The Need (14 page)

“
Yes I trust you, Jon. This is merely to make it easier for you. I will give you full rein to find her. It is up to you now, Jon, to lead our men. Max of course will help you.”

Jon turned wide eyes on Max. Jon could feel his eyes boring holes through his body and it chilled him to the bone. Jon squared his shoulders. He would go to Aisling and he would fight the mark. Their love was stronger than any power the Hunter’s might hold over him. It had to be. They had already destroyed one set of marks the Hunters had given him. With her by his side, anything was possible. He would not give up before he had even tried.

“
Fine, I know where she is and we need to get to her before she comes into her full power. If I am to destroy her, then it will need to be done when she is at her most vulnerable.”

“
Robert, you don’t truly think he will kill her do you?” Max interjected. Robert raised his hand as though to wave away any concerns any of the others present may have had.

“
He is my grandson. The blood of the Hunter’s runs in his veins. My blood runs in his veins. We have witnessed what he has achieved here tonight. There can be no denying his blood lust. All this coupled with the mark of the killer ca only add up to one conclusion. Aisling will perish at his hand and we will finally strike a death blow to all of the Croí.”

The crowd erupted in cheers and applause and Jon found himself lifted onto the shoulders of several of the men that surrounded him. He tried to smile and enjoy the merriment but his heart was heavy. What lay before him was an almost impossible task. Jon closed his eyes and thought of Aisling. Soon he would be with her. And soon the ordeal would be over, for better or worse.

Chapter Fifteen

A grey mist enveloped my body making it impossible for me to see any of my surroundings. Panic threatened to flood over me as I thought for a fleeting moment that perhaps I was blind. I jerked my hands upwards into where I assumed my line of sight was. The relief I felt at actually being able to make them out in the fog was intense. I closed my eyes and attempted to gather my wits. The last thing I remembered was walking into the light. From there I had somehow managed to end up in this foggy hell. I wasn’t sure how much time had passed but to me it only felt like moments.

I opened my eyes and to my relief I realised the fog was beginning to recede. Soon I would know where I was. From the corner of my eye I noticed an odd shaped lump on the ground that was slowly emerging from the cover of mist. I could make out the outline of a foot and then a leg. It wasn’t long before I recognised who the body belonged to. I swallowed back a wave of nausea and stepped closer to my physical form.

On one hand it made sense to me that I would be able to see myself in this way. I had after all become completely disconnected from my own body and ended up in the in-between. What confused me was how I was supposed to reconnect with my physical form. Outer body experiences didn’t exactly come with a user manual. Crouching down I reached out and tried to touch the body, my body. Little flecks of blue light danced along the edges of my hand preventing me from touching my actual body. It seemed I could look but I couldn’t touch.

With a sigh of frustration, I sat back on the ground. Obviously I was missing something important. It occurred to me then that whilst it wasn’t a physical touch that would reconnect me perhaps it was a mental touch. I closed my eyes and imagined sinking into my body. Thin fibres of light stretched outwards from behind my closed eyelids. I opened my eyes and they were still there flowing toward the body on the ground. I concentrated harder on the idea of re-entering my body. I imagined the feel of my skin. The way my body felt when I was in pain or experiencing pleasure. It was like pushing a cork back into a bottle or at least that was what it felt like to me. Only my consciousness was the cork and my body was the body.

Something finally popped and I opened my eyes. My body’s eyes sprang open at the exact same moment. What I saw there frightened me more than anything else ever had. The body on the ground was already inhabited. And if I was out here looking in, then what the hell was in there. I screamed out as the moment was lost and I was dragged back inside my own skin.

Burning pain clawed up through my body as I reconnected. Waves of agony rode my body keeping me pinned to the ground. Each time I thought the pain was beginning to subside it flared up again knocking the breath from my lungs. I squeezed my eyes closed and gritted my teeth. Digging my fingers into the dirt I tried to bring the pain under control. If I couldn’t fight the pain and clear my mind, I had a feeling that I wouldn’t be staying inside my body for very long.

The worst of the pain ebbed away slower than I would have liked. It drained from my body and into the ground beneath me. Cautiously I opened my eyes and looked around. With each breath I took in, I felt a stab of pain lance through my ribcage. My best guess was I had either bruised my ribs, badly, or they were broken. I pulled my body upright and winced as the pain worsened. My head swam and for a few seconds my vision was blurred with bright streamers of light.

When my head cleared I drank in my surroundings with surprise. I was sitting in what looked to be the forest behind mine and Jon’s houses.

“
It couldn’t be...” The sound of my own voice surprised me. How had I gotten here? I didn’t remember any journey, surely if Jackson or Natasha had brought me here they would still be with me. Caroline’s words came back to me. It was the portal, it knew where I needed to be and it brought me to that exact spot. Now the only thing left was for Jon to get here. If he did that, then there was hope for us after all.

I stood up and began to walk deeper into the woods. I couldn’t feel Jon but that didn’t mean he wasn’t coming. He had gotten my message and I knew his answer. He would do everything he could to get to me of that I was certain.

The deeper I wandered into the forest the denser the trees became. The light was finding it harder to penetrate the foliage. I had never been this deep in the woods before. It had always given me the creeps. Jon was the one who liked the woods.

The sound of a twig snapping halted me dead in my tracks. If it was Jon, surely I would have sensed him. The pain in my ribs chose that exact moment to increase and I doubled over gasping for breath. An arrow whistled past my ear and I dropped to my knees. It wasn’t Jon. Whoever it was didn’t want to waste any time. I cringed as another arrow thudded into the ground just inches from where I crouched. If I was going to survive, then I had to move.

With all my strength, I pushed myself up from the ground and ran. It occurred to me then that if the bad guys were here then maybe Jon was too. Hope filled my heart as I dodged through the woods. My lungs screamed as my ribcage ached and I struggled to get enough air into my body.

