Page 39 of Blood So Brutal

“Like you could stop me.” The vibrations of Wolf’s laugh radiated through my body.

“Are you both ready?” Griffith asked, stepping between us. “You have what you need?”

“We’re ready,” they said in unison.

Griffith nodded, but I could see the concern that weighed his features. He cared for these two. He cared what happened to them. “Good,” he replied. “Be safe out there. I’ll see you when you return.”

And then he waved his hand toward the forest. I couldn’t see a damn thing, but I couldfeelit. A small area of that invisible, protective shield that surrounded the entire wall of The Golden City called out to us, pulling us forward.

“Always a pleasure, Griffith.” Wolf kicked our horse into a trot, barreling toward the forest. The sudden speed of the horse forced my body back into his, but Wolf stayed perfectly upright, maneuvering the reins around my body with ease.

Jessiah caught up to us a few seconds later, his white angel wings falling on either side of his brown horse.

And then we were off. The horse ran for a few minutes before eventually slowing to a walk. I turned to peer over Wolf’s shoulder, but the stables that had just been there were gone, hidden by the thick magic that protected the entire city.

I said nothing as we marched away from the wall, deeper into the thick, lush forest that separated us from the ruins of Scarlata Empire.

Hours passed. My legs ached from the trotting of the horse, and my body all but screamed at me any time I tried to pull myself away from Wolf. Eventually, I let my body relax into his, no matter how much he tried to stay away from me. But he didn’t seem to mind. He just kept us down the straight path in the woods, the sun filtering through the canopy above and the birds chirping at our arrival.

After an entire day of riding through the forest, I had to admit it was a nice contrast to the absolute dungeon of The Golden City. I found myself turning my head up and staring at the tall trees. They relaxed me. Mesmerized me.

It reminded me of the forest back home in Midgrave. Quiet, except for the community of everything else that lived out here in peace. Green, lush bushes coated the area around our trail. I pictured what it would be like to slip off this horse, to run away, to live out here forever.

“You’re smiling,” Wolf said. It was the first time he’d spoken to me since we left.

I cleared my throat and refocused my attention forward, where Wolf couldn’t see my face. “I’m just thinking.”

“About killing me?” His voice finally held that teasing tone I didn’t even realize I’d missed.

“That seems like it would fix a lot of my problems, actually.”

His mouth came close to my ear as he whispered, “Careful, Huntress.”

A shiver rattled my bones. I made sure our bond was closed completely, but this close to him, it was hard to separate ourselves, our emotions.

As if on cue, a roll of hunger wrecked my stomach. I hunched over, groaning in pain. “Fucking hells,” I muttered.

“Jessiah, hold up!” Wolf called ahead of us, and Jessiah’s horse stopped instantly, backing up to us.

“I’m fine.” The words were followed with another wave of hunger, another moan I couldn’t keep in. Goddess above, is this how vampyres felt when they were hungry? Are these really my vampyre cravings?

The last few days, they came and went. I was happy to ignore them, especially when I still wasn’t ready to accept that I was one of them, one of the creatures I spent my entire life killing.

I mean, how messed up could this get?

“No, you’re not fine,” Wolf sighed. He slid off the saddle before grabbing me by the waist and hoisting me down. “You have to feed, Huntyr. Soon.”

“Just give me a damn minute.” I tried to stand up straight but immediately doubled over, wrapping my arms around my waist again as if that could fix me, as if that could stop the pain that threatened to break me.

“You don’t need a minute. You need tofeed.”

Jessiah slid off his own horse. “Maybe this is a good place to rest for the night. You two clearly have some things to discuss.” He pulled both of our horses through the forest, getting lost in the green foliage.

Wolf’s hands were on me, hovering, searching for a way to help.

But he couldn’t help me, not like this.

“I’m not drinking blood,” I said before he could argue. “I’m not ready, Wolf.”

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