Dark Seraphine (The Seraphine Trilogy) (34 page)

Rearing back
,
Raze
aimed one of his
lightning rod things
at the tall shrubbery surrounding the area.
A bolt
shot out toward the
bushes
,
sailing straight through
the middle
. A wide gap burned into the leaves
,
creating a path through the foliage.

“
Get her out of here!
”
he yelled at me.
“
Go! Take her down to the ocean. Stay there until one of us comes to get you
,”
he ordered. Bending down, he glanced into Gia’s eyes. And then h
e grabbed my hand and shook it.
“
Take care of her
,
Wood. I got faith in you.
”

I swallowed through the knot choking me
,
and blinked through the thoughts whirling around my head.

Raze stood and spun around, his body positioned for battle.
“
Alright
,
witch! Bring it on
,”
he hissed at Mel.

I
attempted
to put my arms around Gia.

“
No! You touch me
,
and I
’
ll electrocute you
,”
she
warned.
Under the lights
,
her face glittered. When I took a closer look I saw that a strange type of scaly skin had formed over her body. It was both beautiful and a tad eerie.

“
Feel free to zap me later on. Right now
,
you
’
re coming with me
,”
I said and
lifted
her body
that
was lighter than I imagined. Behind me
,
Raze,
Lelo
, and
Marisa
fought
Mel and
the
Dark Agent
s that
none of the Seraphines
could see. But the
light blue rods
they used obviously saw them just fine. Each zap hit a dark dude
,
disintegrating the creature
in a puff of blue smoke
.

“
Raze! I can
’
t leave my brother. You can
’
t make me go
,”
Gia cried.
Whoa
!
That bit of news floored me.
What an idiot.
I was jealous of her family member
all this time.

“
She
’
s all that matters
,
now
,”
Raze blurted just before Bryce rammed a golden rod through his chest.
Strange dark blood spurted out from the place where the
pointed end of the
rod came out of his back.

Gia screamed. It was a sound I would never forget. Her pain ripped through me. Across the yard
,
a
Dark Agent
slammed Lelo down to the ground
,
silencing her with a sickening crack
to her neck
.
With each injury to her brother and friends, Gia grabbed at her chest and neck, jerking as though she felt the pain in her body too.

“
Get my sister out of here
,
Wood. Don
’
t let her see this!
”
Raze shouted.
He jerked his head around, ripped the rod out of his chest,
and
shoved the pointed end into
Bryce
’s
abdomen
. His smile faded as he dropped to his knees in front of Raze. T
he
Dark Agent
s glided
toward
Gia’s brother. A few of them turned their gazes in my direction, as Mel continued to rip things apart with her tornado spell. The dread raging throughout my body forced my mind to focus.

I turn
ed and headed through the gap Raze
created. I kept running through the woods with Gia in my arms
,
even though she pounded on me
.
A couple of more punches later
,
her body slackened.

Did she pass out on me?

The tornado swirled behind us. It was almost like the winds were chasing us down. The love I felt for the girl in my arms kept my burning limbs going. I emerged from inside the woods and ran down the embankment that led to the ocean. I had almost reached the pier. Gia wrapped her arms tighter around my neck and buried her face against my chest. She was so still.

I worried about her.
“
We
’
re almost there
,”
I said.

Something
rammed into the back of
me
and
sent my body flying forward. Gia and I rolled down the embankment and toward the water. I spit sand out of my mouth
and glanced up. Mel materialized out of the wind and stalked toward me
, her tattered dress flapping in the winds she created.

“
Her memory of you is gone
,
Caleb. She knew the price of kissing you. To save you on the beach that day when you two
were children
,
she had to give up something valuable. A thing her people cherish as all the Seraphine do
,
a piece of her soul.
When
you recently tried to drown yourself again
, she kissed you even more
.
Still didn’t get it, did you?
With each kiss, she built up your strength, but
it
also
weakened her soul. You could
’
ve broken my spell. All you had to do was tell her that you loved her. Easy
,
right? Your bitterness kept you from saying those words
,
though. As I figured it would.
”
She
emphasized
the last couple of words
,
highlighting
a seriously
mucked up
situation.

