Avenge (26 page)

Lola shook her head in frustration as
her fingers padded around the edges like she was reading Braille.
“I am going to have to pick the lock. This remote doesn’t have a
key, and the collar requires one to let you out of this. I don’t
see any other way. If I can just get…”

Her voice trailed off, leading me to
wonder how in the world she knew how to pick a lock to begin with.
The sounds of battle in the other room drowned out my thunderous
heartbeat, but it did nothing to calm my nerves.

“
What about Jessica? Have
you seen her? Is she safe?” I wasn’t sure if Lola even knew
anything about the spy and Jessica. I’d only formulated this plan
at the last minute, leaving a hasty message scratched on the back
of a cardboard box in the storage shed where I’d hidden for those
last few hours before I came down to earth. I prayed for someone to
find it and help me pull this whole thing off, but I couldn’t warn
them directly or Alastair would know I was lying when I said I
hadn’t told anyone I was coming. Technically, I hadn’t so he
couldn’t detect any guilt.

“
The New Orleans team was
there and ready. They captured Amelia and Jessica as soon as they
appeared on our realm. Amelia, of course, denied everything,
swearing up and down that she’d rescued the little girl and
attempted to save you too, but it was too late. Thanks to your
note, we knew better. Jessica is safe with Cassie right now, and
anxiously awaiting your return. There!”

With a tiny click, the leather collar
was unlocked and slipped off easily. I rubbed my neck, grateful to
be relieved of it. The self-inflicted wound had already healed,
leaving nothing more than drying blood in its place. I grasped
Lola’s hand to help her up, and we made our way around the large
piles of boxes in order to join the others.

We stood at the entrance of the alcove
and I took in the scene before me. There were a few vampires down,
but not nearly enough. They were fighting with a ferocity and speed
I’d not seen before, and I wondered if my blood or Max’s blood was
making them stronger. As I witnessed a vampire tear the throat out
of a Patronus I recognized from the Commons and hurl his fading
body down, I knew my worst thoughts were confirmed.

Unwittingly or not, I made them
stronger. And I was responsible for that kid’s end. Tears welled in
my eyes, but I bit my lip to keep them from falling. I couldn’t do
anything about that now. I needed to focus on what I was able to
do.

To my left, two Patroni were injured,
with deep puncture wounds. But they were defending their ground
against three vampires though their eyes were plagued with doubt. I
wasted no time throwing shields around them to allow time for their
injuries to heal.

“
Go. I got this,” I told
Lola, who quickly joined Zander to fight. The two new kids always
had each other’s backs.

A few feet away, Elizabeth worked
three shields, but they were thin. And fading. I could see the
strain on her face from holding multiple shields for so long. She
was only comfortable with two at a time. Three was pushing
it.

I took a step to help her, only to
have Adam throw a now unconscious vampire at my feet. He didn’t
take a breath before lifting another above his head and slamming it
down to the ground so hard the concrete cracked. The vampire made
an oomph sound, blood dripping out of its nose and mouth. It didn’t
try to get back up.

Adam had always been strong, but this
was at a whole new level. He wasn’t even straining or breaking a
sweat. I briefly wondered if this was part of the new powers we
were granted but didn’t have time to dwell on it.

Zander ducked and rolled away from a
set of fangs coming at him, thrusting a round of jabs to the
vampire’s kidneys before placing a knee in his face, smashing his
nose. Lola finished him off with a roundhouse kick, and smiled as
his unconscious body crumbled to the ground. Two other Patroni I
didn’t know used knives like they were Ginsu chefs, slicing and
dicing with ease as three more vampires collapsed.

I glanced around to find Alastair. I
needed to know that monster wouldn’t get away with this. He ruined
so many lives—including my afterlife—and I would spare no mercy for
him.

“
James, where did he go?” I
called, knowing he wouldn’t need an explanation of whom I was
referring.

“
I lost him in the melee.
But the exits are covered, he’s gotta be here
somewhere.”

There were several nooks
and crannies to hide in, little cubbies that were originally used
as broom closets or storage for coal. After searching the
perimeter, I found him huddled in the southernmost corner, trying
to claw and dig his way under the grate that led to a storm drain.
With so many other vampires attacking, everyone was preoccupied and
no one was going to notice him quietly slip out like the rat he
was. I wouldn’t allow this to happen. That bastard needed to
pay.

Chapter
Thirty-One

I let the three shields I was holding
go now that the Patroni were somewhat recovered and dashed through
the mayhem to the other side of the room. While I ran, I allowed my
silver second skin to surround my body, enjoying the hiss of pain I
heard every time I bumped into a vampire.

“
Where do you think you’re
slithering off to, Alastair?” I reached him as he popped open the
gate. “Get back here!”

I grabbed a fistful of hair and yanked
him back. His hands flew to my wrist as he stumbled to stay
upright, but my silver skin was still activated, and his fingers
burned like acid when he touched me. He quickly let go, and instead
turned his head from side to side in a vain attempt to wiggle free.
I tightened the grip with my right hand, and with my left I placed
my entire palm around his neck, raising him up to eye level. He let
out a howl of pain as the flesh melted away, but I only squeezed
tighter.

“
You bitch!” He panted,
gasping for air. “You think you’ve won? You know nothing. You can’t
kill me, not if you have any hope in helping your boy toy recover.
You have no idea what I did to him. And without me, he’ll be
stained for life. You’ll never get him back now. You’ll be alone
and miserable for centuries, stewing in the guilt of knowing it was
completely your fault.”

