by E. J. King
He sounded so petulant that it made me smile. “I’ll be back before you know it.”
Court and I turned and started toward the municipal building at a quick jog. The Immortui were probably already on their way. There were only a few miles of corn separating us from them.
I wasn’t surprised that the front door of the building was unlocked. I doubted anyone in Normal locked their doors. After tonight, they wouldn’t feel so secure.
Court headed toward the mayor’s office while I searched for the stairwell. Three flights up and I was on the rooftop, looking across the dark. It was a calm night, peaceful. And then the alarms started to blare. Homes began to light up with activity.
“That should do the trick,” Court said, joining me at the ledge.
“They’re coming,” I said.
“Hopefully, they move fast enough.”
I shook my head. “I’m not talking about the people. I’m talking about the Immortui.”
“How can you tell?” He squinted into the distance. “I don’t see anything beyond the town.”
“You wouldn’t,” I said bluntly. It was a fact that I had always been able to see Souls even when other Hunters couldn’t. I wasn’t sure if it was a blessing or a curse, but it was something I’d learned to accept and use to my advantage. “They are just over a mile away now and closing in fast.”
“People are starting to arrive at the school.” Court moved a step closer to me.
I remembered the way he had stared at me in the bar, that unwavering glare. It had unsettled me and Rafe had noticed it, too. Now I was alone with him, three stories in the air. Maybe I had been stupid to brush away Rafe’s concern.
“We should get back.” I took a halting step backward and my heel caught on the uneven concrete. To compensate, I threw my weight forward.
Court saw what was happening and reached out, his hand closing over my arm. He was stronger than I expected and he held on long after I had regained my balance.
“Thanks,” I breathed. “I’m such a klutz sometimes.”
“You really should be more careful.” His eyes were dark and cold. “Wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to you.”
The way he looked at me said that he was lying. The way he was still gripping my arm said that he was thinking the exact opposite.
“I’m good now. You can let go.” I tried to keep my voice light.
He continued to stare at me. “You’re a very important girl, Kaylie Hart.”
“I am?” Now I was officially starting to panic. It’s never good when someone uses your full name.
“The Hunter world knows all about you and your magic blood. One drop of it would take down all of the Immortui.” He pulled me close until his face was just an inch from mine. “Makes me wonder what else your blood can do…”
“You shouldn’t believe everything you hear,” I said firmly, staring straight back at him. He was testing me and I wasn’t about to back down. “The others are waiting for us.”
It would only take one hard shove for him to push me off the roof. A three story fall would most likely kill me. My life was literally in his hands.
“Kaylie! Time to go!” Ethan’s voice carried up to us.
I spotted him at the edge of the square, his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice. He could see us and Court knew it. His hand fell away almost immediately. “Be right down,” he called to Ethan without taking his eyes from me.
It was the distraction I had needed and I didn’t hesitate to head for the stairs, taking them two at a time on the way down. It had been clear that Court was playing a game that I wasn’t going to win.
“Nice work,” Ethan said when we joined him on the street. “People are already in the gym.”
“I wonder what kind of weather phenomenon they think is headed this way,” I said, leading the way back to the gym.
“I heard some of them say a freak winter tornado.” Ethan dodged a family that ran in front of him. “Did you see the Immortui from up there?”
I nodded. “They are almost here.”
A few dozen people were lined up at the school entrance and within a few minutes, everyone would be inside. Everything had gone better than I had expected. Now we just had to get ready to fight the Undead. No problem.
“Where’s Rafe?” I didn’t see him in front of the school.
“He’s around back. There’s an entrance to the kitchen back there.” Ethan started edging away. “I need to find Hope before the fighting starts.”
“Go.” I shooed him away.
Chase and Maddox were barking orders at the townspeople as they ushered them inside. I was surprised that no one stopped to question their authority, but apparently the people of Normal were more trusting than me.
I found Rafe around back, his body tense and braced for a fight.
“They will be here in just a few minutes,” I said, deciding that now wasn’t the time to tell him about my encounter with Court. We needed all of our Hunters focused on fighting the Immortui, not each other.
“I think most of them will be coming from this direction,” he said, eyes continuing to scan the empty lot across from us. “This is the side closest to the nest.”
“Bring it on,” I said. It wasn’t just false bravado, I was actually ready for a good fight.
“The last of the townies are inside,” Chase said, circling the corner. “Hope and Ethan are taking the front with Maddox. Rick and Court are taking the side. Thought I’d join you back here.”
The fourth side of the building was attached to the post office and there were no entrances to the school from that side. That meant we just had three areas to protect, which was marginally better than four.
“Is anyone else totally pumped?” Chase asked, taking her spot a few feet to the right of Rafe. I stood at his left.
“Don’t get cocky,” Rafe said. “This isn’t going to be easy.”
“I like a challenge,” I said, feeling Chase’s excitement. “Isn’t this the whole allure of being a Hunter?”
Rafe shot me a look that said he thought I was crazy. “Who are you and what have you done with Kaylie?”
