Souljacker (29 page)

“Lucy’s more important! Let’s go!” Sync’s
fingers around my wrist will bruise they’re so tight, but I barely
feel the pain. I start to stalk towards Lylan again, but the
android jerks me out of my reverie and my gaze-lock with the
bastard snaps.

She’s right. Lucy’s more important.

“Maybe later, sweetie,” I sing-song to Lylan,
seeing his face turn two shades of red as Sync and I bolt for the
castle.

Chapter 33:

Lucy

I thrash around the room for almost an hour,
shattering mirrors, ripping the sheets off the bed, screaming at
the top of my lungs, but neither MaXXX nor Vashna come back. They
probably enjoyed my little temper tantrum. I collapse on the
disheveled bed, trying to calm my ragged breaths, trying to console
myself.

Iofiel will come for me, I know he will, and
that in itself is comforting…but he has no chance against the queen
of the Unseelie Court, especially not if MaXXX does her bidding.
He’ll come to rescue me, only to be killed. And it’ll be my
fault.

I bury my face in my hands, feeling raw and
hollowed out, when the double doors swing open. The glass rattles
dangerously as the doors hit the walls and bounce off again. I leap
to my feet, ready to wage war.

Vashna strides into the room, her velvet gown
trailing the floor behind her. One look at her and I want to punch
the satisfied smirk off the bitch’s face. I clench my hands into
fists and wonder how strong she really is. But her next words stop
me cold: “Your little friends have come to rescue you, little
Souljacker. Isn’t that sweet?”

Then she laughs and swings her arm. Her hand
arcs through the air, her palm flat, and in its wake is a
shimmering screen filled with buzzing static, like snow falling on
a backdrop of grey. Vashna clicks her fingers and the screen
flickers, images burning in perfect clarity, and my heart
lurches.

I see Caddie punching the crap out of a
Faerie, screaming foul words with each blow. His face is bloodied,
but it’s not stopping him from fighting back. Then the screen dims
and Josh and Lake come into view. They’re back to back, looking
resolute as a pack of snarling Cyberhounds surrounds them. One of
the hounds lunges forwards, only to be thrown through the air by
Cullen, who zaps it with a bolt of lightning. Y
es!

Then I see Iofiel running through what looks
like a mansion—a castle done up in glittering white and black—and
Sync’s at his side. She shouts for him to look out. My gut
plummets. I know they’re looking for me. They’re here because of
me. My fingernails bite crescents into my palms and I watch with
dread as Iofiel turns, too slow, and a massive black hound bowls
him over. I scream.

Vashna laughs. “They might’ve come for you,
but there’s no way a rogue hound and a couple of weakling Mithos
are going to save you, Souljacker. Why do you even hope?”

Iofiel stumbles and falls under the snapping
jaws. The air shimmers and he’s suddenly a hound, their bodies
clashing as they fight for the upper hand. Blood streams from open
wounds where fangs have scored flesh and I scream in frustration as
Lylan pins Iofiel, ripping at his flank. Crimson speckles the white
checked tile floor, smudged by paw prints.

“Goddamnit, stop this!” I shriek at Vashna,
whose smirk has turned wickedly dark. She clasps her hands and rubs
them together, like this is all great fun, and I can’t help it: I
swing my fist back and punch her as hard as I can. Except I don’t
get that far. I yelp as an invisible force grips my arm and yanks
it backwards, nearly dislocating it. Pain blooms down my limb and I
drop to the floor, angry at myself for being so weak.

“I love the fresh smell of pain, don’t you,
Souljacker? Surely you know all about pain.” Her lips curve. I
lunge at her, but I’m jerked backwards. My arms are held snug
behind me with magical restraints. I can feel the buzz of energy at
my wrists, burning my skin, try as I might to fight against
them.

“Wait here, precious,” Vashna chirps, then
disappears where she stands. A moment later, she bursts back into
the room, dragging Iofiel—human again, blood on his pale
skin—behind her. He stumbles and is shoved to his knees and our
eyes meet. My heart screams in agony at the wounded look on his
face.

“Iofiel!” I struggle with renewed vigor. If I
can just get to him, just touch him, maybe… I thrash and hurl balls
of energy at the bitch queen, but she merely laughs and shrugs them
off. She wraps her fingers in Iofiel’s dark hair. He snarls at her,
more animal than human, but she wrenches his head backwards so that
he’s looking straight at her.

