Peter and Jack froze instantly, but Stellan went for Jack. He tackled him roughly, crashing into pews, and falling below the balcony wall, so I couldn’t see him. Olivia cocked her crossbow, but I doubt she could get in a clean shot if they were rolling about together. Ezra jumped into it, trying to catch Stellan, but he still moved to quickly, even with Jack in his clutches.
“No, Peter, help Jack!” I shouted. “He needs you more than I do!” Peter just stared at me, his eyes burning, and I knew that he wouldn’t save Jack. Even if he wasn’t mad at him. I meant the most in the world to him, and that’s exactly why Gunnar had gone after me.
Peter leapt off the balcony, his eyes never leaving me. He walked deliberately slow, and I looked up at the balcony. I could hear them fighting, Jack grunting, and how fast his heart pounded, but I couldn’t see him.
Milo was just trying to keep Bobby from getting killed. I saw Ezra go flying across the balcony, landing hard against the wall, and tumbling down next to Olivia. At least Jack’s heart was still beating. At least he was still alive.
“Let her go,” Peter commanded. He made it closer to us than Leif had, but he stopped just below the steps leading up the altar. Gunnar had us stationed right below cross. When I looked straight up, all I could see was the emaciated corpse of Jesus. It was rather disturbing, and it didn’t help that a vampire was about to tear open my throat.
“Why would I do that?” Gunnar laughed. “It’s just so much fun watching you suffer!”
“I know what you’re doing,” Peter put his foot on the first step of the altar. “You still think that you’re going to get out of here alive, but you don’t really care if you do. You only care about winning, and winning for you is destroying me.”
“Very true,” Gunnar admitted, then nodded at Leif. “Then destroying him. The rest of them don’t really matter to me.” His grip tightened on me. “But you know why I can’t let her go.”
“She’s the means to destroying me,” Peter took another step up, and Gunnar pressed his nail into my vein, breaking the skin just enough to draw a little blood, and Peter froze. “You want to make her suffer, so you can make me watch. Killing her is your way of torturing me.”
“Yes, and so far it seems to be working,” Gunnar smiled, but there was an unease behind it.
“If I die, you lose.” Peter bent down, picking up a titanium arrow off the top step of the altar. Olivia had been shooting them all over, and a stray one had landed a few feet from us. I felt Gunnar’s confidence falter for the first time. “I want to die. I’m suicidal. If I die before she does, I don’t see anything. I don’t suffer at all.”
“I’ll still kill her,” Gunnar insisted nervously.
“You’re gonna kill her either way, according to you.” Peter pointed the arrow towards his own heart, pressing the tip against his chest. “But this way, I’m not destroyed. I’ve gotten exactly what I’ve wanted, and you haven’t.”
“You’ll die knowing she’s going to, and that might be enough for me,” Gunnar said with false cheer.
Peter’s idea unnerved him. Testing him, Peter pushed the arrow into his chest, not deep enough to hurt him, but enough to draw blood. “How do you propose I make you suffer than?”
“Let her go, and we’ll battle it out, hand to hand,” Peter suggested. “The way real men fight.
If you catch me, then you can hold me back, and let your surviving henchman do away with her while I watch. Then I’ll suffer even worse because it’s my idea.”
It was a horrible idea, and that’s exactly why it appealed to Gunnar. I saw no way that it could work out where either of us lived, but Peter was mostly just buying time. He really didn’t care if he lived or died, but he wanted give me enough time to run away. I wouldn’t, though, not when he and Jack and everyone were still here risking their lives. I would never leave without them.
“Peter, no! This is stupid!” I insisted, and before I had been fighting Gunnar, but now I hung onto his arm, trying to keep me to him.
“That’s why I liked you, Peter,” Gunnar laughed. “You were brilliant. If only you hadn’t killed my right hand man. We would’ve been so happy together.” With that, Gunnar threw me into the church and I landed roughly in the pews.
Leif helped me to my feet, and I shook off the pain. It faded quickly, but things still hurt.
