Blood Hunter (The Grandor Descendant Series) (50 page)

“Chris?” she cried, shaking him hard, as her hand tried to plug the bleeding wound at the back of his head.

The fact that Chris was naked did not even register with Ari, and she stared down at him, willing him to wake and look up at her. For a moment she got her wish; Chris’s eyes focused and when he realised Ari was beside him, he smiled. She watched with tears in her eyes as he reached a trembling hand up towards her face, until suddenly his pupils dilated, becoming large dark pools that threatened to block the entirety of his light blue eyes, just as his hand fell lifelessly towards the floor.

“No, no, NO!” she cried, shaking Chris violently, as small flecks of blood spattered against her hands and face, like a Jackson Pollock painting. “Chris!”

“Ari, come away,” said Lea, reaching down to her and looking wildly back at the fighting that was going on right behind them. For a moment Lea’s hand inched along Chris’s neck, feeling for his pulse, but then she shook her head and said, “There is nothing you can do.”

“But you can save him,” Ari cried, “heal him like you healed Riley.”

“He’s gone. I can’t do anything,” Lea said sadly, still trying to pull Ari away from Chris. “I can’t heal the dead.”

Lea grabbed the collar of Ari’s shirt and pulled her upright. Ari’s head swam with thoughts for Chris and her eyes stung with salty tears. She hadn’t realised that when she had been with Chris, all the noise around her had faded; now she could hear the breaking of wooden bookshelves and the screams from the coven. They were still fighting against the blood hunter; the blood hunter that had killed Chris. With this realisation, one of Ari’s eyes turned green, just as anger, more terrible and uncontrollable than she had ever felt, surged through her. All the pain and sadness left her body, replaced by rage.

Ari looked up at Jack. Riley was circling him, now in her lynx form. Her fangs were beared, ready to strike. Sandra lay temporarily forgotten on the floor a few feet away from the fighting as Ragon, Clyde, Patrick, Ryder and Thomas, all struggled against Jack. It was obvious from the way that they flew through the room, one by one, that Jack was much more powerful than any of them had ever dreamt. 

“He’s too strong,” said Lea, still holding onto Ari and trying to pull her towards the front entrance. “I have to get you out of here!”

Ari glared back at Lea; how could she think of escaping? Ari was just about to argue when something up on the second level caught her attention and she raced up the stairs.

When Ari reached the landing she looked around for the cause of the disturbance. A sudden manic scream preceded someone charging at her and she threw her hands up. Frozen in front of her was Larissa. Ari looked wildly around; a few seconds later Lea appeared, as did another person who was walking slowly towards her from the shadows.

“Cambridge?” Ari asked, looking at him in confusion, “What are you doing here? How did you know?”

“You really think I would leave my friends alone at a time like this?” he asked, his booming voice bringing with it an unexpected calming sensation. “What did you do to Larissa?” he added, staring at her frozen form.  

“What was she going to do to Ari?” asked Lea, looking at the beared fangs and vicious expression plastered on Larissa’s face.

Cambridge looked down, and for a moment Ari thought that his face reflected the same tired man she had seen many months before, when he had buried Larissa.

“It’s not right; she’s not right,” he said, moving over to Larissa lovingly and tracing his black finger down her check. “You were right. I shouldn’t have brought her back.”

It was obvious from the way that Cambridge relished this moment, with Larissa frozen, that he had been unable to touch her since her awakening. There was nothing about the monster that stood frozen in front of them that reminded Ari even remotely of the friend she had lost. Larissa was dead and no amount of magic could bring her back.

“What can I do to help?” Cambridge asked suddenly, and Lea stared at Ari, her eyes quickly darting backwards and forwards.

“How did you find us?” Ari asked again. “How did you know?”

“I have been following you since you met in the forest,” he said, and Ari knew that it must have been him that she had heard. “When Thomas told me Sandra was missing, I knew I had to help.”

“The void; a sink for the power of the blood hunter,” said Lea, holding out a shaking hand, pointing it straight at Cambridge’s chest.

“What?” Ari asked, spinning around to look at Lea as though she were mad.

Instantly Lea pulled a piece of paper from her pocket, as well as the knife that Thomas had given her.

“What’s that doing here?” asked Ari, pointing at the torn page from what was unmistakeably Malleus Maleficarum.

Lea did not stop to explain but took Cambridge by the hand and said, “Life isn’t supposed to be like this; it’s not meant to be this hard. You are both suffering existing like this, and she is tied to you by blood… but you can end it. You can put things right again. Do you want this all to end?”

