Kate Evangelista - Til Death

A watery hiss came from behind the mausoleum. “He’s right here.”

I covered my mouth as Ormand turned the corner. Nothing of my good-natured boss remained. His olive-toned skin stretched so tightly over his face that he looked like a mummy without its wrappings. His sneer uncovered pointy teeth and black gums. Obsidian eyes stared out of deep, almost hollow, sockets. Only clumps of hair remained on his head. He wore a black robe that brushed the dirt. In the hours since I first saw him at Greenwood, he’d rotted into something that was never human to begin with. His boney fingers curled around Kyle’s throat, lifting him several inches off the ground.

Kyle struggled to get away, but stopped when he saw me.

“Good. You’ve brought her with you.” Ormand licked his lips. “I was just explaining to this boy ,” he spat, “that I was looking forward to the reunion.”

Kyle stared at me as if trying to say something with his eyes. I couldn’t understand what he wanted me to know. My initial shivering fear turned into bone chilling dread. Planting my feet firmly didn’t stop my knees from shaking. My skin crawled. I glanced at Dillan, but he no longer stood by my side. He leapt forward, sword raised. Ormand freed one hand from Kyle’s neck and with an unseen force coming from his fingers, flicked Dillan to the side like a flimsy toy soldier.

Dillan hit another mausoleum a few yards away with a loud thud . The collision knocked him unconscious. While his body lay limp on the ground his sword turned back into a charm. Overwhelmed by too many corpses charging them at once, Garret and Riona couldn’t help us. They barely managed to keep the foul smelling creatures away from me.

Kyle took advantage of Ormand’s one-handed hold and pulled himself free from its grip. The action left deep gouges along his throat from his long fingernails. Dark crimson blood flowed freely from his wounds and the sides of his mouth as he coughed.

“I wish you hadn’t done that,” Ormand said. He kicked Kyle firmly on his backside, sending him to the ground on all fours. “You filthy boy .”

My best friend tried to crawl his way to me. The wounds on his neck sizzled, smoke coming out of them. His body convulsed.

“See, now the poison’s spreading.” Ormand frowned, which looked more like a happy pout. “Too bad. I was hoping to play with you more.”

I felt sick to my stomach. Kyle’s body twisted like a pretzel. The ground felt unsteady beneath my feet. I struggled to breathe. Of all of us there, I felt the most useless. Where was that voice encouraging me to fight when I needed it?

“I knew you would come. But a bat? Do you plan to kill me with a splinter?” He glided closer to Penny’s unmoving form. He wrapped an arm around her waist while his other hand touched her cheek. “Beautifully obedient, isn’t she?”

“Stop touching her!” I snarled like a feral cat, ready to swing. I might not be able to kill him, but I could hurt him.

“Oh.” His brows lifted. “I like feisty. Let’s make this a little more interesting, shall we?”

“I’m here, so let Penny go!”

Ormand waved his finger from left to right. “That’s no fun,” he said. “Come, this place has gotten too noisy for my taste.” He lifted Penny and drifted back into the gloom behind him.

Without thinking twice, I ignored Garret’s bellow for me to stay put and leapt forward. I followed the monster that held my other best friend hostage deeper into the cemetery with a group of corpses running after me. I forced myself not to pay attention to them. The light of the moon allowed me to see where I was going. I wasn’t planning on tripping any time soon. Ormand kept a safe distance at all times, only giving me enough leeway to catch up.

The mausoleums created a long, dark alley. They were eerie representations of houses for the dead. A thick mist swirled around my knees, making it look like I waded through smoky water. The alley opened into a clearing where Ormand stood at the center with Penny in front of him like a shield. Before I could reach him, I was yanked back by boney fingers that grabbed my arms and legs. The sour breath of the corpses holding me wafted at my face. I grimaced and tried not to breath in the stink. One yanked away my bat. A lot good it did me anyway.

Ormand’s triumphant laugh sounded like dying cats. He kept his hold secure on Penny, throwing his head back. When the echoes of his laughter faded, he returned his beady eyes to me. “Welcome to the old section,” he said with a wave of a hand.

I called on my inner Dillan and said, “Could have fooled me.”

“Sarcasm.” He tilted his head toward Penny. “I like that. I enjoyed so very much playing with you and your little friends.”

An involuntary shiver rushed through my body. “Is that why you waited this long instead of grabbing me earlier?” He turned to Penny as if he wanted to whisper something into her ear. I growled when he licked her cheek. “Stop touching her!”

He smacked his lips together. “Come to me and I’ll let her go.”

Before I could respond, a rustle came from my left.

“Let the girl go, Ormand,” Mr. Sloan said as he stepped out of a group of pines with the hellhound by his side. He held a long sword in one hand and a dagger in the other.

“Rainer Sloan,” Ormand cooed. “Aren’t you retired?”

“Walking my dog and stumbled through here. Imagine that? You’re having a party and I wasn’t invited.”

Sebastian growled, baring his long canines. His hackles stood.

“Don’t come any closer, Legacy, or the girl dies.” Ormand sank his nails deeper into Penny. “And keep your hound leashed.”

“No! Let her go. I’ll come with you.”

“Selena, you don’t know what you’re saying.” Mr. Sloan glared at me.

“Shut it, Rainer!” I scowled, and he raised an eyebrow at me. I ignored him and returned my attention to Ormand. “Just let Penny go.”

Ormand waved away the puppets holding me in place. “Come then,” he said like he’d won the race.

I gathered the last of my courage and took a step forward. “Give Penny to Mr. Sloan.”

“Come closer.”

Another step. “Give her to him, now! ”

Just as Ormand shoved Penny into Mr. Sloan’s arms, a hand grabbed my arm and yanked me back.

“Selena, do you trust me?” someone said.

I twisted to see Dillan standing by my side. I hadn’t even heard him coming. Blood dripped down the side of his face from a head wound. The fear and resolve in his eyes told me what I needed to know. I nodded once. Then with a deft flick of his wrist, he upended his sword and plunged its blade into my chest.

Dillan

Whoa! Hold On a Sec

Ormand screamed in deathly anguish. Rainer chose that moment to charge and they clashed in a screech of metal and claws. Dillan didn’t focus on them. He couldn’t. He had other things he needed to do.

Selena’s body went limp in his arms. Her weight pulled him down, reminding him of what he’d done. The hilt of his sword stuck out of the middle of her chest. He didn’t allow himself to think when the sharp blade went in. He barely felt resistance from skin and bone. She shouldn’t have felt any pain. But, from the way his chest hurt, he might as well have been the one stabbed. He damned her for convincing him to take her life. He vowed never to listen to her ever again. Too much pain was involved.

Holy shit. He couldn’t breathe. Each gulp didn’t bring enough air into his tight lungs. His knees buckled, bringing Selena’s lifeless body down with him. The hilt prevented him from applying pressure as blood seeped out of the wound.

“Sebastian!” he called into the chaos.