Wreathed in Flame (Faith of the Fallen Book 3)

by Cassandra Sky West

  Savanna’s coven couldn’t help, trapped in their magic as they were. As Alexi glanced to her friend she could see Savanna shift her legs to stand. Alexi held her hand out low to her and made a stopping motion. Savanna would risk death to help her, she knew that, but it wasn’t a chance Alexi wanted to take. She winked at the witch to let her know it would all be okay.

  She let out her breath, searching for the place inside of her where she could feel her angelic side. It was empty. There were rules to using her sword and armor, rules she hadn’t quite figured out. She would have to do this on her own.

  Stalling Rayburn and letting him gloat gave her a moment to rest, but it also gave his pack the time they needed to regenerate. The stupid grin on his face made it plain. He thinks he’s won.

  Alexi refused to believe that. They may outnumber her, but they weren’t smarter than her. Her mind was her best weapon and she would use it.

  Besides Rayburn himself, the biggest threat was the tall black man with the French accent. If she could take him out, it would even the odds considerably.

  She shifted her body, clenching her fists and glaring directly at Rayburn.

  “You’re a dead man,” she screamed, letting her voice fill with false panic. He had to believe she was desperate for this to work.

  “Come on!” He snarled as his body shifted more toward wolf. Thick hair sprang to life all over his torso, his legs swirled as his knees bent backward as his muscles thickened.

  Alexi snarled and charged him. He followed suit, the two ran at each other at near full speed. At the last moment, Alexi dropped to the floor. Her momentum carried her in a slide past the bewildered Rayburn who slashed at empty air. She twisted to pull herself to a stop and flung herself at the she-wolf. She collided with her, knocking them both to the ground. Alexi road her down with her knees in the wolf’s chest. When they slammed to the floor, she punched the woman in her nose. Blood exploded from the wound. It wasn’t a terribly painful blow, but the blood obscured the werewolf’s vision.

  Blood ran freely from her crushed nose into her eyes. Strong hands grabbed Alexi around her neck and pulled her off, throwing her backward. The wall stopped her momentum. She grunted as she came to rest on her feet.

  Together they could destroy her, but they weren’t fighting together. Each one had different styles and speeds, attacking her one by one, looking for openings but not creating opportunities.

  Francoise was on her before she could get away from the wall. He rained down blows on her head and torso. She covered as much as she could with her arms and knees. Using the wall for balance she leaped up and kicked out with both feet. Her blow connected with his stomach in a crunch. The black man stumbled back for a moment.

  She had a single moment to act.

  He was ten feet away… Alexi focused her speed, she squeezed her hand into the tightest fist she could make. The room wavered as she blurred into action. Her knuckles slammed into his sternum cracking through bone and burying her hand in his chest. She grabbed his still beating heart… and tore it out.

  Francoise looked down at his chest for a moment, then his eyes rolled up in his head. He was human before he hit the ground.

  “Regenerate that, asshole.”

  Alexi heaved a breath. She wasn’t sure it would work, but she was glad it had.

  “What the hell, Rayburn!” Amber’s scream turned shrill with fear and shock.

  Alexi turned to face the remaining two wolves. Deliberately she lifted the heart and crushed it in her hand until the pulpy mess spilled between her fingers. The fleshy bits exploded. Blood ran down her arms. Why shouldn’t she kill them all? They had threatened Savanna, and practically killed John.

  She let the pulpy mess of heart drop to the floor, and then slowly, deliberately, licked the blood from her forearm.

  Amber looked like she was going to vomit. Rayburn’s shock lasted only a moment longer, and then he came at her.

  Alexi’s supercharged body moved as if he were standing still. She let him go by, then slammed her elbow into the back of his head. When he came back she kicked his knee before slamming her fist against the side of his face sending him sprawling to the floor. She kicked him in the gut, the hard part of her boot finding soft tissue to bruise. She was rewarded by a painful grunt as he doubled over.

  She turned to Amber. The she-wolf was in her bizarre half-wolf form. Alexi could sense her fear and indecision. She gathered her will and forced it out over the wolf.

