Reclamation (The Ravening #3)(19)
Author: Erica Stevens

"Bethany…"

"You heard what he said," I breathed.

"He needs help." My fingers curled into his wrist as I gulped. Everything in my body was screaming at me to go to Cade, to help him, but he’d told us to stay here and to stay down. He knew what these things were, he knew what he was doing; we would only be a distraction to him. "Bethany!" I closed my eyes against the spine-chilling scream that filled the air from one of those things. Cade grunted loudly, the sound was a mixture of pain and exertion that caused my heart to twist as my fingers dug even further into Aiden’s flesh and tears burned my eyes. "Damn it Bethany! What is wrong with you!?"

I jerked Aiden back down when he tried to lurch to his feet again. I forced my eyes open; I had to make Aiden understand why we had to stay here, why we couldn’t look. Everything in me longed to help Cade, but I had to stay here and make sure that my brother didn’t do anything reckless, that he didn’t see what was happening back there. There were some things that Cade would always try to keep hidden from me, and whatever was happening in that tunnel was one of them. I could feel the hum of violence, the brutality of the battle within these walls even though it was an eerily silent fight that raged on behind us.

"There are some things that we don’t need to see," I whispered.

"What things Bethany?" I shook my head and closed my eyes again as I labored to keep breathing and not bolt to my feet and rush down the tunnel in search of Cade. I didn’t care what I would see, what I would find, but Cade did. He was already standing on a perilous precipice when it came to his control and his sanity. I couldn’t push him over it. "Bethany…"

"Aiden stop," I moaned.

"What things Bethany?" And then he inhaled a loud breath as his mind finally traversed down pathways I’d hoped it would never travel. "What is he?"

I didn’t know what to say or do. I loved Aiden, he was more than a brother, he was my friend, and I had been keeping this huge secret from him. I would love nothing more than to unburden myself to him but it was Cade’s secret to tell, or not to tell. Yet Aiden was looking at me as if he didn’t know me, looking at me as if I’d just kicked his kitten over a cliff.

I released my death grip on his hand and slid my fingers into his as I tried to reassure him that I loved him. That no matter what secrets I kept from him, he was still my brother and I needed him. He didn’t react at first and then his fingers tensed around mine. I was just managing a wan smile for him when I heard the sound of slapping feet.

Releasing Aiden I launched to my feet. The others had heard the shots and they were coming. I had to stop them, or at least slow them down somehow. I was stepping forward when hands seized hold of my arms from behind. Before I knew what was happening I was pulled backwards and pressed against a solid chest. I knew instantly it was Cade that held me as my skin came alive at the feel of him.

He must have found a smaller tunnel or nook to slide into as he pulled me out of the main tunnel. His chest heaved against my back as his breath sounded ragged and fast in my ear. Even through my turtleneck and sweater I could feel the dampness of his sweat soaked body, and then the tangy scent of his coppery blood hit me. A sense of dread washed over me as I realized that was what was soaking through my clothes.

"Two left. There are two of them left," he grated in my ear. "The others can’t see me like this."

My heart leapt as my skin tingled with dread. We needed to get away, I had to get him somewhere that I could look at him, that I could see the extent of the damage that had been done to him. He took another step back and bent to try and hide behind me a little more. I felt walls around me now but my concern for him far outweighed my claustrophobia.

How far back did this small passage go? Would we be safe inside of it? Would he be safe and sheltered inside of it? His grasp on my arms became painful but I didn’t protest it as I knew he wasn’t hurting me on purpose. In fact, I didn’t think he was aware of the fact that he was holding me so tightly.

Aiden took a step toward us. His eyes went behind me, but I was certain that he couldn’t see Cade within the shadows. "Two," I whispered to Aiden. "There are two left." Aiden’s gaze was full of fright and turmoil as he came toward me. "Please don’t tell the others we’re here. Please help us Aiden."

Aiden’s eyes closed as the footsteps came even closer. Cade’s fingers curled more firmly into me as I glanced nervously toward the sound of approaching feet. We had to get away, we couldn’t be standing here when they arrived; I didn’t know what would happen if we were, what Cade would do.

Aiden shook his head and then began to nod. "Go."

I spun in Cade’s grasp and propelled him backwards into the small tunnel. I didn’t know where it went and I didn’t care. I had to get him somewhere safe, somewhere that I could see the extent of his wounds. Aiden’s muffled voice sounded behind us as the others arrived to help him with the monsters. I jumped and urged Cade to go faster as shots echoed throughout the tight confines.

I wrapped Cade’s arm around my shoulders as he stumbled and nearly fell. Please, I prayed. Please be ok. I’d never seen him like this, never known he could be so weak and vulnerable. He was always so strong, so self assured and powerful. I knew he was only mortal like the rest of us, but I’d never expected to see him this way and it spurred me on even faster. I could hear the riotous beat of my heart in the silence that followed the gunshots.

"Opening." I didn’t know what he meant until the walls gave out. The walls had been helping me to support him, but without their solid presence I nearly tripped and fell but managed to catch myself before we both tumbled to the floor.

Leaning against the wall, I helped to ease him down. My hands were shaking as I pulled the flashlight hanging at my side free of the loop that held it there. A strange calmness settled over me as I flipped the flashlight on. I could do this, I would do this. My hands were far more stable as I placed the flashlight down and focused my attention on the gashes that crisscrossed his stomach and chest.

His skin had been sliced open and blood had turned what remained of his gray shirt red. A jagged cut ran down his cheek so deeply that the skin had peeled back to reveal the flesh and bone beneath. The blackness that seeped through his veins was still running through his face and arms as he struggled to regain control of himself after the battle he had just waged. I found it disconcerting that though black seemed to fill his veins when it appeared, his blood was red.

I wasn’t overly squeamish, I never had been, but I had never seen injuries this severe and life threatening before, and they were on Cade. Thoughts scrambled through my mind as I pulled the tattered remains of his shirt from him to take in the full extent of the wounds. His muscles instinctively recoiled from my touch no matter how gentle I was in my ministrations. There was so much blood…