From the Ashes (Force of Nature Book 1) (36 page)

“But you're not strong enough for that,” I argued weakly. The fight I'd just witnessed between Dean and Merc said otherwise.

“Fair point, Piper. The truth is that I wasn't in the beginning. The spell I'd cast was enough to create feelings of resentment toward you in your mate, but not enough to make him do what he did in the end.”

“What did you do, Kingston?” I repeated, fear building within me as everything Kat and the boys had told me started to fall into place. Things were definitely far worse in New York than I ever could have imagined.

He sighed heavily, feigning exhaustion.

“Reinhardt has grown soft in his old age. He has no vision. No sense of self-preservation for our kind. He valued the treaty amongst the supernaturals far more than he should have,” he explained, his eyes narrowing as he spoke. “So I stole from him what he no longer deserved.” The light that I had seen emanating from under his jacket flared, forcing me to close my eyes. “I now control the warlocks, Piper. They answer to me. And the first order of business is to see you dead.”

“The king will know you did this. He'll never stand for it!”

“The king...” Kingston sighed, looking put-upon. “There's so much you don't understand, Piper, and I haven't the time nor the inclination to explain it all to you.”

“Like what, Kingston? What don't I understand?”

“More than you could ever imagine,” he replied, his maniacal smile spreading wide. “I know things...things about you. About your parents. Things that nobody else knows. But they don't matter, none of it does, because you'll never know the truth. The only truth you need to know is that you're weak—an abomination that should never have been suffered to live—and I am going to right that wrong. I am going to restore the magical balance.”

He shoved me away from him, putting distance between us.

“But first, I think I should finish what has been started here tonight,” he said, stepping back toward his minions. He shrugged off his jacket as he did, exposing an ancient medallion—an amulet of sorts—that hung around his neck. The closer Kingston got to his army, the brighter it glowed. “Kill him!”

I turned, panicking, to see Merc pull a stake out from the back of his pants.

“No!” I screamed, darting toward him. I jumped on his back, trying to pull the weapon from his hands. “Don't do this. This isn't you. I knew it wasn't you before. Now I know why. Please. Stop. He's your brother!”

My pleas fell upon deaf ears.

“Piper!” I heard Jase call from behind me. “It's the amulet!”

At that moment, Merc flung me off of him, tossing me back toward Kingston like a rag doll. A fiery blue ball whizzed over me. I thought I'd narrowly missed the warlock's attack until I heard Jase cry out.

I'd never been the intended target.

I rolled on the ground and looked up to find my friend, once again, burning.

Fire was everywhere around us. The house. Jase. Even the magical barrier to the wolves was now a wall of fire.

So much burning.

It roared like my growing anger. Jase. Dean. How many would fall that night? How much collateral damage was I willing to accept?

“Make it stop!” I shrieked, turning my rage to Kingston.

The second the words left my mouth, thunder rolled and the skies poured down upon us, extinguishing everything. Then, as quickly as it had come, it disappeared. Kingston stood still, his expression faltering for a moment.

And that moment was all I had.

“Help Jase and Dean!” I commanded, praying that somehow those words would be enough to save Dean from Merc.

The wet ground began to rumble, shaking everyone standing upon it. I turned to see Merc stumble back away from his brother, the stake falling from his grip.

“It cannot be,” Kingston exhaled, a look of disbelief flashing through his eyes. Then they turned murderous, his longtime hatred of me coming to the surface. “It matters not. This ends tonight.”

A growing fireball—one larger than he'd thrown at Jase—developed in front of him. I knew in a matter of seconds it would be headed for me. I closed my eyes, focusing on everything around me, steadying myself for the attack. When I opened them, the fiery mass flew toward me.

I threw my arms up to deflect it, but I failed. Instead, it hovered right in front of me like a dog awaiting a command. I reached out, mesmerized by the ball of energy. The second I touched it, it faded into nothing.

