Lunaria (A Soulmark Series Finale), page 23
"To the death!" Noah shouts.
If not for my suffocating grip on the rope, I'd topple to the floor once more. No, no, no. I search for Adrian's hulking frame, but he is nowhere to be seen. Panic swells in every blood cell I own. Can't he feel my distress? My pain? Where is he? The lycans bombard the edge of the pit. Their shouting and excitement reaches a tipping point as Deval drops into the deadly cavity and sheds his shirt.
The lights cut off, save for the one above the fighting pit. The blackbirds' screech.
I only have a second to take in the crowd's surprised faces before we are pitched into darkness seconds later. Noah growls.
The boxing ring floor shakes as people clamber across it, and hushed voices rush at one another. I shuffle back along the rope until I bump into a corner. Could it be Adrian? Hope fills my chest as I wait with bated breath for whatever is to come next.
"What the hell is going on? Who shut off the lights, Wilson?" Noah demands roughly, his voice nearer than I expect it to be.
"Alpha, there seems to be some kind of disturbance near the barn and a second by the artillery," a man, undoubtedly Wilson, replies.
My heart leaps in excitement. Adrian—
I gasp as my leash is snatched up and yanked violently. I tumble forward, scraping my knee as I choke on the necklace and clamber to stand. Hot breath dampens my cheek as Noah's ire vibrates against me.
"Is this your doing, little fairy?" Noah seethes. "Your lover is noticeably absent and—"
"I'm here, alpha."
From hope to fear to relief... my body sags at the mayhem of my emotions. The floor shudders once more as someone advances.
"Where the hell have you been, Adrian?" Noah asks as the crowd's confusion grows.
"Cleaning out the cellar, as you asked."
I struggle to steady my heart as my eyes adjust and rake over Adrian’s outline.
Noah lets out a curse. "Stay at Carrie's side. Do not leave it," he orders. "Wilson, tell me something useful. Who’s working on the lights? What kind of disturbances are we talking—"
The spotlight above Keenan and Deval’s anticipated pit fight goes out. The audience is quick to voice their disappointment.
"What the hell is going on?" Carrie shouts.
With her words, the energy in the room shifts to one of displeasure. Pockets of light soon emerge to illuminate the crowd, cell phones held high in the air, or low among the packed bodies. The tension alleviates marginally at the temporary fix, but it soon breaks when a scream cuts through the air from outside. And then another.
The leash slackens as Noah's fury mounts. Gunshots crack in the night air. The sharp pop of their discharge is nothing like what television shows or movies portray.
"What the fuck is happening?” Noah roars. "Get out there and end whatever is making that racket!"
I slink back to my corner, staring at Noah's shaking body as he continues to bark commands at the pack. The wolves hustle out the front doors and the back.
I'm so distracted by the frantic movements swelling around the boxing ring and shaking its frame, I miss the first few steps Adrian takes toward me. When I become aware of his nearness, I nearly weep in relief. Adrian is there to catch me before I crumble.
"Shh," Adrian coos, a hand pressed against the back of my head as I lean into his body.
I squeeze my eyes shut as Adrian's adrenaline and confusion encounter mine. "What's going on?" I ask.
The noise outside intensifies with loud blasts that make the earth quake.
"I told you to stay with Carrie," Noah snaps. His hand clamps down on Adrian's shoulder and shoves him away from me toward the she-wolf. But Noah does little else to reinforce his order, he glares fiercely at Adrian before he storms out of the ring to join the masses vacating Trammel House.
Adrian waits for a half-second before returning back to my side. His hands grab my hips as his eyes scan my face and linger over my swollen eye.
"We can't stay," he says. I hold his gaze for a long moment, the thick thump of my heartbeat chiming once against my chest before we are moving.
All conscious thought leaves me as Adrian helps me down from the ring.
"Go to—"
"You prick!" Carrie shrieks, appearing behind Adrian and raking her nails down his face as he glances back at her. He flinches and sidesteps her with a growl.
