Fight For Me

by K. A. Last

  “You should have more faith, Grace.”

  “In what? A pack of angry vampires?”

  “No.” Michael shook his head and fixed me with his stare. “In Charlotte.”

  The vamps closed in until Charlotte was completely surrounded by the mob. Lucas stared at me over the crowd and snickered.

  “Why aren’t they attacking us?” I asked, watching the writhing mass of vamps.

  “Because they want her blood.” Michael stood with his arms folded.

  Even though I was really angry with Charlotte and how she’d lied, it didn’t mean I wanted any harm to come to her. I never wanted her dead.

  “They’re going to kill her,” I whispered.

  “We have to help.” Archer started forward and Michael grabbed his shoulder, pulling him back. Seth slipped his arm around my waist, anchoring me so I couldn’t run to help Charlotte.

  She was out of sight, covered in a mass of vampire bodies all trying to feed from her. They writhed over each other, fighting for one purpose—to sink their teeth into her flesh.

  Light emanated from the centre of the fray. A few of the vampires threw their arms up to shield their faces. A force so powerful shot outwards, making the walls shake, and the vamps scattered. Those closest to the centre copped the full impact, and some turned to dust instantly. Others sprawled onto the ground or fled back into the tunnels.

  The light surrounding Charlotte blinded me, and it took my eyes a moment to adjust. When they did, they almost fell out of my head. Charlotte rose from a crouch and a pair of bat-like wings unfurled behind her. She beat them twice and took to the air, flying up to the high ceiling of the cavern. I thought Seth’s and my own feathers were beautiful, but Charlotte’s wings were something else altogether. A delicate membrane stretched between the slender finger-like bones. They were unlike any wings I’d ever seen. All the bats I’d ever come across had black wings, but Charlotte’s were pure white, and when she beat them they rippled with a silver sheen. It was as if a precious metal was embedded below the surface. Where her pale skin wasn’t concealed under black jeans and top, it shimmered with the same silvery light, and her strawberry-gold hair pooled onto her shoulders.

  She was as glorious as any angel.

  “How …?” I couldn’t finish the question.

  “Look at her hands,” Michael said.

  On her right hand, Charlotte wore a silver ring—a ruby, as red as fresh blood, sat between two sweeping feathers.

  “Her creation ring,” I said. “But she’s never worn it before.”

  “Secrets,” Michael said. “She’s good at keeping them.”

  Seth released his hold on me and I stepped out from the comfort of his arms. From the corner of my eye I saw Archer’s mouth hang open as Charlotte conjured a ball in her palm. At first I thought it was light, like I used to conjure before I became fallen, but when I looked closer I saw it was actually blue and silver fire. The flames licked upwards as if searching for oxygen. Charlotte twirled the ball on her fingertips before releasing it at the remaining vamps inside the cavern. The fire swept from one to the next, a blue and silver wave of flame. It took out all the stragglers who hadn’t gone into the tunnels, before dissipating into the air.

  I felt as if someone had knocked the wind out of me. I gazed up at Charlotte in disbelief, and she stared back with her charcoal eyes. A crack echoed through the cavern, and my wings broke free, shredding the back of my top. I hadn’t released them for a while, and seeing Charlotte in the air gave them a mind of their own.

  I rose to meet her, hovering above everyone. My black and grey wings beat in time with her white ones. She stretched out her arm with her palm facing me, and I did the same. When our hands met, warmth flooded my heart, and I wanted everything to be right between us again.

  “It will be,” Charlotte said.

  She descended slowly to the ground and retracted her wings. As they folded in behind her, the shimmering silver light also faded. She looked the way she always had.

  Lucas stared at her from his position behind the throne.

  I landed beside Seth, folding my wings close to my body.

  “Well,” Charlotte said, facing her brother. “Are you ready to face me on your own now?”

  Lucas raised the wooden sword as his answer. His face clouded with anger and he bared his fangs.

  Grace, Charlotte’s voice invaded my mind. You’ll have to finish this for me.

