Kailani managed to dodge one of the Perfects’ claws, then ran toward us when she saw what Abaddon was about to do.
“Come at me first!” I snarled at Abaddon. “At least I’ve still got some fight left in me. You’re quite a coward to go after the fallen ones, don’t you think?”
I’d taken a page out of Amane’s book on this one, but someone had to keep taunting Abaddon. Amane was lying on the ground, unconscious and bleeding out. One of the Perfects had finally gotten to her. I had to keep going, no matter what.
“You’re broken, bloodsucker,” Abaddon said. “The only thing still keeping you together is your skin. Hold your horses. I just need to snap this guy’s head off first.”
His voice trailed off when he spotted movement from his left. He looked up just as a pulse rippled through the air. Kailani came to a screeching halt, putting her hand up as she tried to take control over Abaddon with a puppetry spell. I’d seen her do it before, but I feared it wouldn’t be enough to hold him back.
A thump made my heart stop for a second. I looked down and noticed the pattern of leaves and grass shifting under Nevis’s weight. He’d fallen on his back. Blood was seeping from his wounds, quietly spreading across the greenery, visible in its glistening shade of crimson. Tears stung my eyes, as my inability to do more to save him and myself crashed into me like an icy wave.
Kailani whispered a series of words, and Abaddon grunted with his arms out to his sides. He couldn’t move!
He tried. He struggled. He sneered at her, baring his fangs and licking his bloodied lips. “I’ll peel the skin from your face, strip by strip!”
Kailani grinned. “I don’t think you’re in a position to do any filleting at this point in time.”
Abaddon growled and flexed his muscles, to the point where I could see his veins throbbing along his neck and temples. He bellowed with rage. The jungle around us trembled from his roars. Then, something snapped.
The invisible strings that had been holding him back were ripped. Kailani lost control over Abaddon. He didn’t hesitate, and headed straight for her. She tried to run, but Abaddon darted toward her, generating a loud pop in his wake—the air friction of a Perfect flashing from point A to point Kailani. He grabbed her by the throat, gripping tightly as he lifted her off the ground.
“Kale! No!” I heard Rose screaming, somewhere nearby.
I couldn’t see much of anything. My gaze was fixed on Kailani, and I prayed to all possible entities for help. Kailani squirmed in Abaddon’s hold, choking and gasping for air. Her feet were several inches from the ground. She wasn’t going to last much longer. Abaddon laughed, delighted to have laid his hands on her.
Rage and glee beamed out of him like toxic rays of sunshine. Another second or two, and her neck was going to snap.
“Kale,” I murmured, inwardly cursing as I failed to release another barrier. I was out of energy altogether.
A second loud pop caught my attention. This one came from my left. I turned my head just in time to see Douma running so fast, I couldn’t even distinguish her figure from the environment. Abaddon glanced over his shoulder. He saw her coming and dodged her attack. Douma missed him by a couple of inches. My stomach dropped, as he proceeded to choke Kailani even harder.
The air changed, somehow. Electric charges rubbed against my skin, giving me goosebumps.
Abaddon stilled, frowning as he looked up at Kailani.
Her eyes popped open, shining like two small suns. She opened her mouth, and light beamed out of it, too. It was as if she’d swallowed the sun. Her skin burned, and Abaddon hissed and quickly dropped her, his palms red and blistering.
Kailani, however, didn’t fall. She hovered above the ground, light shining out of her with an intensity that made me squint. Her lips moved. She was saying something, but I couldn’t hear a thing. She smiled, then tilted her head back.
Just then, a powerful, blinding white light exploded from within her body. It spread out and forced me to close my eyes for a few moments.
I heard the rushed footsteps through the grass. Abaddon’s growl.
The whistling sound of a blade rushing through the air, then the wetness of flesh and the crack of bone being sliced. It was swiftly followed by the thud of something hitting the ground.
I held my breath, even though it hurt like hell. Even with my eyes shut, I could see the light. Something had happened to Kailani, but I couldn’t explain it. Off the top of my head, it must’ve been related to the Word and her swamp witch development. Everything weird was linked to that.
