Deathtrap (Crossbreed Series Book 3)(37)

The idiot didn’t stand a chance. Niko was on form.

Blood tainted the streets, attracting even more onlookers.

The second I stood up, I jumped back with a start when a ball of light flew past me and exploded in a crowd of men. The energy wave ripped through the air like a meteor, prickling against my skin like tiny spikes. A pile of men lay in the snow, their skin blackened and the stench of burning flesh wafting in the air.

I turned on my heel, my mouth agape at Gem, who stood at the far end of the street with her arms extended. To the left, Blue was swinging her tomahawk like a warrior. Despite her long legs, shapely breasts, lush lips, and hair like silk, Blue wasn’t a woman who used her beauty in battle. She was fierce, relentless, and spattered with blood.

I blasted a man with energy while running toward the van. When I reached the driver’s side, I jumped in and slammed the door. The keys were still in the ignition. As soon as the engine started up, I hit the gas and crashed into Amber’s car, knocking it forward a few feet. She had bailed from the scene the moment the fight started.

I was turning the wheel left to do a U-turn when someone jumped into the back.

“Claude’s hurt,” Christian said. “Get us the feck out of here!”

“Shut the door!” I steered over the sidewalk and clipped a guy before skidding back onto the street.

“Niko!” he shouted. “Get in!”

I glanced in the mirror and saw Christian helping Niko in the back.

“Hang on!” I hit the gas, and the van torpedoed through the crowd like a juggernaut. They fell away like bowling pins, but one Vampire suddenly punched through my window and gripped the wheel. I slammed on the brakes, hoping to throw him off, but he held on with fierce determination.

“Get away from her, you shitebag!” Christian leaned across me and broke the Vamp’s arm before throwing him out. “Get up. I’m taking over.”

We switched places, and I stepped into the back of the van just as Christian hit the gas. I gripped the passenger seat to keep from falling and assessed our situation. Claude lay unconscious, and Niko was opening one of the back doors.

“Blue!” he shouted. “Blue!”

The van slowed.

“Take my axe!” She reached inside and handed him her tomahawk before shifting. Her falcon ascended out of sight just as an explosion rocked the van.

I stumbled to the bench, my heart racing. “Was that Gem?”

I looked to Niko. Staring into chaos, he held on to the end of the closed door.

My eyes drifted down to Claude, and I realized how grave his condition was. I had initially thought someone knocked him out, but blood pooled on the carpet beneath him in ghastly quantities.

I crouched beside him. “Claude, can you hear me?” I pulled his eyelids back, searching for signs of life. “He’s hurt bad. He’s not waking up.”

The van jerked to the left, and my back hit the bench.

“Hang on,” Christian shouted before slamming on the brakes.

Niko reached out and pulled Gem inside. Wyatt jumped in behind her, out of breath. Niko’s sharp whistle summoned Viktor’s wolf, who charged inside and onto a bench. Niko slammed the back door, and we took off.

I looked around. “Where’s Shepherd?”

Wyatt stepped over Claude and led Viktor’s wolf to the front passenger seat. “He didn’t come. Holy Toledo, get the hell out of here, Christian. The freshies are everywhere!”

When Gem saw Claude on the floor, her eyes rounded, and she crawled next to him. She stroked his hair, tears wetting her cheeks. “Niko, you need to help him.”

“Won’t he heal?” I asked. “He’s a Chitah.”

Niko stumbled as he tried to find a place to sit. “Not if he’s lost too much blood. Chitahs are good healers, but his light is dim, and we don’t have Shepherd here to stitch him up. I need everyone to stand back.”

Gem reluctantly scooted away, her crystal pendant swinging from her neck as she leaned over to watch. I collapsed on the bench and peeled out of my leather jacket. I was actually sweating. Blood dripped from my hand, so I pressed the wound against my jeans to stanch the bleeding. While Niko knelt beside Claude and used his X-ray vision to look at whatever energy Claude was putting out, I turned to Christian since I was sitting right behind the driver’s seat.

“Are we safe?”

“Aye. For the moment. Unless there’s someone on the roof.”

“There’s a freshy up there, clinging to the van like a sock from a dryer,” Wyatt informed us. He widened his legs and stared at me from the opposite bench. “If he comes home with us after all I went through to clean the specters out of the house, I’m demanding a raise.”