  What are you talking about? You’re going to finish this.

  Promise me, Charlotte thought.

  I stared into her eyes, the edges of them laced with fear. Something I’d never seen in them before. I promise.

  Charlotte adjusted her stance, and raised her chin towards Lucas, her hands at her side. “If I let you kill me, this is all over. No more blood. No more chances to walk in the sun.”

  I wanted to scream at her. To ask her what the hell she was doing. A moment ago she wanted him dead. She could kill him easily. Why was she laying herself out in front of him to be slaughtered?

  “What option do I have after your little display?” Lucas said. “We both know no matter what happens, I’m as good as dead anyway. You and your friends are too powerful for me. You’ve disappointed me, actually … I thought you’d put up more of a fight.”

  “I’m done fighting.” Charlotte moved to stand against the wall behind the throne, her arms by her sides, her head slightly back. “I let you make me, Lucas, but it was the worst decision I’ve ever made. You created a monster in me far worse than the hungriest vampire. Now you need to undo it. You have to destroy the one thing you’re fighting so hard for. This way, my blood is on your hands … no one else’s.” She closed her eyes.

  “No. We have to help her.” Archer ran towards the base of the platform.

  I misted and landed in his path. He crashed into me and we fell to the floor. The footsteps of the others were close behind, but all of us were too late.

  The moment the sword entered Charlotte’s chest, I screamed.

  I didn’t want her to die. We had too many things to talk about, and too much had happened between us for me to let her go. But it wasn’t anyone’s choice but hers.

  I’m sorry. I stared at Charlotte. For everything … for … everything.

  It’s okay, Grace. This is what was always supposed to happen.

  I scrambled to get to my feet, but my arms and legs were caught up in Archer’s. Strong hands pulled me up and held me tightly. Charlotte exploded into a cloud of white dust. It burst outwards like the sun’s rays, filling the cavern with light that washed away the yellow hue from the lamps behind the grates. Then the rays imploded, drawing back into themselves, exploding again—only this time the light swirled around itself, forming tiny orbs. Blue glittered around the edges. The orbs formed a huge mass of light that spread out above us like a blanket. They rained down on top of us like blue, falling stars, disappearing before they hit the ground.

  Charlotte was gone.

  Archer flopped back onto the ground and covered his face with his hands. Then he let out a scream louder than anything I’d ever heard come from his mouth. I could feel his heart being ripped from his chest, because mine was right beside it.

  THIRTY-FIVE

  Josh

  Grace looked as if every ounce of energy had been drained from her body. She leant against Seth, her wings wrapped around them both, and her closeness to him made the anger inside me swell again.

  “Where did she go?” Grace asked.

  “Where she belongs,” Michael said. “Where you were supposed to put her months ago.”

  Archer hadn’t moved from the floor. His hands covered his face, as if he didn’t want to look at anything anymore.

  I knew how he felt.

  “Heaven?” Grace asked.

  Michael nodded. “Just think, if you had have done this when the Council asked you to, none of this would’ve happened.”

  “Don’t throw that in my face now!” Grace said, the anger
in her eyes burning like fire.

  “You never did like to be told what to do,” Michael said.

  “And I still don’t. But I have to finish this. I promised Charlotte.” She headed straight for Lucas.

  All eyes were on him. He stood on the platform with his back to us, the sword dangling in his hand. White dust littered the floor at his feet. His shoulders shook with laughter, and he turned to face us.

  “Which one of you is next?” he said.

  Every single person there wanted a piece of Lucas for one reason or another, even Lilith.

  Grace reached the base of the platform. “I’m going to make you wish you’d never been created.”

  “Don’t you think I wish that already?” Lucas asked. He towered over her small form from the height of the platform, the wooden sword in his hand. The light from the lamps reflected off the intricate carvings on the hilt.

  Grace faltered, her face clouded with confusion, which then morphed into anger. “Where’s your army now? Who is left to protect you?”

  Lucas shrugged. “No one. It’s just me and you.”

  “I won’t give in as easily as Charlotte,” Grace said.