Then she smiles at me. “Lucy, Lucy. I had
planned on killing you after this whole epic end-of-the-Seelie
battle was over, but perhaps…” Her fingernail scrapes Iofiel’s
cheek, leaving a red streak. “Maybe you can redeem yourself.”

“Oh?” My voice is breathy. My heart beats
like the drummer in a metal band—fast, terrifying, and with loud
symbol crashes.

“Join my side. Fight for me…and if you do a
good job, I promise to let your little friends go.” Her smile is
fake and white, gleaming with malice. I can only stare at Iofiel,
look at the pained expression that crosses his face, his lips
turning into a mask of sadness. Her fingers twist in his hair and
he winces. “Make a decision, Lucy.”

“Lucy, don’t do it. You know she’s
lying—you’ll do what she wants and then she’ll kill you anyway!
She’ll kill us all.” His voice trembles at the end. A bead of blood
trails down his forehead, leaving a dirty streak.

“If I don’t, she’ll kill you.” I can’t stand
to look at him, so I look away. My gaze fixates on the screen still
playing the immanent doom of my friends. And do a double-take. As
dawn pales the sky, I see Faela marching towards the castle—and
behind her, hundreds of Seelie troops. Maybe I won’t have to
decide. If I can just get out of here, I can help them fight, I
can—

Vashna’s shriek is furious as she shoves me
out of the way. “How can she have that many warriors? That’s just
not possible!”

I can’t help but smirk at her. “She’s been
plotting your demise for a long, long time.”

“I’ll kill her! MaXXX!” Her howl bounces off
the glass in the room and booms down the hall. With her fingers
still snarled in Iofiel’s hair, she tosses him aside like a ragdoll
puppet and I feel the magic around my wrists loosen. I give a tug
and sprawl forwards, half-landing on Iofiel, who is gritting his
teeth against the pain.

My hands cup his face and he clamps me to his
chest, his body quaking against mine. I curl into him, kissing his
jaw, his neck. My heart’s racing like a scared rabbit’s. “I’m so
sorry, Luce. I tried…”

“Thank you,” I whisper.

A very startled MaXXX appears in the doorway.
Vashna points a finger at the boy and this time, he flinches back
as if she’s stabbed him. “Kill them,” she commands. He glances to
me and Iofiel with wide eyes. He looks ready to refuse when Vashna
grips his chin in her hand, angling his face up to hers. “Kill them
and then gear up and fight for me, else you know what will happen
to your precious Aely.”

Aely. The name strikes a chord deep within
me, the world shifting around me.
No…
Vashna disappears and
MaXXX stands in the center of the doorway, looking about ready to
puke, pass out, or both. His eyes meet mine, empty echoes of their
usual confidence, and I stand up. “MaXXX—”

“I’ll give you a head start.” His voice is
rough.

My anger burns anew. “You little bastard—” I
make a leap for him. He jerks back, but I don’t get the chance to
throttle him; Iofiel’s hand clamps around my wrist, dragging me
past MaXXX and out the door. He jerks me back to reality and we
thunder down the set of twisting marble stairs.

We reach the bottom and chaos surrounds
us—Fae fighting Fae, Seelie against Unseelie, the Mithos using
their abilities to hinder their opponents. A beam of energy whizzes
past my head and I barely duck in time. Iofiel spreads his hand
wide and I recognize the effort: He’s drawing a Portal. He’s
getting us out of here.

Screams echo around us, the smell of blood
and death hanging in the air. Panic flares in my throat and I grab
his arm. “We can’t leave without Caddie and Sync!”

“I’m getting you out of here first! It’s now
or never. I’ll come back and find them, just please—”

“I’m going with you.” I cling to his arm, the
noise around me rising in pitch. A woman lets out a blood-curdling
scream that rattles my bones and God, I want out of here so bad. I
want to go home. I want to cry.
I can’t do this…

He frowns, then glances to the top of the
stairs and I follow his gaze. MaXXX wavers at the banister, a grim
look on his face, his hands gripping some sort of swirling, black
orb. He closes his eyes and his hair floats around his face and I
can feel the energy in the room soar.

Instinct screams at me to run, so I wrap my
fingers in Iofiel’s and together we bolt. We duck and weave through
battle, nearly dodging the swing of a knife that would’ve flayed me
open. I hear the snarl of a hound and the beat of paws against the
ground.

I scream. He’s gunning down on us, only paces
away now. Iofiel hisses and shimmers to hound form as he faces the
hulking beast. Their bodies collide. Iofiel’s movements are
sluggish and weakened by blood loss, but he’s fighting for me. To
save me. To save us.

God, I love him.

