by J. L. McCoy
Another blast of light exploded and the Dark Ones fighting in front of me began to scream and writhe as they dropped to the ground; their skin bubbling and burning before me. A flash to the right of me drew my attention and Archer came to a stop in front of me.
“Cion,” he breathed quickly as he climbed the steps and drew me into his arms. “Are you hurt?”
“No, but I will be if you don’t get these cuffs off me,” I said as I pulled back.
Archer glanced down at my ankles and then turned me around so he could look at my wrists. “Fuck,” he hissed as he gripped the silver at my left wrist and began to pull. The handcuff snapped and Archer pulled it off my skin. I whimpered with pain as the skin went with it.
Archer was suddenly tackled from the side and I yelped in surprise as he and his attacker fell off the air steps. I watched for a few seconds as a Dark One went toe to toe with Archer, before I reminded myself of my bindings. My left wrist was free and I took a deep breath as I prepared myself to take off the right cuff.
As soon as my left hand gripped the silver and pulled, I screamed out in pain. Doing my best to block it out, I managed to break the cuff and I quickly ripped it from my wrist and dropped it on the steps with a pissed off growl. I was going to kick Stanus’ ass for the pain he caused me.
Archer was still fighting with his Dark One, so I took a deep breath and dove down on top him, knocking the Dark One on his stomach. Using it to his advantage, Archer flashed to the man’s side and drove his silver dagger into the man’s heart.
“Nice, baby,” Archer smiled as I rolled off the dead man’s body.
“Thanks. Now can you help me out of these shackles?”
Archer took his black t-shirt off and wrapped it around his hand before trying to break the lock. With a lot of cussing and brute strength, he finally managed to get my legs free. With a quick kiss to his lips and a sincere thank you, I ran off to join in on the fighting.
I found someone’s silver dagger lying on the air strip and I picked it up before diving into the fight. I slashed and stabbed my way through six Dark Ones before I heard the first calls for help. Stabbing one last Dark One in the chest, I ran for the edge of the fighting and found Jameson on his knees, his hands healing one of Dean’s friends still in wolf form.
“Are you okay?” I asked worriedly as I took in Jameson’s bloody form.
“A few scratches, little sister,” he said over his shoulder. “I’ve got this one, heal the other.”
I looked to my right and saw another wolf lying ten feet away, unmoving. “Shit,” I breathed as I flashed over to him and kneeled down beside him. The wolf was whimpering softly and it sounded as if one of his lungs had collapsed. “It’s going to be alright, honey,” I said gently as I brushed my hands lightly over his fur. “I’m here to help you so lie still and try not to move.”
The wolf’s eyes met mine and I saw that he understood me. Placing my hands on his side, I closed my eyes and pulled energy around me. I took a deep breath and pulled the energy into myself before exhaling and pushing it back out again. Popping sounded briefly as his ribs repaired themselves and his lung inflated. After the last bit of energy left my fingers, the wolf sighed in relief and looked over at me.
“You should be all healed now,” I said gently as I backed up. I watched as the wolf got to his feet, bowed his head to me, and then took off back into the fray.
Out of nowhere, a Dark One crashed into me and my eyes flashed as I recognized Stanus Octavius. He seemed equally as surprised to see me and he quickly turned on his heel and tried to flash away. I drew the silver dagger from the back of my jeans and threw it as hard as I could, hitting him in the center of his back, and sadly missing his heart, but managing to slow him down. Smiling sinisterly, I took off after him; eager for my payback.
Just before my hands reached him, Weston came to his rescue and growled a fierce battle cry as he tackled me to the ground. I hit the asphalt hard, banging my forehead, as we came to a stop. Weston rolled off of me and flashed to stand before attacking me again. He kicked me in the ribs repeatedly, the force akin to a Mack truck, and I cried out in pain as I tried in vain to deflect the blows.
“When I’m done with you, I’m going to find that bitch friend of yours and kill her,” he spat at me in-between kicks. “After I show you what Dark Ones do to liars.” I caught a kick to the face, the force of it breaking my nose, and I cried out in frustration and anger.
