Jocelynn Drake - Wait for Dusk

“I don’t think you want to do this,” Ferko said with a smug smile.

“No, you don’t get it. I’ve been looking forward to this.” I lowered my voice slightly, directing my attention back to my companions. “Leave Ferko alive. There’s information that I need. Kill all the others.”

“You’re an angel,” Valerio purred as he shed his heavy coat. Folding it neatly, he laid it over a nearby tree branch so it wouldn’t get dirty. I looked to my left to find Stefan doing the same thing. I suppressed a wild laugh at their delicate sensibilities and priorities before a bloodbath.

Stefan and Valerio took a step forward toward the shifters, and they immediately scattered into the darkness. Both the men and women that were in human form were throwing off clothes as they ran through the forest, so it would be easier for them to shift into wolf form. Ferko winked at me once before he also darted into the black wall of darkness that enveloped the woods surrounding us.

“Have fun!” I laughed just before Stefan and Valerio darted after them. It was only a few seconds later that I heard my first wounded whimper rise up in the night. A young nightwalker was fairly matched with an experienced werewolf, but an older, experienced nightwalker held the edge in a fight against a shifter. We were stronger, faster, and generally more brutal. However, a lycanthrope was not without its own edge, since they tended to hunt in packs. It was rare for three powerful nightwalkers to come into the woods and hunt shifters. Of course, if any lycans escaped us tonight, there was still a chance they could hunt us down during the daylight hours and eliminate us as retribution. It was how this game was played.

I glanced over my shoulder at Danaus, who held a knife in his right hand. He was waiting for me to move. “Are you going to be all right on your own?”

“I survived many centuries without your watchful eye. I think I can manage this minor scuffle.”

My laugh echoed through the night as I ran across the clearing and instantly became washed in the darkness of the forest. I dodged low tree limbs and moved almost silently across the snow-covered ground. My powers bounced back to me like sonar, revealing the locations of the werewolves. Four were ahead of me at different spots, waiting for me to blindly pass by so that they could all jump on me.

Palming the knife that was sheathed on my right leg, I darted to my left and leapt on the back of a wolf that wasn’t expecting me to attack from that angle. He jerked his head around, clamping his teeth down on my left forearm as I buried my blade into his rib cage. The wolf yelped in pain, releasing me. Blood poured from my arm, but I ignored it as I wrapped it around his throat and pulled him over on me as I fell to my back in the snow. Yanking the knife from his ribs, I plunged it into the creature’s stomach and twisted it, causing another cry to go ringing out into the night. A bubble of laughter rose up in my chest and some of the tension from earlier in the evening eased from my shoulders. I was back in my natural element and it was great.

My only warning was a low growl from a second wolf just before it attacked me. A set of sharp fangs bit into my throat, causing a gush of blood to spray across the white snow. I released the half-dead wolf I had been holding, pushing its limp body off me as I yanked my knife free. With a grunt of pain, I swung the blade at the wolf, but I missed when it leapt away from me before I could carve into its hide. A third wolf launched its heavy frame at me, aiming to land on my chest. I caught it with my foot in its tender underbelly, kicking it away from me.

Rolling back to my feet, I pocketed the knife as I stalked over to the wolf that had bit me in the throat. Blood dripped down from his jaws as it growled at me, its hackles standing on end as I approached. With a bark, it leapt, mouth open in hopes of taking a fresh chunk out of me. I grabbed the top and bottom of its jaws and pulled them sharply apart, breaking its lower jaw and neck at the same time. It didn’t even have time to let out a whimper of pain before it died.

I dropped the carcass to the ground and smiled as I turned back to the wolf that had tried to jump on me. With long bloodstained fangs showing, the wolf growled at me as it backed up several steps. Its large yellow eyes reflected the moonlight. The creature crouched for a second as if it planned to leap at me, and then darted off into the woods like a brown blur in the darkness. I chuckled and gave chase, happy to spend the evening running through the thick forest after my prey. Dodging low branches and leaping over fallen trees, I found that my body hummed with energy and pent-up excitement. This was the thrill of the hunt, and it was the closest I would ever come to once again feeling alive.

The wolf dove, jumped, and barreled through the woods, weaving among the trees as if it were made of the wind. I followed close on its heels, not quite catching it as I played it cautious on the slippery snow-covered ground. I didn’t need to catch it. It would grow weary before I would.

Something heavy landed on my back as I passed beneath a small rise. I hadn’t been scanning the area for other lycanthropes and my prey had managed to lure me into a simple trap. With a swing of my arm, I knocked the creature off my back before it could do any kind of significant damage. Laying on my stomach, I threw out my hand toward the wolf that was about to jump on me again. Flames instantly engulfed my prey, burning brightly in the night. The creature lurched away from me, rolling in the snow as it tried to put the flames out. Its cries suddenly became a woman’s shrieks as she changed back to human form, the pain making it impossible for her to remain a wolf. And then she lay dead before me.

I scanned the area, only to find that the wolf I’d been chasing had run off, most likely frightened beyond rational thought at the sight of the flames. This might be little more than a deadly game between nightwalkers and lycanthropes, but I played to win.

Three were dead, leaving thirteen to my other three companions as I headed back to the main clearing where we had initially met. With any luck, we’d have most of this cleaned up in a matter of minutes before we could finally turn our attention back to Ferko. Unfortunately, I wasn’t as alone as I initially thought I was.

“Bravo, Fire Starter! Show those animals who’s dominant!” shouted a mocking voice down from the trees, accompanied by clapping.

I clenched my teeth and took a couple steps backward, palming the knife in my right hands once again. I knew that voice. I would always know that voice. Rowe had found me once again, and he sounded like he was ready to play.

“Rowe!” I replied in the same mocking tone as I looked at the trees before me. “It’s been so long since we last met. Come down and play.”

“Gladly,” he growled. The wind gusted through the trees so that their limbs swayed and crashed into one another. I looked up in time to see him gliding down toward me out of a nearby tree, his black leathery wings thrown wide behind him. I dove out of the way of his flashing silver blade, sliding several feet in the snow before I regained my feet.

The naturi grinned at me, twisting his short blade so it winked at me in the moonlight. I kept my distance from the one-eyed creature, as I had only a knife with me. I hadn’t been planning to go up against the naturi this evening, just the local werewolf pack. And that was more hands-on than fighting the naturi.

Rowe lunged at me first, bringing his short sword down in a slashing motion, hoping to open a vein or two. I dodged it while trying to keep my feet beneath me as I moved through the snow-slick forest.

Mira! The naturi are here. Danaus’s cry along our private link screamed through my brain as Rowe swung at me again. I narrowly missed having my head removed as I slid to my ass in the snow. I hadn’t been cloaking the hunter’s presence, and I had a feeling that Rowe was just following him around with the expectation that I would be in Danaus’s shadow.