Kate Allenton (17 page)

       
A series of howls rent the air. The vibrations pierced through the screams. Cathy recognized her
mate immediately. She squeezed Gracie’s arm. “We have to do it now. Ethan is almost here, and
he’ll try to stop me.”

Gracie nodded and handed Cathy one of the extra guns before pushing herself up. “He’ll try
and stop us if he reaches us before we get to Black.”

    
Cathy pushed to her feet. “We can’t let that happen.”

    
Gracie peeked around the tree trunk one last time. “Ready, one…two…three.”

    
They moved back into the fighting. Gracie held onto Cathy’s arm. “Stay with me so I can keep
you shielded.”

Cathy moved on autopilot. She kept pace
with Gracie,
even as fighting ensued around them.
Lister was popping off shots and headed in their
direction
taking men out with both guns in his
hand. The determined look on his face was deadly.
He
was yelling as he ran; something she couldn’t
make out as the Phantoms continued to fight around
her.
Gun shots, people being flung through
the air, everyone using every gift they possessed,
and
even then it wasn’t enough for some. Her
coworkers and friends were hurt and on the ground. Some not breathing, some dead. Every instinct
in her wanted to stop and help them. That was who
she
was. She wasn’t a killer; at least she hadn’t
been until today.

    
“We need to help them.” Cathy slowed and
turned
in place. This wasn’t how it was supposed to
happen. No one was supposed to get hurt but Black
and
maybe herself. What had she been

thinking? One of the Phantom’s that had taught
her how
to shoot was laying at her feet. His hand
pressed against a wound in his arm, blood seeping
out of
his mouth as he withered in pain.

    
“If you don’t finish this
we’ll all be dead.”

    
Gracie tightened her hold on Cathy as another wave of attackers tried to reach through to them.
Lightning bolts and bullets bounced off the invisible shield. Armed men continued firing at them,
but Gracie and Cathy didn’t stop. They pressed on as one man after another tried to get to them to
take them down. Cathy ran faster, her breath coming in short pants. Her side ached, and the fire
inside her licked to a feverish height, scolding and burning her from the inside out.

    
“I’m not going to make it to Black,” Cathy screamed to Gracie.

“The hell you aren’t. You are not dying on me. You are not dying here. Do you understand
me?”

    
Gracie pulled Cathy to a stop. “Brace yourself. I’m going to borrow more of Brody’s gift and
send you through the air while keeping you shielded. I’ll put you right in front of the bastard.”

    
“Hurry, Gracie.” Another howl pierced the forest, this one louder, this one closer. “Shit, he’s
here and he’s going to get in the way. If you don’t do it now, we might not get another chance.”

Seconds later, Cathy was lifted and flying through the air, over all of the fighting below. The
Phantoms were outnumbered. The Phantoms were losing the fight. Most of them were wounded

and still fighting, every one of them giving every extra bit of strength they had to take down their
opponents, and by god, she would do the same. Black was not leaving this field, even if it killed her.

    
Cathy soared through the air. Her arms flailed at her sides as she held Black’s gaze. Only three
lousy feet stood between her being able to give
him the
shock of his life. The bastard wouldn’t even
see it coming. The stale air around Cathy fizzled
like a balloon
popping in the sky. Cathy drew in a
shocked breath. The force field was gone, and she
was
falling. “Shit. Shit. Shit.”

    
It all happened too fast. One minute she was
forced
in the air and headed toward Black, and the
next minute, she landed with a thud and a crack.
A
searing pain radiated up her arm. She glanced
down and knew instantly that she’d cracked the
bone.
She immediately scanned the area, looking for
Gracie. Gracie was fighting two guys. She shot one
guy
before another grabbed her from behind.

    
Cathy pushed the pain out of her mind and
reached
out with her senses as she’d done to find
Black. She was immediately bombarded with all
of the
gifts and powers coursing through the

clearing. She soaked it all in, adding it to the fire
running
through her. The shock and awe of the
untapped powers made her dizzy with power, almost rendering her unconscious.

    
Muscular arms came around her, lifting her
from the
ground and bracing her.

    
“Oh no, you don’t.” Black whispered in her
ear. “I’m
going to take great pleasure in watching
you die.”

Cathy grinned, even though her body was about to give out on her. She grinned through the
pain. She grinned because the bastard had just helped her and hadn’t even realized it.

    
She spun in his arms and laid her hand against his chest. “You won’t get the chance.”

    
Cathy opened her senses and pulled the remainder of Black’s powers into her body while
sending the searing fire inside her out through her palms. The fire licked at her palms, heating them,
and burning through his shirt, into his body, she could feel the heat burning and leaving a handprint
on his chest.

    
“What the hell!” Black’s eyes turned red. His expression tightened. Smoke drifted up from
where she touched him, the heat scorching his skin as it transferred from her body into his. “I didn’t
think you had it in you to use the vials.”