When I opened my eyes, however, I witnessed a different scene.
There was a striking difference between this and the world I’d left behind when I’d shut my eyes, in the first place.
Abaddon wasn’t standing anymore. His body was on the ground. His head was ten feet away. A shocked expression had marred his features, his blue-and-green eyes bulging out. He hadn’t seen that one coming.
Standing before me and holding my soul-eater was Douma, panting and covered in blood.
A couple of yards away, Kailani was still hovering and glowing like the burning sun, but the light had dimmed substantially. I could see better. It was as if Kailani was made entirely from solid sunshine, every cell of her skin gleaming golden yellow.
I exhaled and subsequently coughed, thanks to my punctured lung.
“You… You did that?” I asked Douma, staring at Abaddon’s head for a moment.
“I had no choice,” she replied, her voice low and trembling.
Another body came down. Rose had just decapitated another Perfect. A few seconds later, Samael caught an opening and neutralized the last of our enemies. His body slumped in the grass, his head rolling away like a crooked bowling ball. This was a messy game.
“Who set you free?” Rose managed, firmly gripping her sword and pointing it at Douma.
“I had to,” Dmitri croaked, slowly approaching this newly developing situation.
We didn’t even have time to breathe a sigh of relief at the sight of Abaddon’s head on the ground, nor to wonder what the hell was going on with Kailani, who was still beaming and levitating. Douma was loose, and she was holding one of our soul-eaters.
“I was the only one who could stop Abaddon. I’m the only one faster than him,” Douma replied firmly, refusing to let go of the blade.
“Well, thank you. Now put the weapon down,” Rose retorted, frowning.
Douma smirked. “Afraid I’ll come after you next? You’re plenty of fighters short, now. I could pick you off, one by one.”
I heard a twig break. I looked to my left again but couldn’t see Dmitri anymore. He’d vanished. He must’ve taken his invisibility paste. Douma seemed equally alarmed to no longer be able to see him.
At the same time, Kailani let out a hummed sigh, as the light died out. She fell flat on her face, like a limp doll, alive but unconscious.
“Kale!” I gasped, then froze when the soul-eater sword flew out of Douma’s hand.
Before she could do anything, a charmed cuff was slapped against her wrist. Dmitri, in his invisible form, pulled her arm back. Douma swerved around and tried to tackle him, but Rose got to her first and sank her fangs into her neck.
Douma yelped from the pain—caused not so much by the bite, but rather by the blade Rose had stabbed her with at the same time. The entry wound had been strategically inflicted, less than an inch from her spine. It was enough to disable her for a few minutes. Douma dropped to one knee, while Dmitri finished cuffing her once more.
Two pairs around her wrists and one on her ankles, and Douma was our prisoner once more, unable to use any of her natural abilities. There was still a device mounted on the side of her neck, preventing her from calling out to other Perfects on their special frequency, and another that kept her wings folded, stuck between her shoulder blades.
Only then, when she was finally subdued, when Abaddon was finally beheaded and the other Perfects were down… Only then could I let myself c
ollapse. My wounds were severe. My arms and legs were numb. My breathing was heavy and broken.
But we’d made it. Somehow.
We’d faced a most vicious opponent, a harbinger of bloody death and doom. And we’d resisted. We’d walked out of it alive. For the most part.
I felt a smile stretching my lips.
“Hold on, Lenny. I’ll be with you in a second, honey,” Rose murmured somewhere in the background.
I heard zippers and buttons popping. The rustling and crinkling of plastic. The moans and grunts of my friends. One by one, they were being taken care of by Rose. I knew she was handling the critical cases first.
“It’s okay,” I whispered. “I’m okay.”
Everything darkened around me. I felt relieved.
I was milliseconds away from passing out, but I felt relieved.
Elonora
By the time I came to, Rose had managed to get most of our crew back to full consciousness. My heart immediately started racing at the sight of Nevis, who was still lying on the ground. He was visible now, and healing paste covered most of his wounds. The gaping hole in his abdomen made my stomach churn.
