V-Day: (M-Day #4) (15 page)

“
I missed you so fucking much, Viv.
”
Riley
’
s warm hand snaked up to entangle in my hair.
“
You need to tell me what bit you.
”
He yanked my head to the side, burying his face in my neck. He inhaled sharply, his tongue snaking out to slide along my skin a second later.
“
You taste so good. It
’
s so hard to concentrate being so close to you.
”

He could say that again. I internally screamed at myself to pull away even as I pressed into him. Maybe if I diverted his attention back to the bite.
“
One of those things
…
an I-Monster bit me. Or really tried to make me a main course.
”

Riley froze, his chest heaving.
“
You were marked by one of them?
”

“
Marked? I don
’
t know what you mean.
”

He stood abruptly, pacing the clearing.
“
Fuck. We can
’
t stay here. We need to move. Now.
”
Back and forth, back and forth he went.

His alarm had my own internal bells going off like crazy.
“
Why? What does the bite mean exactly?
”
I thought back to what I
’
d heard when I
’
d been with my brothers about how Evo thought the I-Monsters were tracking Nyx from when one of them snacked on her pinky finger.
Could it be true? Like I need any more complications.
I couldn
’
t let myself forget that the clock was still ticking and without me, my brothers were as good as dead.

“
They can track whoever they can get their teeth into. They have some kind of venom, I think. It marks you as prey. And from what I
’
ve seen, they
’
re absolutely relentless once they
’
ve marked someone. It
’
s like a game for them.
”

“
A game?
”

“
They aren
’
t as mindless and savage as they seem
—
except when they
’
re on the hunt. They seem to enjoy it, like it
’
s a game or something to them, not merely about feeding themselves.
”

I shuddered when I thought about what they did eat.
“
And how do you know?
”

“
Because I
’
ve watched them track I-Men.
”
He started kicking dirt at the fire, dousing the flames.
“
I wanted to at least get you fed, take some time to
…”
His voice broke off into a growl, and he shook his head harshly.
“
But there
’
s no time. I can
’
t fight them off. I
’
ve watched just one of them take down a whole group of I-Men.
”

Like I was going to eat rabbit anyways.
My stomach rumbled. Or maybe that was a lie. Food was food, and once cooked the pungent aroma would have been obliterated. I
’
d been a bit spoiled lately between rations and then the fresh food from Tasha and her group.
“
And what do you plan on doing with me?
”
I needed to stall so my brothers could find me. Sure, it was a risk that one of the I-Monsters would find me first, but one I was willing to take. If I let Riley take me away, the clock would inevitably run out and all of us would be dead.
Maybe if I reason with him. He doesn
’
t seem too far gone. Maybe he isn
’
t all the way infected
…
yet. Or maybe he
’
s like Zee. Maybe
…
No. I can
’
t allow myself to fill up on false hope. He
’
s lost to me.

“
Riley, you need to listen to me. You have to take me back to Ty and Zee. There are things going on that you don
’
t understand.
”

He came to me in a burst of speed, gripping the sides of my face, his breath intermingling with mine.
“
I do fucking understand. I understand that you
’
re trying to let your family come in between us again.
”
His eyes bore into mine, completely unreadable past his fury.

I placed trembling hands over both of his.
“
It
’
s not like that. You need to let me explain. And more importantly, you need to actually listen.
”
I silently prayed that I was reaching him, hoping that I was right
—
that he wasn
’
t too far gone to reason with yet.
You
’
re just seeing what you want to.

His head tilted abruptly, and he gazed off into the woods as if he was listening for something.
“
Someone or something
’
s coming,
”
he rasped, his voice dipping to sound inhuman. His eyes blazed brighter than they had a moment before but I didn
’
t have time to wonder what that meant before he was scooping me up in his arms.
“
I need to get you somewhere safe.
”

“
Take me to Ty and Zee
—”
I choked back a strangled cry as an I-Monster crashed through the thicket, heading straight towards us.
“
Go! Go! Go!
”
I slapped at Riley
’
s shoulders. Without another word he sped off in the opposite direction, the I-Monster close on our heels. I glanced around wildly, hoping our pursuer was alone. If he was then we
’
d be able to take him on
…
hopefully.

But he wasn
’
t.

Two other I-Monsters smashed through the underbrush, flanking the first one. If I had to guess, I was pretty sure the big son-of-a-bitch in the lead was the one who
’
d taken a chunk out of my leg earlier. All hope of making some kind of stand was dashed by us being out numbered. Panic clawed at my insides as I struggled to come up with some kind of plan.

“
Over here motherfuckers!
”
Evo yelled from somewhere off to the right.

