The Savage Grace: A Dark Divine Novel (31 page)

THIRTY SECONDS LATER

I couldn’t hear anything but a terrible, nauseating ringing in my ears from the explosion. I couldn’t stand, either, the dizziness making my knees slam into the ground.

“No!” Ryan screamed as he ran past me, but I couldn’t actually hear his shout over the ringing. I just saw his mouth shape the word. Felt the pain he radiated as he scrambled toward the flaming remains of the house. I reached out and tried to stop him from getting too close, but I couldn’t. He slaughtered two Ahks who had escaped the blast with his rifle, and then he fell to all fours in front of the fire.

I rocked backward and lay on the ground, my head in the straw. I clawed the earpiece out and then clamped my hands over my ears. I concentrated my healing powers on my eardrums, willing the throbbing, pulsating pain to stop. The ringing eased slightly, and the pain lessened to a stinging ache, and I could hear well enough to make out someone shouting my name.

More than one someone, actually, I realized as I arched my head back, trying to get a look at the battlefield from where I lay. The action reminded me of when I’d been taken down by the wolves in Caleb’s warehouse, and that made my head swim more. The challenging ring seemed eerily empty. Most of the Ahks and Gelals had been destroyed in Brent’s explosion. A small bunch of them, shielding Caleb at the far north side of the ring, remained, and a few others scattered about the field. I could make out only five remaining werewolves in the smoke that rolled into the ring from the burning house. I wondered how many of the wolves had been defeated in combat, and how many had run for the hills after the explosion.

Daniel was one of the people who shouted my name. I could see his mouth moving as he fought two giant wolves that seemed to be trying their best to stop him from making it to my side. Their battle was bloody as they clashed in the air, and Daniel swung his sword at their flailing limbs. It all seemed to happen in surreal slow motion.

It probably didn’t help that I was seeing the whole thing upside down from the way my head was positioned on the ground.

Talbot also shouted my name, and I rocked my head so I could see him. He and Lisa were taking on two more of the terrible wolves. And even Slade and Zach, who were fighting off a few of the remaining demons, shouted at me. They all seemed to be waving their arms at me, as if trying to signal something. I was so disoriented from the blast that my brain took too long to process this information.

I rolled over onto my stomach so I’d be able to see normally, and looked up just in time to notice someone running at me, a spear raised in one hand, while the other hand waved me away. It was Jude.
Why had he entered the ring?

His words finally made purchase in my brain. “Grace, run!”

I scrambled up onto my knees just as Jude sent his spear sailing over my shoulder. It hit something just behind me, and I heard the growl of a wolf. I turned my head just enough to see the open jaws clamp down on the collar of my robe. The wolf yanked me off the ground, and with four great bounding leaps crossed the entire challenging ring, with me as its prisoner. It didn’t even seem to be fazed by the spear that protruded from one of its front legs.

ONE LONG PIERCING SCREAM LATER

The brown wolf flung me to the ground, my hip slamming against the hardened dirt. I looked up and found myself staring into the yellow, murderous eyes of Caleb Kalbi.

His wicked smile cracked across his face, reminding me of a garish jack-o’-lantern when combined with his glowing eyes. We were at the north end of the ring, just in front of the boundary line of torches. They sent garish shadows dancing around him.

“I am glad you listened to my message,” he said.

I scrambled to my feet, ready to charge at Caleb. Two Gelals grabbed me by the right arm, and two Ahks grabbed my left.

“Where is he?” I seethed at Caleb. “Where is James? I came; I’ve fought. Just like you wanted. You said you’d bring him! Now where is he?”

Caleb leaned in close. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

I screamed and tried to smash my head into Caleb’s face, but the demons holding my arms yanked me back. They pulled so hard it felt like they were attempting to rip me in half.

Caleb snorted. “You think you’re strong enough to take me on?”

I grunted with pain. “That’s what you wanted, isn’t it? That’s why you wanted me in the ring, so you could fight me yourself?”

“I wanted you in the ring so I could
destroy
you myself. One way or the other.” He licked his lips. “You came into
my
house. You stole some of
my
boys. You made me have to leave
my
place. And now you will pay. I’ll kill you myself, and then Daniel, in front of everyone. And all will know that Caleb Kalbi is the strongest Urbat.”