A fierce growl sounded behind Weston and a second later, Archer’s face appeared over his shoulder and boy was he PISSED! “Now I get to show YOU what Day Walkers do to worthless pussies who attack our fucking women!” Archer turned him around and uppercut Weston so hard that he flew a few feet up into the air. Before his feet were able to touch the ground again, Archer reared back and punched him in the chest, sending him backward a good fifteen feet.
“You okay, baby?” he asked, concerned, as he turned to me and gingerly touched my ribs.
“I’m good,” I breathed hard. “You?”
“I’m better now that I know you’re safe,” he smiled lovingly down at me before quickly delivering a hot kiss to my bloody mouth.
“I’m going to kill you, Day Walker,” Weston seethed and Archer and I both turned to see him slowly getting up off the ground.
“The only one dying is you, asshole,” I growled as I put my hands out in front of me and blasted him hard with UV light. “That’s for my fucking house!”
I must have put too much energy into it again because he immediately burst into flames. An ironic and appropriate send off, if I do say so myself. I bent over and gripped my sore ribs as I watched him run around helplessly; the smell of his burning flesh turning my stomach and burning my nose.
The Dark Ones around him stopped fighting and stared in horror at their burning brother as he screamed. A few ran away after he dropped to the ground and died, but most went back to fighting.
Archer stared at me in complete astonishment for a few moments. “Ifreann na Fola,” he whispered softly before a Dark One bumped into him, drawing his attention.
“I’ll explain later, baby,” I called out to him as he went after the now fleeing vampire.
Turning back to the fight, I tried blasting the Dark One closest to me and ended up setting him on fire as well, narrowly missing a wolf. The wolf growled at me and I caught a glimpse of singed fur before I apologized profusely.
“I’m so sorry,” I held my hands up pleadingly. “Please forgive me. It was an accident.”
The wolf huffed and took off for another fight. I swallowed thickly and figured I should leave the frying to Lochlan from now on. Suddenly remembering him and Nikki, I took off in the direction of the Audi, dodging and ducking battles along the way. When I finally reached Lochlan, I was glad to see two wolves guarding him as he continued to blast Dark Ones with UV light.
A wolf stood guard at the passenger door and I made out Nikki’s terrified face through the glass. Reassuring myself that she was okay and well looked after, I turned around and ran back to Jameson to help him with the injured. When I arrived, he was panting from exertion and more pale than usual. He had a pile of wolves to heal and I pushed him aside as he reached out to heal another.
“Take a break,” I commanded as I laid my hands on a deep gash and began to heal it.
“No,” he argued. “Too many. You need me.”
“Fuck that,” I growled as I pushed the last bit of energy into the wolf and sat back on my heels. “You need to rest before you fall over, dammit!”
“I just…need blood.”
I held my wrist out to him as I put my free hand on the next wolf. “Take it,” I said, drawing energy into myself. “Don’t argue with me, Jameson Doyle. You’re right, I need you so just do it.”
He met my eyes and nodded his head. As soon as I felt the bite of his fangs, I turned to the wolf before me and pushed all the energy I’d gathered into him. Some of the energy traveled down the arm Jameson was feeding from and b
lasted into him as well.
Jameson groaned and fell backward, taking me and my arm down with him. He took one final pull of my blood and withdrew his fangs as he smiled up at me. “That was amazing,” he said with dazed eyes.
“Are you okay?” I asked worriedly as I brushed the hair back from his forehead and looked down into his eyes.
“Better than okay,” he sighed as he sat up, forcing me back. “I feel like I’ve been recharged.”
“Oh,” I breathed in surprise as I stared at him with wide eyes. “Well…good, I guess. You can help me heal the last three wolves.”
Just then Hagan appeared and he was dragging Quinn and Hunter with him. “Heal…us,” he gasped as he collapsed at my knees.
