Blood splattered onto me, coating my face in a thick layer of crimson as a bullet exploded through her shoulder. She jerked forward as another bullet entered her back.
Whatever hold she had on me was gone as she collapsed, no longer moving.
I raised my gaze to see who I had to thank for saving my ass and saw Lana on her knees, gun raised and the key in her left hand.
I swallowed hard, not knowing if I was going to be next. Then she did something I never expected. Lana tossed the key to me. “Go.”
The moment my fingers wrapped around the key, I knew it was special. Energy radiated from where my skin touched it, pulsating through me.
“Go,” Lana snapped again.
Everything I thought I knew about Lana was unraveling, doubts forming inside of me as I wondered if she was really helping me, or she was setting me up for some greater plan.
Whatever her intentions, I knew I couldn’t stick around.
My thigh screamed in pain as I hobbled away from the scene as fast as I could. I needed to get back to the van and return to the sanctuary of the little village. I wished we had some sort of communication device so I could let the others know I had what we’d come for, because there was no way I was going to yell it out for Orphelia to hear.
I was about halfway through the neighbor’s yard when Max came out of nowhere and scooped me into his arms, pressing me against his chest. As much as I hated being treated like a baby, my leg was grateful for the gesture.
He didn’t say a word as he took off toward the vehicles, and within seconds, he had me inside and the door shut behind us, casting a disappearing act for anyone passing by. It was the same spell they used to conceal their magical container ship compound.
Max set me down on the bench seat and grabbed the first aid kit positioned beneath. “I’m assuming you have the key?”
I opened my fingers, revealing the key on the palm of my hand. It didn’t look like an actual key that you used to unlock a house or a car. This one was made out of labradorite and wasn’t even in the shape of a key. The crystal was bound within an antique bronze rope-like casing with a little ring at the top to slip a chain through.
He sighed with relief as I slipped it into the inside pocket of my pants. “What the hell happened out there?”
“I’m not the only one,” I said through gritted teeth. “They already have a demon-possessed huntress who would’ve killed me if Lana hadn’t put a bullet in her.”
His gaze shot up to meet mine. “Lana saved you?”
I nodded as he pulled a pair of scissors out of the kit. “Do you think she knows the truth about the Society?”
“There’s no way to be sure, and we can’t risk placing our trust in her.” Max lifted my pants away from my skin and cut the material off, leaving my leg bare, exposing one hell of a wound that didn’t seem to be healing as quickly as I would’ve liked. “You’re lucky it missed any major arteries.”
I wasn’t sure luck had been involved. The demonic huntress had been precise, wanting to keep me alive while doing what she could to play with me, destroying my chances of fighting back.
He pulled out a couple pieces of gauze, placed them over the wound, and wrapped a bandage around my thigh. When he was done, he grabbed a bag of blood and tossed it to me. “Drink up. It should help with your healing.”
Unlike Finn, Max didn’t look away as I put the bag to my lips and drank. In fact, he grabbed another bag for when I was done with this one.
Max sat on the floor in front of me, resting his free hand on my calf, comforting me with his gentle touch and his nonjudgmental eyes, which remained locked with mine. Out of everyone, I would’ve thought he would’ve had the biggest issue with my desire for blood, but he took it in stride, never once making me feel like a monster.
Warmth spread through my body as the blood healed me from the inside out, and even though I had a gash the size of a ruler on my thigh, I knew it wouldn’t stay that way for long.
Once I’d sucked the bag dry, Max handed me the next as the door of the van opened and Kade and a few other hunters on our side piled in, shutting the door behind them. The driver’s door opened, and another hunter or witch hopped in and started the van.
My breath caught in my throat, the bag of blood almost slipping from my hands. “Where’s Finn?”
Kade slumped into the seat beside me and ran his bloodied hand through his hair, which was no cleaner. “Don’t stress. Finn went in one of the other vans.”
Relief flooded through me. There’s nothing worse than fearing a loved one’s death. Scratch that. The actual death was worse. I swallowed hard, trying to squash the emotions of my mother’s passing to the back of my mind and focus on the now. “And Nessa?”
