Immortal Grave (17 page)

“It’s all dangerous. There are always things that could go wrong.” Ree narrowed her eyes at him. “It’s time to start working toward ending all of this. I’m not going to run away or hide behind you guys. Let’s take them out while we can.”

“She’s right.” Melanie moved so she was standing behind Ree. “Even if we win and kill Tristan, we’re going to have to clean up all of the leftover Dark Ones anyways. Might as well take them out now so we don’t have to worry about them later.”

Ree kept her face expressionless and debated the merits of having Melanie side with her. On one hand it was nice to have someone backing her up, and on the other, it was kind of worrisome that it was the girl out for blood. Paden seemed to know what she was thinking because he just raised an eyebrow and looked at her.

“Look. It’s the right thing to do. The Dark Ones are sitting ducks right now.” Ree put her hands on her hips.

“I’m sure they know, Ree.” Paden glared at her. “They’re safe because they know we don’t want to draw attention to them or ourselves. Especially with the cops looking for us everywhere.”

“And we just created a giant distraction. They won’t be expecting us.” Ree wasn’t about to back down. If there was one thing she was certain of, it was that less enemies was better for their side. This was war, and she was going to treat it that way. No more trying to figure things out. It was time for action.

Paden’s eyes bored into hers, but he didn’t say anything. Ree felt a small amount of relief. It was easier to deal with silence than an outright fight.

“Where is the closest house?” Ree asked Roland.

“About five blocks north of here.” Roland jerked his chin away from the river, and Ree looked down the street. That would put the Dark Ones in the nicer neighborhood. She hoped it wouldn’t make it harder for her friends to go unnoticed.

“Okay. Then we hit them fast and get out quickly.” Ree headed down the sidewalk and felt the anger bubbling under her skin. She was tired of waiting. Tired of having things happen to them. Tired of seeing people dead or hurt because of the evil roaming the streets. The faster she walked, the more power swirled in her chest.

Knowing they couldn’t afford to be seen, she eventually took her group down a dark alley and came at the house from a small back street that people used to get to their garage or carports. She held up her hand so they wouldn’t get too close. She could feel a large group of Dark Ones and darklings in the tall Victorian house. Paden cussed under his breath behind Ree, and she agreed with him wholeheartedly. Looking at the large green and brown house in front of them, her eyes strayed to the sign on the sidewalk. It was one of the most prestigious bed and breakfasts in the city.

Ree turned to look at Roland. “So, you didn’t think to mention it was a hotel?”

“It’s not a hotel. It’s a bed and breakfast.” Roland replied evenly. “Would it have mattered?”

Ree looked back at the building and frowned. “Probably not.” Paden sighed behind her, but she ignored him. “Weylin, how many explosives do you have left?”

“More than enough.” The sound of things being moved around in his canvas bag floated up to Ree’s ears. She looked back in time to see him pull out two handfuls of little black devices. Weylin held them out for everyone to see. “There were a ton at the house, so I brought as many as I could grab.”

“What do you think? Do we need to get them in the house again?” Ree bit her lip, trying to make her decision.

“If we put these outside of the house, the explosion would destroy everything around it. They need to go inside to minimize the collateral damage and to make sure they destroy the Dark Ones. If you put the explosives on the outside, you run the risk of the Dark Ones not being destroyed. They might just be covered up with debris. No. For this to work, we need to know they have been exposed to the sunlight or ripped apart.” Weylin held one of the devices between his fingers and narrowed his eyes. “These babies need to be as close to where they’re sleeping as possible.”

The thud of someone jumping down from the roof sent everyone into action. Two darklings threw themselves at Ree and Paden while the others jumped back to give them room.

“Go!” Ree shouted at Weylin. He took off almost instantly with Melanie and Roland on his heels.

Darklings seemed to pour from the house, filling the little back alley with bodies and angry energy. Bryce and Juliette fought their share, giving Ree glimpses of their spinning and ducking, moving together like one person instead of two. Paden lifted one of the darklings from the ground and threw him down the alley with a growl. The sound of the darkling skidding across the road to slam into a dumpster made Ree look down the alley.

