17. Callie

Wolfe dragged me to the end of the corridor where a row of doors were clustered together on both walls. He tore open the final door on the left and pulled me inside. I kicked out at the wall as he yanked on my arm, smearing blood from the side of my boot along the grey brickwork for Magnar to see.

Please be alright. Please come for me again.

I was making a habit of relying on him to rescue me, but I couldn’t summon a fuck to give about it. He was the only hope I had of escaping this fate, of surviving whatever Wolfe and the Belvederes had planned for me, so I could only hope he was on his way already.

Wolfe slammed the door behind us and tossed me away from him, sending me flying into the rear wall, my head colliding with the brickwork. I crashed to the ground, spitting blood from my mouth where I’d bitten my tongue.

I used the wall to claw my way upright again, glaring at Wolfe while looking for some way out of this, keeping my back pressed to the freezing stone.

The small room was empty save for some chains hanging from the ceiling. It was cold and dank, a dirty puddle which I had no interest in identifying staining the floor. It looked just like the room my father was being held in, though he was nowhere to be seen. I wondered if he was trapped nearby.

My gaze skimmed past the evil creature standing before me and fell on the wooden door. Escape beckoned, but with that monster blocking my way to it, it might as well have been a mile away.

“What do you want me for?” I demanded, my voice sounding braver than I felt.

I straightened my spine in defiance, hoping that my slayer blood would help me to hold my own, though I missed the defiant warmth of Fury in my hand.

Wolfe’s gaze flicked to me without any real interest, and he pulled a cellphone from his pocket, dialling a number before turning away from me to talk.

“Good evening, sir, I’m sorry to interrupt your-” He cut off abruptly, and I caught sight of a scowl on his face which didn’t match the simpering tone he was using with whoever he was talking to. “It’s just that a situation has occurred here. I’m afraid we had to destroy the current batch of humans being held in the blood bank.”

He winced as the person on the phone started yelling at him, their outraged voice reaching me. I couldn’t hear the words behind the tone, but I could tell they were pissed. I wondered if he was speaking to Erik Belvedere, if the answer to my sister’s whereabouts was within reach.

“We had a security issue. The bio-units were all compromised and there was a chance of contamination to the product. The decision had to be made in the interest of public safety. I’m sure we can make up the loss by upping donations within Realm G for the next few months. We might lose a few of the weaker specimens, but it never hurts to cut the wheat from the chaff.”

I glared at him angrily as I realised what he was saying. The people in the Realm would suffer because he’d murdered the prisoners here.

“I’m going to fucking kill you,” I growled, moving towards him with my fists clenched. “I’m going to carve you up while you scream for mercy before I cast you to ash like the rest of your bloodsucker friends. You psychotic piece of-” Wolfe took a step towards me and backhanded me hard enough to split my lip and knock me into the wall again. I stumbled back as the iron tang of blood filled my mouth, my eyes flicking to the door as he left more space open before it.

“Sorry, sir. That was the other reason for my call,” Wolfe went on, smoothing a hand over his silver hair, his contemptuous gaze roaming over me. “The Ford girl we’ve been hunting is the one who broke in here. I have her contained.”

He paused to listen while the vampire on the other end of the phone spoke. I glared at him and he eyed me hungrily in return, his gaze snagging on the blood marking my mouth. Fear licked down my spine as he took half a step towards me, his intent clear.

“Of course. I understand but...she wasn’t alone. There is a man here with her. A slayer. And I don’t mean someone who has trained themselves to hunt us; this mortal is like a slayer of old. If I hadn’t seen him with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it. He was taller than any man I’ve ever met and built like a bear. He fights with two slayer blades the likes of which I’ve never seen, and he has killed almost all of us who were here tonight. The last I saw he was still fighting Helga, but I am not confident she will win. Of course, I only refrained from killing him myself to be sure of bringing you the Ford girl, as I know she is your highest priority right now and-”

“More like you were afraid, you cowardly sack of shit,” I shouted, loud enough for whoever was on that phone to hear me.

Wolfe bared his fangs at me as he listened again.

“Tall, like I said. Long, dark hair. Thick with muscle and full of rage. There are tattoos and scars on what little of his skin I could see, but he is wearing fighting leathers, so I couldn’t see much.”

He fell silent for a few seconds, then looked down at the cell phone like it had done something surprising.

