Chapter 35

The Dark Ones around the tall blond man laughed cruelly. Shaking her head in confusion, she took a step forward, but Paden’s hand on her arm stopped her.

“No love for the resurrected, huh?” Stepping over Claire’s body, Tristan wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. “Sorry about that. I always was a messy eater growing up. I’m sure you remember, Ree.”

Her entire world tilted and she came dangerously close to losing the food she had eaten earlier. Ree didn’t understand how any of this could be happening. Her mind whirled, trying to make sense of what she was seeing. Her friend lay dead at her brother’s feet: the very brother that had died almost two years earlier in a drunk-driving accident. He had killed Claire, drank her dry and thrown her small body to the ground. Claire, that never met a stranger, that had her whole life ahead of her, was dead. Dead because her brother wanted a snack.

“Come on, little Ree. Say something. Or better yet, come give me a hug.” Tristan held his arms out, his fangs flashing in the moonlight.

“No,” she whispered, shaking her head.

“What’s that, Ree? Can’t hear you all the way over there,” Cupping his hand to his ear he leaned forward, sending the other Dark Ones into gales of laughter.

“You aren’t my brother. You’re nothing but a monster,” Ree said, her voice trembling on the last word. “You knew Claire as a baby and you just killed her!” Her voice broke as she yelled at her brother.

“Oh, I’m your brother, Ree. A better version of your brother.” In the blink of an eye he was standing just in front of her. Paden was just a step behind him and yanked Ree behind his back. “Of course, eating all of these would-be Immortals is helping to make me even stronger.”

Paden growled and launched himself at Tristan, but he was gone before her guardian had even moved. Paden stumbled before twisting and finding his one-time friend with his eyes.

“Oh, that’s right. She was your little cousin. You just can’t seem to keep anyone around you alive.” Tristan hopped from one tombstone to another as if it were all just a game. “First me, and now your little cousin. Imagine how funny it was when I found out you were the one sent to protect my sister. Remember that night when I asked you to watch out for her? Oh, the irony.”

The other Dark Ones were moving closer as Tristan talked, and one of the women kicked Claire’s body as she stepped over her. A roar ripped out of Paden’s chest; frustration and anger rolled off of him in waves. The grief and rage mirrored what Ree felt. She knew he wanted to avenge his cousin but couldn’t leave her unprotected.

“Steady, Pay,” Melanie whispered to him.

“Yes, Pay, don’t do anything rash.” Tristan laughed and one of the other Dark Ones bent over Claire’s body and trailed their fingers through the blood dripping off of her neck. He looked at them and smiled before licking the sticky red liquid off of his hand. Ree’s stomach clenched in rage. Her breaths were coming in shallow gasps but she couldn’t take her eyes off of Claire’s lifeless form. As the man chuckled at her discomfort, the golden handle of a knife appeared in his chest. He fell backwards and grabbed the handle, cursing as he struggled to pull it out.

“Show a little respect, you frickin’ pig.”  Julietitte glared at the man struggling to remove her throwing dagger. It was stuck in his breast bone and wasn’t budging. With a nasty crack he broke it free and threw it on the ground.

Tristan laughed loudly at the man as he wallowed in the dirt. “Tsk, tsk, Johnson. Juliette has a nasty bite herself.” He disappeared again to appear next to Jules. It was so fast even the Guardians seemed surprised at his speed. “Show me those pretty teeth, Jules.” She grimaced at him but didn’t open her mouth. With his uncanny speed he rushed Julliette, grabbed her chin, and pulled her against him. “Now, who’s being rude?”

Another knife appeared in her hand but he knocked it aside and continued to squeeze her cheeks in an attempt to get her to open her mouth. Melanie was closest, and with speed that only Bryce could have matched, she stabbed Tristan with her own blade. He dropped Juliette and reappeared near the rest of his group a few yards away.

“That stings,” he complained and motioned to the oldest woman in his group. She grabbed the knife with one hand and yanked it out of his back. She looked at it for a moment and then casually flung it at their group. It sailed through the air and for a moment everyone seemed to be stunned. Paden managed to snatch it out of the air inches from Ree’s face before throwing it right back.

The Dark Ones launched themselves forward with growls that echoed off of the tombstones and trees.  

“No! She is mine!” Tristan roared at the woman who had thrown the knife. In a moment of clarity, Ree watched as the boy that had once been her brother grabbed the woman’s face and twisted savagely. With a massive yank Tristan removed her head from her shoulders. Then there was no more time to think. Paden was fighting two Dark Ones while the rest did their best to keep any from reaching Ree. Paden moved his hands faster than she could keep up with, only the flash of his silver dagger announced where he had struck out.