“Hagan!” I cried out as I took in his state. He had large chunks of flesh hanging from his arms and torso. I rolled him over on his back and tore the rest of his shirt off, gagging at the injuries. “Oh, Hagan,” I whispered in shock as I brushed the blood and hair from his face. “It’ll be okay, Sir. Just hold on for me.”
Putting my hands on his chest, I gathered as much healing energy as I could and pushed it back into him. He groaned at the force of it and I watched in wonder as his skin repaired itself. As soon as the last bit of energy left my fingers, I turned to Quinn and Hunter.
Hunter was in much worse shape than Quinn so I attended to him first. Parts of his intestines were hanging out and there was a huge, ugly gash in his stomach. His eyes were closed and I was worried. “Hunter…Hunter! Open your eyes,” I called as I gently hit his cheek. His eyelids fluttered a few times before they opened and he looked up at me.
“Skye,” he breathed as a small smile lit his face.
“Hey there, cowboy,” I said gently as I stroked his cheek. “You’ve been hurt. I’m going to heal you, okay?”
He grimaced in pain and I wasted no more time as I started shoving his intestines back in him. My hand hit something hard and I frowned as I took my hand out and peered inside the wound. Something shiny was stuck far inside him and I held him down with my arm as I gazed back up at him. “This is probably going to hurt, honey, so prepare yourself.”
He took a deep breath in and I quickly plunged my hand inside and closed my fingers around it. I hissed in pain as it cut into me and I carefully worked to dislodge it from his spine. Being mindful not to cut him any further, I turned the blade towards my own skin as I pulled it back out again. I looked down at the serrated silver knife and growled as I threw it as far as I could into the grass, away from anyone else who could use it.
“That hurt like hell, wild child,” Hunter whispered as he watched me shove the rest of his intestines back in place.
“I know, cowboy,” I whispered back as I put my hands on his chest. “You’ll be all better soon.” I gathered energy again, pulled it inside myself, and then pushed it back into Hunter.
He gasped as the power hit him and moaned as his hand clamped onto my arm. It took everything I had in me, even part of my own energy, to heal his wound. I collapsed on top of him, breathing hard, and he wrapped his arms around me.
“Are you okay?” he asked gently.
I nodded my head and tried to sit up. Thankfully, Hunter helped. “Get me to Quinn,” I said weakly as Hunter stood and pulled me up with him. He put his arm around me and helped me walk to Quinn’s side.
“Took you long enough,” Quinn grumbled before wincing in pain.
“Give her a break, brother,” Hunter said as he gently lowered me to my knees. “She’s completely exhausted and doing the best she can.”
“I’m fine,” I said, waving him away. Hunter looked reluctant to leave me, but I gave him the best wink I could manage and he took off back to the fight with Hagan.
Turning my attention to Quinn, I apologized for the delay as my hands felt over his injuries. Both of his legs were broken and the bones were sticking out of his thighs.
“They’ve partially healed already,” Quinn said, biting his lip.
“We’re going to have to re-break them, I’m afraid,” I sighed, looking up at him with remorse.
“Just do what you have to.”
I took a deep breath and apologized again as I grabbed his leg and re-broke it. He screamed out in pain and Jameson joined us then.
“Jesus,” he whispered as he looked at Quinn’s face. “Sorry I couldn’t get here sooner. I had to heal the last of the wolves.”
“Take his other leg and break it,” I directed as I began sliding the bone back into his skin. “I don’t think I can heal him. You’re going to have to do it. Are you okay with that?”
“I’m feeling a lot better since you gave me your blood and healed me,” he answered as Quinn’s leg snapped.
Quinn cursed us both to hell as Jameson put his protruding bone back into place.
The sound of the plane engine drew my attention and I flashed to stand. The airstairs were being drawn up and without thinking, I took off for them. Whoever was on that plane was not leaving if I could help it.
An arm flashed at me out of nowhere and I was clotheslined hard, the force of my own momentum taking me and my attacker down. I grabbed my sore throat as I flashed to stand, looking into the eyes of the man who had provided my chains to Stanus.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he growled as his hand shot out for me.
