The Savage Grace: A Dark Divine Novel (32 page)

“I don’t do stalemates,” Talbot said, and wrenched his arms with so much force, he snapped Caleb’s neck, practically tearing his head from his body. Caleb convulsed, and his body shifted back into that of a giant tan-and-gray wolf. Talbot let go and backed away, letting the dead wolf’s head loll onto the ground at an unnatural angle.

My hands clapped over my mouth, holding in a scream. But I heard one anyway: the pitiful shrieking cry of a child echoed out from somewhere inside the corn maze beyond the challenging ring. At the same time, the walls of corn burst into flames.

Jude, from the sidelines, turned in the direction of the cry. “James!”

Daniel’s head snapped up, and he roared at Talbot: “What did you do? The boy—they’ve killed James because of you!”

Talbot was kneeling in the straw still, next to Caleb’s body. “He was never going to tell us. The boy was as good as dead already.”

My body shook with horrible cries. Daniel glanced back at me like he could feel my pain, then he reeled on Talbot, pointing his sword at him.

I could feel Daniel’s pain now on top of mine as he grappled with the decision of whether or not the thrust the sword into Talbot’s chest.
Submit or die,
he seemed to be thinking.

Both of our heads snapped up as we heard another shout from somewhere in the corn maze. “I found him!” came Slade’s voice. “I found James!”

“Thank you, God.” I threw my hand over my mouth. I wanted to feel relief, but a maze of flaming cornstalks still stood between me and my toddler brother—and
Slade
was the one who had him.

Jude took off running toward the entrance to the maze. I wished I could follow him.

“You better hope that boy survives!” Daniel shouted at Talbot. “Now submit!” He bore down on him with all the radiating power of a true alpha.

Talbot glared back at him, hard breaths ripping through his body. He shifted, so he knelt on one knee, and shoved one fist into the ground. Just as it looked like Talbot was about to bow his head toward Daniel, Slade burst out of the flaming corn maze, clutching little James to his chest. His charred and tattered robes flapping behind him as he ran as far from the fire as he could.

“James is safe!” I shouted.

Daniel turned toward them.

Talbot rocked forward on his knee. “I’ll never submit to you!” he shouted, and flew at Daniel. Before Daniel could react, Talbot swung his arm out and knocked the sword from his hand. Daniel grabbed him, and the two began to grapple.

“Did you really think I’d
ever
submit to you?” Talbot asked as they fought. “Think I’d be your lapdog? Even when I was with Caleb, I pulled all the strings. And I still did after I left him. Do you really think he was smart enough to pull off that attack on the parish? Stage this here tonight? That was all me.”

“I wouldn’t sound so proud,” Daniel said, striking a blow against Talbot’s shoulder. “Caleb failed.”

“Because I wanted him to. I always knew I’d kill him in this ring, and then kill the prime challenger. Only I originally thought it would be Gabriel, not you. But I like this plan better.”

What? Talbot had been against
both
Caleb and us at the same time? Playing us for fools against each other? Until it led to this very moment?

It took me a minute to process, but I still wasn’t shocked. I’d always wondered why Talbot had worked for Caleb, despite knowing the man had been responsible for his parents’ death. And ever since it was revealed that he once had been a part of the Shadow Kings, I was never really able to trust him fully. But the part that didn’t ring true—the part that still confused me was the thought that Talbot had been against us
the whole time.
I guess, deep down, I’d believed that he
thought
he was in love with me. And even though I didn’t return his feelings in any way, I just couldn’t accept that the things he’d told me about the way he felt were lies.

I’d believed his professing that he’d do anything to be a part of my life—even if it meant helping Daniel become his alpha.

Talbot shifted fighting methods, and started using wing chun punches and blocks against Daniel—a style of fighting that kept your opponent at a very close range. Daniel returned the pummeling, block against hit, hit against block. Daniel was stronger and bigger than Talbot, but wing chun was designed especially for the small-sized fighter, and Talbot eventually landed an open palm blow against Daniel’s chest. But instead of hitting him backward, Talbot clutched at Daniel’s chest and screamed a great bloodcurdling roar of anger. His face angled up at the bloodred moon, and I watched as power visibly rippled through his body, into his arm, and through his hand into Daniel’s chest.

