Page 98 of Blood Bound (Blood Mafia 3)

Blaze steps forward to give them more room, which puts him closer to Evelyn.

Colt looks at Blaze and scowls. “Come on, Evelyn. You can walk in the middle with Demi.”

Zander joins her, walking toward me and standing in front of Kerberos. The man hands me the torch, shifts back to hellhound, and chuffs at us before disappearing into the dark.

Blaze takes the torch from my hand. “I’ve been here before. I’ll go first.”

“I’ll join you,” Mateo says, stepping around me and matching Blaze’s stride.

Evelyn, Zander, and I follow after them, while Colt, Grayson, Maria, and Nicole fall in behind us, protecting our backs. I don’t bother reminding them all that if anyone should go first, it should be the hunters.

Maria and Nicole are the best fighters we have. Still, they came to help, not lead the mission.

Zander isn’t in a hurry either. He’s content to stand sentinel by Evelyn’s side.

She walks her fingers down his arm. “Maybe we can take some of the sap home,” she whispers, giving him a saucy wink.

He smirks and shakes his head. “Let’s focus on surviving first, yeah?”

“If we must.” She lets out a dramatic sigh.

I keep my eyes locked on Mateo’s back, afraid he might be swallowed up in the darkness like Kerberos. He’s ten feet in front of us and the torch Blaze carries is the only reason I can keep my footing. The smooth stone is gone, now replaced by jagged rocks.

I’m thankful I have supe powers because I’d have face planted into the magic sap at least twenty times now.

We reach the edge of the cave, which opens to a narrow path leading to a row of trees without leaves. Their dark branches creep up, as though they intend to scrape the dark gray sky with their pointed tips. Kerberos is trotting down the path. He pauses to look over his shoulder and snorts.

“He’s going to run. Stay close, don’t break from the group. There are things in the Underworld that you don’t want to encounter.” Blaze shifts from man to wolf, shredding his clothes in the process.

“Oh,” Evelyn says in a soft voice.

He trots after Kerberos, prompting Mateo into action. He ditches the torch, tossing it into a ring of rocks on the ground which holds discarded torches, and flashes after them. The rest of us run after them, quickly catching up and staying in a tight group as Kerberos leads us through the trees on the weaving path.

This part of the Underworld is hot and it feels as though all the water in my body is being sucked dry from the heat. When my feet hit the ground, puffs of ash rise in the air and coat my legs. The plume of soot smells like stale leaves and charred wood.

Out here the trees are so dense it’s hard to make out other plant life, though I’m not spending a lot of time observing my surroundings. The deeper we travel through the trees, the more it feels like they’re closing in. Lifting their roots and planting themselves closer to our path inches at a time.

Kerberos begins to slow when we reach a clearing. He shifts from hellhound to man. It’s effortless where Blaze’s shift looks forced. Also, I wish Blaze could shift with his clothes intact because it’s hard to concentrate with his junk swinging around.

I quickly avert my gaze only to see Evelyn licking her lips at the sight of a very naked Blaze. When I glance back, he’s covering himself with his hands. To his credit, he doesn’t appear ashamed of being naked. If anything, he’s at ease.

“The vampire you seek lives in that house.” Kerberos points to a lone house on a soot ridden hill.

“Is she there now?” Mateo asks. He studies the area as intently as Colt and Grayson.

I sweep my eyes around, making sure I don’t miss any obvious threats before focusing on Kerberos once more.

“She is. She knows we have arrived.”

The door to the house bangs open and Nix appears, eyes bulging when she takes in our group. “What have you done?” Her question is aimed at Mateo.

He tips his head to the side. “You’ve taken something that belongs to me.”

I squish my eyebrows together. What’s he playing at?

“The woman?” Nix laughs and tosses her dark hair over her shoulder. “She hasn’t awakened yet. What use do you have for her?”

“She pledged herself to Blood Mafia. She is mine.”

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