Page 112 of Blood So Brutal

Then Wolf’s.

I opened my eyes to see Luseyar pulling his own dagger out of Wolf’s back then rushing toward us.

As soon as the tight grip on my body lessened, I moved. He fell to the ground behind me as I rushed to get away from the evil archangel and half-crawled to Wolf, who fell to his knees a few feet away.

We fucking did it.

Hedid it.

“Wolf,” I sighed. “Wolf, we need to go. Now.”

Blood poured from his wound where Luseyar stabbed him. He pulled his hands away to show me the blood that pooled there, dripping from his fingers.

His face paled.

“No,” I sighed. “No, you’re fine, Wolf. Come on. We have to go.”

I tried to sling his arm across my shoulders so I could lift him, but he grunted in pain and collapsed even deeper into the forest floor.

Goddess above, we did not make it this fucking far to lose everything now.I did not make it this fucking far!

“It’s okay,” Wolf whispered, leaning into me. “It’s okay, Huntyr. Go.”

Thatpissed me off. “You’ve lost your fucking mind if you think I’m going to leave you.” I glanced over my shoulder to find Asmodeus on the ground with Luseyar leaned over his body. He pulled the blade out of Asmodeus’s chest and sheathed it at his hip.

Luseyar would kill Wolf for this. He would kill us all.

“Can you heal?” I asked, keeping my voice down. “You can heal it, right? You’re going to be fine, Wolf, but if you can heal, it needs to be now.”

But the blood poured without any sign of stopping. Luseyar’s dagger had pierced deep into Wolf’s body, and we were all exhausted. It was difficult to kill an angel, even one that was half-vampyre. But this wound was terrifying to look at.

Plus, we had been traveling and fighting without feeding. Wolf was already low on blood before this goddess-forsaken battle started. His healing had limits.

“I don’t think so, Huntress.” A soft smile fell from his lips. “You’ll be fine. You need to go. Find Jessiah, he’ll keep you safe.”

I was already shaking my head. “Don’t do this to me,” I whispered. “You’re not putting me through this, Wolf Jasper. Not again. I’m not going to lose you after all of this.”

“You’ll never lose me, I can promise you that much.” Horror filled me as I watched his eyes flutter closed—just for a moment. But when he opened them again, he looked tired.

At peace.

I held his head in my hands and pressed my forehead against his. Blood smeared. Sweat dripped. “I can’t do this without you.”

Wings pumped through the air behind me. I heard one more deep roar of pain before Luseyar threw himself into the air, taking Asmodeus and the magical sword with him. My stomach dropped. My entire body lit up with adrenaline as we watched the two of them disappear deep into the sky.

They left. They actually fucking left.

“Do you see that?” I asked, half-laughing in pure delusion. “Do you see that, Wolf? They’re gone.” My voice cracked, squeaked. “It’s just us now, okay? We can heal you and we’ll be in Scarlata in a few days.”

When his eyes fluttered closed again, they stayed that way. His head grew heavy in my hands and his entire body slumped.

The blood continued to pour.

But I wasn’t going to give up. That horror—that absolute panic—fueled my limbs. I pulled Venom from my sheath and sliced my own wrist.

There was a time when I swore that Wolf would never feed from me again, that I would never allowanyvampyre to feed from me. Not after all the hurt, all the betrayal.

But watching Wolf die? That would be the deepest wound of all, the harshest betrayal. There was no coming back from that, no returning to a world he wasn’t in.

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