by Raven Steele
“I can’t!”
“Why?!”
“I can’t keep calling him when I’m in trouble. He’ll think I’m using him,” she cried out breathlessly. “Besides he can’t get in here, remember?”
“Something tells me he’d find a way!”
“He could be in Australia for all I know!”
“Just try.”
Loxley leapt over a large bush. By anyone else’s observation, it appeared she had no idea where she was going, but I trusted she did. Especially when she led us into a giant maze of shrubs. Sheathing my sword, I followed her inside. The hedges were too tall, several feet above my head. “Should we jump them?”
Loxley, still sprinting ahead of us, called back, “We don’t know what we will be jumping to. Keep going. I think I know the way.”
Behind us, the sounds of Hyde footsteps thundered after us. The path between the tall shrubs narrowed, forcing us to run single file. I tried to slam my way through the thick foliage, but it was impermeable, as if it had been sealed with magic. We ran left, then right, then another right. I tried to keep track of the many turns, but it was too confusing, and we were moving too fast.
Briar glanced back at me, smiling big.
“Why are you smiling?”
“This is a little fun, right?” She lifted her head and howled into the night. The sound ignited a fire within me, sparking my own grin.
We ran for at least twenty minutes—the maze seemed endless. The Hydes behind us didn’t give any indications of slowing down. Risking a few precious seconds, I leapt upward and caught a glimpse of something. Enough to know where Loxley was guiding us.
Not far away was a giant brick house. It had burn marks up its side and half the roof was missing.
“We’re almost at the end,” I yelled for both Briar and Loxley to hear. “Good work, Loxley.”
A moment later, we exploded from the maze. At the same time, we crossed through the invisible barrier and the sense of being squeezed to death sucked my breath away, but it only lasted a second. All three of us fell to the other side.
I stumbled, trying to gain my balance, then looked around. Sugar cane fields stretched for miles and miles, their long leaves looking more silver than green beneath the light of the full moon.
“Where the hell are we?” Briar gasped, her hands on her knees.
“Will the Hydes cross the barrier?” Loxley asked a heartbeat later.
I turned around to see. Briar and Loxley watched with me as we slowly backed up toward the ruined brick structure. Hydes exploded from the shadows of the maze, one after another as if the barrier didn’t exist for them. And they weren’t slowing down.
“Run!” Loxley cried.
Chapter 29
All three of us ran around to the front of the house. I hoped to find a car or maybe a road leading … somewhere, anywhere away from here, but instead we stopped dead in our tracks as more of our enemy stood right in front of us. How did they get here so fast?
“This way,” Briar yelled. She turned and, with me and Loxley on her heels, ran up the broken, wooden front steps of the brick house.
We ran inside and slammed the door closed as if that would keep them out. By the inside of the house, the home had been abandoned long ago. A thick layer of dust covered a warped, wooden floor; many of the slats had become uprooted from their place. Windows had been broken and spray paint tagged the walls, many of which had been knocked out. The moon’s light filtering in from outside barely touched the shadows occupying the home.
Loxley stared at the closed door, her face pale. “It’s like we’ve been corralled. Led straight to this house.”
Briar slid a torn and dirty sofa in front of the door.
“Um, Briar?” I pointed to the open windows. “What do you plan on putting in front of those?”
She looked at them and dragged a hand down her face. “Motherfucker!”
I walked to one of the windows and peered out. Hydes were circling the house quickly as if to seal off every exit. Their eyes glowed in the moonlight, peering eerily towards the house. I crossed the room to the other side. More Hydes, and yet, there weren’t as many as we’d seen in the cathedral. “They’re not all here, but there’s still plenty.”
Briar joined me at the window. “Hell, that’s a lot. Where are the guys?”
“More importantly,” Loxley said, backing against a wall. “Where are we? I feel like we could be a hundred miles from Rouen.”
Briar groaned. “Bloody fantastic. What now?”
“We’re going to have to fight.” I slid the swords on my back out of their sheaths.
