On Wicked Ground (Solsti Prophecy Book 4) (39 page)

Her confidence and her understanding of what he needed to do were the last pieces to fall into place. She’d be safe. He knew it. Without looking back, Caine darted into the fray.

He reached the hulking Viper. Green scaled skin covered huge muscles and it turned its snake-shaped head to snarl. Its enormous fangs protruded from its gums, and its odd lipless mouth was pulled back into a sneer as it struck blow after blow against Ria’s raised sword.

“Ria, I got this one!” Caine yelled.

She turned surprised eyes toward him, and he knew he better explain or she’d be pissed, thinking he was motivated by a need to help her because she was female. “It’s personal.”

“Oh. Fine. He’s all yours.” She took a step back and whirled, launching right into an attack on another Viper.

Revenge surged in Caine’s blood. He lunged but the Viper blocked his strike with lightning speed. But Caine wasn’t deterred. Strike harder, strike faster—

A sharp piercing pain sliced across his chest. The Viper grinned. “You can’t beat me, demon.” Its forked tongue flicked out between venomous fangs.

“I can,” Caine grunted. “And I will.” He feinted left, then ducked to the right and aimed for the soft spot beneath the Viper’s rib cage.

The thing whirled but not before Caine’s sword struck home. Blood welled up from the snakehead’s wound.

It bellowed in rage, then smirked. “Stupid Lash. That will heal in less time than it will take you to realize you have no chance.”

Caine ignored the taunt as a sudden gale lifted his hair. The wind power increased, until his clothes were plastered to his body. The air temperature dropped from its moderate, no-jacket-needed conditions to a frigid blast. The howling wind only added to the chill.

The Viper seemed caught off guard. Caine took advantage, slicing deep into its belly. The creature clutched its stomach, doubled over.

Caine dared a glance around the field. And for the second time he was rendered speechless.

The four sisters stood in a circle, backs together, facing out into the fray. And they were…
levitating?

Holy hell. They were three feet off the ground.

Each was using her power and, at this moment, Nicole and Brooke appeared to be using their ice knife technique on a massive scale.

Brooke’s hair whipped around her face as she splashed water from a bottle up into the air. She held each drop suspended as she shaped it into a long shard. Nicole grabbed the icy daggers and flung them out one by one, at each and every enemy. Though a dagger wouldn’t kill someone who was dosed full of lily extract, it disabled them for a second.

And that was all the Watchers needed to finish them off for good.

Caine’s opponent roared. Caine turned and stepped to the side to dodge a blow. The Viper’s sword thudded hard against the ground.

Next to them, Ria grunted as she continued to fight her Viper opponent. “Goddamn fuckers!” She lunged. “Wish the ground would swallow you up!”

Caine swung at the Viper general. The two parried, blow after blow, neither gaining the upper hand.

The ground shook with regular tremors, and every few minutes Caine saw a line of fire streak across the sky and take down one of the enemy.

He knew Alina was there. Knew she was in the protected circle of her sisters. And knew she wasn’t afraid to use her power. To his left, a hole opened up and swallowed three Serus demons who had just ‘ported in.

Caine’s opponent charged again, then at the last second he leaped over his head. Caine whirled, but it was a second too late. The Viper’s sword sliced down his arm.

He grunted, stifling the pain. This asshole had been alive too long for a shredded arm to stop Caine.

“Had enough, dick?” the general mocked.

The ground next to him shuddered as two Neshi demons fell hard, liquid spewing from every pore of their orange bodies. And in the next beat, the ground simply swallowed them up.

“I see the Watchers have acquired some new talent,” the Viper sneered. “Too bad it’ll never be enough.”

Caine roared and darted to one side, then changed direction. His sword caught a glancing blow off the Viper’s shoulder.

Beside them, Ria whirled in a hyper-fast rotation. It was her special skill, and one that no opponent had been able to overcome. In fact, her current Viper opponent seemed clueless as to how to attack her.

As he stood, a Neshi demon behind him stumbled, gagging. They both fell into Ria, who broke her spin and jumped back, but bumped into Caine. It was only one step, one split second, but Caine’s opponent took advantage. With a wicked slice, he brought his sword down—

Caine dropped and rolled, years of training kicking in despite the fire shooting through his torn arm. No fucking way was this Viper walking away from this fight. He jumped to his feet and stabbed.