“Oh, I’ll get you that name,” he growled as he pushed the phone into his pocket and advanced on me.

I backed up, hitting the cold brick wall behind me as my heart rate spiked with fear.

“Prince Erik wants to know the name of the slayer who brought you here,” he said.

I took a deep breath to buy myself a moment before I answered. If Prince Erik wanted to know who Magnar was, then I wasn’t about to tell him shit.

“Why not ask him yourself? Or does he frighten you?” I taunted, waiting for his anger to fall on me. There was no way I would give him Magnar’s name.

I forced my own fear aside as I prepared to take what was coming for my silence on the matter. It was a small rebellion but an important one. He might be stronger and more powerful than me, but my defiance ran to the marrow of my bones, and if I held information he needed, then there was no fucking way I’d be giving it up.

“I don’t even remember what fear is,” Wolfe mused, taking a step closer to me, leaving the door further behind. Not that I could see myself making it that far. “But I’m sure you know it well.”

His eyes dropped to my mouth and the blood which I could feel on my lip and chin.

“That’ll be why you ran from that slayer like a frightened little bitch then,” I replied with a smile which I knew would earn me another smack.

Wolfe punched me in the gut, and I doubled over as the breath was knocked from my lungs. Before I could recover, he hauled me upright again, pinning me against the wall, his fingernails biting into my shoulders.

“Tell me his name!” he roared, and his anger sent terror coursing along my spine, but I wouldn’t let it rule me.

I gathered every inch of resolve I had left and spat in his face.

Wolfe snarled like a feral beast, seizing me around the throat and raising me up above his head, my feet scrambling against the wall and my fingernails biting into the flesh of his hand as I fought to get him off me.

“I will have his name from you, whore. Or I will have your head,” Wolfe barked, his fangs flashing in the light.

The door burst open at his back, slamming against the wall hard enough to break one set of hinges and leaving it hanging half out of the frame.

Wolfe dropped me as he spun away from it. I crashed onto the concrete floor, pain flaring along my side while I smiled widely at the living legend who had just broken down the motherfucking door.

Wolfe stared up in horror, recoiling from the huge man who stood in the doorway, swords held ready and smeared with the ash of his kills.

“My name is Magnar Elioson, and I was put on this earth to wipe your kind from it. Tell your master I have returned for him. I hope he has made the most of the extra years he was gifted in my absence, because his time is up.”

My heart thumped furiously as I scrambled towards Magnar, but Wolfe was quicker; he lunged at me, catching my arm and heaving me upright against his chest.

I tried to kick and claw my way free of Wolfe, but his hold was unwavering as he pulled out a dagger and pressed it to my throat. I stilled as the sharp blade scratched against my skin and a warm trickle of blood trailed down my neck.

“What’s it to be, slayer? My life or hers?” Wolfe hissed.

“You fear me that much? What will your master say when he learns you didn’t even attempt to stop me from coming for him?” Magnar asked icily.

“He hasn’t asked me to kill you. He just wants me to bring her.” He pushed me forward a step, but Magnar didn’t move aside.

“And which Belvedere’s day am I ruining by stopping you from taking her?” Magnar asked in a tone that suggested they were discussing the weather, not a flicker on his face to hint that he was the least bit concerned about me.

“Prince Erik has requested Miss Ford’s presence, and I will be delivering her along with your name. Do you think you can stand against he who has killed a thousand slayers?”

Before Magnar could reply, Wolfe shoved me towards him and leapt into an attack.

I stumbled into Magnar’s chest, and he twisted, delivering me into the safety of the corridor whilst trying to block the thrust from Wolfe’s dagger. He grunted in pain as Wolfe managed to drive the small blade into his bicep before he could deflect it, and a gasp escaped my lips.

Magnar slammed his fist into Wolfe’s face, throwing him back into the small room where he crashed against the rear wall. While he righted himself, Magnar wrenched the dagger from his arm and tossed it at my feet.

“Find your father,” he commanded. “I’ll catch up with you.”

Wolfe was on him again before I could respond, and I quickly grabbed the dagger from the floor, wiping Magnar’s blood off of it on my pants. It was a cold, soulless thing, nothing like a slayer blade; just a hunk of sharpened metal. It did little to reassure me as I held it close, and I desperately wished I hadn’t lost Fury.

