Chapter 22

The instant I saw that colossal man barreling toward me, a string of white-hot dread weaved through my muscles, blazing a charred path straight to my gut, but there was no pain, only rage.

I'd had enough. I was done playing nice.

Images of me and my parents running down the mountain in Sedona as we were chased by those smoke-like beasts flamed in my mind. The images of the burning witch and the countless times I'd re-lived her death fueled my anger, followed by the bone queen with her golden eyes and deadly threats.

And Shadow's body being dragged away, CJ's lost eyes…

Oh heavens… CJ.

This was too much.

Too damn much.

Holding my breath, I let the white fire consume me, let it take up all the space inside my body until every fiber of my being was filled with it. Seconds ticked by, maybe minutes. I couldn't tell, but when I could no longer contain the fire, I let it burst out through my mouth, a scream erupting from the deepest recesses of my chest.

A high-pitched shriek pierced the night, the sound bouncing off the rooftops of the buildings. The men standing around me dropped to their knees, holding their heads, including Kane.

I didn't know what was happening, but whatever I'd done had immobilized them.

The helicopter spun out of control, the propeller coming awfully close to slicing my head off. I fell flat to the ground, my eyes widening as the chopper plummeted to the street below, tearing through the building as it dove several stories before crashing in a thunderous explosion.

I didn't have time to think. Instinct urged me to pick myself up from the ground. The pain in my foot burned, as well as the sting on my shoulder from where the bullet had grazed my flesh. But I fought through both as I limped toward the rooftop access door, slamming it shut behind me with my leg before trekking back down to my apartment.

I needed to find a way to get to Shadow and CJ.

A gentle whisper nudged me at the back of my skull. I couldn't decipher what it said, or who said it, but I didn't need to. I felt who… or better… what it was. What it needed.

Erelldyl. The small dagger was calling to me.

In the mayhem, I'd left it behind inside my messenger bag. I wasn't going to question how it was possible a dagger was speaking to me. At this point, after everything I'd seen and experienced in less than twenty-four hours, reality as I knew it was over. This was my new normal.

I was Avery Jaxson, a Spirit Marked witch who somehow controlled the elements, or at least one of them—barely. I had a shapeshifting guardian, and now had vampires, and apparently, other witches hunting me for heavens only knew why. Oh, and I could travel through time via dreams and pull magical objects through some realm that wasn't even physical.

Yeah, that pretty much summed up my super fantastical fucked-up new reality.

And now I had to figure out how to rescue my friends.

The witch's warning flashed in my head. Perhaps sending that helicopter nosediving into the middle of the street hadn't been the wisest idea—especially since she'd threatened to hurt them if I pulled some stunt. But crashing the chopper had never been my intention. I'd merely reacted. And that was my biggest problem. I had no control over my power and people kept getting hurt because of me.

Fuck. In trying to escape from Kane, I'd dug myself deeper in this shithole.

I had to hope she wouldn't hurt them. That somehow her need for my power would outweigh her need to prove she hadn't been bluffing. She'd gone through a great deal of trouble to capture me.

Bile rose up my throat.

Heavens help her if she hurts them.

Because if she so much as scratched them, then whatever I'd done to those vampires would look like child's play compared to what I'd do to her.

Then, an uncomfortable prickle danced on my neck as I recalled the coldness in her violet eyes. That bitch didn't seem like the kind to make empty threats, and I could envision her torturing Shadow and CJ to get me to comply. That prickle scaled down my back.

I wanted to pretend I was so tough, that I could march up to her and demand she give me back my friends, but the truth was a harsh reality.

I'd frozen in place when they'd taken Shadow. I could have unleashed the fury inside my veins, yet I'd sat there and watched them shackle him. Saw them drag him away while I did nothing to stop them. What kind of friend was I really, if not a coward?

Fisting my hands and digging in my heels wasn't going to get my friends back. That witch also had powers and was clearly trained. Plus, she had people, helicopters.

I was a nobody. I had no minions of my own, no guns or bazookas. I barely knew how to use my so-called gifts.

The only thing I had was myself. Which was why I possessed zero choice but to run back into the enemy's hands. I had to turn myself over to her in exchange for their safety—it was the only way. I'd figure out how to escape after. I'd not become the most notorious runway in the state of Arizona for nothing.

It was a simple and no doubt a stupid-ass plan, but I had nothing else.

I needed to go back to Requiem and hand myself over on a gilded platter.

