“All right,” I said, watching them drop from the ceiling and into a lurking, attacking pose. Their lily-white bodies were long and gangly, their claws sharp and deadly. “Let’s get to work, shall we?”
In the blink of an eye, Jason and I dashed toward them. Link beat his wings and flew on overhead, immediately taking the attention of a small group of creepers. Jason’s flesh seemed to tear as his werewolf’s claw broke through, and before his transformation even finished, he roared through the cave and butted into the creepers, sending them flying like bowling pins. While those two worked to their advantages, I conjured up some magic, running forward while screaming bloody murder.
The creepers halted in shock, momentarily frozen by my war cry as I phased right through their bodies. Appearing on the other side, I swung my foot into one of their pungent bellies, sending it shooting upward where it impaled itself on a stalactite. I spun quickly, snapping the neck of one more creeper with my bare hands. At my left, a hideous white claw speared toward me, but with less than a second to spare, I shifted into phasing mode and let it slip right through me like I was made of only light. I stepped back, letting the claw slide out of me before I became whole again, and snapped the thing in half.
While the creeper cried out in pain, I swung my gaze around the cave, catching glimpses of the action. Jason snarled and swiped at his enemies, tearing apart a large number of creepers with Hulk-like ferocity. Many more climbed the walls, desperately reaching for Link as he swooped this way and that, avoiding them all. The odds were against him, and he needed my help.
Phasing once more, I made my way over to him and slid my fists into the bodies of two creepers while their backs were to me. I solidified and felt their hearts explode around my knuckles, before I shifted back and let their lifeless bodies slump to the ground. I lunged out, knocking one of them aside only seconds before he could make a grab for Link.
“You okay, buddy?” I asked, not taking my eyes off the swarming creepers around us. In the far corner of the cave I could see the leader, at least three times bigger than the others, pumping out creeper after creeper from its long, cylindrical arm.
“I’m fine.” Link pointed over at the leader. “But that thing is going to keep on making more. It needs to be stopped, right now.”
A creeper sped out from nowhere, bashing into Link and sending him sprawling out across the cavern floor. My heart sank at the cracking sound that came from his small and fragile body. My instincts kicked in, and I ran right through the creeper with my teeth gritted. As its body turned to mush, I ran to Link, kneeling at his side while shooting a glance at Jason. He was getting outnumbered, and Link’s wing was badly damaged. It suddenly dawned on me that we were fighting a losing battle.
Link coughed hard, gasping and wincing at the pain. “I’m okay,” he said.
“You’re not okay. Your wing is broken.”
“Just leave me here and go fight, Keira.”
I looked over at Jason, who struggled under the large number of creepers that surrounded him, while more were birthed from the back of the cave, the leader forging more soldiers for its army. “Be right back,” I told Link, dashing toward the pile-up of creepers around my boyfriend.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
I hoped Link would be safe there, nestled between two large rocks at the side of the cave. The monsters didn’t seem to notice us over there, which left me only a little more comfortable about leaving my wounded friend alone.
Arriving at Jason’s side, I phased through the line of creepers, taking them all out in a single streak. Two sets of claws shot out of the dark, and before they could stab him, I grabbed for Jason’s shoulders and helped him phase too. I strengthened my hold, latching onto his large, muscly wolf shoulder and leading him away from the ring of creepers. When we unphased on the other side, he let out a deadly roar and bashed through them all, ripping apart limb after limb. There was no blood inside their bodies – only a sizzling sound before they vaporized, leaving puddles of ash in their wake.
“Keira!”
I spun around to the familiar little voice of Link. Creepers crawled toward him now, their claws digging into the rocks and smashing them apart as they hungrily rushed for him. I felt a sudden sense of dread, overwhelmed by the sheer number of opponents we had to face. Even Jason, who was bigger and stronger than the rest of us, was weakening under the strength of the assault. But as he turned my way, noticing the peril Link faced, his muzzle turned back into a human’s mouth.