I hesitated for half a heartbeat as Magnar slammed into Wolfe again, driving him back into the small room. He still hadn’t drawn his blades and I got the feeling that was because Wolfe was unarmed, his honour or just masculine stupidity urging him into a fist fight. I willed him to simply draw Tempest and end it. If any monster deserved a certain, inescapable death, then it was Wolfe.

A pain-filled groan drew my attention away from their battle, and I recognised my father’s voice. I spun around and ran to the door behind me, wrenching it open and finding him still hanging by the chains on his wrists, just like I’d seen on the CCTV screen.

“Dad!” I gasped, racing into the room and throwing my arms around his neck as the reality of finding him slammed into me.

“Callie?” he frowned in confusion, his voice sounding fuzzy. “Am I dreaming again?”

“It’s me, Dad.” Tears slipped from my eyes as I squeezed him tighter, and he groaned in pain. “I came for you. I’m here. We’re going to escape. We’ll find Monty and-”

Another pained sound fell from his lips, and I released him guiltily, making myself look at what they’d done to him. He seemed thinner than he had the last time I’d seen him, his ribs poking out harshly through his skin making me wonder if they’d even fed him in all this time.

His bare chest was marked with bruises in colours ranging from yellow to blue, purple and red, telling me he’d been beaten repeatedly over a period of time. But the cuts on his arms and neck were the worst of his injuries. I counted more than ten bites, all of which continued to ooze blood. It was hard to be sure of exactly how many there were because they overlapped so many times.

“I’m going to get you out of here,” I promised, stomping down the panic rising in my throat and focusing on what I needed to do. “You’re going to be okay.”

I stood on my tiptoes to inspect the chains holding his wrists suspended and was relieved to find they were only secured by thick iron pins. I yanked the first pin free, and his arm fell heavily as his weight swung him towards the other side.

I grabbed his arm and pulled it over my shoulders so I could take his weight before releasing his other wrist. It didn’t seem like he’d be able to do it himself, and I was afraid he’d fall if I didn’t help him.

“Where’s your sister?” he muttered.

“We’ll get her back too,” I promised. “Let’s just get you out of here first.”

I pulled the other pin free, and he fell against me. I stumbled as I struggled to hold his weight, and he groaned weakly.

“Can you walk?” I asked anxiously.

“I’ll walk for you, little sun,” he mumbled.

He leaned against me, and I half dragged him towards the door. I hesitated as we reached it, the sound of Magnar and Wolfe’s continued struggle making me unsure of the best course of action.

“Wait! Your mother’s wedding ring.” He pointed to a small table beside the door. On top of it lay my mom’s golden wedding ring hanging from a silver chain. Dad had worn it around his neck ever since she’d died.

“Here.” I grabbed it and handed it to him, causing a faint smile to lift his lips.

“She’d never let me live it down if I lost it. It’s been in her family for generations,” he muttered as he placed the chain over his neck.

I nodded vaguely; a piece of missing jewellery was the least of my concerns at the moment. And seeing as Mom was dead, I highly doubted she cared either way.

I set my jaw and dragged Dad out into the corridor. He shuffled along as quickly as he could manage, and I pulled to make him move even faster.

Magnar roared in anger behind me, and I chanced a look over my shoulder just as he and Wolfe fell out of the room where I’d been held.

My breath caught as Wolfe landed on top of Magnar and lunged towards his throat, teeth bared, but Magnar slammed a powerful fist into the side of his head before his fangs could make contact.

“Who the fuck is-” Dad began, but I cut him off.

“Vampire Slayer. It’s a whole thing. I’ll tell you when it’s less likely we’ll die at any moment,” I panted, urging him to move faster, and he nodded in agreement as he hobbled on.

I gave all of my attention to helping my dad, wrapping my arm more firmly around his back. We needed to get out of this place before their fight followed us along the narrow corridor and crushed us with its ferocity.

We finally made it to the heavy wooden door which led outside, and I flinched aside as General Wolfe went flying over our heads, crashing into the wall.

Magnar came running after him with a challenging cry, and I watched with wide eyes as they collided again, their fight moving them towards the room with the furnace.

I forced my attention back to getting my dad out of there and shouldered my way through the door. Dad’s teeth started chattering as the winter air hit his exposed skin. I moved him towards the wall, resting him against it, then quickly shrugging off my thick coat.