His confusion made sense. I was the one that had been reluctantly carrying out my Hunter duties the last few months. I’d also been complaining the entire time. But that wasn’t me anymore.
“I’m done running, Rafe. I’m ready to take it to them.”
“That’s good,” he said, a strange lilt in his voice as his eyes widened. The air became heavy and charged. We weren’t alone anymore. “Because they’re here.”
CHAPTER FOUR
They came quietly, quick feet gliding over the ground. My knife was heavy in my hand, a comforting feeling under the circumstances. I knew that a perfectly placed blow would slice cleanly through a skull. That would’ve been more comforting if we weren’t so outnumbered.
Fifteen Undead lined up in front of us, each of them baring fierce fangs. My adrenaline was running in overdrive. If I didn’t kill something soon, I was going to explode.
I didn’t have to wait. As one unit, the Immortui raced forward.
The first kill was the hardest. Remembering to aim for the neck rather than the heart proved harder than I would’ve thought. The Immortui were also faster and stronger than regular Souls, making each kill twice as difficult to get. But I had a lot of pent up anger burning inside me, and I had killed four of them in a matter of minutes.
As I looked for my next Undead victim, I checked to see how the others were doing. Rafe had taken out three of his own and was working on his fourth. Chase had taken out two and was fighting three more. Quick math told me that two of the original 15 Immortui were missing.
It was possible they had rounded the school looking for another way in. I moved to help Chase, but something flashed by the periphery of my vision. Instinctively, my head whipped around and I caught the silhouette of an Immortui climbing through a second story window of the school.
“You’re kidding me,” I
grumbled loudly. Apparently one of their super powers included the ability to jump fifteen feet into the air. We hadn’t accounted for that possibility.
I froze. Should I go after the rogue Undead or should I help Chase? She seemed to be struggling, but the whole point of our plan had been to keep the Undead away from the humans. Just one of them inside could mean dozens of people would die.
“Rafe! They got inside.” I pointed to the window. “Help Chase. I’m going in.”
He had just finished off the fourth Immortui and when he looked at me, his eyes were glazed and unfocused. It took him several seconds to process what I said. I didn’t have time to wait.
Since I didn’t have mad hopping skills, I ran toward the ground-level entrance. The door was unlocked, just as I had expected. Once inside, I had no idea which way to go, but fortunately someone had turned on one set of lights, casting the hallways in a faint glow. It was just enough light for me to see where I was going, but not enough light for me to be sure that nothing was lurking in the shadows.
I hurried as fast as I dared, slowing down around corners and open doorways. If I had stopped to think I would’ve realized how stupid that was. The Undead didn’t need to pop out from behind something- their speed alone was enough to take me by surprise. That was exactly what happened.
One minute I was sprinting past a row of lockers, the next a large body collided with mine and slammed me against the brick wall. The hit was hard enough to knock the wind from my lungs. That, coupled with knocking my head against the wall, was enough to make my vision go black.
I could feel it’s body pressing down on my, making it nearly impossible to breathe. My arms were pinned at my sides.
“Your blood is poison,” a deep voice whispered in my ear. A long sniff near my neck. “Deadly.”
“Thanks,” I choked out. My vision slowly started to return and I almost wished that it hadn’t. The Undead creature on top of me had it’s fangs just an inch from my neck. I took some solace in the knowledge that if it took a bite it would die instantly.
“We’ve been waiting for you, Kaylie Hart,” it said, it’s mouth forming something like an evil smile.
“Thanks for the invite,” I said, still struggling to breathe. The back of my head was throbbing and I thought I could feel something wet at the back of my neck. If I was lucky, I had a bleeding a head wound.
My Undead party friend didn’t seem to notice. “He said that you would come. We did as he told us, killing just enough people to draw you in. Then we waited and you came right to our lair. But we needed to wait.”
“Why?” I didn’t really want to have a long conversation with it, but I might learn something important.
“Because of the eclipse. Bleeding you under the light of the eclipse will be the ultimate sacrifice. He said that we will all absorb your soul and become even stronger.” The monster’s eyes burned an even brighter amber. “I’m going to devour your soul, little girl.”
If I wasn’t on the verge of unconsciousness, I would’ve rolled my eyes. “Who is the little birdie whispering in your ear?”
It’s lips curled even higher. “Your daddy.”
Benton. Of course. I couldn’t escape that monster no matter how hard I tried.
“And you believed him? Do you honestly think he is going to share with you?” I cough-laughed in his face. “He’s just using you to do his dirty work and capture me. Once he has me, he’ll kill you with a snap of his fingers.”
“You should choose your words carefully, girl.” It sneered at me, but I could see a flicker of doubt in it’s eyes. “If you convince me that you are useless to me, I could just kill you right here.”
“You could,” I agreed, my chest on fire. “But how will you ensure that you don’t get contaminated with my blood?”
It paused, then reached it’s hand for my throat. “There are plenty of ways to kill someone without shedding blood.”
“Too bad you didn’t think of that earlier.” I turned my head quickly, praying that the wetness I felt was indeed blood.
When the Immortui saw the blood, it snarled and jumped back. I hungrily breathed in fresh air. The burning in my chest faded while the pounding in my head escalated. I had never been so happy to be injured.
