Thick, black blood is erupting from me and I know I don’t have long left. My eyes clasp on Clara’s. She’s awake and terrified. Her fear kicks my adrenaline into overdrive. I roll backwards, landing on my feet and lunge out at the closest hunter to me. I wrap my arm around his neck, drive my blade into his heart, and use his body as a shield. A woman swipes out with a knife and misses me. I throw the dead hunter at her, and like a bowling ball, she knocks six of her cronies to the ground as she stumbles.
The other three are quick to move on me. Delivering a kick to one of their legs, I hear it crack. He groans and drops to the ground, temporarily down. It gives me the chance I need to take out the other two. I duck a knife aimed at my throat by one hunter and run mine into the one behind him. Spinning around I land a blow on his shoulder, making him stumble back. I take the opportunity and stab his chest twice. He falls, and I move my focus to the hunter with the broken leg. I come behind him and make quick work of stabbing him in the back.
The six that had been knocked down are now back on their feet. A woman grabs me by the hair and throws me to the floor. My knife clatters away from me, and all I have are my hands. I try my magic, but all of the hunters are wearing the necklaces.
She advances on me and I stumble back, knowing that I can’t survive another stab wound. I trip over one of the dead bodies on the floor and panic rises in my throat. Maeve’s voice in my head tells me to search the ground for a vantage point or something I can use to gain the upper hand, but she has no advice if I can’t find one.
All of the hunter’s knives are scattered, but even a knife wouldn’t do me any good in this position. The other hunters surround me and laugh.
I’m done for.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Because I have no other chance, I close my eyes and search for my power again. I can feel a light buzz, but the access is stunted.
I wonder if I can delve into myself again and unleash it… Maybe if I can touch the energy, I can get around the talismans. Anything is worth a shot at this point, and so I close my eyes while they laugh and envision my energy again. When I clasp sights on the ball of power, I reach for the golden side. Unlike before, it’s dull and barely reacting to me.
Karelia’s knife… The energy was free and burning bright when I had the knife.
The knife can get past the talismans…
My eyes rip open and search for my weapon. I spot it in the corner, in between two dead hunters and too far out of reach for me to grab. Even if I fought my way through, I’d die before I managed to clasp it.
I try again with delving into myself, but the magic won’t budge. The black goo is prickling again, trying it’s best to makes its way up my arm and I have to shake it off. I don’t know what it is. It’s not locked down like the golden side, but it feels wrong to use it – wrong and enticing…
When fighting for your life, do you really have a choice?
The voice in my head is right. It’s kill or be killed, and this may be my only way to survive.
I let the prickles attach themselves to my skin, and they crawl up my right arm. I try to get more with the left, but they refuse to attach. One side of my body is overtaken with the dark goo and when my eyes flick open again, I know the situation is reversed.
I’m no longer the hunted… I’m the hunter.
I stand up slowly so they don’t think I’m a threat and by the smirks on their lips, they have no idea what I have in store with them. The power pulsing through my veins is on a level I never knew I could experience. It’s raw, unfiltered, and I know it won’t tire me out to use it. It wants to be used.
Licking my lips, I try to decide how much pain I want to cause these people. Do I want to snap them in two and be done with it? Or do I want to have more fun than that?
I spot Knox standing by the door. He’s the one I want to play with.
The rest of the menial lackeys are nothing to me. They’re mere objects in the way of my real target.
“Please, don’t kill me…” I say it so sweetly that I can almost taste the words in my mouth. “I don’t want to fight anymore.”
Another round of laughter comes from them.
“You’re going to die screaming, bitch. I’m taking this nice and slow!” He snarls with his grey teeth on show.
I smile.
“Have it your way.”
I hold up my right hand and watch as their skins bubble from their body. They’re screaming as they die – just as he promised me – and when I’ve had enough of hearing them, I bend their bodies backward and snap their spines.
Knox’s eyes widen and his mouth hangs open.
“How?”
“Does that matter right now?” I shrug, taking a step towards him and then I snort. “You don’t really want that to be your last word, do you? It’s kind of boring…”
He gulps down a lump in his throat and his eyes land on the dead bodies of his family members. “Are you going to do that to me, Theo?”
The way he speaks my name is comical to me. He’s trying to stir up some kind of emotion in me.
“Aw, you’re cute.” I smirk. “You know, I was really starting to fall for you toward the end. I mean, a couple of months ago, you weren’t necessarily my first choice… It’s crazy to think, but your whole plan of seducing me to death would have been a moot point if Tavis was remotely interested.”
He flinches as if my words genuinely hurt him, but like everything else, it’s an act.
“I really do like you, Theo.”
“Really? Aw, Knox!” I put my hand over my heart and pout. “You know, we’re so alike because the first thing I do when I like someone is stab them in the gut, too.”
I fold my arms across my chest.
“You don’t get it, Theo…” He takes a seat and leans his head against the wood. “This has been my whole life. I was raised by my brother. My parents –”
“Let me guess, slaughtered by the witches they were hunting to kill?” I snort again. “And you expect me to feel bad for that?”
