Reckless Revenge: Book Four (Spellbound 4) (19 page)

Blood rushed in my ears. Ariana had vanished. She hadn’t been thrown from the car. The lycans had her. My heart was ablaze and cracking open at the same time.

Moaning, I fumbled for the seatbelt until I unfastened it. I plunged headfirst onto the roof of the Jeep. I untangled my legs and wrenched the door open. Slowly, my limbs reclaimed feeling. Pins and needles tingled my legs. My back shrieked with pain, my hipbone flaring in bruised soreness.

The night was gray, deadened, wintry. Raindrops spit on the windows and tapped on the metal. The Jeep’s headlights barely lighted the reflective strips that divided the lanes or the trees bordering the road. I crawled out and stood, leaning hard on the Jeep that had landed partially in the forest. I swallowed bile.

With a trembling hand, I pulled my cell phone from my pocket, gripping the phone so tight it almost snapped in half. It rang three times before Trent answered.

“They took Ariana!” I yelled into the phone.

“Who took her?”

“The lycans.” I fumbled for words, my stomach roiling enough to throw up. My heart bled with fresh wounds. “I’m on Woodland Lane, a couple miles out of town. Look for my Jeep crashed on the side of the road. Hurry.” The phone slipped from my numb fingers. I wanted to scream, but couldn’t manage it without pain crashing through me.

Deep in the woods, a girl’s loud scream slashed through the quiet. Then a keening yowl was met by another as the wolves began to sing.

Dammit, they had Ari!

I stared into the darkness, shivering with a chill that didn’t belong to the cold around me, and tried not to freak out. They would be coming for me next. I couldn’t stay here alone. Defenseless and vulnerable. Waiting for the lycans to take me next.

Out of nowhere, a loud crack like the breaking of a large tree limb split the air. My pulse spiked. Nightfall had draped its heavy veil over the woods, and shadows waxed and waned in the moonlight.

Another cracking branch echoed. Oh, crap. I couldn’t regroup and save my friend if I were captured, too. My heart was wedged in my throat.

Time to panic.
Time to run!

My survival instincts kicked in and I raced along the curve of the wet road. My elbows and fists pumped at my sides. Breath ran harsh in my lungs. My thighs burned. My back twitched with pain.

The howling grew louder. Then a snarling growl came from the thicket
.
Gold eyes blazed between the trees. The lycans had run across my scent.

I was toast if I kept running along the side of the road totally visible like this.

Taking a deep breath of courage, I sprinted into the cover of the forest. I didn’t give myself time to think about what an incredibly stupid idea that was. Every second I stopped to think was a second they got closer to me.

My boots pounded the uneven terrain. Taking shallow breaths, I battled the terror welling up within me. I tried to protect my face from the stinging blows of the branches and the lashing of wooden fingers that scratched my skin.

I wasn’t ready to battle the wolves. There were too many of them. I was alone and outnumbered.

Winds sighed, lifting branches on the ancient redwoods. Branches clawed for the skies: leafless, lifeless, yet malicious, like skeletons with evil eyes. A raven’s eerie dispassionate caw drifted through the woods, bouncing off the trunk of every tree.

The night, thick and opaque, wrapped around me. Sweat dampened my scalp. Adrenaline pumped through my heart.

I kept glancing over my shoulder into the darkness.
Breathe, Shiloh.
There’s nothing to fear.

A rustling noise came from behind me. I set my heel down in the dirt and whirled, my head lifting and dark hair falling in my eyes. I searched the eerie terrain. Nothing. Sharp jabs of pain coursed through me and twisted along my spine from the accident with each breath.

Dammit, get your butt moving!

My feet flew over the forest floor, each breath burning in my chest. Acute pain jolted along my neck and shoulders. Spasms ran over my back, but I kept moving, ignoring the creeping blackness that clung to me.

Bakaz, Kasha, and Zrekam materialized beside me, and we ran together. They were loudly panting when we halted.

I bent to rub their rough heads. “I need your help.”

“We already help,” Bakaz said.

I pushed the hair from my eyes. My chest tightening. “Did you find Ari?”

His head cocked like a dog. “No. Not find. Defend
you.
”

My next words were directed at Kasha. “I don’t understand.”

“Bad wolves try to take you. We stop them. They take her instead,” Kasha said.

At the blunt statement, my body stiffened.

“What? Why didn’t you help Ari?” I demanded.

Kasha scratched her ear. “We bound to protect witch. Not Fae.”

Still not understanding, I shook my head in exasperation. “I don’t care. Go find Ariana.
Now
.” Three heads bobbed, and they scampered away.

Another lycan rumbled a ferocious keening. The howling amplified, joined by a chorus of others, the wailing almost mournful. The lycans were communicating amongst themselves. Maybe they were telling each other where to find me.

