They were only driving the ambulance. They would be okay, right?
Asher
The battle raged on. Explosions and fire lit up the woods around the ruins of Jadis’ house. Heart hammering, I ducked a fireball before hauling one of the wolves over my shoulder and running back towards the van we were using as an ambulance.
From the start, nothing had gone to plan. What we hoped would be a sneak attack turned into a battle as soon as we stepped out of the tree-line.
Their witches seemed to be getting some serious fire power despite our witches’ best efforts. An orb shot past me and hit the ground, creating a patch of ice. I leapt over it, making sure my stride never slowed. The staffs hadn’t given us the edge we thought they would, and Jadis’ people were tearing through our forces.
Ethan was already at the back, bandaging a leg wound when I laid Kayley down. Half her face was a mask of burn blisters, raw and red. “We gotta get her back!”
Ethan tied off the bandage, jerked off the gloves and climbed into the front. “Get in the back!”
Adrenaline pumping. I moved her onto a cot while Ethan put it into drive, bracing myself as he took off, the doors in the back swinging back and forth.
My wolf was with me, close to the surface as we wet down a bandage and tried to take some of the heat from the burn. “Come on, Kayley.” This wasn’t a strong wolf. Something about her laying there in the cot, burned, tore through my wolf to me. Weak, she was weaker. She shouldn’t have been here. The undeniable urge to protect rushed through me, leaving my hands shaking, an overwhelming desire to hurt, tear, and destroy whoever did this.
No, not now. I gritted my teeth as we turned a corner.
“Ash, behind us!” Ethan shouted over his shoulder.
I turned and spotted the half-wolves running after the ambulance on the dirt road. Giant and hairy, half shifted wolves were the werewolves of nightmares. They had the teeth and head of a wolf, covered in hair, but otherwise mostly human. Except for the claws. And completely feral.
My wolf leaped to the forefront, straining against my hold as my claws slipped out of my fingertips. They were going after the injured. My wolf and I were in perfect agreement. Something snapped into place. Strength surged through me. Purpose. We were suddenly gone, and it was just me in my skin. That wild part of me was with me, completely fused for the first time. There was no uncertainty in me. I would protect my pack, protect the soft and vulnerable. And I’d make them regret ever trying to prey on the weak.
The half-wolf leapt into the back of the ambulance and right into my claws.
Chapter 13
From the first arrival of injured to the batch that had just come in, we ran from cot to cot, helping where we could and screaming for Dr. Zimmer when needed. Even with all that, we lost so many. Person after person died under our hands, each one driving a blade into my chest. Eventually, I couldn’t take it. The screams of pain, the pleas for help. I just couldn’t watch another person die.
Walking out of the living room, I crossed the long hallway filled with injured fighters and ducked into the kitchen. I took several deep, shaking breaths, desperate to find some relief from the ache and pressure that had been building inside of me.
A cool hand turned me back towards the door.
Dr. Zimmer met my watery gaze. “We need you in there.”
I shook my head. “They just keep dying.”
He nodded. “Yeah, that’s the price of war. But we keep going. They fight, we help the injured.”
I swallowed hard. “I don’t know how.”
His stare was fierce and determined. “You can’t save all of them. But you need to fight for the ones you can, and we’re wasting time they don’t have.”
Fuck. He was right. I needed to suck it up. Those people needed help. Scrubbing my hands down my face, I gave a curt nod before following him back into the hell that was the med ward.
People died while I helped them. Some lived, not many. Each time Zimmer said that there was nothing to do we moved on. Evisceration. Severe burns. It was hard and gritty, but I had to keep going. Zimmer was right. I saved those I could. It wasn’t many, but that didn’t matter.
I finished bandaging an arm and turned to look for the next patient. Only there wasn’t one. Everyone that had lived through the fight was patched up and resting. I wrapped my arms around myself and walked through the living room, looking for the guys. Isaac was helping a woman with a splint. Zeke was putting pillows behind an older man’s back. Miles was running bandages to a surgery station.
I turned just in time to spot Asher hurrying into the med area with an unconscious wolf in his arms. Uma moved into the doorway of the living room, quickly going to check on others as Ethan came in. I ran to him and Ethan caught me as I wrapped my arms around him. Sagging against him, relief rushed through me.
“We’re safe, Beautiful.” Ethan squeezed me tight.
“Thankfully.” I held onto him, simply breathing in spice.
Ethan’s hand moved up and down my back and supported my weight until I could pull back.
I met his eyes. “What happened?”
Asher moved to my side. “We lost.”
“Lost? How the hell did that happen?” I asked as Uma walked over and joined us.
The lines around her face were deep as she met my eyes. “The witches were possessed.”
“By demons,” Brody said as he joined us.
“The witches were possessed, how?” I asked.
“Voluntarily, it would seem,” Uma murmured as she began to pace. “Jadis has lost her mind.”
“And we’re screwed,” Brody growled.
I looked at both of them, realizing how bad the situation was. “Do we need to leave?”
Uma and Brody turned to me.
“Do we have any other options?” Uma asked.
Brody was silent for several heartbeats. “No. We only have ten shifters left who can fight. How many witches?”
