Page 25 of Hidden Sacrifice
“We have come to escort you into the afterlife. Come with us peacefully.”
Now to await the verdict.
The ghost started to turn darker in color as red glowing eyes turned on me.
“It’s a wraith!” Jasper shouted as flames engulfed the area.
“Damage its form. Immobilize it so I can get close enough to fracture the soul.”
Justice and Jasper knew the drill, but I wasn’t sure Mor and Jace would know how to take down a spirit like this.
Bolts of electricity shot from the middle of the blaze as the wraith went on the attack. My hair stood on end as a bolt exploded a chunk of bark from the tree beside me. My eyes flicked away from the wraith as I searched for Mor.
Justice ran towards the wraith with knives in each hand. The spirit was busy powering up for another electric attack. Justice would try to make as many wounds as possible before the next strike. Taking down wraiths meant wearing them down.
“You good, Babe?”I still hadn’t seen her, and the wraith would be ready for another strike any moment now.
Justice used poison-tipped blades as his arms windmilled attacks. Every slice of his sword weakened the stability of the soul inside. The wraith’s eyes began to brighten, signaling another upcoming electric attack.
“Cover!”
Justice jumped away, heading for the tree line. He wasn’t going to make it in time.
Using my power, I flung the wraith to the side. It gave Justice just a moment, but that was all he needed to get behind cover. Pain ripped through my leg as I heard a crack of lightning. Guess I had distracted the wraith well enough.
“Fuck,” Jace yelled from across the clearing, sounding like he had been hit.
Dirt covered the knees of my pants. I was forced to use more power to help me stand on my injured leg, but it would heal soon enough.
Jasper jumped into action, his fire burning red hot with rage. He always fought better once one of us got hurt. The sound of his war cry filled my ears as he engulfed the wraith with fire.
“Jace is hurt, but I can’t find the wound,”Mor yelled into my mind as she sent me an image of their location. Jace was on the ground, his leg stiff as a board. The skin there was whole and smooth.
“Keep the wraith distracted. I’m going to help Mor and Jace,”I called out to Jasper and Justice, knowing they had things under control. Jasper was using a burst of power against the wraith; I’m sure they could take it down before it struck again.
Sticking to the tree line, I headed towards Mor. I saw her white-blonde hair first, fluttering against the slight breeze. Her hair had gotten a lot lighter than when she first arrived. Her skin was a lighter shade of pale since becoming a vampire.
Jace was on the ground, his left leg sticking out. He had worn black combat pants, which were now pushed up to his thigh as Mor desperately searched the skin.
“What’s going on?” I asked, approaching.
“I don’t know. My leg hurts like a bitch, but I didn’t even get hit with anything,” Jace said. At least he could handle pain without crying and whining the whole time. “What happened to you?” He asked.
“Took a hit to save Justice’s ass. I’ll be healed up quick enough.” I shrugged; this wasn’t real pain.
“What if Jace feels your injury because of the spell you keep him locked in?” Mor asked, oddly calm considering the surroundings.
Glancing over to the clearing, I noticed Jasper’s fire was no longer covering the wraith. It was slowly powering up, but now it was fighting another round of Justice’s daggers. I could already see pieces of the soul’s core slowly leaking energy through the wounds. Once the core was released, the rest of the soul would fracture.
I turned my attention back to Mor and Jace as she helped him stand without putting any weight on his leg.
“We will have to discuss this at another time, perhaps when we are not in the middle of a hunt,” I suggested knowing we would have to wrap this hunt up quickly. Mor and Jace were both liabilities now.
“I would be fine if you just took this thing off me, mate,” Jace grumbled, leaning lightly against Mor.
“We don’t even know if that’s what is going on. Until you are a pack member, I will not risk it. So how about you suck it up, like the badass vampire you claim to be, and try not to get killed.” I didn’t wait for a reply before heading back toward the clearing to help out the rest of my pack. Hopefully, Mor could sit there and babysit Jace while the demons finished the job.
The light in the wraith’s eyes glowed a haunting red. Still, it pulsed with luminosity, signaling a loss of too much power to create another electric strike. Justice was circling it, making quick attacks with sharp steel whenever an opportunity arose. Spotting Jasper near the tree line, I decided to head toward him while Justice did his thing. There’s no sense in trying to run in there and get knocked out for the next few hours. Justice wasn’t the most observant demon.
