Fated Heroes Read online

  “Courtney, ignore him. He’s just trying to get to you. You’re so close, and Kimberly needs you,” Josh reminded me gently. It was his voice that had me putting one foot in front of the other.

  My speed picked up and I practically ran to the part of the cave we needed to enter to get to the room. Nick and Michael were right on my heels, and through my jeans I could feel them brushing my legs. I blindly ran through the cave, and when we got to the opening, the room inside lit up.

  I skidded to a stop when I saw the hostages sitting in a half circle on the ground. All of their wrists had cuffs around them with a very short chain on it. On the end of the chain was a loop that attached to a single chain in the center of the floor, giving them no room for movement. Every single one of them leaned against the wall, their bodies pale from being continuously drained of blood. The blood that the vampires needed to drink to day-walk. Some of them had no markings on them at all, while others had fresh bite marks on their necks with dried blood that had dripped from their wounds.

  My knees almost buckled when my eyes landed on Kimberly. Her eyes were closed and her head had dropped forward, a fresh bite mark on her neck, dried blood caked on her skin and shirt. Her skin was so pale that she’d make a ghost look tan. I cried out and alerted the wolves that I’d found her.

  Michael and Nick took one look at her and their teeth bared as they started to snarl and growl in anger. Some of the hostages happened to look up at that point and, upon seeing the wolves, shrank back in fear. The terror in their eyes screamed at me. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what they’d been through, and I hoped like hell I didn’t receive a vision that told me.

  Kimberly had only been with them for less than a day. Some of those hostages, judging by their clothes and rumpled appearances, seemed to have been there for months. I was surprised they were even among the living. The vampires must have been feeding them enough to keep them alive. Keeping them alive meant that they had a constant supply of blood to drink.

  “It’s okay,” I said softly to them. “We’re here to help you.”

  “Who are you guys?” a young woman asked us. Her voice trembled and I could tell she used a lot of energy to ask that question.

  “Your heroes,” I replied quickly. I didn’t have time to stand around and answer questions.

  I tucked my machete back into its sheath and ran over to the middle of the room to start pulling on the chain. It was very thick, and the lock that kept it in place seemed to be made of steel. It appeared as if it was drilled into the ground, secured with a little bit of concrete to keep it in place. Michael and Nick saw me struggling with the chain and ran over to help me. Between me pulling on it, and the wolves using their strong jaws on it, we were able to weaken a link in the chain. I continued to tug on it, and finally the link gave and separated from the rest.

  I worked quickly to start pulling the broken chain through the loops on the cuffs. The wolves got behind me and used their teeth to help me pull the chain through. It was quick work, but the longer we stayed, the easier it was for us to get caught. Those who had no marks on their necks stood up on shaky legs and were fiddling with the cuffs on their wrists.

  “Don’t worry about those right now. We need to help the rest of you guys and get the hell out of here,” I said with authority. We had already spent too much time in there, although it was probably only twenty minutes.

  Nick padded back over to Kimberly, who was still slouched against the wall, and started to lick on her neck and face. I kept my focus on them while Michael growled and snarled at the other people to get them up and moving for our escape. My breath caught in my throat as Kimberly started to stir and raise her head.

  “Kimberly,” I choked out and ran over to her.

  “Courtney?” Kimberly gasped quietly. Her voice was hoarse, her lips were dry. and I noticed that her eyes seemed glazed over.

  “Yes, it’s me. We came to save you,” I told her as I reached over to grasp her hands.

  Kimberly’s eyes welled with tears as she looked past me and saw Nick and Michael corralling the other hostages. I released her hands and pulled her into a brief hug, then heaved her to her feet.

  “We’ll have a good cry session later,” I promised her, “but right now we need to get out of here.” “Lean against me.”

  With Kimberly’s light frame pressing into me, I did a quick inventory to make sure everyone else was standing and able to move. Once I saw that everyone was somehow mobile, I started to lead the group out of the room and back down the dark cavern. My heart was beating in my chest with each step we took, knowing that pretty soon we’d be in the clear.

