...dying breath...
A thought tickled the edges of my consciousness, again. Something I should know... Something I should... remember? But, just like that, Andrew was gone, and I was alone in the darkness.
Then something screamed. Whatever I'd heard in the distance earlier, it was closer now. It sounded like a cross between a chimpanzee, a boar, and a cougar. There was a guttural quality to it too. Something I couldn't place.
It screamed again, closer. Much closer, but it wasn’t until I heard the faint scraping of claws and running feet that fear finally overpowered my confusion and I turned and ran. I was ninety percent sure this was a dream, but whether it had been or not, I got the feeling that this part was very real. And I did not want to meet who—or what—ever was making those sounds, dream or not.
I could still hear feet running, closer than before. Too many feet… How many are there? I knew it was a bad idea—every horror movie in history taught me better than this—but I did it anyway. I chanced a look over my shoulder. And I immediately regretted it. At least now I knew there was only one thing pursuing me. I also now knew what was pursuing me. Not knowing had been better. That was a terrible idea… and it left me with two choices: run faster or let the panic swallow me whole and probably die. I chose the former. Run faster.
I tucked my chin and started pumping my arms and legs as hard and fast as I could. I pushed myself far beyond my physical limitations, taking enormous strides. I'd never moved so fast in my life. My strides continued to lengthen and quicken. My legs began to burn, then my chest. I wasn't moving fast enough, still. The nightmare behind me wasn't gaining quite so fast anymore, but it was, in fact, still gaining. In all fairness, it had more legs than I did. I needed to move faster. I felt the burning in my chest spread to my back, followed by a sudden excruciating pain just below each shoulder blade. An enormous set of pitch-black wings exploded behind me with sound of ripping fabric. I beat them twice, thrusting myself into the air.
This wasn’t the first time I had sprouted wings in a dream. I'd always been able to grow wings and fly in my dreams. They were always black, and it always hurt. Every time. I thought it was strange that it hurt me in my dreams. I thought it was strange that I needed wings to fly at all. It was my dream.
My thoughts were interrupted when the beast beneath me leapt several dozen feet up in the air and engulfed me in its nightmarish embrace, sinking its claws and teeth into my shoulder and ribs.
I screamed as I started to fall, wrapped in the deadly embrace of my nightmare.
5
Ash
Fuck... Fuck, fuck, FUCK! I just kept pacing the floors of the house. I knew it wasn’t getting me anywhere, but at least I felt like I was moving. Other than racking up several hundred thousand steps, I’d done nothing since we’d arrived from the wedding, Jade just kept sitting with Alex and meditating, and Alex? She just slept… whimpering, mumbling, sobbing... or screaming.
That sound... I’ve never heard anything so chilling. She sounded like the Mad Hatter and the Cheshire cat had a baby that got locked in a closet with the Jabberwocky for a few decades. Man, I read too much...
She sounded crazy, but worse, she sounded broken. It’s like her mind had just shattered. Given what she’d been through, that would be understandable, but given what she’d become…
Fuck! We didn’t even know what she’d become. I’d never seen anything like it. There were rumors, fairy tales when I was a child, about Guardians that could sprout wings and fly when their anchor was threatened. If that had ever been the case, it was a long time ago.
These days, the Guardian could only shift into a wolf like the rest of us. Hell, even that was rare. Most could only shift around the full moon, when the Earth’s power was at its greatest. Henry’s wife, Annette, was the only Guardian I'd ever seen. With her boosted Guardian powers, she could shift anytime, but I’d still only ever seen her shift for ceremonial purposes and she’d only ever had her wolf form. But Alex had never had a wolf form. Could her humanity have distorted the magic somehow, turning her into that monstrosity?
Fuck! What the fuck is she? I’d seen a lot of monsters in my life, some that looked like monsters and some with human faces, but I’d never seen anything like her before. I almost wet my pants when she shifted and went after Henry. That sound… I could still hear that shriek when I closed my eyes. But when she collapsed, I didn’t hesitate.