    
Black tried to drop her, but she held on to him for dear life. Digging her feet in to stabilize
herself, she never removed her hand. She leaned against him, barely able to stand. His powers were
overwhelming her body. Just a few more minutes and Black would be dead. Just a few more minutes
and she might be too.

     
Black yanked on her hand, trying to remove it from his skin. “I knew you’d be a fighter. I
wouldn’t expect anything less from Ethan’s mate, but you underestimate me. You can’t kill me.”

     
Cathy was yanked backward, her hold on Black dislodged. She landed a few feet behind Ethan’s
tall frame. “She can’t, but I can.”

     
Black’s face turned bright red. His body
was heating. His
eyes bulged as he clutched his fist to
his chest. She could see it from where she lay. Cathy watched in horror as Ethan launched himself at
Black, not knowing that the damage was already
done.
Black was powerless because his body was
fighting the fire.

     
“Ethan, no!” she screamed through the menacing snarls. Ethan growled, his teeth firmly
embedded in Black’s shoulder as he swung the limp
body
around to look at her. He held her gaze.
She shook her head and held out her hand. “I need
you.”

Those were the only words she knew to get
him by
her side. The wolf growled again. “Now,
Ethan, I need you now!”

     
Ethan released his jaws and let Black’s body
slump
to the ground. He returned to her side, his
sharp teeth receded back into his mouth. His long
claws
returned to normal. In seconds, he was no
longer in half shift but had returned back to his
human
form. He reached for her. Her vision

blurred. She could feel the
burning in her body. Some of the serum remained in
her system. It was
slowly boiling her blood, maybe not enough to kill her, but the lethal dose would undoubtedly kill
him. He was a ticking time bomb. “We need to get away from him.”

     
Ethan threw his head back and let out a loud howl. Even in human form, he was

communicating with the others. The wolves that had arrived with Ethan retreated as Gracie sent a
series of flares into the sky, sending the signal to retreat.

Fighting ceased as the Phantoms retreated farther into the trees and away from the danger.

     
Cathy winced as Ethan picked her up in his arms and cradled her against his body.

     
“You can’t leave me,” Black called out. She could hear the desperation in his voice. “I’m your
father. You have to help me.”

Ethan turned to face Black. “You knew she was my mate, and you tried to kill her. I should
have torn off your head.”

     
Cathy sagged in his arms. The loud ringing in her ears was deafening. Her eyes fluttered shut.
She was going to die. She’d beat Black, and now the magnitude of his powers and gifts she’d

ingested were going to kill her. It was too much. It was all too much.

     
“I love you, Ethan.” Her words came out as barely a whisper.

    
“No!” Ethan’s scream was the last thing she heard before the darkness consumed her.

                                                    
****

    
Minutes ticked by before he heard Black’s scream. The forest exploded around them in a sea of
blue rings, expanding and knocking everything
over in its
path. The trees wrenched and protested as
they bent, some being pulled from their roots,
others more
embedded into the ground, yet not
strong enough to remain upright. The blast blew
leaves
and dirt through the air, coating the forest as
if an avalanche was tearing through the area. He
fell to
the ground, shielding Cathy’s unconscious
body. He wouldn’t let her die. Not here. Even as
the blue
rings contracted, just as quickly as they’d
expanded, sending out the blast knocking over everything in its path, the damage was done. Bruised
and battered, Ethan picked up Cathy’s limp body
and
carried her out of the forest. Edward and
Tessa flanked him in their wolf forms while the
others in
the pack bowed their heads in respect.
She’d killed the one man that no-one else had been capable of getting close to. She’d taken out the
number one threat that had plagued not only his
people,
but the Phantoms for years. She’d earned
their respect. She was a hero; she was his hero.

He found the Phantoms back at Edward’s
compound
all bruised and battered, each of them
helping the others dress their wounds. The scene
was one
he’d seen many times while fighting in
war. It looked like a MASH
unit. Hospital beds strewn all over, bruised and
battered bodies lay
awaiting for aid. He immediately sought out Gracie and stalked over to her.

    
“What the hell did she do?”

    
Gracie lifted her hands. “She absorbed some lethal poison and sent it into Black’s body while
taking his powers.”

    
“Crap.” His gaze flew around the room. “Where is Jamie?”

    
Gracie nodded behind her. “She’s in Jonah’s old room trying to heal Brody.”

    
“I need you to find Rick Thompson. You, him, and Jamie are the only ones who can help save
her.”

    
Gracie’s gaze flew to Cathy. “It was just an overload because of his powers, right? That’s why
she’s passed out?”

    
He shook his head. “Black was more powerful than any one of us. His powers will kill her and
god only knows what the poison is doing to her body if she didn’t get it all out. She needs Jamie to
cure her wounds and dispel the poison and Rick and you to remove some of the powers if she’s
going to make it. Black was shooting up with the serum every chance he got. Cathy’s body won’t be
able to diffuse all of the powers swarming her body. It will shut down if we don’t act fast.”