Immortal Grave (12 page)

The power flowed around Ree’s feet, sending dirt scattering along the floor. Turning from the room, she ran for the last bedroom and the Dark One that hid there. She pushed the door open with the power and flew at the man with blood dripping from his mouth.

“Too late. I already called them.” He laughed at her and pointed at a small fire in the corner of the room.

Ree didn’t stop to decipher what he was talking about. Instead she came at him with all of her strength. He met her strikes with his own, whirling to dodge her slashes and thrusts. She dropped to her knees and spun her swords at his legs. He didn’t see it coming and fell to the ground with a roar. His hands reached for her, but she was already gone. She stood behind him and severed his head with a quick scissor move. She watched as his body disintegrated slowly. Her shoulders moved with her angry breaths.

Paden crashed through the wall and landed on his back, his fangs bared in a feral smile as a Dark One followed him through the man-sized hole. The Dark One couldn’t have been any older than a high school freshman, but his eyes were purely animal. He fell on Paden with a hiss, his hands scraping at the godling with speed and precision. Paden laughed before grabbing the boy’s face and savagely twisting. The stunned Dark One fell to his side, but he wasn’t dead. Breaking his neck had only slowed him down. With blood dripping from his face, Paden knelt next to the kid and thrust his long knife into the Dark One’s chest.

He stood and looked at Ree, his eyes lingering on her cheek and blood-soaked pants. She reached up to touch her face, not registering the wound until that moment.

A loud crack of energy sent Ree’s heart plummeting. They ran for the back of the house and skidded to a halt as they watched Dark Ones pour through a glowing slash in the wall. Weylin backed in their direction and held his sword ready.

“I think it’s time for a dramatic exit, Ree.” Her friend turned and winked at her before pushing them all toward the front door.

As they exited the house, Ree turned to look over her shoulder. Dark Ones followed them out into the streets. She couldn’t risk her secret being exposed yet, so made a quick decision.

“Get behind me.” She spun on her heel and felt Paden and Weylin skid to a halt. She let go of the power leashed inside of her and threw all of it at the house and the Dark Ones spilling out. The ground shook under her feet before her shoes left the ground in a wash of power.

She pulled energy from her friends and from the trees along the street. Raising her arms she directed it all at the drug house and the evil monsters inside. Wave after wave of energy flew across the space to crash into the house. Dark Ones burst into ash and the house itself shook with each burst. The porch splintered into flying wood and the front wall collapsed. The house seemed to fall into itself, nothing left but a large cloud of dust and dead Dark Ones. The old homes on either side of the rubble shook as if frightened. Glass from their windows littered the road, and she could hear screams from inside.

Ree fell to the ground, landing on one knee, and used her hands to catch herself. She looked up at the destruction and felt hollow. She had killed the trees along the street. The plants sitting on porches were wilted and brown. Dead bodies of birds littered the ground under drooping limbs and she prayed she hadn’t killed anyone’s pet.

Strong hands slid over her shoulders and helped her stand. Paden turned her to face him, his green eyes searching hers. She nodded her head, letting him know she was okay.

“Jesus Christ, Ree. You’re one scary chick, you know that?” Weylin stood with his sword at his side, his eyes wide with amazement.

Paden glared at him, but Ree felt her lips turn up into a small smile. She was okay with being scary. As long as it meant they won.

Chapter Fourteen

Sirens filled the night air and Weylin cursed. Ree wanted to make sure no one had escaped, but they couldn’t risk being caught by the cops. She knew they had connections in the department, but that wasn’t an obstacle they needed to deal with right now. Paden pulled her with him, his hand clamped firmly on hers until she seemed to be moving on her own. They scaled the old store to retrieve their coats and made a quick getaway along the other roofs. Paden didn’t want to leave any evidence if it was at all possible.

Ree pulled her phone out of her pocket to check for messages as they ran. The first one was from Juliette telling her to be careful and that they had tagged several Dark Ones on River Street. The next message was also from Juliette. They had decided to take out a safe house of their own. The Dark Ones had taken in a young couple. Her next message was to let them know they were okay. The next message was from Roland. They had seen Ree’s blast and were worried. Next message was from Melanie saying Roland wanted to meet back at the boat.

