Broken Hearts: Kaleigh's Revenge (Broken Wings Series) (7 page)

“I’ve seen it, Dean. One of us will die. My vision wasn’t clear, but someone close to us will die.”

We stopped walking, and I ran my fingers through my hair. “When does this happen?”

“When the blood moon is at its highest and most powerful. Blood will spill and it’s all over your hands.”

“So, you are telling us that Dean will murder someone?”

“I’m not sure, Daniel. My vision wasn’t very clear.”

“Okay. Enough of this talk. We need to find the rest of the gang.”

We walked together in silence. When we rounded the castle to come up on the statue I could see people milling about. We started to run that way, because we knew it was the kids. Kaleigh was asleep on the ground with her arm wrapped up.
Arabella ran to her to start healing her. I saw Cameron and Bridget all banged up and I walked to the nearby tree to catch my breath and calm my anger. I couldn’t see that right now. I would wait until Arabella healed them all. I stared up at the castle and hoped that this would be over soon and we could move on with our lives. I looked back to see everyone hugging Arabella and Daniel, except Gabe. He was walking over to me.
I swear, that boy needs to wear a shirt.
Every time I see him, he’s half naked.

“So word from Daniel is we need to lay low for 12 more hours?”

“Yes. Then we will storm that castle and take down anyone that gets in our way.”

“Sounds good to me. I want to end those vampires. I want to drive a stake into their cold hearts.”

“You do what you have to do.”

I turned to walk back to my family. We decided that we would hide out behind the statue, so we could be nearby when it was time to attack. I looked up at that statue and the name hit me. I walked closer to get a better look.
Abigale Foreman.

“Yes,” Gabe began, “this is Amelia’s relative. This could explain some of why she turned evil.”

Cameron walked over to us to join the conversation. “Lerza gave us a history lesson before he died.”

Shaking my head, I thought of how many of us had died in the last day. All the people around me were luck to be alive, and I was glad to be sitting with them. As we sat and waited for the moment to strike, we shared out tales of our long journey so far. It was going to be a long wait, but it was worth it because we’d get to kill our evil enemies.

Chapter Eleven

Kaleigh

The wait was just about killing me. I didn’t know how long we had left, but it seemed like we had been sitting around for twenty hours. Gabe was pacing around for most of the time, and I felt like slapping him and telling him to sit down. Cameron hadn’t really talked to anyone and wouldn’t explain to me what happened to his arm. Bridget was lost in her own little world—if the wind blew she hit the ground as if we were about to be attacked. Daniel and Dean had been talking among one another, and I decided not to bother them because who knew what they were saying. I watched them talk and I swore they could be twins. Both of them had that dark brown hair, were very muscular, and I will admit, were very attractive. They both had light brown eyes, long eyelashes, and high cheekbones. They looked my way and I turned my head, feeling embarrassed that I was caught staring at them. My eyes lay on Arabella, who was sitting far away from the rest of us. I got up and went to sit beside her. She had been very kind and caring. She had risked her life to save ours. I didn’t realize that she had a healing power, but I was so glad she did.

“That’s because I love you all, Kaleigh.”

“I really need to watch what I am thinking about around you.”

We chuckled. “Kaleigh, can I trust you with something?”

“Do you really need to ask? Of course you can trust me with anything. You did just save my ass back there.”

“Okay here goes… if I don’t make it today and you do, please give Dean a message. Tell him that I love him.”

I was confused at what she was saying. “I think he knows that you love... wait a minute, are you trying to say something? That… OH MY GODS! You and Dean?”

I think I made her blush. She turned to look at Dean, and I turned as well to see the spark between the two. It was as if the universe was pulling them together. She looked me in the eyes and I saw how happy she was. “Yes. Where do you think he was hiding?”

Dean came up behind us and scared the hell out of me. “So you told her, Arabella?”

“Yes. I want the world to know that we love each other.”

“Whoa,” Gabe exclaimed. “Dean, you and Arabella, huh?” Gabe wrapped his arms around me and kissed my neck. “So glad there is so much love going on with our little group.”

“Well, I see my husband has moved onto the next
witch he saw. Go figure—but watch out, Bella, he might try and keep your son and make you believe he’s dead.”

We all gasped and jumped back at the sound of Amelia’s voice. As I stared into her eyes, all I could see was pure evil. “
Arabella’s pregnant?”

“You’re a genius, Kay,” she said sarcastically.
             

That pissed me off. I didn’t like her calling me Kay. “Don’t call me that! You lost your privilege to call me that the day you turned evil.”

