Unreap My Heart (The Reaper Series) (30 page)

“It’s still the shortest path to Haven, right?”

“That is if Charlion will allow you passage.”

That half grin Arianne now found super sexy on Balthazar revealed itself again. “The big guy owes me one. We’ll get through.”

Zakariel gave Balthazar a pointed look Arianne couldn’t understand. When the Heavenly Host mentioned the Strait of Gwen, a stretch of ocean came to Arianne’s mind.

“What’s the Strait of Gwen?” Ben whispered to her.

“Remember the River Styx in Lit class?” she whispered back while Balthazar and Zakariel continued to converse with each other.

Ben shuddered. “Don’t remind me.”

“The Strait of Gwen is something like that. Only red.” The next thing Zakariel said caught Arianne’s attention.

“You’ve got to get over this insecurity of yours, Balthazar.”

What did the Heavenly Host mean by that? Balthazar…insecure? No way. But from Balthazar’s glare, Arianne knew he used everything he had not to throw a punch. She certainly felt the intention in his thoughts—among other less savory things he wanted to do to the angel.

Before an actual brawl broke out, she said, “Aren’t we supposed to be escaping here?”

As if snapped out of his anger, Balthazar said to Zakariel, “Just meet us at the damn gates. I’ll handle getting us there.”

Despite looking like he wanted to argue a bit more, the Heavenly Host zipped his lips and spread his wings. In a single wing beat, he executed a perfect vertical takeoff.

“Color me impressed,” Ben said, tilting his head back and watching Zakariel—like Arianne did—until the Heavenly Host looked like a dot in the dark gray sky.

“Let’s go,” Balthazar barked at the both of them and ran for the garden.

Arianne took off after him, pulling Ben in her wake.

“Can you keep up?” she asked him over his shoulder. Recently, she realized she’d been moving faster. When she and Balthazar first started out, she could barely keep up with him. Was she actually getting stronger? Growing quicker? She liked that thought very much.

“You’re worried about me?” Ben jogged up beside her when they reached the fountain. “How you can move so fast? I’m pretty sure you skipped gym class almost every chance you got in Blackwood.”

Balthazar ran just a few steps ahead of them. He still had to slow his pace down, but not by much anymore. Could he have planned this all along? Balthazar seemed to have picked up on her thought because the answering feeling she got felt a little too smug.

Jerk.

He did plan it all along. She didn’t know how to feel about that. Did she actually want to thank him for “training” her, for lack of a better word.

“Let’s just say I’ve learned a lot since coming here,” she said in answer to Ben’s comment.

They ran through the garden, trailing Balthazar wherever he would lead them. He may not trust others, but Arianne trusted him. How could she not? She stared at the center of his back. Sure, he had his moments where she wanted to cut him, but he more than made up for those by saving her more times than she could count. But then he had said something about not being the good guy and that she should be afraid because he had nothing to lose. She doubted he had nothing to lose because he wouldn’t be helping her if that were true.

Balthazar snorted. “Keep going. I have a feeling we’re about to have a pissed off Voyeur on our hands.”

As if in response to Balthazar’s words, a terrible shriek came from the direction behind them. When they reached the edge of the property, Arianne stopped for a second. For the first time that night, she let go of Ben’s hand so she could stare back at the mansion, far away now.

The first jagged lightning strike came down then, pretty close to where she stood. It exploded with flashing light and left behind a distinct ozone smell. Balthazar appeared at her side and yanked her away in time to avoid the second strike. It landed where she once stood.

“Move!” he yelled over the booming, blinding light.

Chapter 33

ADIH

L
IGHTNING
R
AINED
D
OWN
on them in crackling, sizzling, potentially lethal bolts. Everywhere. It made the edge of the Ghoul Woods a war zone. Debris flew in every direction. As they said, hell hath no fury and all that shit.

Balthazar wanted to run at full speed, but leaving Arianne and her almost-a-Wraith best friend behind wouldn’t go over well with Zakariel. So now, instead of clearing Solara’s attack and hopping a raft to Haven, he had to play “dodge the lightning strike” and pray the next one didn’t hit where he landed.