He tried to protest, but I forced his arm into the padded material and he relented. It wasn’t big enough to fasten over his broader frame, but he stopped shivering as he huddled into it.

A heavy crash sounded from inside the building and my heart leapt. Magnar hadn’t taken this long to finish an opponent before now, and I was beginning to worry that he’d met his match in the psychotic general.

I wished I hadn’t lost Fury.

As my mind drifted to the blade, I could feel my connection to it calling me back inside. I guessed it was still where I’d last seen it, laying in the room of coffins which was now filled with the dead. I wanted to run and retrieve it, but my dad was too vulnerable to leave alone.

He’d closed his eyes and was leaning against the wall so heavily that I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get him moving again. The horses were so close to us, hidden within the trees, but retrieving them would mean leaving him.

Indecision froze me, but every second I wasted was precious.

An almighty crash sounded from within the building, and I flinched, fear clawing at me as I waited to see what happened.

The door flew open, and I spun to place myself in front of my father, holding the pathetic metal dagger before me as Wolfe paced out.

Magnar didn’t follow him, and my heart twisted painfully as I stared in horror at the beautiful demon stalking towards us.

“Don’t cry, little slayer,” Wolfe purred as he closed in on me, paying no attention whatsoever to the blade I held ready. “I’m sure you’ll be joining that one in death before long. Prince Erik has such plans for your family, and I can’t wait to-” He stumbled forward, a cough falling from his lips and bringing up blood which trickled down his chin.

I recoiled as he staggered towards us, grasping at something behind him. He turned, his hand closing on the hilt of the blade which hung from his back. With a grunt of pain, he ripped it free, but bright scarlet blood continued to spill from the wound.

Wolfe hissed in pain as smoke rose from his fingers, and he flung the golden blade aside. It embedded itself in the ground by my feet, and I snatched it into my grasp, relief flooding me as I recognised my violent companion.

So close. Fury sighed in disappointment, but relief filled me at reuniting with it.

Magnar shoved the door aside as he exited the building. Blood ran down his face from a wound hidden in his hairline, and he was coated from head to toe in grey soot.

“That fall should have killed you,” Wolfe spat angrily. “Next time I’ll make certain you’re dead.”

“You’re not looking so capable of following through on that threat,” Magnar replied with a challenging grin as Wolfe’s wound continued to bleed. “I wonder what your master will say when he finds out I set his blood bank on fire?”

The stench of smoke filled the air, and I noticed flames rising from the building behind Magnar, silhouetting him in a golden halo.

Wolfe glanced between Magnar and me, seeming to see that his odds of survival were dwindling by the second, something flashing through his cold eyes which looked all too like that fear he had claimed not to feel.

“If you’re thinking of running, you have to know I’ll catch you in your present state,” Magnar threatened as he continued to close the distance between them. “Why not let your eternal torment end? I can give you a warrior’s death. What more can any man ask for in the end?”

“You forget, mortal, that I am no man. And I have no plans to die.” Wolfe leapt into motion but instead of heading for Magnar, he turned his murderous gaze on me.

I cursed as Fury tried in vain to guide my muscles into action so I could defend myself, but he was moving so quickly that I could do little more than brace for the attack and pray the blade would help me strike true. The moonlight glinted on Wolfe’s sharpened fangs and his dark eyes glittered with malice as he came for me.

But a second before Wolfe could collide with me, my dad threw his weight into me instead. I crashed to the frozen ground and Dad cried out as Wolfe’s attack fell on him in my place.

I shoved myself upright again, screaming in terror, but Wolfe had already leapt off of my father and was tearing away towards the trees, a heavy limp in his stride slowing him down as he went.

Dad clutched his neck where blood pulsed between his fingers, and I threw myself towards him with a sob catching in my throat, my own hand closing over his, willing the wound away with all I had.

Magnar moved to take chase after Wolfe while I prised my dad’s hands away from the wound to try and assess the damage, and the cry which parted my lips made him still. The bite was unlike the others he had suffered, Wolfe had ripped into the skin, tearing it jaggedly so it bled endlessly, something vital torn open within.

“It’s okay, baby girl,” Dad rasped, reaching out to cup my cheek.

