Page 120 of Darkness Bound (Night Prowler 5)
Leander took advantage of their shocked distraction to leap on Caesar.
They went down in a tangle of limbs, Hope caught between them. They hit the floor hard. Leander rolled onto his back and Jenna went weak with relief when she saw he’d snatched Hope from Caesar’s grip. Leander leapt up and away from Caesar before Caesar could even get to his feet, and then Leander was beside Jenna, crouching over her, placing Hope in her arms.
He straightened just as the flamethrower collapsed atop the dais, and lay unmoving at the foot of the Alpha’s throne. The noise of his body burning was a terrible thing, the crackling and snapping and ugly, loud pops. And the smell . . .
From the corner of her eye, she saw movement.
The human with the bushy beard had been taken down by four large, black animals, and was being ripped to shreds as he tried in vain to fight them off. All she could see were his two feet kicking beneath the muscled bodies of the panthers, that and the widening circle of blood that had begun to pool beneath him.
A few feet away, Caesar knelt on the floor, gripping his head in both hands. His expression was one of surprise, disbelief, and confusion; it was clear he wasn’t quite sure what was happening. He lifted his eyes and looked right into hers, his gaze searching. Then he dropped his gaze to the babies in her arms, and his mouth formed a small, horrified O.
In her arms, Hope and Honor were both reaching out to him, their tiny, dimpled fingers stretching, flexing wide. Honor gurgled a little laugh, and just like that, Jenna knew.
With a grim smile, she whispered, “Mommy loves you, girls.”
Caesar burst into flame.
It was like a detonation: the explosion of heat and pressure slammed through the room, blowing her hair back from her face. Jenna squinted against it, lowering her head to shield the babies from the blast. She heard a high, keening scream that wavered, sustained on a single note for what seemed an eternity, but then it cut off and the only sound was that of licking flames and the rain that was falling harder now through the trees.
Jenna looked up. Where Caesar had been kneeling, there now appeared a pile of bone and ash, the floor all around it scorched in a perfect circle, as if the fire had been contained to only the space of Caesar’s body, enclosed and superheated.
The third male who had accompanied Caesar had Shifted to Vapor and had vanished, leaving a jumbled pile of clothing and weapons on the floor near the exit to the bridge.
She only realized when Hope and Honor began to squirm that she’d tightened her arms around them so hard they ached.
Leander gripped her shoulder, sinking his fingers hard into her flesh. She glanced up at him and he was staring down at her and the twins, his eyes shadowed and endless. “But Caesar’s immortal,” he said, struggling, his handsome face blanched, his voice harsh and low.
Jenna said, “Not anymore.”
Leander bent and took Honor from Jenna’s arms. He held the baby out at arms’ length, staring at her with unflagging intensity. “They . . . they took the flamethrower’s Gift?”
The others were beginning to gather around them, stepping past the smoking body on the dais, moving carefully around the circle of ash and bone on the floor. Morgan and Xander gaped at them, as did the rest of the Assembly, everyone visibly shaken.
Jenna said, “Yes.”
“Which means . . .” Leander’s gaze went to the pile of ash that used to be Caesar.
Jenna whispered, “I think so.”
She saw it in all of their faces, reflected back in every pair of eyes that gazed down at her and the twins.
Awe.
Dread.
Fear.
Jenna had a terrible premonition that this was the way her children would be looked at for the rest of their lives. This would set them apart from even their own kind, a breed already so apart from the rest of the world. They would be worshipped but they would be feared, objects of suspicion and distrust.
Outcasts among outcasts.
She and Leander stood. As they did, the gathered group took a step back.
“Is anyone hurt?” Jenna asked into the hush.
They shook their heads and exchanged glances, but no one spoke.
“Good.” She gathered herself, drawing a fortifying breath, trying to steady her shaking hands. Beside her, Leander was a warm, strong presence. She turned her attention to Xander and said, “Have the remains removed. Put them in a box and bury them somewhere they’ll never be found, or disturbed. No rites, no headstone. Only you are to know the location.”
