22. Montana

We powered on, putting as much distance between us and the mountain range as we could. Valentina was hot on our trail; I could sense it in my bones. We were pushing ourselves to our limits to lose her, but we had no choice. It was a race to escape. If she found us in this state, we were dead.

We were running on fumes and with each passing day, the other vampires and I only drank a third of a bottle of blood each. I’d lasted well after my drink from Callie, but now the hunger was back and it was starting to drive me to madness. She’d refused to let anyone drink from her for a couple of days after Erik and I had taken so much, and I couldn’t blame her. But now Julius was having to provide for us all and it wasn’t nearly enough.

We sloshed through wetlands for miles and the beating sun meant we had to carry Chickoa, Fabian and Clarice again. The heat was unrelenting and Callie and Julius were struggling more than ever as they waded through the knee-high mud and battled under the sun’s intense rays. It might have been winter, but it sure as hell didn’t seem like it in this place.

Sweat beaded on Callie’s brow and I shifted towards her, taking her hand. “Let me carry you,” I urged.

Magnar had offered more than once but he already had Chickoa on his back and despite his strength, it didn’t make sense to burden him with more than necessary. My hands were free as Julius had insisted on carrying Clarice and I so desperately wanted to help my twin.

“I can manage,” she said breathlessly. “I don’t wanna be a-” She stumbled, falling toward the mud with a cry, and I lunged to catch her.

I pulled her upright, turning around and offering her my back.

“Get on,” I insisted and she sighed, lacing her hands around my neck and jumping up to wrap her legs around my waist.

I supported her thighs then started wading through the bog, able to move fairly easily if I kept my pace up. My feet didn’t sink in quick enough if I kept going, placing foot after foot as I followed the group.

Hours passed and we finally left the wetlands behind, meeting a forest instead and heading into the shadows.

Callie jumped down from my back at last, thanking me.

We paused in the clearing as everyone dropped their packs and let the others out.

Clarice stood up from the bag beside Julius, wrapping her arms around him. He drooped with exhaustion and his ass suddenly hit the ground. He’d powered on for so many miles with Clarice on his back while hauling himself through the bog. It was a miracle he hadn’t succumbed to exhaustion sooner. Clarice dropped down beside him and Callie took a bag from her shoulders, hurrying forward to give him water.

“Fuck that fucking mud,” Julius panted heavily, snatching the water and drinking deeply.

As Erik opened the bag for Fabian, his brother sprang out of it in a blur of motion. His fangs were bared and he suddenly sprinted toward Callie and Julius with a cry of desperation.

“Stop him!” Erik shot after him and I ran forward to grab him, fear lancing through me.

Magnar got there just as Fabian’s fingers caught Callie’s hair. He threw him with all his might into the forest. Chickoa screamed, clapping a hand to her mouth. Trunk after trunk snapped as Fabian crashed through the trees, launched so far away that a distant crash finally sounded as he hit the ground.

“Fucking hell. Rein it in, Magnar!” Erik snapped at him, tearing into the woodland after Fabian.

I stared around at the group in horror, unsure what to do.

Chickoa glared at Magnar, shaking her head. “You need to control yourself. What if he’s dead?” her voice cracked and emotion welled in her eyes.

Magnar turned sharply toward Callie to check she was alright, ignoring everyone’s frustration with him. He ran his hand along the side of her face and his gaze was filled with so much love that I couldn’t find it in me to be annoyed with him. He hadn’t drunk in days and I knew he was approaching breaking point too.

A second later, Erik returned with Fabian in his arms and relief fell through me at the fact he was alive. Almost anyway. His head had been torn off and his chest had caved in.

Erik grumbled his irritation as he laid Fabian on the ground. He looked over at Callie and Julius. “He’s going to be even worse now after I wake him up.”

“How about we don’t wake him up then?” Magnar suggested, folding his arms.

“We can’t leave him like that.” Clarice ran toward her brother, kneeling down to stroke his lifeless face.