“No,” I breathed as the blood continued to pulse from the wound, my hand closing over it again, pressing down hard. “No, no.”

I used Fury to slice a long strip from the base of my shirt and wadded it up to press against the bite. It was saturated instantly, but I kept pressing down, willing the blood to stay in his body even as he dropped to his knees.

“Why did you do that?” I breathed, holding my dad’s eye as his gaze flickered, his hand closing over mine and a look in his eyes which spoke a word I refused to hear.

That blow had been meant for me.

“I’d never let anything happen to you girls,” Dad replied, his voice hoarse, the words difficult for him to speak.

I flinched as Magnar’s hand landed on my shoulder. “Keep pressing on the wound,” he said. “We need to flush the venom out.”

I looked up at him in confusion as he bent low to lift my father over his shoulder. My dad wasn’t a small man, and even with the extra weight he’d lost, he would have been almost impossible for me to move like that alone.

Shock rattled through me as I realised Magnar had let Wolfe escape to help me save him.

“Thank you,” I said, another sob catching in my throat as more blood pulsed from the bite.

I stayed close, pressing on the wound while Magnar started a quick pace, moving into a run as we raced back towards the horses. Blood soon coated my hands and began to drip between my fingers onto the frozen grass at my feet despite my best efforts to hold it back, terror consuming me while I fought to hold on, begging my father to stay with me. His eyes had closed, and his breathing was shallow, but he was still here, still fighting.

A freezing wind gusted around us, and I shivered as it kissed the skin exposed by tearing my shirt.

The air was thick with smoke, and I looked over my shoulder to find the blood bank engulfed in flames. Golden light lit up the night’s sky, the fire consuming the building which had been the source of my nightmares for so long.

We’d won. And yet somehow, we’d lost too.

We made it to the horses and Magnar lowered my dad to the ground before hurrying to retrieve some bottled water.

He’d passed out and I leaned down, pressing my forehead to his and willing him to stay with me as tears poured from my eyes and ran over his cheeks.

Magnar returned quickly and pulled my hands away from the bite. I couldn’t bear to watch as he flushed it clean but kept my cheek pressed to my dad’s chest, listening to the slow thump of his heartbeat to reassure myself that he was still alive.

“There is nothing more I can do,” Magnar said quietly. “The rest is up to him.”

I pushed myself upright and looked down at the thick bandage Magnar had made from his own shirt and tied around the wound. His fighting leathers lay on the ground beside him, and his bronze skin was illuminated in the moonlight that made it through the trees, showing several new wounds which bled freely, not that he seemed to have noticed any of them.

“Is he going to be okay?” I asked, and I didn’t miss the pleading tone my own voice had taken on.

We’d come so far and gotten so close. I couldn’t bear to lose Dad after we’d risked so much to make it here. And Montana. How was I ever going to find my way back to her now?

Magnar hesitated before replying.

“Callie,” he said softly, my name sounding like a prayer on his lips as he dropped a hand to my shoulder, his fingers brushing against me in a far softer touch than any he’d offered before. “He’s lost a lot of blood, and he’s been used for food many times this past week...”

I felt a pain like nothing I’d ever experienced carving its way through my chest at his words, and I descended into sobbing again as I wrapped my arms around my dad, refusing that implication with all I had. This wasn’t the end for him. It wasn’t.

Magnar touched my cheek, but I shrugged him off aggressively. I didn’t want his fucking pity. I just wanted my family to be okay.

“If he is as strong as his daughter, then perhaps he can fight his way back from this,” Magnar added carefully, and though I could hear the doubt in his voice, I clung to those words like a life raft. They gave me the only thing I needed in the haze of fear and loss that was threatening to engulf me. A chance. And I wouldn’t let it go until my father took his very last breath.

I didn’t remember much about our journey during the early hours of the morning. Only holding my dad’s hand as I walked beside the stallion where Magnar had tied him in place to stop him from falling.

We’d taken shelter in an old barn, and I’d made a somewhat comfortable bed for my dad to lay on among the old hay bales. The stacked bales also served to block the drafts which found their way into the building, making our shelter relatively warm. I wished we could have found somewhere suitable to build a fire, but we’d had to settle for the first place we came across. Travelling on horseback was only making Dad’s situation worse.

I hadn’t wanted to move him at all, but with what we’d done to the blood bank, it was only a matter of time before more vampires came to investigate, and we were in no state to take on another fight.

