Dark Moon Rising (The Revenant Book 2) by Kali Argent Page B

out on a supply run.” His breath stuttered, and he pulled one hand out of her grip to rub it over his face. “The pack took the rest of us after they killed the refugees.”
    If felt insensitive to say aloud, but she was surprised the pack hadn’t killed him along with the humans. From what she’d learned about Alpha Chase, he wouldn’t have tolerated such a betrayal. “And you’ve been a prisoner here ever since?”
    His laughter was dark, cold, and lacking all humor. “Yes, but this isn’t the worst of my punishment. That would be too merciful.”
    She couldn’t imagine anything worse than being repeatedly hunted by Ravagers, but before she could ask him to elaborate, a shrill, terrified scream cut through the night and bounced off stones around her. Though four other women had been brought in with the prisoners, she’d know that scream anywhere.
    “Abby.”
    Thea’s leg had fallen asleep while they’d been talking, and pinpricks tingled through her calf as she hurried out of the alcove. More screams accompanied Abby’s, intermingled with shouts, growls, and a single, keening screech. The campfire came into view as she passed the waterfall, the scene before her complete bedlam.
    The human male with the thick glasses sprawled across the sodden ground, his lenses cracked, and two bleeding punctures in his neck. One of the other males had climbed into one of the trees, shouting curses down at the Ravager who swiped at him from below. Zerrik engaged a female vampire, his movements quick and fluid as he twisted behind her, clenched her head, and jerked it to the side. She toppled to the ground, unmoving.
    “The full moon isn’t until tomorrow,” she shouted over the chaos. “What the hell is going on?”
    “Retaliation,” Rhys answered, catching a male vampire in the chin with a right hook.
    Bending at the waist when a male Ravager lunged at her, Thea pushed up with her legs, sending the beast sailing over her back to land several feet away in a grouping of jagged rocks. “Kara?”
    “Kara.” Rhys whipped toward her, his eyes flashing with menace. “Duck.”
    She didn’t need to be told twice and crouched just as another female vampire leapt through the air toward her. Rhys caught the female by the throat, lifting her off her feet before slamming her back to the ground with a sickening crunch.
    On her feet again, Thea raced through the enclosure, dodging Ravagers and hungry vampires as she searched for her friends.
    “I’m good,” Zerrik called, winding his arms around a Ravager’s neck and twisting. “Find Abby.”
    Leaping over one of the narrow streams that ran through the enclosure, Thea sprinted toward the retaining wall, following the sounds of feminine screams. Abby swayed on a frayed rope that hung from a long, thick tree limb, clinging to it for dear life as a beefy, male vampire with matted hair and crazed eyes jerked on her ankle.
    “Abby, hold on!” Thea called, turning on a burst of speed.
    She wasn’t fast enough. Another hard tug on her leg, and Abby crashed to the ground, screaming as the vampire converged on her. With a growl, he pinned her in the mud, striking quickly to embed his fangs into the side of her neck. Her small fists beat against his back, and her feet kicked against the ground, but she couldn’t budge him.
    Fear twisted in Thea’s gut, and she tucked her arms close to her side, pushing her body to its limits. In her heart, though, she knew she wouldn’t make it in time. Even as she thought it, another human female rushed forward, armed with nothing more than a stick.
    “Hey, bloodsucker!”
    Distracted, the vampire lifted his head from Abby’s neck and snarled. With a swing worthy of the pros, the female cracked the broken branch across the vampire’s face, effectively knocking him off Abby and onto his back in a puddle of rain water. Without hesitation, the unknown woman fell on top of him, spearing him with the broken branch and jerking it upward to find