"Go, Luna!" he yells at me, not taking his eyes off the she-wolf.
I stare wide-eyed at the pair glued to my spot. A muffled groan reaches my ear in the growing darkness, and I see Jax begin to rise. Sensing my stricken gaze, he looks at me.
"Go," he mouths, tossing his gaze pointedly to the doors as Adrian and Carrie circle each other in the ring.
Another blast rocks the earth. I gasp, my wings taking me back without a thought.
I turn around a little too late, and narrowly avoid being trampled by those hurrying outside. Elbows and hips check me as I stand in their way.
The world contracts around me as the commotion takes over my senses. Carrie and Adrian shout and snarl at one another from behind, gunshots and explosions reign outside, people are shouting and lycans shifting. I clutch my hands to my heaving chest.
My eyes flit around me and land on the sorcerers taking away the cages.
A strangled cry rips from my throat as I lurch in their direction. "No."
I ignore the scowls I receive as I push past the tide of those who remain. The sorcerers have their arms outstretched; their faintly glowing wands directed purposefully at the cages.
My heart lurches against my ribcage as the last of the feeble cellphone light trickles away with the stampede. It lurches again when a gruesome scream bounces off the walls of Trammel House. I freeze, as do the sorcerers ahead of me. They've created their own dim light source of small glowing orbs that illuminate their work and cast light upon distress.
"Hurry up," one of them demands, casting a fearful look toward the pit they must go around.
"We're—argh!"
The gnarled screech of one of their own sends more than half their lot running for the door. The two who remain keep their wands raised to defend their caged prizes.
I force myself forward as unrest thickens inside the abandoned house. Up ahead, two lycans skirt the shadows of the orbs’ glow. Their golden eyes glint in the soft light as they circle their prey. Another shrill scream belts out from somewhere in the back.
Move, Luna.
Yet I can't. My feet refuse to take me another step forward. Why are the lycans attacking the sorcerers? What was going on outside? Adrian—
A low growl ripples through the air behind me. I dare not turn around, too stricken to process the magnitude of what is about to happen. All that runs through my mind is what I will never get to do.
Go home.
See Gran and the aunts.
Eat Zoelle's cookies.
Be held in Adrian's arms.
Adrian shouts my name, and as I peer over my shoulder, I spy the wolf who stalks me. The wolf’s dusty fur is spattered in blood, and its tail is held taut. Forelegs dropping, the wolf hunches forward with its jowls pulled back to reveal glistening canines.
I sprint ahead with all my supernatural prowess, knowing all too well my speed isn't fast enough. The chase is short. Two clawed paws slam into my back, raking their way downward and catching on my wings. My scream mixes with the wolf's victorious snarl, but both cut short when my attacker is rammed off my body.
Face-first in the ground, searing pain engulfs my upper back. I'm paralyzed from the agony and shock, but from the corner of my limited vision, I see them. A tan wolf has my assailant by the neck.
With a savage snap of the tan wolf's head, the dusty wolf goes limp. My eyes shudder closed at the sickening crack.
"Luna..." My eyelids drift open and my sight crawls forward. Alekos's cage is only a few yards away, his hand reaching out to me through the bars. "Get up, Luna. Get up!"
I force my hands under me and push off the ground, hissing as I find my feet. Hot blood drips down my back. The sensation alone plagues me with dizziness as I reach him. I tug at the door with feeble strength.
"You can do it, Luna. I know you can," he pants.
Sweat beads at my forehead as I continue to struggle. "I'm trying." Frustration and pain coat my words, but the feelings soon fade as inspiration alights inside of me. Releasing my intraflora, I allow them to take up the challenge of the door’s lock instead.
Vines emerge from my palm as I place it over the keyhole. They worm their way inside the space and in seconds, they have the lock turning over. We pull and push in unison, the door groaning open as Alekos comes crashing out. I catch him and pull him close. Alekos sags gratefully into my arms. He does not see my grimace as I bear his weight for several long seconds.
