Chapter 19

ARIA

Fumbling with the clasp on my dress, I blow my hair out of my eyes, leaning over at an awkward angle to try and get the stubborn thing to close. What am I doing? My gifts work now.

Dropping the clasp with my hands, I use my gifts to finish doing up the impossible thing. Once I feel it fall into place, I look into the mirror and feel the tears in my eyes.

"Absolutely stunning," Mom says as she walks in, her own tears already falling as I turn to smile at her.

I glance down at the black lace dress that has violet trim and various other purplish accents. "I can't believe we're doing this." Yeah, I'm beaming.

She comes to push my hair back, and then she pulls a beautiful, black sparrow hair pin out of her own hair and puts it into mine. I can't help but grin when her smile grows and her eyes gloss over even more.

"Your dad would have loved to have seen this."

I laugh a little while dabbing my tears delicately with a tissue. "No he wouldn't have. He might have killed Jase by now. Or Kellan. Or both."

We both snicker softly just as Uncle Brazen walks in. I've been around him for a long time, and I've never seen him spill tears like he is right now. Mom and I both laugh a little harder, and he rolls his eyes.

"Shut up. I had a fight with an onion. Nothing else," he lies, wiping his face very indignantly, and Mom goes to brush her lips against his.

My eyes move back to the mirror, and I stare at the girl with violet eyes who no longer has to hide who she is; the girl who finally has the man she loves; and the girl whose gifts have finally come back. Speaking of gifts, I need to figure out a way to unblock Rex's visions. If we could see Alice coming, that would sure be a hell of a lot better than trying to—

"Whatever you're thinking that is making you frown like that, stop thinking it. It's your wedding day. You get one day where everyone but you can deal with the drama," Mom lightly scolds, narrowing her gaze.

It's a little unnerving. On her fist wedding day, she was kidnapped. I need to hurry up and get down the aisle.

"My parents are already here, and of course they're eager to see you," Uncle Brazen says to me, grinning as Mom groans. That makes me smile.

"Rex is waiting outside the door to walk you down the aisle whenever you're ready." Mom smiles at me before rushing to hug me a little too tightly, and then she and Uncle Brazen walk out hand in hand.

My wedding.

"Ready?" Rex asks through the door, clearing his throat when his voice breaks.

Aww. My brother is apparently losing some of his badass right now.

"Yeah." My breath knots in my throat as I make my way out the door. I don't care who tries to stop us, I'm so not going with them and risking getting taken away on my wedding day.

"Aria?" a small voice asks, and I turn to face a familiar face.

It's one of Jase's numerous secretaries.

"Yes?" I muse, tightening my grip on Rex.

"Commander Ericson already signed his paperwork for the wedding procession, but you haven't. It'll only take a couple of seconds. Could you come with me to the—"

"No!" Rex and I yell in unison, recoiling from her like she's the grim reaper.

Her eyes widen, and she takes a step back. "O…kay… It can wait until after the ceremony. I just thought you might want to get it out of the way."

She warily walks backwards, almost as though she's scared to turn her back on us, and Rex snickers softly while guiding me toward the center of the compound where the courtyard has been turned into a paradise of black and violet roses.

"It's beautiful," I whisper in a reverent breath.

Even though I can't see Jase because of all the people standing in my way, I feel him from here. He's as eager for this to happen as I am, and that alone makes me smile.

Stone pavers guide the way in the L-shaped path to the main aisle, and rows and rows of uniformed officials smile while wearing their best attires. The black arches line the way, dressed in the same roses as everything else. The dusky sky is trying to lay the tired sun to rest, creating the perfect blend of night and day as the background canvas to my wedding.

I can't believe he did all this within just a few hours. How?

Apparently people will do anything at all to please the commander, because they managed to pull off my dream wedding. The only way this could be better is if it was at Seminole.

When we round the corner, my eyes lock with the man at the end of the aisle, and all else fades. His smile grows with every step I take, and I forget Rex is even attached to me until he says something to the Captain of the compound—who happens to be the man wedding us.

Jase takes my hand, and nothing else exists. When he nudges me, I realize I'm supposed to answer, so I absently murmur an, "I do."

He chuckles softly while echoing my answer. Something presses onto my finger, joining my engagement ring, and Simone hands me a ring that I robotically slip onto Jase's finger. I'm too transfixed to even gauge any of my actions, until lips are suddenly on mine, promising me we just tied ourselves to each other.

I was so lost in him that I managed to miss my own wedding. Christ.

"I love you," he says against my lips as I kiss him harder, tangling my fingers in his hair as his rough grip on my waist gets even more possessive.

His tongue becomes a hot, demanding tool of seduction inside my mouth, and I moan loudly while pressing my body against his. Several throat-clearings and obnoxious coughs mingle with snickers, and Jase grins against my lips before breaking the kiss.