Chaos welcomed me as I made it to my floor. Residents were rammed into the stairway as people looked to escape the building. The helicopter had chomped through one side of the building before exploding on the street.

Damn me. What if there had been people on the street? Or what if it tore through someone's apartment on its way down? Had I done it again? Hurt innocent people, possibly killed someone?

My chest constricted, knees growing weak as I thought about my carelessness. I'd been so consumed by rage I'd not cared about the collateral damage. All I'd wanted at that moment was to hurt the people who had hurt me…who sought to capture me.

Pushing my way through the people blocking the doorway, I spilled into the hallway, a hand flying to my mouth as I took in the destruction. The floor tiles were cracked, along with sections of the walls and ceiling. Looked like the building would tear in half soon.

Had the explosion caused this?

I winced in pain as I carefully stepped barefoot over shards of glass and broken plaster. When I made it to my apartment, a burning ache settled in my stomach. Lips quivering, I held back a deluge of tears as I looked around the tiny space I'd learned to call home.

Even though I'd witnessed it be torn apart, somehow, now that I stood at the entrance alone, the reality of what'd happened smashed through me like an avalanche crushing through an evergreen forest.

I trembled. In one night, I'd lost everything. My home and those I cared about had been taken from me once again.

The wintry February gale blew through the broken windows, summoning goosebumps and shivers over my skin. Furniture lay tossed over or crushed; my possessions, while not much, were strewn around the room like garbage.

And my drafting table…

I fell to my knees. It lay in shambles, the wood splintered straight down the middle from someone taking a fall right through it. My life's work, every drawing… gone.

The sound of my heart shattering overpowered the indistinguishable chatter of people scrambling to get out of the building. Even the sound of emergency sirens blaring felt worlds away.

I'd worked so hard to build something that was mine. To prove to myself I could do it on my own. That I didn't really need anyone to survive. And now it was all gone.

My home was gone.

And the people I cared about…

I'd failed to protect them.

Unable to staunch the tears any longer, I let them stream down my face. I let all my anguish pour out of me. Let it drown me.

‘You're stronger than this. Get up. Now'.

The voice inside my head snapped me out of my stupor. "Shadow?" I said out loud, wiping at the wet streaks on my face.

‘There isn't much time. The others will come, but you can't let the witches capture you.'

"The others? What are you talking about?"

‘Guardians. To awaken the rest of your powers.'

Springing to my feet, I searched for my boots among the mess littering the floor. "Where are you?" I demanded, not registering anything else he'd said. If he could reach my thoughts, he had to be close by. Maybe he was still inside the building. "I can come get you."

‘It's too late for me. You must find a safe place.' His voice trailed off and terror crashed into me.

"Shadow?"

Silence.

"No. No. No." Giving up on finding my boots, I reached for a pair of flip-flops. I slid my feet inside them, then dug my messenger bag out from under a fallen dresser.

Quickly checking that Erelldyl was still inside, I sighed a breath of relief when my hand folded around the hilt. A surge of energy traveled up my arm, filling me with a sense of peace, as if a part of me that had been missing had found its way back to me.

Shadow had said this little dagger was special, that it possessed great power. Well, time to put it to the test.

Leaving my tears and sadness behind in the rubble, I rushed out of my studio, determined to kick some ass and find my friends. But the instant I set foot out in the hallway a sheet of ice draped over my skin. Coming through the fire door were three men dressed all in black.

Come on. Seriously?

Faces smeared with blood, Kane and his two companions looked like they'd been through Hades and back. After what I'd done to them on the rooftop, it was no surprise they stared at me with murderous eyes.

Something told me these vampires had a different agenda than the witch who'd taken Shadow. If I had any chance of getting my friends back, I couldn't let Kane and his minions put their nasty paws on me.

And as far as I knew, I only had two options. I could try my luck at fighting off three vampires with nothing but my magical dagger—that I had no clue how to use—or let my nifty new ability explode out of me again, but then I might hurt people still lingering inside the building.

Or…

Pursing my lips, I glanced to my side and bit down on my teeth. Okay, so there were three possible options. But number three was my least favorite… by a long shot.

The birdcage.

I'd swore I'd never set foot inside that death trap again, but right now it seemed it was the only probable way out of this stalemate without getting captured by the wrong vampires, especially when those vampires took off after me in a sprint that looked more like a blur of lightning.

Shit.

