Wild Lands (Savage Lands Book 2) Read online

  “They will have soldiers in the back facing out, looking for threats from behind, ready to shoot anything that moves.” Fae were a lot harder to kill, but since the wall fell and magic- and iron-laced bullets were standard now, it wasn’t as hard if you were a really good shot.

  “Please, I move faster than they could even blink.” A girl looking no more than sixteen came beside us. “I’m not hiding from some douchebag humans.” She rolled her eyes, inching forward.

  “No!” I tried to grab for her, but she flew out of the alley.

  Pop! Pop! Pop!

  Guns went off at her. She darted through them, her speed impressive, and my hopes soared as she got closer to the other side.

  Pop!

  Her body hit the ground with a slap.

  “Gigi.” Birdie gasped as we watched blood pour onto the cobbled street, the entire side of her face gone. “Fuck!” Birdie growled, hitting the wall. “That stupid fucking bitch! Why didn’t she listen?”

  Another thing Birdie and I had in common, turning heartache and fear into anger.

  I rubbed my head.

  “What now?” someone asked, a handful of Resistance fighters now gathered in the alleyway.

  I searched around the dead-end passage and noticed a dumpster against the far wall.

  “We go up.” I motioned to the dumpster. It was a climb, but if we got to the roof, we could cross over to the back and bleed into the night. “Go!” I ordered.

  All of them reacted instantly, rushing to the dumpster and climbing up. The top was gone, so only two at a time could use the edge to jump up to the window and then climb to the roof.

  I kept on guard, only turning to help Birdie get up, preparing to climb up myself.

  “Stop!” A voice rang out, dropping lead in my stomach. Shit, shit, shit. Turning slowly around, three soldiers stood at the entrance. I hoped I could distract them enough to let them all reach the top.

  “Brexley?” A man’s voice strained in surprise. Through the haze of my panic, I focused on the group. I knew all of them. They had been in Caden’s class. Elek, Joska, and Samu.

  “Szar!” Shit! Elek spat, his hand going to a crude walkie-talkie soldiers were issued once they were put in the field.

  “No!” I lurched forward.

  “Don’t move!” Joska’s beefy hands regripped his gun, pointing it at my head. He was a big dude who I remembered had the extremist attitude that if you weren’t pure human, you shouldn’t be alive. And women shouldn’t be soldiers. Bigoted, sexist, and righteous. A new crop of what they called pure human nationalists. “Drop your weapon!”

  The third guy, Samu, stayed quiet. He always let the dominant person lead, following like a sheep, regurgitating whatever they said without one thought of his own. He had trailed after Caden for six years like a puppy. Caden had been too nice to say anything, but the guy gave me the creeps.

  “Captain, we have her. We have Brexley Kovacs,” Elek spoke into the device. He was the only one I had once liked. He and Caden had been pretty close, so I got to know him. He teased me and hinted about us hanging out together, just the two of us.

  Now everyone was my enemy.

  “I said drop your weapon or I will shoot you. I don’t care what Markos wants. You are a disgusting fae traitor.” Joska took a step closer, flicking his gun to the middle of my forehead. “You should be hung as the turncoat and spy you are, but I will blow your fucking brains out right here. Now get on your knees.”

  My eyes lit into him, the fighter underneath my skin itching for release.

  “Now!” He shoved the barrel into my skull.

  He was not someone who would give empty threats.

  But neither was I.

  Lowering, I placed my gun on the ground, slowly raising my hands, my gaze shifting around for objects I could use.

  “Don’t move.” Joska and Samu descended on me, kicking my gun out of my reach. The metal scraped the pavement and hit the wall.

  “Search her,” he ordered Samu. Samu patted me down, found the other gun, and tucked it into his pants with a lingering stare.

  At least the others got away.

  “Handcuff her. I want to personally take her to the general.” Joska sneered, motioning for Samu to do the dirty work again.

  If they took me to Istvan, I was done.

  But that wasn’t in my plans.

  My fists rolled up, the bitter taste of adrenaline on my tongue, my muscles flexing, ready to react at my command.

  Three against one. All of them with multiple weapons. Most likely, I would die here, but I wasn’t going without a fight.

