Page 56 of Wrath

“I don’t know how long we’re going to be gone,” I said, breathing him in. “I don’t want you to struggle while I’m away. I left you some bottles with my blood.”

For that, I had to enlist Mali, who, unsurprisingly, had the materials on hand. She was a vampire, after all, and I knew she hated drinking straight from the vein. It was an intimate experience, and Mali didn’t want to betray Atta unless it was absolutely necessary.

Jax tensed. “Z, you didn’t have to?—”

“I did.” I pulled back just enough to stare up at his face. “You know I did.”

I refused to lose Jax to the bloodlust or insanity again. Fucking refused.

A plethora of emotions emerged in Jax’s eyes—frustration, sadness, confusion, and then a reverent sort of tenderness that clotted my throat.

“I… Thank you.”

“Z!” Devlin called from the van, startling me. “We need to get on the road.”

I nodded to him before turning back towards Jax. It didn’t appear as if he’d taken his eyes off of me, not even for a second.

We didn’t speak, but then again, words weren’t necessary. In his eyes, I could see the depth of his love for me, his hope for our future, his fear that everything he held dear would be ripped away from him before he even realized what was happening.

“We’ll be back before you know it,” I assured him. “I love you. So much. “

Jax didn’t respond. He simply leaned forward, pressed his lips to mine in a chaste kiss, and then stepped back. His chest heaved with the force of his exhale.

Struggling to get my emotions under control, I raced back to the first van—which consisted of Killian and Devlin—and hopped into the passenger seat.

“You ready for this?” Devlin asked, already putting the vehicle into reverse.

I managed to stop myself from snorting—but only just. “Ready to stop my evil sister’s army? Of course.”

Killian chuckled from the back seat, but the noise was devoid of any true humor. I knew he was tense. We all were. The fear of the future hung over our heads like a guillotine blade just waiting to drop.

As the two vans rolled away from the camp, I chanced a peek out the back window. There, I could see Bash and Jax standing shoulder to shoulder, their gazes trained on mine, even with the distance separating us.

And I continued to watch until the forest swallowed them whole.

I’ll come back to you guys.

I promise.

I didn’t knowhow long we drove, but it must’ve been hours. Killian drifted off to sleep at some point, but I remained awake. Alert. Constantly scanning my surroundings, searching for a threat.

We chose to take the back streets, away from any towns. Not every nightmare was friendly to our cause. Who knew what type of trouble we would run into?

“How much longer?” I asked, keeping my voice low so I didn’t wake Killian.

He hadn’t been getting a lot of sleep lately, not since the mutations. The dark crescent moons beneath his eyes had never been more pronounced than they were now.

“We should be meeting with the army in only a few more hours,” Devlin said.

I pursed my lips. “Human, vampire, or mage?”

Devlin cast me a quick look before refocusing on the road. “All three.”

We had Davia send a message to the army closest to the capital so they knew to expect us.

“It just seems so…surreal.” I shifted in the uncomfortable seat, plucking at the seat belt secured to my chest.

“What does? The trials? The war?”

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