Chapter 17Sasha

Chapter

Seventeen

SASHA

I blinked my eyes until the haze cleared from my vision, but I still couldn’t make sense of what I was seeing. As I squinted, trying to figure out if those were actually leaves, all my memories of the last few days came rushing back, bombarding me with what the fuck I had been up to since leaving Varek’s estate.

A shot of fear went down my spine right about the same time all my aches made themselves known. With so much hitting me all at once, I decided to focus on one thing at a time, or I knew I would be too overwhelmed to act rationally. I couldn’t focus on Varos or my impending meeting with the High General without my heart rate speeding out of control, so I concentrated on where I was in the here and now… and what the hell was digging into my hip bone.

I took in my current situation and quickly realized someone was carrying me over their shoulder, which explained why my hip and ribs were protesting. My right shoulder ached, as did my left arm, but I could tell that they had already healed enough that I could use them, though I could also tell that the asshole that was running away with me hadn’t bothered removing the arrows. It was going to be painful, but I’d suffered through worse in a fight and still won.

I let my senses expand, noting that there were two additional soldiers other than the one carrying me. That was more than doable. One of them was just a few feet back, panting as if he were having trouble keeping up with the pace the one carrying me had set. The third was just behind that one.

Slowly and very cautiously, so as to not alert them I was awake, I slid two throwing knives from the hidden pockets of my jacket sleeves. In one swift movement, I used my abdominal muscles to lift upright so I could clearly see the two soldiers behind us. My aim was true, and I found my mark in the throats of both soldiers. They were already dropping to the ground before the one carrying me could react.

Using my knees to push against his chest, I flipped backward, my hands already gripping two more daggers as I landed in a crouch, my long braid swinging around my body before coming to rest over my shoulder. The soldier skidded to a stop before my tensed body. I tsked at him as he moved for his sword.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” I purred as I rose to my full height.

The soldier snarled, pulling his sword free in spite of my warning, making me laugh. “I have my orders. You’re coming with me to the dungeon.”

“I’d drag this out just for the fun of it, but you have my mate back there, and he is never going back to that cell.” Before he could respond, my dagger was protruding from his chest. As he dropped to his knees, I yanked the arrows from my shoulder and arm, wincing as the metal ripped through my muscles and flesh. I dropped the bloody arrows and cursed at the holes in my favorite leather jacket. I looked around at the soldiers, settling on the one that had been carrying me, recognizing him as one that had been around the prison when I delivered lunch to the High General all those years ago. He was staring sightlessly at the sky in the dirt as I sprinted back down the path.

I wasn’t sure how long I had been unconscious, but I knew it couldn’t have been for long. The soldiers were stupid to not secure me. A demon healed too quickly not to recover from the simple types of injuries I had received. Coupled with the satiation I felt from having been fed sexually by my mate recently, I was brimming with energy and had never felt healthier or stronger.

The path was curving ahead when voices had me slowing down and looking for a place to hide. I glanced around wildly, but there were few places where a full-grown person could disappear along the path in daylight. The trees weren’t large enough, and the underbrush was too dangerous to even think about crawling into.

I decided the only thing I could do was creep along with the trees, just off the path, until I got close enough to hear and see what was going on ahead around the curve in the path.

“I don’t know how to get this gods damn cart moving!”

“Well, you’re the one that got it stuck, so figure it out!”

“I think the axle is broken, and that’s why the wheel isn’t rolling.”

“So fix it! You morons are going get all of us thrown in the fucking dungeon.”

“Even if we get it rolling, you really think this cart is going to hold that male? He’s huge! And then we’re supposed to get him all the way back to the dungeon? Wouldn’t it be better to use a hellhorse to carry him?”

“Hey! I like that idea. Why don’t we do that?”

As the soldiers argued and discussed how they were going to transport my mate, I thought about my options. The easiest would be to just creep up on them and take them all out from a distance with my throwing knives. I patted my jacket and looked for whatever I had left. There were two more in my right sleeve, one in my left, and two more in my pants. I also had the dagger in my boot. It was enough, but I would have to collect them all when I was done, or I could be left without any knives in case we ran into more trouble later.

I was preparing to start my attack when things changed. The arguing became more heated between the soldiers. As I stood there in fascinated surprise, the males began to snarl at each other, baring their teeth and claws. Soon, one leaped onto another and simply ripped out his throat with his teeth. With disgust at the bloody display, I watched as he spat the flesh he’d just bit off into the dirt and let the soldier fall to the ground.

I didn’t quite understand how an argument over axles and hellhorses had suddenly turned so violent. The remaining three soldiers all turned on each other and fought viciously. One swung his open claws at the throat of another, while another one shifted with a roar into a beast, making me realize that he was a Kishi demon. His beast half was facing his opponent, his long, narrow snout open, with saliva dripping from his long, sharp teeth, while his more human-like half was facing toward me.