“Will you be quiet?” Gem spat. “Claude… Can you hear me? Blink if you can hear me.”

We turned our attention back to our Chitah. His leather jacket was open in the front, revealing holes and bloodstains in his white undershirt. I counted three. I’d always assumed Chitahs were resilient, but I was learning that everyone had limitations.

Claude suddenly coughed, blood ejecting from his mouth and spattering on his face and shirt. My heart sank. His ashen skin and bluish lips told the story.

Niko assessed him carefully. “I can’t heal them all,” he finally said. “His energy is dark around his chest. I’ll do what I can.” Niko’s hand hovered as if he was searching for the wound.

Claude’s eyes fluttered and then opened.

Gem cupped his face in her hands, staring at him upside down.

He struggled to smile. “Don’t cry, female. I’m not worth the tears.”

Wyatt leaned over. “Stop trying to out-die us. You’re not going anywhere. I don’t want to have to deal with staring at your handsome ghost for all eternity. You hear me? You’ll give me an inferiority complex.”

Claude’s lips twitched as Gem wiped away droplets of blood that were on his cheeks.

Niko placed his hand across one of the bullet holes, and after a moment, I squinted from the flash of light that cracked like a whip. Claude sighed. Watching Niko heal someone else besides me allowed me to see the magnitude of how much energy it required from him. Despite his hooded eyes and lethargic movements, he continued. Gem let go just as Niko healed another wound.

When he finished, his eyes didn’t carry that spark of light they usually held.

“Niko, maybe you should stop.”

Out of breath, he fell back against the bench. “How many more does he have?”

Gem pulled Claude’s jacket away and lifted his shirt. “One on his shoulder and I think his leg.” She rose up on her knees for a closer look. “It’s too dark in here; I can’t see.”

Niko’s beautiful brown skin now had a greyish hue. The graver the wound, the more of his gift it required. He probably could have kept going, but the quality of his light would have diminished, assuming he could stay conscious after repeated energy depletion.

Claude rolled to his side. “I’m good.”

Gem helped him to sit. “Are you sure? You don’t look good.”

He smiled weakly. “I always look good.”

Wyatt sighed and took off his beanie, rumpling his hair with one hand as he looked at Christian. “When you called for backup, I thought maybe you were outnumbered by two or three guys. Four tops. Half a city? Now that’s a twist I didn’t see coming.”

I leaned back and shut my eyes, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in my hand, my sore jaw, and my aching muscles.

“Why the feck did you bring my car?” Christian spat.

Wyatt snickered. “Because you drew the short straw. Plus, we couldn’t all fit in mine. It’s not as if we had time to contemplate anything. We hauled ass to get here.”

“Grand. Now what are the odds that I’ll never see it again?”

Claude gripped my right arm. “Let me see your other hand.”

I held it up, a bullet having pierced through the palm. “Sorry, but this is one injury you won’t be licking. Lie back and rest. It sucks to be a Mage in winter, but I’ll find a drop of sun if it kills me.”

Niko chuckled. “Apologies. I’m laughing at the truth of it.”

Some of the bullet holes around the van let in narrow strips of light, but it wasn’t the direct sunlight that I needed to heal.

It didn’t matter anyhow. We were almost home.





Chapter 20





Every lantern and candle in my bathroom was aglow, bathing the stone walls with an ethereal light. I had a magnificent bathroom located in the room behind my bed. There wasn’t a door, and as you walked in and turned left, you faced a standing shower and small window farther ahead. Lanterns were affixed to the left wall on each side of the oval mirror above the sink. Next to it, a toilet. The best part about the bathroom was that against the opposite wall sat the most glorious claw-foot tub. It was large and tucked inside the partially recessed wall. There was even a nice ledge in the wall where I could set my candles or toiletries.

I stood inside the dry tub with every intention of drawing a hot bath, but I ended up sitting down with my clothes still on. Exhausted, I reclined back, my injured left hand hanging out of the tub and my knees drawn up.

Sometimes it just felt good to slow down and gather my thoughts. As crazy as things had gotten in the Bricks, it was a good thing I hadn’t killed Cristo. Working for Keystone meant curbing my impulsive instincts, and we still had a baby to rescue.