“You think I knew that when I was five years old? I only knew what my brother told me! They were killed by the things that our birth-right demands we hunt. It’s all I’ve ever known! Hunters? Good. Witches? Bad.”
“Maeve was trained to hunt, too… the difference? Most of the people we’ve lived with for six months aren’t dead because of her.”
He nods. “If I could go back – “
“You’d what?”
“You wouldn’t believe me, anyway. If you’re going to kill me, just get it over with. You’ve won.”
“Won?” I almost choke on the word. “My boyfriend stabbed me in the gut, I had to perform delicate magic whilst bleeding out, I’m still bleeding out, and the second this adrenaline and power dies, I’ll probably be dying right along with them! So, why don’t you tell me how any of that is winning…”
“Fuck!” I kick the wall and sink down to the ground beside him, letting my power rest back where it belongs as the vulnerability seeps back into me. “I hate myself for asking, but I need to know… in the months that we spent together, was there any point that you thought about just quitting? “
“Most days…” He nods. “I wanted to quit on most days. Mainly on the days I spent with you.” His eyes coat with regret and his fingers entwine with mine. “No matter what happens next, I need you to know that the days we spent together; the dates, the talks, the messing around… It was the happiest I’ve ever been.”
“Yeah, me too…” My lips pull up at the side. “It’s too bad that it was all a lie.”
“Not all of it.”
“But not enough of it was real enough for it to make a difference… You still tried to kill me, and I’m still going to kill you.”
I let go of his hand and stand from the ground with great effort; my heavy heart keeping me down.
“Are you ready?” I ask him.
“To die?” He’s trying to keep a brave face, but there’re tears rolling down his fa
ce.. “Who’s ever gonna be ready for that, right?”
I was… I was ready to die for him.
“You should know something before this happens,” I tell him. “I knew it was you… I had a vision. I knew that you were the traitor.”
His eyes land on mine and the sight of them nearly knocks me off my feet.
“But if you knew then why did you come here?”
“For the same reason that I didn’t kill Maeve…” I shrug as a stray tear makes its way down my cheek. “I hoped there was a chance for you. I thought that maybe when if I saved you, you’d save me right back.”
“I almost did. Every time he put hands on you, I was itching to kick his ass… I guess I waited too long for it to count, and thoughts don’t mean shit, right?” He smiles at me and my heart hurts. “I wish it could have been different, but the hunters are my family and I had to protect them. I couldn’t bring myself to betray them. But you should know something, Theo… if I could do it over, I think that I would slit every one of their throats and I would do it all for you. That’s romantic, right?”
Despite the power inside of me screaming to rip him apart, a giggle escapes my mouth and a tear runs down the left side of my face.
“Can I ask one last favor?” He stands to meet me. “Instead of last words… can I get a last kiss?”
A sob escapes the back of my throat and I nod because I physically can’t say anything.
Knox’s arms wrap around my waist and my hands instinctively make their way up into his hair. His forehead leans forward on mine and his skin is as I will always remember it: soft, warm, familiar. I almost don’t want to kiss him, because when I do, I know it’ll be the end.
“Are you ready for this?” He asks me.
“To kill the guy I was completely falling in love with?” I sniffle. “Not even close…”
A grin passes his lips as he moves in. His cheeks are wet with his tears and his body is shaking. I want so badly not to have to do this…
His mouth brushes mine and I close the gap between us. We start softly, prolonging our goodbye, and then the pace picks up. His hands thrust into my hair and I grab his just as tightly. I take a breath and he uses the opportunity to slide his tongue against mine. The kiss turns passionate before it’s over, and I wish it could go on forever.
But what’s that thing they say about all good things? They must come to an end.
I pull back, laying my head against his.
“I wonder what’s next,” he tells me, his eyes still closed. “All I know is that, wherever I end up, I’ll never forget you, Theo.”
I don’t know if this is a stall tactic or if he really means it because I no longer trust his words, or his kind eyes. They’re a liar’s way to my heart… but that doesn’t stop the ache in my heart.
I could spare his life and not have to feel the pain that I do now, but I would never know if all he’s told me was an act of manipulation or not.
That’s the thing about trust… it’s not about words; it’s about actions… and once the trust between two people is fragmented, it can no longer be what it was. A version of secure, maybe… but rebuilt trust can never be solid.
If I let him walk away from this, I would forever face the question of if he would have spared me. If I hadn’t let the power take me over, would that side of him won out? Would he have stopped his family from killing me? Or would he have watched as each of them stuck their knife in and walked away celebrating?
That thought solidifies my feelings.
“It’s time,” I tell him, leaving one last lingering kiss upon his lips.
His eyelids lift slowly to show me the beautiful green orbs that captured my heart. In them I see our first date, the way he comforted me after Mateo died, our second date, the fourth of July on the roof – every kiss we’ve shared, and every memory we’ve made.
His hand lifts up and settles on my face. I lay a kiss on his palm as he examines me.
“Theo, your eye…” He whispers, caressing my right cheek. “Its –”
A sharp burning pain sears through my back and I cry out. Looking down, I see the tip of the blade poking through my T-shirt. My legs go numb and I drop to the ground. Behind me is the hunter with the broken leg, holding the hilt of the blade that’s stuck in my body.
