Their deaths could have been avoided. I could have accepted the nightwalker’s offering, and maybe they would be here with us, heading towards freedom.
I shake my head and look at Cole. I still have my brother to take care of.
His pale cheeks are flushed as he beams a weary grin. I’ve missed that smile.
My body is suddenly yanked backwards, my ankle rolls, and a jolt of pain shoots through the joint as I fall. Jax stumbles, and as I turn to my brother, I find Cole face down, blood seeping from his back.
“Cole!” I reach out to him when something looms above me. A creature resembling a nightwalker—complete with pointed ears and sharp, pointed teeth—towers over us.
The creature looks at Cole’s slumped body and then at Jax and hisses at him. Black smoke surrounds it, with bright red eyes and a wide grin that stretches from one ear to the other, revealing sharp fangs.
I grip Cole’s arm and drag him as I shuffle backwards.The creature saunters closer, a low growl reverberating in its throat.
“Jax!” I scream.
He jumps in front of me and thrusts the stake forward, but shadows crash into Jax’s torso and send him hurtling across the empty street. The stake falls, clattering to the asphalt, and rolls towards me.
I grab Cole’s arm and shake. “Get up! Please, get up!” He doesn’t move, and more blood pools underneath him. “Cole…”
The monster roars, darkness oozing from its pores as it stalks over Cole’s body. I seize my brother’s arm and drag him towards me again, just as the monster brings a clawed hand crashing down onto Cole’s leg.
Something ignites within me, and I curl my upper lip. “Get thefuckoff him!”
“I see Saya Claymore as she should have been seen.”
Heat seems to blaze from my pores when the hand tightens on his leg, digging claws into my brother’s flesh. The burn intensifies, and as I rise, a white fire drips from my fingertips.
Words I’ve never spoken before slip from my tongue, and as I pick up the wooden stake, I say in vegodian, “Pra lir.”
Mind-bend.
The monster lunges at me, and for a moment, the stake floats in the air. I swipe my hand in front of me, and the weapon erupts into white flames, then shoots towards the monstrosity.
“Die, motherfucker!” I yell as the wooden stake drives into the creature’s chest. A guttural howl tears from itslungs, and the monster melts into dripping shadows. As it sinks, the ground cracks open like an egg.
Somehow, the stake clatters to the solid ground and hits Cole’s foot.
“Cole…” I limp forward, white flames still sparking. Cinders drip from my fingertips, and as I look down at my brother’s still body, his blood following like a river, my knees buckle. I grab Cole’s arm and flip him over. An explosion of power erupts from me, streaming into red ribbons.
“No, no, no. Please, Cole. Wake up!” Blood soaks his chest. I touch his cold face, and slivers of magik and flames shimmer out of existence, leaving me in still silence.
“Saya…” Jax limps towards me, only to be walking freely a moment later thanks to his biohuman rapid healing.
I try to lift Cole to his feet. Tears stream down my face, and I grit my teeth as I push through the pain of my injured ankle. “Jax, help me!” I twist, attempting to drag Cole onto my back. “We need to get him out of here!”
“Saya, he’s dead.”
I shake my head, hoisting Cole onto my back.
“Saya…you can’t walk on that leg,” Jax says as he leans down and reaches for a scrap of paper on the ground. His eyes narrow as he reads it, but I am too focused on Cole to care.
“No!” I spit. “You promised you would help Cole before me. Youpromised!”
A resigned look cuts across Jax’s face as he tosses the note aside. “Give him to me.”
Jax takes Cole, and as soon as my brother is off myback, I bend to touch my ankle. It’s swollen and already bruising.
Thump.