  A vein twitched in my neck at the sound of the metal cuffs opening, heading for my wrists. My patience scraped my bones, priming me for action.

  Out of my periphery, I noticed a flutter of movement, a figure swooping down, more like an angel of death than a bird.

  Birdie landed right beside Samu, slamming her fist into his kidney. He swung around, Birdie kicking the gun out of his grip.

  With her arrival, chaos burst into the tight alley, and I seized my opportunity. Grabbing the barrel of Joska’s gun, I twisted it out of his grip as we had both been taught by Bakos.

  My leg swept and kicked the tendons in his knee. He grunted but didn’t budge, his knuckles slamming into my face. I stumbled back. Pain crackled through my already sore jaw, raising my anger.

  The girl who survived the Games growled from my chest.

  I went for the tender part of his throat, my fist punching his larynx. Gasping, he clutched his neck as I nailed him in the eye socket, a loud cry bolting from his lips.

  Tough guy wasn’t so tough now.

  “You bitch,” he choked out, his teeth bared. I’d heard enough of his misogynistic comments to the girls in his class to know how he felt about women training next to him. I knew he couldn’t stand the thought of one beating him up.

  This would be fun.

  Samu and Birdie were fighting right next to me as Elek ran for my gun on the ground.

  Joska barreled for me. While the tiny alley didn’t give me much room, I twisted just out of the way, so he only nipped my hip. Pain raced up my nerves, and I looked down. Blood seeped out, soaking my pants red. Darting my attention back to him, I saw the dagger in his hand, a smug grin on his face. The fucker stabbed me.

  Little did he know a fight like this was a morning ritual in the mess hall at Halálház.

  He lunged for me again, his knife darting for my chest. Fury raised the monster inside me, my vision hazing over as I twirled, kicked, and punched. My senses were on high alert, but at the same time lost in a cloud of violence. I relished the sound of cartilage breaking and muscles tearing, the strike of flesh and bone being hit. An agonized cry erupted from him as I slammed my elbow into his spine, cracking a vertebra and dropping him to the pavement with a thump.

  Right then, Samu went flying back onto the pavement. Out cold, drawing a quick glance to Birdie, I saw a contented smile on her face. She fucking loved it too.

  “Stop!” Elek’s voice bellowed, the blast of gun halting us. Elek lowered the gun from the air to us swinging it between Birdie and me as he stepped forward. “There’s no point, Brexley. They know you are here. Markos is coming.” A slice of regret cut across his brows. “I wish it wasn’t this way, but you gave us no choice.”

  “You could let us go,” Birdie replied, shrugging. “That’s a choice.”

  He shook his head. The fight to be a good soldier was too powerful. It was embedded in you at an early age. Obey. Take orders. Fight for your cause. Except the cause was a lie, and the reasons were all bullshit. There was only Istvan and his need for power.

  “I’m sorry, Brexley. You will come with me. All others are to be shot on sight.” He switched to pointing at Birdie.

  “Elek, no.” I reached out, my steps slow. Cautious.

  “Sorry…” His finger squeezed down.

  Boom! The shot thundered in the alleyway, making me jump and scream.

  Bi
rdie’s eyes went wide, full of torment, but then her brows furrowed in confusion, her eyes dropping to where she should have been shot.

  Elek’s body fell forward, slamming face-first onto the cement. Dead. A huge silhouette stood behind him, gun still pointing at the spot Elek had been.

  “Warwick.” Relief heaved in my lungs at the sight of him. Our eyes met, and I could feel his familiar touch along every inch of my skin, though this time it seemed to be checking me for injury. Furious and pugnacious.

  “Let’s go,” he grumbled.

  I scrambled forward, the noises of battle sounding right on top of us. Swooping down, I got the two guns I had been relieved of. I stopped at Elek’s figure, crouching down, my hand reaching out to close the eyes of my old acquaintance.

  Sorrow filled my heart like a tsunami. He was a good guy. He didn’t deserve to die like that. No matter what we were told about it being an honor to die for HDF, the reality was utter crap.