“Roland wants to head back.” Ree looked at the others and nodded in the direction of the restaurant.

“Have they found any other houses?” Paden asked as they scaled another roof.

“Jules and Bryce took one out. Apparently the Dark Ones had kidnapped a young couple/” Ree shook her head. In reality, they were still young too. She just didn’t feel like it anymore.

“What about Mel and Roland?” Weylin hopped onto a metal box that covered the air conditioner for the store.

“She didn’t say. Just that he wanted to leave.” Ree looked over the edge of the roof and watched as some pedestrians made their drunken way from City Market.

“Maybe he found something.” Paden suggested. “They’re gone.” He nodded toward the ground before using one arm to push off and over the concrete wall. He landed smoothly on the ground in an alley beside the building. Ree stepped off the wall and landed next to him. Once Weylin was with them, they ran through the streets, aware the sun wasn’t far from rising. It would be harder to hide from the police looking for them in the daylight.

“Maybe. Or he could just be trying to avoid being here during the day.” Ree jumped a pothole. It didn’t take them long to get to the other side of town. They stood back in the shadows as they scanned the restaurant.

“Any Dark Ones?” Paden’s eyes swept the area intently.

“No. They’re probably holed up somewhere.” Ree frowned at the empty parking lot. Her gut kept telling her something was wrong. “I think I sense the others nearby.”

“I guess we should go then.” Paden grabbed Ree’s hand and they crossed the road quickly. They stayed close to the building to try and not to attract any attention from the few passing cars. Weylin seemed to be feeling something odd too, because he had the pommel of his sword in his hand. Juliette and Bryce appeared seconds behind them. Juliette had a huge slash along the chest of her shirt and she was wearing Bryce’s jacket.

“Are you okay?” Ree asked. Her stomach clenched at the thought of what could have happened.

“Meh. I’m fine. Mostly caught my shirt.” Juliette looked down at the tattered ends of her shirt. “Jerk.”

Bryce frowned but didn’t say anything. Ree knew it had probably scared him to death.

“Have you seen Roland or Melanie?” Weylin asked Bryce, his eyes sweeping the empty parking lot.

“Not yet.” Bryce looked at everyone. “We should go to the boat.”

“I’ll text them.” Ree pulled her phone out and sent a quick message. Hopefully they were just avoiding people and would be back soon. Almost immediately a text came back. “Start boat. Got company.”

“Start the boat!” Ree ran for the whaler and hopped over the edge. Bryce grabbed the helm and the boat roared to life. Paden and Weylin untied the boat from the dock and stood holding the ropes.

“Pay! Turn the boat so we’re facing out!” Bryce looked over his shoulder at his friend. Paden and Weylin pulled on the ropes until they had the boat facing the direction they wanted.

“Dark Ones or cops?” Juliette asked.

“No idea.” Ree shook her head, but didn’t take her eyes off of the parking lot. The sound of sirens reached her ears, and her gut clenched.

“Shit. It’s the po-po.” Weylin looked over his shoulder just as Roland and Melanie tore across the parking lot.

“Get in!” Bryce revved the engine. Paden and Weylin jumped in with the ropes. The boat took off, but Roland and Melanie jumped at the last moment, both landing in heaps on the floor of the boat. Roland rolled over to his back and looked up at the sky, while Melanie laughed.

Ree felt her eyebrows raise in surprise, but was relieved to see they were both okay.  She reached down and grabbed Melanie’s hand to help her stand. Roland stayed where he was for a moment longer, before standing and moving to take the controls from Bryce.

“What happened?” Paden asked.

“A cop saw us walking from between two crack houses. He shined a light on us and then did a double take. He obviously recognized us, because he turned the car around and hit the lights.” Melanie pushed her hair out of her eyes and looked at her friends. Ree noticed there was a happy glint to her expression, and she wondered what had happened while they were out searching.

“That area is patrolled heavily, so we were constantly ducking cops. Thankfully, we’re a little faster than their cars.” Roland threw a smile over his shoulder at Melanie. For a split second, Ree’s stomach clenched in jealousy, but it was gone so fast it might as well have not happened.

“Did you find any Dark Ones?” Bryce asked.

