Shattered Ashes (Dying Ashes Book 3)

by Annathesa Nikola Darksbane

  I missed the next one, and an uppercut hit my ribs like a sledgehammer blow, driving me onto the tips of my toes and compressing my creaking ribcage. I windmilled my arms, trying not to go over the side as gust of natural wind hit me, and Meladoquiel grabbed me by the throat.

  She twisted, dangling me over the edge, grinning at me with vicious amusement. Her muscles tensed as she made to hurl me into the lake.

  Charles stabbed Rhongomyniad into her elbow, and I grasped her forearm as the strength in her grip vanished and she dropped me. As I fell, Charles stepped back and cut low with his spear tip, raking it across the back of Tamara’s knee.

  I yanked down as I dropped, and Tamara’s pretty face smashed hard into the edge of the concrete dam.

  I reached up, clawing for the edge as the wind and rain lashed at me, water working its way under my coat and clothes, but my joints were starting to stiffen up and didn’t want to obey—even though I insisted to them just how bad of an idea that was right now.

  Charles stabbed the ruby spear tip low into Tamara’s side, twisting it back and forth, and Meladoquiel howled in agony and rolled desperately away. He leaned down, grabbed my soggy wrist, and hauled me back onto the concrete.

  I regained my feet once more as Charles advanced, feinting rapidly at the kneeling Meladoquiel before lunging at her exposed stomach.

  Lightning quick, Tamara’s hand closed around the spear shaft before it could strike home.

  Rhongomyniad shuddered in the demon’s grip, its image wavering, bits of Charles’ sundered staff suddenly visible underneath. But smoke rose from the demon’s hand as well, streaming into the sodden air. Charles grimaced, and the spear grew brighter, but also began to twist in his grasp, as if Rhongomyniad was also writhing in pain.

  I didn’t wait to see who would win. With a quick mental apology, I kicked Tamara in the face as hard as I could.

  The demon under her skin shrugged it off and refused to fall.

  Lightning slammed down, somewhere close enough to send a jolt through my dead muscles, knocking Charles and me both from our feet. Rhongomyniad skittered from Charles’ grasp, becoming a battered shaft of hardwood once more.

  Meladoquiel stood over us, her eyes broad pools of sapphire and ink, her wounds evaporating into the night.

  As thunder roared around us, Charles fired a three-round burst into her stomach, man-made thunder of a different sort.

  Tamara cried out in both voices as two of the hallowed rounds buried themselves in her gut; I winced at the blood spray as the third made a belated exit in a splash of crimson. I could barely watch the wounds smoke or stand seeing pale, shredded flesh as Tamara-Meladoquiel twisted away.

  Beretta grasped by handle and foregrip, Charles emptied another burst into her stomach for good measure.

  The demon staggered back, clutching at the wounds, blood gushing from between pale fingers; I stooped and scooped up Charles staff, tossing it clumsily to him with almost unfeeling fingers. The wizard caught it easily in one hand, and Rhongomyniad blazed brightly back into existence, a torch to hold the night at bay once more.

  Together, faces grim, we advanced.

  “Ah…” Meladoquiel squirmed away from us, leaving a thick, bloody trail along the top of the dam, her eyes shifting between a streaming circle of ink and rich, agonized blue. “Double teamed… Such a bother.” She smirked through the pain and raised her cell phone, her thumb a hair’s breath from tapping the rain-streaked surface.

  Charles and I froze.

  I glanced at him, heart in my throat. What do I do?

  For a split second, nothing happened, no one moved. Then he cracked a rare smile. “I got this.” His grip tightened around Rhongomyniad, and he gave me a quick, firm nod.

  Meladoquiel shrugged and tapped the screen.

  In that same instant, I was at the other end of the dam, though shifting through the shadows and rain felt like shouldering through a curtain of razorblades. I arrived a few feet away from my intended location, wizard, vampire, and demon left behind in the storm.

  Two cherry-red lights blinked rapidly up at me from the vest strapped to my terrified lover.

  With no time to second guess or hesitate, claws ripped from my fingertips as I swiped across. The sweet scent of Lori’s blood cut the air instantly; my aim had been off, but there was no way to know how much.

