Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Colletion_ Books 6-10 - Laurell K. Hamilton [473]
I stared up at Richard, still struggling, and said, “Help me.” But it was too late. I felt the munin blow outward like a wind. And every man it touched caught the scent. I could almost feel their bodies react. I knew what Raina had done, and if it were to be her last night in the driver’s seat, she couldn’t have chosen better. Short of killing me, it was the perfect revenge.
I fell to my knees, fighting not to finish the ritual, but I could feel them in the dark, eager. I was giving off scent, and it wasn’t just the blood. The words were pulled from my throat as if by a hand. Each word squeezed out until it hurt to speak.
“Claim me again if you can, my Ulfric.” I stared up at him and saw the look on his face. It was wild, and part of me was pleased. God help me. My own jealousy had given her the keys to me. I stared around at the shapes in the dark. I could feel them like a growing tension in the air. It was like the air before a storm, so heavy it was hard to breathe through the growing power. You could feel the lightning growing in the air, coming closer, but this storm was waiting for me. Waiting for me to move.
Marianne was beside me. “Get up,” she said.
I struggled to my feet, and she helped me.
“Now, run,” she said.
I stared at her. “What are you talking about?”
“You’ve declared yourself Frejya. Now, run, before they lose patience and take you here.”
I knew what she meant, but I had to have her say it out loud. “Take me?”
“If the munin does not come to the front, it will be rape, but it will still happen. Now, go!” She pushed me towards the dark. I stumbled and stared around the clearing one last time. Richard’s face was tormented, horrified. Shang-Da was at Richard’s shoulder, and he was angry. Angry with me. Jason’s face was as neutral as I’d ever seen it, as if afraid to show me what he was feeling. I caught Roland’s face, too. I’d met him an hour or two before, but his face wasn’t neutral. His face was hungry, anticipatory. And I knew that they’d do it. That someone, somewhere would have me unless I killed them. Two silver blades and an entire pack of werewolves. Not good odds. And Richard would do everything he could to save me—everything.
“Shang-Da,” I said.
The tall bodyguard stared at me. I could feel the weight of his gaze in the moonlit dark.
“Richard’s life means more to me than my own safety, Shang-Da. Don’t let him die,” I said.
He stared at me, then gave one sharp nod.
Marianne grabbed my arm and said, “Go!”
I went. I flung myself into the trees, into the dark beyond, and ran. I ran as if I could see in the dark. Flinging myself into half-perceived openings, trusting to the forest the way you trust to water, knowing it will part before you without question. I gave myself over to the night woods like I’d learned to do as a girl. You don’t run in the dark in the forest with your eyes. You run with the same part of your brain that makes the back of your neck prickle. I ran and leaped and dodged, and knew it wouldn’t be enough.
27
A HOWL CUT the night in a long, mournful line. There were growls and a sharp whimper, cut so short I knew someone was hurt, maybe dead. Would they really kill each other for the privilege? Real wolves didn’t do this shit. Only people could take a nice, sane animal and screw it up this badly.
I slipped going over a log that was bigger around than a small car. I fell, sprawling. I lay there for a moment on the ground, catching my breath, and I didn’t have the faintest idea what to do. I didn’t so much hear the werewolves as feel them in the ground under my hands. I knew they were out there in a way I hadn’t before the munin invaded. I pressed myself against the huge log, and my hands found an opening. It was partially hollow. I crawled into the black opening, hand with knife in front of