Roland wrapped my jeans in one hand, effectively trapping my feet. "Why help me?" he said. His voice was still too deep for his slender chest, his words still carefully spoken. That nervous energy still crawled along his skin, vibrating like summer heat on a road. He was no different, but everything else had changed.
"Maybe I just don't want you to hit me again," I said.
"I don't want to be stabbed, either," he said.
"Fair enough."
We stayed that way, staring at each other, me propped on my elbows, him kneeling at my feet. It was almost as if he didn't know what to do next. I think he hadn't expected me to be calm. Crying, anger, maybe even eagerness, he was ready for, but I gave him nothing. I was friendly, helpful, as if he'd asked me directions to a restaurant I knew. I even felt calm, strangely. It had a faintly surrealistic air, as if it wasn't really happening. If he touched me, it was going to seem all too real, but as long as he stayed where he was, I was fine.
He pinned my jeans with his knee and started taking off his shirt. The shirt was okay. I was fine with that. He had a nice chest, pleasant to look at. As long as his pants stayed on, I was fine. Where the hell was Richard?
He undid the snap to his pants, and my nerves just weren't that good. I didn't want to try and contact Richard in case he was fighting. Using the marks was distracting. But I wanted some help. I was betting that Roland didn't wear underwear. I won my bet.
I sent out a call to Richard, and he was fighting. I saw through his eyes for one dizzying second. He was fighting Eric. Great. I broke contact as quickly as I could, but I knew it cost him a second of concentration. I was on my own.
Roland pushed his jeans to his knees and seemed to think that was sufficient, because he started to crawl up my legs. Oh, this was romantic.
It wasn't Richard who came to the rescue. It was a man I didn't know. He tackled Roland, much as Roland had tackled me. They rolled off me and down a small incline into a hollow. I started pulling my pants up as fast as I could.
There was a movement behind me, and I turned, pants just above my knees and no weapon in sight. It was Zane, one arm held tight to his chest. Nathaniel came out of the dark behind him. Nathaniel held out his one good hand to me. "Hurry."
I hurried. Nathaniel took my hand and pulled me into the trees. He ran like liquid spilling through every crack and shadow. I tried to stay behind him, trusting that if his body could go through the openings, so could mine. I jumped when he jumped, weaved when he weaved, even if I couldn't see the obstacle. His night vision was better than mine, and I didn't question it. I had a sense of Zane behind us, following like smoke in our wake.
A chorus of howls broke out to our right. Nathaniel pulled me faster through the trees until I fell headlong, and a jagged branch sliced my cheek open. It missed my eye by a wish. "Shit, Nathaniel."
"They're coming," he said.
"I know." I touched my hand to my cheek and came away with blood. "Fuck."
"I won't let them take you," Nathaniel said.
I stared up at him. He was only three inches taller than I was. He couldn't have outweighed me by thirty pounds. It was muscle, but he was small. Size counts if everyone you're fighting can lift large trees.
"They'll kill you, Nathaniel."
He didn't look at me, just kept staring out into the dark as if he could hear things I couldn't.
Zane leaned against a tree, looking at me. His good hand was rubbing his bound arm like it hurt. I bet it did.
"If they take you, you'll fight," Zane said. "They'll kill you." He closed his eyes. "This is one time when you can't protect yourself, but maybe we can."
"You'll both die," I said.
Zane shrugged with his one good shoulder, casual, like it didn't matter.
The thought came that it would all be over if I had sex. It would end then, and only then. Raina came back in full force, spilling through me. She wanted Nathaniel, and that she could not have, not with my body. Fucking Nathaniel would be like child molesting. I wouldn't do it.
Zane. Zane would do. Raina had always been fickle. I got a sudden visual so strong it made me blush. Was there anyone that Raina hadn't slept with? I wasn't going to do either of them. No way.
Then they'll die. I wasn't sure if it was my thought or the munin. Either way, we were right.
Jason limped into sight. I knew him just by the shape of his shoulders and his hair. Either I hadn't healed him completely, or he'd been in a fight. Maybe both. I'd broken contact before I finished. The munin was saving the deeper healing for sex. For her it was the toll to be paid for services rendered. No payment, no healing. Like a drug dealer giving just a taste.
Jason gave me a very strange smile as he entered the trees near Nathaniel and Zane. He slid down until he was sitting with his back against a small tree trunk. He let out a sigh.
We all looked at him. A scream tore our gaze back to the woods. Out there, close, they were fighting. Another howl rode the still, hot air. The sound was close enough to make my scalp prickle.
The trees we had stopped at were at the bottom of a hill. It was familiar. "Are the cabins just up there?"
"Yes," Zane said.
"If you go to the cabins, they'll follow," Jason said. "Can't have the tourists seeing it."
"Fuck that," I said, "Some of them won't follow to the cabins because of the tourists. I say we go and board ourselves in."
"It won't end until someone wins," Jason said. He sounded tired or maybe discouraged.
"And up there are two vampires who are on my side." I started up the hill. Nathaniel and Zane followed at my heels. Jason just sat there. We were a quarter of the way up the hill before he pushed to his feet to follow. When all this shit was over, I'd ask what was wrong. Right now, there was no time.
Figures appeared through the trees. Zane gave a little push to my back. "Run," he said, "I'll delay them."
Nathaniel turned with him, facing down into the dark and the danger.
"No," Zane said, "you go with her, Nathaniel." He looked at me. "I'm learning what it means to be an alpha. Nathaniel doesn't know how to fight."
Nathaniel looked from one to the other of us. He finally settled on me. "What do you want me to do?"
I thought about that for a second, studying Zane's so-careful face. "I'd say come with me, but I'm not leaving Zane behind."
I reached back and touched Zane's hand. "I won't leave you to die."
"Damn it, Anita, if you're not here, they won't kill us. They'll just hurt us and go after you," Zane said.
"I'm sort of bait," I said.
"Yes."
"Don't die on me, okay?"
"I'll do my best," Zane said.
I squeezed his hand. "Don't do your best, just don't die. You, either," I said to Jason.
He shook his head. "I have to stay with you. Richard's orders."
"Why?"
He shook his head and glanced back at the dark figures moving through the trees. Closer, always closer. "Later. Now, we move."
He had a point. We moved and left Zane alone in the dark with at least five figures gliding through the trees. They put on a burst of speed as we neared the crest of the hill. I cleared the hill on my knees, and we were at a flat-out run across the gravel parking lot.
I thought, Damian. He opened the door as if I'd spoken. He was standing there with a surprised look on his face. It isn't often you see a thousand-year-old vampire shocked. I had a moment to think how we must look. Me bloody, in just the black bra and blood-soaked jeans. Jason running with a noticeable limp. Nathaniel running full out behind us.
We cleared the doorway. Damian shut the door behind us. He locked it without being told. Smart vampire.