  Light was starting to fill the small space, and I knew that we were getting closer to being out of the cave. My heart was pounding in my chest knowing that these people were about to be saved, but when a dark shadow blocked out the light, I gasped. My heart instantly sank to the floor as more shadows blocked the mouth of the cave, and I just knew. We were being trapped inside the cave by vampires. We are so screwed.

  “Oh goody,” a deep, raspy voice said, drawing my attention to the figure in the front. The man—vampire—smiled cruelly and I saw the sun reflect off his fangs. It was the same voice that’d invaded my mind earlier. “You brought dinner to us. I did warn you. You should’ve listened to me.”

  I didn’t even bother responding. I quickly handed Kimberly off to the person beside me, not giving a fuck who, and reached behind me to pull out my machete. Michael and Nick caught my movement, and once they knew I was ready with my weapon, they lunged forward. I ran behind them and started to swing my machete with all of my strength.

  The healers were smart enough to stay back while the wolves and I worked on clearing out the vampires. While Nick and Michael concentrated on ripping out their throats, I made slices meant to cut off their heads. I’d learned my lesson while dealing with the animals. I could hear the sounds of Josh and Isaac yelling inside my mind that more were coming, but I couldn’t respond. Every last bit of concentration was poured into making sure I only aimed for the vampires and not the wolves fighting beside me.

  I could feel the claws and fangs grazing my skin. Blood was dripping down my neck, arms, and face. My grip on the machete kept slipping from so much blood on my fingers. My shoulders burned from all the force I used to swing my machete at the vampires. Sounds of tearing flesh and the wolves growling and whining filled the caves. The healers were pressed into the walls, staying out of our way so we could concentrate on killing the vampires and not hurt them in the process. When we finally had what appeared to be enough vampires killed—the ones that were still alive were occupied with trying to kill us—I made a quick decision. I had to get those healers out of there.

  “Run!” I yelled as I swung my machete again to cut off yet another head.

  The young woman—who’d asked me who we were—didn’t waste a second to think about what I’d said. She instantly took off and the rest followed suit. I was grateful when I saw that someone had Kimberly on their arm and that she would soon be getting to safety. That was one less thing to worry about.

  I raised my machete again and brought it down on a vampire’s arm, slicing it clean off, and I relished the sound as he cried out. I was covered from head to toe in blood, and the cave floor reminded me of the house that we’d vacated only days ago. Body parts were scattered on the floor. Blood was pooled all around us. And I could see tufts of Michael’s and Nick’s fur scattered about. I swung my weapon back, blood flinging around me, spraying anything in its path, and brought it down against the vampire’s neck. The sharp blade carved cleanly through the fanger’s neck, and I watched as its head rolled to the floor.

  When I had beheaded my last vampire I looked around me and watched as Nick ripped out the throat of one. Michael had the one who’d spoken to us backed against the wall. He was clearly their leader and the strongest of the batch. His body was covered in bites and scratches, and Michael had his own wounds from the battle. I raised my mache
te one last time and Nick growled to hold me back. This was Michael’s kill.

  The vampire opened his mouth to bare his fangs and he pushed off the wall toward Michael. Michael jumped in the air at just the right time and latched his sharp teeth into the vampire’s neck. The vampire cried out as Michael ripped away a huge hunk of his throat, sending blood flying everywhere. Michael stood there growling, his mouth still filled with blood and tissue as the vampire slumped to the ground. Only then did Michael drop what was in his mouth, right on the face of the vampire. Gross.

  “We did it,” I said in disbelief as I looked around the cave.

  All of the vampires had been killed. Our friend was safe. The hostages were freed. And we didn’t die in the process. We actually fucking pulled it off. I couldn’t believe it. If not for the dismembered bodies, blood covering us from head to toe, and the wild look in my friends’ eyes as blood covered their muzzles, I’d think it was all just a crazy-ass dream. Except it wasn’t a dream. This was our new reality.

