Insidious(124)

I couldn’t see any clear path that Russell might come from, but the surrounding landscape appeared empty. Climbing down, my vision swayed as I got snagged on a rogue tree branch. Wrenching myself free, I lost my footing and wound up tumbling to the bottom of the hillside. Plummeting right into a buttonbush, I woozily peered around.

Still, no one was in sight.

Pulling myself up, I made it over to the pond when my entire body locked up. I willed myself to move, but the fever in me hissed with fury, as if sensing my resistance. The harder I tried to move, the fiercer the fever sent that wave of fire to burn through my veins. I choked out a silent cry, collapsing into the ground. Red flooded my vision as my body seized up again.

Move.

Move.

Move.

I had to move.

My airways even felt like they were being singed. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t…I couldn’t die. Not like this. Not alone in the woods.

“Well, well, well. Look at what we have here.”

I began to cry for a whole other reason. It was Russell. I was turned the other way, but I could hear his boots crack over all the loose foliage. Not more than ten feet away.

Move.

Move.

Move.

…Attack.

A wallop blasted behind me, and all I could do was flinch, expecting a bullet to tear through my body. Instead, a large mass hurtled past me, crashing somewhere in the overgrowth ahead. I could feel the magnetism, the energy coursing through the air. Magic. But…had I done that somehow?

Heat spread across my chest. Not the fever. That familiar, comforting warmth.

Reese.

Russell’s frame staggered upright, and I could see the gleam of his sword in hand. He brushed himself off and reeled toward me, his face contorted with confusion. His eyes traveled behind me, and he froze.

“Miss me?”

No.

It wasn’t Reese. That voice…it was Blaine.





Chapter 35

Own Little World





No further words were exchanged. The two rushed at one another, steel clashing as they met each other’s proposals. With the flash of lightning overhead, I could make them out amongst the shadows. Blaine didn’t have a sword. Just two daggers primed in hand. Still, by a hair’s breadth, he continued to avoid each of Russell’s pummeling strikes, time and time again.

With the next attempt, Blaine narrowly escaped the sweeping blade by dropping to the ground. The brute swung his blade and prepared for the final blow, but Blaine chopped his legs around Russell’s and rolled over. The force knocked Russell to the ground as well. Both of them tried to grab a hold of their mislaid weapons, and I could see one of Blaine’s daggers a few feet from me. I tried to speak, but nothing more than a grievous groan escaped. Russell scoured the foreground, still not seeing where his sword had fallen. He suddenly sprang forward and tackled Blaine, drilling him into the ground with an annihilating impact.

They escaped my line of vision, and all I could hear was a rasp of air as Russell climbed back to his feet. He staggered toward a clearing, returning with his sword in hand. Blaine was still on the ground, struggling for breath.

Come on. Use your runes.

Blast this son of a bitch into oblivion.

In my current state, I was lucky to lift a finger. But Blaine could do it. He just had.

Just do it again.

Lightning flashed, and I finally got a good look at Blaine. The guy was as pale as sheetrock, his own blood staining every inch of clothing. Whatever Mr. Reynolds had done to him with that silver, it had drained him.

Russell strolled back to us, sword raised like a guillotine ready to deliver Blaine’s execution. The moment the Reaper reached his feet, the boy suddenly kicked his legs up towards his head, jack-knifing back upright in front of Russell’s face. Slamming an elbow into Russell’s nose, Blaine brought the man to his knees with a crushing blow to the left kneecap that made a sickening pop upon impact. The guy still rallied the strength to bring up his sword, forcing Blaine to cower back before it could slice into him.

Using every ounce of energy I could muster, I kicked the nearby dagger, and it skittered across the pebbled ground towards Blaine’s feet. A whisper of a smile danced across his lips as he knelt to snatch it up. And just in time.

Russell came barreling at him, driving his sword through the air with devastating momentum. Blaine sidestepped by a hair’s breadth, seeing sparks erupt from the blade as it slashed against the rock face behind him. That wasn’t a normal sword. I could feel its power pulsating from the hilt.

Blaine ducked the next sling of the blade and pushed right up to Russell, barely managing to drive his dagger into the Reaper’s side before the sword hurtled at him again. He tore the knife free from the brute’s flesh, trying to use it in an attempt to deflect the attack. It only managed to slow its impact. The blade came right at him. Blaine threw his arm up to avert the full brunt of the blow to his chest, and the steel sliced him down the entire length of his forearm. A sickening hiss seared the skin as the flesh was carved open.