“I’m not giving any more blood until I’ve caught my breath,” Julius said stiffly.

“I’ll do it.” Callie moved forward, but Magnar caught her arm.

“No,” he said in a gruff tone.

An argument broke out and I shut my eyes, the pounding in my skull driving me toward a cliff I didn’t think I’d come back from. The bloodlust rose and I took a wary step away from the group, pressing my spine against a tree. The curse was driving deeper, demanding I feed and the chaos in my mind was getting harder and harder to shut out.

“I’m putting him in a bag,” Magnar insisted.

“Stop it,” Clarice snapped, and I heard a scuffle then a pained oomph.

I opened my eyes and found Clarice on the ground at Magnar’s feet. Julius shot in front of him, throwing a punch at his face. Magnar didn’t react physically but his face contorted in confusion.

“What the fuck?” Magnar bit at him.

“You shoved her,” Julius growled, snatching Clarice’s hand and pulling her to her feet.

“She got in my way,” Magnar defended himself. “I only pushed her aside.”

“You have the strength of an ox!” Julius berated him and my lips parted as I watched the brothers fight for the first time ever. And over a vampire no less.

“I’m fine,” Clarice said sharply, stalking away from them and tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder as she went.

Erik had moved in front of Fabian defensively and his eyes locked with mine across the group as if he was desperate for me to find a solution to this situation.

I stepped forward, forcing down the jagged lump in my throat that signalled my ever-rising hunger, and headed around the slayers to Fabian on the ground.

“It’s up to Callie,” I said, looking to my sister.

She stepped past Magnar and his shoulders stiffened but he let her approach as she knelt down before him.

“Help me hold him down, rebel,” Erik muttered, angling Fabian’s head against his neck and pressing down on his shoulder with his free hand. I held his other arm and Magnar’s shadow fell over us.

“I’ll restrain him,” he offered.

“We can manage together,” Erik said curtly. “And I don’t think he’d appreciate you touching him right now.”

Magnar released a huff and backed off. I increased my weight on Fabian as his head reconnected with his body, the jagged skin of his neck stitching back together.

Callie cut her wrist and held the wound over Fabian’s mouth. The smell trapped me in a cage I couldn’t get out of. I shut my eyes, but that somehow made it worse so I opened them again and forced myself to look at my sister’s face instead of the blood. Erik’s eyes were on me with the same intensity and I swear I could hear my sister’s pulse louder than any sound in the world.

Fabian reared up beneath us, digging his fangs into her arm and holding her wrist in place.

Callie winced, but didn’t pull away. We all knew she had to give him enough, though it practically killed me not to take any for myself.

I will not hurt her again.

I am strong.

I can control this hunger.

Erik grabbed Fabian’s hair, yanking his head back when he was sure he’d had his fill. Fabian started thrashing and roaring, desperate for more and both me and Erik fell onto him to hold him down as Callie backed away.

Slowly, he stilled beneath us, dragging in a slow breath as his wounds healed.

I heard a crash and turned, spotting Magnar uprooting a tree and cursing his anger.

“What’s wrong with him?” I whispered and Erik gave me a frown.

“It’s a mate thing,” Erik said in a low tone. “He’s possessive over Callie. Allowing a vampire to feed from her goes against every instinct in his body. Would you like it if a female vampire bit me?”

At his words, a fierce wave of jealousy seized my body and I shook my head ferociously, making Erik smirk.

Fabian groaned heavily, thumping his head back on the ground. His eyes travelled across all of us and landed on Magnar. “I’m sorry. I can’t handle the thirst like my family can. I just...” He shook his head and pain flared in his eyes.

Magnar nodded stiffly, the tension easing in his posture.

I relaxed my hold on Fabian and fell down to hug him gently. He’d lost a fight to the curse. It wasn’t really him. I knew that as well as every vampire in our group did. And maybe Magnar was starting to understand that too.

