by D. N. Hoxa
Logan was on his way. Hopefully he’d get there soon, and he could keep Dumont busy while I went after Marcus. For now, I made it to my feet, slowly, hoping they wouldn’t notice me, and approached them. If I could make out where the Guard began, I could use my chakris to break through it, at least for a second, just so I could slip on the other side.
Dumont turned his head, and his eyes met mine. Something moved ahead on the other side of the building, and my stomach turned. It was Logan. I stopped walking.
“Stop this, please!” I shouted at Dumont, who only smiled. “Come on, you’re better than this. Just stop it!”
“It’s too late for that, Ruby,” Dumont said, and he had no chance to see the trail of fire that came at his feet lightning fast, until his pants caught fire.
He was caught by surprise, all right, and the fire that enveloped his legs in half a second kept on spreading as Logan jumped on him and hit Dumont right on the chest, taking him to the ground. I wasted no time.
I felt Marcus’s Guard like a wave of heat suspended in space, and when I reached out my hand, it almost burned me. I took a step back to gather momentum, and hit the Guard with all my strength.
The second my chakris scratched the surface, the magic pushed me back hard. I held on and slid on the floor for a couple of feet before I went at it again. Behind Marcus, Dumont threw Logan to the floor and took off his vest. I knew he was going to shift. No way could he handle Logan in his human form. Nice. I’d never seen a furless tiger before. Should be fun to watch.
I slammed my chakris on Marcus’s guard with all my strength, and every time the magic that pushed me was a bit weaker. When I finally felt it crack under my weight, I shot forward, sure that I could get through, and I did. It felt no different to be inside the Guard, and I didn’t have time to push anyone away. I decided to go after Marcus instead.
I threw one of my two chakris at his face, knowing that he’d stop it in time, and as soon as it hit the floor, I jumped as high as I could and tried to bring down my last chakri on his head. But Marcus moved to the side, fast. His eyes were burning with white fire. He was outraged as he raised his hands toward me, but I didn’t give him the chance. Going to my knees, I grabbed the chakri I threw at him just seconds ago and threw it at him again, this time aiming for his legs. It hit him on the thigh, and Marcus growled in pain, taking half a step back. I moved away when he raised his hands again and hid on the other side of the pyramid.
Nana was right there. I didn’t dare touch her for fear I’d find her too cold, already gone, so I just put my foot on the chair between her legs and pushed her back. Marcus stepped to the side of the pyramid, his hands ready to throw magic at me, so I hid behind it again.
Behind me, Logan and Dumont’s tiger were still fighting, the left side of the tiger’s back completely furless now. I knew it would be fun to see that, and as much as I’d have liked to watch, I needed to focus on Marcus. He came for me fast, his hands in front of him, his lips moving in a whisper, and I put one of my chakris in front of my face just in time. But the magic was too strong. It sent me back until I hit something big and fell on top of it. Turns out, it was Miranda Giorgio, although she was barely recognizable. I jumped to my feet as Marcus threw his magic at me again, but before he could hit me, a blast of fire hit him from the side. I looked at Logan in time to see Dumont’s tiger jump at him with a growl.
“Watch out!” I shouted, and Logan turned but not before the tiger landed on top of him, and they both fell. Logan recovered fast, and his burning hands made the tiger back away instantly. I jumped back into the circle, the Guard no longer stopping me, and I tried to catch Marcus on the floor, but he was already on his knees, and his magic hit me harder this time. It spread, too, from my chest and down to my legs, throwing me back like a fucking rag doll, and I ended up hitting something again.
This time, it was Logan.
“Kill them both,” Marcus said, standing next to Dumont’s tiger. “Kill them all!”
His voice echoed in the wide room, and suddenly, the dog-like creatures began to bark. Shots fired again, and when Logan pulled me up, I saw that the dogs had finally attacked the soldiers, and the soldiers could now shoot them with bullets and magic, too. Marcus had dropped his Guard. Dumont’s tiger was in front of us, and Marcus was already chanting at the pyramid, but this time he stood in a position to keep an eye on us as well.