A sharp stinging sensation made Ree suck in her breath. She looked down at her stomach and saw the point of a sword jutting out from her shirt. Ree felt her eyes widen in shock and would have tumbled forward if the darkling who had snuck up behind her had not grabbed her shoulder so she could twist the blade in Ree’s back.

A ferocious roar filled the alley, so loud Ree thought the walls shook. Something flashed past Ree and she stumbled to keep from falling over. The sound of flesh meeting flesh filled the air, confusing Ree. Cool hands touched her shoulders and she looked up into Juliette’s calm eyes. Her mouth moved, but Ree wasn’t sure what she was saying. The only sound she could make out was the blood rushing in her ears.

A sharp sensation made Ree wince, but was quickly replaced with a feeling of emptiness that made her want to vomit. Juliette pressed a hand to Ree’s stomach, her long fingers trying to staunch the flow of blood that poured from the wound. Bryce was moving behind Ree, obviously keeping the darklings at bay. As her hearing came back, Ree could make out someone hollering her name over and over again. The anguish in Paden’s voice brought tears to her eyes. She looked up at Juliette in fear.

“You’re going to be fine. You’re already healing.” Juliette moved her hand a little so Ree could see the wound was starting to knit itself back together, slowly growing smaller.

“Help them.” Ree nodded her head and tried to move toward the wall out of the way. She tripped on the curb, but was able to walk herself. She leaned against the brick and covered her stomach with her own hand before weakly pushing Juliette away.

The amount of broken bodies littering the ground was astounding, but Ree only had eyes for Paden. He was cutting through the darklings as if they were butter. All darklings that came at him were brutally removed from existence. By the time he reached Ree, she was starting to feel better, but his hands immediately went to her wound. The healing glow of his magic worked and sped the process along.

After a few seconds, he pulled his hands away to look at the scar across her stomach. His fingers traced it gently as he examined what wouldn’t have been there had she been born to an immortal line. The clatter of the demo team coming down the alley was the only sound other than Paden swallowing convulsively, as if he couldn’t get himself under control.

“Never again.” With his fingers still tracing the scar, Paden leaned down to kiss Ree. His mouth touching hers the moment the explosives ignited. The ground shook under their feet, but Ree couldn’t tell if that was from the explosion or Paden’s touch. He pulled her against him, his hand moving up to cup her head while he kissed her passionately. As the dust floated down to land on their shoulders, Paden leaned back to look at her before placing a soft kiss on her swollen lips.

“Never again, Ree. I can’t live without you. Do you hear me?” Paden cupped her face with his hands, lifting her eyes to meet his. His voice cracked with emotion. “Do you hear me?”

“I hear you.” Ree stood on her toes and kissed him back quickly. She tried to reign in the tears that threatened to spill at the look on Paden’s face. “We have to go.”

Chapter Twenty

They made it about a block before someone spotted them. The little old woman with her giant hat and knit shawl stopped walked by and openly stared at them. Ree groaned and Paden squeezed her hand. To be fair, they were covered in blood and dirt. Unfortunately, the little old woman’s face lit with recognition as she stared at them, and Ree felt her spike of fear.

“She knows who we are.” Ree whispered quietly.

“We look like we just fought in the battle of Gettysburg. Of course she recognized us.” Weylin shook his head. “We look like the vagrant punks the news has been making us out to be. Weaving destruction everywhere we go.”

Sirens sounded in the distance and Ree felt her heart plummet. No one said anything else, just ran. Ree was tempted to throw in some extra speed, but she worried about the humans that might see them. Paden pulled her towards an alley, where he solved their problem. The group flew through the witness-free alleys and dark streets, only slowing down to cross roads, or where the buildings opened up. The sound of sirens filled the air no matter how fast they ran. The cops were out to find the culprits.

Ree wished she had just let them leave the first time, but they had managed to kill a large group of Dark Ones. She could smell the water and knew they didn’t have much further to go before they were back to the boat. When they neared the shipping yards, Ree skidded to a stop. Power pulsed from the area and she knew what that meant. There was a god waiting for them somewhere amongst the freight containers. To make it worse, she could also hear the crackle of police scanners and the sound of dogs sniffing.

“This day is really starting to suck.” Juliette ran a hand through her hair.

“Tell me about it.” Weylin shook his head.

“What do we do?” Melanie asked.

