Bane of Tenebris (Wolfgods Book 2) Blaise Ramsay (classic literature books txt) 📖

Coughing, Kain strained to look through his burning eyes to find an alternative route to get them out.

Damien shook off the dirt thanking Kain for saving him. “Do not thank me yet, this is far from over.”

Kain found a part in the wall where it’d begun to crack beneath the roaring flames. He grabbed Damien by the forearm and kicked the door with a cry of force. The wood gave way and Kain gripped Damien, jumping over the embankment and rolling.

On their way down, Kain winced at a sting in his ankle. Beside him, Damien lay unconscious. Kain could see blood matting the side of his head.

“He doesn’t look so good,” came a dark, mocking voice above the crackling flames and shattering of glass.

Kain looked up from Damien to find Bard staring back at him. Jared stood at his side, smoking. The two of them smirked.

Gabriel, Jill and Scott slid down the embankment to join Kain and Damien. Jill dropped to her mate’s side. Gabriel growled.

“What’s it going to be, dog?” Jared asked like he was annoyed even to be there.

“Shut up, Jared!” Bard snapped, interrupting. “Kain’s mine.”

In a low voice, Kain told Gabriel to get Damien to the pack’s house and to call Kyle.

“No way in Sun’s hell!” Gabriel said with a low snarl.

Kain glared at him. “Do as I say. Damien will not last if he is not taken care of.”

Gabriel appeared to want to fight more but the soldier’s glare silenced any further argument he might provide. He motioned to Scott and Jill to follow him. Jill shifted to allow Scott to put Damien on her back.

Once his fellow lycans were safe, Kain returned his attention to his opponents. Jared remained where he was, allowing Bard to step forward.

“The dark one sends his greetings, Alexander Kain.” Bard grinned a fanged grin as he removed his jacket, revealing the arm hidden beneath it. His missing right arm had been replaced with a dark claw much like the one that struck Damien before the Circle of Stones. The encounter nearly killed both he and Kain.

Kain’s breath hastened in his chest. The wicked claw emitted a malevolence Kain knew all too well. He could almost feel its hunger to tear into his flesh, the scars on his body igniting into searing pains. “Bard, what have you done?”

Bard cackled, pointing the claw at Kain. “Taken power you’re too much of a coward to accept. It’s amazing, Kain. You have no idea.”

Kain had every idea. In the weeks Barghast tortured him, he offered a taste of what it would feel like to be free from the suffering of the bane. It exhilarated Kain to feel so strong, so unstoppable. The problem was that it threatened to tear his soul apart, to corrupt him into a monster he never wanted to be.

“I hope it was worth your soul,” Kain replied in a low, threatening tone.

Bard’s brows creased in a scowl as he lunged, swinging the claw at him. Kain dropped to the ground and swept his leg, taking Bard’s out from underneath him. The lycan fell to the ground, quickly recovered and hurled a handful of dirt and ash at Kain’s face.

The cheap shot hit Kain, briefly blinding him. He cleared his eyes just in time to get hit with the claw in the arm he barely had the chance to raise to guard himself.

He clenched his teeth at the burning cold.

The blood in his body felt like it’d been ripped from him, much like the red tendrils he encountered when he freed Damien’s mind from Barghast’s influence.

Kain stumbled back, his chest on fire as he tried to catch a breath. His ankle ached and protested at being used despite the injury.

Bard held his arms, bowing up his chest. “Damn, seeing you like this is intoxicating. Why the Shadowed One wants you is beyond me. You’re pathetic, Kain. Nothing like the legends make you out to be.”

Kain straightened, still dazed from the claw’s effects. He didn’t give the satisfaction of a reply. He took the stance of a martial artist, ready for another round. He relaxed his body despite the pain, anticipating and dodging each of Bard’s attacks with little effort.

Something he trained Damien to do for his fight with Nathaniel.

Bard screamed with rage as each attempt to hit Kain again failed. Kain dodged or blocked Bard’s hits with little effort, keeping his distance and avoiding contact with the claw.

A surprise attack by Jared pushed Kain to his knee on the ground. The vampire joined in the onslaught, making it hard for Kain to handle the grazes of the claw and Jared’s elongated nails.

The malicious power of the claw took Kain’s strength the longer he stayed near it. He knew he had to get away or be overwhelmed.

Kain howled in pain when he grabbed Bard’s wrist that held the claw. Jared bit down on his shoulder, tearing into Kain’s flesh.

A large gray body rammed into Jared, sending the vampire flying across the forest floor.

The new lycan’s arrival gave Kain time to recover enough to shove the claw away, twist Bard’s arm behind him and hold him. “You are a fool, Bard. In the end, I will be the one to kill you.”

Kain shoved Bard away from him. Two other lycans came out of the brush behind Kain. One, a chestnut furred female snapped at Bard. The other, a large gray male Kain recognized as Lune.

From behind Bard, a lycan larger than Lune with deep red fur sauntered forward. His scar covered body identified him as Cade. The “Silent Soldier.”

Bard hissed. “Fine. This isn’t over. It’s just begun. Something I promise you, Kain, is you’ll be the one dead at the end of this.”

Cade roared at Bard, sending him fleeing into the woods.

Drained from the claw’s effects and the loss of blood where Jared tore into him, Kain collapsed.

Chapter Eight

The cold drop of water on Kain’s cheek woke