I can't let that happen.
I can't let them get Jared.
I have to protect him.
I run past the sanctuary, the sound of my Converse echoing throughout the hall. The voice in the back of my mind screams for me to turn back, to wake Will and Jared, to not face untold amounts of Fallen on my own. Like an idiot I ignore it.
I burst through the back door of the church letting loose all of the energy held in my body at the three figures emerging from the completely overgrown, creepy, horror movie inspired, fog covered, old graveyard.
Three bodies fling into the air.
A familiar voice yells my name followed by, “It's us.”
It's us?
Who's us?
My hand slaps over my mouth as I finally recognize the voice. I throw my hands out in front of me wishing more than anything I could make them stop before they're flung back into the forest, slammed into trees, or on top of headstones, or...
Three bodies hang suspended in mid-air.
Behind me, Jared and Will come running towards me. The panic falls from their faces when they spot Luca, Owen, and a girl I've never seen before lifted ten feet in the air.
"Wanna put us down," the girl says angrily.
Right. Put them down. How exactly do I do that?
Not knowing what I'm supposed to do, I drop my hands to my sides, which seems to do the trick. They fall in a heap, well except for the girl who lands in a perfect crouch. Not surprising considering she looks like some kind of ninja warrior princess in her skin tight black leather get up.
I run toward Luca and Owen, Will and Jared following close behind. "I'm so sorry," I say as I reach them. "I thought you were Fallen." I look over the three of them from head to toe. "Did I hurt you?"
Ninja Girl glares at me, but doesn't answer.
"I'm fine," Luca says, getting to his feet. He dusts off his backside.
Still on the ground, Owen lifts up a hand, examining his fingers. His pinky is bent—the wrong way, obviously broken. With a quick jerk he puts it back in place. Using his other hand he pushes himself up onto his feet. "I'm good." He winks at me as he wiggles his fingers letting me know his pinky is no longer broken.
It doesn't lessen the guilt I'm feeling.
"I'm sorry about your finger."
Grabbing the backpack at his feet, Owen slips an arm through a strap draping it over his shoulder. "It's cool. I break it all the time."
"It's true. He does," Luca adds.
"Come on, let's get you guys inside." Will looks from Owen and Luca to Ninja Girl. He eyeballs her with a look on his face that clearly shows he's not happy at all to see her here.
I wonder who she is, why she's having this effect on Will, and if I should hate her also out of solidarity since he obviously does.
***
"So you're saying that The Fallen got into The Compound because one of us—a Guardian—let them in, which resulted in the deaths of seven Guardians?" Will shakes his head in disbelief. "That's not possible. Who...who would do that?"
Luca and Owen look at each other, a silent conversation passing between them.
Ninja Girl throws her head back with a sigh and an eye roll. "Oh, for God's sake, stop being such babies. The person who took down the protection wards and let The Fallen in was Zoe. People saw her."
Will looks at her like she just knocked him over the head with a blunt object. All the color drains from his face and I decide right then and there I hate her.
"Cassidy!" Luca shouts.
"What? Someone had to say it."
Regaining his voice Will says, "That's impossible. I used my blood to put her to sleep and only my blood can wake her."
"That's not necessarily true," Cassidy says with an air of superiority. "If The Fallen had enough of another relatives blood, like a sibling or a parent—"
"Eric," I say cutting her off. She shoots me a dirty look for interrupting. I shoot one back because she's a bitch with a capital B.
Will doesn't say a word. His whole body goes stiff with the exception of the muscles in his jaw twitching as he grinds his teeth. Then suddenly he's all fury and motion. Ripping off his red zip-up hoodie he tosses it to the ground kicking it several times while repeating a very specific four-letter word. Just as suddenly he stops, turns, and glares at Cassidy like she's the devil. "You're lying. Zoe would never do anything that would harm another Guardian. She wouldn't."
Cassidy crosses her arms over her chest. Not because she's being defensive, but because she's being a dick. "Have you already forgotten the part Zoe played in Sam's death? Or are you denying that too?"
