A Cursed Bloodline (WG 4) (38 page)

“No,” I told her. “Help Danny.”

Danny didn’t have the skill or cunning typical of all Warriors. He’d never become the type of
were
to make others tremble with fear. But he’d been my most loyal friend, coming both to my aid and Aric’s. I couldn’t allow his death. I had the power to stop it. So I gave him the only thing I had left—a chance at life.

Heidi’s ears perked up and her head shot toward where he remained at the mercy of the other wolves. There was no hesitation. She charged, ramming them at full speed.

Drool dripped from the wolf’s jowls and onto my hair as he raked me over the gravel, the stone steps, and through the debris and destruction littering the main building. Each movement struck me like ruthless kicks. My inner tigress made me tough, but we’d reached our limits and I doubted we could take much more.

Something punctured my wrist, forcing blood to seep and leaving a trail behind me. The
were
following us bent to get a taste. He licked his chops, eager for more. My eyes burned, knowing Anara would willingly oblige him.

Shayna’s nightmarish shrieks resonated through the massively thick oak doors and started my tears. She hurt. They all did. Because of him.

The doors were thrown open, an invitation to return to hell. Slivers of wood and glass cut into my skin as the wolf dragged me over the remains of the once grand ballroom.

I passed Bren and Emme first. They were draped over the battered floor where they’d collapsed, from death or bludgeoning—I couldn’t tell which. But Emme wasn’t healing and that in itself was a very bad sign. Bren’s brown paw was slung over her back. His muscles were flaccid and shriveled from weeks of lying unconscious, and still he’d fought to protect us. Even near to death, he shielded Emme.

Taran and Tye were next. Tye lay as a tremendous lion, his bowels strewn across the space between them. Blood tinged his white fur crimson and his neck twisted away from his body. Nothing in him demonstrated signs of life.

Taran met my gaze, her stark pale face expressionless as white and blue sparks sizzled erratically around her. She’d lost control of her power. She’d also lost an arm. Blood squirted from the bloody stump despite her attempt to tie off the artery with her scarf. She was powerless, weaponless, and terrified. And still not as vulnerable as Shayna.

Shayna stopped screeching and flailing her legs when she saw me, but when I saw what Anara had done to her I thought she had every damn right to continue. Blood drenched her light blue shirt, plastering it to her thin frame. Shards of broken bones jutted from her elbows. Anara had feasted on her limbs, devouring her hands, muscles, and bones while she watched. She choked on her sobs as the wolf lugged me past her.
“Celia.”

Anara kept his back to me as he loomed over Aric. Aric had wrenched himself from the wall and now lay writhing against the floor, his eyes more animal than human. Anara…he was mostly animal. He’d doubled in size. His clothes lay in shreds across the floor. Silver fur spilled over his humanoid body and sharp black claws protruded from the soles of his hands and feet. He turned, unmasking his grotesque wolf head. The flask of blood hung against his furry chest. He stroked it lovingly while picking chunks of flesh from his razor-sharp fangs. “I can understand why Shayna was fed to the demons. She’s absolutely delicious.”

My heart pounded slowly, but with purpose. There was so much strength one could gather from anger. “You
fucking
coward.”

His head snapped toward me. “What did you—?”

I drove my fist into my captor’s jaw, breaking his hold and hopping to a stand. My injured foot hung loosely, the nerves so damaged I felt no pain when I drove it into the red wolf’s side and sent him soaring into Anara. “I said you’re a
fucking
coward!” Anara shoved the wolf off him. I limped forward. “Fight me—not with your magic—but like the
were
you pretend to be.”

“Celia, no!”
Aric’s voice was that of a beast.

I kept my focus on Anara. If I looked at Aric, it would’ve been to say goodbye—to admit defeat—and I refused to deny our baby one last chance to survive. No. I was going to give Anara everything he deserved. “He wants me dead, Aric. If there’s any truth to his preeminence bullshit, then he shouldn’t have any problem killing me—
without
his stolen power.”

Anara ransacked me, but I was ready. I flipped him over, driving my knee deep into his groin. He snapped at me with his jowls, but I was too fast. I knife-handed him right in the eye and yanked it from the socket. He roared in pain. I silenced him with an elbow to the jaw, forcing him to sever his tongue.

