BLOOD WAR

chapter 4:3

4.3 Golden Eyes

Dedicated to Darren Deanl

They materialized from darkness itself. One stalked

out of the woods behind Dante, its eyes glowing

harsh and yellow. And though Nika didn't lift her

gaze off the thieving boy who'd tricked her, she

sensed others. Two on the sides, perhaps another

at her back.

"Nika," Miles warned from her right flank, "we're

outnumbered."

She willed her hands not to shake as she held the

gun, its barrel pointed straight at Dante's chest.

She'd never had good aim, but if she got a few feet

closer, she knew she could hit him.

"Your friend is right," he said, and Nika almost felt

sick at the oozing arrogance. "But we don't have too

outnumber you to win this fight. Which is why you

should do the smart thing and lower the weapon."

"Just listen to him," Elliot urged.

"Shut up," Nika hissed. She didn't need him, of all

people, ordering her around. Not now. Not ever.

Dante was just trying to scare them into

cooperation. But he'd presented no real proof that

his allies were Volkari, despite their monstrous

sizes, or the spark of intelligence in their eyes.

They weren't ordinary wolves, but there had to be

another explanation.

As if to taunt her, a beast in her periphery snapped

its jaws and growled. "Surely, you know that

Volkari aren't known for being patient," said Dante.

He prowled closer. Now would be the chance to

shoot him, but what if she missed? And even if she

hit the mark, she wouldn't be able to put down the

wolves before they began ripping into her friends.

Hating both herself and Dante, Nika ground out, "If

Idrop the gun, will you let us go?"

"Most of you.

Ice formed in Nika's veins, especially when Miles

came up beside her with his hands raised. "If you

want someone, take me."

Grinning, Dante said, "A gallant effort, but l'm

afraid you aren't the one we need."

Nika didn't let herself acknowledge the wave of

relief, and instead considered letting them

Elliot. He was the son of a Minister, after all. The

Mirza family had wealth and influence, which

Dante could procure by holding Elliot for ransom.

But then again, her own father was a Minister, and

equally capable of providing those things. Nika

wondered how Markos might have responded.

Might he pay any sum, perform any deed, to save

her? Nika was his only family, after all. Surely, he'd

want to salvage the good Dimitrovich name.

"Iflgo with you," Nika said to Dante, "promise not

to lay a finger on any of them."

Even Elliot. Because, even though she despised

him, Nika knew Lu would've been devastated if he

were harmed.

"While that seems like a lot of fun, halfblood, we

don't need you, either."

Nika was a blink away from shooting him in the

foot just to find out who he intended to kidnap.

But straight overhead, a blur of crimson dropped

from the trees, then someone tackled her to the

ground.

As Nika flattened on the grass, the gun flew out of

havauin andLiddsdintadunt

her grip and skidded into a dusty patch of eath.

gnoring the twinge from her collision with the

ground, she leapt up again, whirling and raising

her fists.

Bullets be damned. She would fight with her own

two hands.

Her breath hitched in her throat as she met the

face of a woman with sapphire eyes and coils of

hair that looked like they'd been drenched in

blood. And before she could wonder where the

woman had come from, a grunt crackled from

behind. Remembering the enemy at her back, Nika

spun around to find Dante only a few strides away.

He was on the ground, his body warping. Shifting.

Bones snapped. Flesh ripped and stretched over

muscles. Spittle and snarls flew from his mouth,

which extended in the shape of a lupine muzzle.

Nika staggered as Dante exploded, the shift

rippling through him with ravenous intent. And she

scarcely believed her own eyes as he landed on

four paws, rising over her in the form of a red-

brown wolf.

Too absorbed with her own shock, Nika didn't

realize what was happening until she heard Lu's

scream. It shattered the silence, the air, the night

itself. And Nika whirled around just in time to see

the red-haired woman snatch her sister-friend off

the ground.

Elliot, to his credit, tried clinging to Lu, but the

woman kicked him in the chest. He flew back with

a cry and slammed down fifteen feet away.

