Victoria pulled her gun out and lunged for me. The ground exploded under our feet. I flew forward, and Victoria fell back. Landing with a thud, I tasted dirt in my mouth. When I looked up and saw Seth, he was perfectly still. Two seconds later, he faded away like a wisp of smoke.
“It’s a trap!” Victoria rolled to her feet. “Run!”
Gunshots rang out. Patton ran towards a giant rock. He was firing at the Shaws, and telling me to run.
“Get to the car!” Matthew and Jared shouted at the same time.
There was gunfire from both sides. Victoria aimed her gun at me but she couldn’t get off a shot. The ground exploded in front of her again, and my heart soared as I realized why. Archer was alive and blowing things up to give me cover.
I got to my feet and ran for the car, managing to get into the passenger side. Chancing a look up, I saw Jack had given the gun to Dave, who was firing it while Jack used his ability. A bullet hit the passenger side mirror, shattering it.
“Are you okay?”
I whirled around to look into the backseat.
“Well?” Grandpa asked. He was lying down. “Are you okay?”
I nodded.
“Then stop staring at me like a moron and drive!”
I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry. Scooting over to the driver’s seat I turned the ignition and the engine roared to life.
Looking forward, I saw Archer running towards Jack. Explosions collided in midair, but each one seemed to get closer until finally, one of Archer’s blows hit Jack in the face.
He flew backwards into a tree, spit out blood, and snarled at Archer. Struggling, he managed to raise his arm one last time, but Archer was faster and more powerful. An explosive force brutally slammed into Jack.
When Jack’s body landed, I knew he was dead.
The windshield exploded by the passenger side. Dave was crouched behind a rock, firing at me. I couldn’t see Victoria.
Grandpa was yelling. “What the hell are you waiting for? Mark will take care of them. Go, go, go!”
I went, went, went, turning the wheel and putting the car in drive.
“Where do I go?” I asked.
Grandpa sat up and pointed. “That way. Just keep going.”
I nodded.
“Thank God Archer’s all right,” I said. “But what happened to Payne? Did he suffer? Is he really—”
I felt the car slam forward. I nearly lost control. Looking in the rearview mirror, I saw Victoria in a car behind me. She was coming for me.
I made a sharp right.
“What the hell are you doing?” Grandpa asked.
“I’m not bringing her to Seth,” I said. “I need to get her away from him.”
“Seth is safe,” Grandpa said.
My little maneuver had bought me some time. Victoria must have overshot the turn, but she was now gunning down the narrow road towards me, trying to catch up. I had a good lead and could possibly get away.
The one way road had a metal guardrail on one side, the other side was a steep hill. Ahead, I saw a clearing. I did a sharp U-turn, putting me back onto the same road. This time, I was headed towards Victoria, not away.
“He’s going to stay that way.”
I pressed my foot on the gas pedal and slammed it down to the floor.
“Bristol,” Grandpa yelled, “stop. You’re going to get yourself killed!”
I ignored him. I just aimed the car right at Victoria. I was determined not to turn.
The roar of the engine was the only thing I could hear. Grandpa was saying something, but I blocked him out of my mind like I was the only one in that car. Just me, headed straight for Victoria.
In the few moments before our cars crashed, I saw Victoria’s face turn from smug to concerned, then to panic. It all happened in an instant. She realized I wasn’t about to turn. Cursing, she quickly yanked her steering wheel to the right.
Her car hit the side rail and flipped, tumbling three times before coming to a stop.
Shaking, I eased off the gas and pressed my foot on the brake until I came to a stop. I heard the tires protest the sudden stop and smelt the burnt rubber.
If she was dead, I didn’t know what that meant for Seth. Shemp had wanted all of them dead, but would the creature care if Seth died, too?
Slowly, I pulled up next to the wreck, got out, and approached the car. In the distance, I could see another car coming. I don’t know how, but something inside me knew it wasn’t Dave. I just knew he was dead.
When I got to the car, and looked inside, the driver’s seat was empty.