A zigzag pattern worked best.

The ground around them exploded as if cannonballs were falling from the sky. Dirt bounced off every part of Balthazar. He raised his hands to block the stones kicked up by the lightning. The sour ozone in the air wreaked havoc on his sense of smell. He’d be breathing through his mouth for a week if this kept up. Damn the Voyeur for being a vindictive bitch.

“I think she’s not happy with what we did,” Arianne said through the cacophony. She jumped away from another strike.

“You think?” Ben added.

“No shit. Burned that bridge,” Balthazar shouted over the noise.

“More like threw a nuclear bomb on it.”

“Don’t be overdramatic, Arianne.”

As soon as Balthazar used a Blood Tree for cover, a lightning bolt burned it down.

They had to skirt the Ghoul Woods to get to the Strait of Gwen. At least they didn’t have to deal with the ghouls, but every time a strike hit too close to home, Balthazar wondered if the ghouls wouldn’t be easier. At least the boy could keep up with them. He had to admire that. Arianne chose her friends well, based on the agility Ben showed.

Right, ’cause agility was part of the friendship criteria. Balthazar rolled his eyes at his own logic.

“I don’t think I’ll ever be invited back,” he added. “Now, shut the hell up and keep going. At some point the lightning will stop.”

“I don’t see why you’d want to go back there anyway.” Arianne ducked behind a boulder. It disintegrated in seconds. She ran forward full tilt, rocks and dirt pelting her as badly as they did him and Ben.

Balthazar’s heart stopped for a second. He wanted to throw her over his shoulder and make a run for it. But her weight combined with Ben’s would hinder more than help. Plus, they would only make a bigger target for Solara to aim for, so he threw the idea away.

“You don’t know me well enough if you think that,” he replied, shoving her behind a Blood Tree a second too slowly. The lightning grazed his sleeve, lighting it on fire. He patted at the flames and glared at the sky. “Is that the best you got, whore of Satan?”

“Taunt her some more because that’s all we need.” Ben joined Arianne and glared at him. Arianne, being a fast thinker, grabbed Ben’s arm and dragged him to the next tree just as a bolt split the one they’d hidden behind in two.

“How far?” Arianne shouted.

About to reply, Balthazar opened his mouth only for it to be filled with dirt from another explosion. He coughed and spat.

Busy hacking up a lung, he stayed in one place too long. The bolt shot through him in less than a second, throwing him aside like a rag doll. He collided with a Blood Tree. The force of the impact sliced the braided trunk, toppling the tree over in a crash just as loud as the explosions. Somewhere in his dizzy spell, Balthazar heard Arianne scream his name. He landed on his backside and skidded until a large root from another Blood Tree got in the way. Balthazar shook his head, the smell of something burning choking his nose. He rolled to his side and coughed, clutching his ribs. This time, instead of dirt, he spat out blood.

Arianne called to him again when she reached his side, Ben directly behind her. Then they began shoving dirt at him. He covered his face and cussed.

“What the hell are you doing?” he barked, blood streaming down one side of his mouth. He coughed again, his lungs burning.

“Putting out the fire, you ninny,” Arianne said as she shoveled more dirt all over him.

Balthazar picked up the panic in her voice. He blinked to clear his vision and saw two of Arianne and Ben. He focused on his hand. His fingerless glove was gone. Then his gaze went up his arm. Instead of black leather, red skin with bits of black fused together. Once his vision cleared fully, he saw the extent of the damage. The strike might not have hit him head on, but it had burned one side of his body. His heart twisted when he realized what that meant. Blocking out as much of the chaos around him as he could, Balthazar patted at the buckles holding him together. Arianne and Ben looked on in bewilderment, but he didn’t care, and he didn’t explain himself. He only let himself breathe in relief when all but ten of the restraints held. He pushed himself off the ground and toppled over when his burnt leg couldn’t support his weight. Ben rushed to his side and helped him up. The urge to push him away almost overwhelmed Balthazar. A soul helping him. He’d sunk to a new low for letting it happen, but if they all wanted to live, he’d allow the lesser evil.

