When Silver Moons Rise (Lost Immortals Saga #2) (26 page)

I am a far cry from the little jaguar-like creature I became the first few times I turned long ago. I am now a mature mixture of many things, a creature that is part lion, jaguar, and mythical beast.

My heavy chest almost distracts me. I shake my weak human thoughts off and thunder through the entrance to my cell, splintering the metal as though the door is made of wood. Guards rush toward me. Tiny men are no match for me, the Beast. I suffer from a special kind of rage, a curse heightened by the presence of the silver moonlight.

Maybe that’s why it was so easy for Rabia to trap and keep me locked inside this cursed world of hers.

She feeds from my heartache, my misery and pain.

Two guards stand by the doors to exit the prison. I blank in and out when I run as this Beast. A gunshot sounds out behind me. I don’t have time to think about the source. And I don’t even flinch when the sharp pain assaults my right hind leg. The darkness I slip away inside takes me next. I have no clue what happens when the Beast’s mind takes over mine. This is Rabia’s greatest power over me, the ability to move my essence out of the way while the Beast does as he pleases.

I snap out of the trance and find myself running down snow-covered hills. Pandemonium breaks out all around me. No one dares take a step in my direction.

I run faster than I have ever done before. It doesn’t take much or too long for me to outrun the ice guards. I cover about two or three miles in less than ten minutes. As mighty as my body has become, I still burn with exhaustion from running so fast.

I stop on a part of the mountain overlooking a strange village, a place where the houses are built inside the mountains. The city sits far off in the distance, but at least this is a place where I can begin my new journey.

I am finally free.

Chapter Twenty Nine

The Champion’s Call (Chela)

Zeke’s sword fighting skills almost match mine. Silhouetted by the shadows created by the silvery moonlight, he reminds me of the goblin man from my nightmares.

I hate to admit his tricks surprise me. He doesn’t look as though he knows how to do anything outside of terrorizing anyone smaller than him. I’m pretty sure Jade won’t let him hurt me, but there’s still a small part of me that wonders just how much control she’ll have over him if he decides to go crazy on me. I spin around, making too wide of a circle to block Zeke’s sword.

He whips his blade underneath mine, knocking me off balance. I trip and fall. Mother’s blade flies out of my hand and lands on the ground about ten feet across the way from me. I’m relieved that Jade has given it back to me for this showdown.

Zeke places his sword at my throat.

“Well, seems we’re right back to where we started a few weeks ago, doesn’t it?” he says, his perfect white teeth gleaming in a wicked smile.

“The Champion’s Call has been ruled out, an invalid claim,” Jade’s voice says from the sidelines. Zeke doesn’t move his sword away from my neck. “Did you hear what I said?”

“Because of your boyfriend, I have to wear this patch for the rest of my life,” Zeke snarls and moves his sword closer to my neck. “Now, he dies. And you, well, I still get to be the one who decides what happens here, today.”

“Zeke, you will remove your sword at once!” Jade’s firm voice says. I hear a bit of panic in the way she says the last few syllables. Her words fall on deaf ears.

He glances toward Jade standing in the seats behind me and says, “You know what? I’m sick and tired of listening to you run your trap, lady. So, I don’t think I’ll be lowering anything today. What do you think about that?”

“You dare to challenge my authority inside my own camp,” Jade snaps. Three guys move toward the place where she and her other two advisors stand at the head of the fighting area. They remove guns hidden under their clothing and aim them straight at Jade.

“Place your weapons down on the ground. Now,” Zeke orders. All of Jade’s camp patrols do as they’re told.

Oh crap! This is what Lionel was worried about.

So not good for the rest of us.

Standing to the right side of the area behind Zeke, Lionel inches toward the woods. Lilith is nowhere to be seen. Our plan is my only hope of surviving.

Suddenly, I feel as though my hair is being ripped away from my scalp. Zeke lifts me up by a handful of it until I’m pretty much standing on my tiptoes; and then he sends a swift punch into my stomach. I gasp and cough. This hit is completely unexpected; so I don’t have time to harden my stomach in order to soften the blow. “Got some catching up to do, don’t we?” he says to me. I swing at him, but this only earns me another yank on my hair. I cry out. “Where’s your black-winged boyfriend? Oh yeah. He’s tied up inside that building we’re getting ready to burn down.” His laugh annoys me even more than Camden’s hyena one does.

