Reclamation (The Ravening #3)(7)
Author: Erica Stevens

Lloyd swore loudly as he dove out of the way of a swinging, jellyfish like tentacle that whistled as it sliced through the air. It scarcely missed crushing his skull as it slammed down with enough force to rattle the walls and leave a large crack in the asphalt. I suddenly understood what had happened to these people, understood how they had been so violently overrun as two more creatures emerged from the gloom.

Guns or not, they were going to overpower us.

Abby started screaming as my gun emptied and my heart broke. I didn’t care what it took; I was not going to let them get their deadly tentacles on my little sister. Moving hastily, and with far more calm than I felt, I grabbed more ammo from my pocket.

I had just finished reloading when two strong arms wrapped about my waist and spun me around. My tailbone screamed as I landed on my backside with a solid thud and my hand went numb when my elbow cracked off the asphalt. Cade and I bounced and rolled over the surface. He somehow managed to get my gun and flip over on top as he kept me pinned beneath him.

Sitting up, he fired at the creature looming over us on its hind legs. My blood ran cold at the spectacle of the mouth-like hole in the center of the creature’s midsection. I’d never seen one from this angle, and as the blood drained from my brain and face, I wished that I never had. The mouth opened to allow tentacles to slither forth in search of one of us to snag hold of and drain dry. Thousands of bristles that resembled the coarse hair of a wild boar rolled and bowed over like dandelions in the wind. It took me a second to realize that they weren’t actually hairs but rather teeth that chattered in eager anticipation of sinking into one of us.

It didn’t seem to recognize Cade as one of its masters, and I supposed that most of them probably wouldn’t when confronted with him looking entirely human, and fighting for us. When his eyes were black and his veins were filled with whatever alien power that surged through him, they knew immediately that he wasn’t one of their victims. Now though, it unknowingly dove at him as it eagerly sought to get at both of us.

It hissed and howled with pain as it fell back beneath the barrage of bullets Cade fired into it. Its legs folded in on itself as it sought to protect the hole in its center. Most of its tentacles retracted but one whipped out at us and almost took off Cade’s head. His hand slapped the feeler away as he somehow managed to reload my gun, with inhuman deftness, and fire again.

A human scream of suffering ripped through the air. Panic clawed at me as I fought to see who and where the stricken sound was coming from but Cade continued to keep his body pressed protectively against mine. Another scream split the air as Cade launched to his feet with the grace of a cat, grabbed hold of my arm, and pulled me up so fast that I barely had time to blink let alone register the fact that I was standing again.

Cade’s jaw clenched as he wrapped his arm around my waist, lifted me off my feet, and spun us so that we were facing the creature he had just emptied my gun into multiple times. It was still coming, but it was more sluggish now and oozing blood from the many holes puncturing it. Cade pulled his other knife free and deftly released it. The creature reeled back as the knife pierced through its chest region.

Cade bent over me, his hand wrapped around my head as a slashing tentacle slammed into his back. He grunted and was knocked forward by the blow. A cry of alarm escaped me as I clutched at him frantically, I was certain he had been flayed open. The force of that blow would have broken a normal man’s back but it barely did more than slightly faze him. His lips brushed over my temple before he abruptly released me.

For a moment I thought the thing had grasped hold of him and was trying to take him from me again, but then I saw Cade’s eyes. Black filled both of his eyeballs as he began to lose his firm restraint upon himself. Words escaped me as I was hit by the certainty that something bad was about to happen. Thrusting my gun at me, he spun away and moved rapidly beyond my grasp.

My heart was in my throat as he launched himself at the creature and scurried up to the top of it. In one ferocious motion he ripped the knife he’d flung free from the thing’s flesh. Weak from its numerous cuts, the monster stumbled beneath Cade’s weight but didn’t go down. With a savage cry, Cade raised his knife above his head and slammed it down. Blood drenched his face and clothes as he was saturated in the life force of those that had been lost. I didn’t want to see the brutality that encompassed him, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away as he ripped the knife free and plunged it down again.

"My God," Bret breathed beside me.

I could barely meet his appalled gaze as he looked between Cade and I. Cade hadn’t revealed anything about himself; any of the more physically fit men, including Bret, could have done what Cade had just done. The only problem was that they wouldn’t have done it.

More motion exploded from the gloom as two more creatures came into view. "Fall back!" Darnell yelled above the growing ruckus.

I turned away to face the fresh blood coating the tunnel. The tattered remains of Private Mick Doogal’s body were strewn across the road like some sort of macabre voodoo doll. Sorrow twisted through my chest, I hadn’t known him long but he’d been a good man and he hadn’t deserved to die like this. No one had. My hands were shaking as I grabbed more ammo and fumbled to reload my gun.

"Bethy, Bethany we have to go! We have to go!"

I stumbled as Aiden grabbed my arm and began to pull me back. I tried to tug my arm away from him as I searched for Cade amongst the crush of people pressing against me, but Aiden refused to release me as he relentlessly pulled me back.

Relief filled me when I finally spotted Cade pushing through the horde to get to me. His face was streaked with blood and his clothes were caked with it, but he didn’t seem to notice it as he focused on me. Though he looked untamed and savage, he seemed to have regained some control as his eyes were back to normal. I wondered if he’d managed to feed on some of that blood, if only just a little, but I quickly shut the thought down. I loved him, I loved everything about him, but there were certain things I didn’t need to know.

"We have to go Bethy," Cade said as he grasped hold of my arm and pulled me away from Aiden. Our feet slapped off of the concrete as we raced down the tunnel but the creatures were closing in on us. There was no way we’d all make it back through that small hole in the wall of debris. I wasn’t even sure we’d make it back to the pile of rubble.

"Here! Here!" I could hear Abby’s frantic cries, but I had no idea where she was in all of the chaos and noise.

Darnell jerked his head to the left. "This way!" he barked.

I jumped and leapt over rotting body parts as we followed Darnell’s zigzagging route through the tunnel. Flashlights bobbed and weaved as they cast shadows over the walls in a disconcerting pattern that made my head throb. Abby and Molly came into view amidst the anarchy. They were standing on the concrete walkway that ran along the side of the tunnel. Barney was pressed firmly against Abby’s side, his ears raised, and his hair standing up as he let out three rapid barks. It was one of the few times I’d ever heard him make a sound. Aiden and Jenna grabbed hold of the metal railings and squeezed through the bars to join them on the walkway. Lloyd was standing beside a door, his gun raised as he fired at something behind us.