The Reluctant King (The Star-Crossed Series) (32 page)

              Well, and maybe for some residual friendship they shared.

              But mostly for me.

              I held back a smile when I realized she had been right. She was good at this, a natural. She blocked magic and retaliated quickly, never hesitating, never backing down. I watched for half a minute, as long as I could before I had to engage in my own fight.

              This was the wrong time to get turned on. But Amelia kicking ass…. damn.

              I refocused forward and blocked a strong ray of deadly magic from either side of me as the two men tried to take me from different directions. I leapt at the guy to my left, keeping my body low and angled for his waist. I connected with strong muscle, but I was prepared for the impact unlike him. I wrapped my arms tightly around his thrashing body and sent us flying over a steep incline.

              Physical contact was a trick I learned from Eden. Not one of my Immortal ever expected human reactions like physical violence. We were spoiled with our powers, save for the Shape-shifters, of which at least three of my people had turned into some ferocious animal. But Witches and Mediums, even Titans fought with magic and nothing more. So while others came at me with enough electricity to seriously knock me on my ass, I caught them off guard by
literally
knocking them on their ass.

              But hell, wrestling down sharp stone steps was painful no matter what species you were. I kept our momentum going, ignoring the cuts, gashes and broken bones that were working hard to heal themselves while we continued to fall. The other guy clung to me in a desperate attempt to get me underneath him. We were falling too fast for logical thoughts to happen naturally, so while he struggled to get his hands into a position to zap me with magic I used my hands that were already wrapped around him and released a powerful surge of energy.

              His body immediately went limp and with a few more rolls and bumps we came to a stop at the base of a huge stone structure. I panted against the pain and effort it took to get down here. While my enemy lay unconscious at my feet, I took the free minute I had and quickly absorbed his magic as fast as I could.

              My sister and I were the same in that we hated stealing magic from others, but we also recognized the necessity of it in situations like this. Unconscious or not, if I let him keep his magic, he would heal and then be right back after me. I had to take it, to protect myself and everyone else.

              By now I was practiced and well equipped to take magic in seconds. I stood over him, leaving him mortal and effectively removing him from this fight. His life-light flickered in and out now that it would take a lot more to heal since he was completely human. I didn’t waste time with him but leapt up the hill needing desperately to make sure that Amelia was Ok.

              I was delayed by the popping bursts of the other Immortal I had been fighting when his magic found me from a higher vantage point. He stood at the top of the steep hill, sending powerful waves of magic down at me. I jumped out of the way of his electrical rays, healing where he already got me in the process. He was a good shot and several times I leapt through the air, flipping over and ducking to avoid being hit in the head. I darted all across the incline in what felt like a video game scenario.

              A bad video game in which I didn’t have any extra lives or second chances. And had to move uphill the entire time.

              A video game I would play to save my own life.

              I needed to fight back, to get in a position I could reverse the advantage. I stepped behind a stone archway that led both up and down on a carved stone staircase. The sounds of battle echoed in the night, stones smashing and crumbling, grunts and cries of pain, the rabid sounds of ferocious animals that were also my teammates. Battle was loud and chaotic, horrifying but familiar at the same time; I recognized the sounds like they were part of my home, part of the deepest parts of me.

              I was born for moments like this.

              I gathered my breath and prepared for a struggle. I wasn’t naïve to the fact that around me it was silent. While the rest of the mountainside was lit up in the efforts and defenses of my friends, around me was still and quiet. The traitorous Immortal was moving toward me.

              I was ready.

              I felt his magic approach and stepped around the archway separating us. He reared back, surprised with my close proximity. I raised my hands so that they looked like I was trying to pacify him, but really I was readying for an attack.

              “It’s not too late,” I spoke in calm tones, hoping to appeal to whatever logic remained inside of his brainwashed head. “Give up now, before you end up like your unconscious friend down there.”

              “You don’t get it,” he growled at me, raising his hands defensively in a mirror image of me. “It
is
too late. It’s too late for you, and your family and every other Immortal that believes the lie that they are safe. He is executing his plan as we speak and you don’t even understand what you’re up against.”

              He was vomiting a lot of words, but not really saying anything revealing. There were more secrets than I could begin to wrap my head around, but the most disturbing part of the unknown was the conviction this guy spoke with. Whatever he was hiding had him completely convinced, he was a believer. I just didn’t understand exactly what he believed.

              “But is it too late for you?” I asked in a carefully measured tone. These people were all psychopaths. All of them.

              “Yes,” he snarled out and then he lunged for me. His magic came at me and I had a millisecond to block it before it hit me in the chest. I leaned back and Time-Slowed simultaneously, moving my shoulder out of the way just in time. And then I released my power over time and shot back with my own electricity, aiming for his feet.

              I missed my target when he leapt out of the way, but was quick to aim again when he landed a few feet away. He turned around and shot back at me, our magics meeting in the air between us. The blinding energy crackled in the night air. Sweat poured from my forehead from the effort it took to keep his magic at bay.

              I had fought a lot of Immortals in the past, a lot of talented, dangerous Immortals. Somehow he seemed stronger than any one of them. I tried to chalk it up to the fact that I hadn’t been in a real fight in a few years, but his magic was extremely intense and more aggressive than mine.

              I took a shaky step forward and tried to push against his energy field. I met only resistance. And then he took a step forward and when he pushed against me, I was forced to move back. That step alone made an angry, determined beast inside of me awaken. My arms trembled and I was on the verge of losing my foothold.

              It was time to get creative.