I knew her. She had an open heart and a beautiful soul, and whatever she looked like, Alex was no monster. And Andrew and I might not have been close, but the distance between my brother and I was a product of our father’s influence. Andrew was the closest thing to family I’d had. He was also, without a doubt, the only Tennyn worth saving. Watching that monster kill him... He ripped his fucking head right off. How the fuck is he so strong? ... And fast? I’ve never seen anyone move that fast. Maybe a vamp on a good day. My father may have been a monster, but he wasn’t a vampire.
When she first shifted into that...whatever the fuck she is, I… I’ve never been so scared in my entire life, and I’ve had plenty of reason to be afraid. But she didn’t come after me. She didn’t even look at Jade next to her, or anyone else for that matter. She just launched herself at the biggest, baddest monster in the room. Hell, in most rooms. It was the most awe-inspiring thing I’d ever seen. I hadn’t hesitated when I saw her fading… and the way she looked at me before she passed out. I felt my heart constrict. It doesn’t matter.
I felt the warm glow in my chest and eyes that signaled the beginning of the shift. I could feel my wolf pacing inside my chest just as I was pacing the length of this house. He wanted out. He was worried about her, anxious.
Vengeance...a voice whispered in my head. And that. We had both wanted vengeance, my wolf and I. Neither of us were happy about being denied, but we were both grateful to Alex for killing that monster and preventing us from doing something truly stupid. I would’ve fought, and I would’ve fallen. Unless I’d released him.
I could feel him inside, the monster I kept carefully contained. He was pacing the lengths of his cage. He had wanted Henry’s blood. This was one of the few times we had all been in agreeance. I’d considered letting him out for a split second before she shifted. If I had, there’d have been no guarantee I’d have been able to put him back in his cage. Luckily, she beat me to it. I’d been too shocked to react at first and before I had a chance to recover it was over.
Henry was dead.
I still wasn’t convinced even death was powerful enough to take him down permanently. It was hard to accept that the bastard was actually gone, but harder still to face what this meant for the rest of us. God, for the world...
Fuuuuuuuuuuck… I’d pretty much been chanting that since the shit hit the fan. When my heroic fuckwit, do-gooder of a brother fucked up the fucking world. Get married. Accept Claire as his mate and Guardian. That's it. How do you fuck that up this royally?! Now he was dead, and I couldn’t even be mad at him for fucking up my entire existence.
Or hers.
Ours... I felt my wolf growl. I felt every ounce of fight I had left in me wither away. We were inextricably linked now, she and I, and I had no idea how to help her. What did we do now? Who could we even ask? I don’t know how to contact the Elders. The power was already transferred to Andrew. Accepting his Guardian was the final step to completing the transition. He did that... sort of. Now he's dead. Dad's dead. There's no Anchor. No one.
“There's you.”
Jade had been so quiet I’d forgotten she was in the room. Damn, had I been speaking aloud?
“No,” she said as she looked over at me. “You weren’t.”
WHAT. THE. FUCK… “How are you doing that? Who the hell are you? What the hell are you? And, lady, your answers better be good… and fast… because I am not in a patient or forgiving mood.”
“Well, well, well, Henry Tennyn’s son, through and through,” she challenged, leaning back in her chair and crossing her legs. “Harnessin
g your inner Daddy’s boy isn’t going to get you very far. Not in this little predicament we’ve found ourselves in.” She stood to face me. “As for me, well... we’ll get to that, but first, there’s the matter of the Anchor…” the woman I knew as ‘Alex’s friend Jade’ crooned.
“You’re barking up the wrong tree, girlie,” I ground out.
“Interesting choice of words,” she taunted.
“Cute. Now, how do you know my father? Do you work for him?”
“Oh, honey, no. I’m far too good to associate with the likes of Henry Tennyn. Now, about that Anchor...” she continued.
“No. And you sound a little bitter, so my money’s on mistress,” I retorted.
“Be serious. I never deigned to be in the same room with him before nine days ago, I sure as shit didn’t fuck him. Now... Anchor.”
“No,” I growled.
“You're the heir.”
“No!” I was getting angry with this virtual stranger dredging up things better left buried. I could feel the wolf inside me pushing toward the surface of my consciousness, desperate to find release, to defend me, but I couldn’t let him out. The other was right behind him. Raw power just waiting for release, the magnitude of which frightened me far more than his intentions. If I wasn’t in complete control when I released my wolf, I’d never be able to keep him caged. I’d worked too hard to keep the wilder sides of my nature in check.
“Calm, little wolf,” she crooned, and I felt him relent. Both of them, actually. I was taken off guard by the instantaneous effect her words had on me... on us. None of us really liked being told what to do.
“How did you do that?” I accused, unsure exactly what I was accusing her of.
She regarded me silently for a moment, then simply said, “Alexis is going to wake up soon, I’ll explain myself to both of you once we’ve taken care of her and not one second sooner. I’m not going to spin this yarn twice.”
“How do you know she’s going to wake up soon? How do you know she’s going to wake up at all given what’s happened to her?” I asked, incredulously. “I wouldn’t.”
“Yes, you would. You’re a survivor, Ash. You’ve fought tooth and nail for every moment of your life. Every stolen second watching a life that should have been yours. Every glimpse of a world you should have been a part of but were, instead, kept separate from. You’re a fighter. And so is my girl.”
She knows... That’s not possible. No one knows but Henry. Not even Andrew. Oh God... did she tell—
“No. She doesn’t know, and I won’t be the one to tell her. But you should. Keeping things like that inside is toxic, and you have enough going on in there already,” she said, swirling her pointer finger in the direction of my head.
This girl was giving me the serious heebie-jeebies.
“You’re a witch,” I accused.
“No. Well… if by ‘witch’ you mean magic user, then sort of. Let’s just say, I’ve spent the past day getting in touch with my roots and trying to keep an eye on our girl. It’s bad in there. Her body’s in so much pain that her mind has escaped into a dream realm. I can’t see her, but I can sense her. It’s worse than the pain, but it’ll be worse, still, when she wakes. At least in there she can convince herself it’s all just a dream. She’ll get no such reprieve once she wakes.” The last part was barely a whisper. Her voice sounded haunted, but she took a deep breath and leveled her gaze on me as she continued. “There’s something else.”
“I’m not going to like this, am I?”
“I think someone is trying to reach her.”
“You think?”
“I told you, wherever she is, I can’t see her. She’s not on a plane I have access to. At least, not full access. It doesn’t quite feel like an other-sider. It also doesn’t quite feel like a mental or spiritual signature from this side. And there’s more than one.”
“Is that bad?”
“Yes. Either way. The others usually aren’t aware of us, or us of them. Given all this”—she gestured wildly in the direction of the bed Alex was lying on—“weirdness, everything odd has my undivided attention. And if someone from this side is trying to reach her or, worse, find her. We don’t know what they want, or if they can find us.”
“We’re screwed, aren’t we.”
“Probably.”
Then our Guardian bolted upright, screaming and covered in blood.
6
Alex
Still screaming but no longer falling, I came to in an unfamiliar room, in an unfamiliar bed. I thrashed around as I screamed, trying to rid myself of the thing clinging to my back.
Something tried to grab me, but I shook it off. I heard a woman's voice, distantly. She was speaking to me, but I was too panicked to make out what she was saying. I had to get this thing off me. Monsters aren't supposed to be able to hurt you in your dreams, but that hurt. Something tried to grab my arms again and I shoved it, hard. Then I saw the door and made a run for it. Whatever was happening here, I needed to get out. To get away.
I heard the woman yell, “Ash! Stop her!” Then something heavy plowed into me and almost knocked me to the ground as arms tried to encircle me. I ducked at the last minute and rolled us forward, leaving him behind and beneath me as I landed on top of him on my back. I elbowed him hard in the solar plexus then slammed my head back into his, hearing the satisfying crunch of a broken nose. I leapt up and made a dash for the door again, but this time, the door disappeared.