“She’s staying behind to take care of Orphelia so we can get away,” Liam said. “She’ll catch up with us once she knows we’re at a safe distance.”
It wasn’t long before we were back inside the protective wards surrounding the colony, the key safely in my possession, which was where it would remain.
My level of trust was almost nonexistent.
Max helped me over to the medic room where my father was still sleeping on a bed, looking better than he had the last time I’d seen him. After so many years of seeing him passed out, it was hard to hold any hope he’d get better.
Bringing Mom back may not help him give up the bottle even though her death was the reason he’d started drinking.
I lay on the next bed with the back raised so I was more in a sitting position as Angela, the healer, undid the bandages until I could see the gaping wound in my leg.
Angela scowled as she assessed my injury. “I hate to think how bad this was when it happened.”
Max slid his hand over mine and gently squeezed it. “It was double the size. Kali’s lucky she didn’t lose her leg.”
Grateful for his comforting touch, I relaxed a little. “Yeah, I don’t think that was her aim. What use is a one-legged demon-possessed hunter for them?”
She lifted her gaze to meet mine, worry circling in her eyes. “Not much at all.”
Nessa entered the room, looking a little worse for wear. In fact, she looked as if she’d had a fistfight with the demon witch. Caked blood was smeared across her cheekbone, her left eyebrow was split, and her body was battered and bruised.
Walking with a limp, she crossed the room to me. “Tell me you have the key.”
A grin crept across my face. “I do.”
“Well, where is it?”
Part of me wanted to tell her to get lost because there was no way I was disclosing the whereabouts of the most important object in this world to me, but there was something about her that told me I could trust her. And trust didn’t come very lightly when my mother’s and loved ones’ lives were at stake.
Eventually, I reached inside my pocket and retrieved the key, a warm, tingling sensation radiating through my hand.
Nessa sucked in a sharp breath. “Do you feel it? A connection?”
I nodded.
She smiled. “Good. Now don’t let that out of your sight. I’ll clean up then begin preparation for your awakening.”
I slipped it back into my pocket as I noticed her staring at my wound. “It’s getting better.”
Nessa rested her hand on my calf in a comforting way. “Your healing abilities will only improve once we complete the awakening.”
“She was there,” I said. “Another one like me only stronger.”
Nessa nodded slowly. “It’s the only explanation for your leg.”
“Will I be able to kick her ass when I’m at my true strength?” I wanted nothing more than to kick the shit out of her and send the demon back to the Shadow Realms.
My shoulders slumped as I realized she could’ve been exactly like me, wanting to do the right thing, only no one had come to her rescue, and now she was possessed by a demon making her do all these things. There was a possibility that she was still an innocent.
The lines were
way too blurred.
“You’ll be able to hold your own against her and any others that might show up,” Nessa said with a smile. “For you’ll have the power of our land on your side.” She cocked her head. “I’m not going to lie to you. It’s going to be hard, but you can succeed.”
“I only got away because of Lana. She shot her with a bullet that incapacitated her. Then she threw me the key. Lana had it in her possession, and she gave it to me.”
Nessa’s brows furrowed. “That’s interesting.”
“Interesting how?”
She shook her head. “Never mind.” When I gave her a “you’ve got to be kidding” look, she added, “Lana might not be lost. And about the bullet, I’ll have to see if I can figure out what spell Orphelia would’ve used before she tries to use it on you. Now rest up. The ceremony should be ready by sunrise.” She retreated out the door with a limp.
My stomach leaped into my throat. Sunrise was only two hours away, and as much as I wanted to bring my mother back from the Shadow Realms, taking on the demons scared the crap out of me. I had no idea how I was going to kill beings that didn’t have physical bodies, but I didn’t have a choice.
29
Over the last few weeks, I’d thought about this moment so many times. Some days I couldn’t wait, and others I was deadly afraid of what was going to happen. Now, I was riddled with fear of the unknown and anticipation as to what I would become.