“Well, since I have you all in one place, let’s have some fun.” She whistled and I saw Kale, Anna, True, Zane, and other creatures show up. The wolves came in from the other side of the castle, howling and snapping their teeth. Then those horrible creatures she created. They were walking like zombies toward us. We all backed up into a circle. Bridget was so scared I could sense her fear. Cameron was ready to go and I knew exactly who he was going for. Gabe leaned over and gave me a kiss on my cheek and I could tell he did it to make Kale angry. He succeeded. Kale practically snarled              “How dare you, Gabe? You are my cousin and you go after my ex-girlfriend. Way to have family values.”

“You’re a funny man, Kale. Are you jealous that I got the girl and you didn’t? It shouldn’t come as any big surprise, considering what an idiot you are.” He squeezed me against him. “I will break every law to be with this girl.”

Amelia got pissed just then and she started to glow black. She was eyeing Dean. I knew we needed to protect Dean, because if she got him, Cordelia was dead. Just as I was about to step in front of him, our backup arrived. More angels, white witches, fairies, and even fallen angels came up behind us prepared to battle.

That’s when all hell broke loose.

I ran toward Kale and shot out a lightning bolt. He dodged and then lunged for me. He landed on top of me and started to choke me. I raised my foot and kicked him between his legs. He jumped up and hollered in pain, and I got up and knocked him in the head. He fell to the ground. I saw a sharp rock beside me and I grabbed it. Not caring what was going on around me, I lifted the rock in the air and I started to slam it down to get my revenge, but someone grabbed my hand and stopped me.

“Kaleigh, don’t. I know he broke your heart, but do you really want to end up like that? Let him lay there in pain. Cameron needs you. He’s surrounded by Anna and Zane.”

Gabe was right. I looked over to see Anna on top of Cam, holding him down as Zane was biting into his neck. His screams went right through me and it was as if I felt his pain. I ran so fast, running into wolves and knocking them over with my speed. When I made it to Cam, I kicked Anna in the head and she fell limp to the ground. Zane got up and stared at me with his bright red eyes; blood running down from his mouth. I glanced at Cam and he gave me a thumbs up. I didn’t realize that Zane leaped over Cam and knocked me on the ground. He got hold of my neck and bit down. I screamed and tried to break free, but he was too strong. I tried to fight him, but it was no use. My vision started to blur and before blackness overtook, blood from Zane sprayed all over me and he went limp. The veins in his face greened and his skin sunk in. I got the strength to kick him off me, and when I sat up I saw Bridget standing there with a tree branch. She looked to be in shock.

“I had to do it to save you.” She staggered back and dropped the branch. “I killed a man.”

“Bridget, snap out of it. He was going to kill me. You saved my life. Now, concentrate. We have other lives to save.” I looked around to see Arabella’s force field up. Cameron was blasting creatures with his lightning. I looked at Amelia, who was just standing there, laughing, like all of this was a game. I looked around for Dean, but he was nowhere to be seen. I started to panic and ran to where Daniel was snapping the necks of wolves.

“Daniel, where is Dean?” I asked in a panic. Daniel knocked me to the side, and I looked up in time to see Amelia blast him with a fireball, followed by a dagger that hit him directly in the chest. My world just stopped. I couldn’t breathe. I watched as Daniel’s body fell to the ground. He was burning,
untilGabe and Cameron ran over to snuff the flame. But the sounds of his screams were permanently embedded in my brain. That bitch! I looked at Amelia and I got up to run to her, but Dean appeared in front of me.

“Kaleigh, don’t. She came here for me. Please, look after my brother. I will give Amelia what she wants.”

“What about Cordelia?”

“Gabe knows what to do. Now go. Let me do this.”

I watched as Dean walked over to Amelia. She had that stupid grin on her face, and I wished I could smack her. I ran to Daniel and grabbed his hand. He was shaking and I knew death was in his future. Arabella was working on him, but it was pointless. 

“Hang in there, Daniel. You can’t die. Please, don’t die.” I looked to see what was left of the creatures were walking back to the castle, and Amelia and Dean were gone. I looked around to see Gabe, Cameron, and Bridget all in tears. They, too, knew Daniel was about to die.

“Arabella, please attend to the—the…” Daniel coughs, “the other ones. Please, you can’t save me now.” She nodded and walked away.

I took Daniel’s hand I held it. We all sat there with him in his final moments. To know he was dying because he saved my life... It was a lot, almost too much, to handle.

