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Authors: Kelly Varesio

Insperatus (52 page)

BOOK: Insperatus
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She had come back.
Rein jumped up and evaded Ben. She reached Traith, who was lifting a body off his shoulder and throwing it in a pile of others.
“
You’re holding up well for a blind man,” she said.
“
Rein?” he asked. “What—? Who hit you? Damn this!”
She smiled at him, but his face was grave. “At least you have a pile there,” she said thoughtfully.
“
Not much else I can do, Rein,” he said. “Did you need me?”
“
Helena and Mistress are fighting, and it does not appear as though Mistress is the aggressor. We need to get to Helena, and
now
might be a good time.”
“
What is it exactly that will kill her?”
“
Her own sword.”
A grin flickered about his mouth. “Ironic.”
With Rein in the lead, they darted across the room toward the clashing Council Leaders. Mistress’s eyes were beginning to roll back in her head; she was being choked violently.
Helena turned, sensing their approach.

“
Harker?” She laughed devilishly. “Your escape method was excellent! I can imagine it is helpful having a woman who loves you enough to rescue you when you are incapable of rescuing yourself.” She laughed louder.

Traith lifted his chin in defiant anger and reached out in front of him, by chance grasping the charging winged woman by the neck.

“
Rein, now,” he urged as he held Helena as tightly as he could before her constricting hands wrapped around his neck, too.
Rein’s mind reawakened.
She concentrated intensely, and she paused time.
Everything stopped. Fights froze in mid air. The pain, however, was excruciating. She was controlling the lives of every other being in the castle along with Helena, while keeping Traith and Mistress immune to her power.
Traith yanked his neck out of Helena’s hold, sighing roughly. “Mistress, I can’t see, grab Helena’s sword before Rein loses focus.
That
bloody thing is her weakness.”
“
The sword?” Mistress seemed baffled as she pulled the sword from the scabbard. It immediately burned a fiery blue, and the presence of it felt cold on Rein’s face, even from a distance. But in that instant of distraction, she lost her hold and fell to the ground, nearly unconscious.
Time had begun again, and all the fighting resumed. Mistress teleported Traith over to where she was standing, handing him the flaming sword.
“
Use it!” she yelled, her eyes turning yellow.
“
What are you
talk
ing about
? I can’t see the bloody thing, let alone—”
A heel lashed out and whipped against Traith’s face, and he grunted and fell onto the stone. It was Helena.
She kicked him again after he was down and grabbed the sword before Rein had time to gather herself and get to it first. Traith rolled over to his stomach, holding his face.
“
Where
?” he shouted, asking Mistress. “Where the hell is she?”
“
Traith!” Mistress called.
Rein blinked and saw Traith fumbling in his own darkness for Helena. The winged woman turned and threw out her hand, and with that movement, Mistress was smashed backward into the stone. Rein felt herself regaining strength; she tried to scramble up and trip Helena.
But all that was heard was the evil vampire’s laugh.
Rein felt a sudden pang of stinging and burning and screamed.
The sword flared within her body.
She heard Traith shouting for her in frustration and question.
Rein’s scream choked; she let her stare fall down; the sword, Helena’s sword, had punctured through her chest as she was leaned over.
Rein’s whole body suddenly stiffened. “Traith…”
All she heard back was his calling her name desperately, and then his grunt as Helena hit him once more.
Rein could make no response, and her eyes did not blink. She felt blood rising from her stomach and out the side of her mouth. She bent over, holding her middle, and buckled to the floor. She was trying to push off the stiffening pain, but she was still lying on the ground coughing up blood and panting, struggling desperately to stand. It felt like her skin was stretched over her bones, pulling. Blood spurted through her fingers as she shakily held the wound.
Time slowed again, if only in her mind, and things were quiet in her head. Quiet for once. The peacefulness was frightening, however. It was, perhaps, that she was numb or overwhelmed with pain; it was hard to distinguish. She looked up at the red-haired woman and turned her attention to Traith, who stood up, still calling for her. The blood still cascaded like a waterfall out of her chest; it wouldn’t heal on its own. The blood stopped suddenly; she knew she was being cauterized, and the blood flow ceased. She knew she could die. If it was her heart, if the sword was lodged in her heart, she knew she would die. It was close enough to a stake. She didn’t know yet, however, and the sensation was terrifying…
Outside her mind, an odd whirlwind began to form around Helena. Mistress held out her red glowing orb, eyes on fire, and recited a bizarre spell. Helena froze, her hand still holding onto the sword that pierced Rein’s chest. Fire still blazed out of the sword, burning Rein with an icy-heat.
Traith knelt down and spread his arms, desperately searching the ground for the body of his lover.

 

Chapter 80

 

Traith’s hands found nothing but cold stone. At a time when he needed his sight the most, he felt like an infant, touching his surroundings in vain.
And where was Helena? Was he going to get hit again?
But then he felt it; the smell was so appealing! It was blood—Rein’s blood. No. That yearning in his body had to be restrained.
He wasn’t going to do that to Rein again.
He cursed himself under his breath, and then flinched when a wet hand grabbed his fingers.
“
Traith
!” Mistress screamed at him, still holding Helena in a frozen state. “Seize the blade! I can’t hold her for much longer! I am not as strong as your lover!”
He knew it was Rein’s hand he held. The long, smooth, thinness of it, the way she held him. It led him to her chest, where he grasped the sword’s handle, removing Helena’s hand from it. He drew it out with a quick pull. She gasped in pain as he held the blade in his hand, and he craved to see her state.
Mistress was pleading for him to finish Helena. Still holding Rein’s hand, Traith followed up Helena’s arm and grabbed a hold of her hair. He drove the sword in front of him with intensity, thrusting it through her chest. Mistress let the Mardinial Leader out of her mental grasp as the sword entered. It made no difference where.