Peter and Gunnar were still squaring off, staring at each other as Gunnar taunted him. Peter showed little emotion, and I hoped that he was planning something. The noises in the balcony hadn’t gotten any better, but from what I could tell, everyone was still alive. Leif and I stood unsurely in the broken pews, neither of us knowing how we could really help the situation. He seemed to be relieved that I was safe, but I didn’t have that comfort.
Everyone I loved was still battling to the death.
“Oh, come on, Peter!” Gunnar groaned. “I didn’t spare the girl so we could have a staring contest.”
“I’m sorry to disappoint you,” Peter said dryly.
Peter was still standing on the altar steps. Ideally, Gunnar wanted Peter to come to him, but when he wouldn’t, he tired of waiting. He dove at Peter, more to get the fight going than to actually hurt him, and Peter deftly jumped out of the way. He jumped over the sacrament table, and as soon as he landed, he jumped up again, grabbing onto the giant cross hanging on the way. He scrambled to climb up, using Jesus as footing, and Gunnar just stared at him.
“Really, Peter? Are you that much of a coward?” Gunnar looked dubiously at him, and I was wondering the same thing. “I had expected so much more than this.” Gunnar had his back to us, so I took a step forward, planning to attack him, but Leif put his hand on my arm. I looked at him questioningly, and he mouthed “not yet.” Apparently, he had a better understanding of Peter’s plan than I did.
Peter climbed higher up the cross, and to my confusion, he started pulling at the bolts that held it to the wall. He started on the right arm of the cross, and then when they were free, he moved onto the top.
“What are you doing?” Gunnar asked. “Is this some kind of suicide attempt?”
“Something like that,” Peter allowed, and climbed to start loosening the left arm.
“I can slaughter the girl right now, if you like,” Gunnar offered. Peter glanced back at me, but he didn’t stop trying to free the bolt. The cross tired to sag and groan, but he kept pulling at. He was hanging on the arm, with his feet pressed against the wall. He was pushing off the wall, and I still didn’t understand.
Gunnar started to take a step back, so Leif growled and jumped towards him. He didn’t actually attack Gunnar, but Gunnar stepped closer to the again, and his attention was momentarily fixed on Leif. Peter pushed hard against the wall, and the cross groaned and squeaked horribly. Then it started swinging down and out, like a crazed pendulum. Peter jumped off it, and Gunnar turned around to see what was happening just as the top of the cross flew threw his neck, cutting his head off. I shrieked as his head flew across the room, and his body collapsed a moment letter. Peter barely jumped out of the way as the cross swung back, and ran over to me and Leif.
“Gunnar!” Stellan shouted in his accented voice. He paused momentarily, and Olivia fired another arrow at him, but she narrowly missed. He made a play for the edge of the balcony, and Ezra tackled him before he could jump over.
While Ezra held him back, Jack jumped off of the balcony. He landed on the ground and did a roll thing, that made him look much more badass than I ever knew he was. When he stood up, he was holding one of Olivia’s metal arrows in his hand, holding it pointed towards the balcony. I didn’t understand why until a second later.
Out of nowhere, Stellan came to a halt next to Jack, the arrow protruding right through his chest. He had jumped down from the balcony with his eyes fixed solely on Peter, meaning to avenge Gunnar’s death, and he hadn’t been paying attention to Jack standing in the middle of the aisle. He had impaled himself on an arrow, and he sputtered, blood coming from his lips, then collapsed back on the gro
und.
I rushed over to Jack and threw my arms around him. He hugged me tightly to him, and I pressed myself even more tightly to him. Olivia jumped off the balcony and walked over to Stellan.
She kicked him once with her foot, then pulled a machete out of the back of her belt. With one fell swoop, she sliced off his head, and blood splattered onto Jack and me.
“Sorry,” she smiled meekly at me. “I just had to sure. You don’t want any damn vampires coming back on you.”
Honestly, I didn’t even really care. I could feel Peter’s eyes on me, and he had saved my life.
I wasn’t angry with him, but I didn’t love him. I loved Jack and I was thrilled to be in his arms again.
All I wanted to do was kiss him, and if that hurt Peter, he’d just have to learn to deal with it. We were going to be together for a long time. I stood on my tiptoes and kissed Jack softly.
