Everlasting (Night Watchmen, #1) (33 page)

“Be a little more careful, please. Jaxen will have my ass if anything happens to you,” Weldon mutters in my ear.

I nod, taking a deep breath to slow my heart. I press myself against the wall and follow it down, tip-toeing toward the room I sense the Vampire in. The smell of death grows stronger with every step, so pungent I almost gag. Two more steps and I’m standing next to the doorway, heart slowed to a calm pace. Weldon’s right next to me. I look to make sure Cassie and Gavin are behind me, and then step into the doorway, stake at the ready.

But I wasn’t prepared for what would happen next.

The Vampire leaps through the air in a blur and slams into me with so much force that I’m thrown backwards. I crash through the railing and hit the wall above the stairs that plunge into the darkness below. My lungs are a compressed, empty mess. I gasp for air as I scramble to get my bearings with my body sunk deep into the wooden wall.

“Shit,” I hear Weldon say.

The Vampire lets go, falling lithely to her feet, then darts into the shadows. I wasn’t prepared to be released so quickly. I hadn’t caught my breath yet. I fall, my hands clawing through the air for something to grasp on to, but there is nothing. My free fall slams me sidelong into the stairs, but like everything else in this house, they’re rotten. They give way under my weight, and I tumble into a dank, dark void that swallows me.

The ground rattles with the impact of my body. Sharp, searing pain shoots through my leg, and I scream, unable to contain the sound. My emotions flicker back on, out of my control, and all at once, I’m struck with fear and pain and anger. I summon light onto the palm of my shaking hand and hold it over my leg. A piece of rusted rebar has gone straight through my thigh. I take the collar of my leather jacket in my mouth and bite down as hard as I can, then lift my leg off the rebar.

A tear-filled scream rushes up my throat and rips through my teeth. My mind blackens from the pain.
Don’t pass out!
I’m barley hanging on to sanity when I hear Gavin’s voice shouting for me above. “Down…” I cough to clear my hoarse throat and try again. “DOWN HERE!”

His head appears in the hole. “Holy shit, Faye! Are you okay?”

“I think,” I lie.

“Hang in there. We’re going to get the Vamp while Weldon grabs you.”

I nod, unable to speak. The world’s spinning away from me as I fall back into the dirt. Warm blood trickles down the sides of my leg. I know I’m bleeding out. I can only be thankful that our kind is insusceptible to disease. I can feel my heart pumping out my life force and try to calm myself down. I can’t be scared, because with every fear-filled heartbeat, I lose more and more blood.

I put my hand over my thigh and attempt to heal myself, but can’t. My mind is everywhere and nowhere. My control is thin. My grasp on reality is weak. This is all on me. I was responsible for taking that Vampire down, and just as I feared, I screwed it up.

“FAYE!” It’s Jaxen. I hear wood being ripped off the side of the house. Thin strands of weak light stream in through the boarded up window to my right. “Cover your face!” he shouts. I turn away, pulling my jacket up over my head, and then he kicks the window in. Shards of gleaming glass rain down around me, disappearing into the dirt.

By the time I pull my jacket back down, Jaxen’s already by my side, assessing the damage. Anger, rage, fear, regret…it all flashes across his face. Though his eyes glisten at the sight of my leg, his voice is a steady flow of calm reasoning. “You’re going to be okay, Faye. I promise.”

“I’m cold.”

He yanks his jacket off and puts it over me, then pulls his shirt off. He’s left bare-chested and shivering as he wraps it tightly around my leg. I can barely blink my eyes; that’s how tired I am. I weakly grab onto him as he hoists me up. He holds me with care, pressing me against his chest. “Hang on, I’m going to find a way out of here.”

My eyelids shut, and then I’m jostled awake as he’s running past the side of the house.

“Cassie will heal you. I’m so sorry, Faye. This should have never happened.” His eyes are infinitely patient and they hold me in place, forcing me to believe his words.

“It’s my…f-f-fault,” I stammer, my teeth chattering. Even with the extra layers, I’m freezing. Dark circles appear around the edges of my vision. I try to focus on his voice and not the throbbing, numb feeling in my leg. I try not to think about how much of my blood is pouring out of me.