Without thinking, I loosened my grip
at the horror of his words. Max was already free, waiting for me
wherever they put him, wasn’t he? I heard Alastair tell his men.
What was he talking about? I tried to feel our connection, feel his
soul, but only the hollow blackness remained. Alastair was right.
Max hadn’t come back to me yet.

My momentary lapse was all Alastair
needed. He grabbed a pair of scissors from the top of a nearby box,
reached around and thrust the makeshift weapon into my thigh,
twisting it to the hilt. I released my hand that held his hair and
covered the wound, screaming out in pain. He jabbed again with two
quick thrusts, this time into my stomach. Since his flesh wasn’t
touching my silver skin, it did nothing to deter him. As long as he
used an actual weapon instead of his body, my new power did nothing
to protect me.

I fell to my knees as white hot pain
roared through my body. Among the debris, he somehow managed to
find an antique club with nail like spikes protruding from several
places on its rounded end. Every blow ripped through the tender
flesh of my back and sides as I fell to the floor in
agony.

“
LUCY!”

The scream came from behind me, but I
couldn’t see who it came from. Each blow of the thorned club
weakened me further. I instinctively curled my knees into my body,
ducking my head as another blow sliced into my thigh. I inched my
head to the side to look for something—anything to try to fight
back with.

The moment I glanced up, Elizabeth ran
toward me at full speed, colliding with Alastair before he could
land a blow to my head.

“
Lucy, I’ll shield you.
Roll away. Now! GO!”

I mustered all my remaining strength
and rolled out of the way of the impending blow as a shield
surrounded me. Once it was firmly in place, I lifted to my hands
and knees and crawled several feet to hide behind a crate of
books.

I managed another look at Alastair,
and could see that James joined Elizabeth and each were taking
turns issuing blows to him. My eyes closed, and I willed my body to
heal faster so I could finish what I started. Each breath I
attempted to take sent searing pain into my side and made my chest
tighten. I feared I may have had a punctured lung, and if I did, I
would be useless to my team. I took several short, staccato breaths
through my mouth instead to combat the pain. I knew the injury
would heal, but it would take valuable time I didn’t
have.

I continued to lie perfectly still and
had no choice but to have complete faith and trust in my team.
After several agonizing minutes, my wound mended itself enough that
I was able to stand—barely.

Peering through the rubble around me,
I observed that the battle was about even. About half of the
vampires were incapacitated, but several Patroni were down too.
Luckily, I didn’t need to move much to throw protective shields
around those who were down, ensuring that no further harm could
come to them. Alastair was bound, gagged, and placed into a corner
with a young Patroni I didn’t recognize in charge of guarding
him.

Propping myself up on the boxes and
leaning all my weight on my elbows helped keep the pain in my chest
at a minimum, and I focused all my attention on shielding anyone
who needed it. I could see the relief on Elizabeth’s face, and she
quickly went back to fighting instead of shielding.

The vampires were relentless, using
every trick in their arsenal to take us down. But between Adam’s
strength, Lola and Zander’s tenacity, and James’s experience at
fighting, I knew there was no way they’d win. It was only a matter
of time.

It happened in slow motion. My eyes
were seeing it, but my mind was so disbelieving that I couldn’t act
fast enough to stop it. Elizabeth’s back was turned, her focus
solely on the vampire in front of her as he tried to filet her. Her
eyes never left him as she dodged each thrust and jab.

I was too far away, and my punctured
lung didn’t allow me to move fast enough to stop it. Alastair had
somehow managed to break free of his arm restraints though his legs
were still shackled. He stood and within seconds beheaded the young
Patronus who guarded him. My jaw dropped, a scream stuck in my
throat.

Alastair spun swiftly, throwing his
full body weight behind his next blow, which was aimed directly at
Elizabeth’s back. I could see a flash of something shiny and knew
he’d managed to obtain a weapon somehow too.

There wasn’t enough time. She didn’t
see him coming. My feet remembered how to move and I ran at full
speed toward them. Thrusting my arms in front of me, I encapsulated
her into a shield so thick she looked like she was opaque.
Alastair’s blow missed, bouncing off the shield and tossing his
body backward where he fell into another vampire.

I didn’t stop running, and collided
with him, tackling him as I fell forward. My silver skin flushed
around my body with a whoosh and I wrapped him in a bear hug to
prevent him from moving any further. James appeared behind me,
yelling commands to the others as he conjured up new
restraints.

“
Nice work, Lucy. Quick
thinking.” James complimented me as he weaved thick pieces of
silver rope into knots.

“
I owe you one, Donovan,”
Elizabeth called, wiping sweat from her brow. I released the shield
I placed on her but didn’t move from Alastair. I would wait until
James placed the thicker restraints on him.

Below me, Alastair hadn’t moved. His
body was rigid, and he ground his teeth against the pain of the
silver.

“
Thanks, James. I
really—“

“
Lucy! Watch out!”
Elizabeth called, cutting me off. I moved my head to see what she
was talking about when a blinding, white hot pain seared through
me.

Alastair still had his weapon. He
clung to the ice pick looking tool in his left hand, raising it to
my torso. He struck the same lung that was already injured and I
cried out in pain, releasing my grip on him.