  I basked in the victory as we gradually made our way out of the cave. The adrenaline slowly evaporated with each step we took. Our bodies had been through the wringer from fighting off so many vampires. I glanced down at the bloody machete in my hand as a reminder of how many vampires I’d actually killed. But oddly enough, I’d thought that there’d be more.

  “NO!” I heard a voice yell from above right before my world changed—again.

  Then everything happened at once. The first thing was that a small handful of vampires had jumped on us from behind. We’d been so focused on the fact that we’d won, and we’d been so exhausted, that we hadn’t even noticed the vampires coming up from behind us. The second thing was a giant ball of light. The light had been so bright that I’d been momentarily blinded. It’d been so intense that even though the vampires had drunk healer blood to day-walk, they hadn’t been able to withstand the blast.

  I blinked furiously after the light dissipated. Stars were flashing before my eyes as they tried to readjust from the powerful ball of light. My gaze darted around as I tried to find my friends to make sense of what had just happened, and I saw the wolves looked just as dazed as I felt.

  “Watch out!” I heard a scream come from behind me.

  Before I even had the chance to respond, Kimberly reached out to grab my machete. In one quick motion I saw her slash quickly through the air. The sound of wet tissue filled my ears and I saw the body of a headless vampire slump to the ground.

  “One got away,” she clarified weakly as she dropped her arm that was holding the machete.

  “What are you doing back here? I thought you were with the others.”

  “I waited outside the cave for you to see if you guys needed any help,” Kimmie explained.

  “Thanks,” I told her. “You just saved my life.”

  “And now we’re even,” she replied as she handed me back my blood-soaked vampire killer.

  I reached out to take the weapon from her, and that was when I noticed something in the sky. I glanced up and realized what exactly what it was, and that was when everything clicked into place. The light had come from Isaac or Josh, and the Fae that had blasted it was currently free-falling out of the sky.

  Chapter 26

  “Oh my God!” I screamed and—exhaustion be damned—took off in the direction the Fae had fallen.

  I didn’t bother to make sure that the healers made it to safety. I didn’t stop to wonder if Kimberly was okay. I just knew I needed to get to whoever had saved us. Nick and Michael took off after my scream and easily overtook me. Pretty soon they were out of my sight and I struggled to keep up with them. It seemed to take forever to find them and when I did, I fell to my knees.

  Isaac was lying on his side. His eyes were closed and he was unmoving. Josh was kneeling beside him, his face buried in the crook of Isaac’s neck. His beautiful pink wings hung limply behind him, as if he didn’t even bother to put them back. His body shook as he sobbed violently, and the gut-wrenching sobs that ripped from him filled the air around us.

  Michael and Nick both had returned to their human forms, and Nick held on to Michael as he sobbed in his arms. They were completely oblivious to the fact that they were naked, their bodies covered in scratches and teeth marks. A hunk of skin was missing from Michael’s side and was bleeding profusely. None of that mattered. All that mattered at that moment was the Fae who’d risked his life to save us. The one who lay lifelessly on the ground.

  “No!” Josh cried out in anguish. “Wake up!” he begged as he shook Isaac’s unmoving body. “Please Isaac, open your eyes.” Josh started talking a million miles a minute as he wept, staring at his brother, and told us, “He fell right after the blast. I slowed him down some and I caught him, but the stupid jerk has to be so damn big that his momentum was too much for me and I couldn’t… I couldn’t,” he sobbed loudly, then cried out, “I couldn’t hold on to him. He kept falling, and he’d knocked me so far back that I couldn’t catch back up.” Josh’s voice dropped down to a whisper as he cried harder into his brother’s neck. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t get to you. I couldn’t catch you. I’m so sorry.” His voice broke off as his cries overtook him.

  Nick pulled Michael closer so he could place a hand on Josh’s shoulder without letting go of a sobbing Michael.

