Chapter 15

15

Jace didn't hold his bear back. He had to find some way to kill these things to get to Erin. She needed him, and he would fight to the death to save her. He dug his back claws into the sand and launched himself forward, sinking his teeth as hard as possible into the nasty creature Gretchen had brought forth. He didn't understand a damn thing about it or where it'd come from, but there had to be some way of taking it down. Jace would find its weak spot.

His mouth crunched down onto the scaley skin, tasting of metal and fear. He pressed harder, putting everything he had behind it. He twisted his head, trying to take a chunk of its mysterious flesh from its enigmatic body .

The thing fell backward and screamed, a high-pitched sound that hurt Jace's sensitive ears and rattled in his chest. Still no blood seeped from its wound, yet it didn't get up this time. The wisps of vapor that rose from its back thickened into numerous columns of dark smoke. Jace backed away as the monster's body evaporated into those columns, the flesh pulling back from the bones and lifting away as though it'd never been tangible at all.

He turned to see that its twin had just experienced the same fate. The fight wasn't over yet. Jace barreled toward Erin. Deep terror quivered in his bones as he took his human form back. His mate had been left to fight alone, but that wouldn't happen any longer. The run was even further than he'd imagined. Erin had moved closer to Gretchen, closer to the enemy. "Erin, get back!" he called.

She lifted her head but didn't turn to look at him. "I can't, Jace." There was something sad and solemn in her voice, and it sent another tremor of worry through him.

The rest of his clan, also freed from having to fight those strange beasts, was now raging behind him. He didn't even have to look to know they were there. He knew he'd give everything he had to keep Erin safe, but it meant so much to him to know the rest of his family was thinking of her like this, too. He and Erin belonged to each other.

Gretchen was flicking her hand through the air as though she'd just touched a hot stove. "You fucking bitch! First, you get Hugo to take my engagement ring back, and then you destroy my other one? You just can't get enough, can you?"

"I know what that ring really was," Erin said, her voice oddly calm. "It controlled those creatures. You held part of their souls in it. They had no choice but to do as you told them because you could destroy them with a snap of your fingers."

"Oh, please," she retorted. Gretchen pulled a broken silver band from her finger and tossed it to the ground. "Don't go talking about them with sympathy, like they were stray puppies or something. They were dark, just like me. They would've come after anyone and anything that stood in their way. It's not like you'd know, little Miss Goody Two-Shoes."

Jace frowned at the remnants of the ring. He and the other Brighams hadn't defeated those beasts at all. They were controlled by that piece of jewelry, and Erin had destroyed it.

"I know more than you think," Erin said. Her voice was thick now. "I wanted more power, too. I wanted people to like me. I wanted to be successful. I started down that path myself a very long time ago. I thought dark magic might finally make me the person I wanted to be, but I quickly saw I was wrong. The price you have to pay isn't worth it."

It was hard for Jace to imagine Erin doing anything like that. Sure, she had a bit of that goth look about her, but he'd seen her soul. He knew her soul. It was warm, bright, and benevolent.

"I think I've come out pretty far ahead so far," Gretchen snapped. "I'm done fucking around with all this conversation. I don't know what you think you're going to accomplish by talking so much. The same fate awaits you, either now or five minutes from now."

"It doesn't have to." Erin stepped forward. "I don't want to see this happen to you, Gretchen. You deserve better than this. You don't have to hurt people to get what you want in life."

Erin had only moved a foot or so ahead of him, but it made every muscle in Jace's body tense. He had to find some way to protect her, but how? Would the physical strength of the Brigham clan be enough to take her down? He braced himself. He couldn't wait much longer, not when Erin was in danger.

That's when he noticed the fingers of her left hand moving. She extended and curled her fingers one after another in a slow, wavelike motion. Then she paused before starting over again with her pinkie. It looked like she was beckoning someone, though her hand hung limply at her side.

"Spare me the lecture." Gretchen generated a new sphere of red light, hurling it forward.

Erin flicked her palm out, fending off the attack. Her left hand continued that wave motion, though Jace didn't see any light or energy coming from it.

"Erin, you don't have to do this alone," Jace urged, desperate for her to back down and let them help. She was too close to Gretchen and would get caught up in the melee if the Brighams rushed forward and attacked.

She didn't turn her head. She barely even blinked. Erin appeared to be in a trance, moving only when the magic dictated. "I do."

"Yeah, she does." Gretchen threw several more globes of magical fire at her opponent.

Each one made his bear roar with anger, though Erin barely even flinched. Her left hand continued, the beckoning motion gentle. "I have to finish this."

"Since when are you so righteous?" Gretchen asked. "You weren't so brave and cool when all those girls stole your clothes during gym class." She launched another sphere. "You didn't have all the answers when Jenny Lewiston said she'd burn you at the stake." Another attack. "You were small and quiet and scared when Cameron told everyone what a freak you were." Two more spheres.