“Bristol! Behind you!”
I swung around just in time to see Victoria coming towards me with her bare hands which were glowing green. Her face was bloody, but she still intended to kill me.
Her fists lashed out wildly, and I dodged.
She tried to scratch at my eyes, and I backed away.
Her right hand reached for my heart and I slapped it away.
With every ounce of hatred and anger in me, for every Connor, Blackburn and McKnight that she’d hurt or killed, I punched her in the face. I felt her nose break as she cried out.
She doubled back and fell over.
She struggled to get up and I approached her.
Grandpa rushed to get to my side. “Careful! There’s nothing more dangerous than a wounded animal.”
Victoria looked up at me, blood in her eyes and a wicked green glow emanating from her as she charged.
“You’ll never touch my boy again you bitch,” I snarled as I smashed my fist into her face, over and over again. I had never felt such unhindered hatred, never lashed out as violently in my life.
Victoria went down hard, bouncing off the asphalt and started to struggle to get up again. I grabbed the back of Victoria’s hair and smashed my knee in her face. There was another crack and she fell to the ground in a heap. She was finished.
The car pulled up and two people got out. Their silhouettes were illuminated by the headlights as they rushed to me.
“Bristol!”
I looked up.
“Payne?”
For a moment I worried that it might have just been his spirit, come to say goodbye, but when I saw his face, I knew he had been the one on the driver’s side. I was sure of it. Any doubt I had was erased as he grabbed me and crushed my mouth in a kiss.
My Payne was alive. He was whole and healthy and back in my arms.
When the kiss ended, I cried, and held onto him.
“My God. I thought you were dead. I thought you couldn’t heal from what Victoria did to you. How did you—”
Payne kissed me again.
“I was dying,” he said when we came up for air. He gently stroked my cheek with his finger. “The pain was horrible. I was aware of what was happening around me, but I couldn’t do anything. Bristol, I never would have let him do it. I never would have let him heal me if I could have—I’m so sorry.”
“Sorry?” Payne wasn’t making any sense. Maybe his brain was still scrambled. “Payne, I love you so much. I don’t know what I would have done without you. What are you talking about?”
Payne closed his eyes for a moment. I heard a strangled sob and glanced over to his companion from the car. It was Aunt Rose.
Payne was crying, as well. “He healed me. Well, he healed Archer first. Then he came to me. Your uncle was looking for you. My grandfather was the only one by my side. Please don’t be mad at him.”
I shook my head.
“Why would I be?” I said. “Payne, it worked. You’re here. You’re here with me. And Grandpa’s right over there.”
I looked over at Grandpa, who was standing next to his sister. Both of them were looking at me with expressions of love and remorse. My eyes trailed down.
Only one of them had a shadow.
Grandpa stepped forward. For the first time since I’d met him, he had no cane in his hand.
“Now, don’t start blubbering. This was the right thing to do. And if yo
ur boyfriend there keeps apologizing, you have my permission to hit him. He’s got nothing to be sorry for.”
I pulled away from Payne and stepped towards my grandfather. My grumpy, weird, paranoid, old coot of a grandfather who loved me.
“Grandpa,” I said. My voice cracked. I felt like someone had reached into my chest and squeezed my heart. “No.”
“That boy loves you. I could feel it each time he’s been on the brink of death. So, I healed him.” Grandpa shook his head. “That boy.” He laughed at the term. “He’ll always put you and Seth and your children first. He’ll always be true. He’s a good man.”
I had so much that I wanted to say to him, but couldn’t find the words,.
“You and Rosie were right. Well, she was wrong for leaving, but her reasons for going were right. You and Payne will find a way to end this curse. I know you will. You’re my granddaughter, and there’s nothing you can’t do. You’re tough, smart and you can kick ass. Don’t let any McKnight,” he pointed to Payne, “feel guilty. It was worth it. They’re worth it.”
Grandpa smiled a little.