I crouched, panting. Tried to quiet my ragged breathing. The waft of decaying leaves soured my already nervous stomach. Brushing damp hair from my eyes, I stared into the shadows. My neck hairs prickled and I squinted into the woods. There, by a massive pine, stood a tall figure.

The same guy who’d been stalking me. A kid who could stop time and vanish into thin air. His shockingly violet eyes were glowing as he stared back at me.

“What the hell? Why are you always lurking?” I demanded in a shaky voice.

A lazy smile crossed the older boy’s inhumanly beautiful face, twisting it unevenly, his smoldering gaze visible through the darkness. He took a step forward. I backed away, and slammed into a tree behind me. My heart, thumping wildly against my ribcage, felt like it was ready to burst.

I mustered my courage and yelled, “Do you know where the lycans took Ariana?”

“Ariana?” He said her name like it was foreign. The tall guy measured me with that blazing violet stare. He stood supernaturally still, resembling some ancient Greek statue. He looked like any average badass guy on the street, dressed in damaged jeans, a black shirt, and unbuckled combat boots. Intimidating, dangerous, not to be messed with. Raindrops clung to the thick black hair dusting his shoulders, making him resemble some kind of kickass demon slayer.

“You’ve been following me. Who are you?”

The boy nodded once. “Raziel.”

Raziel. Weird name. Weirder kid.

His gaze drank me in and swallowed me up. “You can call me Raze.”

“Okay,
Raze
, what happened to Ariana?” I kept my eyes trained on him, but he didn’t respond. My scarred arm twitched with power. Uncorrupted white magick swirled around me. No sign of
Darkness
in it, but I didn’t have time to worry about why being so close to Raze made me feel...
what?

Protected? Less dark and more light? Okay, so, he might be good guy, minus his stalkerish tendencies.

Whatever. I had no time for anything, except rescuing my friend.

His grinned widened, displaying teeth whiter than fresh snow. Dark brows framed hooded eyes and sculptured features. His eyes burned like violet flames. “The road is that way.” He pointed past me to the right.

For a moment, I just stood there. This could be a trap. Or he could lead me to Ariana. Did I go where he was directing, or back to the Jeep and wait for Trent?

A howl in the distance made the decision for me. I had to do what I could to save Ariana. I could always zap him if he tried anything funny.

Devilish screeches that elongated into full-blown howls echoed through the trees. My body froze. Holy crap, how many lycans were chasing me?

“I’ll hold them off, Shiloh. But you’d better run.” Raze turned and literally vanished.

I was outnumbered and alone. Well, except for that Raze guy.

This was all my fault. Guilt surged through me, raw and profound. My perception had been blinded by only one thing:
revenge
. I had let it outweigh my responsibility to protect innocents. And now my driving need for vengeance had taken my best friend. I could only hope she was still alive.

But why had the lycans had taken Ariana?

I had to focus. I had to figure out how I could rescue my best friend. Even though it seemed so hopeless…

The rumble of an engine caught my attention, and then a flash of headlights sprayed the foliage. Trent hadn’t let me down—he’d come to find me.

I ran out of the forest, and stepped into the middle of the road, waving my hands in the air. Trent’s Dodge Charger skidded to a halt beside me.

I hopped in. “Go, now!”

He shifted into gear and hit the accelerator. My head slammed into the headrest. After a mile, my pounding heart settled. But I kept peering out the rear window at the road.

“Thanks for coming,” I whispered.

After Trent was done white knuckling the steering wheel during our get-away from the creepy-ass woods, he stuck his arm out, pulling me close to him. Well, as close as the console between the bucket seats would allow. He gripped my shoulder as though he were never letting go. Or never letting me do something as stupid as what I’d just done. He wasn’t going to be happy once he heard what happened.

“Ari and I snuck into the Ramírez’s house.”

He glanced at me with wide eyes. “You did what?”

“We, uh, went looking for evidence.” I shrugged and my back twanged with pain.

I checked Trent’s face again, his skin was pallid. His hands gripped the steering wheel tighter. Not a good sign. Clearly, Trent did not like me playing super sleuth-teenage-witchy-ninja girl. A glance down at my tattered clothes told me I was filthy, bloody, and saturated with perspiration.

“I wanted to prove that Daniel’s dad was working with Carter,” I hastened to explain. “So I told Ari that we were going to search for clues to help Daniel clear his name. But I only intended to prove that Coach Ramírez and Carter were somehow responsible for the lycan attacks.”

“Did you find anything?”

“We found James McMillian chained in their basement and freed him. But then the Ramírezs came home early and almost caught us…” I took a breath and continued, “James took off and I don’t know where he went, we barely escaped ourselves. Then one of the lycans tracked us down and caused the accident.”

I pressed my face into Trent’s shoulder and bawled. My chest was racked with raw, anguished sobs, but I couldn’t stop. All the shock and panic released itself all over his expensive shirt.

