Kill of the Night [BXB]

Chapter 34

 I wake up with my captor sitting beside me. I lift my gaze to look at his face. It's Ryan. Honestly, it's not all too surprising. I had a feeling I'd see him again. The bruise around his neck is still visible. It might be permanent, judging by how intense it is now. He glances down at me and smiles. His skin is sickly pale.

I roll my head to look at the sky and shift my shoulder to escape some of the discomfort. I'm sitting against a tree. There's about a meter of space between us, and I don't have the energy to try a lunge. I doubt I'd even make it in time. I sense tension in Ryan's muscles, and I know he'll pounce on me if I do anything.

My wrists burn, my throat has gone numb, and my clothes are soaked with blood from both wounds. When I swallow, the back of my throat bites with raw pain. My mouth tastes like blood; not the good kind, but the stale and horrible kind that sends a shiver of disgust down my spine.

"Let go of me, you fucking—"

My heart lifts with hope when Rion emerges from the bushes. He stares down at me, and I take the chance to glance over him. He's a little ruffled up and flushed from exertion, but apart from that, his only restraints are silver cuffs. I know silver is worse on werewolves than vampires, so that's probably why he doesn't have a collar. That's good. That means he's in a better state to escape.

He looks back at the person who brought him forth. I faintly recognize her from the time of my first kidnapping, when she came to give us that measly Ziploc of white rice, and then I realize this stupid pack has kidnapped me twice now.

"Why—what is he doing here?" Rion breathes.

"Take a wild guess," she says. She pushes him forward, and he goes straight to me and kneels beside me. The girl takes a gun out of the back of her waistband and cocks it.

Rion touches my neck with both hands. I bite my lip and watch the rage fill his eyes. His jaw clenches hard, and he takes his hands away from my neck and looks past me. His face grows redder when his eyes land on Ryan.

"You did this?"

Ryan smirks. "I don't know. Maybe it was you."
Rion looks like he wants to lunge at him, but the handcuffs must be draining his energy, and he's at a clear disadvantage to the other alpha. "Why are we here?"

"Because I think you're both better off dead."

"Why?" Rion grinds out. I catch his eyes and shake my head slightly. His face softens.

"Because you're annoying."

Rion looks back at him, stonefaced. "Why aren't you killing us now, then?"

"Oh, one of you is dying. Just very slowly."

I look down and clench and unclench my fists. Rion stands and storms towards Ryan, but the girl standing with him points her gun at him. Rion freezes.

"Silver," the girl says.

Rion makes a tch noise and steps back. He sits beside me, so close our arms and legs touch. I lay my head on his shoulder, and his breaths grow strained with unexpressed rage.

I close my eyes and listen to the sounds of the forest. In the distance, a bird tweets, and the wind rustles the green softly. With my body rejecting the pain, it's almost a peaceful scene.

Something rustles nearby. I open my eyes.

A girl drops down from a tree. Her eyepatch is white this time, and a black and red Victorian dress falls around her ankles. She moves toward us and stops when Ryan's companion points her gun at her.

"Who are you?" she demands.

Great Aunt Marlene stares at her, a curious look in her eye.

The girl stalks forward. "You should get out of here, little girl. We've got bad stuff happening around here."