"Let's go cut our cake and enjoy our wedding night. We only have a few hours before we have to break back into the real world," he says softly, reminding me that there are real dangers out there we have to deal with.

Everyone stands, claps, and cheers as we walk down the aisle. I'm holding onto Jase's arm like I can never let go again. It's surreal. Even if our moment is brief, I refuse to let the outside world rain on our night together.

"One night of nothing but this," I say to him, knowing he has duties that are far more important than his wife.

Wife. Damn, now I'm smiling like an idiot.

Looking over, I see his stupid grin matching mine, and I know he just read my mind.

"Yes. Nothing but one night of loving my wife."

And now my damn cheeks hurt because I'm smiling like an idiot without any self-control. Great.

"Dance with me?" he asks, ignoring the red flashes of the cameras and the black champagne fizzing free.

"Love to," I say while leaning into him and absorbing his sex and candy scent.

"You smell edible, Mrs. Ericson."

Still grinning like a fool, I pull him closer. "Then I guess you can skip the cake and I can be dessert."

Before he can say anything, the ground starts vibrating beneath us, growing in viciousness as things begin to clamber around and fall from their perches. Jase holds me to him as the champagne fountain spills the black fizzing bubbles to the ground, the fountain shattering and clanking as it collapses to the stones.

"What the hell?" Rex asks when he's forced to stagger against the ground that seems to only be moving harder. He grabs Melania and tucks her into his embrace, protecting her from the unexplained.

"It's too fucking long for an earthquake," Jase says, tugging me against his side as he heads toward the gates. "Man the towers. Prepare the grenade launchers and flame throwers! And get the children and civilians into the escape tunnels," he yells over his shoulder to no one in particular.

The loud sirens start wailing, sounding the alarm and terrifying the natives. I really hope this is just some terrible natural earthquake, but considering it's only getting stronger, and it's like the thundering catastrophe is never going to stop, I'm assuming this is gifted hybrid related. Shit.

"Where are we going?" I ask, feeling the knots in my stomach as the walls start moving with the ground. That's not good.

"Shit," Jase groans. "Forget the towers. Get the tanks and get outside the walls once the civilians are out!"

That answers my question seconds before he throws his hands out and blows the very large, steel doors off their hinges with his fire that seems to have gotten stronger. Son of a bitch. Those doors should have withstood that strike. They're built to withstand some of the greatest powers. Even Mom couldn't have done something that effortlessly.

"I'm surprised as you, but be impressed later, baby," he says, reminding me he can't block out my thoughts. I apparently suck at blocking him out these days.

When we get outside, there's nothing but a dark wooded area staring at us, even though the ground is still violently quaking.

"Vests, Commander," one man says, handing Jase and me armored vests that we both start strapping on.

Another guy walks up to hand us two pistols. I pop the magazine to check and make sure it's loaded, and then I snap it back into place while we wait.

It's my wedding day, and I'm wearing a heavy, bulletproof vest and holding a gun on an unseen force. Fucking perfect reception.

"I know," Jase grumbles, cursing under his breath when he hears my mind's sarcastic comment.

I frown when I realize I'm only adding to his stress, and I focus really hard on keeping my mind shut off from his as I carefully scan the shaky surroundings. Then my heart plummets to my toes when I see something that brings an onslaught of chills onto my body.

"Holy shit," I hear someone spew.

The trees bow, crack, and crash to the ground, revealing a destructive opening to a sea of violet eyes. There's no way all of these are true emergent hybrids, and I get sick when Captain Fricks's words come back to me.

I'm worried that with your blood mixing with her own, she might be successful in achieving the impossible. If that happens, the only ones who will be left standing will be their group.

She sure as hell has my blood, and I've been so concentrated on her healing herself with it, that I forgot she needed it for more than just her own needs.

"Jase," I whisper in warning.

"I know. Fuck. Fall back!" he yells, but he takes a step forward just as a bald hybrid with violet eyes steps up. He smirks, and the snake tattoo decorating his head moves to the other side of his face and slithers down his neck.

Oh that's so freaky.

The ground starts to move and shift even more, forcing us to stumble, and I trip over the hem of my dress as I try to line up my first shot.

Fuck the gun.

"Get down!" Mom yells seconds before she unleashes hell.

A powerful blast erupts from the palm of her hand, barely missing Jase when he hesitates to drop. I hop up and run behind the powerful blast that slams into the front line of the army that has come for us.

The bald headed man yells loudly, and my eyes almost pop out when Mom's blast of power fades into nothing before it can do all the damage it could have. It misses him completely, and that's when I notice the scar that slithers from his lip to his chin, and flows into the open neckline of his shirt.

When the bald, snake-headed guy laughs, more chills consume me.

"That's not good," Jase says under his breath, slinging his fire out like a barricade when their others start launching massive strikes of various powers.

