She saw what he saw as her gift dragged her down into its infinite depths. The future and the present played out as one, sickening and all-consuming, and as agony erupted through her chest, Anna wondered if it was real.
Whose pain did she feel? Was it the future or the present?
Bullets tore through muscle, claws shredded flesh, and blood flowed hot and thick forever to stain the earth.
“Cage!” Anna screamed, her voice traveling far and wide as fate delivered its final blow. “Cage!”
Her knees gave out, her voice died, and as blackness descended in her mind, Anna gave one final silent plea to the man she loved.
Chapter 46
Nico
Cage fell beside him. Upright one second and on his knees the next. Stumbling, Nico reached for him as another bullet whistled through the air. They were dropping like flies, broken toys trapped in Castor’s game. They had to take out the gunmen or they’d all be dead.
“Get up,” Nico demanded, dragging Cage to his feet as blood spread like a blossoming flower over his chest.
“I can’t,” he gasped, clutching the wound. “I can’t.”
Nico searched his surroundings, Katalina’s screams like poison in his head. Castor had set his stage to perfection, executed his plans with a finesse that killed. Katalina was his puppet, and he tugged at her strings, draining the life from her drop by drop as her cries drove their wolf hearts insane.
Heaving Cage upright, Nico wrapped his arm around him. “I’m getting you out.”
“Just leave me,” Cage ordered.
“Not today, brother,” Nico murmured.
Slipping a blade into his hand, Nico let it fly as a rabid wolf lunged for them, replacing the throwing knife with another as soon as the first left his palm. They continued to fly, hitting mark after mark. Dragging Cage as he went, Nico got them to the barn doors as Cage grew heavier, his legs collapsing from under him. The fight had spilled out into the snow-covered field, sprays of blood stark against the brilliant white. It was a nightmare. One Nico had seen in Katalina’s eyes as she’d woken screaming night after night.
Putting Cage down with his back against the barn walls, Nico turned at the last second, his arm blocking the blow aimed for his head and returning one of his own. They fell to the ground as they scuffled, his enemy reaching for the gun holstered at his waist. Grasping his wrist, Nico forced it back until he heard the snap of bone and the snarl of pain, with the moment of distraction, Nico pulled free one of his many blades and rammed it into the man’s throat.
Getting to his feet, he freed the knife, wiping it clean on his jeans before bending to pick up the gun. Then turning to Cage, Nico pressed the gun into the man’s hands and squeeze tight.
“Hold on, Cage.”
Straightening, he pulled in a steadying breath before heading once again into battle. The enemy continued to have the upper hand; the men positioned above firing continuously with automatic weapons. Charging forward, Nico launched himself into the air, kicking off the wall and leaped for the platform above. Swinging himself over the railing, the blade he threw cut down the gunman before he’d had the chance to turn. Nico then jumped to the ground, ready to take out the next platform.
Running, he dodged wolves and men alike, throwing stars, and repeated the task, taking out a second gunman. Landing in a crouch, Nico eyed the last two platforms on the other side of the barn. By now, his opponents knew what he was doing, and they studied him, ready to fire once he came into range.
Smiling, Nico saluted them. His expression ruthless and promising death. But as he made his way forward, it was more than just the gunman who stood in his way, and as three wolves surrounded him, gunfire whistled through the air. The first clipped his shoulder, the second missed his head by millimeters, and the third aimed true, hurtling toward his head.
Time slowed down, his breath rattling in his lungs as death reached out its talons. Yet the bullet never met its target, instead sunk into the chest of Nico’s father as he dived in front of his son and plummeted to the ground.
“Dad!” Nico yelled, his fury and fear exploding in a rain of blades and fists, bruising and tearing flesh, laying his enemy at his feet.
Collapsing to his knees, Nico dragged his father into his lap, his hands covering the wound spurting blood. But as his father’s life pulse through his fingers, Nico didn’t see the present, but the moment he’d gone to say goodbye to his mother and walked in on his supposedly separated parents making out like teenagers.
His parents pulled apart, his mother’s face turning beet red as she covered her face with her hands.
He pointed between the two. “How long has this been going on?” Nico wasn’t sure if he was traumatized or happy for them.
“She is my mate,” his father answered, as if that explained everything.
Nico shook his head, rubbed his face. “I repeat, how long has this been going on? Because mate or not, you’d think you’d tell your only son you were back together.”
“We’re not,” his mother replied, causing his dad to glare at her.
“It kinda looked like you were?” Nico pointed out with a chuckle.
“Well, I mean, not properly. We’ve just been testing the waters. See if living together can work now things are different here,” she explained further.
“Right. So how long has this water testing been going on under my nose?”
“I guess six months or so,” his father said.
Nico blinked a few times. That long.
His father’s groan hurtled Nico back to reality. “Stay
