Chapter 7

I am a fast runner. But the kalhyi are faster.

I don't count how many of them are there. But they are a big number. And all of them catch up to me in no time. One of them lands a slight blow to my leg. I don't falter. Show pain and you're as good as dead. With a swift, decisive motion, I drive my elbow into its throat. It falls back, immediately going still.

I don't stop to monitor its ability to move again and bolt through the endless rows of cars. That's when it happens. Something rakes across my front, sharp and swift. Claws. A loud roar renders the place silent and only when my legs buckle and I come face to face with the ground do I realise it was my roar.

Heavy weight pushes me further into the ground. My vision swims with stars. With a single thundering growl, I heave out my claw from under me and dig it into the weight's side with all my might. An even more tremendous wail is let loose at my gesture. I hoist myself up from the side and push the weight from over me.

Another kalhyi goes still besides me, it's eyes turning from white to black.

I force myself to move, my determination outweighing the agony and roll to my feet. My vision is going dark. But I don't look back as I run, each step a battle against darkness.

The underground parking lot is

dimly lit, the flickering fluorescent lights casting eerie shadows on the concrete walls. The pain is a relentless, burning agony that seems to seep into my very bones. My breath comes in short, sharp gasps as I dart between cars, my ears attuned to the faintest sounds of pursuit. I know I have to keep moving, to escape, but the pain is overwhelming, hindering my way to an escape.

So I skid to a halt behind a battered sedan, my back pressed against the cold metal. I close my eyes, willing my racing heart to slow. My mind grows foggy, each thought sluggish and disjointed. I pull up my shirt. Four deep gashes marre my skin, just beneath my chest, each one oozing dark, viscous blood. The kalhyi missed my heart by mere inches. The blood isn't that much but I can feel myself losing the basic senses of scent, hearing and sight.

I know they are close. The echo of footsteps reverberate through the cavernous space. I tear my cotton top in half and tightly bind it around my chest. I have to run again.

"You can't hide forever, Leona," Valis's voice cuts through the muffled sounds. "Come out, beg at my feet and I might let you live."

He is taunting. I am fully aware he can easily find me, his senses are intact while I am losing mine for whatever reason.

How could he? Is all that's ringing in my head like a melody. I trusted him for once in my life.

Once. And now, never again.

I know my time is running out. The thought of dying here, alone and defeated, scares me.

I sense Valis coming closer. "Leona," he drawls in a teasing tone.

Tears mix with the blood on my face as I whisper a silent goodbye to the life I fought so hard to hold onto. From fleeing the clutches of rogues, seeing my brother give his life just so I could live, to now. I mourn my brother, but more than that I mourn that his death may have been for nothing. It makes me want to scream. It makes me want to kill everyone.

I brace myself, ready to accept the end. But all I hear is the sudden and quick roar of engines shattering the deafening silence. Cars screech to a halt, doors slamming open. The air is suddenly filled with the sound of a fierce battle—snarls, growls, the thud of bodies colliding. I can't see what's happening, but I know reinforcements have arrived. I cling to the hope that they're on my side.

I press a trembling hand to the wound, trying to stem the flow of blood. My head swims with pain and exhaustion, my body teetering on the brink of collapse.

That's when suddenly everything is silent again. And amidst it all, I catch a familiar scent—a scent that cuts through the haze of pain and fear. I stop breathing for a second.

My mate. He's here.

As if the new information makes my body forget it's on the verge of death, I stand. Every muscle protests, but I ignore the pain. I need to see him, to know he's here. I stagger out from behind the car, my vision swimming, and there he is. Valis and the rogues are gone. Twenty to twenty-five kalhyi are piled at one side. Dead.

There are seven people in front of me, dressed in the same black from top to bottom. They all turn to me as I stagger forward.

Everything is slow. Torturously slow.

And there he is, my mate, standing across from me.

Our eyes meet.

Every single trail of rational or panicked thought leaves my mind like it was never there. My mate takes a step forward but he seems hesitant as if he thinks I will run away from him again.

Something in me clicks at this exact moment. Like a key turning in a lock. For the first time in my life I run to someone and not from someone.

I cover the ground between us swiftly.

I don't register the pain it causes me, I don't register my legs wobbling with each step, my strength rapidly waning.

I collapse into my mate's arms, immediately melting from relief, like he is the only thing that makes sense in this forsaken world of mine. My mate may have expected a few things from me—explanations, I would guess—but when he goes stiff, I conclude my mate never expected me to hug him and I have no right to blame him.

The second we touch a quiet whimper escapes my quivering lips.

"You're here," I breathe onto his neck. "You're here. You didn't go. You're here."

Refusing to look into his eyes, I rest the tip of my forehead on his chest and tighten my hold around his taut body.

"You're here." He didn't leave.