Briar reached into her jacked and removed two daggers. “I’ve been craving a fight like this.”
“I haven’t,” Loxley said. “I can’t fight those monsters out there.”
Briar stormed over to her and poked at Loxley’s chest. “Bullshit. You’re one of the best fighters I have.”
“You’re also a descendant of the Red Tree witches,” I reminded her. “And they were the most powerful witches to ever live. That same power flows through your blood. You can do this.”
“Yeah,” Briar agreed. “So tap into that shit right now and help us out.” Briar reached around Loxley’s back and removed a long dagger. She placed it in Loxley’s hand. “We got this.”
Swallowing hard, Loxley nodded.
Briar looked back at me. “We work together, yeah?”
I peeked out the window one more time. Dozens of Hydes to fight, probably more. I turned back to Briar, my heart hammering at what I was about to say. “To get through this, I may have to go—” I paused, searching for the right word. “Dark. If that happens and I can’t bring myself back, I may try to harm one of you.”
I grabbed Briar’s hand and stared deep into her eyes. “I trust you more than most people I’ve ever encountered. You have to make me a promise.”
Briar’s eyes darkened. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“You have to promise you’ll kill me if necessary. No matter what.”
“What? Stop being dramatic.”
“I mean it, Briar. I’m giving you permission.” I wouldn’t let go of her hand even though she was trying to yank it out of my hold. “Promise me!”
“I’m not promising you shit. The only ones dying tonight are the ones outside. Do you hear me? And you’re going to do it without giving up control of that Kiss thing inside you. You are powerful enough. We are powerful enough.”
Just then, the door exploded open. Not the kind for words, Hydes rushed us. Letting go of Briar’s hand, I jumped forward, swinging my sword. The Kiss lurched in excitement, burning through all my fear. An explosion of power burst through me, and I slid my sword through several necks, decapitating the enemy with little resistance. At first. But soon the room became too crowded.
“Stay together,” I ordered, fighting against the power that pulsed through me, the one that was desperate to break free.
We fought with our backs together in a triangle, staying as tight as possible without hurting each other. Whatever fears Loxley felt earlier were gone now. She fought with deadly accuracy, lunging and back stepping, ducking and plunging. Blood mingled with dust on the floor, creating a slippery paste that made fighting even more difficult.
“Duck!” Briar yelled.
I dropped and swiped at the legs of a nearby Hyde just as Briar swung over me, decapitating another one. Because of all the bodies beginning to pile up around us, we slowly drew the fight into a large dining area.
I felt the gust of power as Briar released her Komira powers. It lifted the hairs on the back of my neck and chilled my blood. Even the Hydes sensed it, as there was a collective intake of breath.
“That’s right, bitches,” Briar growled. “Be afraid.”
She leapt into the air and into a crowd of Hydes near a back door. She mowed through them with terrible, impressive force. One after another fell by her hand. The Hydes took advantage of the break in formation and beg
an to focus on separating me and Loxley.
“Samira!” Loxley cried.
I turned to see that a Hyde had raked his claws into the back of her thigh. She was on the ground, her leg bleeding out. The smell of her blood sparked my senses and my nostrils flared. At my distraction, a monstrous female Hyde leapt onto my back. I stumbled forward, but rammed my sword behind me. My sharp blade sliced deep into her belly, and her blood soaked my shirt. She grunted, grabbing onto my shirt just as another Hyde kicked at me, but at the last second, I jerked to the side. His foot slammed into the female Hyde on my back. As she flew through the air, I spun, swinging my sword in a great arc until it severed the kicker’s head. It fell with a thud to the floor and rolled several feet.
Before I could take my next breath, a sharp pain burned through my leg. I glanced down just in time to see the female Hyde slash through my flesh again with her clawed hand. I slammed the tip of my sword into her bony sternum, then dragged the sword upward, slicing her open to the top of her head. Her skull crunched with a satisfying snap, and I grinned as the Kiss roared in approval.
