Wormwood Echoes (8 page)

And near dawn, the vampires fled. The Others who still lived followed.

The crew stood over the dead and dying, staring at each other, unable, for a few minutes, to speak.

They let blood drip from their blades as they acknowledged their wounds and allowed a tiredness that went beyond exhaustion to overtake them.

The fight was over.

And they lived on.

Good job, sweet thing.

She smiled.

“Berserker,” she murmured, and they all turned to look at the black-haired giant who stood with them.

“You thought I left you,” he said.

She said nothing and found it difficult to look into his eyes.

He strode to her then, snatched her off the ground and into his arms. He held her with so much force a human would have been crushed.

But
he
was crushed. He was crushed, and she deserved to take a little of the pain.

“Don’t ever give up on me,” he said. “Not even when I make you think you should.”

“You were gone,” she replied, her voice tight, her throat hurting.

He closed his eyes for a long, tortured second. “I know. I told you I’d never leave you.” His voice was deep and dark and it pierced her mind with the pain it held. “But I did.”

The dam burst then, and the emotions she’d held in check fought free, exploding from her damaged heart.

“Strad,” she whispered, and wrapped her arms around his neck. She buried her face against his warm, familiar flesh. He was alive, he was there, and he hadn’t left.

“What happened?” Jack asked, unwilling to give them more than a couple of minutes. “How the fuck did
you
get taken?” His voice was still suspicious, still unsure.

Strad ignored him and his anger. “Where’s Lex?” Lex, the only one who’d believed in the berserker’s loyalty.

Rune squeezed his neck. “Put me down.” And once her feet touched the ground, she turned to Raze. “Where did you take her?” she asked.

“To the cars.”

“How badly was she injured?” Strad asked, his eyes narrowing.

“She wasn’t injured,” Rune said. But she couldn’t say the words.

“She’s sick,” Denim said. “She’s…” Then he widened his eyes and looked at Levi. “Levi. She’s
sick.
”

Levi shook his head in silent denial.

Raze growled and waved his bloody hands impatiently. “She’s special. Nothing is happening to her.”

There was no doubt in his mind. If there had been, he’d have crumbled.

The rest of them weren’t so confident.

Owen walked away, his hand to his ribs. None of them called him back.

But he looked at her once, just once before he left, and his glance was bright with resolve.

She lingered on his retreating figure, but only for a moment. “Everyone to the Annex to get patched up. We need to get Lex checked out as well.” She took the berserker’s hand. “And while we’re there, you can tell us what the fuck happened to you.”

He nodded, so covered with blood she couldn’t tell how injured he was. Just like the rest of them.

She knew her hungry stare was eating his face,
devouring
it, and she didn’t really care who saw her need. “I am so fucking glad you’re…”

Alive, here, back.

Mine.

He grinned and squeezed her hand.

They walked from the graveyard more gingerly than when they’d walked in, a line of tired, injured warriors.

But the despair was less.

At least for her.

Fuck me.

“I got a text,” Strad said, later.

They’d had their wounds stitched and tended and had been debriefed—all of them but Owen. She hadn’t seen him since he’d left them at Wormwood.

They’d had their showers, had downed countless pots of coffee and sandwiches, and were waiting for word from Annex doctors about Lex’s illness.

Maybe it was something else. Maybe it wasn’t the rotting sickness.

Maybe.

Eugene had ensconced her into the Annex clinic, promising them that his people were hard at work on an antidote.

He seemed optimistic.

Rune didn’t believe his assurances for a second, but understood he needed to keep the crew somewhat hopeful.

Especially the twins.

The conference room in which they sat was warm and dim, and Rune had been dozing in her chair when the berserker’s voice roused her.

“Who texted you?” Levi asked. He stood against the wall with Denim. Whether they meant to or not, the twins closed ranks when one of them or Lex was in serious trouble.

“I have—
had
—a connection named Suzanne. She told me she’d found a link to…”

“Go on,” Rune said, her voice steady. “To what?”

“To the baby,” he said. “To the black-haired baby I promised to find for you.”

She put her fist to her stomach. “The baby? You got a lead on the baby?”

His long hair, still damp from his shower, slid over his shoulders when he shook his head. “It was a lie. There were no leads. And Suzanne is dead.” He met her stare, his own emotionless and dark. “It was a trap.”

She frowned, but said nothing, just waited for him to continue.

“How the fuck,” Jack asked, again, “did you get taken?”

“I was careless,” Strad answered, calmly.

Rune knew exactly how he’d walked into a trap. His mind had been on her. On fulfilling a promise to her. On imagining her joy when he brought her a fat, healthy, black-haired newborn. So he’d been careless.

She stood, not looking away from him, and walked to where he sat. Without hesitating, she leaned over, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him.

She closed her eyes and let her kiss say everything she wanted to say but couldn’t.

The conference room faded away. There was nothing but the berserker opening his mouth against hers, nothing but his tongue, nothing but his warm, sweet breath.

He buried his fingers in her hair and held her to him, and had she wanted to pull away, he wouldn’t have allowed it.