“Let’s get out of here,” I say, pulling back and giving him a brief smile, adrenaline pumping through my veins. He nods enthusiastically, eyes wide—
“Watch out!” he shouts.
Alekos tugs me back against him and we stumble awkwardly back.
"Let's go," a familiar voice demands. It’s Deval. He grabs my arm and pulls us both easily toward him. "We don't have much time. We have to leave. Now."
My lips part in awe, but before I can say anything Alekos jams himself between us.
"Don't trust him, Luna. He's one of them.”
My head sways from side-to-side, eyes running over Deval's naked body to witness every tooth and claw mark he wears. Thick blood stains his mouth and chin from where he slaughtered the wolf who attacked me.
"No, he's my friend," I say, the words rattled. I clear my throat. "We can trust him."
"Luna—"
"We can't stay," I interrupt Alekos firmly. My violet eyes plead with him to concede. "This may be our only chance. You have to trust me and trust him."
Alekos wavers, but he gives a tight nod and moves aside. Keenan is already at Celosia's cage, ripping open her door with a roar so visceral I flinch at its anguish. He helps her out, though she trembles at the sight of him.
Deval ushers us forward, with Keenan and Celosia rushing to meet up with us. As I cast my gaze around with uncertainty, my sights catch on an ominous sight. The sorcerers’ orbs… they shadow our movements. Fear chills me as I frantically search for the source of magic.
I recognize the sight of the wand almost too late and react on pure instinct when I realize it’s pointed at Keenan. The earth heeds my wordless call and trembles. Lips moving to cast some dark spell, the sorcerer is too entranced to notice the thick root darting toward him. He screams as it impales him, and his wand drops to the ground.
My body buzzes with untamed energy at the murderous act, but rather than let it consume me as it so wants to do, I sprint to Keenan and Celosia.
"Are you two all right?" I rush to ask. Keenan turns his golden eyes my way, a fearsome scowl locked upon his features. He owns as many cuts and bite marks as Deval. I flinch at the sight, my back stinging at the action, before forcing myself to straighten and be strong. "Everything’s going to be okay," I say, "we're going home."
"Are we really going home?" Celosia's hope makes my heart pang.
"Yes," I pant as our group hurriedly makes their way to the back of Trammel House where the boxing ring, and Adrian and Jax still hopefully reside.
"Follow me," Deval instructs, veering briefly to Keenan’s side to help him move more swiftly. The lycan pair lead us with staggered strides, but quickly find a rhythm leaning on one another. "We need to get to the garage behind the main house."
"We can't leave without Adrian and Jax," I say.
"We're here." Adrian’s shadowed form strides toward us. Only up close are the scratch marks across his check visible. Jax limps into view after him, looking worse for wear and with a wand clutched in his fist.
A caw rings out, disturbing the tense silence as the two men stop before us. I squint to make out any other obvious injuries on either man, but cannot discern any. My shoulders sink in gratitude.
"You?" Adrian shakes his head, a grimace stealing over his serious expression as he eyes Deval.
"Yes, me," Deval snaps. "We need to go. Now."
"What's happening out there?" I ask Adrian.
"I have no idea," he responds, as Deval marches us to the back doors.
Celosia shivers as we shuffle forward and presses close to me as we try our best to keep up with the men's large strides. Alekos is a little better. He remains a few paces ahead, skin twitching, and pebbled with goosebumps. He looks back every few feet to make sure we are still there.
A swell of determination warms my chest at the expression he wears. There is a keenness in his eyes, one that speaks of his intention and readiness to fight should our precarious circumstances take a turn for the worse yet again.
Deval gestures for our silence once we reach the back doors. I do my best to calm my racing heart as well, but my nerves are raw, and the cold night air doesn't help. Celosia and I shiver against one another as we lean against the wall for support and wait for the next order. Another caw sounds through the air, this one resembling a petrified scream as another explosion sounds.
"What's going on out there?" Celosia whispers.
I give a small shrug, wincing as my back spasms in discomfort. I take several deep breaths as a rush of dizziness hits me. "I don't know," I say. "Maybe it's the Adolphus pack or witches. Maybe they found us..."
