Mourning Sun (16 page)

"Such a gentleman for a blood sucking, soulless monster."

"Perhaps you might consider learning some manners for your next life," Mathias bowed before dropping into a defensive crouch. "Come get me, mongrel. I tire of talking."

The battle raged up and down the length of the football field. The sound of the vampire and the demigod colliding shook the stadium to its foundation. Around the edge of the field, the cats lay waiting. Their luminescent eyes followed the battle closely. Their muscles remained tense as they awaited the moment when they would abandon their vigil or join the fray.

Mathias charged Braden, stumbling as they drew close. Braden seized the advantage, roaring with triumph. The quarterback tackled Mathias, pinning his body to the ground while lifting Mathias' shoulders off the ground. Braden brought his fist back to land the killing blow, the one that would strip Mathias' head from his shoulders.

***

I screamed. Over and over the anguish poured from my throat. I struggled frantically to free myself of the bonds of sleep. I had to get out of the dream so I could go to the football field and stop the insanity. My bedroom door flew open, and Mom flew into the room.

"Mairin, my God, baby, what is it?"

 

"Mathias," I screamed.

 

Mom tried to hold me, but I fought her. "Let me go. You have to let me go. I might still have time to save him."

 

"Mairin, honey, Mathias is gone. You said so yourself."

 

"No, Mom. He's not gone. I have to go. I have to stop them."

 

Finally free of the covers, I pushed against Mom until she released me. I was dressed and down the stairs before she knew what I was doing.

 

"Mairin, it's the middle of the night. Where are you going?"

The Nova roared to life. I shot out of the drive and onto our quiet little street. In my panic, I imagined I could hear the thunderous clash of the vampire and demigod as they battled on the football field two miles away. The Nova's tires squealed as I rounded the corner into the school parking lot. I laid down a wide swath of rubber, slamming the Nova into park and dashing for the stadium entrance.

Chapter 10

As I ran toward the stadium, the air was split by deep snarls and growls. It was like something out of the worst of my childhood nightmares, made even worse by the dream in which I'd already seen what was happening outside my vision. I turned the corner and skidded to a stop at the top of the stadium. Two figures in the dark below me ran at each other, throwing their bodies with no regard for injury. Only one goal was evident. They were going to kill each other or tear down the stadium trying. The boom when Braden and Mathias collided shook the stands and nearly knocked me off my feet.

It seemed to take an eternity for me to reach the field. The booming crashes continued as I ran, seeming to come ever more quickly. As I ran, I prayed. Let me make it there in time. Let them stop before they killed each other. Let Mathias be OK. I was dizzy before I reached the railing at the foot of the stairs. I couldn't get my mind to wrap around the one most important thought. The one thing that kept repeating as I ran. What was I going to do to stop the vampire I loved from being killed by the demigod I hated?

Surrounding the field, I could see the glowing eyes of the werepanthers. I knew Xavier and his pride were waiting to take Mathias' life if he were to get lucky enough to beat Braden. I also knew Mathias intended to lay down his life on this field in return for Braden's promise to protect me and my family. I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't let him fight this battle alone.

Braden roared, drawing my eyes unwillingly to his face. I could see triumph in his eyes as Mathias stumbled. The quarterback tackled Mathias, pinning his body to the ground while lifting Mathias' shoulders off the ground.

"No!" I screamed as Braden brought his fist back to land the killing blow, the one that would strip Mathias' head from his shoulders. The muscles in Braden's shoulders bunched and I saw the flash of glee in his eyes. I knew he had the strength and determination to kill Mathias, but did I have the faith to save him? I vaulted over the railing at the bottom of the stands and rushed onto the field. I passed one of the werepanthers. The cat growled, but I didn't stop. A sane person would have run screaming from the scene playing out on the football field, but then I'd never been sane when it came to Mathias. My only thought was to stop Braden before he could kill the man I loved.

"Braden, stop," I gasped, leaning into the quarterback's body, blocking the blow he was going to throw. "You can't do this. It's wrong and you know it."

 

Braden shook his head, his shaggy hair falling into his eyes. "He's evil, Mairin. He has to die." Braden pushed me out of the way.

