Page 80 of Bite of Vengeance

I smiled, the man’s blood still wet on my lips. “I’m better than okay.”

“He has the keys in his front shirt pocket. I saw Rowan give them to him.”

I maneuvered the man’s body until I shoved my fingers into the pocket, feeling the ring of keys. After pulling them out, I felt on the collar around my throat until I found the small keyhole. It took four tries before I found the key that fit. Relief flooded me when I twisted, and the collar popped open. There were no noises coming from outside the room, and I realized it must be soundproofed in here. I had no idea when Rowan and his men would be coming back.

I quickly unlocked the cuffs that were trapping my ankles before sliding off the chair. I stumbled, my first couple steps uneven as I got my balance. I grabbed the man I’d shot, and dragged him to Zan, propping him up. I bit into his throat, sipping to see if he was full of hawthorn too. But it didn’t have the bitter edge the other soldier’s blood had. I moved his body closer to Zan.

“Feed,” I urged. “We need to get out of here.”

“Kali, you need to go,” he said gruffly. “Leave. I’ll be fine.”

I narrowed my eyes. “I’m not leaving without you. If you argue, it’ll only take longer.”

He scowled but didn’t say another word before tearing into the man’s throat. He gulped down the blood as I held the body up so he could keep drinking. Soon, he pulled away, licking at the blood dripping from his lips.

“Better?” I asked as I tossed the body to the side without any remorse, before taking a guess at which key unlocked his cuffs.

“I’m still weak,” he admitted. “I will be for a while. Which is why you need to go.”

I shot him a dark look before going behind him and pushing keys into the wrist cuff until one slid right in. He let out a groan as his arms fell free, and I hurriedly moved to the collar around his throat. I finally found the right key and twisted it right when Zan jerked.

“Behind you,” he yelled.

I whirled around, seeing Rowan aiming a gun at me from the doorway. I ducked, the bullet aimed for my head flying over me. I jumped to my feet, sprinting across the room as he shot again. This one hit me in the shoulder. I gritted my teeth against the pain, the hawthorn embedded bullet stinging slightly. Rowan’s eyes widened as I continued coming after him, and he backed up firing off another shot.

I lunged to the left, the bullet narrowly missing me. Before he could shoot again, I slammed into him, knocking us both into the hall before slamming into the wall opposite of the doorway. He was quick, already pulling a stake out from his belt, attempting to stab me wherever he could reach.

I wrapped my fingers around his wrist, relishing the sound of his panicked racing heart as I overpowered him. His walkie-talkie sputtered to life, the voice on the other side shouting in fear.

“They’re in. The walls have been breached.”

Adrenaline flooded my system as I forced Rowan to drop the stake before I slammed him against the wall.

“Hear that?” I murmured, danger lurking in my voice. “Those Shadows out there don’t obey you. They follow me. And they’ll destroy anything in their path. PARA is nothing against Shadows.”

His eyes spat out hatred as I grabbed his throat. “Your sister is right. You are the dark. The one who will ruin humankind.”

“You know nothing,” I growled, trying not to let his words get to me. “But you’ll never know what happens.”

Letting my fangs come out, I moved to bite him until a noise from behind me had me spinning around. I took Rowan with me, putting him in front and wrenching his arm behind his back.

“Let him go, Kali,” Keeva ordered, pressing the stake harder into Zan’s chest as she held him.

My pulse thrashed as we stared at each other. She must have entered the room from a different door to get to him. Zan didn’t move a muscle, but I could see his legs shaking slightly as Keeva gripped his hair tighter. The blood had helped him, but he needed more to gain strength again.

“Let him go,” I snarled.

“We’re evenly matched,” she said, ignoring my demand. “You know how strong I am because it’s your strength. You know I candrive this stake into his heart before you move a muscle. Let go of Rowan or I’ll kill him.”

I stood utterly still. She would do it, and I was too far away to stop her. My eyes went down to Rowan’s leg where a gun was strapped to his thigh.

“Don’t do this,” Keeva pleaded. “Let me kill him. He’s the reason you’re like this. Come with me, Kali. We can do what we were born to do.”

“Kill him, and I’ll kill you,” I threatened, my heart leaping into my throat when black blood dripped from Zan’s chest as she dug the stake in even more.

“Kali, go,” Zan ground out. “Get the hell out of here.”

Keeva gave me a sad smile. “You can’t kill me. Don’t you remember our mother’s words? One cannot survive without the other. We’re tied together in this life. If I die, so do you.”

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