A Tangle of Hearts (A Shade of Vampire #44)(3)

The knife in my pocket weighed too much—on my mind and body.

“I’m fine,” I said, barely convincing myself.

Jovi cocked his head and lifted an eyebrow.

“I’m beating you six ways through Sunday and you never, NEVER go down this easy,” he replied and crossed his arms over his chest, not ready to let it go.

I couldn’t really blame him. We’d been training together for years, and he knew me better than most. I really was off my game.

I took a deep breath and looked in the distance, beyond the protective shield of the mansion, which shimmered like a nearly invisible membrane. Trees and shrubs prodded it from the swamp side, unable to penetrate. I wasn’t sure whether I should tell him about my dream, about the knife. The mission was clear; it was only a question of me deciding to do it. And the sight of her, curled up in her shell, sleeping for what seemed like an eternity, tore my heart to shreds.

My hand reached into my pocket instinctively. I decided to keep the dream a secret for a little while longer. Just until I figured it out myself. I would go see her again later and then decide what the best course of action was.

“I didn’t get much sleep,” I muttered, brushing the thoughts off and moving my head around enough to relax my trapezius muscles and get back to knocking the smirk off Jovi’s face.

“Boy, that is the lamest excuse I’ve ever heard you pull.” He chuckled, but his smile dropped quickly as I darted at him.

I bent down in my run and slammed into his torso.

He fell backward and hit the ground, and I followed with all my weight. It was his turn to get the air knocked out of his lungs. Quid pro quo.

“And this is the fastest I’ve seen you fall so far,” I grunted as we wrestled on the soft grass. Our feet pushed against the cool ground as we tried to prove that we were both perfectly okay, that this world wasn’t wrong, and that we could simply play-fight our way out of anything too dark, or too sad or too serious.

Pinned beneath me, Jovi shifted his arms between mine in an attempt to gain momentum and shove me away.

A scream rang out.

We both froze and looked toward where it had come from—beyond the shield, farther to the north.

Then a different kind of scream—more like a shrill—pierced through the rustle of swamp weeds and tall grass. It came from beyond the gnarly trees that framed the muddy waters around the plantation.

A chill rushed through me.

It sounded like death.





Jovi





[Victoria & Bastien’s son]





Up until that moment, my only concern had been getting Phoenix to concentrate on combat. He’d been zoned out, evasive, and dodging my questions all morning. He’d taken me by surprise during the last tackle, just enough to get me to stop worrying about him and turn my focus back to my pride, which had tumbled to the ground with me.

But the sounds of screaming brought everything to a screeching halt. Pinned beneath Phoenix in a not-so-flattering position, I swung my arms around until I knocked him off balance and broke free.

We looked at each other for a brief moment, then stretched our necks to locate the source of the sheer agony. All we saw were old trees curling outward from the depths of the jungle bordered by dark waters, sprawling weeds, and flocks of tall grass.

“What was that?” I asked, almost out of breath.

“I don’t know, but it’s not good,” Phoenix replied, his eyes on the jungle beyond the protective shield.

I rolled over and tuned my senses, hoping to catch the scent of whatever had screamed so horribly, but I only got a faint whiff of iron. Blood.

“Come on, Phoenix, you’re the one with the better sight here!” I said.

His eyes glistened in the sunlight, a familiar expression. His True Sight must have broken through the layers of damp wood and dark green foliage, when another shrill came from between the trees. It sounded much closer than before.

“Three… There’s three of them,” Phoenix said, his breath cut short, as if watching a suspenseful movie unraveling in real time.

“Three of what?”

“I… I’m trying to make them out.”

I rose to my knees and concentrated my gaze in the same direction, hoping to see something as well. A third scream carried echoes of unimaginable pain. It washed over us and sent tremors down my spine. My instincts were dangerously close to kicking in; I felt restless and ready to jump in and fight.

“They’re being hunted,” Phoenix continued, his fists clenched at his sides. “Two of them are down. They’re surrounded by some really nasty creatures… Shape-shifters…”

“What do we do?” I burst to my feet. My blood boiled. Nobody deserved to get torn to shreds by mindless creatures, to get hunted down like mere animals.

“We can’t go in by ourselves, Jovi,” Phoenix replied, his True Sight still watching the scene. His eyes grew wide, and he took a step back.

I heard branches breaking, footsteps on the grass, and the gasping breath of someone running out of the woods.

A woman staggered out from between the gnarly old trees and made her way toward the waters. She looked young, her body covered in tight animal skins and what looked like red and silver paint. Her hair was long, ink black, and tangled with twigs and leaves.