Just as she thought she could be helping, a whistling sound filled her ears and she realized what was happening just before she hit the ground several feet away. Blinding pain stabbed through Ree’s body as her head hit a tombstone and a horrible ringing filled her ears. She scuttled up to the monument and tried to stand up, but dizziness sent her crashing back to her knees. Something slammed into her back, pushing her face-down to the ground. The muted sounds of fighting came from behind her and she struggled to get away from whoever was battling on top of her legs. Pulling herself along the ground, she brushed desperately at the blood dripping into her eyes. Her fingers touched something soft, but blackness was starting to creep into her vision and she had to blink several times before she could see what it was.

Weylin was lying face down with blood covering his face, head and neck. Gasping in fear, she fought to control her breathing so she didn’t pass out, and crawled toward his neck so she could check for his pulse. For a moment she couldn’t find it and her heart split, but then the soft beating made itself known under her fingers. She pulled him into her lap and tried to check his wounds. A deep gash flayed his neck open where one of the Dark Ones had bitten him, and part of his ear was missing. Carefully, she tried to pinch the wound shut and apply pressure to slow the bleeding. With horror she realized he had been the one that had pushed her out of the way. He had saved her from this fate.

Lightning flared across the cemetery, blinding Ree for just a moment and she tried to pull Weylin with her further away from the fighting. The Dark Ones all snarled at the brightness, but she couldn’t see what had caused that bright light.

“Ree! Where are you?” Roland and Sophie had finally shown up. “Damn it Ree, answer me!” His voice held a frantic edge she could hear over the sounds of battle.

She wanted to let him know she was alive, but the world was starting to spin. She touched her forehead and realized there was a great deal of blood running down her face. “Here,” she whispered and hoped they would hear. She tried reaching for the power, but she couldn’t find it. Maybe if she put a shield around her and Weylin the others would be able to stop worrying about her and take care of themselves, but it was useless. She didn’t have the energy to do anything; she couldn’t even touch the energy in the plant life around her.

The tombstone she was hiding behind crumbled as someone was thrown into it. Peering through the rubble, she found Paden locked in combat with Tristan. It was terrifying to witness the savagery her brother was capable of, and Paden was obviously losing. There was blood flowing down one of his arms, and he was limping slightly on his left leg. The pain and frustration Paden was feeling had been transformed into blind rage, but Tristan was so fast Paden could barely keep up. As she watched she realized that draining Claire had given Tristan a definite edge. Her untapped power was aiding his abilities. He sent Paden sprawling with a roundhouse kick and laughed as his longtime friend spit dirt out of his mouth.

A dark blur of leather and denim joined the fight. Roland was fast and had a very different fighting style, all kicks and punches. At first Tristan seemed very confused by the fact that another Dark One was set against him. But then he began to bait Roland with snide jokes and insults. Roland never responded, instead he dragged the tip of a sword across Tristan’s face, barely missing the younger Dark One’s throat. Enraged, Tristan’s anger seemed to make him even faster, but he still wasn’t capable of holding off both Roland and Paden.

With Roland in the fray, they were able to make progress and push Tristan farther from where Ree was hiding. Sophie was somewhere Ree couldn’t see, but she felt a fuzzy sense of the power the Guardian was using. A constant warm feeling radiated from the Immortal with short jerks of power that meant she was attempting to spear a Dark One.

A bright light lit the area again, and Ree blinked her eyes in pain. Ducking her head made her vision blur and her stomach heaved. She leaned away from Weylin’s limp form, and her stomach lost all of the food she had eaten earlier. Eventually there was nothing left and dry heaves racked her body until tears ran down her cheeks. Weylin moaned and she realized she was pressing on his wounds. She tried to spit the terrible taste out of her mouth.

“Ree?” Paden’s voice was very close to her and warm hands traveled over her head and shoulders. “Are you okay, Ree?”

“I’m okay, but Weylin needs help.” Her voice was dull, and she could barely raise it over a whisper.

“Hurry, Paden,” Roland hollered.

“We have to go, Ree. Hold on,” Paden said.  Someone took Weylin out of her lap and Paden lifted her into his arms. She groaned as the world spun and he pressed her head against his chest. “Please don’t leave me, Ree. Please don’t.”

Just before she blacked out she felt his lips on her forehead while he mumbled reassurances.