A curse sounds from the front of our line, it sounds like Keenan, but I cannot see past the men to be certain. A heartbeat later, a guttural cry reaches my ear. The hair across my body stands at attention as I manage to glimpse the scene. Keenan stumbling back into Jax, after being forcefully pushed aside by Deval.
Seconds later, Deval and another not of our party are diving toward the ground, struggling for dominance. I freeze at the sight and cling to Celosia. They grunt and groan, trading violent blows.
“What do we do, Luna?” Celosia asks, but I have no answer.
Blaring lights swing across through the open back doors of Trammel House, accompanied by the distinct rumbling of an engine. It provides more than enough light to view the brawl yards away from us and witness the stranger gain the upper hand.
He pins Deval to the ground. With his forearm thrust against Deval’s throat, he produces a wicked knife. The light from the headlight catches the metal before it disappears in Deval's side.
"No!"
My scream pierces the air and startles the mystery assailant. He glances over at us, face alight with the kill. The man cocks his head to the side at our group, a puzzled frown testing the edges of his face when he snaps his head back forward.
There is a sound of wild flapping, and then the blackbirds are upon the man. Three in all, their wings flap hazardously against one another while their clawed feet aim for the man's eyes and face.
He jerks back with a yell, arms batting at the flying nuisances as he lurches away. Watching Deval squirm upon the ground, his blood spilling out, something inside me breaks.
"Watch her, Alekos."
Celosia sucks in a tight breath as I hand her off to Alekos. He accepts her with a grave expression, watching me advance on the enemy.
"Luna..." Adrian's voice is filled with apprehension, and it floods through our connection as well.
I ignore it as I give myself over to all my fury and frustration. The earth is eager to exact my vengeance and does so without mercy. The man makes a choked sound as the root passes through his middle like a spear shot from the ground. He drops to his knees, his glassy-eyed expression never wavering as he careens to the ground.
The birds take flight only to land nearby. They caw at one another in ecstatic shrieks before vanishing out the backdoor into the chaos of the night.
"Follow them," Jax commands. My temper cools as I look back at my huddled group of friends. Their faces are grim but determined as they begin to shuffle after the birds.
Deval groans from the ground. The wretched noise grinds at my heart. I dart over to him.
"Shit," he gasps, his hands shaking as they dance around the hilt of the knife sticking out of him. "Shit, Shit, Shit."
"Shh, you're going to be okay. We're going home," I say. "You're going to be okay."
Deval's green eyes water. Tears fall down the side of his face as he musters up a weak smile. "Get to the garage. It's just behind the house."
"We're not leaving you, Deval." I stroke strands of dark hair away from his face. His lips purse together, and he closes his eyes.
"Yes, you are," he replies in a firm voice after a quiet moment. He opens his eyes to stare me down. Their depths betray his sadness and guilt. "I tried. That's got to count for something, right?" He hisses his next breath through his teeth. "Go before it's too late."
"It's not too—"
A figure blocks the light that shines down upon us. I peer over my shoulder, arm raised against the glare, to see who it is.
"The cavalry has arrived!" A cheerful voice announces. "Chop, chop! Everyone in the truck. Now."
The woman's boxy shape is all that I can make out, that and her distinctive bob and short stature.
"Let's go!" She calls, waving those who are still pressed against the wall toward the truck—Alekos and Celosia. "We've only got a few more tricks up our sleeve to keep the wolves busy. Get going or you’ll be left behind."
Keenan wobbles toward Alekos and Celosia, hand outstretched to them but drops to a knee with a groan. The woman, whoever she is, flashes to his side with a speed I've never witnessed. She helps Keenan up with ease, which is a shock given her small frame.
"Go," Deval coughs, a spatter of red spraying his face.
I growl and look back at him. "Not without you. You saved me. I won’t leave you behind."
A hand lays heavy on my shoulder, tugging me back. "Luna, we have to go." Panic sets my pulse racing.
