Chapter 5 Nowhere left to run
The hospital seemed to shake as wolves answered his call. Howls of submission and rage echoed through the streets.
“Vane wait,” my mother said. “You do not even know what happened out there.”
“Do I need a reason to kill a vampire who came within an inch of my bloodline?” Vane replied. “He almost killed my daughter. That is all I need to know.”
He turned on his heel his claws still fully extended and marched out to lead the hunt himself.
My mother caught my hand her grip tight and desperate. “Come on. You are not strong enough. Back to bed.”
I stood frozen in the doorway instead staring at the bloody sheets and the smashed window. I did not know who that boy was. I did not know why he had looked at me that way on the road. Or why my own heart had ached in answer.
But as the city erupted into a hunt I found myself hoping they would not find him.
MALAKAI
The rain battered my face washing away blood that refused to clot.
I dragged myself through the streets clinging to the houses for cover. The medical bandages wrapped tightly around my ribs were already soaked through. I had lost far too much blood in the crash and my vampire speed was massively drained.
Deep in my chest the Vorago clawed. The agonizing heartbeat demanded I turn around. It wanted me to go back to the hospital. Back to the werewolf whose eyes I had met through the shattered windshield.
Waking up in that secure ward had been a nightmare. I had regained consciousness just in time to hear her Alpha father roaring on the other side of the wall. He wanted me dead for merely surviving a crash with his daughter. I did not wait for him to open the door. I gathered every ounce of strength left in my broken body, smashed the glass window and dropped two stories into the downpour.
A chilling howl ripped through the fog. Then another answered from the south. Then a third from the east.
They were organizing. And I knew it was because of me.
I needed a sanctuary. Henrik Dahl’s house was three blocks away. We used to race cars together on the weekends before Dmitri Volkov made Ravnehall a living hell.
I reached Henrik’s door and slammed my fist against the wood.
The bolt clicked. Henrik stood in the doorway in a loose sweater. He took one look at my pale blood soaked face grabbed my shirt and hauled me inside without a single word.
“What the hell happened to you?” Henrik demanded tossing me a towel.
I caught it with a bloody hand. “Dmitri happened.”
Henrik’s eyes narrowed. “Is he dead?”
“i make sure of it.”
“Malakai,” he said my name like a warning. “Do you understand what you have done?”
“I understand exactly what I have done.” My voice came out flatter than I meant it to.
“Then why do you look like you got hit by a truck and not like a man who just won a fight?”
“Because I also crashed a car into a werewolf.”
"All this in one night?" He asked in shock. I pressed the towel harder against my ribs. “It is a long story. One I do not have the leisure of breaking down right now. I need your phone.”
Hesitation flare in his eyes before dropping to the blood spreading across my shirt. Without pressing further he pulled his mobile from his pocket and tossed it. I caught it and dialed Halloway.
HALLOWAY
The thud of dirt hitting flesh echoed in the Norwegian pine forest.
Dmitri Volkov lay at the bottom of a dug grave flanked by his two dead guards.
“Hey,” Halloway called out.
Silas looked up from his shovel. Halloway pointed into the tree line. “A car is coming.”
Silas dropped his shovel turning frantically toward the road. “Where? I do not see anything.”
“yeah, me too” Halloway said quietly.
Silas turned back toward him.
“What do you—”
Halloway's hand closed around his throat.
Silas's eyes widened.
“Chief?”
He never got the chance to finish.
Halloway twisted his head with all the strength he could gather. A brutal snap echoed through the pines. Before the driver could even hit the ground Halloway drew a hunting knife and opened his throat.
Silas collapsed clutching his neck as blood poured over his fingers. He choked his eyes locking onto Halloway uncomprehending before they went still. Halloway grabbed the dead driver by the collar and throw him into the pit with the dead Russians.
The phone in Halloway’s pocket buzzed. He wiped the bloody blade on his slacks and answered.
“Malakai,” Halloway said smoothly. “Where are you?”
“I am still in Oslo,” Malakai’s voice came through the speaker.
Halloway stopped wiping the blade. “Lord Nikolai can arrive here at any moment. Why the hell are you still in oslo?.”
“My car crashed in the mountains,” Malakai explained. “I woke up in a werewolf medical facility. Their Alpha is currently tearing the city apart looking for me.”
“Send me your coordinates. I will drive you to the airport myself.”
“Where is Silas?” Malakai asked noticing the eerie silence on the other end.
Halloway looked down into the open grave. “Silas knew too much. Your father gave clear orders. Leave no witnesses. I only trust myself.”
He kicked a pile of dirt over Silas’s face.
“Stay put,” Halloway commanded. “Ensure no one sees you. Whoever does will have to be taken care of. I will come get you the second these bodies are buried.”
“Halloway.” Malakai’s voice went tight. “Silas has been my driver for two years.”
“I know. But I still do not trust him not to rat us out,” Halloway said flatly. “That is the job, Malakai. Yours and mine. Unless you want to leave the Von Voss without an heir.”
The line went dead.
MALAKAI
I lowered the phone. The quiet beep of the disconnected call filled the living room.
I turned around.
Henrik stood ten feet away. The colors had vanished from his face replaced with fear.
His vampire hearing was just as keen as mine. He had heard every single word echoing from the phone. He knew I had just sparked a war by killing the Winter Heir and he had just heard Halloway’s direct orders from the Lord of London.
“Henrik,” I said his name carefully the way you would approach a spooked animal. “You did not hear that right ?”
“I heard all of it.” His voice shook.
The tension between us stretched longer than the war outside.