I sat on the floor beside the bale I’d made into a bed for my father and clung to his cold hand. He hadn’t woken since our escape, and I was trying not to focus on the blue colouring around his fingertips. I squeezed tightly, hoping to lend him some warmth. Not that I had much to spare. He still wore my coat, and I shivered in my ruined shirt despite my best attempts to make our shelter draft-proof.

Magnar had been gone for hours. He’d taken the stallion and headed off in hunt of supplies, despite him protesting against the idea. But I’d insisted he go. It was daylight and for once, the sun was shining outside, lighting the earth in golden tones, and hopefully keeping any nearby vampires at bay. If my dad was going to have any chance at all, then we needed bandages and warm clothes. Antibiotics, ideally.

I knew Magnar didn’t want us to stay here for long. Wolfe would have reported back to the Belvederes about Magnar’s return by now, and they would no doubt be sending an army of Elite to hunt him down. But Dad was in no state to travel. I knew a day on horseback in the freezing cold would take what little strength he had left from him.

He’d lost too much blood. If I could have cut open a vein and given him some of my own, I would have done it in a heartbeat. I’d have given him all of it if that was what it took. I’d sooner die than face the rising tide of pain I could feel coming for me.

I’d seen it in Magnar’s eyes when he’d carried my father into the barn. He wasn’t going to survive this.

Not wanting to listen to the truth in his gaze, I’d sent him away from me. But now all I needed was for him to return and hold me in his arms because I was struck with the terrible fear of knowing that I was going to have to endure this alone.

Dad groaned weakly and I squeezed his fingers.

“I’m here, Dad. We’re safe,” I said soothingly.

It wasn’t the first time he’d made such a sound, and I could tell that his moments of rising consciousness were filled with pain.

His fingers momentarily tightened around mine, then relaxed as he passed out again. It was impossible to know if he really understood what was happening. If he knew that we’d gotten him out of that place. I hoped he did though. I hoped that somewhere deep down he knew he was finally free and that I was with him.

I wished Montana was here too. She deserved to have the chance to say goodbye, if nothing else. My heart swelled with worry for her and whatever plan the vampires had in mind. It seemed like whatever it was included me too, and I hoped that by staying out of their hands I might be buying her some time.

The sound of hooves clip-clopping on the concrete outside the barn made me freeze. I removed one of my hands from my father’s and rested my palm against Fury’s hilt. The blade remained peaceful, a feeling of easy companionship resonating from it in response to Magnar’s swords approaching. I let out a relieved breath and turned towards the barn door as Magnar pulled it open and led the stallion in. The mare whinnied in greeting as she reunited with her friend, trotting over to nuzzle him, the two horses seeming at peace when they were together.

Magnar pressed the door closed behind them to keep the freezing wind out and took the supplies he’d gathered from the horse’s back.

He approached me, his arms filled with a pile of blankets, and I swallowed a lump in my throat as gratitude flooded me. I didn’t know what I would have done if he’d never found me. Even if by some miracle I hadn’t been taken alongside my family that first day, then I’d never have been able to get Dad out of the blood bank on my own. And even now, Magnar was still with me. He’d let Wolfe go in favour of helping my father. He was going to hunt down the vampire who had Montana too. Despite everything he’d said, and I’d said, despite understanding that we were simply making use of one another until the time came for our paths to separate, he was still here. I wanted to ask him why, but I feared pointing it out might send him on his way, and despite all I wanted to believe about myself and my own capabilities, I needed him.

That need wasn’t something I admitted to easily, my fear over relying on anyone beyond my own flesh and blood warning me against it, but I had no other choice. Montana was trapped in the hands of a monster I had no hope of facing alone, and Magnar was the only faint glimmer of hope that I might be able to retrieve her.

He’d done nothing but help me from the first moment we’d met, even if his methods had left a lot to be desired, and I doubted I’d ever be able to repay that debt.

“How is he?” Magnar asked solemnly, and I could tell he was half surprised to find my father still breathing.

“Good. Better,” I said a little defensively as I took the blankets and quickly piled them on top of my dad. I tucked his cold hands inside them too and stood watching him for a moment, hoping that he might feel warmer already.

