Escaped the Night (58 page)

Jayce walked up to me while the ni
ghtwalkers held onto Donovan
,
who
appeared to be enjoying
every second of my torment. He’d gotten what he wanted.

Jayce stood in front of me
looking
squarely in my eyes. “I’ll love you forever. Remember? You said that.
Those are y
our words. Th
is isn’t forever so get t
hat stupid idea
out of
your head right now!”

“You knew what I was thinking?”

“I am always connected
. You can’t feel me now because of your changes
,
but maybe you
’ll be able to
feel this.” He leaned in
,
pressing
his warm lips against mine.

His fiery kiss stung my mouth. Sharp shocks zapped all over
my lips. The warmth of him,
his kiss
,
all
hurt my skin and I
pulled away.
“I can’t do this.”

“I understand.” He gently tilted m
y head up under my chin so I looked
him in the face again. “Please don’t give up on us. We can do this. There
’s got
to be
a way. I promise, we’ll figure this out.”

Everything had changed and I wasn’t handling
it
well. I envied the vampires, loving
how seductive they were.
How they appealed to everyone,
sucking
in
their prey
and
lovers
until
the
moment
that
h
unger
took over
and
then
it was too late. Their strength was impressive and the night wasn’t so bad. I’d often found the darkness comforting. The problem for me was
, I couldn’t be with Jayce and
I couldn’t live without him.
Another thing
bothering
me was
acknowledging
that
I’d have to kill
innocents
in order to survive. The though
t of taking a life from another
placed a pit in my stomach. I couldn’t even do it to Donovan a
fter everything he’d done to me
and
to
the people I cared about most. I’d never survive as a vampire. I wasn’t supposed to be like this.
I felt
defeated and ashamed because I
never called for hel
p when I had the chance. Now,
I
had
los
t everything that mattered
and there was no going back.

I watc
hed everyone co
me together
in
my defense
.
Aiden and Makan assisted
the werewo
lves in holding Donovan captive, while
Kael and Kaleb chatted with Daray and
Lakylee
trying to decide
what
they should do
with him.
Uncle Dane and Auntie Steph stayed
quite close to me and
Layla never strayed too far. She was a very loyal
friend and even though I had
changed
, the bond we made stayed
in
tact
.

Overall, t
he nightwalkers were disappointed
by the fact
that
Donovan
had
managed to change
me, b
ut they treated me the same as
before
. I hadn’t killed anyone so I wasn’t like them
—
not
yet.

“We should tie him up
and let the sun turn him to ash,” someone
shouted.

“Cut off his head!” y
elled a wolf.

“Cut out his black heart!” screamed Meriel.

“Guys, plea
se,” I begged.
H
ere I was pleading for the man who
killed my family and turned me into one of his nightwalkers. I wasn’t sure why, but the thought of him being killed broke my heart. I didn’t want anyone to
die..
. not even him.

I walked
over to
wards
Donovan
,
who was still being held.
I moved up quite close
so I could look
him squarely in the eye.
“Don’t you see that there’s a better way? This is the proof. Look around you.” I said
,
pointing at all the different beings gathered. Vampires, werewolves, daywalkers, elements,
a
unicorn,
fairies,
shape shifters, we
were
all
on the same side. S
pecies stood mixed amongst each other
showing no animosity because
we
stood united.

I watched Donovan
eye
everyone closely. I remained
hop
eful as I waited to see
if he
underst
oo
d
and accepted what we’
d done.
Considering the predicament he was in, it was in his best interest to agree
. B
eing united was
much
better than being at ends with
one
an
other.

“
I do see what you mean,” h
e replied.

“Guys, please let him go. This isn
’t right
. No one deserves to have the
ir life
taken from them
.” I looked Donovan straight in the eyes. “No one
does
!”

One by one, they
let go of their grip on
him
.
From their expressions
I could
easily see
they thought I was crazy
, but out of respect,
they did as
I asked. Donovan was free
to roam around and do as he wished. He was free to live.