  But I ripped the vest free, snapping Kevlar threads like cotton candy strings.

  Twenty pounds of C4 dangled from my claws.

  I chucked it as far as I could out over the river.

  It exploded mid-trajectory, a swelling cloudburst of fire and smoke, while I was still stepping in front of Lori. The shockwave hit us an instant later, throwing aside the downpour as it came for us, pressure pounding my ears and more deafening than the thunder. I dug in my heels—

  —But the blast swept us over the side anyway.

  For a moment, we fell in silence, my head ringing. I could feel Lori’s heart pounding frantically behind my back.

  In that one, long instant, I realized several things.

  That the rain cut into my eyes, half-blinding me, running along my skin and cutting me off from the shadows that might come to my call.

  That Lori was securely bound; if she hit the water, there was no doubt she would drown.

  That if I hit the water, I was screwed too. Unless Charles performed a miracle up top, there was no one to save me.

  And finally, that it was okay.

  I twisted, willing my body to obey, and tucked Lori into my arms. She made a sound, but I couldn’t make it out over the thunder and rain.

  Straining my eyes, I watched the earth-and-concrete wall rush past, just out of claw reach.

  A concrete ledge, complete with rusted steel access ladder shot by, almost escaping my blurred vision.

  I gave Lori the briefest of squeezes goodbye, and threw her as gently as possible, counteracting the speed of our fall.

  If there is a god…help her make it out of this, you cruel bastard.

  I lofted her onto the ledge, a single, perfect toss. Lori disappeared into the stormy dark above me.

  Sixty feet passed way too quickly in freefall.

  Dark water slammed into me; not quite like hitting concrete, but hard enough to drive the thoughts from my conscious mind.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Waking up is hard to do

  I awoke to the sound of voices.

  To the sound of food whispering to me from just outside the void.

  “I don’t know if I can do this, Jason.”

  I tried to twitch toward the dual sound of throbbing heartbeats. I couldn’t even growl in frustration when my body wouldn’t respond.

  “I mean, look at her. She’s dead.” Someone made a choking sound. “Really dead.”

  Electric tingles blazed along my short-circuited nervous system; all I could feel was hunger and anger. They were right there, yet out of my grasp.

  “How would we know, manito? She’s always been dead, yo.”

  A single heart beat smothered the others: mine. Hunger built upon the rush of blood, an overwhelming pressure in my throat, my chest, and inside my skull.

  “Dude, we can’t give up now! Let’s look her over; check her heart for punctures or something. Maybe there’s something we can—”

  Somewhere deep in my core, the spark of life flared bright, roaring like a ravenous furnace, desperate for fuel. Startled screams erupted around me as I lurched into motion, claws ripping jaggedly from my fingers as I grabbed for the nearest source of sustenance.

  “Ashley! Wait!”

  “Dude, look out!”

  Joints stiff and muscles tight, I lunged for the nearest voice, my prey highlighting itself with its screams. I slammed clumsily into something solid, something too stupid to get out of my way. My fangs tore a ragged chunk from its body before I realized it wasn’t food.

  “Ashes! It’s us, you can’t just—”

  “Dude, come on, she’s obviously lost i
t—”

  Whatever was in my way stubbornly refused to move, so I clumsily slammed into it again, growling with irritation. With a satisfying snap, it toppled out of my way, though I felt my bones ache in the aftermath.

  “Outta the way, yo!”

  Something crashed down in front of me, and I stumbled over the remnants of the obstacle, splinters scraping off of my flesh.

  For whatever reason, I couldn’t see my prey, but I didn’t need to. I stopped, motionless, and tilted my head, sniffing the air, listening to the terrified rumble of two panicking hearts.

  “Rain! Move it! She’s trying to eat us!”

  “No! She can’t, remember? I’ve got an idea!”

  I stumbled forward, kicking unseen objects forcefully aside. I chased the nearest heartbeat, claws outstretched hungrily. Between one step and the next, something slammed into my ankle, knocking me off balance. I fell to the ground, too unsteady and stiff to prevent my fall.

  The ground beneath me shifted with a wet splurt, and I struggled to regain my footing with graceless limbs.

