Souljacker (30 page)

Teeth scour my cheek and it tears with a
flash of pain. I stumble, snapping at Lylan’s leg, biting until I
can feel the bone crunch beneath my jaws. His fangs bury in my
throat, lifting me up off my paws, and I can feel the rush of my
blood as it slowly seeps from my body, leaving me weak and
cold.

I don’t stop fighting. I can’t.

There’s a flash of white and Lucy’s voice is
filled with pain. I spin, trying to seek her out, but I’m jerked
roughly to the side. My paws slip in a pool of blood and my
shoulder connects with the ground, hard. Pain bursts through me and
a yelp tears up my throat and then Lylan’s weight is on top of me,
pinning me to the ground. He’s human again, his hands wrapped
around my neck, fingers twisting my skin. I kick with all my might
with clawed feet, but it’s no use.

I’m too weak…

Lylan smiles broadly down at me, his chest
heaving with the effort of fighting me. His eyes sparkle with glee
and amusement as he presses me against the ground. I look
everywhere but up at him; I see Caddie and the gang fighting
valiantly, fireballs searing flesh and lightning arcing across the
air. There’s still hope for them. My head falls to the side and I
can’t hold onto my hound form any longer. I shudder with the
change, this time moving like molasses through my body, and Lylan’s
hands around my throat are hard enough to bruise.

“As much as killing you would make me happy,
I’ll make you a deal,” he says. This time I look up and my gaze
drills into his. “If you kill your little girlfriend, I’ll let you
live. I’ll even welcome you back into the Pack. How does that
sound?”

My fear slips away from me as I lay beneath
him. He leers down at me and I bark out a laugh. “I’ll never be
your puppet, Lylan,” I say at the same time I kick both feet out.
Lylan’s breath leaves him in a whoosh and I knock him off of me,
scrambling for traction on the slippery floor.

I don’t get far. His arms clamp around my
waist and we struggle. I punch him in the face hard enough to knock
a few teeth out. He snarls and spits blood. I yank my fingers
through his hair, trying to haul him around by the head, but he’s
faster, stronger. I get a handful of hair as he jerks out of my
reach.

His leg connects with the backs of my knees
and they buckle. I go down and try and roll out of the way, but
Lylan comes down on top of me. We’re both breathing heavily, but as
hard as I fight, I know that he’s won. I know it from the ache in
my heart, the realization that I’ll never kiss Lucy again, never
get to tell her that I love her…

“Your funeral.” His hands wrap around my
throat tightly and I wheeze. I can’t suck in air. I kick and squirm
beneath him, my lungs beginning to burn as darkness hazes around
the edges of my vision. I try not to panic as my body begins to
shut down, but who can blame me? I press my eyes shut, remembering
the first time I laid eyes on Lucy with her long legs and buckle
boots and blue hair.

Please, make my death mean something. Give
Lucy a chance to win.

Lylan’s scream of agony brings me back to
life—sweet, sweet air rushes into my lungs and I gasp it down as
blood splatters my face and soaks my clothes. I gape up at Lylan to
see him gurgling for breath, his eyes wide and pained. Blood
trickles out of his mouth, dripping onto my face.

Sticking out of the middle of his chest is a
blade, skewered straight through the Alpha’s back. Shit. My savior
yanks the blade back out and Lylan tumbles down to land beside me,
flopping like a dying fish. Bile rising in my throat, I slip and
slide through all the blood, trying to gain my footing.

I stare up into the angelic face of Sariel,
blond curls and baby blue eyes. “You alright, Io?” His voice is
warm, but I’m wary. My lungs still ache and my body hurts, bruised
and battered, so I just stare at him. He smiles and offers me a
hand and I look at him for a long moment. Then I reach up to grab
it, blood making it sticky. He hauls me to my feet easily and
smiles at me. “I couldn’t stand to watch that, kid.”

Sariel puts two fingers in his mouth and
shrills a loud whistle. Almost in slow motions, the cyberhounds
surrounding us stop fighting, confused looks on their faces. They
gather around and I stiffen, but their eyes are all locked on their
fallen Alpha. The man they had feared, the man they’d respected.
The hounds stand stock-still, staring at Sariel, the blade still in
his hand. Red streaks down the metal to pool on the floor.

Sariel’s voice is loud and assertive. “As of
now, I’m your new Alpha and I have a new command: Stop the madness.
This doesn’t have to end in bloodshed and death. Why are we even
fighting for the Unseelie Queen?”

