by Karen DuBose
I whip my head in Bruno’s direction. He turns his head to face me. “What do you think?”
“I think we need Pim or Oceana.”
He stands up to go get one of them. I don’t dare loosen my grip on her. I’ve learned the hard way. My guard is staying up until we have answers.
It doesn’t take long before Bruno and Pim kneel next to us again.
Pim lays a hand on my shoulder. “You can let her go. I promise I won’t let her hurt anyone.”
I nod my head and stand up, but I don’t go far. Pim places his hand over her chest right between her breast. White light shots out of his hands into her and she gasps. Her body lifts a little off the ground.
“Just as I feared, she sold her soul to a demon.”
Rage courses through me. “She what?”
The woman starts crying uncontrollably. “I had no choice. They were going to kill my daughter. I did the only thing I could think of. In the end, they killed her anyway. I have nothing to live for. Please just kill me.”
My heart deflated at her words and so did my rage. “I’m sorry you lost your youngling. They will suffer a thousand deaths for that.” I turn to Pim. “Is there anything you can do for her?”
He shakes his head. “I can’t break a contract like that. I can make her death peacefully if that is what you want to do.”
I debated for a minute. If I was her would I want to die too? There is no question I would want the same thing.
“May death bring you back to your youngling and peace.”
I walk away. I couldn’t stand there and watch her die. Even knowing it will release her from the suffering she is enduring.
Kira held her hand out to me and I took it. I need to get as far away as I can without getting myself killed.
“You’re doing her a favor. I know you don’t like killing, but in this instant, I know you are doing the right thing. I saw it on your face when you made the decision.”
“I would want the same thing as her. I couldn’t live in a world without Runes. I’m sure Kiernan would understand that as well.”
Now that I’m a mom, I understand what mothers go through for their younglings. My life was complete when she arrived. I don’t think I would ever want that hole back. I couldn’t live with pieces missing in my heart again.
Kira let’s out a small laugh. “I will know soon enough.”
I whip my head up. “You’re pregnant?”
She smiles at me. “Yes, I found out the other day. I haven’t even told Bruno yet. He would make me stay out of the fight. I won’t stay out of it and no one is going to make me.”
“You know, now I understand where you guys were coming from when you didn’t want me to fight. I know I can’t stop you from doing anything. But I want it to be known I don’t want you to fight.”
She nods her head. “Now I know how you felt when we told you to stay out of the fight. It sucks. It’s like I feel I’m not competent to fight. This is why I’m not telling anyone but you for right now.”
I give her an evil smirk. “You know he is going to be pissed when he finds out.”
She shrugs her shoulders. “He will just have to deal with it. There is too much riding on this for you to be one short. I promise I will be careful.”
No amount of begging is going to change her mind once it’s set. “Have you picked out any names yet?”
Her smile grew. “I have been thinking if it’s a girl Bria and if it’s a boy Kirno. I mixed both our names together. I just hope he likes them.”
“Those are awesome names. Who cares what he thinks. You are the one who has to push the youngling out.”
She laughs and hugs me. “This is why you are my sister/best friend. Come on. I’m sure they are done by now. We have demon asses to kick.”
As we walk back all I felt was heartbreak over the loss of lives these demons have taken. I don’t know how much more I can take. I feel the darkness in me show its ugly face. That scares me more than anything. I didn’t even know I had darkness in me.
Kiernan sees me and jogs over to bring me into his arms. “I love you”
I lift my eyes to his. “I love you, too.”
I love how he knows when not to say anything. He shows his support instead. Wrapping my arms around his waist and squeeze it, we walk back to the others.
Bruno looks to me. “Ok, we know the plan. We need to move out before they come to us instead. We don’t have much more time before that happens. Gear up and move out.”
Kiernan picks up a backpack I didn’t even know he had. Looking around they all have them. Oceana walks over to me and hands me one. At least I know where they came from.
“Everything you need is in those packs. Let’s go.”
I let Bruno lead the way. Kira is next to him. I need to keep an eye on her. I walk behind them with Kiernan. The rest of our party bringing up the rear.
I keep an eye open for any more life or demons. They have to be here somewhere. There is no way they don’t know we aren’t here. What are they waiting for?
The deeper we get into the town, the more the hairs on the back of my neck rise. I walk up to Bruno and place a hand on him to make him stop.
I don’t dare speak out loud. “This is a trap. I can feel it. We need to pull back, and take a look.”
He nods his head and barks out orders in our heads. “Each of you pairs up and check these buildings. If you run into a demon. Don’t be a hero call for back up.”
I hesitate before I start walking. I search for some clue, anything that can tell me where they are hiding. We have been here most of the day and none of them have shown their faces.
I’m about to take a step forward, when out of nowhere a demon lands in front of me. I don’t have time to react, I let my magic soar out of me, pushing the demon back.
Her shocked face was all I see before I shift. I’m not going to let her take me down. I snap at her with my muzzle. I Grab her between the shoulder and neck. The blood that oozes in my mouth makes me gag, but I don’t dare drop her. I shake her back and forth. Hearing her screams almost makes me falter.