Pressure, dark and demanding, built inside me, squeezing my organs and veins. The sensation spread to my head until I thought it would burst from my skull. The Kiss was coming, rising from the bottom of my soul. I screamed out, slicing through the heads of several Hydes as they rushed me. The Kiss could save us … and kill us in its next breath.
“Briar,” I yelled, desperation filling my ears. I needed to unleash hell’s darkness inside me before it consumed me.
She must’ve heard the turmoil in my voice because she cried back, “Hold on!”
With hands shaking and head near splitting, I fought until I dropped to my knees. Briar and Loxley joined me, fighting to keep me safe, despite their own wounds, many of which were creating puddles of blood at their feet. Maybe they wouldn’t be fighting so hard if they knew what I was about to unleash.
Sneaking past Loxley and Briar, a Hyde rammed his claws through the flesh on my back. He lifted me and tossed me into the wall. Pain raced through me, and when I hit the floor, the coughing that came next only amplified my agony. I tasted blood on my tongue.
Just in front of me, Loxley was also brought to her knees by a blow to the back of her head. Darkness curled around the corners of my vision, and the room began to fade. I could hear Briar struggling to fight, but there were simply too many of them, many of whom were still coming through the windows and doors.
I no longer had a choice.
We needed the Kiss of Eternal Night. It was our only chance to survive.
Closing my eyes, I was about to say the words that would allow the Kiss to consume me—I am yours—but just then a chilling breeze swept over the room. My eyelids fluttered open, only to see darkness billowing into the room, blacker than night. It swallowed everything in its path, as if it were an entity unto its own. It swirled into the room in sharp smoky wisps, replacing every speck of light and even oxygen. Fear gripped me. It had to be the Phoenix, come to finish what we’d started.
With the darkness came silence, the kind that only existed six feet under. It smothered the creaks in the floorboards, consumed the clanking of metal slicing through flesh, snuffed the crashing of fists into bone. Even the sounds of my rasping breathing became a memory of sound. I felt detached from reality, as if the bolts between my consciousness and my body had come unscrewed.
Hydes suddenly dropped to their knees, clutching at their heads and grinding their teeth together in unseen torment. The sounds they were making must’ve been terrible by the way their faces twisted and scrunched into a former version of their human selves. Bones had physically shifted and flesh moved over what was now unrecognizable features, but they couldn’t quite complete the process, freezing them in a monstrous state.
Briar cried out, and suddenly the world came into focus and I could hear again. The sounds of screaming hit my ear, broken and distorted the way fractured light spins through a kaleidoscope. Briar maneuvered her way through the kneeling Hydes and dead bodies lying in a sea of blood, her eyes wide. “What the hell is happening?”
She helped me to my feet, frowning when she saw the wound at my leg, but she had her own to worry about. Her left arm hung limply at her side and blood ran down the side of her face.
Climbing to her feet, Loxley limped over to us, her left leg dragging behind her. Briar caught her before she fell to the ground again. Tears filled her eyes.
Huddled together, the darkness continued to grow and it pressed against me, like the cold fingers of someone who had just come in from a snowstorm. It became so thick that not even my night vision could pierce it, and I could taste it on my tongue, iron and sulfur.
Briar and Loxley pressed against me. I felt Briar’s hand slide into my own, and I gripped it tightly. I had no idea what was coming, but it was powerful and full of darkness. The Phoenix? Korin? At least it hadn’t harmed us yet.
A sudden flash of light followed by a crimson afterglow burst through the darkness. With it came a muffled exploding sound, almost as if someone had smashed a melon against a wall. The oddity happened again. It took me a second to process what I was seeing but when it did, my heart stopped beating. Even the Kiss stilled.
Heads were exploding all around us.
My flesh felt the mist of the warm blood as if I were standing near the edge of a waterfall’s downpour. Dozens of heads exploded within the house. Flashes of the bright light illuminated more red outside, splashing against the windows.