The ground rumbles viciously beneath my feet
and I nearly fall flat on my face again. I right myself only to
hear Vashna burst into deep-rooted laughter. Caddie screams and my
heart lurches as Lucy’s head snaps up. She loses focus on MaXXX for
just a second, but it’s a second too long. I open my mouth to
scream at her, but MaXXX tackles her to the ground before I can
conjure up the words.

Caddie shrieks again, this time in pain, and
I realize that Vashna has her. But where’s— My gut lurches and I
feel nausea lap at the back of my throat, hot and bitter. Faela’s
dead. I gape at the mass of ribboned flesh and blood, her body
pierced through the middle by an earthen spike jutting out of the
cracked marble floor. Blood billows off of her pale body, soaking
her white gown crimson.

The Unseelie have won…

A roar bursts from me then, unbidden, and I
throw myself across the room. I’ll kill that bitch if it’s the last
thing I do! Then Supersonic-girl steps between us, her eyes empty
and face voice of emotion and when she opens her mouth, a static
howl rips through the hall and I buckle over, holding my ears as
all sound fades to black.

Is this really the end?

Chapter 35:

Lucy

My ears are foggy from the Mithos girl’s
shriek, but it doesn’t stop me from hurling insults. MaXXX’s arms
wrap around my waist, his hands grabbing my wrists and pinning them
against my body. He knows I’m weak, knows I need to recharge, the
Need coiling like an angry snake through my veins. I snarl and
struggle, but he’s stronger than me. Still, I can feel his body
trembling slightly against mine.

Then he surprises me, his voice portraying
his exhaustion as perfectly as painting a picture. “I’m sorry,
Lucy. It shouldn’t have turned out this way.” His breath tickles my
ear. His hands are hot against my cool skin, his energies nipping
at me, drawing in my soul. It’s hard for him to control it, but
he’s trying.

Vashna strides forwards, a limp to her gait,
dragging Caddie behind her by the hair. Caddie squeals and burns
her, flames rising out of her palms, and the Unseelie queen
backhands her, sending her tumbling to the floor. I see the sparkle
of tears—anger and pain—in her eyes and my heart goes out to
her.

Fucking slag bitch.

“Let her go, MaXXX,” she says. MaXXX
stiffens, as if he’s considering fighting her on this, and then he
releases me.
Coward
. I elbow him in the ribs hard enough for
him to wince, then stalk forwards, glaring at the woman who’s made
me and my friends’ lives hell.

“I’ll kill you.” My voice is strong.

“No, you really won’t.” She laughs and
snatches Caddie back up, dragging her to her feet. I see the gleam
of a silver, the point of a blade pressed into the hollow of her
throat. Caddie’s eyes scour mine, silent tears streaming down her
face. “You know I have no qualms squashing a little firebug.”

“Let her go, Vashna.” I see Iofiel, his pale
skin smeared with blood, darkness soaking through his clothes, and
I ache inside. Vashna’s eyes are suddenly wild. The blade presses
into Caddie’s throat. Iofiel freezes, both hands raised, and takes
a step back. He shakes his head.

“Not until I get my revenge.” She turns to
me, her dark eyes cold. “This is between you and me, Souljacker.
This is
your
fault. It’s your fault Faela’s dead.”

“
You
killed her, you crazy bitch,” I
spit.

Her grin grows wide, perfect white teeth
gleaming like fangs. She steps forwards, tossing both Caddie and
the dagger casually to the side. The blade skitters across the
floor with a clang and the cyberhounds let out various growls of
warning. Caddie stumbles and Iofiel catches her, drawing her away
from danger as a sob escapes her throat. Raw, pent up emotion.
She’s trying so hard to be strong.

“I loved Faela the moment I met her. I was a
petty servant girl and she was the princess, beautiful and stunning
and perfect. I craved to please her; I was willing to do anything
to garner her interest—but I didn’t have to. She saw me and she
filled my heart with warmth the first time we kissed.” Vashna’s ice
melts away for a moment, her gaze downcast as she wades through her
memories. Her voice is raw.

As she talks, I see a little girl in a white
dressing gown, her bones jutting out from beneath pale skin. Her
blonde hair is disheveled and hangs down to her shoulders and she
has dark circles beneath her eyes, but I recognize her
immediately.

