Chapter 143

Again, he seemed oddly untouched by the falling water. Meanwhile, everyone else seemed to be getting soaked. Candido shivered as his clothes got wet and the sprinkler water started to wash away the blood.

“It would seem that your crude defenses have finally failed,” he hissed. “Give me the Triskele, Vanessa. Now!”

“No!” She yelled. “I’d rather die.”

“Allow me to help you with that!” He hissed.

“No!” I yelled, jumping, and trying to protect her, but there was no bolt of light. The guns exploded in the hands of the operatives, and Vanessa jerked forward. She screamed and flailed through the air. I tried to stop her, but I was swatted aside by a force and into the wall. I hit my head and the world blurred for a second. I turned over and slumped back against the wall as she stopped flying just in front of him.

The vampire started patting her down. She tried to fight, but she was bound in the air spread eagle by the air as he searched her. He pulled off the belts and utility pouches, searching each one and not heeding the damage he was doing to her clothes. He ripped the pouch from her shirt leaving a large hole and baring her bra.

“Stop it!” I yelled.

Air slammed me back to the ground as he turned from her and let out a gasp of triumph. He pulled something out of the pouch.

“It would have been more expedient for you to simply give it to me.”

He scoffed and she went flying back down the hallway. She let out a cry of pain as her back slammed into the wall above the line of fallen cadets.

“Vanessa!”

She slumped and fell to the ground with a low groan. He tucked the object into his pocket. I didn’t even get to see what it looked like, then he was heading towards me. Vanessa shifted, shuddered, and pushed herself up against the wall. She reached for a gun that was holstered on one of the cadet’s bodies. I thought he would stop to grab me but he walked past me and down the hallway. He stopped a bit down the hallway before sighing and turning back to look at me.

“Damian’s forces will reach this corridor within a few minutes,” he said plainly. “Will you stay and die with them or are you coming with me?”

“Save him,” I cried as the magic released me. “Please…”

“Why should I?”

“Because I’m asking you to!”

He cocked an eyebrow. “Why should your whims be of any importance to me?”

“He’ll die!” I cried. “You can’t let him die!”

“I certainly can,” he said and came closer, crouching beside me. “What is it that you think you can offer for his life?”

My jaw trembled. “I… I don’t… I’m your niece.”

“So, nothing?”

“I…”

Boots pounded down the hall and I remembered the vision I’d seen. Maybe if I could make him understand how powerful and how important Candido is I could get him to see reason. I had to try. It was obvious that he didn’t care about anything other that what he would get out of it.

“I saw him pass out on a cliff near that town in Red Moon,” I said softly. “He was… There was silver coming up from the ground.”

His eyes narrowed. “You… saw this?”

“Someone was in the middle, a vampire. There were vampires everywhere. If he’s not—he’s powerful—”

I heard the sharp sound of metal as it flew through the air and ricocheted. Vanessa screamed and turned into the wall, clutching her shoulder. I looked over at her. Her gun arm was hanging at her side and blood was gushing down her arm.

I looked back at him and smirked. “Some people just don’t learn.”

Another explosion shook the ground and he looked up with a clenched jaw. I looked back to where Vanessa was, barking orders into a walkie-talkie.

“Close off that section! Evacuate, do you hear me? Do not engage. We’ve been compromised! Get out everyone you can by any means necessary!”

She looked back down the hallway, then down to Candido before taking off. My heart lurched, and I went back to looking at Ian.

He chuckled. “Seems like even she doesn’t seem to think he’s that important.”

“Take…” Candido gasped. I looked down at him across the hallway.

I pushed away from the wall and crawled to him, placing my hands on his back.

“Candido, I’m here. I won’t leave you.”

“Take… Hedy…” he wheezed as black veins started to come up his neck. They were crawling toward his eyes, marring his face. “Go…”

“I’m not leaving you! We’ll just have to die together.”

Gunshots filled the air. I looked back down the hallway, seeing the glint of light streaking down the hallways. People were shooting. I heard the snarl of wolves and howls of pain. Then, there were flashes of black clad bodies. Someone stopped in the middle before jerking as a hole appeared in their head and the body turned to ash.

I looked up at Ian as a line of guns floated up from the bodies of the cadets and opened fire. He looked down at me.

“You said silver,” he said. “How do you know that?”

“The vampires turned to ash,” I said. “Please, he’s already done so much. I don’t have anything, but you don’t want Damian to win either. Candido can help. He’s strong. If he was at his full power--”

He stood. “Damian does not concern me.”

He grabbed me by my collar and yanked me. I tightened my grip on Candido, dragging him along even as my arms burned. “We are leaving.”

“No! I don’t want to leave him! I can’t leave him! I won’t leave him. He’s my mate! I love him!”

Candido’s eyes fluttered closed as he dragged me away. I pulled and tugged against his grip, but it only ripped my clothes. I tried to pull Candido closer and wrap my arms around him, but I couldn’t get a good grip on him. My fingers kept slipping. My fingers finally caught on the holster strapped to his chest, but one of the buckles was frayed. I just needed it to hold I felt the coolness of something behind me. I felt the sense that we were going into some sort of cave.

Then, I heard people rushing towards us.

“I want to stay with Candido! I’d rather die with him! I’d rather die than be without him!”

“Don’t be so dramatic,” he hissed. “You act as though he is the only middle-aged man in existence.”

“I love him--”

A sharp pain cut through my neck. The world went dark but I tightened my grip on Candido’s arm, hoping that it was enough.

I heard shouting, yelling. Then, there was bracing cold. I smell old water and stone. I shivered as sounds drifted in and out. I felt soaked. Water rushed into my lungs. I struggled to breathe then finally I was allowed to breath, but still, I couldn’t open my eyes or wake up. It was like something was keeping me under.

Candido? Where was Candido?

I couldn’t feel his mind. I couldn’t reach out to him. I couldn’t feel him. It felt a little like I had in that burning building.

Then, I saw the cliff again. Lightning struck again. His giant golden form wavered, twisted, and fell forward over the cliff, crashing into the ground below. I dived after him, screaming for him.

“Candido! Candido, wake up!”

We fell into darkness and coldness. We fell through ice and fire, yet he always seemed just out of reach no matter how I reached. Then he vanished.

I screamed, twisting as I fell, scrambling for something to grab onto and stop my fall.

Someone laughed, loud and mocking. It echoed around me. Was it Raven? Shadows danced around me. Red moon light washed over me.

I turned and saw a hooded face with burning red eyes like two blood moons staring down at me. Her lips curved into a smile and I knew that she meant me no good.

Still, she found me amusing and laughed as I fell and feel. I slammed into something cold and hard, but I dug my finger into it, crying out as my nails popped off and my fingers were shredded against the rough texture. Then, I stopped, clinging to the side of this mountain. I looked down.

“Candido?” I called down. “Candido?”

I heard nothing but her laughter again. I looked up and saw her standing on a ledge, watching me like someone would watch a child playing in mud: a little indulgent and amused.

She pointed up to wear the sky was dark save for the blood red moon hanging above me and scattered pieces of sunlight, like large stars twinkled. She floated up and into the dark with another laugh. The wall crumbled and I went falling and screaming down into the dark.