Chapter 36

Tobias

BOOM! BOOM!

The blast shook the buildings and reverberated through the ground. I braced myself against the impact, then whipped my tail to knock out the two vampires behind me. The vampires thought they were catching me off guard, but I'd known about their position ever since they left the others. They were attempting to surround me, but I would never allow myself to be in that position of weakness—not as skilled as I was.

Their entire attack was well executed. The vampires had effectively separated me and Niko from the girls, occupying us with a barrage of constant assaults. But I knew that a couple of teenage dragons weren't their target. My fears had been confirmed when one of the vampires snatched Arya and took off with her.

Instinct instantly took over, panic flooding beneath my scales and enhancing my senses exponentially. The bond was in control now, and I'd stop at nothing to ensure her safety, even if that meant sacrificing myself in her place.

I tried to jump away in flight, to go after her and save her from the blood-sucking, mer-killing monsters. But I was immediately pinned down by three more vampires. I couldn't break away unless I wanted to be seriously wounded—or worse. And I would've done it, would've endured any number of injuries to save her, but the constant defense and pre-emptive offense kept me moving at a neck-snapping pace. I couldn't find a chink in their armor to exploit.

Knowing that I couldn't go after Arya burned me more intensely than any fire ever could. If she died here tonight, I—

No, I couldn't think about that.

I almost missed the metal object that nearly impaled me when I saw the phoenix screech and go after Arya.

What the…Ashlyn?

It had to be. I'd never seen her shift—heard from everyone that she didn't know how—but as she was the only phoenix anywhere near here, there was no other option. Ashlyn had learned to shift, and just in the knick of time.

Deftly, I was able to dodge another weapon, snapping the neck of the vampire wielding it before moving on to the next five that were already attacking. I couldn't think about Ashlyn's breakthrough; I just hoped she could save Arya without getting them both killed.

What a piece-of-shit imprinted mate I was that I couldn't protect her myself. What good was this fucking bond if I couldn't—

Niko's deep red scales flicked, flipping up then settling and reflecting the streetlight like an old-fashioned disco-ball right into my line of sight. Niko was clearly panicked, and this trick was his way of distracting the enemy while simultaneously drawing my attention.

Niko was surrounded. I hadn't even realize we'd been separated.

I rushed forward, not bothering anymore to find a weakness in my assailants' ranks. In less than a second, I clamped my jaw around one near me—after blasting fire at three others— and tossed the limp creature into the side of a building before bracing to jump to Niko's side.

That's when I saw it.

Time seemed to slow as one of the vampires pulled back some sort of switch or lever on the top of what looked like a very high-tech weapon. Whatever it was, it was going to kill my best friend.

And I could not allow that.

Without thinking, I hurled myself forward, putting the entirety of my gray scales between the unknown weapon and Niko.

Fire seemed to envelope us right before—

BOOM!

* ? * ? *

I tried to fight against the unconsciousness, but my eyelids felt like lead and my entire body burned from the inside out. I should give into it—extinguish the wretched burning that wasn't coming from my own, familiar flames—but somewhere distant, I knew my friends weren't out of danger yet.

I needed to shift again and drive the vampires off.

I needed to contact Caesar.

I needed to get everyone—especially Arya—back to the safety of the Dome.

A strange feeling cooled against my cheek and my eyes flew open as I gasped for a breath.

The pain intensified, causing a groan to escape my cracky throat without permission. It was everywhere, burning, aching, stinging and raw. Agony was scattered in pockets the size of small marbles all over my body. What had those fucking vampires done to me?

I attempted to calm my hitched breaths, willing my enhanced senses to dull to human-like and force my overactive nerve endings to quiet. As I did so, I no longer felt the edges of the wounds—they lost their roundness and coalesced into spilled blood, collecting in rivulets as it spread. And the pain spread with it but faded just enough to keep me conscious. Fortunately, my pain threshold was high, and adrenaline was still coursing through my veins.

Arya and Ashlyn hovered over me, tears streaming from Arya's clear blue eyes, and Ashlyn had a frown on her face as she looked back and forth between me and Niko, who was standing a few feet away.

Niko.

He was okay. From where I lay, it looked like he hadn't been hurt. Niko shot me a guilty but furious expression. I didn't want to see it, didn't want to deal with Niko's anger, so I quickly looked away as Ashlyn jumped up to join her boyfriend.

It felt like something was stuck in my side, like I was being jabbed in the ribs, so I turned on my side to feel for it…and felt the wound there. Refusing to allow the panic to set in, I reached in with my finger—my vision flashing with bright lights and color as the sharpness of the pain intensified—to remove the pellet-sized ball of lead.

I knew it was lead because it scorched my fingers, and I dropped the shrapnel like it was on fire.

Any attempts to calm my breathing became futile as I realized that my body was probably riddled with small lead pellets just like it—the wounds I'd felt before I dulled my senses were the correct shape and size. But there were too many to count in my current state. It was all I could do to keep from hyperventilating as my breathing became heavier and shorter.

There would be no shifting now. And if I didn't get help soon, I was going to die.

But I couldn't think about that just yet. I needed to save the others. I needed to get Arya out of here. I attempted to sit up, but Arya pushed me back down.

"What are you doing?" she asked, looking confused, panicked and angry all at once. Then she began to cry again, a bit hysterically. "You nearly died, Tobias. You need to… Don't move. You need help."

Her words were frantic and interrupted by hiccups. I could barely understand her.

I frowned, furrowing my eyebrows.

"Arya ," I said softly. If she wasn't such a mess—and if I had the strength—I might've shouted at her for being so na?ve about the shifter world and its dangers. "We're being attacked by vampires. I need to get up."