“
And over here!
”
Max called from the opposite direction.

The two flanking the lead I-Monster broke off, one heading towards Evo and the other Max. That left us with one to deal with, still scary but more doable. I heaved a sigh of relief that was short lived. Riley
’
s foot must have caught on something because the next thing I knew I was being hurled forward.

I hit the ground hard, but I didn
’
t have time to regroup if I wanted to survive. I grabbed at some of the weapons on Riley, snagging a semi-automatic rifle from his back. I quickly checked the safety and took aim. My first shots were too low, hitting the I-Monster square in the chest. A kill shot for any normal creature, but all it served was to piss him off. It opened its mouth to roar its fury, sharp teeth glinting in the moonlight.

Riley was on his feet in the blink of an eye, pulling two handguns from holsters attached to his legs. He emptied all the rounds he had right into the I-Monster
’
s head, which finally slowed it down
…
a bit. It was all we needed at the moment. I whirled around and startled hobbling. I made it a couple steps before Riley swept me up in his arms again. This time I didn
’
t protest, wanting nothing more than to put distance between the I-Monsters and myself.

The good news was that I wasn
’
t a midnight snack yet. And it hadn
’
t taken my brothers and the rest of their group very long to track us down. That meant that they
’
d find me again very shortly.
Maybe there
’
s still hope.
After all, things couldn
’
t keep coming up snake eyes forever. Right?

“
I don
’
t think
—”

“
It doesn
’
t matter what you think. This is where we
’
re stopping for now.
”
Riley kicked open the front door of a large brick house without setting me down.
“
This place probably has a basement or a panic room.
”

“
I
’
ve seen those things come crashing through a concrete wall. What real good is a basement or a panic room going to do? If it
’
s tracking me then nothing is going to stop it.
”

“
I
’
m hoping Ty and Zee took them all out,
”
Riley muttered more to himself than me. I
’
d be lying if I wasn
’
t hoping the same thing.
“
Your leg is still bleeding and I need to make sure you
’
re okay.
”

I dug my nails into his shoulders, hating how much like
my
Riley he still sounded.
“
How long since you were infected?
”
I blurted, not able to stop myself. There was still a tiny part of me that still hoped he had a strain like my brothers and maybe he wouldn
’
t go full-blown I-Man on me.

“
Infected? I
’
m not infected.
”

“
Yes. You are.
”

Ignoring my comment, Riley set me down on a wide leather chase lounge. I was content with the temporary reprieve from him while he prowled the house. Once he was satisfied, he stalked back to retrieve me, throwing me back over his shoulder.
“
There
’
s a first aid kit in one of the bathrooms.
”

“
You don
’
t have to carry me everywhere. Stop with the caveman routine
…
if you can. Especially if you
’
re claiming to not be infected.
”

Riley growled under his breath, but he didn
’
t set me down until we were in a spacious bathroom. And when I say spacious, I mean bigger than any apartment I
’
d ever lived in. I leaned back against the counter he
’
d deposited me on as he popped open the first aid kit.

“
Pull down your pants.
”

I shifted uncomfortably since I didn
’
t have any underwear on. I
’
d had to forgo them when I
’
d decided to steal someone else
’
s clothes. Wearing another person
’
s skivvies was a step too far for me even in a post-apocalyptic world. Plus I hadn
’
t exactly been visiting my waxer regularly since M-Day either.
What the fuck is wrong with me? You need to have your leg checked out for health reasons. Stop worrying about what Riley is going to think when he sees your hairy snatch.
But I couldn
’
t seem to overcome my embarrassment.

“
You need to leave me alone for a minute. I have to pee.
”
Partial truth, I really did have to pee, but my gaze had snagged on an unopened pack of razors on the ledge of the bathtub next to some shave cream.
How convenient.
But seriously
…
How old am I?
The whole situation was proving the fact that love made you stupid no matter what age you are or the circumstances. Love lobotomizes the best of us. I mean
…
really. What the hell did I think was going to happen when my pants came off?

“
Two minutes and then I
’
m coming right back.
”
He glared over his shoulder before slamming the door behind him.

“
Five minutes!
”
I yelled, knowing that he would be lurking right outside the door.

I hobbled over to the toilet to do my business, scrambling for the razor and shave gel as soon as I was done. I kicked off my boots and tugged my pants down, wincing as the fabric slid over my injured leg. Blood had soaked through the bandage, giving me a sick feeling in my stomach as I imagined the mess it had to be underneath. Technically Riley could have treated the wound through the gaping hole in my pants like Ty had, but Riley probably wanted to get me out of my clothes when my brother was always trying to get me into more. I
’
d just managed to lather my bikini line when the bathroom door swung open.