His sword pierced green scales before the Viper turned toward him. So as it moved, the blade tore through its belly.

It screeched and raised its sword, but Caine thrust his blade upward, through vital organs and soft tissue. With a hard jolt, he stopped at the thing’s sternum.

Breathing hard, he pulled his blade out and the general slumped to his knees. Caine held up his palm to summon demonfire—

Two other Vipers jumped him, coming out of nowhere. Tackled to the dirt, they lay in a tangle of blades, fangs, and limbs. Sharp hot pain pierced his chest.

“Caine!” Alina’s desperate shriek carried across the din, but it was like a sparrow’s song on a windy night. There and then gone.
Alina…

Weight pressed him down. Blackness closed in.

C
HAPTER
T
HIRTY
-T
WO

C
AINE
WAS
LYING
IN
THE
rain with an angel hovering over him. Lights and colors shifted through his vision. Red shapes, red blood, green…eyes? Overriding his other senses, the scent of moonflower infused his aching body with soothing, peaceful love.

Love?

He blinked. It wasn’t raining. Alina leaned over his body, tears falling in crystal trickles and splashing onto his face. She was talking, her voice frantic and echoing like she was far away. What was she saying? He tried to reach for her, but his arm didn’t work. Why was that?
I need to touch you
. His mouth wouldn’t work.

Her words finally came through. “I have to tell you something. Right now.” A tiny soft hand cupped his face. “I can’t let you die without—”

No!
He forced a strangled sound from his throat, because words were well past the realm of possibility.
Don’t say it!
She couldn’t admit she loved him. If that were even what she was going to say. He didn’t want her to, knowing what would happen. Holy gods, no.

She bit her lip and more tears fell. “You’re getting worse. Ashina is on her way, but…”

Drawing on his last bit of strength, he grabbed her with his good arm. “Ssstoppp.” The word was slurred and he had no idea if she understood. His soul ached at the thought of what she was trying to do. He wouldn’t let this beautiful, remarkable woman die because of him. She didn’t need to say it. He loved her, even if only for a brief time. He could die happy, having been in her arms and having fought at her side.

“Caine, I—” She stopped and pressed three fingers to her sternum. Her face twisted in pain and her breaths were ragged.

He squeezed her arm again and tried to talk, and felt a wetness in his lungs.
No!
Garbled nonsense fell from his lips.
Don’t say it! I won’t let you die!

“Oh god, Caine, you-you’re…” She tilted her head, and the whole world seemed to sway with it.

Was he dying? Would they both die here, now?

“You’re brave and you saved me. You told me how you felt and I was too scared to say anything back. Caine.” she leaned down, her lips at his ear. “I love you.”

I love you.

They were the words he’d longed to hear, but now they filled his heart with fear and dread instead of the fireworks and possessive joy he’d always expected.

His blood slowed in his veins
. No, Alina. What have you done?

She pressed a gentle kiss to his lips and he savored it, memorizing her softness for eternity. Full of tears, her green eyes somehow showed more strength than before and he understood why. It was the strength born of finally realizing your true path, of acknowledging the kernel of a conviction that has been in your soul for a while. It was acceptance, dropping every last metaphorical shadow and telling him what resonated deep in her heart.

He could never hope to find a stronger or more perfect woman than her.
I would ask you to be mine
… His eyelids drooped.
My mate…

The earth trembled, a low rumble that jerked him out of the closing grip of unconsciousness.

Alina screamed and her body bowed backward.

Caine fought to move, to grab on to her, but his body was too broken to listen. All he could do was watch in agony as her eyes slid shut and her body slowly rose up as if held in an invisible hand, higher and higher above the ground. A bright white light glowed around her, covering her dangling hands and feet, wrapping around her torso and head.

A bolt of lightning shot out of the ground several yards away. Any demons in the way were blasted outward, their bodies flying like ragdolls. The purple-white streak stretched up, accompanied by a massive groaning sound, as if the earth were a slumbering giant angry at being disturbed after an eon of hibernation.