  “I don’t expect you to.” Lucas adjusted his grip on the sword.

  Grace fluttered her wings, retracting them as she landed on the platform. In a split second, Seth was at her side, ready to fight, followed by Hope and Justice.

  Michael looked on with a grin on his face.

  Lucas was a goner.

  “You used to fight for the right reasons,” Grace said. “Now you fight for nothing but yourself.”

  Lucas gave another half laugh. “You have no idea how hard it is. Do you? Of course you don’t. You’re the Protection Angel. Ask your brother what it’s like to live in your shadow, to be the one without the power. Just a hunter.”

  “Have you ever thought about what it’s like for us? Doing it over, and over again? Watching your brother die every generation?” Grace said. “The hunter is better off. At least it ends for you.”

  Lucas circled the sword through the air, bringing it around to a fight-ready pose. “All I wanted was to see the sun again. Charlotte could’ve given me that.”

  Grace shook her head. “All you wanted was the world, but the world doesn’t want you.”

  She charged him, her arm poised with a stake at the ready, and it was as if she were putting every ounce of anger she possessed into that strike.

  Lucas raised the sword in an arc, bringing it around to connect with Grace’s side, but she was too quick. She misted, turning to a cloud of black smoke as the sword passed through her. She materialised again at his right side, ready to drive her stake home, but Lucas dodged the attack, rolling to the left. Justice was ready and planted a punch on Lucas’s jaw, sending him reeling backwards. Lucas stumbled into Grace and they both fell heavily to the ground.

  “Should we help?” I asked Michael. He stood beside me with his arms folded, a crooked smile on his face.

  “I think they’ve got it under control.”

  “I want to help,” I said.

  Michael stared down his nose at me. “The best thing you can do is stay out of Grace’s way.”

  Grace hooked her arm around Lucas’s neck, and flipped him onto his stomach. She had the perfect opportunity to bury her stake in his back, but she crawled off him and got to her feet.

  “Stand up and face me,” she said.

  Lucas slowly got up. Hope and Justice circled him, stakes raised. We were all waiting for Grace to finish Lucas off. Seth stood at Grace’s side, and I cringed at the fact that he looked so perfect there. I didn’t want to think about it, but they had a history I could never understand, and they were connected in ways Grace and I could never be.

  He was meant for her, and I wasn’t. It was that simple.

  Lucas stared at Grace, and she licked her lips. I’d never seen her so worked up before.

  “Fight me!” she said. “Fight like you mean it.”

  It was like she was talking to me.

  Lucas lunged at Grace, his lips pulled back in a snarl. His sword slid past her as she dodged his attack, the tip of it glancing off the stone floor. They faced each other, ready to go again.

  Archer moaned. He hadn’t moved from where he lay on his back; his hands still covered his eyes.

  Grace took a few steps towards Lucas, adjusting the grip on her stake. “You have made my life hell since Charlotte walked into it, and I wish there was a way to make you pay. Killing you is giving you the easy way out.”

  “What other way is there?” Lucas asked.

  “I could think of a few,” Archer said through his hands.

  Seth misted and reappeared behind Lucas, grabbing him in a headlock. Lucas swung his sword in an arc and it narrowly missed Grace’s stomach. She lunged forward and planted her stake in his chest, but Lucas had brought the sword around again, and he drove it into Grace, the tip of the wood poking out through her right side.

  Lucas exploded in a cloud of ash, and Grace fell forward onto her knees, clutching at the hilt of the sword. I kicked Archer and he finally took his hands away from his face. It was a fight between the two of us to see who could reach her first.

  Blood dripped from Grace’s wound, staining the stone floor. Within seconds the group surrounded her, and I was pushed to the edge. I should have been used to it by then, but it only made me angry.

  Seth cradled Grace from behind, and she fell into him, her eyes half closed.

  “She can’t die,” I said, more to convince myself than anyone else.

  “Of course she can’t, you idiot,” Archer said. “But she can still get hurt.” He stood over her, his hands fumbling with hers at the hilt of the sword.