Caleb’s own words confirmed what I’d suspected all along. We’d humiliated him in his house, in front of his pack, and now he wanted the ultimate payback, in the most public form possible. To save face in front of the Urbat world.

That’s why he didn’t kill us when he attacked in the night. He’d
allowed
us—at least in his eyes—to live until this moment. I was shocked his message hadn’t demanded that Talbot also be in the ring—since his former beta was one of his biggest betrayers. But maybe Talbot’s fighting had already been a given in Caleb’s mind. Like Daniel being in the ring was.

My thoughts flitted to my friends. I had no idea what was happening to them outside the circle of demons that surrounded Caleb and me.

Caleb snapped his fingers. The Akhs and Gelals yanked on my arms in opposite directions again. I screamed.

Caleb frowned at me with disappointment. “You’re too weak,” he said, circling me. “You’re taking the enjoyment out of this for me. You’re too human. Not enough fight. Not enough power. You should let your wolf come out and play.” He smiled wide and evil. “Then we could really have some fun.”

The mention of my inner wolf made it go crazy inside my head. It wanted nothing more than to take Caleb on.
Let me out!
it shrieked.
Embrace me.

My body convulsed, and I looked up at the moon. Half of its surface was stained a bright bloodred now, its power increasing. I felt like it was crashing in on me. I tried to concentrate on the moonstones in my ears. But their pulse felt so faint compared to the screams of the wolf in my head, compared to the power of the eclipse.

Let me free!

I thought about what Talbot had said about channeling the power of the eclipse. I arched my head back toward the moon, soaking in its rays.

“Stop fighting it,” Caleb said. “I can see it in your eyes. You want to. Embrace the power.”

“I’ll show you power,” I said, concentrating energy into my arms. I bent them in and then flung them out. Sending the Ahks and Gelals who’d been holding me soaring into the air. They crashed outside of the ring, and two of the guardsmen went after them with their spears. Caleb barked an order, and the rest of his demons came at me. I lunged for one of the tiki torches, yanked it from the ground, and staked it through three of the demons at once. The two Gelals and the black wolf that remained shrieked and ran from the battlefield, disappearing into the corn maze beyond the challenging ring.

Caleb stood alone, no longer surrounded by his demon followers. He roared and threw himself to the ground, almost as if in a tantrum, but instead of kicking and screaming, he shifted into a colossal tan-and-gray wolf. He clawed at the ground with his massive paws as he pushed himself up with his front legs. He stood on all fours, his body seething with power, as he glowered down at me. His jaws opened, and he growled, revealing teeth as long as my thumbs.

I took a step back.

Oh. Freaking. Crap.

Caleb sent a clawed paw swiping at me. I spun out of the way, grabbed another tiki torch, and jumped on top of the hulking wolf’s back before he could turn his body around. I hit him over the head with the torch, but all it did was shatter into thin strips of bamboo. The wolf reared and bucked, trying to throw me off, as he spun around. I caught flashes of my friends as the beast turned, still grappling in their own battles with giant wolves.

The wolf finally flipped me off, and I went sailing over his head and slammed into the wood platform at the epicenter of the ring. I felt my right leg crack in at least three different places as it smacked against the edge.

I heard a shout and saw Jude go running at Caleb. He’d found my broadsword and swung it at Caleb, only to be swatted away by one of Caleb’s clawed paws. Jude flew several yards and landed on his side.

The tan-and-gray wolf charged at the platform. I heard running footsteps behind me. I glanced back and saw Daniel rushing at the back of the platform. The wolf lunged into the air, just as Daniel jumped at the edge of the platform and used it to launch himself right at the wolf. The two collided several feet above me, and Daniel sent several kicks and punches into the wolf, propelling him forward in the air. The wolf wrapped his paws around Daniel, and the two went crashing to the ground. The wolf let go on impact, and Daniel rolled away. He stood, his body in a stance to take another attack from the tan-and-gray wolf.

I heard a scream of rage and saw Talbot run his sword into a large black wolf near the barn. He pulled the bloody blade from its body and came sailing in our direction, swinging his sword above him with a battle cry.

The tan-and-gray wolf lunged at Daniel again. Daniel did an aerial side flip—like a cartwheel in midair—and as he twisted around, he caught the wolf’s neck between his feet. He flipped the wolf around in the air by his head. Daniel let go and miraculously landed on his feet as the wolf was sent spinning away. It slammed into the ground right in Talbot’s path.