  My hand brushed over his face, recalling the times Caden and I had hung out in his room with the rest of their class, getting drunk. He would find reasons to get close to me, flirt with me, but because of Caden, he never crossed the line or asked me out.

  “Kovacs,” Warwick called to me, but I couldn’t tear myself away from Elek. One moment alive, now he was dead… because of me. I knew his mother and father. They would be devastated. Emotion swirled inside me, bursting at the seams, wanting to change his story.

  Under my palm, a nerve twitched in his face, a spasm in his body, his lids fluttered.

  “Kovacs, now.” Warwick grabbed my hand, yanking me back onto my feet, his nose flaring, his gaze darting between Elek and me, his brow crunching together.

  Numb, yet alive, the vast emotions swirled inside, my brain not wanting to land on what I had been doing. What I might be capable of.

  “We need to go.” He released me, stepping away.

  I dipped my head in agreement and looked back at Birdie.

  She watched us, her expression awed, her blue eyes wide.

  “You’re fucking Warwick Farkas…” Her mouth parted. “The Wolf.”

  He grunted, inching to the lip of the alley.

  “He is, isn’t he?” She faced me. “Holy shit. He’s so… Is there even a word for him?”

  “Asshole?” I replied, getting a glower from Warwick.

  “No, seriously, this is really Warwick Farkas?” She said his name like he was a god.

  “Birdie...”

  “He’s real? The actual legend is standing in front of me? The guy who came back to life? And you knew and didn’t tell me?” She punched my arm.

  “Ow.” I rubbed my shoulder.

  “That’s for not telling me you were sleeping with a myth. Is the sex astronomical? Mythical status?”

  “Yes,” he grunted.

  “No,” I responded.

  “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me earlier. I was totally going on about him… and you’re fucking him?” Birdie’s mouth dropped open.

  “No. No, it’s not like that. W-we’re not… No… We aren’t.” I shook my head, unable to stop babbling. “He wasn’t talking about sex with me.”

  Warwick grunted even louder, his irritation curling up the back of my neck.

  “Can we focus here?” It was freezing outside, and my body was in pain.

  “Right.” Birdie gripped both of her guns. “Kill first, talk later about how you are sooooo fucking him. And if you aren’t, you really should be. Or I volunteer.”

  “She really thinks you should be, princess.” Warwick’s voice rumbled in my ear, his presence up close, while the real man stood a few feet away, his eyes on the battle on the street.

  “No,” I growled under my breath, and I could see the real man smirk.

  “Well, as you know, fucking me is a mythical experience. Most never recover.”

  He switched to the other ear, the trace of his fingers sliding across my lower back.

  “You mean it’s fictional?” I replied just to him.

  The real Warwick let out a gruff laugh, his eyes darting back to me, making Birdie look between us again with skepticism.

  “Sergeant Gabor, state your location. Markos is moving in.” A crackling voice rose from Elek’s walkie-talkie device, and fear compressed my lungs.

  Markos. He was here. He rarely came to battles personally, dictating from the safety of HDF. But I was personal to him.

  “Shit, how do we get out of here?” Birdie motioned around, the lanes filling with more and more soldiers.

  “Distraction.” Warwick’s eyes slid to me, and a smile spread across my face because I knew exactly what he meant.

  “Distraction?” Birdie peered up at him, then to me.

  BOOOOOOOM!

  An entire building across the street from the base exploded, shaking the ground. Clouds of debris and glass mushroomed out, raining down on us like hail.

  All of us ducked, Warwick’s form looming over us like an umbrella until the worst of the blast was over.

  He glanced at Birdie, one eyebrow lifting. “Distraction.”

  Chapter 20

  The air was thick and heavy, choking my lungs. I yanked my shirt over my mouth as we darted across the vast avenue congested with chunks of rubble, dead bodies, and overturned wagons. The thunderous sounds of screaming, confusion, gunfire, and tumbling wreckage cracked the pavement like mini bombs, all creating a deafening sound.

  Warwick took the lead, weaving through the destruction, pausing behind an overturned cart midway. Birdie and I kept on his tail, our weapons up and pointed. Alert and on guard for any trouble.

