He howled and grabbed his arm while I rolled away and fell to the floor. I didn’t look back, I didn’t have time. I needed to breathe, to get my strength back, to find something to hold him off.
I gasped and stumbled to my feet, moving behind what I now saw was a table to scan the stage for a weapon. My gaze fell on an electric guitar, a prop from the musical being rehearsed.
I ran for it, throwing everything I had left into getting my hands on that guitar. If I could just hit him once, stun him, I could maybe…
My fingers wrapped firmly around the neck of the guitar, and I swung it up and around, then froze as my eyes adjusted and I saw the gun pointed straight at my head.
Chapter 24
I dropped the guitar to the stage floor as my fingers went numb with cold.
I’d faced death so many times today that I thought I’d get used to it or, at least, come to terms with the fear that bloomed bright and fierce in my chest, but no.
I stared at the gun for a long moment, unable to break my gaze. As I looked at the weapon, though, I understood that it wasn’t what would kill me. I shifted my gaze to what would. Viktor.
He was watching me with those familiar blue eyes that glittered now with triumph and satisfaction and I wondered if my real father’s eyes had been the same. I thought of my dad, the sweet, simple man who’d sang me to sleep at night as a child and danced with me at my high school prom, and wished I could climb into his arms one more time.
Mom would cry, I knew. She’d be strong and stalwart for dad, but, at night, when the lights were down and she thought no one was listening, she’d cry for me and for the years we wouldn’t have together.
Sara and Bethany would be devastated and they’d need each other more than ever. We’d planned so much of our lives together, growing older, getting married, having children. This was supposed to have been a minor detour in our plan. I grieved for the lives we’d planned.
My eyes shifted, looking out into the seating area to where Bash still slumped. There was something there, something important and big, something growing beyond our control. It would be over before it had even had a chance to begin. I closed my eyes and wished for more time.
“He closed his eyes, too, you know,” Viktor said quietly with what struck me as an edge of regret. It made him sound human.
Strange, I thought, you don’t really expect a psychopath to feel regret.
I opened my eyes and looked straight into his. He’d stood above my parents and murdered them in cold blood, he’d said as much. Spite and hatred fueled me driving away the fatigue and hopelessness. I wouldn’t give him the peace of going gently into that dark night with my eyes closed. No, he’d have to look me in the eye when he pulled the trigger.
A ghost of a smile lifted his lips then he pulled them tight again and sighed. “This right here is exactly why you have to die, little wolf.” He shook his head. “There’s too much of me in you. When The Sisterhood told you the truth of who you are, you’d have come for my Alphaship. It’s better this way.” He murmured the words as if trying to convince himself, then took a deep breath and tightened his finger on the trigger.
“No!” The shout resonated through the auditorium and, for a split second, Viktor’s attention deviated from me. I threw myself to the side as the gun exploded, sending a silver bullet crashing through the set walls and into the concrete behind.
I grabbed the guitar and pulled back as far as my injured shoulder would let me, then crashed it into Viktor’s shins.
The crunch of bones breaking met my ears and filled me with just enough hope to have me moving, scrambling to my feet and shoving whatever I could find back at him. A roar of pain rent the air so loud it seemed to grab me by the throat and squeeze but, I kept moving.
Another shot ripped through the air and, for a moment, time stilled and I was free, I’d made it out of the horror. I saw the stage door in front of me and knew that if I could just reach it, I’d be safe.
Agony erupted everywhere and I was flying, my arms thrown out in front of me, my heart exploding in my chest. The bullet slammed into my thigh and I landed in a heap of blood, torn flesh, and deadly poison.
I pressed a hand to the wound and pressed hard, cursing myself for being too slow, and looked up into hard blue eyes and bared canines.
Viktor’s wolf was impressive. His fur was a thick mahogany color, less vibrant than mine but beautiful all the same. Only, it wasn’t beauty I was thinking of now as he lowered his shoulders, bunched his hind legs, and prepared to attack.
A mass of ebony fur slammed into Viktor, taking them both down in a tumble of limbs and snarls. I pushed back, dragging my leg and leaving a trail of silver tainted blood as I went, trying to get away from the snapping teeth.
Bash, my head snapped towards the auditorium seating. His seat was empty.
It was Bash. My heart flew into my throat as the battle raged, each man holding their own because they were still both injured. Viktor’s change had helped heal his broken bones but they were still fragile and Bash was taking advantage of that. He stalked around the older man and pounced quickly, getting in nips that tore at flesh and spilled blood.
My wolf scented the blood and wanted to change, to throw her weight in the battle and fight alongside her mate. My mouth fell open in shock at that thought, at the realization that my wolf thought of Bash as hers already. I was desperate to shift, but there was silver in my blood.
I tore my pocket open, the one I’d stored the extra antidote in, and pulled out a needle. My hands were trembling, so much I dropped the needle twice before I managed to extract enough Argyria sanitatem to fill the vial. There was just enough left when I finished for one more dose. Xavier, I prayed to the Old Ones, hang in there.
My pants were soaked with blood and tore easily to reveal the bullet wound. Already I could see the tiny silver lines that would snake out and poison me. I moved my hand around to the back of my thigh and probed carefully, sobbing out a cry of relief when I found a hole in the muscle. The bullet had gone straight through, I wouldn’t have to dig it out.
I positioned the needle in the muscle next to the wound and pushed until it was all the way in, then lowered the plunger. The antidote felt like ice water in my veins but it would do the trick, I’d seen it bring Daniella back from the brink, after all.
I wouldn’t be able to shift, though, not until all of the silver was eliminated from my body. Until then, I’d just have to fight with what I had.
The gun lay on the floor, discarded for teeth and fur. I pulled myself across the floor and grabbed it, cradling it for a moment before realizing there had to be a good reason Viktor would abandon it for his wolf.
I grasped it by the handle, careful not to touch the trigger, and brought it closer so I could see the magazine release. One click and the magazine dropped free, empty of bullets, into my hand. I eyed the gun again and reached for the top part. I’d seen enough movies and guns in real life to know that you always had to check for one in the chamber. I pulled back and peered inside. No bullet, the chamber was empty.
“Useless piece of shit,” I muttered, tossing it to the floor beside me. I tried to push off the floor but had to bite back a cry when my injured arm refused to work. “Damnit,” I ground my teeth together and used my other arm to get up.
I was going to fight as long as there was breath left in my lungs.
My toe hitched on a piece of broken table and I leaned down to grab a long shard that would have made even Buffy happy. It was jagged on one end and thick on the other, a perfect Mr. Pointy if I ever saw one.