I open my mouth and without looking at her, I stomp on her cutting off her screams for good.
I don’t have time to process it when more come out. I look behind me and everyone is fighting for their lives. My gaze shoots to Kira. She is being pinned down by a male demon.
As I turn to get to her, I swipe at two of the demons that were about to jump me. They go flying through the air. Rushing over to her, I snatch the demon off her with my teeth and fling him away.
“Thanks. They are a lot stronger than I thought.”
“Why aren’t you shifting?”
She looks away from me. “I don’t know if it will hurt the baby or not.”
I growl at her. “If you die so does that baby. Now shift.”
She looks up at me with anger. She doesn’t say anything, she just shifts. She roars as loud as she can and takes off into the fight.
This isn’t what is supposed to happen. I need to think. How can I get them all together? It has to be somewhere they can’t get out. I search for somewhere.
I get knocked off balance. When I catch myself, I can feel something on my back. I rear up on my hind legs and fall backward. I will be damned if they are going to take me down like that.
Kiernan charges the demon that was on my back. The demon is ready for him and jumps out of the way, with his claws out. I hear Kiernan scream in agony. My heart drops to my stomach.
I run toward him when I got to him the demon still has his claws in his chest. “NOOO!” I growl. I bite the head off of the demon. I shift back to help Kiernan. I place my hand on his chest and pour my healing magic into him. “Please don’t die on me. Please.” I kept pushing and pushing. Oceana slides next to me. She places her hands on him as well. “Go I got this. They need you.”
I look at her with tears clouding my eyes. “What am I supposed to do? We are never going to get them where we need them.”
Her gaze is gentle. “Let your instinct guide you.”
I shake my head and sob harder. My instincts are what got us in trouble. “I can’t.”
“Look at me!” she snaps. Startled, I look at her. “You need to stop holding on to the youngling you no longer are. Be the woman we all know you can be. Prove to yourself that you can do this.”
I fell on my ass at her words. Am I really doing that? I sit there and try to figure out what to do. I look up and my pack is beaten and on their last leg. I stand up and face the scene in front of me.
I put my hand in my pocket. My fingers touching my stone. I knew then what I needed to do. Yanking my stone out, I look at it. Here goes nothing.
I raise my hands and hold my stone between both of them. I build my magic up to the point I can’t take it anymore. I’m about to release it when a demon grabs my hair and yanks me back. My stone is flying in the opposite direction.
I grab the demons hands and try to pry them for my hair. It drags me across the paved road, making my skin burn. “Let me go you filthy jack ass.”
It growls at me and yanks me even harder. I try twisting to get a better grip on its hands. When I see it’s a male demon, I punch him in his groin. He loosens his grip on my hair and I’m able to regain my footing. Once I’m up, I kick him in the groan. I hear a crack and he screams in pain. Getting the rest of my hair out of his grip, I run to where I think my stone is.
I put a protective bubble around me so I can find it. Why I didn’t think of that earlier is beyond me. I search the ground and dirt. I’m about to give up when I spot it. I dive for it and kiss it.
This time I keep my bubble around me. It takes a minute for my magic to boil to the surface again, but when it does and I can’t take much more of it. I release it into my stone.
The ugly colors swirl into the purple and green lights. It shoots out of my stone and builds a wall around me. I push even more and it sails out in every direction. I keep pushing until I’m weak in the knees and collapse on them. I don’t give up; I can’t. The pounding in my head feels like a thousand hammers are beating it.
The world around me is silent. I feel empty inside. The black spots in my eyes finally takes over and I pass out.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The pain is the first thing I feel when my conscious mind wakes me up. The nausea hits me and I try to roll over. My body wouldn’t move. I struggle to move before I get sick all over myself. I think it’s too late when I feel someone rolling me over.
My stomach relieves itself as I lay there and dry heave once everything is out. I try breathing, but all I can do is take short intakes. When I think I’m finally done, the person holding me rolls me back over.
Kiernan’s alluring green eyes comes into view. I try to smile at him, but it hurts too much. My mouth and throat are like sandpaper. “What happened?” I croak out.
Everything seems so fuzzy. Like my brain doesn’t want me to know what happened.
He leans down and kisses my forehead. “You used a lot of magic. I’ve never seen something like that. You wiped out the demons within a hundred cells. How are you feeling?”
“I feel like I got hit with a huge blaster. How long have I’ve been out?”
A memory comes to the forefront of my mind. Kiernan laying on the ground bleeding out. I gasp. I try raising my arms but failing. A sob breaks loose from my chest.
Kiernan takes me into his arms. “What’s wrong, Love?”
“You were dying and I tried helping you, but I couldn’t. I didn’t have enough power to help you. I thought I lost you.”
“Oceana was able to save me at the last minute. I thought I was a goner. To answer your question, you’ve been out for five days.”
My eyes went wide. “How has Runes been eating? Is she ok? Please tell me she is safe.”
He chortles before he kisses my forehead again. “She is safe as she can be. Pim brought them back after you killed the demons. I have been helping her feed from you while you were out. I knew you would want her to eat.”
My heart slows in my chest. “Why can’t I move?”
