The Beginning of Connie and Isaac: Blue Butterfly Series (The Blue Butterfly Book 3) (10 page)

Every creak, every whispered sound, caught my attention and I spun in circles for the first hour until I forced my heart rate to settle. I chastised myself. My nerves were my enemy and unless I got a grip of myself then I knew I would lose. I’d thought every noise was Ice, that he’d found me and I was about to kiss my life goodbye.

The density of the trees was like a manmade trap. Every now and again their gnarled and jagged branches tore at my skin, their roots causing me to stumble in the darkness of its depths. Leaves, weeds and undergrowth had me hissing curse words more than I managed to gain farther access into the forest. My body shook with a chill after I’d had to crawl through and over some streams, the bottom anything but smooth as sharp rocks and stones ripped into the bottom of my boots. The trees kept out any natural light so my clothes remained wet and heavy against my icy skin.

Stumbling through to a small clearing, I blew out my breath and plonked down onto the ground as I reached into my backpack for some water. Taking a gulp, I noticed a high and rounded pile of leaves and debris, obviously made from some sort of wildlife. Clambering across to it, making sure there were no baby animals nestling inside, a faint smile curved my lips as a plan came into my head.

Snatching up a stone and some more dry branches, I rubbed at them furiously like Isaac had taught me, a small cry of glee leaving me when some sparks leapt out and started to kindle the arid leaves. Blowing gently on it, I clapped my hands, proud of myself when the debris burst into small flames, each licking its kindling and burning harder and harder until, as I built it up, it burnt savagely.

Making use of the fire, I winced as I burnt the leeches from my body, their teeth retracting sharply as I took the small torch to their ugly, slick bodies. “Get the fuck off, you little bastards. I need my blood, thank you.”

My body ached, my muscles screaming in pain now that I had started to relax slightly. Isaac and the others had been right. Bleak woods had proved to be more torturous – probably - than the upcoming fight with Ice. I hissed when I applied some ointment Isaac had given me to the Cuckoo Pint’s stings and then stabbed myself in the leg with a prefilled syringe to counteract any spider bites I’d taken on my way through the dense foliage without realising.

All I wanted to do was sleep, to curl up beside the fire and rest but I knew if I wanted to live, I had to stay on my guard.

So, when the smoke started to billow up and rise through the high trees, I scurried backwards and hid in the shadows, waiting for my opponent to show himself.

It wasn’t too long before I heard branches snapping, and a rustling from the other side of the clearing. My heart was threatening to give me a coronary and I blew out a freezing breath as quietly as I could. Slipping my sniper rifle from my bag, I settled it on my shoulder and looked through the sight, moving it quickly left and right as I searched for Ice. Sweat beaded my brow even though the cold ravaged my veins. My head pounded as my anxiety spiked. Licking my dry lips, I whispered to myself when the leaves of a bush moved. “You can do this, Shadow. He’s your nemesis. He will kill you if you don’t kill him. You need to live. For Mae. For Mae.”

As soon as I saw his dark hand slowly push back a branch to take a look, I fired, ignoring the pain in my heart. I hissed when the bullet embedded itself in the tree beside his head. “Fuck!”

A bullet whizzed past my own head as I ran on bent knees back to another tree.

“Shit, shit, shit,” I murmured when another round of bullets tore through the air, one of them flicking my hair with its closeness.

He was getting closer, his bravery outweighing mine as he ran towards me. My heart stopped beating as I wrestled with one of the gnarly roots that had trapped my foot and sent me flying forwards, my rifle sailing through the air and thudding against a tree at least ten feet away. Time seemed to stop as I rolled onto my back and stared into the barrel of Ice’s rifle.

For a long moment, neither of us spoke. A loud hush sucked at the atmosphere around us, even the slight rustle of the trees stilling as we linked our eyes and communicated within the silence. I could hear his heartbeat as though it was my own, the pure ache on his face reflecting my own, and the shame and guilt he battled with matching my own. But then he spoke. “I’m so sorry, Shadow.”

I sucked on my lips to stop the sob from bursting from me. Yet, I smiled. “I know. I know.” My vision blurred and I blew out a breath, then nodded. “Make sure you exit north, Ice.”

He frowned at me. “What? Why?”

“Did Joel not tell you? You need to exit from your own entry point.”

He looked stunned by my help but then sniffed and nodded as his own eyes welled up. “Thank you.”

Tears filled my eyes and I swallowed. “Just do it. Get it over with.”

