CHAPTER 35 AILEEN
CHAPTER 35
AILEEN
The blinding light pushed Cassidy and me away from Ragnor and the Jinni like a tornado, and when it disappeared, we were in the front courtyard. Cassidy was still unconscious, but she seemed to be breathing.
Suddenly, the earth rumbled beneath us. I grabbed Cassidy, closed my eyes, and held on to her, protecting her once more.
Yet the earthquake did not cease; in fact, it only grew louder and stronger, making me hug my former friend tight enough to cut off her circulation. All around us, the villa crumbled as the earth seemed to curve inward, as if collapsing under the weight of all that was happening.
My ribs screamed, and I tried to breathe as I raised my head and forced myself to look at what the hell was happening.
In less than a minute, the villa was no more. Only a lump of painted stucco, crumbled concrete, and splintered wood was left.
Without warning, the earthquake came to a chilling and sudden stop.
And all I could think was Ragnor was still inside!
Shaking, I released Cassidy and sat up, assessing our situation. There was no doubt that this was magic. It scared the shit out of me that there was something, or rather someone, capable of doing such a thing.
But that didn’t matter now. I had to get to Ragnor.
What about Cassidy, though?
Frantically, I looked around me until I spotted a tall, athletic man with jet-black hair and bright-turquoise eyes.
Logan.
My ex-boyfriend, and now a Gifted vampire of the Rayne League.
I grabbed Cassidy’s hand and dragged her toward him. His eyes were open, and he seemed to be in pain, but at least he was awake and alive. “Logan,” I said as I drew closer to him, and he turned to look at me, shocked.
“Aileen?” he said, frowning at first and then offering me a weak, confused, and relieved smile. “What ...”
Ragnor had told me he would call backup from the Rayne League when we discussed our plan. But first Cassidy seemed surprised to see me, and now Logan. Why didn’t he tell them I was here?
Pushing the unanswerable thoughts away, I said, “Please take care of Cassidy,” before leaving the two of them and heading toward the rubble, my heart drumming in my ears.
But before I could reach the rubble, a large indigo-skinned Jinni’s fist crashed against my side, sending me flying a few feet away as I gasped in agony. It felt like my ribs were broken apart.
The Jinni, a female, looked down at me, and her eyes widened. She seemed shocked and almost terrified, even. She crouched down near me, moving slowly and hesitantly, as she stretched her hand toward me.
Just then, a woman—a vampire, I realized—jumped on the Jinni’s shoulders, grabbed her head, and twisted it so hard, the head disconnected from the body.
As the Jinni’s body fell forward, beheaded and with gold liquid spilling out, the woman jumped back down to the ground and turned to me. She was quite the beauty, with smooth brown skin and dark, long frizzy hair and a pair of almond-shaped chestnut brown eyes. She was at least six feet tall and extremely muscular. She looked like a bionic woman, and the fact she just beheaded a Jinni with her bare hands seemed to only prove that.
“Aileen, right?” she said to me now, an unreadable expression on her face.
“Yes,” I gritted out. Apparently, Ragnor did tell some of them I was here.
She sighed. “Good. Let’s get you out of here, then.”
She came as if to pick me up, but I shook my head. “Take care of them first,” I said, pointing at where Logan and Cassidy were. Logan seemed to have fallen unconscious while I wasn’t looking, blood trickling down from his head.
That didn’t seem to be what she wanted to hear. “My orders are to take care of you first,” she told me, arching a brow and folding her arms, as if to say she wasn’t going to budge.
“I’ll come with you obediently,” I said quietly, “as long as you get them out of here first.”
She studied my face before returning her gaze to the rubble. She gasped. “Logan?” she whispered, her eyes shocked and full of worry as she looked at the man.
Then, as if she heard something I didn’t, she cocked her head, and her face suddenly cleared. Then I heard it too.
Something was coming.
Quickly, the woman’s gaze returned to me, and she said, “Fine, but don’t move an inch until I’m back.”
As if I could do anything now. “You got it.”
The woman rushed to pick up both Logan and Cassidy under her arms as though they were bed pillows. Then, as quick as lightning, she disappeared into the woods.
Just then, however, I saw three monstrous Jinn rush right after her, drool dripping down their chins. And I knew she wouldn’t be coming back for a while.
That meant I had to fend for myself.
I tried to get up onto my feet, but my body refused. All I could do was crawl over the grass toward the rubble, needing to find Ragnor, to see if he was all right.
As I crawled, I could hear the sounds of battle all around me, but my sight was fixated on the far-too-still rubble. Determination was my only fuel as I dragged myself forward with agonizing broken ribs.
The earth rumbled, and I froze, listening as something seemed to be coming from underneath the rubble. The sound of the tremor rose and expanded, becoming deafening as it drew closer and closer, until an instinct told me to cover my head.
A moment later, an explosion came from within the rubble.
I planted myself on the grass, gritting my teeth as I felt wood and concrete flying at me from all directions. Pain coursed through my spine as some of the rubble crashed into me. When everything settled once more, I dared peek through my arms and watched, open mouthed, what was happening.
Ragnor floated, his entire body enveloped in a golden aura. His eyes were open wide, pupils and whites gone, only the neon blue remaining, glowing the brightest I’d ever seen them. His hand was wrapped around a person’s neck. Wode’s.
Wode appeared to be speaking, his lips moving despite being choked by Ragnor. The more he spoke, however, the tighter Ragnor’s hold became.
Wode laughed just then. And a bright light, like the stormy blinding light from before, engulfed the two of them, hiding them from my sight.
“Ragnor!” I screamed, willing my body to move. Shakily, I managed to get up to my feet, battling the pain, and tried to step forward, toward the light, where Wode was attacking Ragnor.
“Aileen.”
In a blink, Ragnor was in front of me, his eyes glowing, though no longer as unnaturally as before. His arms came around me, pulling me toward him in an embrace.
And just like that, all the fighting spirit left me, and the pain, the shock, the overwhelming relief caused me to go weak, and I fell deeper into Ragnor’s arms.
He was alive.
We were alive.
That’s all that mattered.