“Fire Bender!” Kingston yelled, frustration overtaking his calm. He stormed toward me, resorting to a hands-on approach to killing me, which would undoubtedly succeed. I was no match for him in combat.

As he closed the distance between us, a familiar growl erupted from my right. In a flash of fur, Grizz appeared, unhindered by the magical barrier, and barreled into the unsuspecting warlock. While Kingston threw a ball of fire at the bear from his position on the ground, I sprang forward, landing on top of him. I snatched the amulet from around his neck and attempted to run, but he caught my foot, bringing me crashing to the ground.

I used the momentum generated by the fall to smash the amulet against a nearby rock. The glowing stone at the center of it shattered. The second that happened, all hell broke loose.

The invisible wall that had served to keep the werewolves out failed, unleashing the extremely pissed-off pack on the warlocks. Without the source of their collective magic, and unable to repair or replace it, they were left to fight with only their individual powers. And they were not holding up well in such close proximity to the wolves.

It was a melee.

I ran to Jase's side, hoping that he had not fallen to Kingston's attack. He was hurt badly, burned from head to toe, but he was moving. I got up, wanting to find Dean, only to see Merc carrying him toward me. A look of guilt, the depths of which I cannot begin to explain, pained his expression.

“You bitch!” Kingston snarled from behind me, his ball of fire already primed and ready to be thrown. I didn't have time to react. Just before it crashed into my body, the body of another passed in front of me, absorbing the deadly blow on my behalf.

Knox lay on the ground at my feet, unmoving.

The fury that swelled in me came flying out. And the power it unleashed was something none of us could have expected.

“Noooooo!” I screamed, slamming to the ground beside the alpha. But my eyes were all for Kingston. The ground that had quaked earlier shook with the force of a ten on the Richter scale. Cracks shot through the earth, extending out in all directions from me, creating vast crevices.

Crevices that started to swallow the warlocks whole.

“What are you?” Kingston asked, the shock in both his expression and words unmistakable.

“I am a Storm Caller. An Earth Shaker. A Wind Walker,” I said, stalking toward him like my body was possessed by a foreign power, my voice no longer my own. “And, as you said, a Fire Bender. But I'm so much more than that.” With a flick of my wrist, a gust of wind lifted him far off the ground, suspending him there. “I'm the one that will put an end to you once and for all.”

I felt the flow of foreign energy coursing through me as the growing crevice below Kingston spread wide across the yard. His minions were gone, already taken by my wrath. He, too, would soon feel its sting.

“You cannot defeat me!” he shouted, though it lacked conviction.

“I just did,” I whispered, dropping my arm to my side. As if I'd cut his invisible strings, Kingston plummeted into the gap in the earth, careening toward its core, where he would be forever entombed in a molten inferno. It seemed befitting, given his love of fire.

I watched as the ground molded itself back together, leaving no trace of the disturbance that had just occurred. But there were still signs of the battle just waged upon it. Too many to count.

Knox,
my mind shouted, bringing me back to myself. My attention fell to the wounded werewolf. I'd half expected to see him sitting up, grinning at me in the most mischievous way, a reminder that he was tougher than I gave him credit for.

But that was not the case.

Instead, I found him lying motionless, just as he had been when he’d taken the magical blow meant for me. I ran to him, skidding to my knees at his side. I lifted his head into my lap and cradled it, tears stinging the backs of my eyes.

“Help me help him,” I begged whatever power I was connected to. Whatever power had been there for me that night. But she never came. Panicked, I surveyed my surroundings, looking for anyone who could help me. All I found were bodies strewn about the ground—fallen wolves equally wounded—Kat staggering toward me, and the brothers, Merc still holding Dean in his arms and Jase, now sitting up, but terribly burned. “I don't know what to do,” I whimpered, rocking Knox in my lap. I felt a weak nudge from a muzzle on my shoulder. Grizz flopped to the ground beside me. He too was wounded, but not mortally so.

I tried again, asking for the help I had received countless times that night. This time I felt the now-familiar warmth flow through me into Knox, but it dissipated long before he ever roused. I didn't know what I was doing wrong.