No!
Caine was vaguely aware that all sound and motion had ceased as the entire battlefield stared.

Alina’s body flared even brighter as she neared the lightning. As soon as her feet brushed it, a roar like a hurricane rose from the ground. A wide column of light shot into the clouds, farther than Caine could see. Lungs and ribs screaming, he forced himself to his side, staring in horror as his own heart cracked.

Thunder clapped and the light flashed as brightly as the sun, forcing Caine to look away. With a crash and a boom, the light and Alina dropped down into the earth, leaving nothing but churned up dirt.

“No!” Finally a word that made sense. And it was too late. Blood trickled from his mouth and he fell onto his back. For the second time in his life, he’d lost his whole world and couldn’t do anything to stop it.

Gin stared, frozen, at the horrors in front of her. She felt Mathias’s strong arms wrap around her and thank god, because she might have collapsed otherwise.

Alina was…gone.

Just gone, sucked into the earth, no trace of her left.

But…but…we just found her!

I know, baby.

“We-we had so much to show her, to tell her…” Gin’s voice dissolved to a whisper as tears rolled down her cheeks.

On the field, a team of medical staff ran to Caine and moved his body to the side of the field. The Watchers continued to fight. If they were shaken by the unimaginable event that had just occurred, they didn’t show it. Elegia’s demons fell one after the other, until the field was full of Watchers striding from body to body, bringing their wounded out and ensuring final death for the enemy.

I can’t believe this. It’s not fair.

I’m sorry, Ginger.
Mathias nuzzled her hair.

Nicole and Brooke stood on either side of her. As if urged by an unspoken command, she took their hands and they strode to the patch of disturbed earth where Alina had disappeared. There, she melted into their embrace, wrapped in the strength of their bond. A bond that had survived death before—the death of their biological parents and their adoptive parents.

And Alina. Once…now twice?

The injustice of it sickened Gin
. No. There has to be something we can do…

“No!” Nicole screamed, dropping to her knees. She pounded her fists on the ground. “Give her back!”

Gunnar knelt beside her, eyes more grim than Gin had ever seen. He stroked Nicole’s back, but stared, stoic, at the ground.

“I hate you! God damn you!” Nicole shrieked, tears pouring down her face, voice cracking with the force of her pain. “I hate you,” she sobbed. “I hate this.” She leaned on Gunnar.

Brooke and Gin huddled, clinging to each other, with Kai and Mathias at their backs. “I don’t even understand what happened.” Brooke’s voice was a broken sob. “Was it a consequence of using her power?”

Gin leaned into Mathias’s strong chest and forced back her tears enough to explain what Alina had told her about the price of her healed heart. Kai and Gunnar listened, eyes angry as they felt their mates’ pain. “She-she ran to talk to Caine after that big Viper stabbed his chest.” Gin swallowed hard. “I think she told him she loved him because she thought he was dying. It was when she was leaning over him that the weird flash of light grabbed her.”

“Oh my god.” Nicole, close enough to hear everything, laid a hand over her chest. “Isn’t there anything we can do? Where’s Rosa?”

Gin’s heart sped up at the mention of the old witch. “This is why we were trying to get in touch with her.”

“She’s still fighting the witches,” Gunnar said. “It looks like she has her hands full.”

“Then where’s Elegia? Did she even bother to show, or is she just a crazy coward?” Nicole’s voice cut through Gin’s thoughts. All sadness gone, Nicole sounded lethal. “That bitch is gonna be sorry she ever woke up today.”

A sudden pulse in the air had everyone looking around wildly. Then a portal appeared, blazing with light, and actually lowered itself to the ground, instead of simply dropping its transported passengers from the sky.

In a bright flash, the thing landed far back in the field, near Elegia’s witches, well behind several lines of defense.

“Is that her?” Gin asked.

“Maybe. Why else would she pop herself way over there?” Brooke muttered. “And if she’s so powerful, why—”

The air filled with a hundred new portals all at once. Simultaneously, like a coordinated air strike from a human military, the enemy dropped more soldiers into the fight. Each portal carried two, sometimes three of Elegia’s followers.