Land of Monsters (Savage Lands #8)

Chapter 27

Ash

In the shadowy air Dzsinn had just faded away into, my name came hurling through the dark mist.

“Ash!” Warwick’s voice kneaded into my bones, a tone I knew better than I knew myself. After centuries of knowing each other, being at his side in every type of fight, I understood the smallest pitch difference.

Blood rushed up to my ears, my chest squeezing with fear as Warwick stomped in, a limp body in his arms.

“Wesley!” I strangled out, my gaze running over the two puncture marks carving through his gut and chest—holes the size of boar tusks or rhino horns.

Wesley gasped for air, sounding like a lung had been punctured, his eyes wide with terror, understanding what was happening. Each breath might be his last.

“Can you help him?” Warwick kneeled down, placing Wesley on the ground, Scorpion and Brexley right at his side as more yells came from behind them.

“We need a healer!” Eli and Cooper hollered. Their alpha, Cole, was draped in their grasp, holes gouged into his side.

“Fuck!” Lorcan dashed over, helping his brother as more injured came limping in. Birdie, Dom, Ryker, Croygen, Cooper, Gabby and some others were cut up and moving slowly.

“He’s bleeding out!” Brexley tried to cover Wesley’s wound. Her magic hummed around her, though it wasn’t as powerful as when she had the nectar. She could no longer yank lives out of death’s hands.

Nor could I.

“I can’t stop it.” I ripped at my shirt, using it to plug one of his wounds. “I don’t have any of my herbs.”

“Stay with us, Wes!” Brexley demanded. His body struggled to take in air, but I could see the glaze taking over his vibrant eyes, his skin ashen.

“No!” Scorpion ripped off his own shirt, blocking the other hole. “You are going to be fine.”

I placed my hands on his chest, pumping them for air, trying to pull from the earth, yet it barely responded. Like it had given enough to me, depleted its source. Tree fairies were healers, but through using nature’s herbs. We couldn’t just keep someone alive. What Raven and I had, what mates could create, wasn’t transferable. Not in the way Wesley needed.

“Cole!” Ember cried out, jerking my head to her, their alpha shaking violently on the ground. Dying.

“Lorcan! Ember!” Kennedy called out, and I could see her taking control, her head held high. “Get them through the doors to my healers! Now!”

Without hesitation, the pirates and dwellers lifted the injured, following Ember as Lorcan picked up his son, racing for the fae door.

“Wes, hold on, okay? We’re gonna get you help.” Brexley’s voice shook while blood soaked into my shirt. Wesley’s gaze was no longer fearful, his expression resigned. Death was claiming him.

Warwick leaned over to lift him, but Wesley placed his palm on his arm.

“Let me die here,” he struggled to say, wheezing loudly.

“Fuck off. You are not dying,” Scorpion snapped. “Not here, not ever, brother.”

“Wesley!” Birdie crawled to him, cuts running across her face and chest, akin to pincer wounds from a Stag beetle. “Don’t you fucking die on me. Don’t leave me alone with these assholes.”

He snorted, only making him choke on blood.

They had known each other for a long time. The stories of Scorpion, Maddox, Birdie, and Wesley went back even before they joined Andris’s group. Their bond was like Warwick, Kitty, and me. Family.

Wesley reached up, touching her face. “Don’t worry, B.” He brushed her blonde, bloody hair out of her eyes. “Maddox is waiting with a drink for me.”

A sob bucked out of Birdie. Scorpion’s nose flared, his eyes filling with liquid.

“Maddox can wait a while longer. We need you here.” I could hear the plea in his statement. I need you here.

Losing Maddox had ripped Scorpion up. Wesley was unraveling the seams Scorpion had just sewn back together.

“Take care of her,” Wesley ordered Scorpion, his chin flicking to Hanna. He dropped his gaze to Birdie. “And you take care of him.” He touched Birdie’s hand, glancing at Scorpion. “He’s gonna take this really hard and turn into an asshole again.”

“He’s already an asshole.” Birdie tried to tease, tears falling down her face. This was a person who never cried.

He threaded his hand into Birdie’s, a love so pure in his eyes. She was more than a friend. She was a little sister.

“Wes…” Panic trounced on Scorpion as his friend’s eyes shut for the final time.

A sob came from Brexley, her body shivering as if his soul slid through her on his way out, saying a final goodbye.

“NO!” Scorpion bayed, shaking his friend, trying to get him to wake up, but we all knew it was no use.

Brexley grabbed Scorpion, pulling him into her arms, whispering something in his ear, causing his body to slump over in grief. Birdie leaned her head into Wesley’s, kissing his cheek, tears falling from her face onto his skin.

I couldn’t take it, my heart having enough loss. Enough pain. And as much as I understood I could do nothing, watching another friend die, especially over something I got him into, burned at that wound that might never heal.

Standing up, I turned, my chest raging in agony and helplessness. I could barely breathe as I stumbled away in grief.

Raven’s green eyes met mine, her expression pained. She rushed into my arms, holding me, being the strength I needed, though I understood it was only temporary.

The queen stood yards away from us, her expression torn, her body pulled between wanting to follow her son and stay with her daughter.

Brushing her knotted hair back, I held Raven tightly to me. “You need to go.”

“What?” She jerked her head up, understanding my meaning. “No.”

“You have to.”

“No.” She furrowed her brow, shaking her head. “I’m not leaving you.”

“ Dziubu?, ” I whispered, trying to fight the selfishness in me that wanted to demand she stay with me forever. “Your family needs you right now.” I flicked my gaze quickly to her mother. “Your brother needs you.”

A sound worked up her throat, hitting the very target I knew it would. Her twin was as much a part of her as what we shared.

“I don’t want to leave you.” Her voice cracked.

“I know you don’t.” I cupped her face.

“Come with me.” She grasped at my torn shirt, but I could see she already knew my response. Knew the reality of our outcome. Our worlds were so different.

My family needed me. And I was not walking away from those people trapped below us, in a hell they might never recover from.

“It won’t be forever.” My voice skated the ground, my grip on her so tight. “I’ll come for you.”

She tried to hold back her sob when my mouth claimed hers, feeling like I was ripping my own heart out of my chest. My tongue twined with hers, kissing her so deep, I felt her dweller rumble.

“Go . ” I broke the kiss. “Go before I change my mind and claim you in front of everyone.”

“That’s only making me want to stay,” she muttered against my mouth.

In all the agony and pain, my lips twitched in a smile. “ Mroczny, kocham ci?.”

“I love you too.” She kissed me before turning away and running to her mother.

Their arms went around each other, holding tightly as they strode away. Raven’s green eyes found mine before they disappeared down the steps. My heart lurched up my throat, trailing after her like a lost child, wanting to go with her more than it wanted to stay in my chest.

A buzzing itchiness descended on me the moment she was gone, my legs wanting to run after her, my lungs not feeling like they could totally fill with air. I took a step; the pull to her spun my head.

But a soft sob drew my attention back to my friends. Caked blood, deep wounds, and grief covered them all. My revenge had painted a red path from Budapest to here, and my family followed it without question.

They all had been through so much and continued to stand up against corrupted power. Some might say we won, but those in battle learned quickly that there would be no winner in war. Only death and sacrifice.

Later that night, when dawn kissed the horizon, we ventured down into the tunnels, waking those who discovered a profound truth.

Just because you were left standing at the end didn’t always mean you were the lucky ones.