Daniel’s mouth fell open like a scream of pain should have followed, but no sound came out. His arms looked rigid at his sides—like they’d been petrified. I could see fear and confusion in his eyes, and I could tell he was paralyzed. Talbot’s face bore the look of complete concentration as he squinted up at the moon and shoved his hand against Daniel’s chest with all his might.

What was Talbot doing?

I thought I heard Daniel cry out. But then I realized I’d felt his pain rather than heard it. A red stain suddenly erupted on his shoulder, soaking through the gold fabric of his robe. I realized it was blood, and it looked like it was bleeding from where he’d been shot by that hunter with a silver bullet. I felt another one of Daniel’s screams and watched as the newly healed ragged scars on his wrist—where he’d taken the blow of the chain whip in order to save Anton—burst open.

I looked at Talbot’s face, twisted with rage. The way he extended it toward the red moon reminded me of how I’d channeled the power of the eclipse in order to break away from Caleb’s demons. I looked at his other hand, pressed firmly against Daniel’s chest. The way Daniel’s body quaked and shook like something was trying to rip him apart from inside.

“He can’t be…” My breath caught in my chest so hard it hurt. I pushed myself up to standing, almost screaming at the sheer pain of my shattered leg. There was no time even to contemplate trying to heal it. I could feel Daniel calling for my help. I had to stop Talbot now.

“Stop,” I screamed at him. “I know what you’re doing, Talbot! Stop it now!

I lifted the hunting rifle Ryan had left for me.

Talbot’s jaw clenched. He didn’t let go. My body shook as I felt Daniel’s screams of terrible agony. Talbot was channeling the power of the eclipsed full moon and using it to fuel the healing power—no, the
opposite
of the healing power—against Daniel. He was forcing his anger and rage into Daniel, attacking him with his inner wolf from the inside. Just like we’d discussed yesterday when Talbot convinced me to teach him about the power. When he’d
claimed
that he wanted to know only so he could save me if necessary. Using the claim of his feelings for me as a trick.

A bloody gash gushed from Daniel’s face, another on his hand. Wounds he must have suffered and healed over during the fight. Blood soaked through the side of his shredded robe, where Caleb had clawed at him.

“You still want me to submit to you now?” Talbot asked Daniel. “Or do I need to dig a little deeper? What other past wounds does your body hold? Weren’t you stabbed in the heart once—with a silver dagger? That’s what all the stories I keep hearing about you say.”

“Don’t, Talbot!” I screamed. “Don’t you dare! Don’t do this!”

“What’s the matter, Grace? You don’t want me to rip a hole through your Daniel’s heart? The same hole you caused?”

I lifted the rifle. The flickering red beam of the laser scope danced against Talbot’s black shirt. It bounced up and down, betraying just how badly my hands trembled. I’d never pointed a gun at a person before. “This is loaded with silver bullets.”
Two, anyway.
“And I know how to shoot it.”

Talbot laughed. It was an airy noise, and I knew he was trying not to break too much of his concentration.

“Maybe that’s the point, Grace. Maybe I want you to shoot me. Or at least I want you to
want
to shoot me.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’m good at getting Urbats to give in to their inner wolves. Didn’t Caleb tell you that once? I’ve got more style than him. I go after the heart of the matter.” He pressed his hand harder into Daniel’s chest, making his otherwise paralyzed body convulse.

“Don’t! Stop, please. What do you want?”

“For years, I thought all I wanted was Caleb dead, and revenge on Sirhan’s pack for not preventing the death of my parents. That’s all I used to want since I was child—but Caleb’s dead now, and I’m about to win alpha of Sirhan’s pack, like I always planned. The only problem is,
you
made me want more than that.” His face twisted, and I thought it almost looked like an expression of remorse. “With Daniel gone, I might actually get the thing I want most.”

“So you’ve been pretending all this time? Ever since the warehouse, you’ve just been pretending to be on our side? What about all that crap you said about loving me, and how I made you want to be better?”

“No,” he said. “You really did have an effect on me. You made me want to change for you.” He glanced at me, slightly. “All I wanted when we left that warehouse was you, Grace. We could have been perfect together. Fighting demons. Saving the night. You’re everything I want now, and I tried to be a better man for you. But you wouldn’t let me change. You wouldn’t forgive me…”

My throat constricted and I knew Talbot was right. In all of this, I’d never quite forgiven him. Never really given him a second chance like Jude and the lost boys.
I’d brought this upon us all.

