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.
Chapter Forty-Five
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.
Too many things were happening all at once. Rainer grappled with Ormand. Garret and Riona barely kept the puppets at bay. Kyle still lay in a heap the last time he’d seen him. The slacker. He’d better heal himself fast or Dillan would have to kick his sorry ass from here to hell and back. His hands shook. He couldn’t think beyond the tunnel vision.
“Sebastian!” He didn’t recognize his voice because of the overwhelming panic. “Dammit, mutt! Get your ass over here.”
A dark shadow loomed over him. He instinctively moved between Selena and the shadow, protecting her. But he couldn’t do much without letting her go. Sebastian touched his snout to his chest, pushing him back gently.
Dillan. His voice stood out from the noise in Dillan’s head. I need you to focus.
“I’m fucking focused,” he growled.
Sebastian’s skeptical head tilt met him the one second he lifted his gaze away from Selena. All he needed was to hear her voice again and everything would be okay. Her face was losing color fast and her skin already felt clammy to the touch.
“I’m focused,” he repeated with a calmness he barely felt. “Tell me what I have to do.”
There is no guarantee I can bring her back.
“Just tell me.” It came out rough. Too rough. The walls of his throat closed.
The hellhound he pinned all this on nodded once. You have to heal her as you pull out the sword. Channel your energy through the blade instead of the pommel.
“You will not die on me,” he ordered. He touched her ashen cheek with numb fingertips. One second she looked at him, the next she was gone. He shook out his badly trembling hand. Unable to stop the tremors, he moved it to the hilt. The second his fingers wrapped around the grip, Selena’s eyes opened. He gasped, wide-eyed. Instead of the usual aquamarine, clear yellow stared back. Before he could call her name, she shoved him aside.
Everything seemed to stop at once.
All eyes stared at the girl who stood up with a sword sticking out of her back. Even Rainer and Ormand, locked in battle, stopped and stared. They all stared like idiots.
“Sebastian, what the hell’s happening?” he asked from his seated position.
This is not me. I swear.
A transparent white aura enveloped Selena, fanning her curls—making them seem like a wild mane around her head. No one moved while she scanned the awed expressions of those present.
In the silence, she reached for the hilt of Dillan’s sword and pulled it out of her chest. The blue light from the blade burned bright white the second she touched it. The flames danced from hilt to tip. He had never seen or felt such power. All the hair on his arms stood on end. Sebastian’s hackles went up. A low growl came from deep within his chest. He closed a hand on the hellhound’s fur.
“Don’t. Move,” he whispered.
Selena’s yellow eyes flicked from him and Sebastian to Ormand and Rainer. A second later, she moved toward them. Without hesitation, she pushed Rainer aside. Then, with teeth bared, she stabbed the shocked Ormand in the chest. With Dillan’s sword. To the hilt. The flames on the blade engulfed Ormand fast. The Maestro had no time to scream before he turned to ash. From the flames came a shockwave.
Holy shit! He shielded his eyes.
The puppets surrounding them melted into black goo. In one stroke the chaos ended. This wasn’t the Selena he knew. Not by a long shot. What the hell did they just get themselves into?
“Da-yum! Did Selena just save us?” Garret asked from somewhere.
Sebastian snorted.