Chapter 94
Chapter Ninety-Four
APRIL
Okay so I might’ve embellished a little telling Sebastian that I’m death coming for the mages.
The fear, as useless as it is, keeps raking its razor-sharp claws over my insides, shredding them to ribbons.
Why did I have to talk about all the lives that depend on me to keep breathing?
Instead of psyching myself up with thoughts of what I’ll do to that bitch that stabbed me in the back and her brother, I’m stuck in my head with the thought of how many depend on me to keep kicking.
It’s a never-ending loop in my head.
Streaking across the street, I don’t get too far before I feel Sebastian right behind me.
The heat of his much larger body thaws the ice forming in my veins to a degree.
Not by much, but beggars can’t be choosers and all that.
The poor guy has come a long way from how he used to be the first time I saw him.
A centuries old vampire, making an effort.
If it wasn’t happening to me, I would’ve laughed.
As soon as the Guardians stationed all over the place notice our advance, all of them descend on the theater in a wave of black, their eyes glowing red on their faces resembling a pitch-black cloud full of monsters staring at you from the darkness.
The mages that are on the roof sound an alert to their friends down at the entrance, but it doesn’t alert more than those outside when their bodies are lifted in the air.
Arms flailing, they pirouette behind the jutting sign, the cracking sound of their necks breaking piercing the night.
Eshe jumps on the edge of the sign after killing everyone on the roof and steps off it, landing in a silent crouch.
All six of the mages that were using the trees for cover are dead, their bodies dragged to the sides by the time we reach the entrance of the theater.
A few of the Guardians spread out to stay behind in case anyone tries to escape, and after the doors are silently opened, we rush inside the building.
Shouts, shrill screams, and crashing starts immediately.
I’m a little taken by surprise by the amount of mages we find inside.
All ages, shapes, and colors, they spring to action when their wide eyes take us in.
Sebastian holds me back, letting the Guardians start the battle, and we have to dart around and roll away when streaks of magic lash out in the air.
They’ve gutted the inside, leaving only fold-out tables lining the walls and chairs sprinkled here and there.
So many of us pack inside that it’s a good thing we have room to maneuver around the balls of fire and electric whips thrown our way.
In the chaos, it’s hard to see all the faces, but I still crane my neck in hopes I’ll see Sara among them.
I don’t.
Sprays of blood arch through the air as if someone was chucking buckets of paint over everyone, and the stench of death follows, saturating the stifling air.
I breathe through my mouth so I can avoid the cloying sweet scent of magic that slaps me in the face.
Sebastian and Marcus struggle with it, too.
Eshe is already gone, weaving through people, her arms slashing and taking heads as she goes like she’s picking flowers in a field.
The mages might be taken by surprise, but they recover from it fast and scutter around, grouping up so they can effectively execute their assault.
The Guardians press harder, forcing them to take defense instead of attacking.
About half a dozen of them finally see the three of us, and they bolt in our direction, flames already forming in their palms.
My fangs punch out of my gums, throbbing in my mouth, and I feel my nails lengthening into claws just as they reach us.
A red haze blankets my vision, and I take one step in their direction before Sebastian shoves me away, a ball of fire passing an inch from my face.
Stumbling, I barely catch myself so I don’t land on my ass.
With a snarl, I pounce on the closest mage, wrapping my legs around his torso and sinking my fangs in his neck.
The mage goes down, taking me along with him, and his throat is ripped out before we finish the drop.
Jumping off him, my head whips around in search of the next.
A female mage runs for me screaming like a banshee, flinging an electric whip at my face.
Throwing myself to the side, I roll on the ground before stopping in a crouch.
She is still coming strong, two of her buddies opening a path for her by chucking fire after fire at everyone trying to stop their progression.
“Down,” Sebastian roars at me, and I duck just in time to avoid another lash of magic from behind me as it flies over my head, bringing the smell of burning hair to sear my nostrils.
“Get her out of here,” Sebastian snarls at Marcus, but if he thinks I’m going anywhere, he has another think coming.
I need to find Sara and Eddie before he actually does get a hold of me and drag me away. I might’ve convinced him to be okay with me fighting, but the moment my life is threatened, all his agreements, hums, and nodding go down the drain.
“Don’t even think about it.” Hissing at Marcus when he gets near, I punch the mage that wandered too close for his wellbeing, pulverizing his cheekbone and caving his face inward.
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” my friend assures me, moving around me with grace and speed one can only have from years of hand-to-hand combat.
It’s as beautiful as it is horrifying to watch, and he does it with a grin on his handsome face.
Like an elegant dance, only headless bodies are left in its wake.
I’m more of a brute of a girl if you ask me.
Having no form or elegance in my movements, let’s face it, I would rather run screaming before fighting anyone not long ago.
Turning immortal didn’t miraculously make me into a ninja, unfortunately.
My style is more of a feral, vicious animal, bloodthirsty and descending on the mages like a plague.
The fucking mages are multiplying in this building, and the more we kill, the more replace them.
Hunger opens a hole in my stomach, so I don’t mind having as many of them as I can get to kill, but some of the assholes started painting sigils on the walls, and Guardians begin to drop like flies when they get near them.
Kicking at the female mage when she finally gets close enough, I nail her in the hip, and she zaps through the air like a football over everyone’s heads, crashing into the opposite wall.
Reaching for the rage inside me but still keeping tight control of the darkness, I punch and kick my way closer to Sebastian, ripping a throat or two in the process.
Blood is dribbling down my chin and neck, soaking up my shirt.
It’s drenched and plastered to my chest, too warm on my chilled skin.
“We need someone to break those symbols,” I tell Sebastian when I press my back to his.
“What symbols?” Grabbing a mage by his throat, he flings him at the group of them a few feet away, taking them all down like bowling pins.
“Look at the walls.” Ducking under his arm when he spins, we switch places, the jerk not allowing me to get a hit.
He spins and dances around me, forming a wall of dead bodies knee-high around us.
“On it,” Marcus calls out, having come to join us without me noticing.
A scream is wrenched from me when fire ignites on my left shoulder blade, licking down all the way to the palm of my hand.
Sebastian thunders with an earsplitting roar and redoubles his efforts of disintegrating anyone dumb enough to be close by.
Watching what he was doing left me open, so I deserve the brain numbing pain I feel.
It heals as it burns, so I’m not worried about it.
Marcus is already halfway through one side, punching the wall like it’s made out of paper, successfully destroying whatever sigils the mages placed there.
Those that were lifeless on the ground around the symbols jump to their feet, joining the fight again.
He turns his head, searching for me, and when our eyes meet, he points at something over my head.
I follow the direction, turning my back to him as my eyes land on a set of stairs leading to a hallway.
All those new mages joining the fight are coming from there, running at us as I watch. And over their heads, my eyes zero in on one face that is standing still watching the bloodbath with detachment I’ve never seen on anyone in any of my lifetimes.
Sara.
“Got ya,” I spit out through clenched teeth and shove my way to join her. As I cut through the space between us, a plan starts forming in my head.
If I want to come out on top of this nightmare, I need to stop acting predictably. Sara knows me too well for anything I do to surprise her. But if I actually use my impulsiveness as a weapon, it may save many lives, including my own.
With each step, a clearer picture starts to form and a knot that was squeezing tight around my heart starts loosening.