“It’s okay. It’s okay,” he said, stroking my hair.

I lifted my head and sucked in a rattling breath. “No. It’s not. This is all my fault.”

“How can you possibly think this is your fault?”

The threat of tears feathered the back of my throat, but I suppressed it. “She didn’t want to go. Not really. And now she’s dead—”

“Don’t say that! Let’s talk to my uncle. There must be a reason why the lycans took her.”

He turned sharply, and my butt slid on the leather seat.

“Haven’t you been listening? She’s been ripped to shreds by now.
I screwed up!
”

Trent blinked. His tone was quiet yet commanding. “Just relax, Shiloh. Breathe.”

We sped along the wet road, the surface gleaming in starlight that licked like a tongue through the trees. A chill went through me as I gazed at the woods. Part of me wanted to go back to the accident and check the spot where Ariana had been kidnapped. See if there was anything—or anyone—still there. Search for clues.

“I don’t think they’ll kill Ari.” He glanced at me. “And yes, you screwed up, but we’ll fix this.”

Trent pulled over and motioned to hug me, but I scooted away.

“If the shades hadn’t intervened, the lycans wouldn’t have taken Ariana! They were after
me
! All I cared about was revenge.” I rested my head on the window, the cold glass touching my hot cheek. It seemed like the weight of the world was squashing my shoulders. “
I’m
the one they wanted.”

Trent gave a slight nod. “But it doesn’t explain why they abducted her instead of you.”

“I know why…if I hadn’t dragged her to the coach’s house, the lycans wouldn’t have realized that she knew their secret. They must’ve gotten our scent from the house…” I paused, and then said quietly, “And they kill witnesses, like my dad and Kayla.”

With one hand, he ran fingers through his wavy hair. “She’ll be okay. We’ll get her back—”

“How?” Sniffling, I wiped my nose on the sleeve of my cardigan. Through the back pain and waterworks, I blurted, “I mean, you saw a lycan—they’re
friggin’
huge! They’re too smart. Powerful. And were outnumbered, like five to one. I was stupid to think I could take them on. One girl, who has a few karate moves and tainted magick.
Stupid!
”

“Don’t beat yourself up—”

“Why not?” I clenched my hands—ignoring the pain—as my nails dug into my palms. “My stupid plan to sneak into their house seriously backfired. I got my best friend kidnapped by freakin’ lycans. And now she’s like a wolfy midnight snack!”

“Sarcasm isn’t going to help.” He handed me a wad of tissues from the glove compartment. “Are you going to be okay?”

“
No
,” I mumbled, and blew my nose.

“You shouldn’t have gone into their house. You’re right, that must’ve alerted them to you.”

“No shit.”

Trent shifted in his seat, leather squeaking. He seemed brooding and contemplative.

“I’m an epic failure,” I whined.

He stared into the forest as if it held the answers. Then his green gaze met my brown stare. “You can’t give up. Where’s the kickass girl I’m dating? She’s no quitter.”

I kicked at the floor. “Yeah, well, that was
before
my big screw up!”

A sob choked my throat and something in me shattered. I slumped against the door. I was crying hysterically. I couldn’t imagine Ariana being locked in that awful basement, scared and alone. Or worse, they’d bitten her and she was already sprouting tufts of fur and a mouthful of canines. Hungry for Shiloh—the other white meat—just like the others.

Trent pulled me back into his embrace, and this time I let him. I sobbed against his chest. Kinda awkward with the console between us, but still comforting.

“Shhh, pull yourself together. We can’t help Ariana with you all weepy.”

When my crying finally turned to hiccups and sniffles, I straightened, not meeting his eyes. My face was wet. And I was snotting big time. I blew my nose again.

He gripped my hand. “When you feel like giving up, just remember why you held on for so long in the first place.”

Revenge had influenced my choices because of my insane need to expose my dad’s killer. I had been listening to my heart, instead of my head. It was stupid and reckless.

Trent turned on the engine and started racing toward Craven Manor. “Don’t look so freaked. You’re not alone. It’ll always be you and me against the Underworld.”

I nodded weakly at his joke. “Right now, it’s just you and me against a crazyass pack of lycans.”

“Are you really all right? I mean, do you need a doctor or anything?” Trent paused at a stop sign. “Because I can’t stand the thought of you being hurt, and possibly…” He blinked rapidly, turning away for a moment. His voice sounded rough with emotion when he spoke again. “Geez, Shi. You scared the shit out of me. Don’t
ever
do that again.”

I could only nod and swallow more tears.

After a few moments, he cleared his throat. “If they’ve taken Ariana and she’s still alive, they must want something.”

My fingernails dug into my palms. “But what would they want? Ransom?”

He turned onto the manor’s driveway. “I don’t know, but I bet we find out soon enough.”