“There are other ways to the island. We have other boats.” Roland stepped up to take charge. “We just need to get out of here without them spotting us.”

Ree opened her mouth to tell them there was a god with the humans, but didn’t have the chance. Loki appeared behind Roland and smiled.

“Now, that would ruin all of the fun.” Smiling, he pushed his sunglasses back on his head. “I went through all of this trouble to arrange a welcoming committee and you’re just going to skip out?”

“So, you’re just going to come out and admit you’re a traitor?” Melanie pushed around Ree and growled at the god. Ree’s eyes widened, surprised by Melanie’s candor. She reached out to touch her friends arm, but it did no good.

“What’s gotten under your skin, godling? You’re too pretty to be so angry.” Loki’s eyes flashed dangerously and Ree’s stomach tightened.

“You killed my grandmother, you bastard.” Melanie pulled her dagger from the sheath on her hip.

“I haven’t killed anyone.” Loki smiled at Melanie, his perfect teeth glinting in the sun. “Yet.”

“Fuck you! You killed my grandmother! You killed all of those people on the island! You want to kill all the humans. Because you’re a sick bastard and you think it’s fun!” Melanie threw her dagger and it stopped just short of Loki’s face. Something seemed to shift under his skin, making him look far more dangerous than a well-dressed surfer.

The dagger clanked to the ground and Melanie was lifted into the air by an invisible force. Her eyes spit fire at Loki, hate rolling off of her in waves.

“Watch how you speak to me, little girl. I’ve killed better than you in my day for far less.” Loki looked at Ree and smiled. “Alastriana, you’re not doing such a good job of controlling your little ragtag team of godlings.” One of the dogs howled in the distance, obviously smelling something. Loki’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Oh good. The fun is about to start.”

“Put her down, Loki.” Ree moved so she could see the god clearly.

“You’re a spoilsport.” Loki looked at Melanie, and she flew across the parking lot they were standing in. Ree grabbed the power and flung it at Melanie, trying to shield her from the brunt of the impact. Her friend smacked into one of the shipping containers, but was on her feet immediately.

Ree looked at Loki, her own anger getting the better of her. “You need to leave, before you blow your thin cover.”

“Don’t think you can order me around, Alastriana. Besides, the others will assume I was only here to have a little fun. It’s in my nature to make things difficult. I just can’t seem to help myself.” Loki smiled indulgently, his eyes taking on a wild edge.

Ree felt Loki’s magic reach for her, trying to wrap around them all, pinning them in place. Even Melanie had been halted in her progress to get back to them. Ree tried to move, straining muscles she hadn’t even realized she had, but to no avail. He held them tighter than quicksand.

“BRIG—“ Paden’s voice cut off.

“Nah ah ah. No calling your grandparents.” Loki slid his sunglasses back down onto his nose. “That’s just sad.”

Ree tried to say something, but couldn’t get any words to form.  Her mind raced, the only thing still free, trying to find a way out. Rage filled her and the power responded. Green energy flooded out of her body, in no way hindered by Loki’s magic. The shell she had been trapped in shattered, the little pieces of his power dropping into the greening swirl of energy to become part of her own.

Loki growled deep in his throat, the sound reminiscent of an angry wolf being challenged. Lightning scored through the sky, thunder rumbled in angry fits. Ree pushed at his power, shoving it away from her friends, sending it flying in thousands of little pieces. Loki raised his hands in Ree’s direction and she felt the hairs on her arms and neck stand up straight. Knowing he was about to strike at her, Ree did the first thing that came naturally. She pulled as much power in as she could and threw a shield between her and the god. She pulled and pulled until the inside of her skull felt raw.

Suddenly the thunder stopped, and Loki’s eyes looked surprised. The sound of running feet echoed off the walls of the surrounding warehouses. Loki dropped his arms and disappeared, but not before winking at Ree.

“Shit, shit, shit.” Weylin’s voice seemed to bounce around in Ree’s tender head. She was holding more power than she had ever pulled before and for a second she thought it might cause her to burst apart.

Ree raised her hands and looked at the empty freight containers. She threw the energy at them, wrapping them in tight bands of power. She jerked her arms towards the alleyway, just in time to see the first of the humans. The containers slammed down with an almighty sound, shaking the ground under everyone’s feet.