Page 42 of Marked Resistance

I exhaled, drew Assurance from its sheathe, and held it aloft. I shut my eyes and saw it. I mentally saw my inner flame change from waves of yellow and orange to a pure blue stream. I waved both my arms in a huge circle, opened my eyes, and slammed my fist into the ground. The air in front of us exploded in an enormous fireball of pure rage.

“What the hell?” I heard Grim ask through the explosion.

“Kill her!” Ilanis shrieked.

But it was too late. Trusting myself with every ounce of my being, I threw Assurance like a javelin in the direction of Grim’s voice. With deadly accuracy and speed, it speared Grim in his left eye, impaling him deep. The tip of the sword protruded out the back of his skull, and Grim twitched and dropped on impact.

Damon used the opportunity of Grim’s demise to launch from his knees and speed over to Sarah. I followed and sped straight ahead and through the flames. They were my flames, my fire. They were my life.

Ilanis leaped to her left with her sword drawn and slashed at Sarah with lethal intentions, but I intercepted her. My speed as a youngling enabled me to greet her with my shoulder as I barreled into her chest right before she could deliver the death blow. We both catapulted into the air from the force of the impact, with my shoulder on her chest as if I surfed the waves of the ocean with Ilanis as the surfboard. Our bodies crashed to the ground, and pain shot through me, but I rolled off her and onto my feet. Ilanis equally leaped up and held her sword in a guarded position across her chest. She’d never released it from her grasp.

Damon had ripped the chains away from Sarah and opened his wrist. She drank from him deeply and safely. We were all Shaye, so drinking from each other would have no adverse effect, and I could only imagine how drinking from the oldest living vampire would strengthen Sarah. Ilanis surveyed the scene in front of her and chuckled. The three of us had her trapped. I was in front of her, Damon and Sarah to her left. I was quicker than her, being younger, so escape wasn’t an option.

“So, it’s come to this, has it? We were here before, you and I. Remember? When I first met you, I had my sword out, just like so, and you were quacking in your boots.”

“I’m not quaking right now,” I seethed.

“Oh, I see? Because Damon’s here? Your sister? You think that makes a difference? You might be faster than me, so I can’t run, but I’m faster than Damon. I’ll kill you and get away from him. This isn’t the end of me.”

“Oh yes,” I nodded. “Yes, it is.”

“You can’t beat me.”

“You put your hands on my sister. Mysister. I’m not going to beat you. I’m going to destroy you.”

“What? Am I supposed to apologize for that? Am I supposed to be seeking your forgiveness,” Ilanis spat. “It’s because of you Xavier flipped like you’ve got some magical pussy or something. But, you’re no witch, Youngling. You’re no witch, just a bitch.”

“Xavier never flipped you stupid cunt. He was Damon the entire time. He moves how he wants.”

“Well, come on then. I’m about to move you. Twice. Twice I should have killed you and I let you live.”

I shook my head. “What are you talking about? Thisisour second match.”

“This isn’t a match because you’re no match for me. Just as you weren’t a match when you first reported to us, and just like when you were recovering.”

“What?”

“I took joy in coming in your room every day and stabbing you with my blade. Every time I imagined Xavier stabbing you with his cock, I thrust my sword deeper and deeper into your chest. It was almost better than sex.”

“That’s why it took me so long to heal. You kept attacking me? Your fellow Ranger?”

“You’re nothing. You’re not a Ranger. You barely have fangs. You’re definitely not a Fang Ranger I want to be associated with. You’re just the dumb bitch who got lucky enough to spend one night with him. A night I should have had with him a long time ago. He’s been pining for you ever since. I’ve seen it in the way he moved, the way he acted. And when he specifically requested you instead of any number of more qualified individuals to join us, bumping us down to November? We were Beta squad! The second highest in all of Shaye.

“No. I knew exactly what I had to do. Expose you as a traitor to our clan. Xavier was lost, but I’m helping him.”

“You’re crazy. You did this because you were jealous? You must have Letos blood in you.”

“Say’s the traitor. You’re willing to sacrifice our entire ideals for the life of one measly human. It’s the same with him. He’s so full of honor, I can see why he’s drawn to you. But there’s no way he’ll stay with you now, not after I’ve exposed you. And now I’m going to kill you.”

“Wrong! I’m going to do what everyone’s been telling me to do. I’m going to live!”

“You talk too much,” Ilanis growled.

The air around me turned a deep orange, then red as Ilanis charged. Ilanis lunged at me with an upward strike. I dove to my left and rolled in time to miss her blow, and came up on my knees. She wheeled around and brought her sword back in a downward strike designed to end my life, but two swift flicks of my wrist fired two twin jets of pure blue flame out of the supercharged air. The flames smashed Ilanis in the chest and rocketed her off her feet. With an ear-splitting shriek, Ilanis body exploded in a brilliant display of blood, flesh, and bone.

Epilogue

The flames danced all around us as Damon walked over the burning chunks and remains of Ilanis to me. He extended his hand and lifted me off of my knees when I grabbed it.

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