The confusion showed on Ari’s face, until horror replaced it as Cambridge nodded.

“Wait a minute,” said Ari, looking from Lea to Cambridge, and then down at the torn page containing the blood hunter curse. “We can’t! You want to use him as a source for the blood hunter power?”

“Cambridge,” Lea said, ignoring Ari entirely, “we can’t beat Jack; he is too powerful. But this spell will remove his blood hunter powers, but it will only work if someone else will take in the displaced power. We can’t use Larissa; she is barely containable now.”

Cambridge turned once to look at Larissa, just as a sad smile crept across his face.

He nodded slowly and still looking at Larissa lovingly, said, “It will really be over? And you will be able to save Sandra and the others?”

“I promise,” said Lea. “Afterwards… afterwards I will make sure that you are both together; the way you should be- together forever”

“But, NO,” screamed Ari, “Cambridge will die or go mad or-”

“-there are some things worth dying for,” said Cambridge, looking from Ari and then back to Larissa, his dark hopeful eyes beginning to tear. “I told Larissa when she made me that we’d spend eternity together, and this is me keeping that promise. We can’t be together in life, but in death we won’t be apart.”

Ari watched as Cambridge moved over to Larissa, who was still frozen from Ari’s power, and kissed her. It was not the passionate kiss that she had witnessed once before between the two, but rather it was innocent and perfect. There was more than three hundred years of love contained in that kiss, and as Ari watched Cambridge say goodbye to his mate, her heart broke.  

“I love you,” he whispered, taking a wayward strand of her hair in his hand, and letting it slip through his fingers. “Tell me what to do.”

“We need to get a drop of Jack’s blood,” said Lea, holding the knife up so that both Cambridge and Ari could see it.

With those simple words, Cambridge leapt like a lion from where he stood. His heart was completely silent, but had he still been alive, it would have burned with reverence. He was happy; he could finally go home and Larissa would be waiting for him… wherever he was going.

Chapter 28 – Like Father Like Son

“Fools,” Jack said, glaring at everyone around him.

A loud hissing and spitting noise drew all attention back to Jack, just as he reached behind his back and clawed at Riley’s scruff, pulling her hard away from him and flinging her so that she glided through the air. For a moment it looked as if she were going to smash into the second floor landing, but Clyde quickly jumped into the air, catching her in his hands and landing heavily onto the ground, just as the marble floor broke underneath him. In Clyde’s hands Riley was yelping, and he gingerly placed her onto the floor, before resuming the battle against Jack.

At that moment Cambridge landed on the stone floor below, charging straight for Jack. Just in time Jack moved out of the way, and Cambridge plummeted into an over-filled bookshelf, breaking it in two as many old books fluttered down near him. When he picked himself up, Cambridge spun around to face Jack again, a manic smile spreading across his face. This time when he charged, his aim was true, and Jack, caught off guard, was forced backwards until he fell at the bottom of the stairs, with Cambridge’s giant body pinning him down.

“Now,” Cambridge screamed, looking around for Lea, who was already racing towards him, the knife held out in front of her.

In one quick motion she jabbed the knife against Jack’s arm. From the awkward way that Lea handled the dagger, it was clear that she was not use to using such weapons, but when she withdrew the blade she smiled, seeing a few drops of blood dirtying the tip.

“Enough,” Jack screamed, and both Lea and Cambridge were thrown away, as he forced himself into a standing position and glared around the room once again, as if inspecting the carnage.

Without pausing Jack raced at Ari. She didn’t have time to scream, let alone breathe, but before she felt him smash against her, something, moving impossibly fast, blurred past her, and she watched as Ragon crashed into Jack. As Ragon fell backwards, there was a horrified expression on his face and Ari watched, as though in slow motion, as Jack forced him to land hard against the floor, smashing his head into the stone below.

“NO,” Ari screamed, racing towards them without thinking.

Before she was half way across the room, Patrick, Ryder and Thomas were there, and all three fought to keep Jack away from Ragon.

“Ari,” Lea cried, and Ari spun around to face her. “I need your help.”

Lea was leaning over Cambridge, looking at him hurriedly as she placed the spelled paper and dagger on a smashed step, just above from where she stood.

“It won’t hurt; I promise,” said Lea, looking at Cambridge with kind eyes, as she lent down to him and with the same blade that she had used to cut Jack, also struck Cambridge, this time more carefully, as she sliced across his outstretched palm.