When we get to the car, he lays me in the backseat and puts his hand over my wound. His head jerks in every direction. “GAVIN! CASS!” he shouts out into the night. There’s no return call. “CASSIE!” Still nothing.

“It’s okay,” I hear myself saying…at least, I think I say it.

“
Dammit!” he curses, panic in his tone. He looks back at me and down at my leg. “You have to try to use your powers, Faye.” He brushes hair out of my face with blood-stained fingers, his features softening with regret.

“I…I can’t,” I say, trying to keep my eyes open.

He takes my hand and puts it on my thigh. “If you don’t, you will die. Do you understand?” He lifts my head, forcing me to look at him. “Do you understand me, Faye? You have to. Please, for me. I can…I’ll help you. We’ll do it together, okay?”

I attempt a nod and close my eyes, focusing on my intent. Spells from my Grimoire pass through my mind until I find the one I need. I speak the first words, pushing all of my strength into the intent, but nothing happens. “It’s not working,” I say.

“Try again,” he says, putting his shaking hand on mine. Light emits from his palm, flowing into mine.

“Jax…”

“Shh,” he says, his eyes closed. “Together.”

The pain starts to lift from my wound, my muscles stitching themselves back together. I’m not even putting any intent into the spell. It’s all him.

“How are… How are you doing that?” I ask through clenched teeth, trying not to scream in pain.

He doesn’t answer me. He just looks at me and continues to pull on my power and uses it to heal me.

“That’s not possible,” I say. “Not even if we’re…”

“It’s happening. Hush.” I know he wants me to drop it. I can see it in his eyes. But I can’t. I won’t.

“No,” I say, sitting my head up. “I know I’m…disoriented, but I know what’s happening, Jaxen. You’re spell casting.”

“Let it go, Faye.” He sounds desperate and irritated.

“Not until you explain this…”

“Do you want to die?” he asks, his voice raised. His eyes are set on me in a rigid line.

“What?”

“You heard me. Do you want to die?”

“No.”

“Then stop asking. I’m able to do this because of you, because of what you are...because we’re linked somehow. You can’t speak of this anymore, or we’ll all be killed.” He holds my gaze for a long moment, enforcing everything he’s trying to tell me without telling me.

I want to ask more, but I stop, my eyes drifting past his shoulders. Every nerve ending in my body is writhing in warning. “Jaxen, something is wrong.” My voice sounds as if I’ve swallowed sand.

He stiffens a little, still pulling on my magic. “Yeah, that’s what I’m trying to tell you. Something is def…”

“No, Jaxen, something is off. I sense dark magic.”

He lifts his hands from my legs, stopping his pull on my magic to heal me. Rippling volts of electricity spark in his eyes. His hands move to my waist, gripping tightly. My skin responds with goose bumps raising from his touch. “Don’t move,” he whispers, his face hardening like stone.

“That won’t be hard,” I say, attempting to smile. I think it comes out more like a frown.

His lip twitches at the corner, almost giving way to a smile, when a form steps out of the shadows. The snow seems to part around him, as if it knows not to touch him. My stomach cripples in on itself when the smell of dark magic strikes my nose; the same scent I smelled the night Gavin and I were attacked.

“Darkyn Witches,” I mouth to Jaxen. My blood’s replaced with lead. My composure is replaced with turbulent worry. I’m scared, but I don’t fear for my life, I fear for his. For Jaxen’s.

Jaxen turns, but not soon enough. He’s ripped away from me, stolen by the darkness that hunts me. The Darkyn Witch flicks a hand out from under their robe, sending Jaxen flying up into the air, and then slams him onto the hood of the car. I jerk upright, volation coursing through my body. Any pain lingering is replaced with adrenaline.

“The Everlasting,” a dark, deep unnerving voice rings out. It floats all around me, stringing through the air like a spider spinning its silken web. “How coincidental that we bump into one another on this abandoned street.” There’s a note of sarcasm in his tone.

He flicks his hand again, and I’m lifted into the air and dropped onto the ground in front of him. A scream juts from my mouth from the shock of pain to my nearly-healed wound.

“Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Thomas Duncken, one of seven leaders in the Darkyn Coven.” He pulls the robe back from his face and lifts the horned mask. I have to force myself to not look away. Lines of deep-set scars, like someone sliced their fingers across his face, streak from one side to the other. Dark brown hair wraps around a large circular scar on the top of his head. He’s a form of what used to be Primeval, a soul tainted by the ways of dark magic, of everything we stand against.

He crouches down to my level. “Why, it’s almost as if you’ve been…handed…to me.” His voice is a low, grating whisper between us. He lifts his hand and points a long finger at me. The nail is filed to a point.
Each of them are. I stay statue-still when he moves his finger under my chin and slides the tip lightly against my delicate chin. Is that why he has scars all over his face? From his nails? I jerk my head away, my eyes desperately searching for Jaxen.

He’s pushing himself off the concrete just feet away from me. His eyes are wild with fury. “Don’t you touch her!” he shouts. He’s back on his feet and standing in between me and the Witch before I can even blink.

“Or what, Hunter? You think you can stand against a Darkyn Witch? Against the power we possess?” His laugh is cold and mocking.

Jaxen’s fists curl at his sides. “Guess we’ll find out.” He slams a volation-filled punch into Thomas’ stomach, sending him flying through the air. Thomas crashes against the porch railing and down into the overgrown hedges. In a speedy blur, Jaxen jumps on top of Thomas and continues to pound his fist again and again and again in his face. I lose count by the time Jaxen hops off the man, his knuckles bloody and his eyes pulsing with rage beyond understanding.

He pulls his flux out, ready to stab, but the dagger never plunges. His face twists in horror and pain as he falls to his knees. Thomas is already on his feet, his eyes filled with rage and set on Jaxen. His face is a mutilation of blood and broken blood vessels, but it doesn’t seem to affect him.

“That was a very stupid thing to do,” Thomas says, spitting out a mouthful of blood. He twists his hand, and Jaxen cries out in pain, falling over onto his back.

Every bit of electricity is sucked into my being, down to the few street lamps that do work. I’m a destroyer, a machine built to kill those who would take from the innocent. “I’d have to agree,” I say, my voice deathly low. With fists balled at my sides, I charge the electricity into them, and then slam them into the air. A wave of volation ripples out like an invisible tsunami in Thomas’ direction.

I search myself for my flux when the electricity wraps around Thomas, binding him. I can’t find it.
Think!
It’s trapped under the house. I quickly manifest it into my palm and look up to aim. Thomas has already dispelled my weak energy by the time I look back at him.

“You’re no match against me, Faye Middleton. I’m filled with more power than you can even comprehend, and you’re outnumbered.”

I look around. “Math’s not your strong point, is it?”

Thomas smiles, but underneath the smile is a flicker of resentment. My skin crawls with the way his eyes prey over me…like he’s about to make an example of me. His eyes jerk toward Jaxen, and Jaxen groans louder through his teeth, his back arching against the concrete.

I don’t even think, I just send all the power I have into the flux and aim it straight for Thomas’ heart. But another Witch appears in front of him and catches the dagger in between the palms of his hands. He doesn’t even seem affected by the volation still charged into the blade.

“Oh, I can add,” Thomas says, “behold.” He steps around the Witch, and all of a sudden, Darkyn Witches pop from thin air all around us. I count six by the time they’re finished, and find myself moving toward Jaxen, trying to hold my fear in check. Jaxen stands on shaky legs when Thomas lets up on the spell and backs up to me.

Weldon, Gavin, and Cassie appear on their knees, held down by three of the six Witches. “Darkyn scum!” Gavin hisses, struggling against the magic holding him down. Cassie doesn’t move. She doesn’t even look at me. Her eyes are set on something in the distance, something I don’t think anyone of us could see, same as Weldon’s.

“What is it you want?” Jaxen says. He takes my hand in his. Together, magic thrives between us.

Thomas doesn’t even acknowledge him when he answers. He looks dead at me. “It’s simple. We want the Dagger.”