Chapter 10 Ezra #2
He darts into my vision and snatches several feathers from the gruesome elf. This time, I know what’s coming. I can see the rage and intent in Treznor’s eyes, never mind the fact he can’t help but telegraph exactly what he’s going to do.
I clench my jaw and stare at the ceiling above.
Tears leak out of the corners of my eyes.
That’s when my mind seems to drift out of my body, tuning out the sickening sounds of Treznor stabbing another feather into my chest. Then one into my arm and thigh.
I feel them through the haze as white-hot pinpricks.
He’s going to kill me. There won’t be a chance to get free. Because he means to kill me now, regardless of getting the answers he wants.
A loud thud punctures the haze. I’m not the only one who hears it. Treznor leans over me, clenching the shaft of a feather, and frowns at something off to my left.
I turn my head and see the same doors Farid was dragged through earlier. Only, it looks like something has tried to come through the door with the way the metal is stretched and bulging.
Metal squeals and something pops. Then, the door seems to levitate toward us. One hinge swings back and forth before the bolt pings to the ground.
“What are you doing?” a very familiar, female voice whisper-yells.
“What?” another very familiar, male voice whisper-yells back.
The door pivots, and I see Vyslan’s profile. His hands are in the door.
“That’s not how doors work. What are you doing?” Gracie hisses.
“Wait…” Vyslan looks at the door then back at her. “I forgot how doors work…”
“Get over here now,” a deeper male voice commands. The sound of it is jarring.
I know that voice, too. What the fuck is he doing here?
“We talked about this,” Gracie continues. “We’re supposed to be sneaky. Remember?”
Vyslan nods. “Oh. Right. Sneaky. Very sneaky.”
He then turns and walks back to the doorway, but misses the frame.
The metal door clangs into the wall. He draws his elbows back, biceps bulging, and then slams the door against the frame again.
The corner on one side gives, dog-earing the door, while it’s the stone frame on the other side that loses the battle.
A chunk of stone falls to the ground. Finally, Vyslan turns sideways and eases through the opening.
“What the fuck was that?” the liche lady demands. “Where is óengus?”
Treznor’s nails dig into my chest. “Intruders. Interlopers. Invaders. How dare you!”
The elf reaches down and frees some sort of bone-made blade. He throws his head back and snarls with animalistic rage. Green things sprout from the wooden adornments on his shoulders, wrapping down his arms and legs, forming a type of living armor.
Two shadows solidify into two vampires between the doors and me.
“Go team!” I hear Vyslan cry out.
“No, run,” I try to say, but my voice is too quiet. I choke out a sob and finally shout, “Run!”
At the same moment I shout, the liche lady waves her hands.
What I’d taken as piles of rubble start to clink and pull together, forming a bone golem.
Femurs form barrel-like legs and arms. Rib bones stack atop rib bones to form the chest. Jawbones rattle together as they begin to craft the head, giving the creature a visage from nightmares.
Suddenly, flames erupt from under the golem. The smaller rib bones begin to disintegrate immediately into plumes of ash.
Vyslan’s hellfire.
The liche lady screams, patting her face and staggering back, out of my field of vision.
“Get them!” Treznor demands.
The two vampires and the elf rush forward.
This can’t be happening. How could Vylsan bring Gracie here? And why is Puck with them?
The lights around the room flicker. Somewhere a speaker crackles followed by an earsplitting shriek before the sound of a horn blares over an unmistakable beat before the words, “we like to party,” are chanted over and over again to a manically cheerful electronic beat some might call music.
The sound is so loud it makes my vision blur.
A scream rips through the noise. My gut tightens, and fear clogs my throat.
Gracie.
Except, it’s one of the vampires that goes flying back through the air to slam into a wall.
The fight spills into the room, spreading to every corner, it seems.
Vyslan has his hand wrapped around the other thrall-vampire-guy as flames travel down his arm. But his attention is on the elf, hacking at him with the bone sword.
Puck, another fae, and a guy I don’t recognize have closed-ranks around Gracie.
The two I don’t recognize stand shoulder to shoulder facing the door they came through. Fire belches through the opening, parting around a shimmering dome while Puck keeps Gracie behind him.
They’re going to get slaughtered. They came all this way. For me! And they’ll die.
“A witch! A witch! A witch!” Treznor chants with glee.
“No!” I shout.
But it’s too late.
Treznor zips around the table and rushes toward the unfolding fight.
Puck never sees him coming.
One moment, Puck has Gracie safely tucked behind him. The next, Treznor has her by the throat, legs kicking in the air.
It feels like it’s my heart getting ripped into pieces. Gracie has been through enough. She doesn’t deserve this. She should never have to fight my battle for me. But here she is. That damn heart of hers is too caring. Too loving. And it’s going to get her killed.
Through the despair, rage bubbles forth. My vision hazes red with bloodlust.
The liche lady’s arm slams over me, but I hardly feel it. I lift my arms, yanking the feathers out of the table. Reaching up, I grab her by the elbow and wrist, then I twist. The bones crunch and grind together. She shouts in pain, but I’m already shoving her aside.
Gracie. I have to get to her. I must protect my witch.
I sit up, ignoring the way most of the feathers drag through me and out the other side. The one in my arm I yank out and toss on the ground. The moment I’m free of their tainted presence, strength returns to my limbs.
My legs tense and I leap up, the last of my sanity snapping as Treznor gives Gracie a shake, like she’s a rag doll. Puck is too busy grappling with what looks like a shadow to come to her aid.
What were they thinking?
My righteous fury fuels me as I streak across the room.
I’ll only get one shot at Treznor. One chance to get the better of him. I have to make it count.
I haul back, putting every ounce of strength into my arm as I close the distance. Then I let it fly, punching the older vampire in the chest. I just need to get him away from her. A little distance. Enough room for her to get to safety.
My fist meets ancient flesh and brittle bone. But instead of a solid surface, my knuckles punch straight through. Wetness coats my hand as I stumble forward, pushing my fist out the other side of his body.
Treznor loses his grip on Gracie, and she drops to her feet, then her knees.
Around us, the fighting stops.
Treznor and I blink at each other.
I can feel the fluttering of what’s left of his heart against my forearm as his blood pumps out through the wound.
Any second he’s going to retaliate.
I have to stop him.
For Gracie.
My left hand shoots up, and I grab him by the throat. But it’s like fisting silly putty. His head gets farther from his shoulders until the fibers are too thin to support it…