At once, the camp goes completely dark. Strange high-pitched squeals come from inside the woods and the skies. Shuffling bodies and umph sounds happen all around the place where Zeke holds on to me.

The lights flash back on. At least a hundred or more Outcasts dressed in spiky uniforms run out of the woods and storm the camp.

“Now! Everybody!” Jade yells and runs toward the back of the area. She lifts a metal staff from inside the bushes along the edges of the area and begins striking down the Outcasts unfortunate enough to come her way. Her people put up a good fight against the spiked warriors, but the camp’s residents are outnumbered by at least four to one.

At once, cans fly through the air, landing in the middle of the area. An odor that makes the smell of rotten meat seem appealing drifts into the air. Stink bombs. Only one mastermind can be behind this display. Lilith.

I’m blinded by the smoke from Lilith’s bombs. The smell causes Zeke to release my hair as he gasps for air. All around me, Outcasts have started fighting Jade’s rebels.

A thunderous rumble erupts from the library where Seth is being held. For a quick moment, the fighting eases up as both groups stare at one another.

“Fancy girl! Come on! This way!” Lilith yells at me as she pulls me to my feet. With her eyes covered in a pair of goggles that reminds me of the soldiers from home, and a gun slung across her body, Lilith finds a clear path into the woods for us to take. I’m too confused to understand what I need to do first. But I did manage to grab hold of Mother’s sword just before I followed her toward an opening in the trees.

Zeke’s gang is brutal; but Jade’s people have come prepared too. Women and children who aren’t fighting have disappeared. Shooters position themselves on rooftops and inside the windows of the houses surrounding the Groove’s massive area. I feel as though I’m about to burn alive. My body temperature has risen so high that sweat beads on my skin. The world around me moves in slow motion; and I swear something has drained every bit of energy I ever had in my body.

Lilith and I run until we can barely hear the shouts and war cries coming from the village behind us. Gasping for breath, we lean over and stare at one another. Peace doesn’t come so easily just yet.

About five men storm out of the bushes and head straight toward us. With knives and swords poised to strike, they leave little time for me to regroup and prepare to attack. Lilith drops down to one knee, cocks the gun that’s larger than her small body on her shoulder, and opens fire.

I drop to the ground and cover my ears. I’ve never seen one of these weapons in action before. My sensitive eardrums feel as though she’s using about fifty sticks to pound on the insides at once. Silence blankets the small opening around us. I can tell she didn’t really aim to hit the men, but her willingness to use it sent them running off anyway. Lilith’s nervous, but heavy breathing creates the only sound.

A piercing cry slices through the night. The sound cuts into me like a knife, filling me with fear. I’ve never heard anything like it outside of a nightmare, anyway. I move toward Lilith and place my back against hers so we can watch all of the area around us. She’s trembling, and my heart thrashes so loudly that I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to hear anything else.

At once, something large and black flies through an opening in the trees, heading straight toward Lilith and me. She fumbles with her gun. “Piece of shit is stuck!” she blurts. The thing that reminds me of a giant bird soars high up into the skies, teasing us.

“Run, fancy girl! Head for the hilltops. Lionel and I will meet up with you there,” Lilith orders.

“I can’t leave you here to deal with that,” I say, trying my best to focus my vision on a world that’s spinning in slow motion.

“Go!” she growls. Another shriek from the mystery creature encourages my frozen limbs to get a move on.

I take off running in the opposite direction. I have no idea where I’m at, or where I’m going. I just know that I’m probably about to die. I haven’t had time to think about Seth or how he has fared in all of this. I only know I want to live. I can still find Faris even if Seth is lost at the moment.

Behind me, the sound of gunshots fire through the air. I pump harder, my limbs burning. And then I hear a slumping kind of thrash above me. The noise reminds me of a bird, a large one with really big wings. Closer. I can see its shadow hovering over me while I run. I cry out and don’t dare glance back.

I stop at once, spin around, and blindly swing Mother’s sword at the air.
Nope. That’s won’t do.
I pick up a rock and toss it. The thud I hear lets me know I struck the monster bird somewhere on its body.