  “Ashley! It’s me, Rain! And Jason!”

  Slowly, indistinct shapes resolved out of the blank white expanse of my vision.

  Two young men, barely a dozen feet away, their hearts still thumping thunderously.

  Growling, I dug my claws deep into the earth, finding something solid beneath the inches of thick, treacherous mud. I rose to my knees, my dim vision tinted with red.

  “Knife!” the smaller boy demanded. Something shiny and steel traded hands; I ignored it, staggering to my feet.

  A quick slash to one boy’s forearm let free a dribble of sweet crimson, its aroma cleaving the damp air—

  —And I went motionless once more, conserving precious energy. That wasn’t the blood I needed. What now?

  “Ashley!” From just outside my reach, the bleeding boy waved his arms, catching my attention. I could have lunged out and caught him on my claws, but why bother? A dim glow from over the hill, from over the trees drew my eyes. That’s where the real food would be.

  I growled as I took a step forward, and the stubborn mud sucked at my heels. When I looked up, he was in my way again, the other little not-human tugging at his arm.

  He spread his arms, standing in my way, shaking his head and refusing to be moved.

  I tilted my head curiously as something tickled at the back of my mind.

  “Ashley,” Rain begged, his eyes wide and wet, “please stop. We can’t let you go up there.”

  I must have stood there for a long time, staring hungrily past him, still as a statue and trying to understand.

  Slowly, I remembered who I was.

  With self-awareness came guilt, then worry, followed by a rush of an unfamiliar sensation—pain. My whole body throbbed dully with an all-pervading ache, one that was emphasized with each sluggish heartbeat.

  So this is what it feels like for a Strigoi to starve.

  Back in my right mind—for the moment, at least—I stared at the two changelings. “Dammit. I’m sorry.” The words were barely a rasp, my voice creaking out from between rusted vocal cords. “Are...you two...okay?” My throat was just as sore as everything else, and worse when I tried to speak.

  The boys exchanged looks and slowly began to relax. “Yea, chica. We fine.” Jason shifted nervously. “You’ve seen better days, though.”

  I was the least of my concerns at the moment. “Lori...Tamara, Charles. Is...everyone okay?” Talking was hard. Moving was harder. It was coming back to life all over again, except somehow even more uncomfortable.

  They traded another long look. I almost snapped at them to spit it out, Strigoi rage a hair trigger away.

  “Ashley…” Rain ran a hand through his dark brown hair. “It’s been over two months.”

  The words took a moment to sink in past the haze overlaying my thoughts. And when it did, all the undead strength went out of me. With a splat, I sat in the mud, leaning heavily against the shattered remains of a small tree trunk. “Two...months?” I croaked.

  Jason nodded. “We’ve been searching for you every time we’ve had a chance, chica. Charles was pretty sure you were a goner…”

  “But we couldn’t let it go,” Rain finished with a smile.

  “Looked all over this damn lake,” Jason grumbled, but with the hint of a smile, “and a good bit of the river, too. Tried to follow your scent, but there’s a lot of shoreline to wash up on, apparently.”

  I sat there, sodden and muddy. How the hell had I survived two months at the mercy of the elements, floating around in the Cahaba River and the muddy waters of the inappropriately-named Lake Purdy? Shouldn’t I have burnt away during the dawn and daylight long ago?

  When I’d taken my tumble off the top of the dam, I hadn’t expected a second chance.

  “Where is everyone? What happened?” I rasped, forcing the words past the gravel in my throat. “And...thanks. For looking.”

  “No prob, chica.” Jason shrugged it off like it was no big deal. Rain gave me a sunny smile.

  “And as for what happened…” Jason sighed. “I’m glad you’re sitting down.”

  I frowned, struggling with hunger and the red that threatened to discolor the edges of my vision.

  Rain quickly elaborated. “Charles has been...kinda messed up since you…”

  “Died?” I supplied.

  The boy nodded nervously. “Since you hit the water and all.”

  “He hasn’t done much, other than hunt Tamara, to be honest,” Jason replied. “We’ve helped as much as we can, but…”

  “He’s been kinda hard to work with,” Rain said.

