Authors: Nichole Chase
“What?”
“Would you have put shoes on if I had been on the floor?” Ree raised an eyebrow.
“Of course not.” Paden stood up and dumped the glass in the trash can. “But, I’m the man and—oofh!”
Ree grabbed him around the neck, pulling him into a headlock. “You might not want to finish that sentence.”
“It was a joke! I swear!” Paden’s laugh made Ree smile, her heart fluttering in relief to hear him back to normal. She let him go, but grabbed his hand and pulled him into a hug.
“Don’t do that again, Paden. You scared the hell out of me.” She closed her eyes and breathed in his scent.
“I’m sorry.” He pressed his lips to her hair.
After a moment, Ree pulled him into the room so they could change. She kicked off her clothes and pulled on the ones she had picked out earlier. Paden stood watching her for a minute, his eyes serious.
“I think your clothes were moved into my closet, if you want to change. We’ve got to leave soon.” Ree pulled on her boots and smiled while Paden rustled through the clothes.
“Well, it’s really starting to get creepy on the island.” Paden’s voice was muffled as he traded his dirty shirt for a new one.
“What do you mean?” Ree grabbed her dagger and sheath from her bedside stand and rolled up her jeans. She tightened the straps around her calf and zipped up her boot.
“They show up everywhere, move our things around without asking, and have weird ideas about what is acceptable.” Paden shook his head. “It’s like living with giant-sized toddlers.”
“I try to pretend that they’re ghost butlers. Taking care of things, but with a hint of mischief.” Ree stood up and grabbed a jacket out of the closet.
As they headed out of Ree’s room, Paden chuckled. “Ghost butlers, huh?”
“Yeah. Makes it seem a little less creepy.”
“Ghost butlers aren’t creepy?” Paden bumped into Ree with his elbow.
“I said less creepy. You can’t make it completely creep-free.” Ree pulled at the sleeves of her coat as they walked, trying to make them a little loose.
“You know I love you, right, little one?” Paden smiled down at her. His old term of endearment warmed Ree’s heart.
“Yeah, yeah. If you mess up my hair, I’m going to stick you in a shield and leave you here.” Ree looked up at Paden and smiled.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Roland sniffed at the air when they entered the training room, his eyes running over Ree and Paden. Ree couldn’t help but notice that his eyes lingered on her neck. It wasn’t something she really wanted to discuss with everyone and certainly not right now.
The others were ready and waiting. Ree felt her good mood melt away to something harder, rougher. Her body seemed to become tighter, her steps more deliberate as she walked toward her weapons. Goosebumps erupted along her arms, as if the air around her understood what she was getting ready to do.
Ree walked over to where she had stored her sword and took it down from the rack. Carefully, she unsheathed the blade and checked for anything she might have missed when cleaning it. Once she was certain it was in good shape, she returned it to the scabbard and attached it to her hip. Next she pulled down the two short swords that hung from pegs. Paden helped her slip on the harness that would hold them tightly against her back. Once she had been loaded down with weapons, she turned to look at the others.
There was a sense of calm, a feeling of rightness in Ree’s heart. It was now or never. Would Tristan wake tonight and feel the change? Would he know she was coming for him? In a few short hours, the fate of the world would be decided. Ree nodded her head and closed her eyes for a moment. She focused on her love and respect for her friends, her faith in all of them, and knew that they would be able to feel it.
When she opened her eyes, everyone was standing, ready to leave. “Let’s do this.”
“What, no team cheer?” Weylin smiled at Ree.
“One for all!And all for one!” Melanie held her sword up in salute.
“Death to the demons!” Roland lifted his own sword. When everyone turned to look at him he shrugged. “That’s what they said back in my day.”
“Death to the demons!” Ree drew her sword in salute, but couldn’t help the grin that slid over her face. When everyone else joined in, their battle cries shook the room and Ree could feel their energy growing with each reverberation. A sharp smile pulled at her mouth. No matter what happened, they were going to give the Dark Ones hell.