“Go,” he said.
“But you–”
“Go!”
Reluctantly, I turned away from Jason and ran to Link’s aid, jumping on the backs of creepers in hopes of slowing them down and overtaking them. Soft skulls squished under my boots as I applied pressure, jumping to Link’s side and scooping him up in an instant.
“Ouch! My wing!”
“Sorry,” I said, ducking to avoid a leaping monster, “but I have to get you out of here.”
“What about Jason?”
I glanced over at him, praying I could make it back to him in time to help him out. I didn’t want to leave him behind alone, but I needed to get Link to safety first.
Clutching Link in my hands, I sprinted as fast as I could toward the mouth of the cave. The creepers were hot on my trail, but as soon as we reached the sunlight we escaped their fleshy grasps. They all stopped dead at the entrance of the cave, save for one particularly ambitious monster, who continued into the daylight only to sizzle and burn within seconds.
“How’s your wing?” I asked, desperate to get back into the action.
“It hurts like a son of a bitch, but I’ll get over it. Keira, I–”
A sudden scream, long and pained. The cry of a beast howling from the depths of its lungs, with the voice of a man yelling in agony laced within. As ambiguous as such a scream may have been, there was no way I could have mistaken it for something else. In my heart of hearts, I knew exactly who was in such pain, and if anything had happened to Jason, I could never forgive myself.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
It was like someone else had taken over, replacing my soul with their own. It wasn’t the magicard doing it to me – I was well and truly in control of that. I just wasn’t ready to sit by and listen as a bunch of monsters tore my boyfriend apart.
Phasing through every creeper I saw, I ran back inside the cave. The glow sticks lit the way, laid in positions that cast shadows up the walls. As if the scene were not already terrifying enough, I spotted Jason in human form. The creepers tossed him around, knocking him back and forth as he failed miserably to shift back into a wolf.
He just couldn’t do it.
Too much force was being driven into his body, each set of claws smacking him on the side of the face, sending him backward into another creeper as they played with him like cruel kids do with spiders. Blood oozed down his face. His eyes were black and blue, puffy and swollen. His arms extended slightly and then retreated as the creepers prevented him from shifting, leaving him a vulnerable human.
I had to get in there.
My magic was enough to keep me alive, but it wouldn’t work for us both. I made my way to him, walking right through the creepers while staring down the leader with grudge-fueled hatred. That son of a bitch was going to die, no matter what it took.
I reached Jason, clamping a hand around the claw of a creeper and squeezing it until it burst. It howled in pain, screeching that deafening cry before running back to its leader in search of a quick recovery. Meanwhile, I dropped beside Jason, holding him in my arms until I initiated the magicard. Once more I felt the magic flow through me, and just as I began to help Jason phase with me, the unimaginable happened.
In the heat of the moment, all I did was blink, and before I knew it I saw a creeper’s claw protruding from Jason’s chest. His eyes widened with realization, the blood – his blood – dripping from the claws in front of him. His gaze lowered to the gaping wound in his chest, and as h
is lip began to quiver, it was as if I could feel the wound myself – a straight shot to the heart, demolishing my hopes and dreams.
“No…” It was all I could get out of my mouth.
The claws retracted and Jason stood lifelessly for a moment, struggling to breathe as the truth sank in. Then, his body began to slump to the ground, but as much as I wanted to catch him, solidifying now would only leave me open to attack. All I could do was fall to my knees, wrap my hands around him and share my power with him.
Drooling and hissing, the creepers surrounded us. There were more of them now, growing in numbers as they circled us, unable to pounce but keeping us in place. I wanted to hold Jason, to let my magic go just enough so as I could move him, get him to safety. Right then I could have forgotten about saving the world – as far as I was concerned, it had already ended. Without Jason in my life, this earth would be nothing but a wasteland to me.