  “Go be with your boyfriend. If you stay here, you die.” She hissed the last part, her fangs growing as she spoke. Magic rolled over the wolf, and she turned, her claws digging gouges into the wood as she fled.

  “Go figure,” Alexi said to Rayburn. “I guess being in a pack isn’t a ‘unto death’ sort of thing. Or maybe she just doesn’t like you.”

  “I’ve beaten you before, I can do it again,” he growled, though she thought she sensed less conviction in his voice.

  “Without your pack, you’re nothing but a bully, Rayburn.” She closed on him, cautiously. She had the upper hand, but she still needed to be careful.

  Alexi positioned herself between him and the witches. Savanna was still knee deep in magic, sweat pouring off her brow. The others were pale with blood loss—one of them had collapsed.

  “You ain’t got all the facts, love,” Rayburn said with a sneer. “I’m gonna walk out of here, and you’re gonna stand back and let me do it.”

  Alexi couldn’t help but laugh. She had him exactly where she wanted him, and the power in her made her feel almost invincible. “Why on earth would I do that?”

  Rayburn’s face warped into a fierce grin. “Because if you don’t, you’ll never see your precious little girl again.”

  He had her. He had her. She didn’t know. He could tell by the way her face fell.

  “I was only after the blue girl, but the elves I work for want you and the witch. They have your daughter, and I—”

  He didn’t see her move. The room spun and ended with his face crashing against hardwood. He was up again, flying through the air to slam against the wall. Before he hit the floor, she was on him again.

  “Wait,” he spat out before her fist smashed into his throat.

  She was like whirlwind of violence and pain, and he could feel the rage pouring off her.

  He’d made a terrible mistake.

  Rayburn put his arms up to block. She kicked him in the balls. He collapsed from the pain and then she brought her elbow down on the back of his head. He struggled as she wrapped her hands around his waist, lifted him above her head, and slammed him into the floor. The wood buckled, support beams gave, and they both fell fifteen feet to the basement floor below.

  Every inch of him hurt. As fast as his bones, flesh, and skin knitted, she tore him apart. He tried to push himself up and she slammed her knee into his ribs. She was on top of him now, her fist beating his face, arms, chest. He reached up with his good arm to push her off and she twisted it sideways until his elbow popped, followed by his shoulder. She batted it away, ignoring his screams.

  “Stop,” he sobbed between broken teeth and smashed lips. She roughly grabbed his head and jerked it to one way and suddenly the blows stopped as her she buried her fangs deep in his neck.

  Marta collapsed, leaving only Caitlin and Savanna to finish the ritual. The faerie moved her head around, awareness returning to her eyes. Her wounds were sealed, though thick and ugly with scar tissue.

  “Savanna Grace?” Confusion filled her voice as the faerie looked around, clearly not understanding what was happening to her.

  If she could speak, and she wasn’t bleeding, then they had done enough. She closed her hand, staunching the flow of blood to the circle. She nodded for Caitlin to do the same. Instant relief flowed through her. She had no idea it would take so much to heal the faerie. Marta and Bethany were out cold and Caitlin wavered on the edge of unconsciousness.

  Savanna pushed the guilt she felt aside. When the wolves showed
up, she shifted their power to healing Tink, while she maintained the shield. The faerie was horribly wounded, and it could be days before the three witches fully recovered.

  John’s chest rose and fell slowly, each breath a labored gasp punctuated by blood bubbling up out of his mouth. She saw the hole. The massive damage to the floor spread out from the center where Alexi had slammed Rayburn through. Savanna had seen her friend fight demons, witches, dragons, but the ferocity in which she fought Rayburn… it frightened her. What had Rayburn said to her?

  She crawled to the side of the hole, sliding herself out to the edge to avoid weak spots.

  “Alexi?”

  Beneath, the vampire crouched over Rayburn, his twitching body trapped under her. From the way her body heaved Savanna could tell she was feeding.

  “Alexi!” She screamed. The vampire didn’t move. Rayburn’s legs stopped twitching and his body went slack. Yet she still fed.

  “Alexi!”

