Аманда Хокинг - Flutter

“Do you trust him?” Jack looked seriously at me.

“Yes,” I nodded. Jack turned back to Ezra and Peter, and Peter nodded.

“I think he’s okay,” Milo said, and Olivia shrugged.

“Hey, how did you find Jane?” I asked, looking down at Leif. It made sense to me that they’d be able to find me since they met me before, but I didn’t understand how they’d even know she associated with us.

“She was wearing your clothes walking around downtown,” Leif said, almost sadly. “I smelled you on her. We tracked you down to Minneapolis by asking around. Gunnar knew people that knew Ezra.” He face flushed guiltily. “I never should’ve agreed to come with, but if I hadn’t they would’ve killed me, and they still would’ve killed you. When we got on the boat, though, I knew I had to find a way to help you. That was a complete massacre.”

“Oh my gosh.” My jaw dropped as it hit me. “That was you? On the tanker that crashed into Newfoundland?”

“I’m not proud of what they did, and I will pay for my sins,” Leif raised his chin when he looked at me. “I assure that I will make amends.”

The cathedral echoed with the sound of broken glass, but Leif stood his ground. The stained glass windows shattered, sending bits of broken glass raining down all around him. The lycan walked slowly in the pews towards him, and Gunnar started doing a slow clap.

“Bear told me you were a Judas,” Gunnar said. “I thought he might be right, but I knew that you would still lead us right to them. You failed at killing them and at saving them. You’re absolutely useless, aren’t you?”

“Dying now would be far better than serving you,” Leif growled at him.

“Stop!” I shouted hanging, over the balcony. The lycan already knew we were there, so it wasn’t like I was giving way our position, but Jack glared at me anyway. “He’s not the one you want!”

“You have no idea what I want,” Gunnar glared up at me. His face was that of pure evil, and a shiver ran down me. He walked to the center aisle and just stared up at me. The other three lycan moved in closer to Leif, but he didn’t run. They were going to slaughter him, but he just stood his ground and held his head high.

“They’re going to kill him!” I hissed, looking at Ezra. “We’ve got to do something!” He looked at me helplessly. As of yet, we still hadn’t figured out how we were going to save ourselves. Jack was staring down at Leif, and I could almost see his mind racing. He was trying to think of something, but he was taking too long.

Without thinking, I launched myself over the balcony. I heard Jack calling my name, and when I hit the ground, I half-expected my legs to snap. In fact, they barely even hurt. I even landed on my feet, and if the situation weren’t so incredibly terrifying, I would’ve felt pretty damn cool for making a landing like that. None of the lycan even looked back at me, but then again, I wasn’t a much of a threat. I stood up, and I heard the sound of Olivia’s crossbow click back as she loaded an arrow. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the only one.

Dodge and Stellan cocked their heads at the balcony, but Bear kept his attention fixed on Leif. Dodge moved first, but he wasn’t as fast as the rest of them, so the arrow sliced straight through his heart. He collapsed to the ground, and I thought he might burst into flames like in the movies, but he just laid on the ground.

Stellan was standing in front of me, smiling, and then in a blur, he was gone. Olivia fired an arrow at him, but it flew through the air behind him and landed in a pew. Using his speed as momentum, Stellan leapt from off the back of a pew up into the balcony. No other vampire moved as fast as he could, not even Ezra, and even with the four of them up there, they could barely hold their own against him.

In the moment of distraction, Leif took his chance to counterattack Bear, sending him crashing into the pews. Wood splintered everywhere, and I realized too late that Leif had the situation under control. I looked back up at the balcony, feeling helpless as they struggled to keep Stellan at bay. Ezra was trying to defend Olivia so she could load her crossbow, but even when she did manage to get a shot off, Stellan was impossible to hit.

“Hello, Alice,” Gunnar whispered, and his voice was right in my ear. I had been too busy watching Stellan that I hadn’t noticed him coming up behind me. I tried to look up at him, and his hand was around my throat, one of his razor sharp nails pressing into the skin over my jugular. I fought to pull his arm free, and he started dragging me backwards, towards the altar.

I thought about screaming, but I didn’t want anybody to know. They would stop and look at me, and that’s exactly what would get themselves killed. Milo was crouched over Bobby, trying to protect him, and Jack and Peter had already sustained pretty major wounds. Only Olivia had yet to be wounded, but she was dodging and diving almost as quickly as Stellan.

So I let Gunnar drag me away. I knew that he would probably kill me, but whatever he did to me, I had to endure it silently. That was my only chance of saving them. Leif was still fighting Bear, but he seemed to have the upper hand. He knocked Bear back to the ground, and then he grabbed a broken piece of the pew. It was one of the backs, but it had been snapped in half, giving it a sharp edge. Leif held it high over his head, then plummeted it down against Bear’s throat. There was this awful gurgling sound, but I closed my eyes to keep from seeing the blood. I heard the crunch of the bone, and Bear’s heart fell silent. Leif had decapitated him.

“Everyone is so busy right now,” Gunnar clicked his tongue. “It’s so boring and dull with just the two of us don’t you think?”

“Gunnar,” Leif said, keeping his voice low. Blood stained his shirt and face, and carefully stepped over the pews towards us. “Let her go. She’s not what you want.”

“You are quite right,” Gunnar sighed. “But she is what everyone else seems to want, and if you take a step closer, I’ll slice her throat wide open.” Leif stopped where he was, glaring at him. When Gunnar spoke again, he was shouting loudly, so everyone would hear him. “What do you think, Peter? How much blood can sweet Alice lose in one day?”

Peter and Jack froze instantly, but Stellan went for Jack. He tackled him roughly, crashing into pews, and falling below the balcony wall, so I couldn’t see him. Olivia cocked her crossbow, but I doubt she could get in a clean shot if they were rolling about together. Ezra jumped into it, trying to catch Stellan, but he still moved to quickly, even with Jack in his clutches.

“No, Peter, help Jack!” I shouted. “He needs you more than I do!” Peter just stared at me, his eyes burning, and I knew that he wouldn’t save Jack. Even if he wasn’t mad at him. I meant the most in the world to him, and that’s exactly why Gunnar had gone after me.

Peter leapt off the balcony, his eyes never leaving me. He walked deliberately slow, and I looked up at the balcony. I could hear them fighting, Jack grunting, and how fast his heart pounded, but I couldn’t see him.

Milo was just trying to keep Bobby from getting killed. I saw Ezra go flying across the balcony, landing hard against the wall, and tumbling down next to Olivia. At least Jack’s heart was still beating. At least he was still alive.

“Let her go,” Peter commanded. He made it closer to us than Leif had, but he stopped just below the steps leading up the altar. Gunnar had us stationed right below cross. When I looked straight up, all I could see was the emaciated corpse of Jesus. It was rather disturbing, and it didn’t help that a vampire was about to tear open my throat.

“Why would I do that?” Gunnar laughed. “It’s just so much fun watching you suffer!”