When the demon’s eyes fixed on me, I knew I only had seconds before he alerted the others to my presence. I drew back my arm just as his eyes widened. He opened his mouth to call out a warning, but before the beast could turn around or any sound could come from his human-like mouth, my knife embedded into his forehead, causing him to crumple to the ground.

I prepared to battle the remaining two, but they were so engrossed in ripping each other apart that I didn’t have to worry. It wasn’t until I stood, transfixed at the display of anger and violence, that I felt it. There was an aura of violence that was fixated on the soldiers, and suddenly I knew what was happening.

I smiled and searched the trees on the other side of the wagon, searching for my mate. I didn’t know how I could have forgotten what Varos truly was. Varek was Death. Valen was Pestilence. But Varos, well, Varos was War. If anyone could cause a group of soldiers to turn on each other in hate and anger, it was him.

As the remaining soldier beat his coworker with his own arm while dripping with blood from his own many gashes, I stepped from my barely concealed hiding spot and walked forward. Across the way, I heard a sharp trill and let my eyes close in relief. Max was okay and with Varos. I hadn’t allowed myself to worry about them, too scared that if I had, I would have acted rashly.

I saw a dark figure step out of the trees on the other side of the carnage and almost cried with relief when Varos looked uninjured and held my satchel in one hand. Max clung to his shoulder as he trilled loudly. I winced in sympathy because I was sure that it had to hurt my mate’s eardrums being so close.

The sound must have finally penetrated the killing rage the soldier was in because he dropped the arm he was holding to the dirt and turned toward Varos with a snarl. He crouched down seconds before launching himself forward in a sprint, his claws extended with his bloody teeth bared. I tensed, waiting to see what Varos would do, but I shouldn’t have worried.

Varos stood still, his eyes on mine until the last moment when he moved them to focus on his attacker. With a movement so swift I almost didn’t see it, Varos reached out, jammed his fist through the soldier’s chest, and ripped out his heart. As the soldier skidded to a stop, staring down at the still pulsing organ with shock and disbelief on his face, Varos squeezed his fist, crushing the heart into a pulpy, disgusting mess.

I shook my head, walking around the carnage and heading straight for my mate. To my everlasting disgust, I watched as Varos gestured for Max to hop down and, once he did, handed the heart over. Max greedily took the crushed heart and immediately began devouring it like it was the tastiest thing he’d ever eaten.

“You know,” I began as I came to a stop in front of my mate. I had my head back, staring up into his beautiful, bottomless black eyes. “They say animals can get a taste for human flesh.”

He reached out with his bloody hand, wrapping his arm around my waist, and yanked me into his hard body. I threw my hands out to soften the collision, gripping onto the cotton of his shirt. Varos dipped his head down, his voice low and raspy as his breath swept over my lips.

“Good. I’ll feed him all the hearts of your enemies.”

I sighed breathlessly. “My hero.”

He closed the remaining distance, taking my mouth in a brutal kiss. I allowed his dominance, knowing that he needed it, and though I would never have thought I would be able or willing to submit to any male, I needed it, too. Somehow, I found myself craving the power he had over me, and I was certain that it was because I knew with all my heart that he would never abuse it.

Maybe I had been independent and strong for so long, for hundreds of years, that it was time to let someone else take that burden from me. Maybe it was okay to allow myself to sink into the warmth and comfort of my mate. Perhaps I didn’t have to stay on guard every minute of every day. The thought was scary, but it was also a huge relief.

“Varos…” I breathed out, letting my fingers brush over his strong jaw. “Did they hurt you?”

At my words, he set me down when I hadn’t even noticed I was wrapped around him like a koala bear again. He glared at the hole in the shoulder of my leather jacket, and then his hands went to the zipper. After studying the design for no more than a second or two, he yanked it down and then parted the material. His hands carefully peeled the jacket over my shoulders and down my arms, until I was freed from the leather, then he tossed it aside to land on my satchel. His eyes grew glacial as he took in all the blood that the jacket had concealed.

“I’m okay. Hey!” I took his face in my hands, feeling how tight his jaw was as he ground his teeth together, forcing him to look into my eyes. “I’m okay.” His eyes closed, and he touched his forehead to mine, letting a slow breath out.

“I don’t ever want to watch that happen to you again. When the arrows pierced your skin—” he cut himself off with a menacing growl.

“I know,” I whispered, knowing that it would have been terrifying for me if our roles had been reversed. There was nothing more to say, nothing that I could do to erase the image from his mind. But I could show him that it was over.

I took a step back and tugged my shirt from the waistband of my jeans until I could pull it over my head. Then I lifted my hand to rub at the blood staining my skin until he could see that the injuries were nearly gone. “See? I’m okay.”

He lifted a hand, his fingers trembling as they ran over the pink flesh where the arrow had been in my shoulder. Soon, the pinkness would fade away, and there would be no trace left. “I hated to see you hurt. I can’t see that again. I will destroy everything if I lose you.”

I looked into his eyes, willingly letting him see into my soul. “I know. I would do the same for you.”