As they exited the house, some of the refugees watched from different windows. Kay ran after them, grabbing Melanie in a tight hug before kissing them all on the head. She never said anything, didn’t tell them to stay safe or to be careful. Ree squeezed the woman’s hand. She knew if they failed tonight, things would be bad for everyone.
The extra Guardians were lining the dock. As Ree and her group approached them, they all smiled. Met and Niall were standing next to the boat they had taken to the mainland. Met’s cheerful face was set in a serious expression, her dark eyes fierce.
“Alastriana, we would like to come with you.” Met’s words were formal, asking that Ree grant them permission to fight.
Ree stopped and looked at the faces that were shadowed from the setting sun. When she asked Athena for help, she hadn’t considered using the Guardians for anything but protecting the people that had been targeted. Now, as she stared at the people along the dock, her stomach tightened. She looked back at Met and jerked her head once.
“Half of you stay here and protect the island and the people on it with everything you have, everything that you are. This is the last haven available.” Ree didn’t have to tell them it would come under attack if she lost the battle. “The rest can come and help clear out the city. There will be people stuck in the middle of all this that will need your aid. Tristan is mine, though.”
Met bowed her head to Ree. “As you say, Alastriana.”
Niall grinned at Ree and spun his knife on his palm. Pointing at the Guardians along the left side of the dock, he motioned for them to get in the boats. Ree moved into her spot next to the console and waited for everyone else to board. Paden stood behind her, one hand on her waist as Roland pulled them away from the dock.
Ree felt, more than actually heard, the crack of thunder. As the boat pulled away from the island, Athena, Brigid, and Hecate watched. Their eyes tense and serious. Brigid held a bow at her side while both Hecate and Athena clasped their hands in front of them. Ree looked away from them and toward Savannah. The goddesses couldn’t help them now. It was up to Ree to do what needed to be done.
The ride to the coast was long and cold. The winds whipped the surf against their hull and sprayed them all with fine mist. Paden moved closer to Ree, his warmth helping to keep her centered and not get lost in her thoughts. No one said a word as the sky turned from red and orange to purple. When the coast came into view, the trees were black with shadows, street lights glittering like fireflies in the distance.
Ree could sense the darklings that lined the nearby docks and had gathered in places she and her friends had used to dock in the past, but Roland never stopped. The closer they got to the city, the more darklings Ree felt gathered together. Without stopping, Roland pushed on until Ree could feel them nearing the historic district. The boats containing Niall, Met, and the other Guardians sped up and took the lead. Ree looked at Paden and Roland, wondering if this had been discussed at some point, but neither made an indication either way.
When Roland slowed the boat, Ree frowned at the dock. There was one darkling, sitting on the edge. His les legs swinging back and forth above the water as if he didn’t have a care in the world. It didn’t take Ree long to understand why he seemed so nonchalant. A piercing whistle drew more darklings from the shadows. In less time than it took Ree to understand what was truly happening, she had erected shields over boats.
Arrows bounced off of her green energy and fell into the water. The darklings weren’t very organized in their attack, despite having a lookout. Met’s calm voice drifted over the water to Ree’s ears, drawing her attention. She had a bow at the ready, arrow knocked and ready to fly.
“On my mark, Ree!” The Guardian stood at the front of her boat, her feet in a steady stance. As the darklings’ arrows fell harmlessly away, an amused snort reached Ree’s ears. “Now!”
Ree dropped her shield immediately and watched as Met’s arrows flew like lightning bolts to strike their targets. There wasn’t time to try and turn any of them, to see if being a darkling was something they had chosen or been forced into. At this point, the only thing she and the other Guardians could do was focus on surviving and helping those that couldn’t on their own.
In a matter of moments all of the darklings had been dispatched. Roland slid the boat next to the dock, and Weylin quickly tied it down and ran down the dock toward the trees. Ree and Paden were next, the others following close behind. The sound of sirens and the smell of smoke filled the early evening air.
“We need to get to the school as quickly as possible and with as little attention as possible.” Ree looked at Paden and Roland, but it was Magda who spoke up.