I felt like beating the crap out of myself. All I had to do was tell Gia how I felt that night in the woods outside the hospital
, and this whole nightmare could’ve been avoided
.

“
The spell I created just for
you two
lovebirds,
works like thi
s
:
if
the Princess
stays here
in your world
,
she dies. Take her into the
water
,
then guess what? You die.
All of this gets even better. To save her, y
ou have to be the one to carry her
back
into the
ocean
. Not her brother
,
father
,
those
annoying
guardian girls of hers
,
or even me. It has to be you
.” She
smiled a happy
,
vicious looking
grin
that cut through me
like a knife
.

“
You thought of everything. I
’
m impressed. Remind me to hire you the next time I need a witch
,
Mel
,”
I spat
,
my body numb and my legs throbbing.

“
Tell lover girl not to kill any more of my sisters
,
Caleb
,”
she snapped back.
Her expression brightened.
“
The
Dark Ones
are a threat to all of us sea dwellers. Not just your precious Gia. By speaking
her name
,
my people can open the gates to her city. We can go in and protect both kingdoms
from the leader of the
Dark Ones
. You see
,
I
’
m on her side.
”

I didn
’
t know what to believe. I only knew that I had to make the choice from hell. Who was I fooling? I made that decision as soon
as
Mel told me Gia would die if I didn
’
t
take
her
back
into the ocean.

“
You
’
re lying
,”
Gia said
,
gasping as though it took all of her strength to speak.
“
The sea warlocks and witches are all liars. Don
’
t believe a word she says.
”
She started coughing
,
a deep ragged one. Panic hit me hard.

“
She
’
s dying
,
Caleb
,”
Mel hissed.
“
Speak the name. Break the spell. Live happily ever after.
Just say
it!
”

At once a golden light circled around Mel
,
tightening on her arms until she cried out.

“
Go
,
Wood! Take my sister home
,”
Raze ordered
,
his face bloody and his
trench coat tattered
. He struggled to keep his hold on the witch.
“
You it owe to her
,
damn it.
”

Yeah
,
so I already figured that.
To save my life both times
I almost drowned
, she weakened her soul. To try and fix
the mess we created
, she made a deal with a witch.
I inhaled deeply
,
my chest stinging
,
my heart thudding so hard I felt
the beating in my mouth
. I hurried over to Gia
,
scooped her up
,
and took off running down the old wooden ramp.

You can do this thing. The knight always saves the princess at some point in
the story
,
my man. Even if he
has to die
.

Something struck me in the back. The pain stung like hell. I stumbled
,
and Gia cried out. The edge of the pier teased me.
It seemed like it was both close and far away.
Moving toward the end of it got harder. Behind us
,
the witch laughed
,
and my feet slowed down. It was some kind of paralyzing thing.

“
Kiss me
,”
Gia whispered. Our gazes met.

“
I don’t want to hurt you again
,”
I blurted
,
the pain in my body spreading toward my head.

“
We
’
ll both die
,
if you don
’
t. Do it
,
now. Trust me
,”
she gasped
,
her eyes fluttering shut.

“
No
,
stay with me. Gia!
”
I cried
,
my legs no longer moving. The edge of the pier was only about ten feet away.
Talk about a
twisted
tease.
 

I moved my mouth down and gently kissed her lips. No fireworks sparked from our faces
,
or anything like that. Instead
,
whatever held
on to
my feet loosened its grip. I charged forward and dived into the water.

A cold blanket surrounded me. The world turned dark and silent. No witch
,
no Raze
,
no mermaid
angel
with hypnotic dark eyes.

“
Gia.
”
I said in my mind as I sank through the ocean. Above me
,
something surrounded by a light floated in the water. A star? For an insane moment
,
I thought about the Christmas tree I
’
d never see my mom decorate again.