“Hold this,” said Lea, handing Ari the torn page from Malleus Maleficarum.

Ari took the page gingerly, inwardly hating herself for being so forceful in the discovery of how to reverse the blood hunter curse, now knowing that it would be Cambridge who would be sacrificed to make it work. She watched as Lea took the dagger and brushed the bloodied blade against the page, as if cleaning it, except instead of staining the paper, it was instantly absorbed.

“What the?” said Ari, but Lea did not reply; her eyes were closed and she was muttering something under her breath.

Suddenly the page burst into flames. White hot ambers flew everywhere and Ari relinquished her hold on the burning sheet, but not before Lea held out her hand to catch the ash. Ari startled at Lea’s reaction, certain that she was about to cry out in pain, but Lea didn’t flinch and looking down, Ari understood why. No longer were Lea’s hands opaque and normal skin coloured, but they had turned a strange glassy blue, making them appear as if they were formed from water. When the paper had finally stopped glowing red, the blackening charcoal sizzled and small curls and puffs of smoke erupted from where fire met ice. Without pausing, Lea leant back towards Cambridge and from the ash, drew a circle on his forehead.

Another loud crashing noise sounded and Ari looked wildly around to see Ryder flying through the air, hitting an old desk so that it smashed into several pieces.

“Ryder,” Patrick screamed.

Ari watched as Patrick leant down and pulled a large pointed piece of wood out of Ryder’s stomach. Bountiful amounts of Blood dripped from the thick slab of wood, and Ari raced as fast as her mortal legs would carry her, desperate to get to Ryder.

“Shit,” Patrick swore, placing two hands firmly at Ryder’s stomach, but the hole that had been formed was large and Patrick’s hands groped uselessly at it, while blood seeped from the wound.

“Ari,” Ryder said, seeing her hover around him. “Tell my parents that I love-”

But Ryder’s eyes went wide as small bubbles of blood tricked out of his mouth. No; Ryder can’t die! She had already lost Chris. She didn’t pause but rolled the sleeve of her jumper up and forced her wrist into Ryder’s lifeless mouth. Ryder did not respond and so Patrick lent down and hurriedly pierced her skin, so that blood dribbled down her wrist and fell into Ryder’s open mouth.

“You can tell them yourself,” she cried.

“Ryder,” Patrick said, looking at him intently. “Drink it you damn fool.”

One very intense minute passed, but then Ryder reached out and took Ari’s hand, holding onto it tightly as two sharp fangs bit down. The sheer joy of seeing that Ryder was alive was so overwhelming, that Ari didn’t even notice how much blood he was taking. Suddenly she felt the room slide in and out of focus and she slumped down next to Ryder, until she felt cold hands prise him away.    

When Ari looked up she saw Thomas, Ragon and Clyde still fighting against Jack. All three appeared weary and there were large cuts covering their bodies, which normally their immortal life-force would have healed by now. They wouldn’t last much longer against the blood hunter.

“Enough,” Jack screamed, and there was a low ripple that seemed to resonate around everyone, as if his voice contained some terrible power. “You were warned. I am done playing.”

For a second Jack scanned the room, until his eyes fell on Sandra, who was still slumped on the floor and bound by ropes. Jack blurred over to her, retrieving the dagger, ready to strike. Thomas was the first to respond, speeding over to Jack and placing his body in front of Sandra’s.

“NO! Kill me instead,” said Thomas, looking up at Jack and searching his eyes desperately. 

In the background Ari could still hear Lea whispering in words of magic, then the girl shouted, “It is done.”

Ari spun around and watched as Jack smiled; the victory was in sight. His hungry eyes had fixed on Thomas and as he advanced, Thomas did not move, but stared lovingly at Sandra. Ari watched as Jack held the knife up high, clearly desperate to gain as much momentum as possible, before his eyes widened and he thrust downwards.

“NO!” came a scream from above, and Ari remembered Larissa, who she had frozen earlier.

When Larissa jumped down onto the first floor, her blood red eyes were focused on Jack and one glance told Ari why. The blade that had been meant for Thomas was instead stuck in Cambridge; he had run in front of Thomas to take the blow; he had sacrificed himself to save his friend.