“Oceana put you under a spell. She said you tore your soul and body apart when you used that much magic. If she didn’t get to you as fast as she did. She said you wouldn’t have made it. You used your life force when you used your stone.”
I inhale and let it out. “That’s why I feel so much pain. I thought it was the only way. I saw the pack were losing and I couldn’t lose anyone, I Just couldn’t.”
“We all know why you did it. None of us are mad at you. Well except Kira. She is pissed as all get out. Don’t be surprised when she comes in here and starts screaming at you.”
I sigh and roll my eyes. “Can you do me a favor and not tell her I’m awake yet. I would like to see Runes before she goes fairy shit crazy on me.”
His bellow laugh shakes me and I smile. “Let me get Oceana to see if you are ready for the spell to be lifted. We don’t want to set you back.”
He walks around the bed I’m lying on. When he walks out of the room, I take a look around. Shock and fear courses through me. Why are we at my house? This is the first place the Elders will look for us. I start to get dizzy again.
I hear the door open. Oceana, my mom, and Kiernan walk in. “Why?” Was all I could get out before panic takes me completely.
Kiernan darts over to me and places me in his arms. “Why what, Love?”
I couldn’t speak. I practically scream in his head. “Why are we in my house? The Elders will look here.”
“Love, they have already been here several times. We doubt they will be back anytime soon. We are safe here for now. We can’t stay here much longer though.”
Oceana comes the rest of the way to the bed and sits down next to me. She places her hands over me and roams my body. Closing her eyes, she starts to scan my body. I wait for her to tell me the bad news. I know I’m not whole. The pain tells me that.
She opens her eyes and shakes her head. “You’re not ready yet. I’m sorry, if I remove the spell now, we will lose you.”
Hot tears spill out the corners of my eyes. I knew she was going to say that. I was just hoping I was wrong. “Ok.”
My mom comes over and sits next to my head and strokes my hair. “Would you like to see Runes? She has been throwing a fit waiting for you to wake up. She doesn’t like that you are hurt.”
I nod my head yes. The only thing I can move now is my head. She must have allowed me to do that. “Kiernan, promise me you will get her out of here if the Elders come here.”
“I’m not leaving either of you here if that happens.”
“I will only have one chance to kill them and if they show up, I doubt I will get another chance to do it.”
He is shaking his head. “What are you saying? You want me to leave you here so they can kill you? That’s never going to happen. There will always be another chance.”
I don’t say anything to him because I know deep down I won’t. I just nod at him. We don’t get to say anything else about it when my mom pops her head in the door. “Someone is happy to know you are awake.”
She comes in my room the rest of the way and Runes eyes spot me. She wiggles in my mom’s arms trying to get to me. “Ok Sweet little one. Give me a second to get over there.”
The smile that spreads across my face is real for the first time in my life. I feel like I can take the world on as long as my little one is around.
Kiernan takes her out of my mom’s arms and lays her on my chest. “Mommy had missed you so much. I hear you have been a little butt for gigi.”
She kicks her little arms and legs out. The smile on her face heals my heart. “Are you hungry?”
She squeals and tries to crawl closer to my boobs. I laugh at her. I wish I could hold her and plant kisses all over her chunky cheeks. “Alright, let daddy help you.”
He moves to where she is laying sideways on me. Her little butt is on the bed and the rest is across me. She do
esn’t take long to latch on. The familiar pain soothes the other pain away. I think Runes is taking the pain away from me and it scares me.
Kiernan rubs my hair while he holds her up. “She has been taking your pain away while she feeds. I noticed it the first time she did. There was relief in your face, just like now.”
I close my eyes. It hurts knowing I can’t hold her the way she needs to be held. I also know I had to do what I had to do to save my family. I wouldn’t change a thing, well maybe I wouldn’t have used so much of my life force.
“Love, do me a favor and don’t ever do that to me again. We all thought we lost you. If Oceana and Pim didn’t get to you when they did… I don’t even want to think about it.”
Opening my eyes, I watch as a tear falls from his eye. I want so badly to wipe it away. I wish I could tell him I would never do it again, but I can’t. “I think you know me better than that to ask me not to do that. If it saves my family, I will do anything to make sure they stay safe.”
He nods making another tear fall. “I know and that scares the hell out of me.”
“We live in a fucked-up world and until we can make it better. None of us are safe.”
“I know.”
Runes has fallen asleep. He picks her up and lays her next to me. My eyelids slowly close, I let the darkness take me away. Away from the pain, I’m in the pain in Kiernan’s eyes.
I knew it wouldn’t last. The light I see through my eyelids, I knew my dad has something to say. Opening my eyes, I see the bluest sky I have ever seen. My heart slams in my chest.
“Don’t be frightened, we are not here to hurt you.”
I look all around me, but I don’t see anyone. I try to move to my surprise I’m able to. I sit up slowly. I don’t want the person who was talking to think I’m going to attack. I don’t even know who they are.
I turn to look behind me. Three of the most beautiful dragons stand there looking at me. I must be dreaming this. There is no way this is real.
“You are not dreaming. We have a message for you.”
I slowly stand up, I don’t like being looked down on. “Who are you?”