“Take Marcus,” I said. “You can get to him from a distance, and I can’t. Leave Dumont to me.”
Logan didn’t hesitate. He raised his burning hands toward Marcus, and I ran toward Dumont’s tiger. That asshole was going to pay for betraying us.
I had my chakris in my hand and I tried to cut his entire face off, but he moved away and tried to bite my arm off instead. I stepped back and rolled around with my leg extended. Not that a kick was going to do any harm to a tiger his size, but it would serve as a distraction. My heel hit the tiger on the side of the head, and I spread my arms out while I spun. My chakri caught him over the eyes, the cut small but deep enough to draw blood. The next second, he jumped at me with his massive paws. I wrapped my arms around my head and rolled forward on the floor. He jumped right over me, and by the time I made it to my feet again, he was coming.
Logan had gotten a little closer to Marcus, attacking him repeatedly with his fire, but it wasn’t doing the damage I hoped it would do. Marcus easily turned it off before it reached him, while keeping one hand directed at Logan and one at the pyramid.
I fought Dumont’s tiger, mostly just keeping away before he hit me because I was afraid I might not make it back if he hurt me too much. The pyramid kept on glowing. Damn it, Marcus was strong. How much longer could he keep this up? He wasn’t even a high priest, yet he could do all of this and not break a sweat? I was afraid to even think it, but he might be stronger than Nana.
But he also needed his pyramid for that fucking spell to work.
New plan. The tiger was right in front of my face now, and his paw missed my face by half an inch. Fuck, those claws were long. I started running toward the pyramid without looking back because I knew he would be right behind me. I ran at the top of my speed, as fast as my exhausted muscles let me, and I headed straight for the pyramid.
When I was close enough to the pyramid to touch it, I spun around quickly and swung my arms to the side. The tiger had jumped to get to me, just like I hoped he would. Instead he was going for the pyramid, and both my chakris made a clean cut on his side, where Logan’s fire had burned almost all his fur.
There was no way to stop. The tiger hit the pyramid with his face and a loud growl, and I jumped to the side as fast as I could before his massive body fell on me.
“No!” shouted Marcus, as the pyramid wobbled. I waited with my heart in my throat.
And…it didn’t fall.
“Damn it!” I shouted, and the second of distraction cost me. The tiger jumped on me, and this time, he managed to catch me in place. Both his paws were on my chest. I hit the floor hard with the back of my head, and my arms were stuck by my sides, unable to move. The tiger growled in my face, and I could see all his teeth and his tongue, plus the back of his throat. Was that where I was going to end up? I tried to move, but I couldn’t and then the tiger lowered his opened jaws at my face.
But he didn’t touch me.
To watch him pull away from me with a confused look on his face was a shock. To see him thrown to the side like he weighed nothing was also very, very surprising.
Until I saw the man standing over me.
No, not the man. The ogre.
It was one of the three guys who’d welcomed us at Lake Danza that same day. At first, it made no sense to me whatsoever. Why on Earth would an ogre be here right now? This wasn’t even near their lake.
But then I remembered. Margaret. The text I’d sent her to tell her that we were going to get Lee back.
She must have sent ogres to help, and they were definitely there.
The ogre offered me
his hand and I took it. The ease with which he pulled me to my feet was a miracle in itself. I looked around to see five other ogres fighting with Marcus’s dog creatures and with Dumont’s tiger.
“The pyramid,” I said to the ogre. “Help me knock it over!”
I ran to the pyramid, put my hand on its hot surface, and pushed with all my strength, but it was no use. The ogre who’d saved me was already by Lee Collins, and another one of his friends pulled him up in his arms easily. The strength in them was incredible, but as soon as they got Lee Collins, they began to run for the door.
No…
“Hey!” I shouted with all the voice left in me, and the ogre turned. “The pyramid. Please help me move it. Please!”
The ogre wasn’t convinced. He looked back at his friend, running away with Lee Collins in his arms, and once he saw that they were getting away, he decided to help me. “Thank you,” I said, when he came to the pyramid and put his huge hands on it. Together, we pushed, and the pyramid actually moved this time.