It’s Aely. Mrs. Rockwell’s long lost
daughter. MaXXX kneels down as the girl hurries over to him. He
tucks hair behind her ear and whispers into it. She looks scared,
but also…resilient. Determined. Brave. Warmth floods through me. If
we could somehow win this war… Mrs. Rockwell would be happy again.
Maybe she’d have some semblance of a life.

“And then Hime came into the picture,
spouting tales of the Prophesied One, the girl who would
single-handedly tear us apart and shatter our love like a mirror.
She told me that Faela would fall in love with the girl—and I was
hurt. Faela loved me. She was
mine
! Faela found out what
Hime had told me and she killed the woman. She tried to convince me
that Hime was lying, that she still loved me. How could I believe
her? I broke off from her court, gathering followers to join me,
and together we created my kingdom. The Unseelie. And we grew
strong.”

“And now look what happened. You came along,
the girl of propehecy, just like Hime fortold. You destroyed us! We
were beauty, we were love, and you just…” She breaks off with a
jagged-edged breath, swiping the air across from her and I feel a
slash of pain, like a knife’s been drawn across my chest.

I press my hands against the burning wound,
gasping as the spell eats away at my skin. She couldn’t even see
that Hime was the one to tear their love down. “It doesn’t have to
end like this—” I say, edging forwards.

“You’ll get what you deserve!” Vashna’s hands
clamp into tight fists in front of her. Her voice rises in hysteria
with each word she shouts. “And once you’re gone, I’ll bring her
back to life! I will have her, in life and in death! We will be
eternal, together, my Faela and I...” She laughs.

“You’re insane.”

She only grins wider, cracked and terrifying,
and wavers on her feet. “Tell your friends goodbye, Lucifer Swift,”
she growls and I know deep in my soul that there’s no way out of
this. She’s snapped and it’s either me or her. One of us has to
die.

And I’ll be damned if it’s me.

Swallowing back the swell of fear, I don’t
think, I just act. I bolt forwards, my arms outstretched in front
of me, hands spread wide. I see Iofiel’s face at the back of my
mind, his warm smile urging me on, and then Vashna burns into view.
Her hand snags my shirt, her nails catching on the fabric, and she
swings me around. I slam my hands against her wrists, willing the
Need to rise and swallow her whole.

But her fingers touch me and with each touch,
it feels like my soul’s being shredded. A pain I never thought
imaginable climbs up and stomps me into the ground. I scream, but
the sound is blurred out by the hiss of static rushing through my
skull. I writhe against her, ice cold and fire hot tearing through
me.

Then my Need roars a battle cry, hungry.
Ravenous. I feel her soul trickling through my palms and I beg,
plead, scream at it to come faster. I burn with fever and feel
myself sway, feel my legs buckle, my knees hit the ground. I feel
nothing but the agony twisting through me. My eyes flutter shut. I
don’t let Vashna go. If I’m going down, the bitch is going down
with me.

And then: Peace. Serenity. A golden halo of
light surrounds me, beaming brighter than the sun. Warmth floods
through an opening at my spine, healing my wounds, brushing against
the pain and dulling it to a low, throbbing ache. My eyes flutter
open as Vashna screams, a winding, pathetic sound. Her head bobs on
her neck, those honey gold eyes darkening with each passing
moment.

Then her entire body shudders. She collapses
and behind her, his hands clamped on either side of her face, is a
very pale and shaking MaXXX. Vashna twitches once between us on the
floor and I meet his eyes, their blue depths filled with pain and
fear. He wrenches away, a sob caught in his throat as he sags to
the ground.

Then I realize that I’m being cradled by
Aely, her fingers gentle caresses on my skin, filling me with such
warmth. She’s Mithos.
Of course…
I struggle to sit up. I
want to go to MaXXX’s side, I want to…but I’m so tired.

Aely looks at me and it’s like looking into
the face of a younger Mrs. Rockwell. “Are you okay?” My heart is
pattering painfully behind my ribs, but I can’t find my voice
amidst the chaos in my mind. I just nod.

She gathers herself and runs to MaXXX’s side,
wrapping thin arms around him. Her voice is a soft, low croon as he
cries. She wipes his tears away, but doesn’t stop him. She loves
him… He turns his head into her shoulder and holds onto her like a
lifeline.

Then I’m gathered up in strong arms and
Iofiel showers me in kisses. His own eyes are shiny with tears as
he cradles me to his chest. I kiss his lips, gentle, then press my
forehead against his. “God, I thought I lost you, Lucy. Don’t scare
me like that again.”