“He sustains his pack,” a voice called from behind me. Kat crouched down at my side, resting her hand gently on my arm. “It takes all he has to not lose many of his wolves right now, Piper. He and they both are in a precarious situation. If he dies because their demand on him is too great, they all do.” She squeezed my arm lightly. “Keep trying. You're his only hope.” I nodded tightly, dragging my sleeve across my face to dry my tear-stained cheeks. “I'm going to help them,” she said, getting up to make her way toward the boys. I prayed she had enough in her to bring them back. Vampires were hard to kill, but the strength of Kingston's magic that night combined with the sheer amount of it left room for doubt in my mind.

“Help me help him. Please,” I whispered. This time, the heat that coursed through me was uncomfortable. I felt like I was burning from the inside out. I pushed through the pain, remaining focused on what mattered most in that moment: keeping Knox alive. My limbs shook, and I could smell the burning of flesh—my flesh—as I soldiered on, maintaining my hold on the wolf's arm, unwilling to break contact with him.

“Piper,” a male called to me. “Piper, you have to let go now.” Freezing cold hands pried mine away from Knox easily. I opened my eyes to find Merc kneeling beside me, the same look of sadness in his gray-blue eyes. “It will kill you if you don't control it,” he said softly, a hint of understanding in his voice. I stared at him, not knowing what to do or say. Thankfully, a pained cry from Knox distracted us both.

“Knox! Knox, can you hear me? Squeeze my hand if you can hear me.” I took hold of his hand, hoping that he would do as I'd asked. All I received in return was more of the same horrific cries.

“He is suffering for his pack—taking their pain away,” Merc observed.

“I can't help him enough. I don't know what else to do,” I said, beseeching the vampire beside me. “Will you help him...like you helped me? Will you ease his suffering?”

He stared at me, giving nothing away in his gaze.

“You love him,” he said, his voice calm and controlled.

I said nothing.

“You are falling in love with him.”

I bit my lip, nodding once.

He assessed me for a moment before leaning close, tucking a stray piece of hair behind my ear.

“For you, I will do this.”

Without further ado, he leaned down to Knox and murmured something unintelligible until the werewolf calmed, his body relaxing into the ground beneath him. Once he did, Merc stood, giving me a long, wistful look, before turning to walk back toward his brothers, who were now standing, albeit with Kat's help, off in the distance. She had fed them, judging by the pallor of her skin and the fact that they were upright at all. Her loyalty to the enforcers had been proven tenfold that night. Jensen would be proud.

My heart tightened as he continued past them, heading off into the darkness. I wanted to say something to him—anything—but couldn't find the right words. We had so many unresolved issues looming over us. So much damage had been done that I questioned if it could ever be repaired—or if I wanted it repaired at all. Losing Merc to the madness had been like a death to me. I'd grieved his loss and moved on. I'd found someone else. Or had I?

Watching him walk away, I wasn't so sure.

Fear had kept my emotions at bay for the past few weeks, allowing me to move past how I felt about Merc. But that night, seeing him again with the veil of twisted magic lifted, feelings rushed back in, clouding my decisions and leaving me confused. I felt slightly traitorous—like an adulteress. He'd helped Knox for me—to help me. His guilt had been palpable as he’d stared at me before he walked away. He hated himself for what he'd done, and it hurt to see it.

He loved me so much that he was willing to walk away.

My heart ached at that realization.

“You need to keep working on him,” Kat called to me as she approached, pulling me from my downward spiral. I looked up to find her bearing the weight of a brother on each shoulder—a wobbly threesome. “If you keep healing him, you'll heal the others. Look around. They're getting better.”

I did as she said and once again scanned the carnage of the battle. Some of the wounded wolves were now sitting up; a few of them were standing. Feeling restored and refocused, I channeled the energy back into Knox at a more even and controlled pace. What seemed like an eternity later, I felt him move under my hands.