“Luce!” Sync’s voice rises above the din and
I spin. She’s on the ground, wrestling with a hound, the beast
pinned beneath her metal android frame. Her fingers wrap around the
hound’s throat, slamming him back against the floor, over and over
again until the skull gives way and cracks, blood pouring from the
head wound. She stands up and I crash into her arms, hugging her
with all my strength.

“What about the others?”

“They’re coming. Are you okay?”

“Never better.” I offer a weak smile just as
Caddie and a small group of teenagers from Polaris burst into the
room. Caddie’s got a gash across her nose that’s bleeding freely,
but she looks pumped, as if a life-or-death battle is made of pure
awesome.

“Sync!” Iofiel jogs up to us, panting and
holding his elbow. Blood seeps between his fingers and I reach to
inspect it, but he shakes me off. “Later, Lucy. Let’s get out of
here.” He turns to Caddie, frowning as he gestures to the gang of
kids sporting various wounds, most of them bruised and bloody, in
need of patching up. “Where—”

Diesel’s face is pinched. “We’re the only
ones left.”

“I’m sorry. I…” Iofiel shakes his head, at a
loss for words. “Let’s go.”

“Go where?” Caddie asks. “This is the final
showdown. This is where the action is.”

“This is where we’re going to be buried if we
don’t get the hell out of here,” he snaps back.

“Shit, Unseelie freak at ten o’clock,” one of
the kids yells as a skinny woman with dark hair ambles towards us,
arms outstretched. A moan rattles from her lips and I swing my fist
back, hitting her so hard that she stumbles. She grabs my arm with
clammy hands, dragging at my sleeve, and I look down into her
face.

Her eyes are empty, void of all emotion, all
traces of a soul. Haunting. She’s like a zombie… I gasp and shove
her, but she holds tight. Then her eyes flash and I’m slammed
backwards as fire blooms from her fingertips. It sears my skin,
burning like hell.

She’s Mithos.

I kick her hard in the gut, but it’s like she
doesn’t even feel it. Fire crackles at her hands again, but I don’t
give her the chance. Closing my eyes, I call my powers forwards and
a blast of white bursts from within me. She’s thrown back against
the wall with a crack and when she falls, she doesn’t get up
again.

“Lucy!” Iofiel shouts and I turn just in time
to see a beam of white light come plummeting towards me. With a
yelp, I deflect and it bounces off, scattering harmlessly. MaXXX
scowls from behind the attack and swings back with another one.

I see Iofiel’s snarl before I hear it. I turn
my face to see Lylan, a hateful smile in those cold-as-ice blue
eyes. Iofiel shouts something, but I’m thrown off balance. MaXXX
plows into me and we hit the ground. Pain lances up my back and I
lash out, knocking his teeth together in an uppercut. My boot
collides with his gut and he yelps.

I drag myself to my feet and glare at him.
“You want a fight? I’ll give you a damned fight.”

Those might be the last words I ever
utter.

Chapter 34:

Iofiel

“You’ll never beat your Alpha, Iofiel, and
you know it.” Lylan’s words are cold and matter-of-fact. I want so
badly to go help Lucy, but I know Lylan would rather die than give
me the chance. His eyes pin me in my spot and anger boils deep
within me, a churning pit of lava.

I glance sidelong, hearing Vashna’s shriek as
she and Faela begin to fight. Powers zing back and forth, some
hitting their targets and some hitting unsuspecting victims, who
crumple where they stand. The dark queen’s face is screwed up in
fury. Faela’s violet ringlets bounce around her head and on her
lips is a confident smile—she’s going down fighting and she knows
it. This is it. The final battle.

I jerk back to Lylan, a growl on my lips. He
smiles coldly and we begin to circle, our steps measured and even.
My body quivers a little, anticipation making me nervy, though
weakness tugs at me like a persistent child.

“What are you waiting for, pup?” he goads,
and I need no more urging; I shift forms mid-lunge and barrel into
him, my shoulder crashing against his leg. I manage a couple of
hard bites to the softness of his human flesh before he changes and
faces me with fangs.

And we fight.

Maybe love’s my my downfall, but every few
minutes I sneak a glance to Lucy. She’s holding her own against
MaXXX Starfell, both of them silent, in deep concentration as their
energies ripple through the air, bending and weaving around one
another. It would be an intricate dance, besides the fact that
they’re all-out brawling, fists and feet, but I know that their
powers are checked behind each and every blow. MaXXX is amped by
Wraith energy, twisting and coiling around him. Fueling him.