When I released him, he rose to his feet.

“Here, fill a bottle,” Callie said, holding out her wrist and Clarice grabbed the funnel and a bottle from her bag, placing it beneath the flow of blood.

The bottle slowly filled then Clarice took a few sips, breathing a sigh of relief. She passed it to me and I threw an apologetic look at Callie before taking a mouthful. Bliss raced through my skin as it rolled down my throat, a moan rising in my throat at the feeling of sating the curse.

Holy fuck, I’ll never get enough of this.

When everyone but Magnar had had a drink, we prepared to leave again, the vampires looking slightly more resilient than before. But it wouldn’t be long before the thirst got its claws in us again. The meagre mouthful we’d each taken wouldn’t sustain us for long.

“Callie, stay behind me,” Magnar said, directing the rest of us to go ahead. “I’ll protect you if anyone loses their mind again.”

Callie sighed, but no one complained as we started walking under the shelter of the thick canopy above. I fell into step beside Erik and his fingers brushed mine, sending a rush of energy into my veins. After my drink, my skin felt overly sensitised and I revelled in his touch.

We’d barely had a moment alone since we’d left the mall. But the love between us had somehow grown fiercer. We’d overcome an obstacle in our way and I knew we could handle anything the world threw at us. Every graze of our hands, every lingering look was a promise I was desperate to fulfil.

“Not far now,” he said, eyeing our surroundings. “We’ll be crossing into Florida soon.”

I smiled, the idea of truly ending this curse such a tantalising thing that it almost didn’t seem possible. “What’s the first thing you’ll do as a human?”

He threw me a grin and I nudged him playfully.

“Well after that, I want to take you home, lay in the sun and eat every new food I’ve seen produced in this world over all these years and never had the opportunity to try. What’s pasta like?” he asked and I smiled, thinking back on how many pasta meals I’d had in my life. It was about the most exciting thing we’d been given in our rations in the Realm. It was kind of sad that Erik had never tried it, then again, he had caged my kind, so I wasn’t going to go feeling that bad about it.

“It’s um, chewy and soft. It goes well with tomatoes. My dad used to make this great sauce. He found some wild basil growing on the edge of the Realm once and planted it in a pot in our kitchen. It gave the food this kind of...tang.”

Erik gave me a curious look. “What else did you eat?”

I shrugged. “Bread...beans...rice. We had to make everything last so we often made stews and soups with whatever we had left. We had to bulk out our rations with water so they never had much taste, but the basil always improved it.”

He frowned as he realised how starving we’d really been. The regret in his eyes told me he’d never forgive himself for that. But I didn’t want to dwell on the past now, not when we were so close to changing our future.

“A beach!” Clarice cried excitedly. “And the clouds are back out!” she cried her joy and we raced after her through the trees.

The crash of waves and the briny scent of sea salt had filled the air for the past hour, and I was beyond excited to see my first glimpse of a sandy beach and the open ocean.

Erik tore along at my side as the eight of us crashed through the undergrowth. Sand hit my boots as we broke out onto the white expanse. The sun was low behind the clouds, painting them in pastel tones that set the sky on fire.

I stumbled to a halt, my mouth parting in awe as I gazed across the incredible sight. The sand stretched away from us in both directions and at the edge of it was a sea as blue as sapphires.

I knelt down, pushing my fingers into the soft sand, delighting in the strange feel of it.

Callie dropped down beside me, grinning from ear to ear as she dug her fingers in too.

“I love it,” she cooed and I laughed, flicking some at her.

“Come on!” Julius whooped and I turned, spotting him stripping down butt naked and sprinting away into the sea.

I raised a brow at Erik as he dragged his sweater off and started unbuckling his pants, my gaze falling down his muscular body as he got undressed. Callie was staring at Magnar stripping off too and I caught her eye, the two of us laughing as our men sped away into the sea together, their gleaming muscles and bare skin quickly drawing our gazes back to each of our partners.