Kailani was back on her feet and clearly dazed, as she went from Hunter to Zeriel and then to Vesta, treating their wounds with healing paste and temporary bandages. Douma was cuffed again, with Dmitri keeping watch over her. Kallisto, Amane, Samael, and Leah had also made it. Rasmus wasn’t that lucky. Leah wept by his side, while Samael glanced around, analyzing the eleven Perfects, with their heads scattered around. Blood covered large portions of the grass, gradually drying up.
“Nevis,” I murmured, then scrambled to get to his side.
“He’s too weak to move,” Rose said to me, as she held Ben in her arms and dripped some of her blood into his mouth.
I bit into my wrist and pressed the open wound against Nevis’s lips. He moaned softly, then opened his eyes and saw me. Our eyes locked, and I didn’t need to tell him what to do. He drank from my wrist. It had a relatively quick effect on him, and the color returned to his cheeks.
“You’re incredibly reckless. Do you know that?” I croaked, frowning at him.
He gently gripped my bleeding wrist and pulled me closer. Our faces were inches apart from each other, and he gave me a half-smile. “You’re just as bad, Elonora.”
“You nearly got yourself killed!” I said, my pulse racing.
“Well, someone had to make sure you didn’t get yourself killed,” he replied.
“Why would you ever endanger yourself like that over someone like me?” I asked, genuinely baffled.
He sighed, then looked down at his abdominal wound, which was finally beginning to heal. “I’ll be fine, Elonora. It’s just a flesh wound.”
“Dude, Abaddon stabbed you with his fist!” Dmitri retorted, slightly amused.
I was angry at Nevis. Fuming, actually. Not only because he’d almost died, but also because I’d almost lost him. Yes, lost him. He made me feel things I’d never experienced before, and I didn’t want him leaving this world without the possibility of the two of us exploring unsaid possibilities. Oh, I was definitely falling for Nevis, and it was such a bad idea, given the circumstances. But, then again, whenever I looked in his icy blue eyes, I melted on the inside.
“And, as you can see, I’m still here,” Nevis replied.
I couldn’t stop myself from caressing his face with my knuckles. He stilled under my touch, his pupils dilated. Time seemed to stand still for a moment. His bloodied lips stretched into a lazy smile.
The tough side of me quickly reared its head, prompting me to smack him over the shoulder, as I did my best to project my anger. “Don’t ever do that again, okay?”
Nevis didn’t stop smiling, though. I was under his spell, and there wasn’t much I could do about it. He exhaled, then shrugged. “I’m afraid I can’t make such a promise, Elonora. I won’t be able to stand by if someone tries to hurt you. Or anyone on our team.”
My heart skipped a beat. Deep down, I knew he’d added that last part just to keep himself on more neutral ground. Something was growing between us, but this wasn’t the time or the place to better understand what it was. For the time being, I was just relieved to see him alive.
I looked up at Kailani, who’d stopped by Abaddon’s side, staring at him. “Kale, what happened back there?” I asked.
“I honestly have no idea,” she answered. “I think I blacked out after he grabbed me by the throat. I was suffocating, then everything went dark.”
“Oh, honey, everything went bright out here,” Rose replied, raising an eyebrow. “Something happened to you, Kale. My first guess is that it had something to do with your swamp witch abilities.”
“Hey, whatever it was, thank the stars it happened!” Vesta interjected, wiping the blood from her face with a piece of cloth. “Abaddon would’ve torn us all to shreds.”
“So, who stopped him? Me?” Kailani replied, visibly confused.
I shook my head. “You lit up like the sun. It was awesome, frankly. Incredible to watch. But you didn’t take Abaddon out. You distracted him. Douma neutralized him.”
“Speaking of which, Dmitri—” Rose started to say, but Dmitri cut her off.
“Sorry, Aunt Rose, it was an executive decision, and I know I took a big risk, but I really didn’t see any other option at the time,” he said.
“It’s okay,” Rose replied. “I was only going to say… Good job, Dmitri,” she added with a grin.
Dmitri sighed with relief, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. He briefly stole a glance at Douma, who rolled her eyes and looked away, evidently displeased by her restraints.
“You’re welcome,” she said.