  “To put it mildly,” Jason grumbled. Glancing around, he took a seat on the nearest non-muddy spot, and Rain joined him.

  “So we didn’t win?” I felt like deflating. “What happened?”

  “Well, you guys had your showdown,” Jason replied. “And there was that explosion that took you and your girl out. Charles was all alone, and he managed to back the Tamara-demon off…”

  “But she got away,” Rain finished sadly. “They exchanged threats, she said something, his staffy-spear-thing sputtered out, and she fled. Like, fled-for-her-life fled.”

  “He managed to run her off, but there was no way to catch her,” Jason added, wiping mud onto his jeans.

  “Lori?” I croaked.

  “Sorry, chica,” Jason said quietly, his blue-gray eyes soft and sympathetic. “That thing had Tam grab her on the way out. Charles has been getting us to help track them,” he tapped his nose, “and we’ve caught up to Tamara a couple of times, but haven’t caught sight of your girl since. Scented her, but that’s it.” He frowned. “Sorry, yo.”

  “So she’s alive.” A slim hope, but hope nonetheless. I glanced between them. “Wait. How do you two know the play-by-play of what went down at the dam?”

  Rain looked guilty, but Jason just gave me a shit-eating grin. “Because we followed your asses,” he replied. “What did you expect?”

  I frowned, fighting to keep my irritation under control. “That’s dangerous. For all of us. You were supposed to—”

  “Keep our distance, make sure she didn’t see us and couldn’t find us?” Jason nodded. “We heard you both loud and clear. I mean, I don’t want a demon in my pants.” He snorted and smirked. “Well, not like that, anyway.”

  Rain elbowed him. “We couldn’t just let you two go off and…” He swallowed. “We hid as coyotes, stayed so far back we couldn’t even hear or smell you, just watch you. But we had to make sure you were okay. Even if things...didn’t go so well, at least this way someone would know.”

  “And you’re damn lucky we did,” Jason raked his shaggy, damp hair out of his face. “Charles didn’t even want to talk about what happened at first. We didn’t even have to pry details out of him to go all search-and-rescue on your ass.”

  I smiled; the expression felt stiff and awkward on my aching face. “Thanks again, guys.”

  Rain winced and g
lanced away, but nodded. “No problem. You’ve done just as much for everybody else.”

  I thought about it. Maybe I had. It was still hard to think, to remember. To even keep in mind who I was. I hung on stubbornly, but the hunger felt like it was eating away at me from the inside out.

  It hurt.

  “We should get you back to Charles,” Rain was saying. “He’ll be glad to see you, I know.”

  Jason nodded. “Well, as glad as he gets, anyway.”

  Thinking it over, I slowly shook my head. “I can’t,” I rasped. “Not right now.”

  They shared a look. “Um, chica, you don’t understand.” Jason frowned. “This hunt’s eating him alive, yo.” Well, I understood what that felt like. “And you don’t know what she’s done. That demon’s gotta be stopped.”

  Rain nodded his agreement. “We’re getting closer and closer, but she slips through our fingers every time. Even with the manhunt…”

  “Wait,” I croaked. “Manhunt? What did Meladoquiel do?”

  Rain’s light brown eyes grew deeply sad, glittering with hints of amber. “They’re calling it the third largest LGBT massacre in US history,” he said softly.

  Stunned, I worked my stiff jaw, but no words came out.

  “Thirty-five confirmed dead,” Jason explained, his own voice subdued, almost apologetic. “At the Adventure. You know it?”

  I nodded, still stunned. Even my hunger took a momentary backseat to my shock. Of course I knew the only openly gay club in the metropolitan area. I’d been there. “How—”

  “Officially, the police don’t really know what to make of it,” Jason said. Rain sniffled a bit, his shoulders slumped sadly. “Just that the victims were found in various states of undress, simply dead. Hearts stopped, except for the ones that had major blood vessels rupture or heart attacks or aneurysms. There’s talk of chemical weapons, of it being some kind of terrorist attack, but we all know better.” He ground his teeth, amber trails of anger flickering through his eyes. “They saw Tamara leaving the scene. Caught her winking at the camera even.”