Owen smacks her hard across the upper arm. "That's enough."
Will is in her face in seconds; standing so close their noses are almost touching. He doesn't say a thing. He doesn't have to; the look on his face says it all. His hands clench into tight fists at his sides, every muscle in his body tense and restrained. Taking a step back, he stalks off, leaving the sanctuary.
"I'll go talk to him," Owen volunteers. He gives Cassidy a dirty look. I'm starting to think that maybe nobody here likes her.
"No. Let me," I say. "I was there when things went south with Zoe, and I was there when Eric was attacked, so I know what he's going through."
"Did you ever stop to consider that maybe you are the problem? That the both of you are?" Cassidy waves a finger between Jared and I. "We had no problems until you two came along and now that you're here it's been one mess after another." She directs her finger towards me. "It's your fault Sam died." She holds her hand up in my face when I start to protest. "Save your breath. I read the police report. You didn't even call for help, you just left him there to bleed to death."
Anger boils in my veins. "That is not how it happened. I did everything I could for Sam."
"Whatever. It doesn't change the fact that Sam's dead and you're not." She shifts her glaring eyes down to the symbol at my wrist, no doubt thinking the same thing Will told me once before—that Blondie used me out of convenience. He killed Sam in the hopes Sam would mark me and he'd be able to get the information he wanted from me without alerting The Order. He probably would have to if Eric/Officer Jensen hadn't spotted the symbol while I was in the hospital.
"And you," She glares at Jared with hatred and if I'm not mistaken, fear. "You're the reason seven Guardians died tonight. If it hadn't been for you The Fallen never would have come here. You're a danger to us all. Wherever you go death will follow."
I can tell Jared's trying not to let what Cassidy's saying upset him, but I know him better than anyone else on the planet, and I know it does. He—for whatever reason—may not want to show how upset he is, but I'm not afraid to. I mean who does this girl think she is? She knows nothing about Jared. Nothing. He is not going to be the world’s destroyer. He's going to be its savior. And what happened back at The Compound was not his fault. The person she should be blaming is Zoe.
"None of this is Jared's fault and if I ever hear you blame him again I swear I'll…" My hands clench at my sides.
"You'll what?" Completely unthreatened Cassidy looks me over, sizing me up.
I advance toward her. Maybe she should find out right now what I’ll do. "I'll—" Jared steps in between us, arms outstretched to keep us apart before I can finish my threat. Or act upon it. She rolls her eyes and I swear if not for Jared blocking me, I might possibly rip out her auburn hair just so I can strangle her with it.
She smirks and that's all it takes to set me off. Swiveling around Jared, I reach out to grab ahold of her. Jared wraps his arm around my waist pulling me away.
"That's enough Cassidy!" Luca shouts when she takes a step toward me. "Owen, you need to take care of your cousin before this escalates any further."
Owen grabs ahold of Cassidy's arm, forcibly dragging her towards the other side of the sanctuary.
Sensing me calm down now that Cassidy's not in my face, Jared relaxes his hold on me without fully letting go. "Come on," he says. "I'll go with you to
find Will." He leads me out into the hall.
"Hey," Luca calls, catching Jared and I before we get too far. "Don't let what Cass said get to you. She's just a bitch who likes to stir up trouble. No one here blames either one of you for anything that’s happened."
"I know," Jared says calmly. Hand still on my lower back he leads me down the hall and I'm left wondering how he can be so calm after all the things Cassidy said. It's taking everything I've got not to go back in there right now and knock her down off that high and mighty horse she seems to be riding.
"Why aren't you angry?" I ask. "I want to…” I punch a fist into the palm of my hand. "Cassidy's face."
Jared laughs, fully amused by my display.
"Don't make me hit you too," I tease.
He pats the top of my head. "Calm down there feisty one. There's no point in wasting energy on her. People are going to say and think what they want and there's nothing you or I can do about it. Things are what they are. Besides, maybe she has a point. When you boil it all down, it is my fault. None of this would be happening if it wasn't for me, if I wasn't who I am...if it wasn't for who I'm going to become."
"It's not your fault you were born Jared and it's not your fault who your parents are. You are just as much a victim in all this as anybody else," I reassure him. He opens his mouth and I can tell by the look in his eye he's about to argue. I cover his mouth with my hand before he can. "No arguments. You are not to blame for anything and that's final." He tries to pry my hand away. "I'm not letting go until you nod that you understand." He sighs then nods. After years and years of being best friends he knows better than to argue with me because no matter what, I usually win in the end...even if I'm wrong, though I'm not wrong about this.
Jared and I check the rooms along the main hall in search of Will, coming up empty handed.
"Maybe he went outside," Jared suggests.
Just as we enter the backroom something slams against the outside of the back door. Jared and I pause looking at one another.
"Go and get Owen and Luca," I order Jared as I reach for the door handle.
"You go and get Owen and Luca, I'm going out there."
"Jared, if it's Fallen on the other side of that door then they're here for you. You should stay in here where it's safe."
"And leave you to go out there alone? I don't think so."
"I won't be alone. Will's more than likely out there. Plus I have this." I point at the symbol.
"I've seen what they can do Hanna and I'm not letting you go out there by yourself. I get you're trying to protect me, and I appreciate it, I really do, but don't you get that I'm trying to protect you too?"
"I know, but it's not me that they want."
Jared pulls out his phone. He types a quick message, presumably to Owen or Luca, then slips it back into his pocket. "I'm going."
"Fine. Just...be safe okay?"
"You too."
Something slams against the other side of the door, once again rattling it on its hinges just as I'm reaching for the handle. With a quick glance at Jared, a hard swallow, and a silent prayer, I open the door to see Will skidding across the grass on his back. His shirt is torn half way up his side, his skin underneath covered in blood from a wound I can't see. Coming to a stop against the trunk of a tree, he wastes no time flinging himself back onto his feet as four Fallen advance on him with at least five more emerging from the graveyard at his left.
Reaching for my knife, I grip it tight then do the stupidest thing ever by jumping onto the back of one of The Fallen. She stumbles momentarily under my weight before recovering. With swift hands, she swings her arm around, stabbing me in the upper thigh. The pain of it hits me so hard I nearly lose my grip on her. I've only ever been stabbed by one of their blades once before and that was in a Blondie fueled nightmare where I'd stabbed myself. It hurt like nothing I'd ever felt before, but this, being stabbed in the waking world, hurts a thousand times worse.
She reaches over her shoulder grabbing ahold of my shirt. Leaning forward, she flings me off, slamming me to the ground, the blade of her knife still buried deep in my leg. Faster than what would seem possible, she pins me down with one hand, the force of her strength crushing my chest while her other hand wraps around the hilt of the knife stuck in my thigh. She pulls with a twist. Everything in me—my life, my soul, all that I am—feels like it's being pulled out right along with it. Blood drips in slow motion from the tip of the blade onto my shirt. Eyes black as the dead of night, she smiles. All the blood in my veins freezes. She raises the blade high then thrusts it down.
CHAPTER NINE
Bluish white light shines through the blackness of her eyes, the smile on her face faltering. The knife in her hand falls, landing harmlessly on my stomach as her fingers go limp. I brush the knife off, scooting backwards as Jared heaves her decomposing body to the side, the knife in his hand dripping crimson to the ground.
Standing over me, Jared offers me his hand. Fractured light burns through the clouds at his back with the first rays of the morning sun casting a golden halo all around him as if he were a fierce warrior sent to destroy the darkness, and it's in this moment I see the Guardian he's meant to become. He may have been born from both the light and the dark, but looking at him now, all I see is the light.
I take his hand, allowing him to pull me to my feet. His eyes shine a brilliant green, almost like they're glowing, as he looks down at me. I must have hit my head harder than I thought when that Fallen chick threw me to the ground, I think to myself, as I rub at the already shrinking goose egg on the back of my head.
