14
Horrified, tearstained faces ghost flickered back into existence in the black, as Rebel flamed Eclipse like a candle between us.
Crouching on the concrete floor of the cellar, I swept my fingers in jerky arcs through the dust. Nauseous at the dry warmth, I scrubbed my hands down my jeans, gulping panicked breaths.
Then Rebel’s shoulder knocked mine. I glanced at him, and he attempted a smile.
The Blood Familiars whined, nuzzling my knees. Their eyes were heavy-lidded and drowsy; Blaze curled around his brother. Their weight, each time they bumped me, was a reminder this was real.
Witches, an angel, Blood Familiars and me…huddled in the dank cellar, whilst vampires skittered and scampered above our heads across the iron ceiling.
I never reckoned I’d miss just a regular — human — screwed-up Christmas.
I wiped the sweat off my forehead with the back of my sleeve. ‘If I’m going to be the roasted turkey, then someone’s telling me who the bastards are that’ll be munching on my—’
‘Tiny breasts?’ Evie pouted.
‘Burnt wings,’ I growled.
‘The gits call themselves The Pure. Their boss is Eden. I’ve killed enough of them to know my balls would be sliced off, before my wings, and then…’
‘But what’s their beef with me?’
Rebel’s breath hitched. He pulled his knees close and hugged them with his arms. ‘Like me, you’re not pure. They’re extremists who see you as nothing but abnormal. And any creature not like them is destroyed or forced to convert.’
The violet fury, which had withered before the fire, frightened into submission, burst to life, dragging with it an oily slick of black dominance. The twin sensations carried me to my feet. I towered over Rebel, staring down at his startled face. ‘Secrets. How many more are there?’
‘A whole world — worlds — of them. I didn’t mean to hide this.’
‘Liar,’ I was cold, even as I swayed with the heat. ‘Why didn’t you want me to know there were different types of vampires? And who did you have me killing?’
‘That’s indeed an excellent question,’ Da undid the top button of his shirt and shucked his jacket; he was struggling to breathe.
Rebel glanced between us, biting his lip. ‘The Pure,’ he whispered at last.
By the way the Deadmans exclaimed, I knew it was the wrong answer. But this time he was on his own.
‘If we live tonight,’ when I pointed at Rebel, he quailed; the light from Eclipse wavered, ‘we’re going to talk about respect, trust, and how angels don’t fib to monsters.’
He gave a tight nod. ‘If we live tonight.’ He ducked his head, but I could still see his lips quirk. ‘I told you I was bad.’
Rap, rap, rap.
The three sharp knocks on the cellar door echoed in the dark.
We all stilled.
Silence.
Then Eden’s charming, teasing voice, ‘Angel and monster, come out to me, then I won’t roast, the witches for tea.’ A shrill laugh. ‘Whoops, I have burnt them, well, burnt down the witches’ house.’
‘I bet you were the kid no one played with at school. I’m right, yeah? So, you put your teddies in the corner, sang them freaky songs, and set alight the one with the fraying fur.’
‘How rude,’ Eden sounded genuinely disappointed in me. ‘There’s so much darkness in you, I can hardly see the light. Yet your angel loves his gaolers, so let me offer him the choice: in ten minutes, we’ll dig out this cellar. Then I’ll feast on the witches, whilst you watch.’
Rebel gasped, struggling to his feet. ‘You won’t—’
‘That’s right, I won’t. If you and your monster walk up the cellar steps before the watch ticks and surrender yourself to me. There’s always a choice.’
Rap, rap, rap.
‘Ten minutes.’
I clenched my teeth so hard my jaw ached. Hell, I itched to smash Eden in the nose. To see the smug bastard struggle in ice-cold water, as Tiny Fang had, or kiss him to ash, like Phoenix.
I was a hunter. We’d trained to fight.
‘What do I…?’ Rebel spun on the spot with Eclipse, like a Catherine wheel. The violet spectre-trailed through the gloom.
‘On your knees,’ Da’s curt command tumbled Rebel into position, his head hanging low. When Da stroked through Rebel’s flame of hair, he leant into the touch. ‘This belongs to your…true father.’ Rebel’s head shot up in shock. Da had taken out a glistening silver dagger from the safe. A star was carved into the hilt. A silver threaded scabbard dangled from Da’s other hand. ‘We acquired Star after… Did you think we were unaware of your search? That we’d allow you to leave the house without permission, if it was not our will?’
Rebel trembled, never looking away from the dagger. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘You didn’t come back for us. Because you wanted us. We guessed as much. But that doesn’t change that you’re ours to guide. And love. Now you’ll need your true father and brother again.’
Brother?
I cast Rebel a baleful glare — yeah, we were having a quiet little chat about fibbing, if Eden didn’t cut off Rebel’s balls first — and he ducked his head.
Da offered Star’s hilt to Rebel, but he recoiled. ‘I’ve no right.’
‘You have every right.’ Da glanced at Ma, and she nodded. Da gripped Rebel’s chin softly, raising his gaze. ‘Please remember, Zach, finding your father may not be what you expect. It certainly will not set everything back to how it was. Don’t fly on false hope.’
When Rebel sheathed Eclipse, we were plunged into the pitch-black.
Then Star burst alive in piercing bright violet. Shards of light shot out like the points of a star.
Rap, rap, rap.
‘Five minutes until we play,’ Eden crooned.