And finally, when he let her go, the room was empty.

Except for Owen.

She’d been so wrapped up in Strad she hadn’t heard him come into the room. Hadn’t even heard the others leaving.

He leaned back in his chair, watching them, his eyes…

God, what is that in his eyes?

Despair?

She couldn’t tell. Couldn’t read him.

The berserker pushed her gently away and stood. He padded to Owen, who tilted his head back to look up at the other man.

“Fuck you,” Owen said.

Strad smiled, but it wasn’t even close to being a real smile.
“Now,”
he said, “She’s mine. You’ll leave her alone.” He lowered his voice. “This time I’ll kill you. You won’t get another warning.”

His voice was almost casual.

Owen took his time standing, but when he was on his feet he got into the berserker’s space. “Your warnings don’t matter to me.
She
does.”

Both men touched their blades, their bodies humming with energy. They stared at each other, silent.

Rune walked away, her steps not quiet, but neither man called her back.

So she left them to their shit and went to see Lex.

“Who would want to take Strad Matheson,” Bill asked. “And why didn’t they kill him?”

She shook her head and stared through the glass window at Lex, glad of Bill’s company. “No idea. He doesn’t know, either.”

Lex moved restlessly, then sat up and turned her face toward the window, as though she knew Rune and Bill were there, watching her.

Doubtlessly she did.

“They just held him,” Bill said. “Didn’t ask him any questions, didn’t try to sell him to us, didn’t explain why they wanted him.”

“They beat the fuck out of him,” Rune said. “They did that.”

Whoever they were.

“I imagine,” Bill said, his voice slightly dry, “that he wasn’t exactly a quiet, obedient prisoner.”

She smiled. “Nope.”

Then she sobered. His wrists had been cut nearly to the bone from his attempts to free himself. The bastards who’d held him had beaten him with clubs to calm him down.

It hadn’t worked.

In the end, he’d been freed—by Gunnar and Dawn.

Two of his guards had stayed with him after the other two had left.

“Gunnar didn’t have a chance to kill either guard,”
the berserker had said.
“The female with him took care of them in seconds and without hesitation. And she had a good time doing it.”

She’d talk to Gunnar as soon as she had a chance. He would know something about the berserker’s abductors. She hoped.

“I told you I knew a little something about love,” Bill said.

She lifted an eyebrow. “While you’re in a gabby mood, Bill, why don’t you tell me what’s going on with you?” She waited until he looked at her. “Who is fucking with you? You know I’d take care of it.”

He stuck his hands in his trouser pockets. “I can handle my own problems. But thank you. If there’s a time when I need you to step in, I’ll be sure to notify you.”

She held up her hands. “Fine. I just want you to know I’m here.”

“I always know that.”

They watched Lex for five minutes before either of them spoke again.

“She isn’t going to get better, is she?”

He was silent for a moment. “No.”

“I don’t know what to do, Bill. We can’t lose her. There has to be something we can do.”

“Eugene is working on it.”

“She can’t call her demon. I tried feeding her. Didn’t help.”

“Even your blood and bite can’t fix this. Eugene told me…”

“What?” Were they keeping shit from her? Yeah. And she wasn’t surprised.

“He said he’s never seen anything like this.”

She blew out a hard breath. “Because it’s not from here.”

He nodded.

“I have to go there,” she said. “I have to find the cure. Bring it back—”

“Save the world,” he said. “You have to save the world.”

“I have to save Lex,” she murmured. “The world be damned.”

One of hers was the only thing strong enough to send her to Damascus. A world full of rotting Others wouldn’t have motivated her to go.

She didn’t care if that was selfish.

Because every time she thought about going to the other world, something stirred inside her.

Gave her a bad, bad feeling.

Going there was not a good idea. But she would go.

“Will you tell Lex you’re going?” Bill asked.

“Yeah. But I’m sure she already knows.”

And if the rotting sickness didn’t kill Lex first, the withdrawals would. So Rune had to hurry. She
couldn’t
get trapped there.

Couldn’t.

“The crew?”

“I don’t know. I don’t even know how I’ll get there. Or when. Or if the crew can cross over with me. I just…” She punched her thigh. “I don’t fucking
know.”

And she was alone.

“If you can take them, you should take them.” He looked at her then, and as she had a long time ago, she got a sudden sense that she knew nothing about him. Not really.

“Too risky.”

“They belong to you.”

“Yeah,” she said. “I can’t save the world all by myself.” She tried a grin, but was pretty sure she failed.

“You probably could,” he said, mildly, “but you shouldn’t have to.”

Suddenly uncomfortable, she changed the subject. “How’s Fie?”

Only that wasn’t really changing the subject. Both of them knew Fie wanted to go with her. Maybe
needed
to go with her.

The mystery that was Fie…

“George is dead,” Bill said, suddenly.

“Fuck no,” she said. “Why wasn’t I told?”

“You were busy.”

“What happened?”

“He just stopped breathing.” He hesitated. “The same night Fie broke free of her net.”

She looked at him.

“Coincidence,” he said.