My nerves were rattled. I clenched my fists and stood up straight, keeping my foot pressed against Jason so he could keep phasing. How could they do this to me? How could they take away one of the only things that had kept me going? I hoped he’d live, but as long as I remained stuck here with him, I couldn’t get him any help. Even as his breath slowed and the energy left his limp body, I could have sworn I could save him, if I could just have a moment to…
I let my body become whole, smashing my knuckles into the skulls of the creepers. I struck one of them, two, three, letting them drop dead right before me. Just as claws swished my way, I phased again, letting them slide through me like a knife through butter. Only then could I unphase, snapping more necks and taking my vengeance.
But their numbers only grew larger.
Without Jason and Link, the creepers multiplied at an alarming pace, vastly outweighing the speed with which I could take them down. The leader remained at the back of the cave, producing creeper after creeper, its enormous white body hunched over and crooked. There was nothing I wouldn’t do to end that bastard now. If only I could get to him.
More creepers dropped from the roof. I craned my neck to look at Jason, who was surrounded once more by the monsters. As if they hadn’t done enough, they wanted to finish him off, to kill him before the wound did.
I couldn’t allow that.
The air grew tight as I ran back to him, dropping to my knees and touching his bloodied chest. My magic flowed through to him, keeping him – us – safe from the creepers. But safety meant nothing while we were unable to move, and with Jason dying beside me, it seemed as though our journey was destined to end in this cave.
There was nothing I could do but accept it.
Jason was dying.
And it was my fault.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Through twenty-nine years of being a Cardkeeper, I’d seen a lot of unusual things. Every monster you could name had turned out to be real, magic had come at some bizarre prices, and vampires were strongly addicted to milk. Nothing was ever normal in my line of work, but the most awe-inspiring thing I’d ever seen was the mages coming to help a Cardkeeper and her werewolf boyfriend.
They stormed single-file into the cave, spreading out in a wide arc around the creepers with their staffs raised high into the air. Bright light gleamed from the tips as their robe hoods drooped over their faces. They chanted among themselves, humming in unison as they prepared a joint spell. The haunting melody stole the creepers’ attention, each of them turning their backs on Jason and me, only to watch in horror as the lights began to grow.
It was my only chance. While they were distracted, I let go of my magic and picked Jason up under the arms. As he groaned and winced, I carried him as best I could to a corner of the cave, only my misery weighing me down.
A sudden blinding flash lit up the room. Squinting, I craned my neck to follow the source of the light, only to see creepers exploding into clouds of white dust. They hissed and wailed and screeched, their bodies blowing up one by one, like popcorn in a pan. In front of them all, the chief mage stood out and whispered the words of an ancient spell, now aiming his staff at the leader of the creepers.
As much as I longed to watch that bastard die, I had a man to take care of. Turning my attention back to Jason, I knelt at his side and raised his head, resting it on my propped knee. His eyes fluttered closed, the life leaving them, though his hand still found the strength to reach up and hold mine.
“Keira,” he said, wheezing.
“Ssh, don’t speak.” I held him close, nuzzling my face into his neck to hide my tears. I tamped down my emotion, unwilling to accept what was happening. I felt as though denying it would prevent it from being true, but as I pulled away and gazed into his deep, pleading eyes, the truth still lingered to haunt me. “You can’t die.”
“Keira, I…”
“Please, don’t–”
“I love…” Jason’s hand squeezed mine, but it was weak, frail, like the hand of an old man in his final moments. Slowly, he began to raise his head, his eyes meeting mine with a twisted expression of pain. As understanding hit home, his grip loosened and slipped from my own, until his head sank back and he stared blankly up at the roof of the cave.
He was no longer breathing.
I, too, was having difficulty finding my breath. The air in my lungs seemed to be trapped. Even as the mayhem exploded behind me, with magic and bursting creepers lighting up my surroundings like fireworks, all I could think about was how I would never get to kiss these lips again. A warm tear rolled down my cheek, dropping down onto his with a splatter. I held him close, wrapping my arms around him and holding him. My heart broken, my blood boiling, it was all I could do not to scream at the top of my lungs and punch a hole through the next son of a bitch who dared cross me. I couldn’t quite believe it had happened, but the proof was right in front of me.