What felt like an eternity later, the killings stopped, plunging us into a deep and silent darkness. We didn’t dare move, not even when the great shadow began to recede from all corners of the room. The last of its wispy tendrils began to take shape, twisting in and out of each other in an upward motion until I could distinguish a human body, legs, and arms. Eventually a head appeared, but our savior was too shrouded in darkness for even me to discover their identity.
Normal sounds returned to the home. Weak floor boards groaned under our combined weight. Loxley’s faint whimpering had Briar wrapping her good arm tighter around her, holding her protectively against the new threat at the door.
As the last of the darkness receded into human form, the person gasped for air, a soft, feminine sound. She stepped away from the entrance and into a pillar of moonlight streaming in from the window, long red hair spilling past her shoulders.
Lynx.
Chapter 30
“Hey, guys.” Lynx’s voice sounded so normal after what she’d just done. The power swirling behind her green eyes made me think of a bubbling cauldron ready to crack with the magic it contained. “Looks like I came at just the right moment.”
She wore a black, silky night gown as if she’d been about to go to bed, or maybe just woke up. Her normally curly hair had been straightened and looked longer. Other than that, her appearance was the same, and yet, everything about her was different. I could feel it as sure as I felt the uneven boards beneath my feet.
“Lynx?” Briar breathed, her voice just a whisper. She let go of Loxley and stumbled forward. “Did you just crawl out of the Goddess of Death’s vagina?”
Lynx glanced down at her outfit as if seeing it for the first time. “Um, right. Well I was doing my nightly meditation before I go to bed and practicing my astral projection at the same time, when I sensed you nearby somehow. I knew you were in trouble. About the same time, I got a text from Angel telling me to get to you as fast as possible. He helped me narrow down your location.”
Briar’s mouth fell open. “My mind is breaking with how much you just said. I don’t know where to begin. And you got a text from Angel?”
She smiled shyly. “How about we just hug, and I’ll explain later?”
Briar expelled a breath, and they hurried toward each other, laughing. While they embraced, I took a tentative step toward them. Too many emotions flooded my mind at once and tipped over the edge of my sanity, threatening to break me in two. Lynx was standing in front of
me, a new person with unimaginable power. But it wasn’t just new found strength. It was darkness, pure and raw.
And the Kiss wanted to devour it.
I could feel the dark energy inside me swell in excitement at the sight of her. It recognized her darkness, as if seeing a long-lost friend. It was incredibly drawn to her, her power, her dark magic. I instantly knew combining those powers could be explosive.
It was exactly what we needed to kill Korin.
Briar and Lynx let go of each other. Lynx said hello to Loxley, then looked at me. “Samira. I thought of you often. You were my rock when things got bad.”
“I’m no one’s rock.” The words left my mouth before I could stop them.
She smiled kindly and walked towards me. “You were mine.” She embraced me lightly.
“Did you think of me?” Briar asked.
Lynx glanced back at her. “When I wanted to laugh. And I mean that in a good way.”
“I’ll take whatever I can get.” Grinning, Briar glanced at Loxley. “You okay?”
She had lowered herself to the floor and was leaning back on her hands, her face pale. “I don’t feel so good.”
“We should get out of here.” I walked over to Loxley to help her up.
“Where exactly is here?” Briar asked. She moved into the entrance and peered out.
“You’re about thirty miles from Irondale,” Lynx said.
Briar spun around. “The hell?”
Lynx took note of our shocked faces. “Where were you before?”
“We were in Hell's Peak,” I answered. “Well, technically we were—” I broke off to listen. Motorcycle engines roared in the distance. “Do you hear that?”
Loxley leaned into me and I helped her walk, maneuvering carefully around all the dead bodies and blood and onto the broken porch with Briar and Lynx. Briar’s phone rang and she pulled it out of her pocket, checking the screen. “It’s Angel.” She answered it and said before he could speak, “We’re okay.”
I heard Angel’s voice through the receiver, low and trembling. “God, Briar. I can’t leave you alone, can I?”