That's when all hell breaks loose. In less than a second, their army has descended on us, and the smell of blood coats the air. Frantically, I swing out my arms, pushing my power out, but the fight is so congested that I can't use too much of my gift for fear of hurting someone unintentionally.

"Jase!" I yell when I don't see any fire flaming around.

"I'm fine! Work your way toward the middle! It's too damn tight for me to use my gift without fucking someone up by mistake."

Blurs of swinging arms and rupturing powers are all buzzing around me. No humans. All of these are genetically altered hybrids with a thirst for blood. Alice's thirst for my blood.

Rex cries out, and my heart thunders in my chest. That's his tell. He's about to go savage, and in this cluster fuck, someone from our side is bound to be in the wrong spot at the wrong time.

"Mom! Rex!" I yell while dodging, kicking, and doing all I can to break free from the pack and find my way to my brother and Jase. They flooded us on purpose just so they could separate us and keep our strongest powers at bay.

"Rex!" I hear Mel screaming just as a cry of pain hits my ears.

No. No. No.

"Mel!" Jase yells frantically just as she screams, proving she's hurting as well.

Blood mars my vision as I start using my new strength, grabbing the throats of the false emergent hybrids and viciously ripping them out. My body takes several hits, but I barely feel the scrapes of small scratches instead of the devastating blows they are delivering.

Mom yelps just before calling out Uncle Brazen's name. I hear more and more of my family as their pained cries ring out. Kellan's purple streaks of fury slice by me, possibly saving my life when he takes out two hybrids that were dangerously close to taking my head. He rushes through the crowd, his sights aimed on the girl lying on the ground as he mercilessly shreds through the many.

Simone. Shit.

She looks up to meet my eyes, and mouths, "Get out of here."

She's crazy. I can't leave them.

My blood starts burning, promising me my savage is in reach. But I have to deny it. It'll only make things worse and possibly kill my own family. I can't get trapped inside my own mind again, because there are too many lives at stake.

Kellan grabs Simone by the waist just as Uncle Grayson's power lashes out, incinerating a line of the hybrids. Or it should have incinerated them.

I watch in disbelief as the men Uncle Grayson just hit with his powerful blast keep walking through the mess. They've lost their clothes amongst the burning inferno, and their skin is charred, but they're upright and still stalking toward us.

"Aria! You have to get out of here before they take you!"

Like hell I'll get out of here and leave everyone else to be slaughtered. They want my blood. I dare them to try and take it from me.

It's so hard to see each and every person, but when my savage was in control, she used my empathic power as an offensive weapon. She fed off their fears, their terror, and their pain. I just have to force my people to retreat.

I reach out with my senses, tasting the fear and the need for self-preservation from both sides. A divide happens almost instantly, each side backing into retreat, but I don't know how long I can keep them divided.

The small bit of space offers our men the chance to fire rapidly, and I throw out more power.

Jase, please get out of here. I'm close to losing it.

He doesn't respond, and my heart drops to my toes.

"Get the hell back!" I hear him yelling at last, but I feel him coming toward me instead of going with the others.

Can't he ever do a single damn thing I ask him to?

The ground starts vibrating again, but this time, it's not the other hybrid doing it. The bald man on top of my mother is taunting her, keeping his hand around her throat, while a metal net courses with electricity and binds her.

My eyes widen as Uncle Brazen crawls on his elbows, trying his best to get to her, but his legs are in shambles, making it impossible for him to walk. Mom's tears slip out as she suffers in silence, refusing to call for help or even alert anyone to her distress.

Fire blazes by me just as I throw my arms out, and my power combined with Jase's forces the bald, snaky freak to fall backwards. With a flick of my wrist, the netting falls off, and Mom sucks in air like she can't get enough. Just as she starts crawling to Uncle Brazen, she cries out, grabbing her side as a major gash appears and blood spurts out.

The bald man blurs to her, completely ignoring me. They're not here for me; this is about Mom.

I charge toward them, running fast as the dress I'm wearing tears more and more.

"Your mother sends her fucking hello," he growls before slamming his vibrating fists down.

Barely in time, I dive over her and my body absorbs the shockwaves of the hellacious impact. I feel a snap inside me, but the pain barely registers before I throw my arms around him and jerk him to the ground.

He struggles under me as I clutch his head between my hands. My twisted grin is just as sadistic as my savage's, because this time I'm the one relishing fear. His fear. I'm sick of being afraid.

"Bitch," he growls, continuing to struggle in vain. "Who the fuck do you think you are?"

My sinister grin only spreads as I stare into his cold, falsified eyes. "Death," I whisper, and his eyes widen as his whole body shakes beneath me.

I push my power through him, slowly compressing all of his organs. As much as I'd love to keep this slow pace, the battle cries behind me remind me I'm the only one strong enough to save us right now. Torturing one sadistic bastard isn't worth losing everyone over.