Jason was gone, and he wasn’t coming back.
Gently lowering his head to the ground, I shot to my feet and wiped the tears from my eyes. Squeezing my hands into fists, I spun around to see the mages finishing up their work on the creepers. But there were still a few left.
In the far corner of the cave, the leader stayed hunched over, his head touching the rocks above him as his arm pulsated, preparing to create a new creeper. Another couple of the creatures had retreated to their master, cowering with fear. I recognized one of them instantly; the leader of the sub-den – the half-breed, whose face vibrated to reveal his human one.
I wanted to find peace, to let it go. But with Jason lying lifelessly behind me, and Link seriously wounded outside, all I could think about was how much the leader deserved a slow and painful death. The rage inside of me could not be tamed, for it was driven by the sheer hatred I had for these creatures.
Seeing red, I stormed forward, grinding my teeth. The mages must have seen the raw wrath on my expression as I barged past them, and they stepped aside to allow me to finish the job. Even the chief nodded at me as I passed, but I swept aside my gratitude and focused on the hot vengeance drowning my soul.
Fury took control of my body now, and I approached the final creepers. The half-breed shifted into a human all of a sudden, barely able to maintain his appearance. Even still, he raised his hands in surrender and began to beg.
But the words barely got a chance to leave his mouth.
My fist rocketed forward, phasing through his face before solidifying. The soft, meaty skull of the creeper burst around my arm, and before I could stop to think about what I was doing, I found myself leaping from one creeper to the next, ripping apart their bodies and smashing them into the ground until only the leader remained.
In spite of his massive size, I knew he would go down. Hell knew no fury like a woman scorned, and boy was I scorned. I used its huge, folded knee as a steppingstone to climb up in front of its head. Saliva spread in a thin sheet between its teeth as it hissed in my face, the high-pitched screeching sound bypassing my ears and inflicting pain straight inside my head. My initial reaction was to phase right through
him, but my hatred for this disgusting creature raged out of control, and my knuckles needed their time in the spotlight.
I arced back my shoulder and swung a punch into its mouth, smashing its teeth apart. As it howled in pain and made a blind swipe for me, I climbed up its shoulder to avoid the attack. From there, I continued my assault on the leader’s massive skull, launching punch after deadly punch into its head as it cried and screamed in agony. I wouldn’t let up, though. This thing had caused me unending grief, and it would pay for what it had done.
As I pummeled into it, its soft skull became nothing but matter around my wrists. Before I knew it, my punches only found dead air, and the leader’s body shriveled into the ground before it became nothing more than a pile of dust. I stood upright, catching my breath and staring at the mages, while creeper dust swirled around my ankles. It suddenly occurred to me that, although they had helped, their promise to kill me when this was all said and done still remained. Due to my overwhelming pain and lingering rage, I wasn’t quite thinking right.
I stepped forward.
The chief mage lowered his staff, making his way toward me while the others stayed in place. I caught a glimpse of Scott O’Hare among them, turning his back to hide his face from sight. As far as I was concerned, he had redeemed himself for his earlier failure not to help me, despite how close I had come to being killed. Not that it mattered now – I was going to die anyway.
“Do what you need to do,” I said, dropping to my knees and accepting my fate. Victory was his for the taking. “I won’t fight you. I’ve no reason to. Just make it quick.”
The chief looked down at me with misunderstanding. The staff in his hand pointed away from me, no longer a weapon but now a mere accessory. He sighed, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, before finally, he spoke. “I have no business with you, Cardkeeper. What’s done is done, and I want no more to do with it, though I trust that we shall remain undisturbed. As a token of your appreciation.”
The Cardkeeper Chronicles: Books 1-5 (Complete Collection) Page 39