“Well,” he said, “let that old blowhard Varick feel guilty for a little bit. But he’s your grandfather now, and you tell him I said so. Watch after my boys. Promise me.”
I nodded, unable to speak.
“I’ve got to go,” he told me. “My girl’s waiting on me.”
Someone appeared by his side. It was my grandmother. Grandpa turned to look at her, and in an instant, they were young again. The wrinkles of time and grey hair had washed away. She wore a blue dress, with her dark hair up in a ribbon. He wore jeans and an old bomber jacket. They clasped hands and moved on, together.
I turned to Payne, who had tears in his eyes. He knew what had just happened. He knew I had just said goodbye.
“He can’t be dead.” I said.
Payne took me in his arms. “I’m sorry.”
I didn’t say anything. I just let him hold me as I cried.
Chapter Twenty Three
Coming Clean
My uncle was handcuffing Victoria, binding those deadly hands of hers behind her back. Phillip, Toby, and Varick were by his side. They must have arrived together.
Once Uncle Mark was satisfied that Victoria was secure, her arms cuffed behind her back and lying face down, unconscious on the ground, he turned to me.
“She knows,” Payne said.
Uncle Mark came over and took me in his arms. “Your grandfather loved you very much.”
I started to cry all over again, but nodded my understanding. He didn’t need to tell me that.
“Do the boys know?” I asked.
Uncle Mark nodded. “Zack took it the hardest.”
That didn’t surprise me. They were the closest. “Did we lose anyone else? I know one of the guards...”
Varick spoke up. “Everyone else is safe. There were some injuries among the guards, but only Steven was killed.”
He looked at me with such naked emotion, and gently placed a hand on my arm. “My dear girl. I can’t begin to tell you how sorry I am. Your grandfather was the bravest man that I ever knew. The most selfless of us all. I just—”
Watching Varick struggle to find words, I pulled him into a hug, and gave him a kiss on his cheek, letting him know that he didn’t need to.
“She’s coming around,” Archer called.
He meant Victoria, who was still on the ground, cursing at us. With a nod, Archer and Toby each grabbed an arm and pulled her up into a standing position.
I wanted to face her. Payne tried to hold me back, but I waved him off. Instead, he stayed by my side.
“You slaughtered an entire family, and for what? They weren’t trying to hurt you. They were trying to end the feud.”
Victoria glared at me, hatred pouring out of her.
“Do you have any idea what happens if the feud ends? You lose everything.” Her eyes were wide as she spat out each word at me. “Your powers are gone. I didn’t want that. So I killed their family, and any member of my own family who didn’t want to go along with it.”
I felt my lip curl in disgust. It was about power to her. She slaughtered entire families, killed her own blood just to hold onto her power.
“As long as we had the brat alive, the war wasn’t over. And it’s still not. You have the kid. So go ahead and lock me up. With my abilities, I’ll find a way to get out. You may have killed the rest of the Shaws, but I’ still alive so that boy will never be safe.”
Uncle Mark stepped between us.
“Seth is safe,” Uncle Mark said. “And he’s going to stay that way.”
Victoria lunged for Uncle Mark, snapping at his jugular with her teeth, but Toby had her arm. She didn’t get far.
“You think this is over?” she spat. “I’m not alone. I’ve still got help.”
“That’s how you found us,” I said. “The Shadow Creatures appeared to you and told you where we were.”
“They want you dead,” Victoria looked pleased. “They’ll help me get away, and I’ll be back.”
Aunt Rose stepped forward, directly in front of Victoria. “You’ll never hurt anyone ever again.”
In a quick motion, Aunt Rose grabbed Victoria in a bear hug. There was a pop and they were gone.
“Rose!” Varick called. “Where the hell has she taken her?”
There was a pop. Aunt Rose was back. Varick repeated his question.
“Don’t worry,” Aunt Rose said, a malicious look in her eyes. “You’ll see.”
“What did you do?” Uncle Mark said.
Aunt Rose glared at him.