"We were attacked," she said a little more clearly, sounding weirdly annoyed with me.

She swept a piece of her hair away from her face. Even wild and tangled from being hauled off by that vampire, her hair still looked soft. I felt the sudden, strong urge to touch it.

"But they're gone."

I blinked at her. Surely she was mistaken. We were just trapped in a single, small glimpse of a moment that would pop any second now when the vampires decided to finish us off.

She had to be wrong.

But that seemed absurd. There was no way that any of us would be left alone for even a few seconds the way those vampires had fought. They had been relentless, but I hadn't seen a single one since I'd opened my eyes.

She had to be telling the truth. Otherwise we would all be dead now.

The relief of that fact sank into my muscles. The danger was over.

We were close to the subway station. If I could just rest a few moments, we could get safely back to the Dome. Certainly Caesar would insist on retaliation, and I would be the first to march up and volunteer. A quick fix by Miss Heather and I'd be as good as new.

Yes, just a moment to rest.

My eyelids grew heavy again, but then the pain set in with force.

"Oh Tobias! Y—you could've… please be okay!"

Arya surprised me by reaching for my right hand and pressing the back of it against her jaw. I could feel the wetness on her skin as she began to sob again. A tear fell and splashed on my knuckles, still pressed against her face. She closed her eyes for a moment, her eyelashes stuck together in places from their wetness.

I looked up at her, a little bit confused. I glanced over at Niko who was holding Ashlyn, both wearing only their smart clothing, with their heads turned away from the two of us. Clearly Niko was too distracted to help me decipher this situation. But when I looked back at Arya, an overwhelming feeling barreled over me, too. The words Arya just spoke were the anthem of exactly how I felt for her.

Wincing against the pain, I moved to prop myself on my free elbow. I hardly noticed the roughness of the pavement or the tiny pricks of the gravel as they embedded into my skin—I was too preoccupied by the intense, radiating pain that spread out like wildfire from every single point of injury.

I nearly collapsed again, I felt so weak. But Arya looked so small, so vulnerable as she clutched my hand. My hand that could easily swallow hers. So I fought through it and remained upright, wholly unwilling to let her go.

Arya's eyes snapped open, a flash of furrowed brows and tight lips—anger that I knew was directed toward me for daring to sit again. "What are you doing? Lay back down!"

But I ignored her. She released my hand, but I left it near her face and turned it slowly so that I was cupping the soft skin along her jaw and beneath her chin. She held very still at my touch. Tears still streamed down her face, creating black streaks of mascara along her cheekbones. I absently moved my thumb back and forth, but stopped when I noticed the goosebumps rise along the curve of her neck.

"I don't know what I would have done..." My voice cracked, so I trailed off and swallowed, pushing the emotions—and the blood—down. "If Ashlyn hadn't saved you," I whispered.

Arya's forehead creased. I wanted to smooth away the concern but didn't want to remove my hand. Unfortunately, I had to because my left arm was giving out and I needed both arms if I was to remain half-sitting. So I let go and braced myself against the concrete with my palm. It was taking a lot of willpower and strength to keep myself partly vertical.

She must've seen my struggle because she didn't look disappointed that I'd stopped touching her. Or maybe she didn't feel that way about me and was only concerned for a fellow shifter. Maybe she'd barely noticed the sudden distance between us. Maybe she'd do the same and feel the same if she were in a similar situation with Niko or Brett…or Kendall.

But her eyes softened as she watched me—perhaps trying to discern my thoughts the way I was hers?

Arya finally averted her eyes and looked down at my chest, but her eyes widened with concern and flashed back to my face. I managed a smile because all that mattered was that she was okay. Arya was safe. Arya was here.

A determined look crossed her face, maybe in response to my expression, and she reached out to touch my face, stroking her thumb against my cheek. Maybe she did feel the same. She had to care about me at least a little, right? The bond had to work both ways, if quite unevenly.

But my arms were spent, and I collapsed again onto my back with a grunt. A high-pitched sound came from Arya when I fell back. I fought the blackness again as the pain increased. I winced against it and hissed until it ebbed like the tide and faded to barely tolerable.

When I opened my eyes, all I could see was Arya. She was looking up, shouting something as she hovered over me, but I couldn't understand the words. When her eyes met mine, bearing the color of the sky and glistening with tears, she asked me something I couldn't register. Her hair fell like a waterfall, cascading around my face. There were creases in her forehead that I desperately needed to smooth away. She should never have to have such worries in this world.

I cut off her words—words I wasn't comprehending anyway—and reached forward with my left hand to draw her closer. I twined my fingers through her tangled hair and closed the canyon-sized gap between us with all my remaining strength.

I kissed her.

She didn't respond at first. Maybe she was stunned. Maybe the kiss was unwanted. But it only took a second before she kissed me back. Her fruity lip gloss mixed with her salty tears and my tangy blood. She leaned her body into mine, but it was a direct hit to the injury in my ribs where I'd extracted the lead only moments ago.

I cried out, breaking the kiss, breaking the spell, breaking the moment.

"Tobias I—" Her hands flew up, waving over my body like she wanted to help but didn't know how to without touching me. Finally, she dropped them again along with her expression.

"Tobias, I'm sorry," she pleaded.

But she shouldn't be. I'd kissed her.

"Caesar!" I heard Niko shout.

"Don't apologize," I told her, allowing a small smile to form on my lips in reassurance. But I was spent and fell back again. My eyes slammed closed, and I no longer had the will to attempt to open them.

"Caesar!" Ashlyn choked. She sounded like she was crying. "We're here!"

I just smiled and hoped that I'd get another shot at kissing that girl again.