24. Chara

Chapter 24

Chara

Each passing flight of the green-eyed ghouls zipping through the night, ready to jab me with the steel of their sword pushes me forward. I should be afraid, weary, and fraught with worry, but destiny has made me brave.

Perhaps too brave… I step into the center of the puffy cloud, leaving them only to veer around me or run me down. Their intent is clear: take me out, no matter the way, so they keep coming, heading directly toward me the very way I knew they would.

I count in my mind, letting my courage build, waiting for the exact timing and when they get closer, I jump over the top of them, and let my instincts and destiny's hand pave the way. The first row of ghouls turn, looking for me behind them, while I grasp the sword of the ghoul whose back I'm on to drive it deep into the leader's chest.

The gasp is audible, and then the screeches from the green-eyed monsters who did not anticipate losing their leader in a fight tonight. I use the point of the sword and slide it in front of the ghoul's throat. Keep going, fast, faster," I yell, as he flies like a madman wanting to keep his head connected to his frame.

When we reach a safe distance, I leap right over the top of the tall gates that are intended to keep me out until I have proven myself worthy of crossing over into the underworld. A small upturn of the guard's lip is all I have to go on, all I have to confirm that I've made it until the banshee cry of the ghouls fills the night as they turn, leaving a trail of green light in their wake as they dissipate in the night.

A gentle shake pulls me from my hard-fought transition. I look into the face of Taylen as she places a cool cloth on my forehead. "You fought hard and fast. It's only been a day."

"Master Bistrita?"

Taylen gives me a gentle smile. "He is absolutely fine. He's going to drive me to drink if he doesn't quit hitting up my phone. Every half hour. ‘How's Chara?'"

I remove the cloth from my head and try to sit up, but my head sways with the effort. She puts a gentle hand on my shoulder. "Easy there. You may have transitioned faster than most, but it's still going to take your body time to acclimate. And if you dare hurt yourself on my watch, Master Bistrita will never forgive me."

My wish has come true. It's only supposed to happen in fairy tales, yet destiny shined her grace on me and granted me an eternity in the dark with Bistrita.

I half grin, but even that feels different and off. "I want a mirror. Do I look different?"

Taylen rolls her eyes. "No, you look like you. Minus a little weight, the oversized fangs, the long dark hair, and bloodstained lips."

My mouth gapes.

"I'm kidding. You look the same, but you probably feel very different. The blood running through your body is pureblood now. I don't know how or why, but you were chosen to save both Master Bistrita and me. Seriously, if you had not come out of that bedroom when you did, we would both be dead, and I mean staked dead, as in not returning. The rogues would have made damn sure of that to get their revenge."

I slowly maneuver my weak body into an upright sitting position. "Where are they? Bistrita?"

Taylen sits next to me. "They're hunting down the last of the rogues. All the intel they had says most of them have been staked, but they believe a small pocket, sounds like maybe just two, stayed behind and are guarding Lucas and Embry. They won't rest until they find and kill them for good."

I inhale one deep breath after another, but somewhere from deep inside angst grows deep in my heart. A fear creeps in, turning me cold and focused on only one thing. "Master Bistrita and the others are in trouble. I feel it. We need to go to them."

Taylen's eyes grow wide. "You are in no condition to go anywhere, little-miss-I-think-I'm-invincible-now. If they catch you, they will stake you, and everything you just went through will be for naught. You'll be turned into a pile of ashes and won't be able to rise for at least a few centuries, if that."

I push my covers back and put my feet on the floor, tentatively at first, until sitting upright doesn't make me queasy as hell. "I need meat or blood. Both, get me meat and blood," I tell Taylen.

She sighs deeply. "You are going to land us both in trouble. The masters ordered us to stay put. There is a chain of command around here, and now that you're Bistrita's mate, you're going to need to understand it and start conforming a little more like the rest of us."

I narrow my eyes at my well-intentioned friend. "Do you seriously mean one thing that's coming out of that mouth? Seriously, you of all people, telling me I need to conform? Meat, blood, now. I don't know how to explain it, but we need to find them and warn them."

Taylen still doesn't look convinced, but she's not going to deny what I said either. I know her far too well for that, but when she returns with a quart of blood and a small tray filled with meat and cheese, I know she's about ready to make me put my money where my mouth is.

"Eat."

I'm not shy about eating. The hunger is all-consuming, a voracious need for high quantities of meat and cheese, but the blood, the thick looking liquid in the jar still in her hand is entirely another story. "I may need help with this," I admit.

She grins. "It's not so bad. You'll be craving it before you know it. Think of something else. Pretend it's tomato juice, plug your nose, and down the hatch. You need it if we're going looking for the masters and hunting the rogues."

I take a deep breath, gulping through the worst of it, swallowing down the urge to puke it all back up, barely holding it down until the life-giving substance settles in my veins. A calming of my fear mends my anxious nerves, soothing them with a balm that courses through my body and into the ventricles of my heart, causing my blood to flow calm and steady while heightening my senses. "We need to go and find them, now," I tell Taylen, the anxiety starting to rise back up, forcing me to acknowledge that destiny has changed me for a reason.

Taylen doesn't argue. "We'll take Silver, Clay, and Terrance. Overmaster Descallia and the others asked them to watch over us. My understanding is they're fierce in battle and have fought valiantly by the masters' sides throughout the entire fight with the rogues."

I open the door to find all three looking down at us. "I have no problem with their help," I tell Taylen.

Silver glares at Taylen. "Your orders were to stay here and keep an eye on Chara."

Taylen laughs. "You try telling her anything. My friend was born doing what she wants to do. Right now, she thinks Bistrita and the others are in trouble. Are you coming or not?" she says.

I give them all a stern look. "We don't have time to play me caveman, you Jane. The masters are in trouble, and we are not. They need our help. Five more vampires who can help aid them in their fight. We go now, or I go alone."

Silver reaches out and touches my shoulder, and his eyes begin to glow bright blue and silver. "Master Bistrita is standing next to Lucianna, and she is in trouble. We have to go now," he says, grabbing my arm. The others follow us into a dark abyss that carries us through the night with an eerie stillness until we land under the shadowed glow provided by the silver moon.

Silver crouches down, and gestures for us to do the same. He puts a finger to his lips as heads turn, having heard the crunching of dead branches under our feet. Animals scatter, racing through the trees, jumping from branch to branch overhead and along the ground. "It's only the animals," one of the men says.

Master Bistrita growls deep and low. "No, it is my disobedient mate, who has not yet learned to keep herself out of danger." Leaves and sticks crunch under his boots as he makes his way toward our hiding place in the brush.

Silver's jaw tightens before he gestures for us to all stand up. "We were planning to hang out and help if need be. Chara believes you're in danger and wanted to help. I feel it too, no matter that we found you alive and well. She has your best interest at heart, Master Bistrita, as do we all," Silver says.

Bistrita takes my hand and pulls me to him, holding me tight and kissing my hair on top of my head. "We will deal with your disobedience later. Right now, I'm just glad you are safe and by my side in one piece. Thank you," he says to the group, just as we hear a swooping sound overhead and the night sky grows darker.