“She’s responsible for Seth’s misery, and she’s the one who killed Greg. Now she’ll never hurt anyone again.”
“What have you done?” Varick asked. “Rose, where is she?”
There was a scream in the distance, and we looked around in confusion, trying to find the source. The scream grew closer. Aunt Rose had a satisfied smirk on her face and tears in her eyes. I gasped when I realized she was looking up.
I followed her gaze, watching as Victoria crashed into the car that I’d used to escape. It was like she had fallen out of an airplane. Her body impacted the roof with such force it shattered what was left of the windshield and destroyed the roof of the car.
Her eyes were open, but blank. She was dead.
Varick examined Victoria’s body, lifting his chin in satisfaction. Uncle Mark’s eyes were wide as he regarded Aunt Rose with shock.
I spun on Aunt Rose. “What did you do? We don’t know what happens if one family is wiped out! Seth—”
“Will be fine,” Aunt Rose finished. There was a note of finality in her words.
“Yesssss.”
I spun around. There was the small Shadow Creature that Grandpa had called Shemp. It’s wisps of smoke looked more fragile than ever and the red glow was dim.
“He isssss ssssafe,” the Creature said. “The curssse that bound him issss over.”
Relief flooded me. I just felt that he was telling the truth.
“What about the other creatures like you?” I asked.
The small Shadow Creature spun in place a moment.
“They are sssscared,” it said.
I nodded.
“I’ll just bet they are,” I said. “We don’t have to kill each other to beat the curse, do we?”
The Creature started to fade out. “Two families war, only family one can ssssurvive.”
I had more questions, but I realized I had no more time. The Creature lost its ability to hold on. Or maybe it stopped trying.
Instead of fading away, it simply lost its form, and rose into the air like smoke from a dead fire.
It was gone.
Grandpa’s funeral was three days later.
He’d left very specific instructions. He didn’t want a wake for everyone to come and gawk at him. He didn’t want people to get up and give speeches about what a wonderful guy he had been. Apparently, he knew that he had been a pain in
the rear, and he didn’t want people to try and sugarcoat it.
We were in the church that one of my cousin’s was the pastor for. The place was packed. It was a Sunday and knowing Grandpa he would have wondered why everyone there didn’t have anything better to do.
It wasn’t just Blackburn’s in attendance. Of course, Payne, Hunter, Archer, Varick and the others were all there, but they weren’t the only McKnights in attendance. Ones that I didn’t even recognize. Even the entire Council had shown up.
Per his wishes, after the burial, we got together at the lodge to lift a glass and talk about anything but what a wonderful guy he was. One by one, we all traded our stories. Varick told everyone about the time in high school when he and Grandpa snuck into the football coach’s office and superglued his desk, chairs and everything else in there to the ceiling, including all of the trophies and gym equipment.
Uncle Mark talked about how embarrassing Grandpa had been when they first had Aunt Eve over for dinner. They were still in grade school, and Uncle Mark had invited her over to work on a school project. He had been hoping to get up the nerve to ask her to the upcoming fair, and begged Grandpa not to humiliate him. Grandpa proceeded to spend dinner throwing rolls across the table, making animal noises, and showing Aunt Eve pictures of Uncle Mark from when he was a baby, including some that were taken while potty training.
One by one, we told tales about a man who was always ready with a smart response, a grumpy complaint, or a wry observation that would make you want to beat your head against the wall.
He was always there for us.
The week after we put my grandfather to rest, I asked Varick and Uncle Mark to get everyone from the families together for a meeting at Varick’s office. Both families needed to meet about the curse and hear more about the Shadow Creatures.
The conference room at McKnight Industries was laid out like a theater, with a hundred seats all facing toward a small stage where a lectern waited for me. It was well lit, with large windows on the right wall and abstract paintings to the left. Towards the rear of the stage was a giant screen used for video. The giant curtains on the windows were pulled back, but it looked as if a simple push of a button would close them if we needed to bring down the lights.
Vision of Sacrifices Page 27
