Redemption (Page 65)

Hannah stumbled into the room that Jack had originally been given. She stood to the side of the window to peer down on the street below. A massive group of men and women were fighting below, shouts of pain and enthusiasm echoed through the alleys of the buildings surrounding them. Their weapons clashed with the loud clacking of wooden stakes and the soft whistle of flying arrows. She spotted Timber, Uncle Abe, and Daniel amongst the crush of people, along with men and women that she’d come to know as Braith’s soldiers. Dirt and sweat coated them, she’d never seen so much blood as bodies crumpled and fell to the ground. There were far more of Calvin’s men amongst the fray than she had expected to see.

"There’s so many of them," she whispered in dismay.

"Close the door!" William slammed the door closed at Xavier’s barked command seconds before the vampire threw the window open.

Rage tore through her as Calvin appeared amongst the battle. She didn’t care if she knew how to use a weapon; she was going to do whatever she could to destroy that man. Lucas thrust a dark gray blanket into her arms. She stared down at it, uncertain of how well the thin material would work to keep them safe from the sun as Lucas began to wrap another blanket around himself. Hannah draped it over her head before wrapping it around her shoulders. She kept her hands within the blanket but it was difficult to cover all of her face.

The exposure to the sun was going to hurt like hell, but it was better than burning alive she decided as the building gave a heaving shudder. She took a staggering step back as the floor beneath them began to sag in the middle. Smoke billowed heavily through the cracks in the floor as the snapping flames of the fire below ate hungrily at the wood.

"Go!" Xavier commanded Aria.

"The others…"

He lifted Aria up and dropped her on the other side of the window. "Go!" he bellowed at her before turning to Hannah. "Now you," She also tried to protest but the vampire was hearing none of it as he lifted her into his arms and placed her on the porch roof.

The cool air rushed in around the blanket and calmed some of the burns she’d sustained. She kept her face bowed away from the sun as the others scrambled onto the roof behind her and Aria. With her feet braced against the roof, she was able to keep her balance as they made their way to the back of the building.

A loud crash behind her brought her head around as part of the tavern roof started to collapse. "We have to get off of this roof," William croaked.

"We’re going to have to jump," Hannah said. "There’s no way to climb down from here."

"Jumping it is then," Xavier said.

Hannah crept forward and crouched at the edge of the roof. They were almost completely at the back of the building; from here she could smell the lake hidden within the trees. She would have given anything to be able to plunge into its cool depths and ease some of the heat licking at her skin. She didn’t know if it was the lingering effects of the fire, or the rays of the sun beating against the blanket but her skin felt as if it had been rubbed with sandpaper. Grasping hold of the edge of the roof, she jumped off the side of it.

CHAPTER 23

"This way," William said as he grabbed hold of her arm. "Stay by my side." He hurried her toward the back of the crumpling building but they hadn’t made it more than ten feet before men began to spill from the woods toward them.

"Fall back!" Xavier bellowed in a voice made thick with ash.

Hannah’s hand squeezed around the stake William had given her as she tugged it out of her waistband. William released her arm as he stepped beside his sister and pulled the bow from his back. Aria and William opened fire on the vampires charging at them, but they were steadily pushed back toward the front of the building by the onslaught. Hannah searched for something to help fight with as the tavern started to crumble beside them. Her ears were ringing from the screams erupting around her as vampires and humans alike fell to the ground.

It was only a matter of time before they were overrun. The twins didn’t have enough arrows to deter the mass closing in on them. William was tough but he was still human and not as fast as Aria at releasing the arrows. Aria snagged more arrows from William’s quiver when hers completely emptied out. Panic began to fill Hannah as she glanced around helplessly at the crush of bodies pressing against them. There had to be something she could do to help.

A smoldering board fell at Hannah’s feet as more of the tavern collapsed. Grabbing hold of the board, she rose to her full height as someone snatched hold of her arm. There was only one man that could make her skin crawl like hers now did with the connection of flesh on flesh. A vicious snarl escaped her as she swung violently upward and smashed the board across Calvin’s perfect, golden boy face. The force of the blow knocked his head to the side and caused blood to explode from his mouth. A solid two by four soot stain marred his cheek as his ruby colored eyes came back to hers.

She’d only succeeded in pissing him off, but she found she didn’t care as her hands clenched around the stake and she leapt at him with the determination of a lion leaping on a gazelle. Fury drove her as she swung the stake in a downward arc at his putrid heart. He fell back from her unexpected attack, because of this she was almost able to drive the stake in. Instinct caused him to rebound faster than she had expected though as he swung his arm up and knocked her hand aside.

She barely had time to react before his other hand came up and he backhanded her across the cheek with enough force to make her stagger sideways. Stars exploded in front of her eyes, pain exploded through her jaw and for a moment she feared it had been broken. A startled cry escaped her; her hand flew to her mouth as blood from her split inner cheek pooled into her mouth. His fingers clutched in her hair, he ripped her head back at the same time that he reached forward with his other hand and tore the blanket from her. Hannah threw her arms up as she instinctively recoiled from the rays of the sun that washed over her body.