“Daniel, I’m so sorry. I don’t want you to die. Please don’t go; you have so much life and love in you.”

“Kaleigh, I will be okay. I am going to be with Lizbeth now.” I laid my head down on Daniel’s chest and cried. When Gabe came to be with me, I pushed him away and I did the same with Cameron and Bridget.
Why Daniel?
I thought.
Why take him away from us? He had the biggest heart I knew.
I was listening to his breathing get shallow. He coughed one last time and that was it. He was gone. I could hear Bridget crying and Gabe was kicking the statue and saying some very harsh words. I looked up and saw Daniel’s eyes were open, so I reached up and closed them. I stood and noticed I was covered in blood. I felt sick to my stomach and I ran to throw up. Then I felt arms wrap around me.

“Kaleigh, this is not your fault. Please don’t think that.”

“Why is this happening, Gabe? We have to bury another good guy. I wish this would all end.”

“It will. Once we bury the dead, we will storm the castle and take that bitch down.”

“Thank you.” I turned and kissed him on the cheek. “I’m glad I found you.” We walked back to Daniel. I watched as fifteen graves were dug out. We lost fifteen good creatures today. I watched as the bodies were placed into the ground and got covered with dirt. The living stood back and sung the song of death. Bridget found roses a little inside the forest; Arabella and she went to pick some. They placed a rose on all the graves. Roses in Ithaca were a sign of good luck in the afterlife. After all the roses were placed, Arabella and another white witch said a chant and the roses sank down into the ground. It was very heart wrenching to watch.

I turned to see Kale was waking up. When he saw how angry I was, he took off running. I tried to blast him, but Gabe stopped me. He didn’t want me to end up like him. I understood it, but I hated not having my revenge.

After we got the dead taken care of, we all sat around discussing our plan. Gabe told the ones that were alive that if they wanted to leave, they could. But no one wanted to leave. They said they were here to fight for the country and for Cordelia. Arabella told the group of us that she was pregnant with Dean’s son. I was very happy for them, but I worried for her safety even more. Still, it was nice to have something happy to focus on after such a deadly fight.

Now, it was time for us to get going and fight some more. I really hoped we didn’t lose any more lives tonight.

Chapter Twelve

Dean

I was being pulled and pushed around by Amelia’s minions, who were making sure to smash me into every wall. My nose was bleeding and I had scraps on my face from the concrete. True was among the minions and she was taking Zane’s death out on me. I wasn’t going to submit to her by screaming or crying out. I could hear Amelia behind me, talking to Abem. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on that son of a bitch.

“Take him into the room with Cordelia. I need to run and talk to The Old Ones. Let him spend his last hour with his precious daughter. However, chain him up and do it tight. I don’t want his wings to come to life so he can escape.”

“Yes, Mistress,” her pets said to her, making me chuckle, which prompted them to punch me in the nose.

I finally made it to the room, and when they opened the door, my heart fell. My baby girl was tied down on the table. She was covered in cuts, bruises, and blood. She looked so pale and her long beautiful hair had streaks of blood in it. I was watching her while I was being chained to the wall. Her breathing was shallow and that scared me. She looked almost too thin, like she hadn’t eaten in days. The ropes around her hands and feet looked to be so damn tight. I want to rip Amelia to shreds. If she was going for the award of worst mother ever—she won. 

“Okay, angel boy, one more taste before I leave.” True bit down so hard I could feel my pulse starting to slow. “Maybe if you live, you can me my new play toy.”

“Not in this lifetime.” She spit in my face and left with those creatures right on her tail. Damn it, what use am I?
My daughter is literally 10 feet away and I can’t do anything
, I thought as I struggled against the chains.

“Cordelia, daddy is here. Wake up, Sweetheart.”

She moaned and fluttered her eyes open. She turned her head slightly, but winced in pain. “Dad, are you here to save me? Is the blood moon over with?”

“No, Honey, Amelia captured me. I am so sorry I let you down. I couldn’t save you in time.”

“It’s okay. We can just die together. I will have you with me now. I am going to get more sleep. I am ready to go.”

“Baby girl, you are not making any sense.”

“Good bye, Daddy.”

What was going on? She couldn’t die.

“Cordelia, please wake up. Don’t die on me now.” I watched as her chest rose and fell slowly. She was barely alive.

The doors opened and in walked Amelia. She slammed the door and walked over to me, slapping me hard across my face.