He had done it
.

He had killed his immortal creator…the one who had ruined his entire life. The one who wiped his memory. The one who had lied to his own flesh and blood. The one who had first plotted and managed to kill Rein so he had to turn her, and the one had tortured so many others…

He heard a sudden screech, and he felt a hole materializing in her stomach as her flesh decomposed, growing larger and larger. He backed up. She let out another shriek, and he felt an agonizing pain overwhelm him. He felt her hand; it was clawing down him.

Then she fell.
He instinctively yanked away, and he heard her wings flapping a final time.
“
Why-y…d-do you fight…a-against it?” she asked, with her last breath.
He staggered back a few steps. “Because it’s the best thing I can do with what you changed me into.”
She screamed deafeningly, and in an instant, her body turned to dust and vanished. Traith shook his head, feeling the grit of it on his face.
But then his moment of victory was shattered. With breathtaking force,

Traith was crushed backward by an animal. It was the werewolf Ben. He must have heard his wife’s scream and run to the site.

Traith smacked against the stone wall hard and grunted as he fought the beast.

“
Do you enjoy killing women, Harker?” Ben swore as he fought the vampire. “First your own admirer, and now mine?”
Traith felt weaker at Ben’s words; his mind began to cloud again. He knew Ben wanted him to lose strength over his words, but Traith couldn’t shake the crushing reaction.
“
How does she make you
feel
every time you see her? Don’t you feel cursed? You ruined her life! She’ll never be normal again, and you did it!”
“
Stop it!” Traith was slammed into the stone again by Ben’s hands.
“
Such a hellish creature, you are, doing that,” Ben snarled while beating him. “And before that, your parents, who raised you and fed you and housed you and loved you! And right in front of poor, poor Ana. She’s scarred for eternity by that sight!”
“
So am I!”
“
Seems to me you have a problem with killing your loved ones! The girl out on the balcony must be next, no?”
He shook his head in fury. “No!”
“
No? Am I lying about everything? Am I wrong?”
“
God, stop it!” Traith’s voice was trembling, and he was desperately striving to break free from the werewolf.
His body was being crushed. His strength waned as he thought about Ben’s words. He knew he had to stop thinking about it. He attempted shocking Ben with energy, but it didn’t seem to affect him. Every time he strained to teleport, Ben was there as well. He couldn’t even attempt to use his other powers. He was being pounded, beaten, for the first time in an unarmed fight.

 

Chapter 81

 

Traith strained to keep a grip on Ben’s nose. His own strength far surpassed the werewolf’s, but he was almost completely out of fuel. He had not slept for days. He had managed to go for three days without a single vial of blood. His body was suffering in the early morning sunlight.
Ben still tore at him without any loss of energy. Traith felt his body numbing, and slowly, with every blow, every time he hit the floor, he lost more strength. Another blow from Ben’s fist, and he fell nearly limp. He struggled to fight, but his body wouldn’t. Ben’s other hand pushed Traith’s head up, lengthening his neck. He was going to tear into him. Rip him apart. Perhaps worse—make him a werewolf as well as a vampire. Or just torture him until he found a stake.
He braced himself for the incoming pain.
Ben fell onto his chest, and Traith puffed out hoarsely in pain. He hadn’t been expecting that. But then there were no further hits.
Traith was limp with exhaustion and defeat. He felt and smelled blood seeping from Ben’s slack body. He felt fur—Ben, with blood matting on his chest.
Then the body was lifted off of his chest. Ben was dead; he must have been. Traith covered his face and tensed, just to be sure he wouldn’t be tricked. Mistress?
“
What has he done to you?” a whisper spoke softly, and immediately he knew it was not Mistress who had killed Ben.
It was Ana kneeling down beside him. He tried to sit up, but she pushed him down. “No, please relax. Loosen your muscles. You won, Traith. Your council won. Everyone else has died. You killed Helena.”
He let go then. He was safe from any more attacks. He had a moment to heal.
Her hands were on his face, assessing the severity of his wounds. He felt her hands trembling against his cheeks as she felt the damage. Then her warm touch disappeared, and in that moment, he quickly covered his face. It would take a few moments for him to heal himself, perhaps even a few hours. He was so weak; his face probably looked horrid. He didn’t want her to see it anymore, whether it was or not.
She tore off the little remains of his shirt and overcoat, which were hanging off of him. He heard her breathing hard and quick. She was
still
breathing. Human blood still flowed in her. She was nearly human, and living warmth comforted him. He said nothing and closed his eyes, letting her patch up wounds even though they would heal on their own. His chest was left bare, and he knew that he now had severe wounds covering his entire flesh. He could feel them, and he knew Ana was staring at them. But he didn’t care about her apprehension. He gritted his teeth in pain. He was so tired…
“
Take your hands off your face,” she said gently. “I already saw it.”
“
Am I…disfigured, right now?” he asked awkwardly. “Stupid question.”
“
No,” she said, wiping the blood off of his face. “Not disfigured, just…oh, you look awful. He had no right.” She began quietly crying. “He had no right to say those things to you. I
am
sorry I never listened, Traith.”
He forced himself to crack a smile in response. He took her hand that was stroking his face and laid it aside gently. He sat up slowly, his right arm stiff, holding him up.
Rein
.
BOOK: Insperatus
8.89Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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