When Rebel leapt at me with the dagger, the fox brothers snarled, even though they were panting and battling to stand in the heat. Yet he only threw the scabbard at me. ‘Put it on, around your waist.’ I pulled on the scabbard, pulling my jacket down to hide it. It fitted, like it’d always meant to be there. Something stirred under my skin. A need…or a memory. I held my breath, trembling with the desire to touch Star. ‘Ages it’s been since I could give anyone a present.’ His hands were steady as he raised Star. ‘Sorry I couldn’t wrap your Christmas gift.’
Mine, mine, mine…
It was a reclaiming. No longer fear held within a blade. Because the top boy shank was mine.
A knife that would burn and slice: I’d be god-like for real.
I backed against the cobwebbed wall. ‘Don’t tempt me, bro.’
‘Every angel has an ancient weapon,’ Rebel pressed. I didn’t understand the anguish in his expression, as he whispered, ‘You deserve it. Not me.’
I’d snatched the hilt from him, before I’d even made the decision.
I gasped, and my eyes rolled back, flying on the power of the weapon. I was as baked as Rebel had been with Eclipse. I understood now: his joy.
The power.
After everything, it was Rebel who’d unleashed me.
With a jolt, the land of bones, beneath the mountain of feathers, flashed as if I was back there, cracking over wing bones. When I shook my head, the vision cleared.
But if that was tonight — our bones and our feathers in this cellar — then I needed to give Rebel a Christmas gift as well. Something just as special as Rebel’s only link to his true father.
I scrabbled at Jade’s necklace one-handed, undoing it and holding it out in the palm of my hand. ‘Sorry I couldn’t wrap it.’
He stared at me for a long moment. Then he lifted the necklace, placing it tenderly into the pouch around his neck, as if it was a wedding ring. ‘Thank you.’
Awkward, I shrugged. ‘Doesn’t mean you’ve made it off my List of Asses to Kick.’
Rap, rap, rap.
‘Four minutes, my lost ones,’ Eden purred.
‘You’re after having to wait in line,’ Rebel tried to smirk but he was tearing at his lower lip too hard with his teeth.
‘We’ve loved you since we were nothing but kids.’ Ma tilted her head; her smile was soft. The Deadmans were hunkered at the back of the cellar in a circle, their hands entwined. ‘We dreamed our lives away, lost in the shadow of you. You were all we needed.’
Da pulled his family even closer; his hand passed across their mouths. ‘Now we die at your altar.’
‘I don’t.’ Evie’s gaze was razor-sharp; her eyes gleamed with unshed tears. ‘But love is pain, remember?’
‘Away with you, I won’t…can’t…’ Rebel unsheathed Eclipse. And when he turned to me, I understood.
This was his family. And we were the hunters.
I knelt next to the Blood Familiars, stroking their heads. They pushed hard against my palms. I wished they dared talk to me, so I could say…something…to them.
Yet I had a feeling the familiars understood, even without me speaking, because they fought to their feet.
I shook my head. ‘Your Keeper is ordering your arses to stay with the witches.’ At their mournful whines, I held them close, whispering, ‘And the first chance you get, I’m telling you to run, yeah?’
Then I held Star, like absolute power in my hands, and stalked after Rebel to the foot of the stone steps.
Rap, rap, rap.
‘Three minutes. If you force me to come down there, I shall be quite put out with you,’ Eden fretted. ‘Purifying can be such a painful business, if I wish it.’
I rested my hand on Rebel’s shoulder. Our gazes met. Whatever happened with Eden, we’d have each other’s back.
I’d never had that with a bloke before.
We trudged up the cellar steps.
Rebel turned back to his family; his fingertips rested on the hot iron trapdoor. ‘I never meant to be a shadow or cause you pain. And I won’t let you die on my altar. You wanted me, and I love you for that.’
I shrugged, ‘I just hate you. But you’re his family, so…’
Evie’s eyes were closed. She murmured, her words slurring, ‘I knew our angel would save us.’
Da dropped to his knees, before slumping on his front, but he forced out, ‘Remember how proud I am.’
I stumbled mid-step, grabbing Rebel’s sleeve. ‘They’ve taken something. Poison? A spell?’
Rebel bolted down the stairs, leaping the final two and hurling away Eclipse, as he fell next to his family, who were sprawled, convulsing on the concrete floor.
‘Help me,’ Rebel pleaded, pressing shaking hands first to Ma, who was spasming, then to Da who was foaming at the mouth, and finally to Evie, whose legs jerked violently.
I froze, remembering the way Da had pressed his hand across each of their mouths.
Rebel’s family had sacrificed themselves to save him. His family were his weakness. And they’d shanked that weakness before Eden could.
Hell, what did I know about that type of love?
When the witches suddenly lay still, Rebel let out a sob. He lifted Evie’s lifeless body into his arms, rocking her and stroking her silken curls.
‘Two minutes. Witches burning, witches burning, fetch the monster, fetch the monster, fire fire, fire fire!’ Eden sang in a mocking lullaby.
I sprang down the steps, light-headed and shaking. I seized Rebel’s shoulder. ‘They’re gone, but we’re here and still set to burn. They died to stop you from being sliced by Sir Purity, so how do we escape?’
Rebel only groaned, nuzzling his face into Evie’s hair. His eyes were glazed: the punk was lost in his own grief.
Yet we only had two minutes left to escape this crematorium, or just like Rebel’s witch family, who’d sacrificed themselves for their angel son, we’d be corpses in the dust.