The wolves howled, egging on their Leader. Taran, Shayna, and Aric yelled, begging me to run. They didn’t understand. A pack of wolves waited outside, ready to maul me if I tried to flee. There was no escaping Anara. Evil like him needed to die. So I ignored them and ripped off his ears. He lashed out at me half-blind, scratching me across the chest. After being beaten so many times, tears to my skin seemed like more of a nuisance. I fought. My God, how I
fought
. He kept me from
changing
or
shifting,
but he couldn’t stop my punches, kicks, and strikes.

I battled to reach his chest. But Anara whirled and veered, protecting his heart and forcing my blows elsewhere. He bled in rivers and hollered with agony. I was beating him. He knew it. Just like he knew he couldn’t allow me to win.

The howling of wolves erupted full blast and launched me across the room. This time, I wasn’t getting up. My left leg snapped when I landed. I coiled around it, screaming.

I looked at Aric then, but it was hard. I couldn’t stop my tears. I didn’t want to die. I wanted to marry him and raise our family. As Anara’s paws scraped against the floor toward me, I knew it was no longer possible.

“Don’t you touch her!”
Aric growled.

Anara moved slowly, healing with every step until his freakish form was whole once more. He hovered over me, smiling with his bloody fangs. He threw back his leg and aimed for my stomach. I rolled to my opposite side, shielding my belly. His foot cracked against my back, making me roar with agony. He paused before leaping over me. Again he tried to kick my stomach and again I spun and protected my belly despite the horrid pain of my broken body.

He walked around me to meet my face. “Why did they tell you to run?” I barely heard him over Aric’s snarls and my sisters’ screams. “Why did they fight so fiercely to save you?” His breath released in frighteningly rapid bursts. “And why do you cover yourself there?” He pointed accusingly at my belly. Everything in his face told me he finally knew my secret. “No,” he gasped
. “No!”

Anara clutched my throat and yanked me up, shoving his distorted wolf face against mine. He shook with all the rage from hell while my arms fell limp at my sides. “Blasphemous whore! I shall make you suffer for your sin.”

He drove his claws into my pelvis.

And I felt my baby die.

Pain—sharp, burning, and crushing—ravaged my body at once. Warm fluid leaked between my legs, sliding down to my feet and dripping on the floor. Aric howled in anguish. He felt our baby leave me, too. That’s when I knew my time on earth was over. I needed to be with our son. But before my eyes could close forever, I thrust my hand at Anara’s chest. No, not into his heart—that was never the goal—but at the large vial full of blood he kept so close. I snatched it from the chain around his neck and smashed it against the floor, releasing the essence of the Elders.

And his hold on Aric.

Chapter Thirty-three

The sun shone brightly, warming me and abating the chill burrowing deep into my bones. I’d returned to the same field from my visions. My fingers slid over the soft brown blanket where I sat beneath a brilliant blue sky. I tucked the skirt of my long white dress to cover my feet, fearful that terrible cold would return to claim me once more.

It was then I noticed the gentle yellow glow of my skin.
My aura,
I thought. The realization made me smile and so did its growing intensity. It called to mind sunny days from my childhood. I relished how happy it made me feel, until the wicked sounds behind me made me veer in alarm.

Dark clouds covered the distant horizon. I remained within the safety of the sun, but I sensed the fury, hate, and violence they carried. I could hear what lurked within them—primal roars, the crushing of bones by powerful jaws, the tearing of fleshy tissue, the ripping of ligaments, and the cries of pain that accompanied such afflictions. Screaming—so much screaming—the wretched squeals from an enormous beast being slaughtered without pity or remorse. I lurched away to stare where the sun made it safe and granted me peace from it all. But then I heard the voices of my loved ones, forcing me to turn back toward the madness.

“Damnit, Celia—don’t you leave us!” Bren’s voice boomed, commanding me though his sorrow etched into every word. My fingers swept over my chest, expecting hands to be rhythmically pushing down. But there were none and my pain was slowly dissolving.

Emme’s voice sounded desperate. “It’s not working. I’m losing her!”

The yellow light around me surged. Another joined it, this one white. Makawee’s frail and heartbroken voice chanted in that beautiful language she’d shared with me once before.