“What the hell happened?” Bobby shouted, and Jack laughed, pulling away from the kiss. I didn’t mind, though, because I loved hearing him laugh. Apparently, Bobby had just woken up, and he was surveying the carnage in the church. “Hey. That guy tried to kill me! Why is he here?” Bobby pointed to Leif, and Milo tried telling him that Leif was our friend now. The answer seemed to satisfy, but he still looked confused. “Where is Jane?”
Chapter 27
After scouring the cathedral, Milo stepped out the front doors, and that’s what had needed to do all long. Jane was lying on the front steps. She was shivering and completely out of it, but she was still alive. The park across the street was swarming with cops and ambulances, thanks to the mangled body the lycan had left there. Milo had on a zippered hoodie over a tee shirt, so he took off the hoodie and laid it on top of Jane.
Then he called and left an anonymous 911 call saying there was an injured girl on the front steps of the Basilica. This time, I thought the best solution for her was staying away from vampires. She needed more help than we could give her.
After that, we had to leave in a hurry. Olivia went back to her place, and Leif disappeared into the night. I’m not sure where he’d go, but he assured me he’d be alright and he’d see me again someday. Peter had driven his Audi, and Milo and Bobby volunteered to go with him. It was only a two-seater, but Bobby didn’t mind sitting on Milo’s lap. Since Jack had taken the Lexus, Ezra had been forced to take the Lamborghini, which he generally thought to be too flashy to drive around. Jack sat shotgun, and I curled up on his lap, resting my head against his chest.
On the ride home, I realized that the cathedral had constant staffing. Ezra explained that when he’d arrived, he’d “charmed” them into leaving. It was better for their safety. When Ezra wanted to, he could convince people of anything. I hadn’t know it that before, and I would’ve found it disturbing. But he used it sparingly that I didn’t even know he was capable of it. It only worked on humans, though, which was the way most vampire powers seemed to go. As seen by me fighting the lycan. Despite my superior strength, I had been no match for them. I was a total fail as a fighter.
“Oh my god, it’s never felt so good to be home,” I sighed when we walked into the house.
Jack grinned at me, squeezing my hand. The night had felt longer than any other one before, and I felt so tired. I just wanted to go up to bed with him.
“Tomorrow is going to be another long day,” Ezra said, following us in. “I’ll have to spend all day trying to convince the police we had nothing to do with this.”
“Why would they even think were involved?” I asked. Ezra went over to the fridge and got a bag of blood out of the bottom of the drawer of the fridge. All the blood used to be kept in the basement, but Milo and I were pretty lazy. I had my back to Jack, and he wrapped his arms around my shoulders. I leaned back against him, and he kissed the top of my head.
“Because the Lexus is still there.” Ezra opened the bag of blood and took a long drink. “I’ll have to get it from the impound. I just hope that I have chance to sleep before they coming looking for us.” His expression changed, growing perplexed. “That’s funny. I saw Mae’s car in the garage. I thought she’d be wondering where we all were.”
“Maybe she’s in bed,” I shrugged. The sky had already started to lighten slightly already, so it was about time for us to head to bed.
“Maybe,” Ezra didn’t look convinced. He finished his blood quickly, then cocked his head. I listened, but I couldn’t hear anything. Not even Mae, but the night had left me exhausted so all my senses were dimmed.
Then I heard the garage door open, and a few seconds later, Peter walked into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes. Milo and Bobby followed right behind him, and thanks to that nice, long nap Bobby had, he didn’t seem to feel any of the weariness the rest of us did. He was following right on Peter’s heels, asking him a million questions.
“So you cut off his head using a cross?” Bobby was completely wide-eyed. “I’m Jewish, and even I think that’s pretty damn awesome!” Then he noticed me in the room, and he gave me a weird look. It wasn’t adoration, exactly, but it made Milo bristle and put his arm defensively around Bobby. The weirdest part was that I felt myself returning some of the sentiment.
“I just need to take a hot shower, and be done with this night,” Peter grumbled and walked out of the kitchen. He hadn’t looked at me or Jack since everything had ended, and I wondered if he ever would again. I had nearly been killed tonight because of how much he loved me, but then again, that wasn’t the first time.