“Ouch! It’s me, Chela. Stop throwing shit, would you?” Seth’s voice says in my head. The creature sweeps toward me. Its talons—no wait—its arms are outstretched and prepared to scoop me up, the silhouette of something that’s a cross between an angel and a demon of the night.

I tilt my head back. I am no longer able to stay awake. I have no energy left to try and save myself.

Before I fall back and hit the ground, my body lifts. I drift in and out of consciousness. The creature I now know is Seth carries me toward a group of caverns, heading far away from Jade’s camp, and moving even closer to the snow-covered mountains. The chill in the air caresses my skin, soothing me instead of making me feel colder. Seth and I fly for at least a mile or so before we come to a place inside the forest located on the other side of the River of Sorrows.

I keep my face buried against his bare chest, my arms wrapped tightly around his waist. The world around me has stopped spinning. A strange calm replaces the burning and dizziness I felt back at Jade’s camp. I feel only relief and gratitude for this guy who keeps saving me.

Seth’s massive wings stop flapping, and we sail toward a group of trees below us. Just before we land, I catch a glimpse of the ice mountains, the place where the prison is located.

Faris, I’m coming for you.

Do you hear me? Can you feel me?

The curse that Rabia cast on Seth has found a way to break through the memory block Faris placed on him back at  Oceania. I’m not surprised. He has already explained how we would both benefit from our bond. It doesn’t take much to figure out how I’ve helped him out. Something else rumbles around us too—a roar from another animal far off in the distance. I wonder how long we’ll be safe.

Our feet touch the ground, and he releases me. I move back from Seth who has wings as black as night and with pointed edges just as deadly as Lilith’s primitive gun. He stares at me with black eyes now, completely full, no whites visible in them at all. His skin has a blue-gray tint, but it has a glow underneath the surface. And the tribal tattoos on his arms are fully visible now.

Okay, so, he’s beautiful and deadly, a living symbol of the good and evil inside him.

With the massive wings caressing the air behind him, I can’t decide whether he’s more bird, more man, or just another angel who has fallen too far. I do know that the sight before me has taken my voice away. The hypnotic power of the tidal waves calls to me. I stand here completely mesmerized, trapped inside of its grip. And I didn’t even see it coming.

His wings neatly fold back into the void where angel-bloods with wings like Seth’s
and mine
disappear inside. He closes his eyes and whispers a phrase in the sacred language. As his skin color returns to normal, so does my energy level.

He opens his eyes and locks gazes with me. “Did you enjoy the show, Lotus?”

“You used me,” I whisper, because now I fully understand what happened to me back at the camp. Seth was draining my energy so he could fuel his change.

“No. I only borrowed the power inside your body for a little while. Relationships tend to last longer when it starts out as a fifty-fifty kind of thing. You can easily do the same thing to me when you need to. So feel better,” he says and moves over to some bushes sitting along the path. Reaching into the shortest one, he pulls out two backpacks. He bends down and removes a shirt from one of them.

“Wait a minute. How is it that you have all of this?” I ask, heat replacing the joy I felt moments ago. “You’re working with those Outcasts, aren’t you?”

He scoffs and sighs loudly. “Honestly, Lotus, would I be wasting my time trying to save you if I were tied to them?”

Okay, so he has a point. “That still doesn’t explain the backpack and camping goods you’ve hidden in those bushes.”

Laughing and shaking his head, he says, “You can be a dim one at times, you know that, right? Nighttime was created for us fallen ones. I might be a damaged doggie, but I still have stealth on my side when I move in the dark.”

I cross my arms and frown. I’ve been an idiot. Seth could’ve escaped at any time. “You tricked me. You used me to break Faris’s hold on you.”

“What if I did? I warned you about putting your faith in a Tainted’s hands, did I not?” he snaps. I clench my fists and my breath quickens. I don’t like being used this way. Seth glances around, but he looks excited. He’s completely out of his mind.

Hot winds rush around us. I can smell the familiar scent of honeysuckle. It’s the first time I’ve experienced this aroma in months. I’m torn. I want to stop and admire what I’m doing, but I also want to run a fist through Seth’s face for making a fool out of me again.