Chickoa sat against a palm tree, shaking her head. “Boys,” she muttered.

Clarice ripped her own clothes off and my mouth fell open as she turned to us in all her curvaceous glory, her tits looking me right in the eye. “Race you to the ocean.”

She bounded off into the sea and Julius stared at her from the water, frozen in place as waves crashed against his broad shoulders.

We rose to our feet, but Callie’s eyes drifted to Fabian who was wading into the sea as naked as the others.

“There’s a lot of dick in that sea,” she said with a frown.

“And tits,” I added with a snort as Clarice leapt above the surface, whooping her joy as a wave slapped her in the chest.

“Well if you can’t beat them…” I got to my feet.

Callie whipped her shirt off and discarded it in the sand, and I dragged mine over my head too then tugged off my yoga pants.

“Take another item off, rebel, and you’ll regret it!” Erik bellowed at me, and I planted my hands on my hips, pouting at his hypocritical bullshit.

Magnar pointed at Callie and shouted, “You too, drakaina hjarta!”

I tugged my bra off, tossing it aside.

“Montana Belvedere!” Erik roared, wading back toward the beach in fury.

Belvedere? Since when had I taken his name? That asshole was going to get slapped when I got out there.

I gave him a taunting smile and dropped my panties just as Callie finished stripping too. Together, we rushed across the beach and ran out into the water. As my feet hit the sea, energy flooded me. I forgot about blood, about Valentina, the holy mountain and the gods. The waves crashed against my skin and I delighted in the swirling mass of water as it pushed me back then drew me out into it as the waves receded. Callie dove under the water, resurfacing in front of Magnar and he snared her in the cage of his arms.

“I hope you didn’t open your eyes underwater,” he growled, glancing over at Fabian who was swimming past them.

“I did wonder what that dangly sausage was as it sailed past my head,” Callie said in response, winding her arms around Magnar’s neck as he lifted her against him and boomed a laugh.

I waded toward Erik and he hounded forward to meet me, cutting me off from the group.

“Stay beneath the water,” he commanded in his oh-so-royal tone, and I rolled my eyes.

He caught my waist, dragging me into his arms and I folded my legs around him as our lips met. Salt mixed with the sweetness of his skin and I sought more of that delicious taste, pressing my tongue into his mouth.

I inhaled as his cock thickened between my thighs and I leaned back from his kiss with a wild grin. “Now how are you going to walk out of the sea without everyone seeing how much you want me?”

“You may have to make sure I’m finished wanting you before we leave,” he murmured, and I slapped his chest.

Water splashed over us in a torrent and I fell under the waves with Erik, wheeling my arms and pressing my feet to the sand to get up.

When we resurfaced, Magnar stood there with a wide grin on his face, clearly responsible for that giant splash that had knocked us under.

“That should sort out your problem, Erik,” he smirked and Erik grinned at him in a challenge, pushing his hands through the water and sending a huge wave at Magnar. It crashed over Magnar and Callie and my sister laughed before splashing us back.

Clarice swam toward us, standing upright and revealing her full breasts, taking in the open water that stretched away toward the horizon.

“Do you have to be naked?” Erik cursed, shielding his eyes from his sister’s tits. “Julius is trying really hard not to stare.” He pointed to the slayer who was swimming a few feet away, his eyes fixed on his brother, then slipping to Clarice for half a second before returning to Magnar.

Magnar laughed and my mouth parted in surprise at his casual reaction to the idea of Julius being interested in Clarice. He waved his brother over but Julius shook his head and dove under the surface.

Clarice swam into a deeper part of the sea, rolling over to let her hair trail around her in the water, looking like some mythical creature.

Fabian breached the surface beside us, his eyes so much brighter after his drink. I smiled serenely, ignoring the dull ache in my throat. I didn’t want the curse to spoil this moment. It was too perfect. And after everything we’d been through, a night in this beautiful place was just what we needed.