I dashed for the relic, thinking of nothing but getting my hands on it, and this time I wouldn’t fail. My feet flew over the ground, ears buzzing and lunged for the scepter, snatching it up by the handle. Knowing I was probably breaking a hundred sacred rules, I spun around, getting my bearings. The cold seared my hands and I gasped, nearly dropping the relic on the ground. The coldness wasn’t painful, but a shock all the same. It wasn’t going to deter me. I circled back around toward the tree, dodging hallows as I went. It was hard to keep my eyes from checking on Zane, validating he was still on his feet. I resisted the urge, pushing on and rushed into the circular clearing.
Something caught my eye, something I had missed before or never paid attention to, but I understood now. A section of the courtyard was a replica of the stone circle. How had I missed that before? My feet slid over the dirt as I came to a screeching halt, narrowly avoiding being clotheslined by a large tree branch. I exhaled when I saw the little door nestled in the trunk of the big oak. My fingers were firm on the scepter, tingling as I held it up.
“Keep them away from her!” Zane ordered, trying to give me the time I needed.
The hallows had scattered, descending from all directions and swarming the courtyard. Slivers of moonlight provided our only light in the fight against darkness. Cursing, I looked up and saw two familiar silver eyes glowing at me in the dark. For a stomach-dropping second, I thought it was Heath, but then I saw the stupid grin. Crash. The last person I’d expected. He had ditched the wolf form. “What are you doing?” I snapped.
“I’m watching your back,” he replied.
I snorted. “Because that panned out so well before. I’m not a sucker.”
“I was in a precarious situation. If I hadn’t convinced my father I was loyal to him, do you think he would have confided in me about the relic?”
He made a good point, but too little too late. Eyes scanning the area around the tree, I searched for a clue on what to do with the scepter. “So you’re saying you betrayed me for the greater good?”
“I wouldn’t go that far. I’m not a saint,” he answered, then twisted to the left and planted his fist into an incoming hallow.
“It doesn’t really matter whose side you’re on at the moment. The only thing that does matter is getting this thing to work,” I said, shaking the relic. I was starting to sweat.
“Just say the magic word.” Crash mocked.
“Blow me.”
He chuckled. “I don’t think that’s it.”
Hell, what did I have to lose? For shits and giggles, I mumbled, “Abracadabra,” and waved my hand over the globe. I knew I was being ridiculous, but I was willing to do anything, even something as absurd as that.
Shocker. Nothing happened, other than Crash folding his arms and smirking. “It was worth a shot.”
I wanted to sucker punch him. “I don’t have the liberty of time. If your father gets his hands on this…”
“It’s all over,” he finished. “I know.” Crash’s eyes were suddenly alert. He frowned, scrunching his forehead. His hands flexed at his sides as he moved forward, ramming his fist into the belly of girl not much older than me. “Somebody test this chick for steroids,” he said, opening and closing his fingers.
She hissed, running her tongue along her teeth. “Is that all you got?” Crash’s hit had no effect on her whatsoever, other than pissing her off more. Nails swiped in the air toward his face. She managed to get a scratch or two on his cheek before he scurried out of her reach.
“Damn, you’re feisty. Good thing I like a challenge.” And she gave him one. This hallow had skill, making her a hell of an opponent. Crash wasn’t Zane, but had been trained to fight his whole life. I had to keep reminding myself of that.
Using her weight and brute strength, she barreled forward like a freight train, hands extended. Crash shot to the left, shoving her back a step, before spinning her around and pinning her wrists together. “Geez, I normally don’t mind when a girl is all grabby, but you, honey, are not my type.”
She sneered, trying to break her arms free. “It’s laughable that you would think that. I don’t want your body, I want your souls.”
“Oh, in that case. Piper, a little help,” he prodded, shifting the hallow so she was directly in front of me. She didn’t make it easy, and I thought any minute she would break free.
I rolled my eyes and lifted my free hand, attaching it to her chest. A burst of white light followed, and poof, steroid chick was gone. “Happy?”
Crash dusted off his jeans. “Took you long enough.”
I shrugged blasé. “I wanted you to suffer.”
“Fair enough.”
“You got no qualms about hitting a girl, I see.”
He smiled tightly. “Hey, I just saved your hind end.”
“Whatever. I saved your ass.” My chest rose slowly as I diverted my attention back to the task. “Now what?”
“Did you try giving it some juice?” he offered, attempting to be helpful.
I didn’t want his assistance, but with everyone otherwise occupied with the battle, I didn’t have much of a choice. Zane would only be able to keep Heath busy for so long.
One-handed, I revved the energy inside me, allowing it to seep into the handle as I had with the tree to unlock the relic. It radiated inside me like a wave of light. After a full minute, I sighed, disgruntled. “It’s not working.”
“I can see that,” he stated.
I gave him a dirty look and held up the relic. “Do you want to try?”
He took a step back. “Unlike my father, I don’t want to be near that thing. Gives me the creeps.”