  A few more moments passed and Savanna feared the worse. There wasn’t anything she could do other than shout her friends name.

  Alexi tore herself away from Rayburn. Savanna could see the massive bloody wound on the side of his neck. His body was fully human, which meant he was dead. Had she killed him from feeding?

  “Alexi, honey, it’s okay,” she said quietly.

  Alexi’s eyes were pits of blackness as she gazed up at the witch, her face a tangle of rage and blood.

  The vampire leaped up to land on the floor next to Savanna. In a blink she had the witch up and pressed against the wall by her throat.

  “Alexi! Snap out of it!”

  Savanna didn’t resist. Violence would only make it worse. The cold hand wrapped around her throat was cutting off her airway.

  “Alexi,” she gurgled, “fight this!”

  The vampire froze, her head cocked to one side. Slowly, the blackness in her eyes fade to blue and Alexi cringed. She sank to the floor in a heap.

  Savanna knelt down beside her with a hand on her shoulder.

  “What happened?”

  “They have Sydney, they took Sydney.”

  “Who?” asked Savanna.

  Alexi looked up at her. “I drank Warrens blood, I remember everything we did in the Fae. That bastard Shaughn is here on Earth, he’s the one who attacked Tink and now he has my girl…”

  “Alexi, I know you’re hurting, but I need your help,” Savanna said to her.

  Alexi blinked. Help? How could she help anyone? She killed a man by drinking his blood. Her hands were covered in blood. The last moments of Rayburn’s life flowed through her. He had pleaded, begged her not to kill him, not like that. She relished it. She had lost control for one moment and the monster won. Victor was wrong, she was a monster.

  “Alexi, please, close their wounds.”

  On auto-pilot, she went to each witch and closed the jagged wound on their hands. The blue faerie stood in the corner, as if she weren’t sure what to do.

  A groan from the corner caught her attention.

  “Go, help him if you can,” Savanna said.

  Alexi ran to where John had managed to prop himself up. He was a wreck. His right leg ended below his knee. One of his arms bent the wrong way, and she could see at least one rib sticking through his skin. She knew before she got to him, there was nothing to do but watch him die.

  “Let’s get you to a hospital,” she carefully put her arms under him, she knew the futility of it but she had to try. He moaned letting out a sharp scream as she touched him.

  “Alexi, it hurts, don’t...”

  She cursed her enhanced senses, she could hear his heart fading fast. Alexi shook her head—no, she wouldn’t allow it. Not him too.

  “John, I can save you, if you let me.”

  “Alexi, if you move me, no matter how fast you are, I will be dead before you get to the hospital. I’m pretty sure—” he dissolved into coughing, blood filled his mouth and forced him to spit. He gave her a weak smile.

  Alexi’s eyes stung from the sudden tears that welled up. “No, John I can save you another way.” She leaned down to his neck.

  “I don’t want to be a werewolf,” he choked out. “I spent my life helping people, don’t let me be a monster.”

  Alexi hovered above his neck, “I won’t, John, I promise.” She bit him. He convulsed as she drank his blood. Her own pulse beat with his. She had only done this twice before, but she would do anything to not lose another friend.

  He didn’t have much left, it only took a few seconds to drain the last bit. With his already substantial wounds she didn’t know if it would work, but she prayed it would. She closed the bite on his neck, then put her teeth to her wrist.

  Alexi ripped open her own wrist, blood immediately dripped from the gash. She pushed it against his mouth and tilted his head back.

  “Drink,” she commanded him, willed him. “Drink!” She closed her eyes and silently begged him to drink. Please live, please! His heart slowed, two seconds went by. Then three. Thump. Five more seconds passed. Then ten. She focused all her thoughts on him. She couldn’t bring him back from the dead, but if there was even a spark of life left in him.

  “No,” she whispered. “Please.” She needed something good to come out of this. Some reason for her to live on, to save a life of a good man instead of killing everyone around her. Rayburn’s last seconds flashed through her mind. She needed John to live to prove she wasn’t a monster.

  “Drink!”