  I watched helplessly as Josh begged and pleaded with his brother to open his eyes. To wake up. To tell us why he did what he did. His voice was full of tears as he told his brother how much he needed him in his life. How much he loved him. And at the same time, I could see how Nick was torn. He was caught between wanting to comfort Josh, while at the same time holding an inconsolable Michael.

  I climbed to my feet and took off back in the direction I’d come from. I needed to find someone to heal Isaac and I needed them immediately. I closed my eyes as I ran and willed my mind to see where the healers might have gone to and prayed that they weren’t too far off. Hell, half of them were practically dead, so they couldn’t have wandered too far.

  Thankfully, I found them nestled against some trees not far from the opening of the cave. I ran over to them and fought to speak while at the same time trying to catch my breath. Kimberly took one look at me and knew something was wrong. Luckily she seemed to have regained some of her strength. I wondere if maybe being out in the sunlight had helped recharge the healer’s batteries so to speak.

  “Isaac needs your help. Not moving,” I gasped out.

  I turned back and took off in another sprint toward Isaac. I didn’t even look to see who’d followed me. At that point I didn’t give a flying fuck who it was that healed him. I just knew it needed to be done.

  I made it to where Isaac was still lying and saw that Nick had pulled Josh into his arms. Josh had finally retracted his wings and Nick was wrapped tightly around him while Michael now was lying over Isaac. I blinked when I noticed Josh’s back. Where his wings had retracted, it looked as if he had very intricate wing tattoos. The tattoo started out at the top of his shoulder blades and went halfway down his back. The beautiful pink coloring stood out magnificently against his pale skin. But upon further inspection, I could see that it wasn’t a tattoo at all. It was his retracted wings that molded to his back to give the appearance of gorgeous body art. I forced myself to tear my eyes away from Josh, and I quickly turned my attention to Michael. I couldn’t make out what he was saying to Isaac, but I saw his body shaking as he wept over him.

  “Stand back,” I heard Kimberly say from behind me in a commanding voice I’d never heard her use before.

  Michael looked up at the same time Nick and Josh turned to me. I glanced behind me and saw that not only had Kimberly come with me, but five other healers as well.

  I walked over to Michael and pulled him away from Isaac. He struggled against me. “Michael, you need to let them do their thing.” I tried to reason with him as he attempted to get free from my grasp.

  “No, I can’t leave him!” Michael argued as he fought against my hold. Jesus
, he was strong.

  “Michael, I’m not making you leave, you just need to back up. They can’t heal him if you’re touching him. If you want Isaac to live, you have to move!” Nick’s voice carried over mine.

  Michael finally gave in and I was able to pull him back. I put my arm around his shoulders and walked him over to where Nick and Josh stood wrapped in an embrace. We watched as the six healers circled around Isaac and laid their hands on him.

  “Are all six of them necessary? Can’t Kimberly just do it?” Michael asked, his voice still thick with tears.

  “He is a Fae. He will need as much energy as they can give him. Six healers give him more of a chance, and Cupcake is leading them, don’t worry,” Josh answered quietly.

  “What was that blast of light?” I asked as we kept our eyes on the healers.

  The six healers kept their hands on Isaac, Kimberly at his head and the woman from earlier at his feet, and closed their eyes to concentrate. Pretty soon the familiar light was illuminating from their fingers and encasing Isaac in its glow.

  “That blast of light was Isaac’s Fae energy. It’s the only light brighter than the sun that could kill vampires. We never use it because it has dire consequences.”

  “You mean like having him fall from the sky and killing him?” Nick asked sarcastically. I winced at his choice of words.

  “Yes. But even if he survives this, there will be something that some Fae consider even worse,” Josh replied mournfully.

  “Do we even want to know what that is?” Michael asked as he watched the healers do their work.

  Josh didn’t even answer. All of his focus was on the healers and his brother. Tears streamed down all of our cheeks as we watched them try their hardest to revive him. It seemed to take longer than I’d expect—which was worrisome—as they gave as much energy as they could.