              I dropped my arms at the same time I dove to the side to avoid the release of his energy. He was expecting opposition, so when my magic disappeared he staggered to the left. I took that advantage and shot out an incredible bolt of electricity at his feet. He flew backwards, crashing into the stone archway. I took his moment of weakness and started to pull his magic into mine. Where most Immortals had to be physically touching to steal anything from another Immortal, I had the advantage of being able to steal magic from a distance. Perks of my bloodline. He resisted of course, shooting at me weakly from the ground. One of his shots of magic hit me in the shoulder and then another in the knee, but I refused to give up. I stumbled forward, willing my magic to heal my beat-up body while I remained in motion.

              My magic was stretched a little too thin and stalled in the effort. My shoulder throbbed and my knee gave out so that I had to continue pulling his magic from the ground. He shouted out a vicious growl that echoed loudly in the valley below. He was propped up in a sitting position against the background of rubble and he looked defeated, even before he was.

              When his magic was completely absorbed in mine, his head lolled to the side and he didn’t seem like he could lift his arms if wanted to. My magic, finally being free to concentrate on only one thing, worked to heal my battle wounds and when my knee felt strong enough, I stood up and walked over to him.

              He worked, with a lot of difficulty, to lift his head so that he could look me in the eye. “If it means anything, I wouldn’t have told you anything anyway.” His words huffed out in clouds of heat opposed to the cool night.

              “What?” I asked in confusion.

              A twisted, evil smirk lifted the corners of his mouth. He let out a long, resigned sigh that turned slowly into a sinister laugh. I braced myself for something…. anything, like the ground exploding around me or more Immortals dropping down from helicopters. Anything, really.

              “I wouldn’t have told you anything,” he breathed slowly as if I had trouble understanding him…. as if I was the victim and he the winner.

              Then it dawned on me. I jumped towards him just as the slice of a bullet whooshed by me. The bullet connected with the guy’s face, directly in the middle of his forehead, his skull compacted from the impact. He slumped forward, devoid of all life.

The sniper. The f-ing sniper.

              I didn’t have time to make sure he was dead, but I was positive he was. I took off running toward the magic that came from up the mountainside. Another bullet cut through the night, right past my ear, missing me just as I had weaved to the right. Dodge and weave, that was the first thing to remember when running into bullet fire.

              I would find him, whoever he was. This silencing of all my prisoners thing had to end, and it had to end now. I didn’t have to check to know my other victim would be dead too. Terletov cleaned up his messes. But I had to wonder what his end game was if he kept a sniper nearby but only used him for his own guys. Not to mention, I was dying to see what this weapon looked like.

              I wasn’t moving fast enough and I could feel him begin to move away from me. I decided I had to pick up the pace and since a vehicle was out of the question I pulled on my ancient magic, deep from the well of my innermost being so that I could shift into a puma. My skin prickled and snapped with frenetic energy as it spread over my skin from hair follicle to toenails. Every inch of my body bent and contracted with unimaginable electricity, the magic changed the very molecules of my body into something different, something infinitely more primal but incredibly fast.

The change lasted only seconds but in that short time frame the air was sucked from my lungs and it felt as if I ceased to exist completely before my body morphed into an entirely different species. I went from standing upright as a man to bent over and pounding against the ground on all fours as an animal.

              The sensation was a little disconcerting to be honest.

              But having practiced this move before, I took it all in stride and pursued my prey. My paws dug into the soft earth of the mountain side and my deadly claws kept traction with each step so that I could launch myself forward with incredible speed. My sleek coat made fighting against the whipping wind easy. My athletic front and hind legs stretched as far forward as they could go, working to bring me to my goal before he escaped. A growl of epic proportions ripped through my narrow lungs and I became as much of the animal as my brain would allow in order to hunt this enemy down.

              He was still a ways away, but by tracking his magic I felt him pick up his things and move further from me. Whoever he was, he was shy. Apparently he didn’t want me to introduce myself, which bothered the hell out of me.

              Although I couldn’t blame him. I had a whole lot more than a handshake and swapping war stories in mind for our initial introduction. Like a face-punch and a broken nose.

              Or maybe I would keep this animal form and rip out his throat with these killer teeth.

              And then much worse things.

              I took the solitude of my chase to check in with my sister. I wanted to believe she was fine, that I would have felt something or she would have said something to me if she wasn’t and so far the communication between us had been silent.

             
Eden.
I called in the calmest tone I could manage, while simultaneously pursuing a sniper I planned on murdering, or at the very least imprisoning and trying not to panic about what could possibly be a horrible fate for her.

             
Avalon, is everything Ok? Are
you
Ok
? She gasped in a terrified inner voice.
Are you a…. are you a panther?

              I took a deep breath in and then let it out slowly while I examined her surroundings. While my shifted form leapt over rocks and low to the ground structures, and my cat eyes stayed trained on where I knew the sniper had taken off, my mind assessed Sylvia’s living room. Kiran sat next to Eden, they both enjoyed a relaxed, laid back evening in Omaha.

              Nothing was wrong.

              Eden was safe.

             
Eden, seriously? I’m a puma. And
I’m fine.
I admitted when the haze of red rage had receded from my vision.
We found some trouble near Silas’ colony but we are taking care of it. Are you Ok? I need to know, Eden, is there Guard with you? The guy…. the guy I just fought said that you were in trouble. Is everything Ok there
?

              I focused on the pursuit for a minute while she relayed everything I said to Kiran and then I watched as he stood to speak with his head Guard. Eden’s heart fluttered inside her chest, she was nervous, I could feel it from here. But for now she was safe.

             
We’re fine.
Eden reassured me.