He hesitated and squeezed his eyes closed as I knew he would. Hating myself, I took the opportunity and kicked out at his gun, sending it flying across the air into the direction of my own. Before he could comprehend what was happening, I jumped up and sprang at him, taking us both to the floor. His head hit a rock and he cried out but his strength was astounding. He clamped his legs around me and rolled us until I was under him. “You bitch!” he hissed as he hit me over and over, my eye swelling immediately as my cheekbone cracked. His large hand pressed around my neck, his fingers squeezing. My brain swelled with the pressure, my eyes bulging as my pulse raced into dangerous territory. But still he squeezed, his lips curled back and his teeth bared as he took my life in his hands and forced my lungs to contract with the sudden absence of air.

My fingers clawed into the depths of the earth as I frantically tried to dig a way out. But there was no way out. Ice was stronger than me. I had been a fool to think I could take him on. Isaac had warned me of his strength, and had told me to use my wits and strength to take him out. And I had tried. I’d used the fire as a distraction, but that single bullet had failed me. I knew Ice deserved to win. He’d make a much better assassin than I ever would.

Yet, just as the world started to leave me and my body started to float, Isaac’s words whispered through my head.
‘You’re mine, Shadow. And not even death will take you from me.’

Like God was for once looking down on me, my fingers clawed at something hard. The stone Ice had hit his head on. The stone that already held my rival’s blood. But as my fingers curled around it and I stared up at Ice, the choice of finally putting this nightmare behind me snapped into my head and I hesitated.

Did I want to be eternally owned by The Phantoms?

If I won this, what would become of me?

Did I forever want to owe them my life to save my sister’s?

Should I infinitely put my fate in Frederik’s hands when his hatred for me was so evident?

Would I just be better off allowing Ice to send me to a better place, a place that finally promised me peace?

And as I looked up to the clouds, I made my decision.

I CLENCHED MY
jaw hard and looked up to the darkening sky. She’d been in there too long. Much too long.

“Ten hours and twenty seven minutes,” Panther said quietly, his own face lifting to the sky. “If she’s not out soon, she’ll be in there for the night, and quite frankly, I don’t fancy her chances much then.”

Rogue blew out a noisy breath beside me, his face towards the woods as it had been for the past ten hours. I knew he held feelings for Shadow and I was angry with myself for becoming emotionally involved in their relationship. Shadow had sworn, as had Rogue, that there was nothing between them, yet the way Rogue had behaved this last few hours, I was sure he would have liked it if there was something there.

“You’re quiet,” I said as I turned to a silent Bullet. Her eyes flicked my way, her face full of concern and sadness. “What are you thinking?”

She sighed then shook her head. I was stunned to witness tears in her eyes. Bullet was a tough cookie, her resilience as strong as her aim, and she’d become one of my best, yet her lack of confidence in Shadow angered me.

“She’ll be back!” I snapped as I turned and walked towards the edge of the forest.

My eyes peered ahead, my focus trying to shift past the bulk of the trunks and branches, but it was a hopeless task, the growth so thick my eyes couldn’t get past the first cluster of vegetation.

“Where are you, pretty girl? Where the fuck are you?”

A spot of rain landed on my head, and once again I looked up as if I expected the skies to give me some clue as to what was going on in there. I was positive my instincts hadn’t been wrong about the girl. She was tough and she was clever, but there was a part of me that knew she prayed for the end. Who didn’t in this fucking place? We all did in some way or another. My father was a tyrant, the fiercest and most dangerous of all my kin, but one day, I knew… I knew I would end his rule… and his life.

A noise straight ahead caught my attention. For the briefest moment I couldn’t inhale a breath. My heart hung heavy with hope, my eyes flicking left and right along the stretch of trees as I tried to pinpoint the sound. However, when a rabbit leapt out, I hissed and aimed my gun at it, blowing it to pieces in anger like it was its fault he didn’t bring Shadow with him.

“Bloody hell!” Rogue puffed out as he ran up to me. “I thought it was her then.” I nodded, gritting my teeth.

Bullet walked over to the bunny and started to chuckle, her merriment soon turning to a laugh. We all turned slowly to her. She was bent over, hysterics evident as tears ran down her face.

“What the fuck?” Panther asked.

She turned to us all, her face alight with happiness and humour. “She made it!” She laughed. “She only fucking made it.”

We all stared at her as she lifted a strand of cloth. “It was tied around Roger the Rabbit.” She laughed so loudly I thought she’d lost it, her face red and her eyes glowing.

She stumbled over to me and held the piece of cloth out. I quirked my eye at her as a small smile lifted my lips before the biggest grin I’d ever held covered my face.

“What the hell is going on?” Rogue barked as he moved his eyes from a hysterical Bullet to me.

I winked at him and held up the scrap of white cotton, probably what was left of Ice’s clothes. ‘I’m hungry, get me on the barbie,’ was emblazoned across it in what looked like charcoal.

“Well, fuck me!” Panther gasped when out of the thickness of the trees stumbled the most beautiful sight in the whole damn fucking world.

Shadow. My pretty girl.