"Who are you to say who is evil?" I demanded. "You've never been particularly good to anyone I've known. How many kids did you beat up last year? How many players did you watch leave the field on stretchers because you used your strength against them? How many choices have you made that have resulted in the blackening of your soul?"

Braden raised his fist again. His usually muddy green aura was a deep, pulsing black. He grinned, enjoying the carnage he wrecked on others. "Get out of here, Mairin. This is going to get messy."

I looked into Mathias' deep, black eyes and saw resignation in them. He was ready to die because he believed his death would save me. I knew Braden wouldn't protect me or Kerry. I knew the moment Mathias was gone, the Golden Ones would resume their abuse of me and my family. I couldn't let Mathias give up his life. I certainly couldn't let him die thinking I couldn't accept what he was. He was a vampire. He killed to live, but then so did every other being on the planet, including me. He was a vampire, but he was also the most deeply compassionate person I had ever met. Mathias' lips curled in the tiniest of smiles and I knew I couldn't let Braden end this magnificent boy's life.

As Braden brought his fist down, I threw myself at him. The shock of my sudden attack altered the direction of the deadly blow, but not the force of it. Bright star bursts flooded my vision and I felt at least one rib crack before I could do nothing but gasp for breath. Painfully, I rolled away from Braden, who leaped to his feet, snarling. He charged and I braced myself for the bone crushing pain I knew was coming.

"No," Mathias roared, jumping up and throwing himself between Braden and me. He crouched over me and used his body to absorb the force of Braden's attack. Mathias lifted Braden, throwing him to the side. The snarling demigod rolled away from us.

"Mairin, my love," Mathias whispered. "Why didn't you let him finish the job? I was ready to leave this existence if you didn't want me. Do you want me to suffer an eternity without you?"

I cupped Mathias' face with my palm, shocked as I always was by the vibrant feel of him beneath my fingers. The months of separation hadn't dimmed the wonderful electrical current that always jumped between us. "I don't want you to suffer," I said. The pain in my chest bloomed bright and hot as I dragged in a breath to tell him the rest. He needed to know I'd decided. I loved him no matter what he was, no matter how he survived. I loved him because of who he was. I tried to speak, but the pain drowned my words in quicksand. Braden's blow had done more than break my ribs.

Mathias' eyes lit with something I had never seen in them before. Always before, Mathias had looked at me with a reserved kind of resignation, as though everything that happened between us did so because it was his fate to live in pain. Now, however, the resignation was gone. In it's place was hope. That hope bloomed for an instant before being replaced with the wary look I hated most. I had wounded him so deeply that he didn't trust his own judgment. He was afraid to hope. That fear was worse than any physical pain I was in.

"Get away from her, leech," Braden growled rising from where Mathias had thrown him.

 

Mathias turned, crouching protectively over me. "Back off mongrel."

 

"I will if you will," Braden said with a nasty sneer.

 

"This will not end well, half-breed," Mathias said. "I have a reason to live now." "Then I'll take that too," Braden said.

It took several seconds for Braden's threat to sink into my pain-numbed brain, but Mathias got there before me and he wasn't the only one. Behind us, the coughing growl of the werepanthers grew until I could feel the sound vibrating in my chest. Xavier's pride was getting a first hand lesson in the free will of all God's creatures. The more human combatant the pride had backed had just broken their cardinal rule. He'd threatened a human, and a helpless, injured one at that. Mathias was no longer the pride's only target on this battle field.

The ripping growl that slipped between Mathias' lips was alien, something dredged up from the most primordial pits of fear. I closed my eyes to block out the vision of Mathias' beloved face and its link to that growl. I lay cold and shivering in the pale moonlight, searching for the strength to stop Mathias before he did something he would regret.

"Mathias, no," I whispered. I lay my hand on his arm as I had done this morning. Could it really only have been fewer than twenty four hours before when I'd been able to stop him so easily? Now, the stakes were raised and my weak pleading had no affect on him. Moving so quickly I could barely see him, Mathias left my side and grabbed Braden from behind.