Something cracked upon impact, and Jade rushed

to defend him as he groaned in pain.

Nika's heart raced. Whoever the woman was, she

was impossibly strong and ten times faster than

any Daemonstri Nika had seen. In a blur, the red-

haired lady darted for the forest, Lu writhing and

screaming in her arms. Three of the wolves

followed, flocking around them as if to formna

protective barrier.

"Lu!" Nika bellowed.

She was moving before she was thinking.

Not Lu. Anyone but Lu.

They weren't just friends. They were sisters. Not by

blood, but in every other way that mattered.

They'd been raised together, and they would die

together. It had been a silent promise through

seventeen years of intimate companionship.

Nika ran, hard and fast. All she could do was follow

Iu's cries which faded into the forest like tendrils

Lu's cries, which taded into ühe torest iike tendrisS

of smoke in frigid air. But she barely got three

strides before something slammed into her.

The next thing she knew was the taste of grass, the

hot liquid that slid down her temple, and a searing

pain in her thigh. She blinked away the spots in her

vision to find a wolf standing over her.

Red-brown fur, golden eyes, a snarl that looked to0

much like a smile. Dante.

He pressed a giant paw into her leg, claws piercing

through skin and latching on tight. An involuntary

screech escaped her. And as she stared into his

mouth, she remembered a lesson from her earliest

years of school:

When bitten by a Volkari in wolf form, the member

of another Daemonstri race will die... The bite of

a Volkari is always lethal, and it only takes one to

do the deed

The recollection had fear tearing Nika apart, and

she thrashed and struggled to find an escape.

"Stop!"

It was Miles who shouted. Nika craned her neck to

find him aiming the pistol at the wolf's head.

Dante's canine mouth split open further. A

mocking smile.

No no no no no no no

Nika twisted as a familiar hand fell onto the

ground, her pistol clattering out of it. Blood soaked

through the dirt with relentless haste, and its

source wasn't moving. Or breathing. Or blinking.

It was Miles. And by the vacant glaze of his eyes,

she knew that he was gone.

A nightmare-this must be a nightmare.

Because Nika Dimitrovich would not accept this as

a reality. She couldn't. And yet... Lu's screams

were but an echo, smothered by the dense forest,

and Miles was motionless.

Spewing profanities, she writhed and raged

beneath Dante's animal form, focusing on the

silver wolf who stood over Miles's lifeless body,

blood dripping from its maw.

She would kill them. All of them. She would ruin

the Volkari race, put them back into extinction,

where they rightfully belonged.

Just when Nika tore her leg free of Dante's claws,

her ears exploded, ringing so violently that her

thoughts became a diluted mess. Clutching her

head, she curled over her knees and gritted her

teeth against the onslaught. Muffled noise met her.

Was it a screeching wind? No-for the trees were

still and silent. Perhaps a mighty thunder? But the

sky was clear, the moon luminescent.

A great pressure crushed her skull. And then-

voices.

"We weren't supposed to kill anyone," Dante

exclaimed.

"He would have shot you," another man replied,

his wordsa low and callous grind.

A forceful throb pounded through Nika's skull. She

crashed onto her back.

"What's wrong with this one?" said the man.

"I don't know," said Dante.

His massive wolf head appeared above her, and he

studied her face intently. If she hadn't known

better, she might have mistaken it for concern.

"The moon is descending. We need to go."

Footfall thudded the earth, then twigs cracked and

leaves hissed as something big and fast tore

through the forest.

When the sounds faded, Dante peered down.

"Remember, halfblood, you're alive because of

me."

Nika gaped in horror. His mouth wasn't moving,

and yet, he was speaking. But once his words

settled, her sentiments shifted entirely. A pure,

cleansing rage swept through her.

"Don't call me halfblood."

She could have sworn he smiled. When a mighty

howl shook the earth, Dante retreated in the

opposite direction, his gaze lingering on Nika.

Then he dove into the shadowy trees, and there

was nothing but the hush of the woods to soothe

her unsteady heart.