I
tried to welcome his freedom because I
wanted him to feel like he belonged
.
Belonging
would be easier for him to adjust to our new way of life.
Donovan
stood free, although he seemed somewhat uneasy. He cautiously eyed me up and down.

“It’s
really
okay.
I mean it, you’re free to
go and
live your life.” I
was
h
oping he’d be able to blend in and we could put the past behind
us
.

He looked at Sauda, over at me, the
n back at Sauda
.
Within
a split second he shot out of his spot aiming directly for me. It
all
happened so fast. He
appeared
blurred from the speed of
his lunge and
I didn’t have time to react.

Meriel
stood
shielding me. She looked back
in what felt like slow motion and smiled sweetly
.
One thing
came into my mind. This
was just irresponsible of her
to pull such a stunt
. T
he world could live without me; no one could live
without her.

“No!” I yelled out.

Uncle Dane, who was closest, heard my scream and saw what was
about to happen. I
n the last second
,
he jumped in front of
us
. Donovan landed hard, smas
hing into him as he
ripped
and t
ore
at
Uncle Dane’s
throat. Uncle Da
ne fell limply to the ground as
Auntie Steph and I screamed out
.

He saved Meriel and me. He
sacrificed himself to save us from th
e monster I’d just shown pity
to
. He was so brave, so selfless, t
his wasn’t right
. He wasn’t supposed to
die
. It wa
sn’t right…
it just wasn’t right.

Shocked,
I turned to
look at Donovan. How could he do something like this after I just spared his life?

Now t
he nightwalkers
were
dealing with Donovan on their own accord. The mercy I’
d
shown him was a mistake and
there was no way I’d
make
it
again
. I turned my head
around, ignoring his plea
s for help.
The last sound I heard
from
Donovan
was his voice calling out to Sauda, followed by
painful
scream
s
. Then, silence
. The
nightwalkers had
rid the worl
d of the monster named Donovan and h
e’d never be able to hurt anyone ever again.

I focused back
o
n
Uncle Dane, who lay weak on the ground, blood spilling
out from his wounds. I knelt down and held
onto
his hand. “Please don
’t go. Please…
I need you.
I can’t do this alone.
” I choked on my sobs, unable to
see through my blurred eyes
. I
was thankful my tears
had returned in order to smudge
the sight of
him because
I didn’t want to see how bad the
wounds were
. I already knew things weren’t looking good. More and more tears
flowed
. This wasn’t fair.
I couldn’t lose him too.

Auntie Steph calmly walked over
and placed
a caring hand
up
on my shoulder. “Shanntal, it’s okay
,
honey. This is our time. You’re
fine
now and you always w
ill be. Your friends love you and y
ou
’ll
never
be alone.”

Uncle Dane lay
ga
sping
, holding
onto his last bit
s
of life
. She should’ve been a
complete
mess
too. This
was her husband, her soul mate
. I didn’t understand. The only thing
that seemed
clear was this
all felt so wrong
.

G
abriella came towards the group
surrounding Uncle Dane. As so
o
n as I spotted her I got up and
pu
shed my way through the crowd
pleading for
help.
“
Y
ou’ve got to help him. Please heal him. He can’t die. He just can’t!”

‘
Shanntal, I’m sorry.
You already know I cannot
help hi
m. I warned you of this the last time, I’m not able to
step in again. Destiny has it
s own plans and I wo
n’t interfere.’

“It’s the only way to save him!”
I shouted.

‘I’m truly sorry, but t
here’s nothing I can do.’

Grie
f stricken, I turned around
in time to watch
as my beloved uncle took
his last breath of life.
I reeled
from
my pain
. My friends c
ame
nearer
to try
to
help
comfort
me
.
Condolences poured
in and I appreciated their support
,
but it wasn’t enough. My uncle was gone. He was dead.