Page 49 of V for Vindictive

He wouldn’t spare them a thought.

And it was with his voice in my head that I said, “Then what are you two traitorous assholes waiting for?” Lips lifted into a brazen smile, I strengthened my stance. “Here’s your chance.”

Chapter 18

Jealousy and Piggyback Rides

Facing off against people who I fought beside, laughed with, shared secrets with, gotten to know and even regarded as close friends was an endless burn in my chest. But if it was one thing Grams and Phillip both taught me, it was that anyone could betray you for any reason. This was the world we Hunters lived in.

The world I, a genetically altered human, lived in.

As a Hunter, it was kill or be killed, and I didn’t have the luxury to reminisce about our time together. Because it was clear at some stage, whether it was from the beginning or somewhere along the way, Tiff and Topher chose to become my enemy.

Who the fuck really knew.

Tiff’s fully transformed wolf, which had patches of blonde and grey, growled low in its chest. The beast’s blue eyes were homicidal orbs, glinting in nothing but firelight. She was easily the size of a bear, and if I wasn’t already well-acquainted with the look of them, I’d have some trouble adjusting to the sheer size of Tiff transformed.

The fabric of Topher’s clothes ripped and fell apart, some fluttering to the floor and catching fire, as he shifted into an all-black wolf with silver eyes.

Funny how I used to find Topher’s wolf form hauntingly beautiful and by far my most favorite out of the entire pack. It appealed to me visually, and I always looked for it when the pack was in their wolf forms—the powerful body covered in nothing but abyss-black fur and with ethereal eyes the color of silver metal. The sight hit like a supernatural dream.

I’d never once been terrified to see the pair in their beast forms. Granted, that was before I ever considered I might one day have to fight them like this.

The grip I had on Phil’s sword tightened as Topher snapped his saliva-coated teeth angrily at me, a low rumbling growl leaving his snarling muzzle.

Honestly, it still rattled me to see them the way they presently were, knowing their entire intention was to tear me apart from limb to limb and end me right here, right now. I’d never faced a werewolf, let alone two, and I hadn’t expected that my grand escape would be barred by two terrifying wolves I knew.

This is some bullshit.

My body throbbed forebodingly like it did every time something happened I didn’t have any control over. But for some reason, it felt like I summoned it this time—summoned my power to do what needed to be done to end this fight before it ever truly started. The sensation of my magic overwhelmed and consumed me before radiating out in a circle around my body, a solid weight moving like a phantom through the air.

Tiff leapt at me, already halfway across the space between us, and Topher was sunk close to the floor, ready to do the very same thing. Their powerful bodies were tense, the intention to kill me in every strained muscle and bristled hair on their fur-covered forms. But as the hazy, translucent powerhit out at them, the world slowed to a stop, suspending Tiff mid-air and keeping Topher perpetually frozen to the floor, a second before lunging.

Gripping Blood Slayer and finding strength in the phantom presence of my Hunter companions whose fates were still unknown, I moistened my lips, knowing this was my one chance. I wouldn’t get another. If I hesitated, Tiff and Topher wouldn’t fail to do whatever they could to kill me.

Taking the first few steps and stopping right in front of the airborne wolf, I lifted my sword, then cut straight through Tiff’s thick wolf neck, severing her head without any trouble. Then, without pausing, I twirled and sliced through Topher’s wide, heavily muscled nape. His didn’t give me trouble either. It yielded to the sharpness of the sword same as Tiff’s did.

It was almost too easy for all this was—betrayal, two wolves against one Hunter, the end of a friendship, the beginning of second-guessing every person in my life. I expected maybe there’d be something that stopped it, whether it was the sword failing to cut through or perhaps time moving again, but nothing did.

Just slice, and that was the end of their story.

As the sword’s blade fell and clanged against the tile floor, frozen hellfire licking up the walls, the realization that I could simply defeat two powerful creatures like these Shifters inside paused time made it feel like this power I wielded was too much for any one person to own. It was too simple, too strong, too destructive. But I was grateful for it in that moment because it put an end to things quickly.

They were both given a clean death, one they wouldn’t ever feel, and that was about all I could do for them despite wishing it never came to this at all.

Frozen like they were, neither head moved from its place, but I knew once time started again, they’d be dead. Shifters, like other creatures, couldn’t recover from decapitation and didn’t heal the way Phil, Sloan, and I did.

So, I offered the two one last fleeting glance, punishing pulse in my ears, acid in my throat, stomach in knots, before walking over to the door Tiff once blocked. It’d been so easy to end their lives, but inside I was a twisted mess. I couldn’t even begin to unpack the emotional turmoil simmering in my throat. Instead, I focused on what I was there to do.

With a little calculated effort, I broke through the heavily barred door and retrieved the scared humans cowered in the corner. It was an awkward as fuck haul with them stiff and still crouched in my arms. I begged whatever magic deity had stopped time to stay that way a little longer as I fled. And by some act of Buddha, I made it to the elevator.

Cursing, I set all the scientists I carried onto the floor in front of the elevator like a pile of luggage and tried poorly to call on the powers within to restart time so I could get the fuck out of this death trap—the place where friends became foes and my tragic history was confirmed.

When nothing happened, I sighed loudly. “Fuck my life!”

Like the words had summoned action, time moved again and the doors to the elevator pinged with the keycard I used. I didn’t wait. Without even bothering to explain how the terrified humans got there, I ushered them into the elevator and hit the button for the top.

They rushed to flee when we took a long, low-lit corridor to the outside world and nothing but dry and brown earth met my eyes. The sun blazed down from the sky, not a cloud in sight, and the temperature was easily over a hundred degrees. Useless perspiration had already formed all overmy body during the intense escape, but I’d likely be doused if I spent too long in this heat.

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