Taran’s hysteria wouldn’t allow her to speak. Was she in pain? I couldn’t understand why she cried so hard. She was so beautiful and spirited. Didn’t she know she’d be all right without me? They all would.

Shayna sobbed. “
Aric
. Celia’s dying!”

A long tortured screech spilled through the black clouds. Thunder and lightning blasted, spreading the ominous darkness like sand. Then silence. The clouds diffused, revealing the same hallowed light protecting me.

The voices should’ve stopped yet they didn’t. More mantras joined the others, this time in Japanese and Korean. I recognized the languages through Gemini’s and Chang’s voices. Ying-Ying was there, too, singing in that delicately sweet soprano.

Something warm and delicious slid into my mouth. I knew what it was and spat it back out. My shoulders were shaken forcefully, although my body failed to move. “You do not have my consent to pass on. Now take my blood!” Misha ordered. More fluid was forced in. Again, I refused it. On the ground where I’d spat lay diamond hearts and tiny tears.

“Please, baby, please,” Aric’s voice begged. “Just take the blood.”

I could hear how badly he wanted me to drink, but my pain was finally tolerable. I didn’t want it back. My body refused to return where it wasn’t safe—where it hurt. No. This was better.

Danny yelled. “Aric!”

“Damnit, man—
no
!” Koda growled. “Come back to us!”

Martin’s weary voice was barely audible. “There’s nothing you can do. He’s gone to join his mate.”

Aric took form across from me, smiling. “There you are.” A thick white sweater draped over his broad chest and tightened around the muscles of his arms. Dark jeans covered his long legs—the same clothes Misha had worn in my vision.

My breath caught. I wanted to smooth my hand over his perfect dark Irish complexion and graze the five o’clock shadow curving along his jaw. The intensity of his eyes brightened when he took me in. I followed his gaze as it traveled down my body, expecting to find our baby nursing from my breast. But my arms were empty.

I rose, searching frantically for our son. Aric stood with me, his voice breaking. “He’s gone, sweetness.”

A brilliant white light formed in the distance. A baby cooed from within. I moved toward the light. “He’s over there, Aric.” Every step I took to where my baby waited erased more of my pain.

Before I completely healed, Aric took my hand. “We can’t, Celia. There’s still much to do.”

I tried to pull him forward. “Aric, our baby needs us.”

Tears streamed down his face and fell against his sweater in thick drops. With his other hand he passed me a goblet filled with Misha’s diamond hearts and tears. “Take it.”

I lifted it from his grasp, unsure as to why I should do what he asked. “This is his. I only want you.”

Aric smiled though his eyes carried so much misery. “It’s not our time, my love.”

My gaze wandered to where the endearing sounds of our baby beckoned me. When I took a small step toward Aric, a horrible ache stabbed my belly. He released my hand and tucked me against him, except he couldn’t alleviate my pain; only our child could.

I stared at the goblet. It promised life just like it promised suffering. I didn’t want to hurt anymore and wrestled with my decision. Aric waited, saying nothing.

Finally, I raised the chalice to my lips. The diamond hearts and tears melted into a delicious liquid. I drank for Aric. Not because he asked. But because he’d allowed me to choose.

He held out his hand when I finished. “Are you ready?”

I nodded. My hand met his and we turned one last time to where our baby continued to coo. The lump in my throat tightened. “Will I ever get to hold him?”

Aric squeezed my hand. “Someday, we both will. I swear it.”

I believed him, which was why I ran with him, back to the place where our loved ones chanted and wept. I sank deeper into a quicksand of agonizing pain with every push of my legs. Tears leaked from the torture. Yet I didn’t slow; I raced faster, leaving the field and all its glory behind.

My body jolted from the feel of razors slicing their way across my body. I jerked up, choking in the middle of the demolished ballroom. The sobs from my sisters and wails of the Catholic schoolgirls drowned my cries of pain. Holding me were the strong arms of my mate, who even in death refused to let me go.

There was strength one could gather from anger.

But so much more could be achieved through love.

—

My memory of what happened upon my return from the field melded into a confusing blur. I remember being bathed and placed in a comfortable bed. IVs were started in both my arms. They bothered me so I yanked them out. Food was offered. I refused to eat. Nothing could fill the vast hollowness within me, so I didn’t bother. Voices cut through my fog. Most things I ignored. Some I remembered quite vividly.