~ Twenty-Four ~

Christian grabbed my arm and pulled me behind him. Aloysius tried to grab Maia but she jumped out of his reach. She ran away screaming into the darkness. One of the men punched Christian in the jaw, his head slamming into my face. My nose burned but I saw no blood when I took my hand away. Christian’s foot made contact with that man and pushed him into another. Both of the men hit the ground.

“Find Maia and get her to safety,” Aloysius yelled over the other voices. “Go, Lily. We can handle things here. We’ll get there as soon as we can.” His fist connected with the nose of a large man, who fell to the ground as if he suddenly had no bones to hold him up. Blood poured from his nose onto the ground.

“I’m not leaving you,” I yelled.

“Go, Lily. We’re okay here. They’re human. Piece of cake,” Christian insisted.

I turned to look for Maia and Melinda but both had disappeared. Melinda must be chasing after Maia. Aloysius and Christian didn’t seem to notice my hesitation. They were both too busy fighting.

Running downhill, I could still hear the commotion Aloysius and Christian were causing. All the screams and grunts told me they were causing a lot of damage and that made it easier for me to leave Christian. As I rounded a corner, a faint light glowed in the distance. I squinted to get a better look and made out the shape of a small building. Looking around and seeing no sign of Maia, I decided to try the building.

“Hello! Is anyone here?” No one answered. It was the remains of an old stone building. It had four walls but lacked a roof and a door. The windows were openings where glass had once been, like large, hollowed-out eyes. The odd thing was that this was the only place on the mountain where I saw any green. Weeds almost as tall as my waist filled the inside of the ruins. Candlelight flickered faintly in the corner, casting dancing shadows in the corner above it. I peered inside from the door opening. On a small cot, a body lay curled up on its side. Dark hair covered the face, but I could tell by the hair and the slight shape it was a female. Why would there even be a bed in this structure?

I poked my head further in and the smell of urine overwhelmed me. I held my hand to my nose and stepped in. “Hello? I’m sorry to bother you but…”

The person on the cot rolled over. Maia smiled as she looked at me through one eye. A fist crashed into my back and I hit the ground face first. Rolling onto my back, I kicked out with both legs and made contact with Melinda’s stomach. She screamed and flew right through the absent door.

“How easy it was to convince the others to leave you alone,” she said as she stood and wiped the dirt off her clothes with both hands. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Those idiot hunters are keeping them busy. It turns out they are good for something after all.”

“Maia, get out of here!” I screamed, not taking my eyes off Melinda.

She sat up on the cot and placed her bare feet on the ground, her legs swallowed up by the weeds. “I’m afraid. I’d rather stay with you,” she said.

“Why are you even here? Go, now!” She sat still, looking at me through her good eye.

“She’s not going anywhere, but you are,” Melinda said as she walked toward me.

I jumped and kicked her again but she was a little too far away. I only succeeded in angering her more. She stumbled, gained her composure, and came at me with more ferocity. She bared her fangs and her eyes glowed red with rage.

“You killed my sister’s mate! You killed Maia’s mate! It’s your turn to die!” she screamed.

I ducked just in time to avoid her fist on my face but it came down on my back instead, knocking the air out of my lungs. I fell flat on my face outside the ruins with her on top of me. I tasted mud and blood, strong and metallic. Her weight didn’t keep me down long and I managed to push her off. This time, my fist connected with her jaw and I jumped away. Blood spattered on dry soil. Maia screamed and ran to the side of the building as Melinda wiped her bloody mouth with her sleeve.

“He was my maker!” I screamed as I ran at her like a bull at a matador. Pain exploded in my head as it connected with her stomach. I landed on top of her, slamming my head into the stone wall in the process. Maia screamed again. Melinda took that opportunity to grab a handful of my hair and yank my head back. She brought her knee up fast and I landed on my back again, not sure which hurt worse, my stomach or my head. She smiled. Maia smiled above her.

“Maia, why?” I asked as I realized what was happening. Maia was not in danger. Melinda had had her chance to take her, but she continued to pursue me instead.

“What do you mean? I’m her prisoner, right? I’m not to blame here,” she said.

“No, you’re not. You’re lying!” I screamed as I tried to wriggle myself free of Melinda but with no success.

Maia’s smile did not waver and it was eerie with that swollen eye. She took something out from behind her back. It was a piece of wood.

“What are you doing?” I asked but I knew exactly what they planned. “Christian!” I screamed. Melinda clamped a dirty hand over my mouth. It smelled of mud and blood.

“Let’s see, you took my sister’s mate. You took Maia’s family and her mate. You took Fiore away from Ian. That’s a lot of taking, don’t you think?” She laughed when I tried to answer but couldn’t. “Ian loved you. I have no idea why but he did. I never understood it, though I did question him. He just said he loved you and refused anything more. And even though he loved you and wanted you back, you chose to kill him rather than return to him. That’s never a good thing, right Maia? I taught you that.” Maia said nothing.

“What business is it of yours anyway?” I mumbled through the gaps in her fingers. “What do you care who he loved or who he wanted?”

“I don’t give a damn what he wanted. The only thing that matters to me is enforcing the law and that law says that we do not kill our makers,” she turned to look at Maia, who stood without expression, watching. “And, you took him away from this poor child, even though you didn’t want him. I’d call that selfishness, don’t you think?”

“I didn’t take him away from anybody. He came after me. And, I didn’t take Maia’s family. She still has them,” I insisted, getting the words through her gaping fingers.

“It doesn’t matter anyway. She was happier before you came along. It’s high time you pay for all the damage you’ve caused.”

Maia nodded. Her smile faded a bit as she held the stake out to Melinda’s outstretched hand. So this was it? This was how I was going to die, after finally finding happiness. I love you, Christian.

Lily? Where are you? Christian was trying to find me. Hope stopped my tears.

Melinda’s eyes widened. “Oh, no you don’t. Enough of that! Answer him and he dies with you,” she snapped.

Maia’s eye grew wide as a shuffling noise came from around the corner of the building. Christian and Aloysius must have found me. Any minute now they would yank her off me and we would go home.

Melinda’s teeth gleamed as she smiled, raising the stake above her head in both hands. I wriggled under her but she had me pinned with her legs. The stake came toward me in slow motion, or so it seemed. I heard a scream right before the pain in my chest took control of my mind. Then another scream rang in my ears but faded, echoing. My chest was on fire but at least my hands were free again. I clutched at the wood protruding from my chest. My fingers found something wet and sticky. Water. I needed water to put out the flames, not this sticky stuff.

Water…fire…Oh, God…I couldn’t make my mouth work. The earth spun and my eyes blurred as I realized what I was actually touching. Help me…Everything went black.