“Me, too,” Milo agreed. He looped his arm around Bobby’s to waist to start leading him out of the kitchen, but Bobby stopped and looked confused. “What?”
“Where’s the dog?” Bobby asked. “She’s always knocking me over when we get home.”
“Where is the dog?” I echoed, and Jack tensed up. She always greeted Jack after he’d been away. I couldn’t keep her away from him.
“Matilda?” Jack called her and stepped away from me. “Mattie? Where are you, good girl?”
Matilda barked loudly, and it sounded like it was coming from Mae and Ezra’s room. She started scratching at the door, and Jack and Ezra exchanged a look. Mae started shushing her, and then she opened the bedroom door, letting Matilda coming charging down at us, and Mae immediately shut the door.
“That was weird,” I said. Jack had bent down to start praising Matilda, but he looked just as surprised as the rest of us.
“Something’s going on,” Ezra said, more to himself than us. He tossed his blood bag in the garbage can and walked down to his room. “Mae?” He started to open the door, and she pushed it shut. “Mae? What is going on?”
“Nothing!” Mae shouted nervously. “Go away!”
“Mae, open the door now, or I’ll open it for you,” Ezra commanded. When he talked like that, his voice was one of the most intimidating sounds I’d ever heard.
Slowly, the bedroom door opened, and Ezra stepped inside. There was complete silence, and Bobby took a step forward, trying to get a better look. Milo stopped him from going farther. I looked up at Jack to see if he had any insight, but he just shook his head. We all waited expectantly, but Ezra never said anything.
A minute later, he just turned and stormed out of the room.
“Get that out of my house!” Ezra growled walking away.
“She’s not an it!” Mae ran after him, almost pleading. “And we can’t travel right now! Not when she’s like this.”
“I don’t care!” Ezra roared, and he wouldn’t even look at her. “I want her out!”
“We just need two, three more days tops, and then we’ll be out of your hair forever!” Mae insisted desperately. He had his back to her, and he was seething. “Ezra, please! If you love me, you can give me three more days! Please!”
“Fine,” Ezra relented grudgingly. “But if you stay one day longer, I’ll take care of her myself.” He started walking back towards the garage. “I’m going to the station now to deal with car.
Don’t wait up.”
Nob
ody had asked, but it was nice of him to tell us anyway.
“What happened to you?” Mae gasped, noticing us for the first time. We were all tattered and bloody, and Bobby had scratches and bruises.
Milo started explaining the night to her, but I brushed past him. I thought I knew what was in her room, but I had to see it for myself. Mae tried to pay attention to Milo, but I felt her watching me as I walked past. I pushed open her bedroom, and it was exactly what I thought.
In the soft mass of Mae’s bed, a small girl twitched. Her blond curls were sticking to the sweat on her forehead. She was pale and sick, but she was still adorable. She looked like a pint-sized version of Mae, with cherub cheeks. She was still in the first phases of the turn, and the worst of it hadn’t hit her yet. Matilda brushed past me and jumped onto the bed next to her, licking the little girl’s clammy face.
She smiled a little at that, and then Matilda settled down next to her.
“She really likes Matilda,” Mae explained. She pushed past me so she could walk over to her great granddaughter.
Jack stood behind me, taking the whole thing in, but he didn’t say anything. “I’d like you to all meet my great-granddaughter, Daisy. I’m going to be taking care of her now.”
“Oh, Mae,” I looked at her sadly.
“No, don’t do that,” Mae shook her head. She sat down the bed next to the girl, pushing her hair back from her forehead. “I did the right thing, and I know I did. I had to save her. After Jane left, I realized I wasn’t upset about her. I had to save Daisy.”
“Well, Jane is fine, by the way,” I sighed. “But… you did what you had to do.”
“I did,” Mae smiled wanly at me. “Isn’t she precious?” She looked adoringly at the child, and I could see that there had really never been any choice for her. Even if she had to give up Ezra and everyone else, that child meant so much more to her.
“You’re not taking my dog,” Jack said finally. “Come on, Matilda.” Reluctantly, Matilda jumped off the bed and followed him out of the room.
“So you’re leaving?” I asked.
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