But a look to the side and I saw Logan. He was exhausted, he could barely keep his eyes open. I let go of the pyramid. I wasn’t even moving it anyway. I grabbed one of my chakris that had fallen on the floor when the tiger trapped me. Marcus’s back was to me, and he was fighting Logan with magic no fire could fight back, so I did the only thing I could do. I jumped on his back. I figured from so close up he wouldn’t be able to shield away from my chakris.
His legs wobbled when I wrapped my arm around his neck and brought my chakri to his face, but he put a hand in front of mine and stopped it. He wrapped his fingers around my wrists and pulled me from his back and in front of him. I hit him as hard as I could and finally managed to make a clean cut on his left cheek. Blood dripped like a fucking waterfall—just what I needed to see. The motherfucker bled, and he wasn’t unkillable.
But he was strong as hell. With a loud growl, he pushed me away from him, touched his open cheek, and looked at his fingers, now covered in blood. The pyramid to our side groaned.
Marcus didn’t shout again. Instead, he closed his eyes.
I didn’t expect to be attacked, so I shot forward to catch him by surprise again, but before I could hit him, he hit me with his magic. He hit all of us, even the ogre trying to knock over the pyramid.
We all fell back, and I landed on someone’s lap.
Nana.
My back was on her lap as if on purpose. Her face was inches away from mine.
“Nana,” I breathed, reaching out a hand to touch her.
Her skin was very cold, indeed, but not all cold. She wasn’t dead yet. Of course not. Marcus needed her alive.
“Ruby,” she whispered, sending a jolt of energy down my back.
Her green eyes opened slowly, focusing on my face. I wanted to smile. I wanted to tell her that she was going to be okay, but I couldn’t. I could hardly feel my body. And I felt Marcus’s presence right over me.
He grabbed me by the hair and pulled me from Nana’s lap while she watched.
“If I’d known you’d cause all this trouble, I’d have killed you long ago,” Marcus said as he threw me on the floor and brought both his hands down on me. I rolled away and the spell that hit the floor made a huge dent in it. It would have definitely killed me. One of my chakris was on the floor just a couple inches away, so I tried to get it. Marcus followed me. Soldiers were at the door, fighting the dog creatures, and it looked like there were more of them. Hopefully it was backup. Hopefully they’d brought the whole damn city.
“You’re pathetic, you know that? Bringing these abominations here? I’m going to kill you slowly, Ruby,” he said, and I could tell he meant it.
But before he could hit me again, one of the ogres he called abominations grabbed him in a tight hug from behind.
It was my chance. I grabbed my chakri and stood on two legs made of jelly, barely keeping my balance, and I hit Marcus in the chest. My chakri buried right below his collarbone—no judgment, I could barely stand, let alone aim for the heart. Plus the ogre’s arms were in my way.
Marcus hissed in pain, then began to whisper. I pulled out the chakri to hit him again, but before I could, his magic threw me back. I hit the floor this time, and I thought, at least the pyramid wasn’t glowing. But how long could we keep this man distracted? How much longer could he go on like this?
Soldiers were everywhere now.
And no more dog creatures.
Dumont’s tiger was still standing, fighting two ogres and Logan, and the flux of MM soldiers running inside. It was a bloodbath in there, but our side was still standing.
Was it over? Did this mean it was over?
Damn it, I thought too fast.
Marcus began to shout. I couldn’t understand a single word he said, but suddenly, he began to glow, too, just like the pyramid. And the more his glow spread, the stronger his voice, now almost robotic, and it threw off whoever it touched. Ogres, soldiers, the magians tied to chairs. Little ole me.
My sneakers slid on the ground for a few feet before I was able to throw myself to the side and move away. The chakri was still in my hand. I hadn’t let go. I’d take that as a sign that I had one more chance.
So I backed off until Marcus’s glow began to fade, leaving a trail of unconscious people all around him. None of them could do anything against him. Bullets and magic didn’t reach him, but my chakri would. The wounds on his cheek and chest were proof of that. I’d never seen anything like what he had done, what he was doing, but it was time to put an end to it. I had so many questions for when this was over, if I made it out alive, but all of it in due time.