I slammed into the wall, determined to pound my way through it, but a pair of strong arms grabbed me from behind again. I tried to head butt him again, but he was learning my tricks and dodged the blow. He spun me around, and as I tried to swing, grab, claw to defend myself, he grabbed both my hands and pinned them to the wall above me. His body covered mine as he used his greater size to crush me against the wall, immobilizing me.
I prepared myself for another attack, for pain, but he only said, “Alex, stop FIGHTING ME!”
He sounded sincere, but there wasn't a snowball’s chance in Hell that I was about to let my guard down. Not until I heard a familiar voice.
“Alex! STOP! Stop. You're safe. You're safe now, Alex.”
“Jade?” I took a few quick deep breaths.
“Yes! Yes. It's me, sweetheart. I'm here. I'm with you. Just like I promised. And you're safe now. Okay? Just breathe a minute. Take a few slow, deep breaths. Ash…”
“No.” I heard the man say. “Not until I'm sure she's not going to hurt anyone, including herself.”
Wait... Ash? As in… “Ash?” I looked up into the beautiful, golden face of Andrew's brother. Or at least what I could see of it. He was using his face and head pressed against mine to hold my face still against the wall. What did he think I was going to do? Bite him? Okay, that was probably fair, since I was pretty sure I’d just broken his nose. But what was he doing here?
“Hey, Princess,” he lisped, as his cheek was pressed hard against mine. “So... do you think you can be trusted not to bite me if I move my face so I can speak?” I nodded lightly, still unable to find words. There was no monster here. Only my friends. Well... one friend and an asshole, but I was safe.
Safe.
At that realization, my body sagged, and I felt hot tears begin sliding down my cheek and tremors overwhelming my limbs. A sob tore from my throat as my legs gave out. Already there, Ash caught me and swung me lightly into his arms. The adrenaline crash was simply too much following my life and death race with the nightmare creature. “Looks like she remembers,” Ash whispered as he carried me back to the bed I’d awoken in. I wanted to ask him what he meant, but as he carried me, I became hyper aware of a sharp pain in my shoulder and side. It was quickly intensifying from the ache I’d been able to feel a moment ago into an acute burning sensation.
“What the fuck ripped her to pieces? She was in the bed perfectly fine and not bleeding three minutes ago. I didn't do that,” Ash questioned as he sat me gently on the bed.
“I don't know, bu
t that’s what we need to find out,” came Jade’s whispered response.
“Hey, can you guys not talk about me like I'm not sitting right here?” I ground out past the increasing pain in my shoulder.
“Well,” Jade smiled, “I suppose the return of the snark is a good sign. Ash, can you grab some clean towels and washcloths from the bathroom?” He turned to go, and she yelled over her shoulder, “And run some cold water over them!” We both heard Ash grumble something from the bathroom that sounded a whole lot like ‘not your slave boy’, and Jade smiled wider. “Well, not with that attitude, anyway,” and winked at me.
Her smile faltered slightly as she addressed me again. “Alex, can you tell us what happened to your shoulder and your side?”
“Yeah, I was… I don't know. Maybe I can't. I was dreaming, and something attacked me. It was grotesque. And it HURTS! Agh!” I screamed, unable to hold it back anymore as the burning intensified. “It feels like something is eating my skin away!”
“Something is,” Jade breathed out at almost the same time Ash rushed in.
“What’s happening?” he demanded.
“Demon attack. She’s been bitten.”
“How the fuck did she get bitten by a demon?!” Ash’s voice sounded almost panicked now.
“I don’t know. How the fuck did she get bitten at all? I need to raid your pantry. Are you fully stocked?” When Jade’s question was met with a choked huff and silence, she rolled her eyes. “I’ll find what I can. Get her in the shower. Cold water to cool the burn and try to rinse some of the venom out. I’ll be back.” With that Jade disappeared. I don’t mean she walked out of the room, I mean she was there one minute and then poof, she simply... wasn’t. Even writhing in pain, I couldn’t miss that.
“What the fuck just happened?” I choked out through the pain.
“I’ll explain later,” Ash snapped as he hoisted me into his arms, yet again, and headed through the open bathroom door.
Veiled Guardian: A Borne of Angels Novel (The Awakening Book 1) Page 6