Reclamation (The Ravening #3)(53)
Author: Erica Stevens

Bret dove through the doorway of one of the homes but Aiden was cut off from the doorway as the monster spun. A tentacle whipped wildly through the air and smacked into Aiden with a sound like that of a lobster shell cracking. I’d never heard the likes of that sound before but I knew I would never forget it. A scream of fury and agony tore through me as I grasped my knife with both hands and drove it to the hilt into the creatures head. Blood spurted over me but I barely felt it as I pulled the knife out and repeatedly drove it into the creature.

I hadn’t been able to take down that mountain lion, but rage drove me now. Rage and a strength the likes of which I had never experienced before. I would destroy this thing. I would make it pay for what it had done to Aiden and I didn’t care what I had to do to make that happen. Even if it meant diving into realms of myself that I had never known, or even expected, existed.

I wasn’t aware of the black running through my veins, or the fact that I was still screaming, until the creature dropped out from beneath me. The breath was knocked from me, my screams silenced as I tumbled onto the ground. I caught a brief glimpse of the black threading through my arms as I rolled away from the creature and toward the prone figure of my brother.

I knew I wasn’t supposed to move him but my driving urge to see him, to know, outweighed common sense as I rested my hand on his shoulder and cautiously rolled him over. A sob lodged in my throat as his head flopped to the side and his sightless eyes fell upon me. There was a moment where everything in me stopped, I didn’t breathe, I was certain my heart didn’t even beat as the world shattered around me.

Pain exploded through my chest, a heart wasn’t supposed to feel like this, it couldn’t continue to beat if it felt like this. There was no way a person could continue on when they felt like this, but even as I thought that I knew I was wrong. A person did continue on, they simply had no other choice. I most certainly didn’t have a choice as my pulverized heart continued its pulsing rhythm and my breath found a way in.

"No," I choked. "No, Aiden no."

Tears spilled down my cheeks and fell upon his beloved face as my hands ran frantically over him. There was no blood but his head was flopped in that unnatural way and I could feel something jagged from his back pressing against my palm. A guttural cry tore from me as my tears fell more rapidly upon him and my hands clenched at his still warm cheeks. I bent my head and pressed my cheek against his as sobs tore from me. The tears I hadn’t shed for my father and mother seemed to release now as a never ending stream poured from me. I wrapped my arms around my brother, my best friend, and buried my face in his neck as I clutched him against me

"I’m so sorry," I breathed as my fingers curled into his shirt. "Please, please don’t leave us Aiden. I need you; I love you so much, please stay with me."

"Bethany, Bethy we have to go." Bret’s hand fell upon my shoulder as he knelt at my side. Tears slid down his cheeks as he tried to pull me away from Aiden’s broken body but I refused to release him. "We have to go."

I knew that he was right, but I couldn’t leave my brother here, amongst this mess, amid this death and chaos. I hadn’t been able to save him but I would never leave him behind. Bending low, I slid his arm around my shoulder and lifted him onto my back. "Bethany…" Lloyd started as I braced my legs and pushed myself to my feet with far more ease than I would have thought possible given Aiden’s six foot frame.

"I’m not leaving him," I grated out between my teeth.

He stared at me for a minute before giving a brisk nod. "Come on, let’s get out of here."

I could barely see or breathe but somehow I managed to keep going. The ground was beginning to shake again as we neared the house where we had left Abby, Molly, Matt, Jenna and Bishop. I had to get to my sister, I couldn’t lose her too. I just couldn’t.

We were almost to the house when another puff of smoke emerged from the ship.

***

Cade,

Scrambling back to my feet, I didn’t give the others a chance to regain their bearings as I darted toward The Fountain in the center again. The blast had ripped the front of the tree off to reveal the hideous core of the monstrous plant. The inner part of the tree was made up of the same fibrous roots that filled the pond and were now oozing blood into the water beneath. The roots or tree, maybe even both, were releasing a high pitched scream that made me wince.

I grabbed three of the vials from within my jacket. Using my thumb, I flipped the tops off of them and heaved them into the water. I didn’t know if it would have any effect on the tree, or the roots, but I was going to do everything I could to take the monstrosity down. The water began to froth and foam as the roots whipped back and forth in a frenzy that churned the reddening water. The roots shot up and began to whip rapidly above the water as the screaming increased to the point that I thought my eardrums would shatter.

Raijin leapt before me when I grabbed for another bomb from inside my shirt. My hand enclosed on the syringe Bishop had given me as Raijin seized hold of my throat. I threw my arm up to knock him off, but he knocked it aside and lifted me off the ground as if I weighed no more than a child. I faked going back at him with the same arm but instead I kicked him forcefully in the stomach. A loud grunt escaped him as he was knocked back a good foot. I grabbed hold of the hand squeezing my throat and snapped it back before ripping it off of me. With the full force of my weight I swung forward and drove the syringe deep into his neck. A smile curved my mouth as his eyes widened and I pushed the plunger.

Blackness bled into his eyes; a ferocious growl erupted from him as he thrust his face into mine. Before I could prepare to defend myself again though, his face went slack and he released me. His hands clawed at the syringe still sticking out of his neck as he stumbled back. All the color drained from his face, white bubbles foamed from his mouth and a strange gurgling sound escaped him as he fell away from me.

Isis reached for him but even as she went to grab him, his eyes were rolling back into his head and he was slumping to the floor. Foam continued to spill from his mouth but I sensed no heartbeat from him anymore. It took a moment for the realization to sink in that for the first time in over seven thousand years one of The Ancients had died, and I had been the one to do it.

Isis’s eyes came up to me as she comprehended what I’d done to her friend, and what had been tossed into the pool with her precious tree. An enraged bellow ripped from her as she charged across the floor toward me. Snatching up a branch that had been blown off the tree and onto the floor, I swung it up and caught her across the face as she launched at me like a pouncing tiger with hooked fingers and a loud snarl.