Uma rubbed her temple. “Eight.”
Brody cursed. “We need to run.”
“Where?” Uma asked.
“To Evelyn?” I asked.
They turned to me again.
“Possessed people are under her purview. She has jurisdiction with Jadis now,” I explained. “Call her, she should be able to take them down.”
Uma pulled out her phone.
“We need to start evacuating now.” Brody turned and started toward the cots.
“Wait!” Uma called before turning her attention to the phone. “Jadis’ witches are possessed.” She fell silent, nodding as she listened. It wasn’t long before she hung up the phone and turned to us. “Evelyn says she can be here in a couple of hours.”
Brody pointed at the door. “We could be attacked in a couple of hours!”
“That’s why we’re leaving now,” Uma snapped. “Let’s start with the most critical. They’ll take the longest to move.”
“Where are we going?” Brody asked.
“To a gargoyle safe house,” Uma answered. “Evelyn just gave me an address.”
Brody turned to us. “Let’s get to work.
Tara
Our backup apparently arrived while Jess, Lucy and I were out in the field. Some gargoyles named Evelyn and Atticus had been able to save Dad and Maria. After a day of driving, they stashed us away in a filthy empty warehouse while they went out to deal with our tails.
I wrapped my coat tighter around me and tried not to notice how my breath fogged in the air. Tank pressed himself against my leg a bit more and I welcomed the slight warmth.
Lucy moved to my other side, her shoulder brushing mine. I kept my eyes on my hands as emotions jumbled through me. Excitement, fear, anxiety. It was all a mess in my chest, freezing me in place.
She swallowed hard enough for me to hear. “Are you alright?”
I nodded quickly, hoping that would be the end of it while hating it at the same time. I liked her, but I knew no one would understand.
“‘C
ause you haven’t looked at me since the field,” she whispered. “Did I do something wrong?”
The hurt in her voice lifted my head. “It’s not you.”
“I thought …”
Panic clawed at my throat as I glanced at her, then away just as quickly. How could I explain this to her?
“I like you, Tara,” she said, her voice soft and full of a vulnerability I almost envied. “I thought … you might like me too.”
I could only manage to look back down at my hands as everything rushed through my head.
I had to face it. I wasn’t like everyone else, and no matter how much I wanted to be, I just couldn’t. Weariness washed through me. I was so tired of struggling. All my life, I redirected myself. Fought myself. See a pretty girl, make a point to see the cute boy she’s with and focus on what makes him handsome. The girl didn’t matter, it didn’t matter if I was more attracted to her than him. It didn’t matter that I liked her more than him. All that mattered was that I fit in. That I did like him, that I did find him attractive. Keep up the façade and lie through my teeth to my friends. My friends. I’d lose half of them if I ever told them the truth.
“Tara?”
But was it worth it? Was it worth living a lie to stay popular? To be … something I wasn’t? I wrung my fingers as Lexie popped into my mind. She didn’t care about fitting in. She didn’t care what people thought. And she was happy. I wanted that. Wanted it so badly that I couldn’t seem to stop myself from resenting her. To be free. To just say it. I swallowed hard and gathered my nerve as I met those pretty eyes. “I’m so tired of trying to be something I’m not.”
Her brow knit for a moment before understanding and warmth dawned over her expression. “Oh, Tara … pretending to be something you’re not will just make you miserable.”
Relief filled me in a rush. I soaked up her words and took them into my heart. She was right. My eyes burned as I rested my head on her shoulder.
She slipped her arm around me and held me close.
“I don’t want to fight myself anymore.”
“Then don’t,” she whispered.
For the first time, I let go of the idea of fitting in. Of the fear. Of the pressure. I was simply me, being held by the girl I liked. And it was safe.
Lexie
The shifters were getting the injured out of the house and to a safe location. Hades had arrived sometime in the last hour, helping to load the injured into the cars. Uma and Miles organized an escape plan by setting up a gauntlet of explosive potions down the long main hallway, just in case. Her idea was, if we could draw them in, we could take them out on our way out of the mansion. It was a good plan, just one I was hoping we wouldn’t need. Personally, I was banking on being gone by the time they arrived and letting the gargoyles handle it all.
The early evening sun was up over the mountains when a loud screech echoed through the house. Everyone covered their ears until it stopped.
Uma ran into the med ward. “That’s the warning from the north wards. They’re coming.”
Heart pounding, everyone ran to load up the last of the cars. Uma, Hades, and Brody met with me in the long hallway.
“How far away are they?” Brody demanded.
“Half a mile out,” Uma answered.
“How long is it going to take to get everyone else out?” Hades asked.
Brody shook his head. “Too long. And most of our able bodies are going to have to drive the cars.”
Brody cursed. “There are too many to move.”
“We need to buy time for the wounded to finish being evacuated,” Uma stated.
I lifted my head and looked at each of them. Possessed witches were coming, coming to kill not just them but all of us. The injured, the loves of my life … everyone. That hard, solid feeling of will filled my chest. I met Hades’ eyes. “We might be able to give you eight minutes.”
He squared his shoulders, his understanding clear. “We could, if you let me go for the kill.”
