Page 93 of Tainted Gifts
"They're not immune to you," I murmur breathlessly, and he strikes harder, making more yelp in pain.
My head is pounding when his hybrid heat becomes unbearable, reminding me I'm not yet in the clear. I ignore the pain though. I'm not going to be some helpless little damsel this time. I can't be. If they've got violet eyes, then they're not infected... they're somehow emergent infused.
"Get her out of here!" Jase yells to Kellan.
"Hell no!" I scream out, glaring at Jase like he's lost his mind.
Kellan grabs me at the elbow, ready to overpower me and force me out, but I manage to shake free a burst of my gift and toss him back, landing him near Simone who is kicking ass. The hounds are apparently not immune to her bloody gift.
The eyes of one burst just when it gets too close to Kellan, and the blood is ripped free from it, leaving it a shriveled up pile. It'd be nice if she could do that in mass quantities instead of a few at a time.
"Aria, please," Jase growls as he rips me out of the line of fire.
A savage mongrel crashes to the ground where I was, and Jase's fire seeps out, exploding the mutt to pieces.
"Gifts. It's all gifts that can breach their invincibility shields, not just Kellan's. Force the ungifted back!"
Jase tightens his lips, not enjoying the fact I'm refusing to budge. I'll deal with the punishment later.
He rolls his eyes, launching more fire - more gloriously hot, intoxicating flames that almost hypnotize me.
"Gifted up front only!" he yells out, heeding my advice. "All others get back!"
I snap out of my trance and release my gift... my gift. I almost squeal when those rabid beasts are flung backwards. Jase smiles when he sees my excitement, but we quickly realize our celebratory moment was premature.
A black wad of darkness thunders the ground as they charge toward us, shredding the gates of the city as they start swarming in with unfathomable numbers.
"Retreat!" Jase yells, grabbing my hand and setting the ground in front of us ablaze to clear a path.
They're are too many. We can't retreat. There's no way out.
Kellan and Simone are back to back as they battle the beasts encircling them. Screams ring out as our fleet starts getting shredded by the hounds passing through our gifted who are overloaded with targets to hit.
Blood sprays, forcing everyone to scramble for masks. Jase manages to find two for us, and he tries to force me in a car. I fight him, knowing he'll be killed if I don't help him.
The car is suddenly smashed when one of the larger beasts lands on it, snarling at us as he drips a silver, heavy drool. This one's eyes are darker violet, its size is ridiculously huge, and its fangs almost remind me of a Saber tooth's fossilized tooth. It drapes far below it's lip, and the silver saliva runs the length of it before dropping from the point.
"Holy shit," I gasp.
Jase launches his fire, making the mutt growl and wince against the flames. We start shifting backwards, only to realize we've been surrounded by hounds just as large as that one.
The hounds start squealing out in the distance, and I look over to see Rex has lost it, his savage in control as the hoards of them start dropping to the ground. It won't be enough.
Melania is using her gift to drop the hounds, leaving them howling out pain from the vicious burn of invisible uranium, but they're are just too many. I lift my hands, praying my gift works again, and then I hear the cries of the hounds ring out as it does.
Bones start cracking, hearts explode, and blood starts spewing. What the hell am I doing?
I feel the power flowing from me, unobstructed and intoxicating. It feels so, so good. Jase runs out, throwing his fire in the direction of Kellan and Simone when Simone cries out, her blood flowing from the gaping wound on her leg.
More and more hounds drop under my invisible, unexplainable force. The sky thunders, offering me the same gift of my mother, and the red lightening begins crashing to the ground for the first time ever under my control.
I almost feel high on the power, wondering if I can go savage and save us all. There are still hundreds of them, possibly thousands. It's too messy to fully see.
Blood stains, bodies piled up, and dusty air all mingle and block the sight I'm not sure I can fully take in. The lightening streaks more, lighting up the gruesome scene with more power than I've ever held before. The streaks stab the ground, singeing it before making way for the next red beauty.
I realize I've lost sight of Jase, and his flames are absent. I start to panic, my lightening mimicking the beat of my rapidly pounding heart as they crash in at a frantic pace. Then my heartbeat echoes in my ears when I see him.
His body is still, splayed on the ground with a ragged, devastatingly tragic placement. His distorted body is contorted in agonizingly painful positions, his blood is flowing from his mouth, his legs, his chest, his whole body is gashed up to the point he's almost unrecognizable. The beasts have ravaged him, and his eyes are vacantly staring at the sky with death's glaze.