“A lot of help you are.” I tapped my nail on the handle of the scepter, wracking my brain for information. As many dead banshees as I’d talked to, one of them must have said something of importance, something to help me. Rose. Mom. Celeste.
A halo of light dinged in my brain. That was it. Celeste had spoken of a blood sacrifice. Power doesn’t come without a price, she had said. The relic didn’t want my power. It wanted my blood.
Not a fan of needles, I shuddered as I stared at the sharp tip, perfect for piercing the skin and thin enough to be a tube.
This was going to suck.
Palm flattened, I took a deep breath and before I could think how much it was going to hurt, I plunged my hand onto the needle.
Crash gasped. “Jesus Christ. A little warning next time you decide to self-mutilate.”
Hissing through my teeth, pain lanced down my arm, extending. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t even cry. The cold seeped through my skin, reaching my inner core. Silly of me for thinking saving the world would be painless. I clenched my jaw against the sting, keeping my hand secured over the globe.
The glass began to swirl with my blood, little droplets floating in the chamber like bubbles, but that was all. Nothing amazing or epic happened. I assumed I’d feel something. A tremble. A surge. The only thing I felt was my entire being buzzing with thwarted hope and a heavy disappointment settling in my chest.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I wanted to scream, the kind that would shatter glass, burst eardrums, and cause destruction. “Why didn’t that work?” I raged.
Crash had his WTF look on his face. “Uh, I’m still getting over the fact you stabbed yourself with it.”
I started to mutter. “Blood. Sacrifice. Power. What else could it need?”
He rubbed the sandy scruff on the side of his cheeks. “My father never mentioned anything about blood, only something about it taking two souls to trigger the veil.”
I glanced up. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?” My eyes locked with Zane across the lawn. I could have whispered his name, I wasn’t sure, but I had drawn his attention.
Soul Symmetry.
My blood only wasn’t going to save us. It needed our blood. Together.
“If you really want to help,” I said to Crash. “Keep your father occupied while Zane and I crack ancient history.”
“You do realize he is going to kill me.”
“We’re all going to die if Zane and I don’t do this.”
“Point taken. You owe me.” The air around him stirred, following the network of red veins enveloping his body. I blinked and he was no longer human. The wolf at my feet winked, before bounding off toward his father.
This better work.
The stench of death was everywhere. Zane’s head swung in my direction, his eyes a deep blue under the dim light shining like diamonds. Damp bits of hair clung to his forehead and temples. He took one look at my face, and then was off, flying toward me. Shadows shimmered around him, heavy in the air, cloaking us from the chaos. Power invaded my system.
He had a way of making me feel invincible, which was crazy, because I didn’t know if we’d ever truly be safe.
“Is that your blood?” he asked, eyeballing the glowing artifact in my grasp.
I nodded. “I think I figured out how to activate the scepter, but it is missing one key ingredient.”
“Don’t tell me.”
“Yep, your blood, but we need to merge our souls first.”
He held out a hand. “What are we waiting for?”
We hadn’t even touched and I could already feel my soul reaching out to him, drawing him to me. It wanted the connection, urged for it, and I gave it what it begged for. Our powers conjoined, pulsing. Another time, another place, I would have just liked to revel in the sheer awesomeness pouring through us. Someday, I swore, we’d be able to use our soul symmetry for something other than fighting.
Our fingers linked and the energy flared, light and darkness. I closed my eyes, knowing what came next and let Zane take the lead. My head tipped back as the first icy bite of the needle pierced Zane’s hand.
No pain. No gain.
“Piper,” he said in a strangled voice, and a tremor went through him, rippling to me.
I gasped, my eyes popping open. It was an odd sensation, filled with both agony and bliss. The merger of our souls was a high, but the extraction of blood was a sensation I never wanted to feel again. Time seemed to slow, dragging the process and emphasizing the agony. I wanted to cry out, but the sound was caught in my throat.
While Zane and I were tangled up, Declan slashed at a nearby hallow, only to have him spring back. Another leapt in from behind, cornering him. He wasn’t the only one with his back to the wall. As I winced, Aspyn, Parker, Zoe, Zach, and many, many others fought desperately to keep the hallows at bay, but it didn’t look promising. If something major didn’t happen, there was no way we were going to win this war.
Never had I seen such a horrid sight. Ripping my gaze from the destruction, I stumbled, unprepared for the instant relief. Zane had dislodged his hand and released mine. Gulping, I took huge, deep breaths of air, clearing the fog of bewilderment.
I should be used to the surreal, but seeing my blood blend with Zane’s was captivating. A red mist swirled in the glass chamber like a magic potion. It shimmered, fluid and alive, eager to do its purpose. To rid the earth of those who didn’t belong in this realm, sending them back to the other side of the veil.
Blood was trickling down my face, dripping a path down my check like a giant red tear. My body throbbed, and each movement brought on a new onslaught of pain, but I kept everything into sharp focus, ignoring it all but the relic.
“Here goes nothing,” I mumbled and raised the scepter over my head, smashing it down into the ground. The dirt shook under my feet, followed promptly by a burst of blinding light that raced across the garden and spread over the island. My blood and Zane’s oozed out of the chamber, seeping into the earth.
