grayson was still there, relieved to see me. I grabbed his outstretched hand, pulling him through.
“Help Anna any way you can,” I said, sparing a quick glance to Cora and Grayson. They both nodded before I slipped back through the shadows.
I didn’t think, couldn’t allow myself to, as the worst thoughts invaded my mind. I was no longer running down the hall of The Complex; I was running through Moonhaven, running toward the last place I’d seen my mate before I’d lost the connection.
It was still there, though. The mating bond still remained. I could still feel her, faint, distant; I just couldn’t pinpoint it, though. Had they gotten out? I couldn’t see anything but the walls surrounding me. I slipped through the shadows, the night’s winter air whipping past me as I emerged just outside the building.
I searched for any sign of Cassie, any sign of my brothers. There were no darklings out here, not a single one. My heart plummeted as I caught sight of Vincent, hovering over Zephyr on the ground, his hand pressed to his abdomen. I ran to their side to find Zephyr unconscious, his golden skin a sickly pale, a sheen of sweat beading his brow. Vincent’s chest and hands were covered in blood oozing from the wound in Zephyr’s gut. Vincent lifted his gaze as I dropped to my knees, eyes wide. Zephyr didn’t move, and my heart sank.
“What happened?” I demanded, leaning over to press an ear to Zephyr’s chest. His heart was still beating, but it was slow, his chest rising and falling at an equally slow rate.
“We got hit by a bunch of them. He knocked Cas out of the way but got overrun.”
Icy dread shot down my spine. “Did he—”
Vincent shook his head, his voice shaking. “Somehow didn’t get bit, butfuck. They gutted him, Damien.”
“We need to get him to Johnson’s clinic. Anna’s already there.” I hooked my arm under Zephyr to lift him. “Keep pressure on it!”
Vincent helped lift him, kept the cloth pressed to the wound, but the second he was upright, blood seeped farther into it, dripping down to the ground.
“Fuck,” I breathed, straining under his weight as I called forth the shadows once more. We stumbled toward the doorway, Zephyr growing heavier with each step, his body wholly limp between us.