"Do you truly wish to finish this, mongrel?" The soft silken tones of Mathias' voice were terrifyingly altered in his anger. The hair on my neck rose, tremors coursed down my spine, wrenching a scream from my lips. I saw Mathias' eyes flick toward me.

"Mathias, please don't," I couldn't put any more voice to my words than a bare whisper but I knew he could hear me.

 

"He would kill us both, Mairin." Mathias bared his teeth, leaning into Braden's neck.

 

"No."

Braden's eyes bulged in fear. He'd heard his death in the silky voice behind his ear. The quarterback's face suffused with blood and he pleaded with me silently. I couldn't let Mathias sacrifice anymore of his soul to this horrible boy. Behind Braden, Mathias' eyes were narrowed, his teeth bared. Strangely I did not fear Mathias, not even as he considered murdering Braden in front of me. My only thought was of protecting him from damaging his soul.

"No," I whispered again. "Don't let him take anything more from you."

Mathias roared in frustration. His jaw worked and I could see the thirst rise in his eyes. Braden had become prey and Mathias was a predator of such danger and efficiency that he could finish the burly quarterback without breaking a sweat or pausing for a moment's remorse.

"Why does it matter what kind of monster I am?" Mathias demanded. "I'm a monster in your eyes, nothing else matters."

I shook my head, struggling to breathe past the pain in my chest that had nothing to do with my broken ribs. "Not a monster," I whispered. "Never a monster."

Mathias flung Braden's body away. He stood for a moment, staring at his hands in disgust before he knelt beside me.

"What has changed, Mairin?" he asked. "What does it matter if I kill? You cannot love me and I do not wish to live without you...without your love. I thought I could leave you, but I didn't even make it out of Highland Home before I returned to find you at my home. I might have tried to leave again if the mongrel hadn't called to tell me he'd taken you after you'd left the house."

Xavier stepped out of the shadows and answered Mathias. "It does matter, leech," he said. "If you can choose to not kill, you might be worth saving."

 

Mathias stared blankly Xavier, who nodded once to the cats around the field. They closed in on Braden, surrounding the kneeling quarterback.

"You proved us wrong tonight," Xavier said to Braden. "Always we have taken the side of humans and part human creatures over wholly supernatural beings. Mairin told me we were wrong, but I didn't believe her until now. We'll be watching you, demigod." He turned back to Mathias. "Maybe this crappy little town might be more interesting if we keep you around, but remember, we'll be watching you."

Xavier slipped a cell phone from his pocket and dialed 911. The siren rose and fell in the darkness outside the football stadium, shrieking like a banshee.

 

"Better figure out what you're going to tell the paramedics when they get here," he said. "I'm thinking she tripped over the railing."

 

I nodded, shrieking when the movement ground the ends of my broken ribs together.

 

"Another time, then, kitty," Mathias growled, smiling broadly.

 

"Anytime, leech," Xavier agreed.

"You're both nuts," I whispered. The darkness claimed me then, leaving me to wonder if the vampire and the werepanther could refrain from killing each other while we waited for the paramedics.

***

My mom and Tawnya met us at the hospital. I could see from the way they watched Mathias that I'd have a ton of questions to answer when I was feeling better. Tawnya may have admitted that she'd been wrong about Mathias, but that had been when she was safe to say so, when Mathias had been gone from Highland Home. Now that she saw he hadn't left, I was sure she'd give me problems about him. I'd have to deal with that problem when it came to a head. For now, I focused on breathing.

"Mairin, you scared me to death tonight. You are never to do anything like that again. What possessed you to go tearing out of our house in the middle of the night?" Mom tried to hug me, but couldn't find a way to get close to me through the hospital equipment.

"Dream," was all I could whisper. I knew she wouldn't ask any more questions once she understood a dream had sent me into the night looking to help someone. I was right. She nodded once and continued to watch Mathias as the doctors worked around me.

Mathias stood back, watching the doctors work. I saw his eyes widen just once as the doctor set an IV into my arm. The flash of blood in the line was gone quickly, but Mathias had see it and so had I.

"Do you need to go?" I whispered.

 

He smiled and shook his head. "If you'll have me, I will stay."