  “Pull it out,” Grace said. “I’ll heal.”

  “Not quick enough. Michael can fix you.” Seth looked up at the archangel.

  Michael nodded.

  Archer wrapped his hands around the sword and Grace grimaced when it moved slightly. He waited for her to settle again, and then he pulled in one quick motion. Grace screamed, and the sound filled the cavern, cutting through the air like a razor blade.

  Michael placed his hands over Grace’s side. Seth fixed him with the meanest stare. Light from Michael’s hands flowed into Grace, and wound itself into the hole in her flesh. The blood began to dry up, and it stopped dripping onto the floor.

  All I could do was stand back and wait for her to be healed.

  There were so many things I wanted to say to Grace, but I didn’t know where to start. How could I apologise for the world turning to shit? How could I tell the girl I loved that she’d made the wrong decision—that I wanted her to choose me?

  How would I go on existing without her?

  You have to, Grace said in my head.

  Her silent voice shocked me. It had been so long since she’d forced me to hear her; it felt weird having her invade my thoughts. Even though she could hear what I was thinking, it surprised me when she spoke to me.

  I don’t know if I can, I thought. I’ve missed you.

  Grace opened her eyes and sat forward, the wound in her side better, but not completely healed. I followed her gaze over my shoulder to the floor of the cavern below the stage. When Grace was wounded, I’d forgotten about Lilith, she’d been so quiet.

  Now I knew why.

  Ryan.

  THIRTY-SIX

  Grace

  Ryan lay limp in Lilith’s arms, like a rag doll waiting to be played with. She stood with his back against her chest, his head tilted to the side and his neck exposed. Blood smeared Lilith’s lips, and her eyes burned with the passion of the blood frenzy.

  I misted to her, but my wound wasn’t completely healed, and I ended up being slower than Josh. He streaked across the cavern and grabbed Lilith around the throat mid-run. I caught Ryan as he fell from Lilith’s arms. Josh didn’t stop until Lilith’s back hit the wall of the cavern. The rock above her head cracked from the impact.

  Ryan wasn’
t conscious or breathing. Blood trickled down his neck from the gash under his chin. It seeped into the collar of his T-shirt, staining it a rusty red.

  I pressed my hand to his neck, sobbing over his limp body. The scene was all too familiar, and memories of the night Josh had been turned flooded my mind. I couldn’t let the same thing happen to Ryan. I wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.

  Ryan’s blood stuck my fingers together, the tacky liquid covering my hands. I couldn’t heal him.

  Michael took Ryan from my arms.

  “Please,” I said. “You have to help him.”

  Michael nodded.

  I cautiously followed Josh’s path across the floor of the cavern. Rage had taken over him, and he screamed into Lilith’s face, squeezing her neck so tightly I thought her head might pop off.

  I was angry, too.

  “I trusted you. He’s my best friend.” Josh hung his head. “I promised him I had his back. How could you?”

  Lilith’s eyes held no hint of remorse. Why would they? She ate people to survive. Josh and Charlotte were the only vampires I’d met that ever felt bad about what they were. Feeling sympathy or empathy wasn’t in a vampire’s nature. They survived on instinct.

  “You can’t be mad at me for doing what I’m supposed to do.” Lilith clenched her teeth, and attempted to prise Josh’s fingers away from her neck.

  Josh punched the wall beside Lilith’s head with his free hand. Bits of rock crumbled to the floor, and blood bloomed on his knuckles.

  “Josh, baby?” Lilith said.

  I’ll do it if you can’t, I thought. But either way, you know it has to be done.

  Josh’s eyes were vacant. He stared at Lilith, but at the same time he looked straight through her. Her mind was a jumbled mess, full of fear and resentment. His was full of anger at her, at me—at everyone.

  Josh released Lilith and his hand fell to his side. A wicked smile spread across her face, and she stepped towards him, wrapping her arms around him. He ran his hands up her spine, and I moved away from them, watching as Josh positioned the point of the stake on Lilith’s back.