Talbot thrust his sword down at the wolf’s chest.

“No!” Daniel shouted at Talbot. “Caleb is mine!”

The tan-and-gray wolf rolled away and Talbot’s sword drove deep into the ground. “Caleb killed my parents!” Talbot shouted, wiping sweat from his forehead. “I’ve been waiting for this moment all my life.” He let go the sword and flung himself at the wolf, pummeling at it with his bare fists.

I tried to push myself up to standing on the platform, but my leg wouldn’t have it. Suddenly, Slade and Lisa were at my sides, holding me up. I didn’t see where they had come from.

The tan-and-gray wolf caught Talbot’s arm in his teeth and flung him away. The beast stood, ready to go after Talbot. Daniel sailed at the wolf with a great superpowered lunge. He caught the wolf by the shoulders, holding the wolf’s snapping snout from his face. The wolf’s claws shredded Daniel’s robes as he flailed.

With a great burst of power, Daniel threw the wolf away from him. It sailed several feet and then slammed, back first, onto the ground. Talbot rushed up and grabbed the wolf around the neck before he could regain his footing. The beast yelped and wailed, flailing his clawed paws, unable to break Talbot’s mighty hold.

“You die now, Caleb,” Talbot snarled into the beast’s face. He tightened his grasp on the wolf’s neck. I’d seen him snap a creature’s neck with his bare hands before.

“No!” Daniel shouted. He grabbed the sword Talbot had discarded.

“What do you mean
no
?” Talbot asked through clenched teeth.

Daniel slammed his foot down on the wolf’s chest and thrust the knife at his face until the tip of the razor-sharp blade was only inches from the furry patch between the wolf’s eyes. “Change back,” he demanded, power ripping the air around his voice. “Where’s James? Change back so you can tell me!” He pulled the sword back slowly as if preparing to thrust it into the wolf’s head. “Change, now!”

The wolf’s body shook as it shifted back into human. Daniel now stood with one foot pinning Caleb’s human body to the ground. Talbot still had his arms wrapped around Caleb’s neck.

“Tell me where the boy is!” Daniel said. His voice had lowered, and I had to strain my superhearing to catch his words. The crowd—which had scattered out into the fields after the explosion—edged closer to the ring now, anticipating the end of the fight. Ryan had finally left his grieving place by the fire and come to stand on the platform with the others and me. Jude made his way toward us, holding his bloody side.

Caleb laughed, the noise sounded choked and desperate instead of maniacally gleeful like earlier. “A few of my boys have the child. Their orders are to kill him if I die.”

Talbot tightened his grip on Caleb’s neck. “Liar! That wasn’t part of the plan.”

“The plan?” I asked.

“I always have a fail-safe,” Caleb choked out. “You … kill me … and the last thing you will know … of the child … will be his screams.”

“His screams,” I said, trying to step forward on my broken leg. It buckled under me. Slade caught me up in his arms. “If we could hear James’s screams,” I whispered to him, “that means he’s here. He’s somewhere on the property!”

Slade sat me down on the platform. “We’ll find him for you.” He signaled to the others to follow him.

Ryan handed me the rifle. “Just in case,” he said. “But there’re only two shots left.”

Lisa sprinted toward the barn; Ryan took off around the still-burning wreckage of the farmhouse; Slade headed into the corn maze. Jude jogged slowly, still holding his side, toward the field of spectators.

I snapped my attention back toward Daniel, Talbot, and Caleb.

“You’ve got it backward,” Daniel said fiercely, with the sword still pointed at Caleb’s head. “If any harm comes to the boy, you’ll be begging me to end
your
screams. Now tell me where he is!”

Caleb gave him a wicked smile. “Then I guess we’re at a stalemate, my son.”

I concentrated hard on the idea of trying to send a telepathic message to Daniel that we were on James’s trail. I couldn’t just shout to him, for fear of tipping Caleb off—I didn’t want to give him any reason to try to fight back again, or worse, to send the signal for James’s death before we found him.
We just need to keep Caleb at bay for a few more minutes,
I thought, directing it toward Daniel. Hoping he’d sense what I needed him to know.