  His mouth moved the tinniest bit. Alexi’s world exploded in pain as the link formed. She screamed from the sudden assault on her senses unfiltered by her own adrenaline or shock. She fell back, writhing on the ground as it rolled over her in waves.

  “Alexi, fight through it,” Savanna was there, a cool hand on her brow, “Fight!”

  She focused on John’s wounds. Her reserve of energy was greater than anything she’d ever carried. If there was one thing draining Rayburn to death could do, saving John would make it less monstrous. She poured it all into him. Her energy, her power, she found the link between them and flooded it with her strength. She pushed it out, forced it out. John screamed as his body absorbed energy it was never meant to have. Bones knitted and formed while tissue wrapped around them as each cell increased its production in a rate no human was ever meant to do.

  His ribs slid back into place, his foot reformed, the wounds on his skin vanished.

  Exhausted from the effort, Alexi let it go. The energy faded as the link moved into the background. Healing him took everything she had received from Warren, and most of what she stole from Rayburn.

  She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, afraid to look, afraid it hadn’t been enough. Slowly, she opened them.

  John’s chest rose slowly. His right leg had regrown a foot—the skin was red from regeneration, but whole.

  “Alexi, we have to go. Sirens.”

  Alexi pushed herself up. In moments, the hall would be full of police and there were to many bodies for her to hide them all, even if she wasn’t exhausted.

  “Grab Tink, and lets go,” she decided.

  “What about them,” Savanna pointed to the coven. John could take care of himself, but the coven… Alexi could see a confused police force pinning the crime on whoever they could find. Despite the massive damage to the building, they would blame who ever lived.

  “Tink, can you help Savanna with Bethany and Keisha, I’ll grab Marta and Caitlin.” She hoped Savanna was strong enough. She would have to be.

  Alexi heaved Caitlin over her shoulders, and Marta she lifted by the waist and held her tight.

  The echo of boots on wood reached her ears at the same time as the sound of weapons being charged.

  “Savanna?” Alexi didn’t know if there was anything Savanna could do, but if there was one bright spot to her life, the witch’s friendship was it.

  “Tink, I know this is all confusing, and I promise I will explain, but for now, go along with it.”

  “Ask of
me what you will, Savanna Grace, I know the debt I owe you.”

  Alexi heard the breathing right outside the door. “We’re out of time Savanna!”

  Savanna held her hand high in the air like a torch. Blue light swirled around them and wrapped the seven women in a cocoon of light. The buzz of magic pounded in the back of Alexi’s head, but she’d long since learned to let her friends magic slide off of her.

  Police burst into the room, shotguns and pistols pointed in every direction.

  “Officer down!” Alexi heard as they passed through the wall, intangible as ghosts and just as invisible.

  Alexi laid Caitlin down on the couch. A low moan escaped the woman’s lips. Alexi didn’t envy them the headache they would have, or the memories of seeing their friend eaten alive.

  Savanna’s arms closed around her from behind, as if she sensed Alexi needed comfort.

  “I killed him, Savanna,” she whispered.

  “You did what you had to do.”

  Alexi shook her head, the memory of it all rushed back to her. “No, you don’t understand, I drained him until his life was spent. I thought I was a monster before. What am I now?” She clamped her lips tight together. It wasn’t like she’d never killed something before. To date they were all vampires, or zombies. Rayburn and his pack were a human, sort of. With thoughts, feelings, and a soul. She took that from him in the worst way imaginable.

  “He brought it on himself, Alexi. He taunted you, said he kidnapped your daughter. You were within your rights.” Savanna hugged her tighter as she spoke. “You’re not a monster.”

  Sydney.

  In the rush to save everyone and in the aftermath of what she did—she had to go. What time was it? It was dark outside, not even the moon was out.

  “Savanna, I have to go,” Alexi detached her friend.

  “Wait, whatever has happened, already happened,” she pointed to the four unconscious women. “Alexi, they need your help now. Feed on them, ease their pain, or when they wake up…” Savanna shrugged. Alexi could only imagine the hysterical nature of the witches. For them, magic had been a social function, an excuse to drink wine and feel special. Now it would fuel their nightmares.