“Elizabeth—”

“Didn’t want you to know,” he interrupted.

“Why the fuck not?”

He said nothing.

“The world’s an asshole,” she said. And Elizabeth didn’t want her blaming Fie.

“Yes” he agreed. “And it’s spewing shit all over us.”

She was flying blind. Much more blind than Lex.

She knew nothing at all.

Nothing.

And maybe, no one.

She parked outside her house, trying to pretend her heart wasn’t racing at the thought of lying once again in the berserker’s arms.

Nothing was right with the world, not really—but there was that one little thing that gave her some peace.

Lying with the berserker.

Thoughts of fucking Owen didn’t disappear just because Strad Matheson existed. They were still there, still strong, and still made her shiver with anticipation.

But the berserker…

Would she eventually taste Owen, try him out, give in to her desire to see what he’d be like naked and hot and rough?

Owen called to her¸ no matter how hard Strad might wish otherwise.

Someday she might answer.

Maybe.

“But today is not that day,” she murmured.

So she strode toward her house, her mind eager with thoughts of the waiting berserker and dark with thoughts of the cowboy.

When Owen stepped out of the shadows at the corner of her house, she wasn’t surprised even a little bit.

“One thing,” he said, before she could speak.

“What?”

He smiled slightly and walked to her, and when he was standing close enough to touch her, he pushed back his hat and stared down at her with unreadable eyes.

“Owen. You shouldn’t.” She sounded weak.

Where the cowboy was concerned, she was so fucking weak.

“You and I aren’t finished, Rune. No matter what happens, just remember that. We’re not finished.”

“What’s going to happen?” she asked, frowning.

“Just…” He shook his head, then leaned down until his lips almost touched hers. “When you’re fucking him, remember how it feels to want me.”

He grabbed her hand and pressed it against the front of his jeans.

She shuddered. “God, Owen. Fuck.” And before she pulled away, she squeezed the hard bulge straining beneath the soft fabric of his clothes.

She wanted him. That wasn’t even a question.

That didn’t make her a bad person. It made her…human.

She took a deep breath and stepped back. “Go home, cowboy.”

He slid his hot, hot stare to her lips. “My time will come.”

“You need to stay out of the berserker’s way.” She stepped past him, then turned back. “You’re part of Shiv Crew. I don’t want to lose you.” Then, she went on, almost unwilling to let the next words leave her mouth. “You need to stop chasing me. I have to get shit straight in my head. You got it?”

Yeah, maybe it was more than that, but that was all she was willing to say.

He refused to answer, just watched her, his eyes narrowed and glittering with need. Desire.

She felt his hot stare on her back all the way to the house. Even after she slipped inside and shut the door behind her, after she leaned against it trying to get her breath back, she felt his stare.

Fucking cowboy.

“Rune.”

“Fuck!” She put a hand to her chest. “Dammit, Berserker.”

He leaned against the wall, his big arms crossed, watching her.

Shit.

“I’m going to have to kill him.”

“No, you’re not.” She hoped her hand wasn’t shaking when she pushed her hair out of her eyes. “I belong to no one but my fucking monster.”

“You’re wrong,” he said, and like a snake, he uncoiled and shot a hand out to grab her wrist.

She jerked free, but even as strong as she was it took some effort.

She walked past him, down the hall and into her bedroom, his presence behind her making the fine hair rise on the back of her neck.

As though he were a threat.

The kind of threat she liked.

Fuck me.

She shuddered.

She wasn’t ready for him when he turned her toward him and forced her wrists behind her back. He held her tightly, painfully, with one hand, tangling his other hand in her hair. “You need the danger of him,” he said.

The berserker used to scare you…

She started to speak, to deny, maybe, but all that came out was a ragged breath.

“Do you trust me?” he asked.

She just stared at him, unable to say a word.

“Trust me, Rune,” he murmured.

“I’m fucked up,” she whispered, not even sure if she’d spoken the words or thought them.

“I love you. But I can’t be everything you need me to be until you trust me.” He tightened his grip on her wrists. “Until you believe that I fucking love you.”

Still, she said nothing, just stared up into his eyes.

“I see the anger in your face,” he said, his voice soft, and so dark. “But I don’t give a fuck for your anger. I know it’s the only defense you have.”

He massaged the back of her head, gently. “I need only one thing from you. Your trust. When you trust me, you’ll know I’ll never hurt you again on purpose. When you trust me, you’ll understand that no matter what you do, no matter what you say or where you go or who you fuck, I’m not going anywhere.”

Bloody tears begin to itch their way down her cheeks before he was even close to being finished speaking.

“But if I want to kill a motherfucker for touching you, I’ll kill him. That’s not up to you. Do you understand?”

Yeah, she understood.

She didn’t control the berserker.

“I miss Z,” she said, before she even knew she needed to say it. “I miss him so fucking much.”

He sighed and released her wrists, then wrapped her in his arms. “I know.”

He didn’t ask her what Z had to do with anything.

There was no need. He already knew.

Owen is not Z.

But if Owen weren’t careful, he’d be dead.

Just like Z.