“What if I forgive you now?” I asked through gritted teeth. “You let Daniel go and I’ll give you another chance—”

“It’s too late!” Talbot shook his head. “You already told me you’d
always
choose Daniel,” he said. “You
made me
want you, and then made it so I couldn’t have you.”

“And that’s when you turned against us?” I asked. “You told the Shadow Kings we’d be at that party so you could rush in and save the day, didn’t you? So you could gain our trust back. Then later you tipped off the SKs about our plan to prolong Sirhan’s life. They attacked the parish because of you, not Jude.”

“It was easy,” he said. “Caleb didn’t even realize I was playing him, too. All I had to do was find one of Caleb’s Akhs and let him read my mind. Or at least the parts of it I wanted him to see. I fed him the plan to attack the parish, to take out Sirhan. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to harness the power of the eclipse, so I tricked the SKs into forcing the ceremony with Sirhan’s death. Caleb had no idea I planned on killing him when he came here tonight.”

“And James? Was that part of your plan, too?” I steadied my hold on the gun so the red laser dot settled on his chest.

“
No, that one’s on Caleb. He took the baby on his own.”

“But he wouldn’t have come that night if it hadn’t been for you.”

James almost died because of Talbot.
I’d been able to keep my inner wolf at bay since my encounter with Caleb, but now its voice ricocheted through me like a scream in an empty corridor.
And now he’s going to kill Daniel if you don’t stop him.

“The way I see it,” Talbot said, “you either lower that gun and let me kill Daniel. Or you can decide to kill me and turn into a werewolf like the rest of us. No more of this Divine One shit.”

“What would that accomplish? Do you think if Daniel’s gone, I’ll suddenly love you instead? Or do you think if I turn into the wolf, I’ll suddenly like you better? Because then I’ll be evil, and I’ll want someone evil like you? You really think that would work?”

“It’s worth a shot,” Talbot said. “I don’t exactly have anything to lose. I predict you’ll go wolf before you can even pull that trigger. I know how this works. Caleb always tried to rush it, but I get to know my victims. Know exactly how to make them give in.” Talbot slammed his hand against Daniel’s chest, sending another jolt of negative power into him. I experienced Daniel’s whimpers of pain and frustration as he was paralyzed by the power, unable to stop Talbot himself. Blood stained his shirt under Talbot’s hand.

The gun faltered in my grip as I tried to shake off the cries of the wolf, driving me to embrace it. Driving me to let it sink its teeth into Talbot. Rip out his throat for everything he’d done.
For what he’s doing to Daniel…

Talbot was right. He knew me too well. He knew exactly what was in my heart. He knew exactly what would push me over the edge. Force me to give in to the cries of the wolf in my head. I’d told him so myself. It would
always
be Daniel.…

“However will you choose?” Talbot asked. “You let me go, and I
will
kill him.”

I lifted the gun and aimed the beam of the laser scope so it sat still and steady right over Talbot’s heart. “I’ve made my decision.”

Talbot didn’t even blink. “You know that all you have to do is
want
to kill me, and you’ll lose yourself.”

“I know,” I said.

I squeezed back on the trigger. A silver bullet exploded from the chamber.

I have no regrets.…
I thought as the bullet hit Talbot squarely in the shoulder. He screamed, let go of Daniel, and stumbled backward. He clutched at the searing bullet wound and looked at me with shock and rage twisting in his glowing eyes.

“The difference is,” I said to Talbot, “I didn’t want to kill you. Just stop you. These bullets hit whatever is left of the target.” I pulled the trigger a second time, taking out one of his kneecaps. He collapsed onto the hard dirt ground, shrieking and writhing in pain.

I dropped the gun and scrambled toward Daniel, on my hands and knees, unable to walk on my fractured leg. But then Jude was there, pulling me against his side, and he carried me to where Daniel lay in the straw.

Jude set me down, and together we lifted Daniel so he was sitting up. Blood seeped from the gash in his cheek. But what worried me more was the blood soaking through his shirt. I pushed it up over his chest, but to my surprise the blood that was there had streamed down from the reopened bullet hole in his shoulder. Not a single mark marred his chest.