I sidestepped and punched him in the face with a closed fist as hard as I could. The sound of his cheek and jaw breaking was music to my ears. Those restraints had hurt like hell and I partially blamed him for them being put on me. Without missing a beat, I jumped up onto his chest, planting my knees firmly on his breast bone, as I grabbed both sides of his head and twisted. Once I broke his neck and severed the spinal cord from his skull, I pulled with all my might and ripped his head off with my bare hands as his body started to fall.
Rolling off him, I dropped the head to the ground and noticed the jet beginning to taxi down the runway; Dark, Day, and wolves dodging as best they could while they continued to fight on.
Growling in frustration at the valuable time the beheading cost me, I ran as hard as I could, trying to catch up to the plane. Teleport, I told myself and stopped dead in my tracks to prepare. I had to catch that plane and stop whoever was on it from leaving. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and focused before opening them again and locking onto the plane. My vision started to vibrate and a second later, blinding white light engulfed my body. I landed with a hard smack onto the runway and cursed at the pain that shot through my legs as I fell. I had missed the plane by a few feet and watched in shock as it continued to get away.
“Fuck!” I yelled as I dragged myself up and started running after it again. I gave it everything I had and to my immense surprise, I was gaining on it. Seconds before I reached the rear wheel, the plane began to tilt and it effortlessly lifted into the air.
I screamed out a string of obscenities in my frustration and sank down to my knees as I caught my breath. If that Dark One hadn’t engaged me, I’d have been able to stop whoever was in that plane from taking off, failed attempt to teleport onto the plane aside. With another angry growl, my eyes flickered pitch black and I flashed to my feet and took off again for the fighting. I was so pissed that someone had managed to get away and I planned on letting the remaining Dark Ones know just how extreme my displeasure was.
Grabbing an abandoned sword I found lying on the runway, I began slashing and stabbing my way through the remaining Dark. I spun and attacked without fear, the only emotion I acknowledged was anger, as my sword went through body after body. I lost all sense of time and my surroundings as I fought my way through one Dark One after another, efficiently dispatching their lives before moving on to the next. Before long, I’d severed the head of the last remaining enemy and I snapped back to reality as soon as I realized the fight was over.
Taking a deep breath I turned around, taking in the sea of dismembered and burned bodies before me as my eyes slowly slid across the battlefield. I felt absolutely nothing at
the gruesome sight and dazedly started walking over the bodies, going back the way I’d come.
“Cion,” Archer whispered gently as his feet appeared before me. I slowly looked up and into the bluest eyes I’d ever seen. “You can put the sword down now.”
My eyes slid down to my right hand and took in the dripping steel before me. Sluggishly, I nodded my head and inched my fingers open. The handle dropped to the ground with a loud clang.
“That’s my girl,” he whispered as he closed the few feet between us. “You did good, baby. You did good.”
His strong hands brushed the fresh blood and sticky hair from my face before he pulled me to his chest. I sighed as the adrenaline completely left my body and my knees buckled. He lifted me in his arms and I collapsed into him, feeling so exhausted all of the sudden.
Hushed whispers surrounded me as we approached the wolves and vampires. Many had already changed back into their human forms and were standing naked on the airstrip.
“I can’t believe what I just saw.”
“She killed them all.”
“Have you ever seen someone move so fast?”
“…was like a ninja or something.”
“An avenging angel…”
“…so hot.”
“…glad she’s on our side.”
“Is she dating anyone?”
“Yes,” Quinn growled, “and it’s not you wolf.”
“Nikki,” I whispered as I struggled in Archer’s arms. “Put me down. I need to go to Nikki.”
“You’re covered in blood, baby. It might scare her.”
“I don’t care,” I shook my head. “I need to see her.”
Archer nodded his head as he sat me on my feet and put his arm around my waist. He helped me walk to the car and I was shocked at what I found. The passenger door of the Audi had been ripped off its hinges and in front of it, a bloody Nikki was on her knees, hugging Dean in his wolf form.
“Nikki?” I called out in worry as I flashed over to her and dropped to my knees beside her. “Are you okay? What happened?”