I gave a sharp bob of my head. This was not the time to be the nice person.
He nodded back. “Then I should be able to lead some of them away.”
Uma sighed. “Buy us what time you can.”
We turned to make our way out of the long hallway.
“Lexie, what are you doing?” Isaac followed me through the kitchen, Hades a step behind him.
“We’re doing what we can.” I shoved the back door open and ran out to the backyard. “They’re coming from the north.” Then I’d go north. I dropped to my knees at the end of the patio and pressed my hand against the grass. Hades took off like a streak and disappeared into the trees. A door slammed open.
“What is she doing out here?” Zeke’s bootsteps came towards us.
“Working. Now shut it,” I ordered right before I found that quiet spot inside me.
“She and Hades are trying to buy time for the cars to get out of here,” Isaac explained.
“What the hell is he going to do?” Zeke moved to us. “What is she going to do? She can’t raise anything. There isn’t a cemetery for miles.”
“Shut up. Let her work,” Isaac snapped.
I cracked my barriers. My energy poured from me in a wave to soak into the ground. I pulled from the air while my energy spread out away from the house, moving down the slight incline of thriving, healthy grass. Stretching, stretching, just a little more. There. Not too far from the tree line.
My skin became the earth, their footprints causing goosebumps to erupt all over my body. Thirty-two. Thirty-two demon possessed witches moved like shadows across the ground.
And around them, deep in the earth, were the bones of dead animals. Good. I took a deep breath and poured energy into those bones. Into those bodies. The energy knit them back together as much as it could.
“Rise,” I ordered under my breath.
Claws dug at the soil, climbing to the surface. The brush of air on their faces. A fox slipped from the earth. I poured enough of my consciousness into it that I was able see through its eyes.
Off to the north the witches were walking through a meadow, the grass shriveling as they passed, the very earth rejecting their presence. A deep growl emanated through the air. The witches, led by Jadis, stopped in their tracks just before the figure burst through the grass. A half-rotted, maggot-ridden cougar blocked their path towards the house. The witches stepped back, gathering in a bunch with their backs to each other as the stench of rot filled the air. Zombies were strong, and they weren’t as affected by magic as the living were. You could set them on fire, but they’d still tear you apart while they burned.
Another figure emerged from the grass. Hades straightened to his full height with a dagger in each hand.
“Attack the possessed,” I ordered. The grass moved as the raised animals went after the witches.
The cougar leapt at Jadis, but she managed to duck out of the way at the last second. The zombie hit the man beside her, its teeth ripping at the witch’s throat. Cries and shouts echoed through the meadow as my zombies attacked.
Hades became a blur as he struck.
I smirked as I kept the channel open, pouring more and more energy into the dead, giving them more drive, more strength as they fought to follow my order. While they were busy tearing apart my zombies, Hades picked them off here and there. As soon as their bodies hit the ground I was there, pouring my will into them.
I swept my energy east and west, the dead glowing like beacons in my mind. In groups, I raised them and sent them to the meadow. I raised forty-four before I ran out of corpses. Blasts of power shook the woods, the sound reaching the house. It went on and on. Some of my zombies dropped, completely spent, while others rose again. Wave after wave, I held, but Hades had begun to tire.
Eventually, a group of witches broke off and went after a slower Hades as he led them deeper into the woods, away from the house.
Sweat rolled down my face as the feeling of being stretched too thin consumed me. My grip on the dead
shook. Hold. Hold. If I didn’t hold on, then the wounded wouldn’t get out of the way of the fight. Hold. Hold.
“Nine minutes,” Zeke said.
“They’re gone,” Uma’s voice called. “We need to go!”
No. No, I needed to keep going. Stop them. I pulled hard around me, the grass withering under my fingertips. The spot of dead grass grew outwards from my trembling hand as I raised the cougar again.
“Lexie! Enough!” Uma shouted in my ear, getting through to me.
I pulled back. Energy washed through me as a euphoria took over. I dropped to the grass as my mind fogged with it. Everything was okay. Everything was right in the world. I wanted nothing more than to just lay here. So much energy. It crackled along my skin, leaving tingles running over every inch of me. I was lifted and carried away by strong arms, the scent of citrus enveloping me as people poured from the woods and up the lawn.
The jostling brought me back to the present. Fear shot through me like ice in my veins, bringing the world back into sharp focus. “Put me down!”
Isaac got me into the house while Zeke slammed the door behind us. As soon as my feet hit the ground, I pumped my arms as we tore through the kitchen.
“Where are the staffs?” Miles asked as he met us in the hallway.
“No time, run!” Uma shouted as she led the way toward the front of the house.
Heart pounding against my ribs, we reached the front door.
Uma jerked it open only to slam it shut again. “They’re around the front.”
“Side door.” Miles’ voice spurred all of us toward the long hallway. The house shook, knocking all of us to the floor in the foyer. Dust fell from the ceiling.
“What the fuck was that?” I snapped as we got to our feet again.
“The wards,” Uma grunted as we began to run again. “They’re going to take out the walls with them.”
“The conservatory.” Miles took my hand and pulled me into a run with everyone else hauling ass behind us.
When the Grave Calls Page 19