“Oh, we are definitely thankful for your help,” Ben replied, pushing himself into a sitting position. His wounds were healing, but the movements were still painful, making him groan. “But let’s not forget what you would do to us if we let you loose.”
Douma smirked. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not happy to be tied up again,” she said, “but it’s not the end of the world. I did my job and kept you alive. My next task is to deliver you all in one piece to my father. But you’re already headed that way, anyway. Come to think of it, I should be thanking you for doing my job for me.” She chuckled.
“Okay. So, how are we looking so far?” Zeriel asked, pleased to be able to stand on his own again. He reached a hand out to Vesta, then gently pulled her to her feet. He didn’t let go immediately, instead watching her with a mixture of warmth and concern. His aura glowed gold, just like hers.
I stifled a grin, then shifted my focus to Leah, who was wiping her tears and looking for the courage to leave Rasmus’s side. “I’m sorry, Leah, Samael,” I said. “Rasmus was a good fighter. We’ll always keep him in our thoughts. He’s part of the reason why we’re still breathing.”
Leah nodded slowly, struggling not to cry again. “Yeah. Rasmus was… Well, he was a bit of a gentle giant. I mean, sure, he could crush your head with his bare hands, but deep down, he was a big softie,” she said, smiling. “He loved keeping small animals as pets, you know?”
Samael laughed lightly. “Ah, yes. We had our work cut out for us whenever we came across an orphaned doe,” he added. “Rasmus had to take care of it. It didn’t even matter that his size alone was enough to scare the creature away. He would simply chase it down, catch it, and hold it tight in his arms, until the animal relaxed and had no choice but to accept Rasmus’s care.”
“I’m sorry,” Rose murmured, tearing up. “It’s never easy to say goodbye to a friend.”
“Hey, he gave these bastards plenty to work with!” Leah replied, willing herself to smile more. “He put up a good fight, given the caliber of the Perfects we just dealt with.”
“Speaking of which, nicely done,” Samael said. “Abaddon is… Ugh, he’s a damn nightmare. I’m amazed we pulled this off.”
“Injury-wise, we’re going to be okay,” Kailani interjected, helping Hunter back to
his feet. She lowered her voice as he frowned at her. “Thank you, Hunter.”
“For what?” he replied with a shrug.
“You saved my ass back there.”
“And you saved mine. We’re even,” he grumbled, then gently pulled himself back, putting some distance between them. It didn’t sit well with her, but there wasn’t much she could say or do at this point. Something else must’ve happened prior to the Perfects’ attack, though. Her nerves had seemed frayed as soon as I laid eyes on her after she came down from the peak.
“Abaddon is nothing like Araquiel and the others,” Ridan said, then looked at Amane. “Did you know he would turn out so unstable?”
Amane shook her head, her orange eyes glimmering with tears. “I had no idea. He was one of the first Perfects to come out from our blueprint. We assumed there had to be some kind of genetic aberration behind his short fuse. All the others came out with better self-control. We simply thought that Abaddon was a fluke.”
“He’s a deadly fluke,” Kallisto replied, crossing her arms. “We need to move and get as far away from here as possible, before they regenerate. Abaddon will be twice as vicious when we see him again. We won’t stand a chance if we haven’t fully healed by then.”
“More Perfects could be coming around, too,” Ben said.
“We should chop these ones up and scatter them around,” I replied. “Slow down their healing time. Maybe kill them permanently?”
“If these guys are tracked by their boss, they might be getting backup soon. We don’t want to risk it and still be here if they do show up. We have injured team members, too. Our goal is to find Raphael and survive, not experiment with permanently killing Perfects.”
Amane nodded, then checked all the Perfects’ bodies. She removed several devices from them, tossing them in a small pile at Ben’s feet. “Please destroy these,” she said. “One of them blocks me from sensing Abaddon’s approach.”
“It’ll be harder for me to use my True Sight to watch out for them,” I said. “That whole mirror gimmick was annoyingly confusing. What kind of technology is strong enough to block my True Sight?”
A Shade of Vampire 63: A Jungle of Rogues Page 17