I took comfort in knowing I wasn’t going to be giving my body over to a huntress to possess. I, in fact, was the huntress and had been all along.
Standing in the center of a circle made out of what looked like chard wood mixed with dirt and contained flecks of white and purple they had sprinkled on top of the earth, I breathed in the aromatic scents of the candles burning around us. With me was Nessa, no longer wearing her combat gear and now dressed in what appeared to be a traditional forest green hooded robe that seemed to balance perfectly with nature. The bruises covering her body were barely noticeable, and the cut on her eyebrow was now a scratch.
The wind blew gently, picking up the aroma and wisps of smoke from the candles as they wrapped around us, forming a barrier between us and those on the outside.
I cast a glance toward my friends and family, who were there for moral support but probably more likely wanting to catch the first glimpse of the one who could save them all. That or they wanted to see me turn into a ravenous vampire-hunting witch they had to try to control. Which would explain the guns they had strapped to their waists.
They’d assured me the weapons were for the off chance the Society would attack, but I had a hard time believing them.
It didn’t matter though, because I knew there wasn’t a chance in hell I would do anything to harm those I cared about. They were my crew—my family. And my lover.
The corner of my lips tipped up. Then I bit down on my smile as my eyes met Max’s. He returned my smile and gestured for me to pay attention to Nessa.
Following his gaze, I focused on Nessa and her hand, which she held palm up toward me, waiting for something.
“Uh…” I said, not sure what was going on.
Nessa shook her head, clearly knowing where my mind was. “I need the key.”
I took a deep breath and released it slowly as I passed her the key. Emptiness consumed me the moment it was out of my grasp. It was as if a piece of me was missing. And now that I knew, it clawed away at me.
Nessa began chanting in a language I didn’t understand—words that made no sense. An energy that seemed to come from the ground cloaked me in a warm, fuzzy bubble. My whole body relaxed with complete contentment, the magic lulling me into a state of peace.
The key glowed, starting off as a small pinprick of light within and quickly growing with intensity until it was a brilliant aqua light. Then, without warning, she slammed the crystal key against my chest, piercing my skin.
I screamed out in pain as what felt like fire ripped through me, spreading through my body like wildfire. My feet lifted off the ground by no action of my own, my back arching as every nerve in my body burned until I could barely breathe. Then, just as suddenly as the tsunami of pain had started, it subsided, quickly draining from the top of my head until it reached the tip of my toes.
And it was gone.
My feet touched the ground, giving me a connection to the earth I’d never felt before. Energy flowed through my body as if I were attached to a direct supply from the source—the earth. I no longer felt any pain from the wound across my leg, and… There was something else I couldn’t quite explain. Something had changed in me. I could feel it in every fiber of my being. A connection to another force—a power that had previously been hidden from me. In the distance, I could see the veils between this world and the Shadow World.
Nessa held the key out to me, and I took it, only mildly surprised when I no longer felt a connection with it. All its previous magic was gone and now resided within me.
As I turned to my family, hushed whispers spread through the crowd.
Stepping out of the circle, I strode over to my friends, thankful I was still me, just a little harder to kill. “What about my eyes?”
Finn stared at me, as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “They’re blue.”
No shit. They’d been that way before.
“Ice-blue,” Max said, a look of awe in his eyes.
“And they glow,” Mason added.
Now that was new.
Nessa came up behind me. “They’re that color because Kali’s at one with the earth and the magic within.”
I knew then that everything Nessa said was true. I was now on the right side, representing everything that was light, whereas the Society represented everything that was not. I couldn’t help but hope Lana hadn’t known and could be trusted. But when it came down to it, this was a war we were fighting, and we all had to pick sides and deal with the ramifications.
But first, I was getting back my mom.
Also by Kelly Carrero
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Circle of embers
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Severed Minds
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Deception
Vengeance
Contained
Reclaimed
Unleashed
Jane Doe - An Evolution World Series
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Unearthly Paradox Series
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Circle of Embers (Shadow Realms Series Book 2): A vampire hunter novel Page 16