Jared's lips part as though he's about to say something until something behind me catches his attention. His eyes shift from mine to just over my shoulder and I swear they intensify in color. Before I can be sure I'm seeing what I'm seeing, he pulls and pushes me to the side where I unceremoniously trip over my own two feet, falling onto my rear while he drops into a perfect crouch, narrowly missing the sharp edge of a Fallen's blade. Twisting to the side, Jared sweeps his leg out, knocking The Fallen's feet out from under him. In the blink of an eye, Jared then has him straddled, the knife in his hand plunging down to bury deep into The Fallen's heart.
Mesmerized by Jared's sudden ninja skills that seem to have developed out of thin air, I don't see the approaching Fallen until it's too late and he gets a swing in. Burning pain slices across my upper arm, blood soaking into my shirt. I roll to the side scrambling to my feet before he has a chance to strike me again.
Knife in hand, I slash out at him missing my mark as he twists out of reach. Black eyes, cold and calculating, he stares, his lips curving into a grin suggesting he knows something I don't. As if on cue, a second Fallen pushes me from behind. I stumble a few steps forward before regaining my footing as they circle around me eyeing me like I'm some new play thing they're about to have some fun with.
My stomach drops to my feet, my eyes darting back and forth between them. This is definitely not the best position to be in when I have no idea what I'm doing. Panic starts to grip my insides until I feel the familiar burn of the symbol against my skin. Energy begins to build within me. Sending a silent prayer to the heavens above that I'll be able to control my telekinesis, I smile at the two Fallen and then thrust my hands upward. Both Fallen lift from the ground, and with another wave of my hands, I fling them toward the graveyard. One lands on the pointed fence becoming impaled through the stomach while the other lands somewhere unseen in the high grass.
Keeping an eye out for the other Fallen’s potential, and most likely return, I carefully make my way over to the Fallen struggling to free himself from the fence. I glance down at him, allowing myself only a second’s hesitation before deciding to do what I'm about to do. A face that used to belong to someone else, some stranger who threw his life away the moment he allowed the Fallen to take possession stares back, eyes no longer a endless black, but an icy blue. Looking away at the last second, I quickly stab him through the chest piercing the heart. Bile ris
es in the back of my throat at the sensation of his body crumbling away to nothing under my hand. Spotting the other Fallen standing in the middle of the graveyard, I force myself to swallow it.
Fog wraps around his legs, the moonlight further paling his skin giving him the illusion of floating like some deathly omen of what's to come. He makes no move to attack, and he makes no move to leave. He just stands and stares. Taking a risk—possibly a stupid one—I glance over my shoulder to see what has him so captivated because it certainly isn't me, and that's when I see them.
Fighting side by side, Jared and Will take out Fallen after Fallen with ease, each one anticipating the others move as though they've been fighting together for years.
It makes no sense. Only hours earlier Jared was scared stiff during the Fallen's attack at The Compound, and now...well, he’s definitely not scared stiff anymore that's for sure.
The sound of rustling weeds behind me catches my attention, reminding me that there's still a Fallen in the graveyard. I whip my head back around to find him taking backwards steps in retreat. My fingers twitch around the knife in my hand.
Suddenly, a knife whizzes past my head, hitting the Fallen dead center in the heart. His eyes widen in disbelief, his mouth falling open just before he disintegrates out of existence.
"Bullseye!" Will shouts, startling me half to death as he and Jared flank my sides. Clothes torn and dirty, they're both covered in blood and wounds, but where Will's are healing, Jared's are not. Stepping around me, Will slaps a hand on Jared's shoulder. "Where the hell did you learn to fight like that?"
Jared shrugs in forced carelessness. "I took a karate class one summer when I was eight. Does that count?"
Shaking his head side to side, Will laughs as he throws an arm around Jared's shoulders and begins to lead him back towards the church.
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