  “I have to say…” Birdie pushed her back into the cart as she slid in next to us, pointing her gun behind us, the piercing sounds of gunshots filling the atmosphere. “For a distraction, that was pretty good.”

  Warwick didn’t respond, his eyes forward, while mine watched for any danger coming from other directions. The gray skies didn’t help with the smoky air. It was hard to see more than a few yards in front of us.

  “You’ll find a lot of things blow up around Warwick,” I replied.

  “Like my ovaries,” Birdie muttered under her breath loud enough I could hear her. I shot her a look. “What?” She shrugged. “Like you weren’t thinking the same thing.”

  Yep… No! No, Brexley, you were not.

  “Shit,” Warwick grumbled, ducking back behind the wagon, his fury knocking against my bones.

  “What?” Anxiety darted my head around. I could feel he was pissed, but not why.

  “The explosion was supposed to take out that thing.” He motioned to the street.

  “What thing?” I peered over, my eyes assessing every movement and shape through the hazy air.

  “That,” he grunted, pointing to a huge object being rolled out into the middle of the boulevard.

  “Ó, hogy baszd meg egy talicska apró majom!” Oh, may a wheelbarrow of small monkeys fuck it, Birdie hissed, her head shaking. Many old Hungarian phrases had survived and seemed even more relevant now in this crazy world.

  My throat tightened as I gazed upon the object. I knew exactly what it was. I had loaded it many times in a drill. Made from iron, cannons had survived the fall of the wall unscathed, highly sought after in the Eastern Bloc countries. Especially in fighting fairies since iron was their weakness.

  “Fuck.” My stomach dropped at the sight of the cannon being set in position, pointing right at the rundown mansion that held the rebel headquarters, a soldier lighting the fuse.

  Please be gone already. Please. The fear was instinctual. My thoughts went directly to him, pulling me to his location.

  Shit. I stood on the roof, looking at Scorpion’s back alongside Maddox, Wesley, and the twin guards I met when I first arrived here. They were hiding behind a partial wall, firing down on the HDF soldiers. The haze was still thick, and a massive chunk of fallen debris blocked their view of what was really happening below—and the peril coming for them.

  Terror pl
unged through me, and I saw Scorpion jerk, his body whipping around, sensing me, his eyes finding mine.

  “Scorpion! Run!” I yelled through our bond. Down on the ground, I heard the sizzle of the fuse about to run out. “NOW!”

  His eyes widened and he instantly reacted.

  “Go! Go!” he bellowed at his group, waving them toward the stairs. Maddox instinctually responded to his friend, scrambling across the roof, the others moving slower, questioning his reaction. I knew they didn’t have time to get all the way down the stairs, anxiety shooting through me at the thought. I couldn’t do anything.

  “What? What’s going on?” Wesley curved back to Scorpion.

  “Just fuckin’ move!” Scorpion yelled, his arm waving for them. The five of them hustled for the far side, but the me on the ground heard the crackle fizzle out in a way that meant they were out of time.

  “Hurry!” I pleaded and motioned for them to rush, knowing only Scorpion could hear and see me.

  “Cannon…”

  BOOOOOM!

  The iron ball sliced through the top of the building, directed at the shooters on the roof. Brick, wood, plaster, and metal shredded, exploding into chunks as the guys raced for an escape. It flung them forward like paper in the wind. Their figures soared off the five-story building as rubble raced them to the ground.

  “Scorpion!” I screamed as I watched his body plummet.

  The link between Scorpion and me was severed with a harsh snap, forcing me to suck in violently.

  “What? What’s wrong?” Birdie said. She and Warwick both turned to me, my hand on my chest, trying to stabilize myself.

  Were they dead? Did I not warn them in time?

  “X?” Birdie called to me, but I couldn’t stop trying to reach back out. My heart thudded in my chest, grief knifing me. I barely knew him, any of them, but the link to Scorpion made all that unimportant. We were tied together. It felt like losing a family member.

  Suddenly I was back behind the building, Maddox and Wesley stirring, but I searched for the other. For the guy who had suddenly become so much to me.

  I spotted a figure crushed under a huge chunk of cement, blood and gore splattered everywhere.

  No… please, no… Vomit churned up my throat.