“Two of the houses are used as safe houses, but they all disappeared. Roland thinks there was a portal or something.” Melanie sat down on a bench next to Juliette.

Paden looked at Ree, obviously thinking along the same lines. Now they knew where their mystery Dark Ones had come from.

“Was this after we told you what we were going to do?” Ree frowned at Melanie.

“Yeah. Why?” Melanie redid her ponytail while watching Ree’s face.

“I think I know where they ended up.” Ree sat down on the opposite side of the boat.

“Ah, that’s where they came from!” Weylin moved to stand on the other side of the console from Paden. “But, how?”

“A god can open a portal between places.” Roland glanced at Ree. “You mean to tell me all of those Dark Ones showed up where you were? What happened?”

“The Dark One started a fire, but I don’t know what he actually did with it.” Ree shook her head. At this point, she didn’t really care how it worked.

“A summoning spell. They would have contacted whoever is helping them and asked for help.” Roland narrowed his eyes at Ree. “What did you do when they showed up?”

She shrugged and looked out over the water. “We took care of it.”

“Damn right! Ree lit up the whole street like Christmas! That house is complete rubble!” Weylin held his hand out to Ree for a high-five. She returned it weakly, but didn’t meet anyone else’s eyes.

“That was that flash? You destroyed the house?” Melanie looked at her with big eyes. “But, that would have taken a lot of power, right?” She looked at Paden and Weylin as if checking for wounds.

“Not just the house, Mel. She took out all of the Dark Ones that showed up.” Paden kept his voice steady, but she could feel him trying to send her support. “It was the right decision.”  She nodded her head but still didn’t look at anyone. She hated knowing she had killed all of the earth on that block. She worried nothing would ever grow there again.

“You did the right thing.” Roland seemed to understand she had taken energy from things around her, and his voice was firm.

As they left Savannah behind them, the sick feeling in her stomach didn’t go away. The closer they got to the island, the worse she felt. She wrapped her arms around her stomach and stood up from her seat. She went to the front of the boat and watched as the sun came up. Paden moved to wrap her in his arms.

“You saved hundreds of people by doing what you did.” He rested his forehead against the top of her head, obviously thinking she was dwelling on the destruction she had caused.

“No, something’s wrong. Don’t you feel it?” She looked at him over her shoulder.

“I do.” Bryce stepped up to take the spot Paden had left. “Roland, can you call the island?”

“We might be heard on scanners.” Roland shook his head.

“Man, something isn’t right.” Bryce leaned toward Roland. “You’ve got to have a private band.”

“I do, but someone could still happen on it.”

“Do it anyways.” Ree turned to look at Roland. She knew her face was set into grim lines and, apparently, he understood something was very wrong.

Roland picked up the receiver and spoke into it several times. He held it with one hand while steering the boat. No one answered. He tried again. Still no reply. Ree turned back to the front of the boat and prayed everyone on the island was safe.

Once the island was in sight, so was the large plume of smoke. There were muttered curses from everyone on the boat. Ree took off her jacket and threw it onto one of the benches. By the time they were near the dock, everyone was prepping for trouble. One of the boats next to the dock had been sunk, only the very top visible from the dock. Ree leapt from the boat as soon as they were close. She drew her swords in quick movements and flew down the path. She couldn’t feel any Dark Ones, but it was obvious they had been there. An ash pile was still steaming near the wall around the house, and Ree wanted to be sick. This was supposed to be their safe place, guarded by the gods, a sanctuary for the people who had already been hurt by the Dark Ones.

The house was a smoking shack. The walls had crumbled, smoke still curling into the air.

“Ellie! Kay! Pam!” Ree shouted as she leapt over piles of debris. Melanie was right behind her, her voice panicked as she called for her mom. “Pam!” Ree crawled over smoking furniture and charred walls to get to the kitchen. When she got there, her power flared out in an angry wave. Pam was lying on the counter, her throat torn out. Blood pooled under the woman’s head, her kind eyes blank.

She looked up at the sky and hollered. “Where the fuck are you? You let someone step into our home and snub your power, yet you do nothing?” She spit the words out, barely able to keep from sending the rest of the house down on everyone. She reached down and closed Pam’s eyes.