“This is your fault! You want to see what kind of pain I went through when you abandoned me and told me our daughter was dead; then to find out today that you got that whore of a witch pregnant? You have destroyed me! That day after you left, I sat out on our swing holding a dead baby that I thought was ours. How sick is that?” I remembered the day I handed that dead baby over to her. It was a horrible feeling, and I felt like an asshole for doing that, but it was necessary—Cordelia needed to be protected. “Then I figured I’d lost everyone in my life, so why not become dark? Then I decided the best thing to do with my newfound evil was to seek revenge on you. I didn’t have a reason, but I knew, somehow, you were to blame for our baby’s death. Of course, you also broke my heart—no, you did more than that. You smashed it into a million pieces when you left.” She paused and I thought I saw a tear in her eye, but it must have been a trick of light, because when she looked at me again, it was gone. “Just when I needed you most; when I needed you to help heal my broken heart over the loss of our baby—you left me!” Her voice cracked for a moment, but then the hatred came back. “I decided you needed to die.  But then a seer came to me and told me our baby was, in fact, alive and well. Of course, I made a deal, threatened The Old Ones. Our daughter never should have happened, and The Old Ones agreed that both you and she needed to be eliminated. At first, it was just out of anger, but when I found out that I am a descendent of Abagail—the most powerful witch of all time—I decided there was more to gain from your death.” She stopped talking and pressed her nose to mine. “I
will
have all the powers
and
my revenge.” She brought her hand up and began to choke me. “And I will make your death slow and painful so you can watch me drain our daughter of her blood.”

“Amelia, listen to me. Why not just kill me and let her go?”

She laughed and shook her head. “She is the one the prophet speaks of. If she lives, she will rule us all. You know I can’t have that, now can I?”

As she walked out of the room, I started to think about
Arabella and the son she was carrying. I remembered the day she told me, and it still brought a smile to my face.

We were at the beach. The waters of the ocean were crystal clear and beautiful. But not as beautiful as the woman who was swimming in the waves. I watched
Arabella laughing and having fun. She had long purple hair, styled into soft ringlets, green eyes, and a heart of gold. I fell in love with her when she was hiding me from everyone. She took care of me, holding me at night when I would cry out for Cordelia. She helped ease the pain in my heart, and I wanted to marry her. But I knew I couldn’t. Not while Amelia was out there.              “Deep in thought I see. Don’t think like that. We will get married one day. Our main concern right now is making sure Amelia doesn’t get to Cordelia.”

“Thank you, my dear, but you really need to stay out of my head.”

We both laughed and then her face became serious. “Dean, I must tell you something and I hope it doesn’t change our relationship.”

“You can tell me anything,
Arabella.”

“I am with child, and it’s a boy.”

I jumped up, grabbed her, and gave her the biggest hug. “We’re having a son?”

“Yes we are, and soon we will have Cordelia as well.”

I gave her a kiss, feeling at home.

Coming back around to the present day, I started to think about Daniel and Lizbeth, and how they were no longer with us. I hoped I would be alive to see my son being born and hold him in my arms. I wondered if
Arabella would allow me to name our son Daniel, after my brother. The door flew open, taking me out of my thoughts and I was surprised to see who had walked in.

“Mr. Cassen, I am so sorry, I figured out that Amelia was lying to me. That she is the real reason my parents died. After being kicked in the head by Kaleigh, I woke up and they were all crying over your brother. My heart went good, and I’m here to save you and Cordelia. I know now that Cameron’s heart is right. He loves your daughter. So please, let me help you.”

I looked at Anna. She looked so beat up and I could tell she was being genuine. The side of her head was bleeding and she looked so pale. “Please Anna, don’t let this be a trap. I really don’t want to kill a young girl today. If we are going to do this, we need to be quick. Amelia’s ritual is about to start.”

“Close your eyes. I hope this doesn’t hurt.” I closed my eyes, she said a chant, and my chains loosened and then they released me.

I ran over to Cordelia, and tried to wake her. But she didn’t move. “Mr. Cassen?”

“Please, call me Dean.”

“Okay, Dean stand back. I need to break this circle around her. Once I do, she will be able to heal herself. Then we can untie her.” I stood back and watched Anna struggle to break the circle.  She started to sweat, and she looked to be in pain. I could see the circle disappearing from around Cordelia. Seconds later, Anna fell to the ground and I ran over to Cordelia. I could see that she was healing, so I started to untie her ropes. Once done, she sat up and look confused. 

“Daddy, what happened? I swear I was dying.”

I grabbed her and hugged her tight. “Baby girl, you will never guess who saved us.”