“I don’t think you should stand.” The worry in Arianne’s blue eyes touched a part of Balthazar that scared him to explore. Suddenly, it didn’t matter that deadly lightning exploded around them. Suddenly, all he wanted was to take the worry away. It took all his will not to reach out and touch her cheek. Instead, he made a fist and gritted his teeth against the pain. He had to heal himself, and fast.

“Reach into my jacket pocket,” he said, breathing hard.

Arianne searched his singed jacket. Her hands shook like she was afraid to touch him. “Which pocket?”

As soon as she asked the question, another strike hit to their left. Arianne covered her ears from the deafening boom. Balthazar forced himself to concentrate by staring at her face. The real fear there—not for herself—pushed him.

“Arianne,” he urged. “I need you to concentrate.” He leaned heavier on Ben. The boy adjusted his stance to accommodate the extra weight. Arianne’s eyes returned to his. Only when he saw the determination peek through did he speak again. “Left inside pocket. There’s a vial there.”

Arianne reached into his coat tentatively. Balthazar had to force himself not to scream at her to hurry. Her hand shook too much for comfort as it was. If he screamed, she might drop the vial and he’d have to content himself with healing naturally, which, considering the ugliness Solara had caused him, would take longer than they had time for. He had to speed things up, and the vial Arianne fished out of his coat was their only hope.

When she had the vial with clear liquid and a pearl floating inside in her hand, he said, “Okay, remove the cork. Be careful!” He had to scream that one. Arianne froze with her fingers around the cork. If she pulled the wrong way…Balthazar shook his head mentally and took a calming breath. As calming as the situation they were in could provide. The strikes got closer and closer, but not directly hitting them.
Vengeful who
—Balthazar stopped the rest of the thought, no matter how satisfying it would be to finish it. He returned his full attention to Arianne, who still stood frozen in front of him.

“Pull the damn cork out slowly. That’s it.” The cork popped open, the liquid inside sloshing slightly. A spasm of pain rolled through Balthazar before he continued, “Shit. Okay.” He breathed. “Bring the vial to my lips then tilt it until everything is inside my mouth. Can you do that without spilling anything?”

She glared at him like she knew he treated her like someone learning impaired. He’d shrug if his shoulder hadn’t collapsed. Arianne’s gaze dropped to her hand holding the vial. Her eyebrows shot up as she finally noticed the dangerous shaking of her fingers. She returned her gaze to Balthazar and nodded.

Just in case, she wrapped her free hand around her wrist to minimize the shaking. Balthazar opened his mouth and tilted his head back as far as the burnt skin on his neck permitted. The pain almost killed him. His eyes actually rolled back into his skull. He fought hard against the impending fainting spell and swallowed down the bitter liquid Arianne poured down his gullet. When he felt the ball tumble into his mouth, he rolled it to his back molar and bit down, crushing it immediately. He chewed around the rotten egg taste. Once the ball was a fine paste, he forced himself to swallow the foul concoction. His stomach rebelled. He let go of Ben to cover his mouth. The powder had to stay down for it to work.

Solara picked that time to end her little game. The next strike landed on Arianne. Balthazar watched everything happen in slow motion. He couldn’t do anything to stop it.

The bolt shot down from the gray sky in its jagged pattern of light. The spear tip landed square on Arianne’s head and went straight down. For the longest second of Balthazar’s life, blinding hot light engulfed Arianne. Ben screamed her name.

Just as he felt the healing take effect, repairing his broken bones and burned skin, the light blinked out and Arianne’s burning soul lifted off the ground as if pulled by an invisible fisherman who’d caught her in his hook. Before she could land, Balthazar pushed away from the ground in a burst of speed his still healing body wasn’t prepared for. He caught her in his arms—her clothes on fire. He crouched down and folded his body over hers. The speed of his movement snuffed out the flames.