"Time to die," I say flippantly, overloading his body with more power than he can take, and I stand up, leaving him writhing as his body turns inside out.

It's then I realize how dangerously close I am to being savage, and I stagger as the bitch leaves me. It's almost a bereft feeling of abandonment, and I didn't even know she was anywhere close.

"You might want to get back!" I yell, sensing most of my family is out of the line of fire. "It's about to get messy," I say to myself, summoning up all my power and channeling my empathic powers to isolate each and every one from our group.

Using my night vision, I try to see, making sure I'm right, but the fight has meshed back together, making visibility impossible. This had better fucking work.

The power that breaks free from me is raw, carnal, and uninhibited as it crashes through the brigades of men and women, lashing out in my charted map. Heartbeats call to my ears, and I squeeze the air, controlling the targets as I draw the lives out of them. Agonizing howls of pain rattle my ears, and a sick wave of disgust roils my stomach. But I press on, driving my invisible attack.

Pleads and promises whisper through the air as the ruthless bastards beg for their lives. But mercy is denied to those who don't spare mercy of their own. Now it's time to collect their souls, just as I warned them.

Familiar arms wrap around my waist as I continue to slay the attackers. They really shouldn't have fucked up my wedding day. I should have known my mother's bad luck would fall to me in some form or fashion.

As the last heartbeat targeted halts its attempt to find a rhythm and gives out altogether, I drop my hands and stagger back into the strong body that was already prepared to support me. When I fail to stand on my own at all, Jase scoops me up and holds me to his bloody chest.

"You're hurt," I whisper, running my hand over the deep gashes with a feather-light touch.

"I'm better than most. Are you hit?"

That's a question I'm not concerned with answering when I see all the bloody, marred bodies of my family. Kellan is cradling his side, holding Simone to him as numerous men rush around with bags of blood.

Simone is unconscious, and I can hear her labored breaths from here. Her hair is matted with what I assume is her own blood. Melania is clutching her neck that is spilling red through her gapped fingers, while she bends over my ravaged brother.

Rex. Oh no.

"I can't hear his heart," I panic, desperately scrambling out of Jase's hold as my tears gather in my eyes.

Melania is crying when I stagger to his body and drop to my knees. My tears fall all the harder when I hear him suck in a painful breath and cough on his own blood. I sink back and drop to the ground as two men throw blood bags in our direction, and they continue to run around to disperse more.

With shaky hands, I tear open a bag of blood and force it down Rex's throat, happy that my blood is dead once it hits the air, considering it's running out of the wounds I didn't know I had and dripping all over the place. Damn. I barely felt anything when I was fighting.

Jase shoves a pack of blood and Melania and forces her to drink before ripping open another bag for me.

"Mom. Mom needs it. And Uncle Brazen," I say with a rasp tone.

Jase's lips tighten, but he starts running toward my mother to feed her the blood. I glance over my shoulder to watch as numerous others join her.

Rex coughs, drawing my attention back to him as his wounds slowly start to heal enough for him to raise up just a little.

"It'd be really fucking nice if you could help me get my visions back," he says while wincing, reaching out for Melania who goes willingly into his arms.

She sobs on his chest as the weight of how close to death he just was hits her harder than she was prepared for. I'm barely keeping it together myself. I've been weak for too long. It's my turn to be the strong one; the one everyone needs me to be right now.

"I wish I knew how to. I'm a little scared to try asking my savage how to unblock you."

Rex coughs again before starting to sip another pack of blood. "Afraid you'll look crazy for talking to yourself?" he muses, trying to make light of the situation.

After taking a breath, I shake my head. "I'm afraid she might actually answer."

He swallows audibly, and then he gives a ginger nod of his head in agreement.

"Rex, this attack wasn't meant for me. They were after Mom. It's almost as though they didn't know who I was. Or maybe they didn't expect me to be here."

He tilts his head, his eyes roaming toward where our mother is still regrouping and drinking blood.

"It's your wedding day, Aria. That shit can't be coincidental."

"It's not coincidental. It's bad fucking luck. But they weren't after me. They were after her."

Before Rex can respond, Jase returns to me, his eyes weary, and he bends to scoop me up and carry me back toward the compound that seems to be recovering as well. I'm too exhausted to try and carry on this grueling conversation at the moment, so I'm grateful for the escape.

"This is far from what I had in mind tonight," Jase says as he walks, holding me as close to him as he can.

"You mean this isn't the way you wanted to carry me over a threshold?" I ask dryly.

He smiles just barely before it's replaced with a grave expression. "We have a problem."

We have so many problems. "You mean the fact that Alice just sent a fleet to kill my mother?" I ask bitterly.

He shakes his head, glancing over his shoulder, and then he turns back around and walks a little faster.

"No. I mean the fact that your mom now knows who Alice really is."