I could feel the change coming and it frightened me. A figure dressed entirely in black stepped out from behind a grouping of trees ahead of me. Although he was still quite a distance away from me, I recognised him. My heart raced and happiness flooded my veins. It was Jon. Everything would be alright.

“
Jon!” I couldn’t stop the words from leaving my mouth. My pace picked up as he began to move towards me. Jogging at first and then he broke into a run. I reached out towards him. I just needed him to hold me and then everything would fall into place.

The force of the arrow piercing my back and pushing into my chest made me lose my footing. I stumbled as surprise filled my brain. The ground rushed up to meet me and I was too slow to protect my face from the fall. I lay in the dirt for a second, too stunned to do anything else. There was a burning sensation spreading from my chest through the rest of my body. Sweat beaded on my forehead as I lifted my head to look at Jon. The pain of my broken, magic corrupted body reached a critical point. The only thing I could do was open my mouth and scream and so I did.

* * *

Jon watched as the marksman took aim at Aisling and fired the arrow. He watched as surprise crossed her face before she crumpled to the ground. Even though he knew she was hurt, he just couldn’t find it within himself to feel sorrow. There was an itchy burning sensation just between his shoulder blades that hadn’t been there before he had seen Aisling.

A terrible thought crossed his mind then. What if Robert and Max had been telling the truth and the killer mark really did work? Surely it wouldn’t have enough power to make him kill the woman he loved?

Determined to prove the Hunters wrong Jon ran faster and fell to his knees beside Aisling. He pulled her up onto his lap and cradled her there. She lifted her head and looked directly at him and for a moment Jon thought everything would be alright. Her screams of pain made him jump but they also seemed to switch something deep inside him. She was no longer the woman he loved. What lay before him was an animal, a wounded animal that screamed and begged for his help. He needed to help it to put it out of its misery. He placed one hand over her mouth in an attempt to silence the screams. It annoyed him to listen to her constant wailing.

He pulled the curved blade from his belt. The handle was ornate and the black steel was covered in rune marks and other symbols that he didn’t recognise. Jon sneered as Aisling’s eyes widened in fear. It would take someone as weak as her to be afraid of the end.

“
I’ll make it quick, I promise.” The smile he gave her as he lifted the dagger was chilling. She bit down hard on his hand. With a yelp, he yanked his hand away from her mouth.

“
Jon, don’t do this. You don’t have to, it’s me, it’s Aisling!”

With a growl, Jon lifted the knife and prepared to bring it down on her.

Time slowed to a crawl as Jon brought his arm down. A bubble of pure white light enveloped Aisling’s body. It disappeared inside her as time froze completely. When the power burst out through Aisling’s skin her body arched upwards. The power flowed into Jon and washed the marks from his body. It filled them both searching through each of their bodies for wounds to heal. Aisling gasped for air as the power filled her body to the brim. Her very body glowed with the white light as it danced beneath the surface of her skin.

When the first flush of her power receded it left Aisling and Jon struggling to comprehend the true extent of what had happened.

Jon dropped the knife and it fell harmlessly to the forest floor. Shock and guilt fought within him. He had come within seconds of killing the woman he loved. If her coming into her power had happened a moment later, she wouldn’t have been alive to receive it.

“
Aisling, I’m so sorry...” His voice grew choked with emotion as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his embrace.

“
It wasn’t you, Jon, I know that.” She hugged him back and Jon drank in the scent of her hair. He ran his hands up and down the length of her back searching for the arrow but it wasn’t there.

“
Ais, the arrow... it’s gone.” Jon couldn’t hide the surprise from his voice.

“
I know. I felt my body absorb it.” Jon looked at her strangely. “It felt weirder than it sounds.” She said whilst beginning to laugh.

The sound of many people running and crashing through the trees startled them both from their happy reunion.

“
Shit, they’re here. We need to go.” Jon jumped to his feet and pulled Aisling with him.

“
We need to find an open space. I can take them out in the open. I know I can.” Aisling grabbed Jon’s hand and it was then he felt it. The connection that allowed them to tap into a pure power. It stunned him and left him struggling for air. He smiled at her and took off at a run.

“
The Hunt is on!” Max’s voice resonated through the trees. Jon held Aisling’s hand tightly and ran through the woods faster.

* * *

I gripped his hand as we raced through the woods. I had never felt so strong or powerful in my entire life. I could feel it racing through my veins and it exhilarated me. I felt so alive, and now that I had Jon back by my side anything was possible.

We ran into the clearing and stood waiting in the middle. It wasn’t long before the hunters entered the space after us. I smiled in satisfaction as confusion crossed their faces. They hadn’t expected us to stand and face them. The power built within me as they began to fan out and slowly advance on us. The archer who had shot me earlier loaded his bow and prepared to fire. He was the first to go. It didn’t even take that much thought. One second he was preparing to fire on us the next he was crumbling to the ground, his body merely a dry withered husk.

The power lashed outwards at three of the hunters that were closest to us. Their bodies erupting in a blue flame that left their skin unscathed; instead it stripped them of their very life essences. I drank in the lives I took. It was easy, like breathing. Together, Jon and I were an unstoppable force. The power flowed out from me, it was hungry for more and who was I to deny it?

I felt a pain between my shoulder blades and turned to Jon in shock. Pain marred his face. Max stood behind him his hand on his shoulder. I could tell from the gleeful look on his face that Max had thrust a blade of some sort up through Jon’s back. The only thing that was keeping Jon on his feet was the knife Max had buried in his back. I howled in anguish as I felt Max turn the blade and bury it in Jon’s heart. The power within me lashed out wiping the look of happiness from Max’s face. The power was hungry it ached to take the lives of both Max and Jon but I reined it in.