Without a chance to talk myself out of this stupid idea, I jumped into the birdcage across from my apartment and locked the door at the same time the vampires reached me.

"Fuck!" Kane banged on the bars, practically denting them as he tried to force himself inside.

I lurched back, managing to press the button for the lobby.

His ocean blue eyes darkened to pools of black, his square jaw hard and brutal as he cursed. I flinched as one of his companions raised a gun, but Kane ordered him to lower his weapon.

The blond warrior snarled as he watched me descend.

I smirked and flipped him the bird. He grinned back with a humorless smile, fangs gleaming white and so damn pointy they made my bones shudder. As the birdcage lowered out of view, I caught a last glimpse of the vampires as they disappeared in another blur of bodies.

Blooming hell.

They could probably descend to the lobby faster than the elevator. Pressing the emergency button, I forced the damn birdcage to a creaking stop on the second floor, the scraping metal echoing down the hall. This stupid elevator had no clue how to be inconspicuous—not to mention that it stopped in between floors.

Prying the door open, I managed to pull myself up and over the opening of the elevator and onto the second floor. The hall was empty of people. Seemed everyone had evacuated already.

Thank goodness.

If I remembered correctly, Hank Tortorella, the superintendent, lived in the apartment at the end of the hall. His living room windows faced the back of the building. I could use his fire escape to sneak out the back.

Flip-flops slapping on the tiles, I limp-ran to his apartment, pounding on this door. When no one answered, I turned the knob, smiling when the door opened.

As I reached his living room window, my mind searched for Shadow, but all I received in return was silence.

Dammit.

Pulling the window open, I climbed out onto the fire escape. The brutal winter air hit my face like a storm of icicles. I hadn't felt the cold this bad when up on the roof, perhaps due to all the adrenaline, but now the full force of the bitter cold ripped at my skin like a savage beast. Fingers burned as I grabbed the frozen metal railing and climbed down.

Teeth clattering, I wondered how long I would make it without a coat. All I wore was a pair of leggings and an oversized sweater.

As I stepped off the last rung, a flash of warmth wafted toward me. The fire from the explosion still blazed so hot it reached behind the building. I peeked over the side. Emergency vehicles had finally arrived. Paramedics were assisting people who appeared to be injured while firefighters began putting out the flames.

That was my cue to go.

Turing the opposite way, my flip-flops slid on the slick ground as I ran down the alleyways and courtyards of the surrounding buildings. The freezing temperature had numbed the pain from the cut on my foot, but now my exposed toes throbbed like a mother from the icy burn of the snow. A pin-needling sensation also attacked my fingertips, nose, and ears.

When I finally reached the sidewalk on the opposite end, I leaned against the side of a brownstone and hunched over, needing to catch my breath. The freezing air stung my lungs with each gasp. The gash on my shoulder still bled, blood soaking the entire left side of my sleeve and dripping off my hand.

A deep, burning soreness sunk into my arm and I could barely move it without pain shooting across my shoulder blades. I gently pushed off the building, but my head spun. I was disoriented, and uncontrollable shivering overtook my body—not sure if from the cold or potential blood loss. Maybe it was from the utter craziness of the night, but I struggled to stay upright.

Refusing to succumb to another blackout, I willed myself to keep going. I needed to get to Requiem before that witch could hurt my friends. Grunting, I managed to make it to the crosswalk, but as I looked up and down the street trying to orient myself, a black sports bike came to a smoking halt in front of me, nearly knocking me backward.

A female rider dressed in all black leather unsaddled the bike faster than I could blink. Unsheathing a sleek sword from her back, she pointed it straight at my throat.

Stunned and unable to unglue my eyes from the blade, I didn't move as she took off her helmet with her free hand. A halo of bleach blonde, short-cropped hair framed a sharp-edged face. Light green eyes thinned over me as she smirked. "Heading somewhere, luv?"

Sight going fuzzy, I wobbled a bit. "Who…who are you?"

"The better question is, who are you?"

Before I could think of a reply, she looked over my shoulder. "You boys owe me a drink."

Poking beneath her pouty lips were two sharp fangs glinting under the gleam of the streetlamp. Took me two seconds to realize my mistake. By the time I spun around to look behind me, it was too late. Someone wrapped an iron-like arm around my neck.

I thought about the one defense class CJ had forced me to take, but that served no purpose because I had zero strength left in me, and it took less than half a second for my world to fade to black.