Lights exploded behind my eyes, and before my next breath, I was flown back into a corner. My head whacked on something hard, and stars burst as I slumped to the grass. The relic became like a black hole, drawing all the hallows to it and sucking up them up.
Oh. My. God. We did it. I couldn’t believe it. I must have blinked fifty times, but the fire in my belly was already celebrating. Zane had the same dumbstruck look. I moved to throw my arms his neck, doing a little victory dance until a low voice stole my moment.
“Do you know what you’ve done?” There was no mistaking the intense bitterness.
How could I have forgotten about Heath for even a second? I turned around and Zane placed his hand on the small of my back. “Yes. I do. I undid everything corrupt you started.”
His lips curved. “Not everything.”
My stomach twisted and a lump rose to my throat. A great sense of foreboding took root. “Just admit defeat and maybe I’ll spare your life.” …but not your power.
He wasn’t having it. “You’re going to have to kill me.”
I kept my voice light and even. “With pleasure.” A murmur went through the ranks of the reapers, all eyes turning to me.
Everything happened at once. I extended my hand, intending to siphon Heath’s reaper powers right from his slimy core. At the same time, he grabbed his son, throwing Crash in front of him. “If you’re going to kill me, you might as well take out my entire bloodline.”
Bastard.
I hesitated, as he knew I would, my hand stopping a centimeter from Crash’s heart.
“Cutting a bit close, luv,” Crash said, keeping his voice light, but I caught the slightest tremble.
Zane growled.
Crash observed me with solemn gray eyes, and I knew he was going to do something I wouldn’t like. My heart splintered. I had begun to think he wouldn’t betray me, that all the things he had said to me had been the truth.
My eyes couldn’t believe it. What kind of father did that, sacrificed his son to save himself?
A monster.
A coward.
Heath was nothing more than a spineless douchebag. He didn’t deserve to be a reaper. I vowed before this night was over, I would kill him; rid the Earth of such a foul being.
As soon as I got an opening.
“I’m sorry,” Crash uttered. “It had to be this way.”
The truth hit me in the chest. Crash had never betrayed me. He might have even saved me—saved us all.
He deliberately stared his father in the eyes as he spoke, but he had been apologizing to me. Smart move. It was never wise to take your eyes off a snake like his father. Heath wasn’t a fool. He knew his son. Moving so fast, Heath was all like lightning, his hands on either side of Crash’s head.
A sickening crack echoed in the night, followed by Crash hitting the ground. His body flickered between human and wolf.
I yelled his name, frightened he might die. Zane has his hands on my waist, keeping me at his side. I forced myself to stay calm and stretched out my abilities to see if I could still sense Crash. He was indeed alive, but his breathing faltered. Crash thrashed on the ground, blood pooling at his hands. Anger flared in my chest as I lifted my chin, eyes burning into Heath.
In horror, I opened my mouth to scream. Heath had lifted his weapon for the killing blow. I tore from Zane’s hold, and I didn’t stop, not even when he called my name.
But I was too late. Crash somehow managed to steady his form and roll to left just as Heath swung out with his sword, nicking Crash on the top of the shoulder. He winced as his shirt soaked in blood, but it was the least of his concerns. Heath wasn’t going to quit until the job was done. His blade sliced in the air. Heath might be old and wise, but Crash was young and quick. Anticipating his father’s move, he knocked into Heath’s arm, dislodging the weapon. It clattered to the ground with Heath staggering backwards. Crash took advantage, stepping within Heath’s guard and plunged his own dagger through his father’s chest.
Time ceased to a stop. Heath stood there, a look of shock on his face, staring at the blade in his chest. Crash had used such force the knife erupted out of Heath’s back. “What have you done?” Heath gurgled, eyes blank and confused.
Then Crash yanked the blade free, and Heath’s eyes rolled up in his head. He crumbled to the floor like a decrepit old man. Red veins slithered over his entire body, followed by the dark shadow of death, hiding him from view.
“I was never going to be the son you wanted,” Crash said, looming over Heath’s body.
He had killed his father.
I shuddered, torn between passing out and throwing up. Strange how I was a harbinger of death, yet still I wasn’t desensitized at the sight of blood.
Heath might be dead, but I knew better than anyone, he wasn’t really gone, not until his soul was destroyed. “Zane,” I prompted.
Crash had proven his loyalty, but I couldn’t risk the chance of his father coming back as a hallow to be reckoned with. I’d rather avoid that encounter altogether, and there was only one way to ensure I’d never see Heath’s ugly mug again. His soul needed to be destroyed.
There would always be hallows who lingered on earth and the crows would destroy them, that was how the cycle worked—balance. It felt epic to level the scale.
Zane crouched over the source of all my problems, and put his palm on Heath’s chest. As the essence of the overlord pumped into Zane, his veins darkened, spidering over his body. And just like that, the source of all my problems, my mother’s death, Rose’s death, the ruin between two realms dissipated at the hands of my husband.
It was finally over.