At the first sign of the glow fading, I took in a deep breath and begged my body to keep going, just for a second longer. Then, I ran.
I kept my chakri in front of me in case he’d shoot me with his magic again. At the same time, everybody else who was still standing began to run for him, too, but I was going to reach him first. And I did. I threw my chakri when we were just two feet away from each other, and maybe he was already tired, or maybe he was just caught off guard, but he couldn’t stop it. My chakri buried in his shoulder, causing the right side of his body to fall back, and I used my fist to hit him on the face to bring him down completely. He hit the floor on his side, and I jumped on him, so eager to kill him that I forgot how much magic he could do. I hit him again and again, while three ogres slammed their shoulders against the pyramid, and it finally gave in. It fell to the side into a thousand pieces of rock and sand, drowning the whole room in clouds of dust for a second.
At least Marcus wasn’t going to be able to go through with his sick plan anymore.
I tried to pull him to the side so I could reach his shoulder and remove my chakri from his flesh and finish him off, when his glowing hands touched my stomach. I hadn’t even seen him moving his hands, but I sure as hell felt them on my skin.
“Die,” he breathed.
There was no fire, but I felt like my body had already turned to ashes. His hand on me felt like it turned a lock and opened the door to all things bad and worse, so they could invade my body, take over my mind, paralyze me, and kill me slow, just like he’d promised.
He pushed me, and I fell to the side, unable to move as I watched him standing up. He was still alive, and I was dying. I struggled to breathe, feeling like my lungs had shut down and my heart was next. Marcus disappeared from my view, but his face was painted in perfect detail in my mind, the evil and the hate in his eyes. A blur of footsteps in front of my eyes.
Logan’s face.
He pulled me into his arms, but I could barely see him, damn it. He was on my bad side.
“Ruby, you’re going to be okay,” he said, but it was a lie. Just like the first time he’d said this. “You’re going to be okay, just stay with me. Stay with me.”
I couldn’t. I wanted to, so bad, but I couldn’t. I wanted to know if they’d gotten Marcus. If Nana and the others were still alive. If they’d make it. If Dumont was dead, or at least cau
ght by the soldiers.
Nothing. I couldn’t hold on, not even a second longer. The last thing I remembered was feeling Logan’s arm under my legs. He carried me in his arms and there was wind on my face, but after that, there was nothing more left. I’d thought it many times before, but I’d never felt it all the way to my bones like this. Tonight, it was over for real.
26
Have you ever imagined hell smelling of pancakes?
Yeah, me neither.
So what was up with that? Why were my nostrils filled with the smell of freshly made pancakes?
I was pretty sure I’d died. It had felt like it, and no way was I going to heaven. Hell awaited me, and I’d been fine with that ever since Avery died, but that smell was really throwing me off.
Also, the bed. Or wherever I was lying. It was soft. Hell wasn’t supposed to have soft mattresses.
So, if not hell, where was I?
I could hear birds chirping in the distance, the sound of a TV with the volume on low. I couldn’t hear Marcus’s strange spells. I couldn’t feel his warmth, not on my stomach, not anywhere.
Had it all been a dream?
It had felt so real. The pyramid, Marcus’s blood, my father’s bones, Dumont’s treason, Nana’s eyes…Logan carrying me.
Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. I wasn’t supposed to be alive, not after that. Marcus had whispered the word die when he hit me with his magic, and I’d believed it wholeheartedly. He’d meant it. He meant to kill me, and when a man like him means to kill someone, they die.
So why did I feel like I was still alive?
Breathe, I urged myself. I needed to breathe and open my eyes. Once I saw where I was, I was going to figure it all out.
So I breathed and I opened my eyes.
Light. I could see light and a white ceiling over me. I could also see the thin green curtain over my head stirred to the sides by the wind.
And I could see it all with both my eyes.
Book #2 in The Marked series is on preorder! It goes live on July 6th. Get your copy here:
