Wildblood

Chapter 48

48

Kai

Kai knew he’d been following the right trail when every bone in his body broke mid-run. After realizing the leshy had come for Pyotr and that Alina was missing, Kai bolted from the mansion without a single fuck given for what the cameras caught. The second he closed in on father and daughter, the transition struck him like a freight train. He didn’t bother fighting it. Clothes abandoned, every cell on fire, he pushed past the limits of flesh, bone, and blood. When he saw the gun pointed at Caelan—at Miya—he didn’t think twice.

The first bullet went straight through muscle, but the second clipped his lung. That was enough to level him, made it difficult to suck the air back in. Pain streaked through his chest, sawing at his ribs as he battled to stay focused. When that damn gun gave a final impotent click, Kai knew he’d gotten lucky. Another lead nugget to the right spot might’ve sealed his fate.

Ama was a blur of white, but his ears were trained on Miya. Her raw, throat-rending scream was the last thing he heard before his world went dark.

Kai awoke as a human, no recollection of the transition to naked skin and a voice that formed words. The first one out of his mouth was fuck.

He wrapped an arm around his ribs and grimaced, medical gauze meeting his fingertips. He breathed in slowly, one side of his chest tight, achy, still limited in capacity. The torn tissue had likely knitted itself together just enough to stop the air from leaking through his pleural wall and adding pressure to the sad sack that was his mangled lung. It would reinflate by morning, but until then, he’d have the cardio of an eighth-grade asthmatic in gym class.

“You’re awake.”

Kai’s head lolled to the side. Ama sat on the floor of the cramped apartment, her back against the wall. She too had her wounds wrapped, though Kai blinked away surprise at seeing her in Miya’s clothes. They were too big, swallowing Ama’s limbs. Her legs were bare—easy access to the bandages—and Kai realized that despite their similarities, the white wolf healed slower than he did. Blood had seeped through the gauze around her thigh, and she appeared content to limit her movements.

“I feel like shit.” Kai pushed up on one elbow, inching his way into a seated position. Ripper scampered past him, apparently disturbed that he was still alive. Kai realized he was on the floor, towels spread under him to catch the mess. They were soiled, but his bandages looked clean. “What happened?”

“You nearly died.” She shrugged. “I had to dig a bullet out of your chest. You’re lucky you didn’t drown in your own blood.”

Kai squeezed his eyes shut and groaned. “Miya and Caelan?”

“Safe,” Ama said softly. “Physically, anyway.”

“Great.” It came out glum. “Can’t believe I missed his fucking throat.”

“You were in a bind.”

Disbelief wrinkled Kai’s brow. Had she just defended him?

She sighed, gaze sliding to the adjacent wall. “You did the best you could, and it was enough, albeit at your own expense.”

Silence curdled the air, all his sharp wit leaving him. “You held the fort down,” he finally mustered. “Team effort…I guess.”

She managed a half-smile, a lazy curl at the corner of her mouth. Then, she rose, favoring her uninjured leg. “We retrieved your clothes on the way back.”

He nodded, tracking her as she hobbled past him and fished his phone out of his discarded jacket. It was the second time his things had to be picked up from that damn park.

“I’m borrowing this,” she said. “Crowbar’s probably worried.”

Kai made no response, accepting her sudden familiarity. It was what Miya would’ve wanted. He listened for signs of life in the rest of the apartment. Someone was in the shower, and as Ama opened the door to the bedroom, Caelan murmured something and scuttled out, holding an ice pack to her sprained arm.

“Hey,” Kai greeted with an awkward wave.

She didn’t reply as she ambled closer, then dropped to the floor in front of him, shoulders sagging. Kai shifted his legs and sat up straighter, unsure of what to say to a teenage fetch who kept trying, unwillingly, to kill her human double. She dropped the ice pack and pressed the ball of her hand to the shadows purpling her under eyes.

“Kill me.”

A morbid joke, poorly timed. Kai waved her off. “Not worth the jail time.”

Her head snapped up. “I’m serious.” Her voice was low, shaky, and her throat bobbed before she said again, “I want you to kill me.”

This time, he didn’t dismiss her. Jaw clamped, Kai fought the pinch of anger that twisted his mouth into a sneer. He trained his eyes on the girl, trying in vain to measure his words. “Why the fuck would you ask me that?”

“Because there’s no way out for me.” She crossed her legs and rocked forward, the admission strained, the hunch in her back reminiscent of an animal in pain. Back and forth, back and forth, she swayed until she got hold of whatever tore at her insides, then met his gaze. “You’re the only one who understands…”

“Understands what?” Kai all but barked.

She was undeterred by his brusqueness, searching for something behind his stony glare—compassion, symbiosis. “That sometimes, doing the right thing feels like shit. Sometimes, you’ve got to be the bad guy to make things right.”

The aloofness he wore like armor cracked, and her desperation lanced through his ribs. The request was earnest, not a dramatic outburst from an overwhelmed child. He realized, to his horror, that she’d thought this through. Sighing heavily, the stiffness bled from his shoulders. “I won’t let you kill anyone,” he vowed. “I’ll stop you a thousand times if I have to, but I’m not going to hurt you. We’ll find another way.”

“There is no other way!” Her palm hit the floor. “How many times do I have to come within arm’s reach of her for you to learn that it’s never going to stop?”

“As many fucking times as it takes for your curse to learn that I don’t stop,” Kai snarled.

“That’s crazy?—”

“No,” he interrupted, “it’s survival. Life’s a mean bitch, and she’ll drag you to the gates of hell just to get off, but dying is pointless.”

“It’s not pointless.” Caelan’s voice lowered. “It’ll save her …”

“No, it won’t.” Arm coiled around his ribs, Kai scooted closer with a wince and clasped Caelan’s shoulder. “Your human double? She wants to die.”

Shock skittered through her features. “But…why?”

“Same reason as you. She’s miserable and wants out.” Kai gave her a light squeeze, his tone softening. “Your death won’t improve her life. It’s just an escape hatch for you .”

Caelan pulled back as if struck, and his hand fell away. She rasped, breaths reedy, and with a forceful shudder, she crumpled to the floor, a desolate keen crawling from her battered bones. Kai noticed the bandage around her arm where one of Pyotr’s bullets had whizzed by. He’d missed, and no thanks to Kai. Alina fought her father hard enough to save the person who’d come to take her life. How was it that both girl and fetch wanted to die? And for what? To alleviate the despair inflicted by a soulless tyrant?

“I don’t want to kill anyone.” Caelan curled into a fetal position, her anguish palpable. “I don’t…I don’t…”

Kai inhaled shakily, his chest hurting from more than the collapsed lung. “I know you don’t.”

His entire life was tarnished by violence. Sometimes a victim but frequently the perpetrator, he was intimately aware of how one inspired the other. Round and round it went—a fucked up merry-go-round that spun his entire world on a single axis: trauma. He looked down at Caelan, sobs wracking her whole, despondency brambling her like a thorny rope. He lay a gentle hand on her hair.

“I won’t let you walk my path.”