If I thought the blade going in hurt, when he rips it back out, I cry so loud that I nearly deafen myself.
“Always make sure your opponent is dead!” Maeve will be so pissed that I forgot that rule. I hope she forgives me at my funeral.
Knox won. I let my guard down for a moment, and I’m dying for that mistake.
I look up at him, expecting to see him smiling, but instead, his mouth is open and tears are streaking his face. He tackles the hunter to the ground and punches him in the face. He pulls back and punches again, and again, and again. But the hunter is bigger than he is, and, broken leg or not, he topples Knox to the ground, gaining the upper-hand. I hear an accusation of Knox being a sympathizer and then I see his hand rise and plunge.
But unlike Knox, he hasn’t bothered with something as trivial as a black-eye. He wounded to kill, and for good measure, he removes the blade again and brings it down twice as hard in another place.
A pool of blood leaves Knox’s body and gathers on the ground. My consciousness is almost at an end, and all I want in this moment is to be wrapped in his arms, dying by his side.
Just as I’m about to let go of this life, I hear the barn door creak again and open my eyes to see Tavis and Maeve rushing for the hunter.
They knock him to the ground and his knife is kicked away from him. Maeve covers his body as Tavis holds him down and snaps his neck in one quick twist before dropping his limp body to the floor.
Maeve is by my side in seconds, checking my wounds. Seeing them gives me something to hang on for, and despite the coating of blood covering my body, I find the strength to sit up.
“Theo, he’s hurt badly,” Tavis tells me. “We need to get him to Katia. We can’t heal him here, not with the talismans.”
Maeve helps me over to him and I kneel beside his body. Tears are slowly moving down his face and I lean in to kiss them away.
“I’m sorry,” he sputters, blood spewing from his mouth. I clutch his head to me and massage his hair. “I’m so sorry.”
“I know you are,” I cry.
“But you did it, Theo. You beat us. I’m the last one, I promise… I’m so proud of you.” His words make me sob. “Hey, hey, hey, don’t cry. I betrayed you, remember? But you have to know, I didn’t ever want to hurt you. I was protecting my family…”
Tavis sits back with his head in his hands, absorbing every word he heard and piecing the story together.
“Look at me,” Knox begs and I keep my eyes on his. “No, I mean the real me. Look at me like you did before.”
I nod, understanding his words and close my eyes. Using his wounds as a way in, I see his soul. The darkness covers most of it, but then there’s a ray of light shining through that makes the rest of it seem brighter, and with each second that goes by, the more the light overpowers the opaque blackness.
“That’s you,” he tells me, grasping my hand. “You made my life lighter just by being in it. I love you, Theo.’
My lip quivers and tears burn my left cheek.
“Theo...” Tavis’ voice sends a jolt up my spine as his hand lands on my shoulder. “We can still save him, if we hurry, we can get him to Katia and if we all pull together, we can heal him and whatever happens next...”
The idea gives offers a band aid for my broken heart. But as my boyfriend lies at my feet, choking on his blood, I face my greatest test yet; torn between being a teenage girl, wanting to believe that love can change someone, and being a leader who knows better.
Cradling him in my arms, I smile and lay a kiss on his forehead.
“You’re gonna be okay! I promise,” I cry, bringing my lips to his. The electricity I feel inside of me builds. My lips leave his and I see th
e feelings he has for me coating his eyes. They make my decision all that much easier. “...But I have to protect my family.”
I flick my wrist and hear his neck crack along with my heart. His body goes limp in my arms but I just can’t bring myself to let go of him. My entire being shakes with my sobs as the bitter sting of loss worms its way through me. In the end, his feelings for me were what killed him…
Because if he could look at me in the way that he did, and still plunge that knife in my gut, there was no trust there to be built. He wasn’t a good person…
But as I lay my head on his body and curl into him, feeling every ounce of pain that comes with my sacrifice, I separate the person he is from the person that he pretended he was – and that’s the Knox that I mourn for.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
I don’t know how long I was holding Knox in my arms, but it was long enough for Tavis to have had to physically remove me from him. He gathered me in his arms, letting Knox’s body drop to the ground and held me there until I was so exhausted that I just collapsed.
That’s the last thing I remember before waking up in the back of an unfamiliar car, covered in blood; my own, hunters’ and Knox’s.
You shouldn’t be alive, right now. The thought is startling and I can feel the twinges of the knives entering my skin again and again.
I lift my shirt to see blood-soaked bandages wrapped around my waist.
Maeve is driving the car so fast down an open freeway. It’s still dark outside, but the clouds are visible in the sky, and the sun could rise at any moment.
“Where are we going?” My voice is weak, but still startling enough for Maeve to veer the car into oncoming traffic.
She pulls it back just in time. “God! How many times do I have to tell you to warn people before you do that?”
I snort, pushing myself up in the seat. “Did Tavis heal me?”
SACRIFICIUM (THE UNDERGROUND Book 1) Page 28