I chewed on my thumbnail, wondering if there was any chance that the blankets would be enough to warm him. Maybe even save him.

He can’t die. I don’t know how to live without him.

“Better?” Magnar asked gently, and I could tell that his observations meant he didn’t agree.

“He squeezed my hand. He almost woke again,” I said, desperation seeping into my tone. “That’s a good sign, right?”

Magnar looked down at me sadly and reached out to tuck my hair behind my ear. His touch sent an ache of longing through me, and I had to fight the urge to throw myself into his arms. If I gave in to the feelings of despair that were growing in my chest, then I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold back the tears, and crying meant accepting this fate, meant giving up.

“Would you like me to check his wounds?” he offered gently. “I found clean bandages.”

“Yes. Please.” I had no idea how to dress a wound or anything like that, but Magnar seemed well trained in such things. I only wished that didn’t mean he was so sure of what was to come. It was obvious he’d seen these kinds of injuries before and his prognosis was based on more than guesswork. But Dad was strong. He’d never leave me and Montana. He’d fight with all he had to stay with us.

Magnar headed back to the stallion and returned with a new coat for me as well as the bandages. He held out the thick jacket and I slid my arms into it gratefully. I hadn’t realised that I’d been shivering until I stopped, far more concerned with my father’s health than my own.

Magnar fastened the toggles and tugged me closer to him, pressing a kiss to my forehead, and I buried my face against his chest. The gesture was so at odds with his usual, brutish behaviour and the thickness in my throat told me why that was, even while I fought against the burning in the backs of my eyes. I leaned into him for a single second, grabbing onto some of the strength he radiated and taking it for myself.

I blew out a long breath and stepped back so he could tend to my father, my chin high and determination renewed. This wasn’t it. Dad was a fighter. He’d been fighting before I was born and hadn’t stopped for a single moment since. He wouldn’t give up now.

I backed away as Magnar knelt down beside my dad and pulled his arm out from beneath the blankets.

My stomach knotted as Magnar removed the strips of black fabric he’d used to bandage the bites earlier that morning, and I realised they were still weeping blood, not scabbing over, not healing at all.

Magnar began rinsing the wounds with bottled water again, his shoulders taut as he concentrated on his work. I fought the urge to pace while he worked, simply standing there and counting each breath my father took, noting every flicker of his expression and begging him to come back to me.

Magnar moved from wound to wound, cleaning and dressing them all, finishing with the jagged rip to Dad’s neck, the sight of torn flesh and bright blood making my stomach knot.

He finally finished, wrapping more white bandages tightly around the laceration, lifting him so he could secure it around his chest, creating pressure against the padding he’d used to try and stem the blood loss. I bit my lip as I looked between the bandages on his arms and legs, blood seeping through them all, slowly staining them red despite everything Magnar had done.

“Why is he still bleeding?” I asked desperately. “I thought all the venom was out?”

“He is not slayer born. Your bloodline is obviously your mother’s,” Magnar replied softly. “A human can only stand so much of the vampires’ vile secretions before their body is overwhelmed. The venom has made it into his bloodstream. It flows within his blood, stopping it from clotting. Slayer blood doesn’t do that. It will not merge with the venom but instead tries to force it from our bodies, keeping it near the surface so we are able to wash it out. It is possible for a human to survive one or two bites, for their system to eventually flush the venom out, but this...” He didn’t finish his sentence, but his meaning was clear.

He wasn’t healing, his body couldn’t heal what was flowing through it fast enough.

Pain caught in my chest, and I suddenly couldn’t breathe. I sank down onto one of the hay bales and started shaking my head. This couldn’t be happening. I refused to believe it was happening. After all we’d done, everything we’d gone through, how could it end so unfairly? How could freedom have been so close, only to have been snatched away like this?

The bale shifted beside me, and Magnar pulled me into his arms. I resisted for a moment, then gave in to his embrace with a shuddering sob as the tears finally came. I held on to Magnar, the scent of oak and leather enveloping me. He wrapped me in the strength of his arms and embraced me so tightly it felt like he was the only thing stopping me from shattering entirely, falling into a million pieces never to reform again. I cried against his chest about all the injustices my family had suffered, about the life we should have had and everything that had been stolen from us.

We’d come so close to freedom. My dad was finally out from under the vampires’ control, and it didn’t even matter.

It had all been for nothing.