Slowly Cambridge fell, like a giant beat finally defeated. When his body thudded against the ground the whole room shook. Jack’s surprised face was mirrored in Thomas’s. Larissa continued to stare at Cambridge, seemingly shocked, but then the colour drained out of her face, and like a dried up sponge she no longer appeared alive, but decayed and shrunken. Less than a second passed before she fell also, no longer made of flesh and bone but of carbon and ash, which disintegrated upon contact with the ground and flung into the air. Grey puffs of dust swarmed everywhere and when it finally settled, only Thomas and Jack were standing.

“Attack now,” screamed Lea, turning to face Thomas, “he isn’t a blood hunter anymore!”

Though Thomas looked more defeated than any person Ari had ever seen, he tore his eyes away from Cambridge’s body so that he was facing Jack. In one fast motion he had raced at him, throwing his clenched fist into the air as he propelled himself forward. The resounding crack that followed was ear splitting, and when Ari looked up she saw Jack’s head rolling around on the floor, while his body crumpled and fell to the ground. It was over; it was finally over.

There was a shocked silence and then all the couples in the room re-united. Thomas reached for Sandra and tore the ropes from her. She was weak and barely able to mumble a thank you, instead focusing all of her efforts so that she was looking at Cambridge’s body. Large sobs escaped from her and Thomas cradled her in his arms.

“Are you ok?” Patrick and Ryder said in unison, scanning each other for any obvious signs of injury.

Though their clothes were torn and their faces drawn, it was clear that they were not hurt, or at least not too badly hurt. The black lines that they had drawn across their cheeks were smudged and bloody, but they were alive. Next to find each other was Riley and Clyde. As soon as he had seen Jack’s head, Clyde had raced to her side. She was still lying on the ground where he had placed her, but no longer was she a lynx- but a girl. At his approach, a huge smile spread across his face and he quickly reached for his coat, pulling it off and placing it over her, so as to cover her naked body. She was ashen faced and there were large welts that had already begun to form around her face and body, but at Clyde’s touch she woke and looked up at him.

“Make that three times,” said Clyde, as he brushed the hair out of her face.

“I thought I saved you,” she replied.

Clyde didn’t argue but helped her to her feet, fastening the coat around her and doing up the buttons in the front before kissing her hard on the lips.

Last to reach each other was Ragon and Ari. She was in the corner, having dragged herself so that she was near Chris. Thick salty tears spilled down her face and settled on Chris’s body. It wasn’t until Ragon removed his jacket and used it to cover Chris, that she remembered he was naked. Instantly she reached for the thick clothing and pulled it down so that it no longer hid his face; that was something you did when people were dead and Chris couldn’t be dead- he just couldn’t be! 

“That’s one name I won’t be mourning,” said Thomas, turning to stare at Jack’s body.

At once everyone in the room glanced at the headless corpse of the blood hunter.

“What happened?” asked Sandra, looking first at Thomas, who was looking just as confused, and then over to Lea, who was standing next to Chris, a look of shock and sorrow plain on her face.

“We removed the blood hunter’s power, but they had to go into someone else; Cambridge volunteered,” Lea replied, looking over at where Cambridge’s lifeless form lay.

“He sacrificed himself to save me,” said Thomas.

“To save us,” Sandra corrected.

“I think he wanted it to all be over,” said Lea.

At these words everyone stared at the pile of ash on the floor- all which remained of Larissa. Ari heard Sandra begin to cry. Then a strange noise masked Sandra’s sobbing, and from where Jack’s headless body was, a sudden whirlwind appeared.

“What is this?” asked Thomas, his eyed peeled as he moved once again to stand in front of Sandra, crouched down low, ready to fight.  

For a moment nothing happened, until the wind began to intensify and many loose pages were sucked into the vortex, blurring around a single point. Suddenly the pages fell lifelessly to the floor and a man appeared. He was tall and cloaked, and Ari knew instantly from his pale complexion and bald head, that it was the wraith that had helped bring Larissa back to life, the same one who had also helped take her and Ragon to the Ancients.   

“I see you decided to help the Ancients after all,” said the wraith, admiring the head that he stared at, until his eyes were drawn towards Ari.

Everyone appeared shocked at his appearance, although no one attacked. Without warning the wraith rushed towards Ari, staring at the body in her hands, just as Ragon moved to stand protectively in front of her.

“What happened?” said the wraith, and Ari was surprised by the tone of concern that traced his voice.

Looking down at Chris then up at the wraith, she suddenly understood why she had though that he looked so familiar; his light blue eyes, long nose and pointed chin-