During the attack, I had dropped my blade next to the lockers. Rolling quickly in that direction, I had my hand around the handle before the Immortui could react. When it finally lunged at me again, I sliced the blade cleanly through the air, sending it’s head down the hall while it’s body crumbled at my feet.
“I’m getting good at this,” I bragged to myself, flinching when a piercing scream cut through the air. It came from the direction of the gym. “Crap.”
This time I didn’t bother hesitating as I sprinted down the long hallway. Based on the chorus of screams echoing around me, it was pretty clear that the other Immortui was already in the gym. I was already too late.
The gym doors were wide open, letting out the screams and the stench of blood.
“Noooo!”
“Help us!”
“Please, God. No!”
Each cry was like a knife to my heart. Our plan had been foolish. We had led these people to a slaughter and now they were dying because of us.
“Kaylie!” Ethan sprinted toward me. “One of them got past us.”
“We lost one, too,” I said, unable to step into the gym. My legs had gone numb.
“We have to stop them.” Ethan had taken a step inside, but he turned when he realized I wasn’t beside him. “What’s wrong?”
I gasped in a shuttering breath. “This is my fault. All of this.”
“Kaylie.” Ethan grabbed my arm, hard. “It’s not your fault. But it will be if you stay out here and don’t help these people.”
The physical pain of his grip snapped me back to reality. “Okay. Let’s go.”
The scene in the gym was worse than I had imagined. Just two Immortui had managed to create a massacre in a matter of minutes. At least a dozen bodies lay on the floor with gaping neck wounds.
“I’ll take the big one,” I said, heading directly for the Immortui that looked like a professional wrestler. It was about to sink it’s fangs into the neck of an old woman, but it stopped when it sensed me approaching.
“You,” it said, delighted. “We’ve been waiting for you.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know. I’m everyone’s favorite party guest.” I wrapped my fingers tightly around the blade handle. The once shiny metal was now covered in dark blood. “Why don’t you put Grandma down and come play with me?”
It considered my suggestion and then dropped her in a heap onto the gym floor. “I’m not supposed to kill you, but I was never good at following orders.”
“Good thing you didn’t join the military.” I backed away slowly, hoping to draw it away from the crowd. “It’s too bad no one ordered you to get that stupid haircut.”
It growled at me, showing it’s deadly fangs. “I’m going to enjoy this.”
“You must be a masochist.” This time I was ready for the lightning speed of the Immortui. One side step and then I brought up my knee, catching him right in his gut. I instantly regretted that decision when my knee popped. These things were built like steel machines. I grumbled, “I’m starting to miss the Weres.”
It righted itself, a painful grimace on it’s face. At least my blow had been somewhat effective, I said to myself by way of consolation. But now I only had one good leg to balance on, and when it jumped at me I braced for impact.
Instead, it’s ugly head fell at my feet.
“Miss me, babe?” Rafe asked with a wicked smile. His blade had cut cleanly through the Immortui’s neck.
“I am so hot for you right now,” I replied with a relieved smile.
Ethan had finished off the other Immortui and now the townspeople were starting to understand what had happened. Several of them rushed forward to help the wounded, while others comforted crying children.
“Any idea how t
he others are doing?” I asked, putting my hand against the wall for support. With my knee banged up, I was in no shape to help anyone fight.
“Chase and I took care of the rear and she moved on to help the others. I think we’ve almost killed them all.” Rafe looked down at the rotting corpse at his feet. “We were lucky this time.”
“I’m not sure I would call this luck,” I said, surveying the bloody nightmare around us. At least a handful of people were already dead, and several more were slowly dying. “We did this, Rafe. We put all of the eggs in one basket and then dangled it in front of the wolves.”
Rafe studied me carefully. “You’re hurt.”
“I’m fine.” I tried to stand up straight, but I couldn’t keep a grimace from my face. “I just banged up my knee a little. No biggie.”
“Come on. Let’s find you a place to sit.” He reached for me and I leaned against him gratefully. My knee was screaming in pain now.
I took a seat on the bleachers next to the old lady I had saved from the Immortui. She looked frail and scared, so I gave her my best smile.
“Are you okay?” I asked, masking my own pain.
“Thanks to you.” She peered at me through cloudy eyes. “I know you.”
“I’m the one that just helped you,” I explained, wondering if it was her vision or her memory that was giving her problems.
“No, not that.” Her white curls shook. “I know you from many years ago. You were just a child at the time.”
My mouth dropped open. “You remember me?”
“Of course, Kaylie.” She flashed her dentures in a wide smile. “This isn’t the first time I was saved by a Hart.”
“What happened last time?” I asked hopefully. This woman might hold the answers I needed. “I’ve been having some trouble remembering the details.”
“We all have that trouble every now and then,” she said sympathetically. “Let’s see… it was probably almost ten years ago, maybe nine? We had been having a lot of bad things happen around town. Lots of people dying mysteriously. But then your family showed up. You, your brother, and your parents.”
So it had been my parents that had brought me here. Why?