Chapter Thirteen #2
My body was on fire. I felt like my skin was melting from my bones.
Each sting was a new ember on the pyre that was my broken, exhausted body.
But still I kept swinging. I heard howls off in the distance, but it was the screams that would haunt me for years to come.
I thought it was the wolves at first, but then I realized whose screams ripped through the air.
They were my screams.
The buzzing from the bees had morphed into a windstorm, but it was my screams that shook the trees.
My screams that darkened the sky. My screams that sounded like what the humans called hell.
My screams echoed around the forest, and bounced off the trees back to me, creating an echoing chamber of terror and desperation.
I was being tortured, but I couldn’t stop.
If I stopped, Rick died. And I couldn’t let down his little girl.
Her face was the only thing that kept me swinging.
Tiny larvaes were falling like acorns around me as I attacked the hive.
Their tiny bodies hitting the ground sounded like a soft rain.
The bees kept stinging; I kept swinging until I saw her.
The queen.
She was three times the size of her drones, and her stinger looked to be as long as my middle finger.
Her wings looked too weak to hold her up, thank the Goddess.
She vibrated angrily at me as I took aim.
I swung the stick, and I was stung ten times at once.
I dropped to my knees. My blood had turned to molten metal in my veins.
I screamed so loud my jaw cracked. The burning pain was blinding, but the energy that came with it was like a match.
It ignited the surrounding air. My body, my magic, my life had whittled down to the white hot pain.
My skin must have burned away, leaving the muscle open because every breeze felt like knives.
The hive was swarming around me, pulling in tighter and tighter, trying to kill me.
But they underestimated how much power I can take in.
I screamed again as a bee stung me in the eye.
I had thought I knew pain, but that one made my brain shut down for a minute.
The fire under my skin was building, and I didn’t know how I was going to release it.
“Amy!” I heard Nix call, but I was burning.
I could only scream. “Release it!” Release it?
Release what? All I had was fire. I tried to open my eyes, but only one opened.
I could see a tired Nix, welted and limping at the edge of the clearing through the gaps between the bees.
Megan, I could only assume, was still running with Rick’s wolf.
I couldn’t tell. Their pain had faded as mine took over.
That thought cleared my mind for a second.
My wolves were in pain. Nix caught my gaze. “Release the fire.” She screamed at me.
“I can’t.” I screamed back. More bees found bits of flesh to sting but the pain was starting to dissipate. It was as if my body was stripped bare, nerves burned away.
“Yes, you can. You have the ability to do anything. You have two wolves, you have magic, and you are the strongest person I have ever met. You can do anything.” Nix reassured me.
I could see her wince at every sting, but she was able to stand still, and I didn’t see how.
She must have seen the confusion on my face, because she called out.
“You shut down our link. You are keeping most of the pain away from us. Just let it out.”
“I don’t know how.” I cried back, frustration and pain warring in my system.
“Burn Amy, burn it all.” She yelled, and that flipped the switch.
Between one breath and another, the fire that was under my skin exploded from my lips.
The scream that had built behind my teeth turned into a column of fire that ignited the bees and the nest alike.
Bodies fell, the nest flaked away, and the queen caught on fire.
Vince’s voice reached my ears past the burning.
“What do you mean you can’t reach Rick? How is this fucking possible?” There was a pause. “NO!” His voice faded as the nest burned away.
I dropped like a sack of potatoes. The remaining bees that had somehow survived were still dive-bombing me, but their stings barely registered anymore. Nix came over and she nudged herself under me. Once she was sure I was secure, she ran.
“Baby?” I felt a cool cloth on my forehead.
I wanted to answer, but nothing would work.
My body was frozen in place, my skin was still hot to the touch, my mouth was dry, and my eyes were swollen.
“I’m here.” I felt my mother wiping me down, the cooling cloth bringing a bit of peace.
“That’s my girl. You have to finish this. We don’t know how to. Wake up, baby.”
“Here.” I felt something press to my lips, and then cold water trickled down my throat. Instinctively, I swallowed a mouthful. And then another. The relief was instant, and I moaned, greedily drinking more water down.
“Baby, I know you’re tired, but you need to finish the ritual with Rick.” She was being nice, but I could hear the panic just below the surface.
I cracked an eye and had to blink a few times before I could see clearly enough to make out her face. “Mom?” She nodded.
“You have done so good, baby, but you have to finish it.” She rubbed the cool cloth over my face, waking me up a little more. I blinked a few more times and then nodded.
“I’m okay.” I sighed as she dropped me back to my feet.
“I can finish.” I wobbled on my weak legs for a second before I locked my knees.
I waved off my mom and Toya. I took a deep breath before I turned to face Rick.
“Okay, Rick.” I grabbed the knife with one hand and pressed down with the other.
The knife slipped out easily, and I slammed power into Rick.
“I command you to heal.” There was no question in my words.
No give. He had to heal. Because if he didn’t, he would die.
There was nothing for a few seconds, and I started to worry that his wolf was too weak to heal his body when Shelly leaned over to his ear.
“You better do as Amy told you to do, or else I’m going to be so fucking pissed off at you.
” She was silently crying, but still she was on him.
“You better believe if I have to raise our pup alone, I am going to track your ass down when I die. You don’t get to leave.
Do you hear me? You better heal yourself, you selfish bastard, or I will curse you every day and make sure Abby grows up to love fruit cake. ”
The skin on his neck started to knit together, and everyone held their breath. I pushed more and more power into Rick, giving his weak body the boost he needed to heal and come back. Finally, after much too long, he took a deep breath, and his eyes fluttered open.
“You wouldn’t dare give our girl fruit cake.” His words were soft, but Shelly broke down into tears.
“You are damn right I would have, just to spite you.” She leaned in and kissed Rick’s lips over and over. “You asshole. You scared me.”
My mom looked over at everyone. “I think it’s time for bed.” Alannah and Ternen nodded. My mom picked me up, like I was still a child. “Toya, can you show the couple to your bedroom? I’ll take Amy upstairs. Shelly…are you okay to help your mate?”
Shelly looked up and nodded. “Yeah. We will be fine down here.”
My mom smiled. “Good. We will all see each other in the morning, and we can talk all about what happened today.” Everyone nodded. Then she turned and started up the stairs. “Goodnight.”
We walked past Wendy, who was watching over the girls, and Lynn, who stepped out just to nod. “Goodnight Luna.”
My mom smiled and kissed Lynn’s cheek. “Goodnight, sweet girl. Remember…”
Lynn nodded. “He can’t hurt me ever again.” She gave a ghost of a smile. “I know.”
“But you will feel better when he’s dead.” Lynn nodded once, then went back to her room.
My mom closed the door behind us, and she looked down at me. “Bed or bath first?”
I sighed. On one hand, I wanted to sleep, but on the other, I was covered in sweat and probably worse. “Bath.” I sighed.
“Okay.” She put me down on the counter and started the water. “I know you had to do what you did because of who you are. But never do that to me again.” She turned to me, and her eyes grew misty. “You scared the shit out of me, Amy.”
“I’m sorry.” I leaned against the mirror. “But-”
“But you couldn’t not save him.” She finished.
“Yeah…”
“You know you can’t save everyone.” She turned off the water and lifted me over to the tub.
“I couldn’t save Carl.” I looked away from her eyes. “But I could save Rick for Abby.”
She watched me for a few minutes before she kissed me. “Call me when you’re done.” She pulled a few towels to the side with my robe. Then she left me alone.