Pure fury rose in him, both at knowing Erin had gone through such awful things and that Gretchen could bring up such painful memories. "That's it. I'm not listening to another word of this." He started forward.

Erin stepped in front of him. "I've got this, Jace. I have to do this. I have to finish this."

"But—"

"This isn't a fight that can be won that way. I'm sorry." Now, both of her hands were moving in that odd pattern. She'd been using the right one to protect herself, but she didn't bother anymore. More tears slid down her cheeks and dropped into the sand.

The flurry of motion behind Gretchen caught Jace off-guard. The nearby trees were reaching out, their branches like long, woody limbs. He hadn't even realized they were that close, but then he remembered that they hadn't been. Erin had been bringing them forward this whole time, asking them to come to her. They creaked as they wrapped around Gretchen's ankles, tightening as they moved upward.

The witch screamed and tried to step backward, but her feet were trapped. She fell, caught by the other branches that were on their way to her. Gretchen twisted and writhed as they spread out across her back and wound down her arms. She jerked and wrenched against them, determined to cast another spell. Red sparks shot out from her fingertips, impotent fireworks compared to what she'd been able to do before.

"Do you think this is actually going to stop me?" Gretchen screamed.

"No." That was the only word that came from Erin. Her hands were up in front of her now, palms out. She moved her fingers individually, giving the illusion of plucking the strings of some giant invisible instrument.

Seeing her held at bay made it all the harder for Jace to control himself. It would only take a few seconds for him to run forward and tear her to pieces. But Erin insisted that she had to do this. He had to trust her in that, though it felt wrong not to do something.

The grass was moving now. It crept forward along the ground, stretching and reaching toward Gretchen. It used the tree limbs that were already wrapped around her, braiding into itself as it climbed up her body.

"What are you going to do?" Gretchen taunted. "Did your little foray into dark magic teach you enough? Are you going to use it to kill me?"

Erin pulled in a deep breath. "You've become a giant pain in my ass, Gretchen, but I'd never kill you or anyone else. I can't let you do that, either."

The grass continued, snaking up her thighs. It curved around her hips and ascended her ribs, curling inward when it reached her collarbone. The plaited strands of grass met at the center of Gretchen's throat and twisted into a knot before continuing around to the back side of her neck.

Erin closed her eyes, and her fingers continued to work through the air. "Let the powers of nature bind you from the harm you wish to cause, both on yourself and others."

"Stop it!" Gretchen screeched.

Coming back forward around her ears, the grass wove itself over Gretchen's mouth and muffled her speech. It twisted and bound and braided, taking hold of her.

"May the vibration of this green energy dissolve your negativity and drain into the earth where it can be transmuted and no longer hurt you or anyone else," Erin intoned. "Let Mother Earth take the darkness from you and leave you with only light. So shall it be."

Gretchen stopped fighting. Her body grew still. Then she went completely slack, slumping against the trees and grass that held her.

Erin made a few last motions through the air. "Please, take her someplace safe."

As if what he'd already witnessed hadn't been astonishing enough, Jace stood watching in shock as the tree branches moved once again. Gretchen was laid on her back and carried off through the trees, passed from one to another into the night.

Jace caught Erin as the last of her energy gave out. He pulled her against his chest and wrapped his arms tightly around her. Her tears were hot against his shirt. "It's all right now," he murmured into her hair. "I don't know exactly how, but you did it."

"I don't like to make the plants work for me like that," she whispered. "It feels wrong."

He rested his chin against the top of her head. "Perhaps they wanted to."

"Please, tell your family I'm sorry." She buried her head in his chest.

Barbara stepped forward and laid a gentle hand on Erin's back. "There's no need, dear. There's nothing to apologize for at all. Why don't the two of you get some rest? You've been through a lot tonight."

Jace gave her a thankful nod. He kept an arm around Erin as he guided her down the beach to his house. They came in the back door, sliding off their sandy shoes on the mat. The yellow glow of the kitchen light, the feel of the carpet under his bare feet, the sound of the clock ticking. It was all so normal, and that felt strange after the night they'd just had. He hardly knew what to do with himself or how he'd carry on after this. The only thing he knew for sure was that he needed to take care of Erin.

He brought her upstairs and set her on the edge of the mattress. Jace dared to leave her there for a minute as he ducked into the bathroom, returning with a warm washcloth. He lifted her chin with one hand and wiped her tears away. Then he brushed out her hair, gently unpicking the knots that'd formed as she'd fought Gretchen. Slowly, gently, he pulled her shirt over her head and removed her shorts before laying her on the bed.

Jace joined her a moment later. He lay behind her and put his arms around her, holding her as she recovered. She had just fought off a deep darkness. Without understanding anything about magic, he knew this was more than just defeating a foe. She'd fought a darkness that hovered within her, created by her difficult past. Physical wounds could be healed if she shifted into her bobcat, but it wasn't her flesh and blood that needed to recuperate. It was her heart, and that could only be mended with time.

Jace would hold her for however long that took.