“A distraction would be good. I looked at the map you had in the office.” Her eyebrows drew together as she mentally went over the details. “What if we hit the houses around one of the nightclubs? Let them believe we’ve targeted the wrong place.”
“Could work.” Roland nodded his head.
“Okay. Hit the ones closest to the boats, but let us get a head start.” Ree started to head down the road.
“What about people that are being attacked? Do you want us to split up and try to corral some of the worst offenders?” Niall looked at Ree through hair that hid his eyes.
“Sounds good.” Ree looked at everyone. “You guys are on your own. Draw their attention away from the college and protect those you can.” Ree started walking backward down the street. “Take care of each other.”
The streets were eerily quiet. Only the sound of the occasional siren or fire alarm seemed to pierce the cloud of silence. The group had fallen into their running pattern without thought. It felt natural and easy, moving like one organism as they slid though the shadows and through people’s backyards. Ree concentrated on the darklings that seemed to be patrolling the streets, steering their group away from any that could be avoided. When it wasn’t possible to move around one of the looting darklings, someone would make quick work of the problem.
Ree could feel the frustration of her friends mounting with each kill. None of them liked killing the darklings, but accepted that there wasn’t another solution. Ree refused to use the power until she had no other options. When they neared the school center, Ree noticed the flyers for the special effects convention lying on the ground or taped to the old-timey light poles. When a cop car turned the corner onto the square they were surveying, the group ducked into an empty coffee shop. The door was hanging open and several of the windows had been broken, obviously a casualty of the looting that had taken place through the city.
Everyone kept quiet as the police cruiser slowly made a loop around the square before heading to the next block. Ree knelt behind an overturned table, her fingers rubbing the hilt of her sword. Paden crouched next to her, his green eyes sliding around the empty room.
“It will be dark soon.” Roland’s quiet voice rumbled through the room.
“What’s the plan, Kemo Sabe?” Weylin moved so he could see Ree.
“We need to get in…” Ree trailed off and looked out the window. The silver glow from her eyes reflected off of some of the shattered glass on the floor. “We have company.”
A group of darklings were walking down the road, the leader sniffing the air as he followed their trail. She wasn’t sure if he knew who he was following or if he was just looking for trouble, but there was no mistaking that he was after Ree and her friends.
Ree pulled her power in and concentrated on getting rid of her glowing eyes. There was no reason to announce the Alastriana was in town. The darkling smiled when he stopped outside of the coffee shop, and his pasty skin and black eyes made Ree cringe. He wasn’t far from turning; Ree could smell the death coming from him even from where she sat upwind, the light of his soul, weak and flickering.
“Come out, come out.” The darklings behind the sickly-thin man chuckled. One of them picked up a rock from the curb and threw it at the broken window. The remaining glass shattered, crashing to the ground in a sound that seemed much louder in the silence of the city.
Roland stood up from where he had been crouching. He bared his fangs and hissed. “Leave, unless you want to replace my dinner.”
“My apologies… Dark One. I smelled something off and came to investigate.” He edged closer to the building. While his hand was blocked from Roland’s view, Ree saw him twitch his fingers at the other darklings in a signal to run.
Before anyone else could move, Ree stood from her spot and threw the knives she had in reach. There was a sickening thunk as the blades found their mark. The flash of more blades flying from the other corner of the room pinned the darklings Ree couldn’t see.
The ringleader didn’t waste time retreating. Bryce was out of his hiding spot immediately, grabbing the darkling by the back of his shirt and spinning him against the brick exterior of the building. Hissing, the darkling scrambled against the wall, trying to free himself from Bryce’s grip.
“Ree?” Bryce looked at her and nodded to the darkling.
Ree looked at the darkling and contemplated for just a moment. Unfortunately the sound of running feet made up her mind. “Do it.”
Bryce made it quick and painless, but Ree would always remember the look on her friend’s face as he snapped the darkling’s neck; disgust and pity warred violently, leaving him to look almost depraved. Ree shivered once, but put away her thoughts. Drawing her sword, she moved from behind the table went to retrieve some of her throwing knives. Darklings were coming from every street, somehow alerted to their presence.