With Silent Screams (The Hellequin Chronicles, Book 3)

  Bianca removed the first hood, revealing a young brunette, with a bloody nose. The woman glanced to those beside her, but was shoved roughly to the ground as the second person’s hood was removed. It revealed a man who was bleeding from the nose, like the woman, although he also had a swollen eye and a nasty cut on his cheek. He glanced down at the woman as the third hood was removed.

  There was a sharp intake of breath next to me as a young boy, no older than ten, was shoved to the ground.

  “Don’t you touch him,” the man said, trying to get back to his feet, but it was a short-lived effort as he was quickly punched in the jaw, snapping his head around viciously. He collapsed to the ground as the boy cried out for his father and both Joshua and Bianca laughed.

  “Caitlin,” I said softly, trying not to show the rage that was building up inside me.

  “I know, Nate.” Her tone was soft, resigned to what needed to be done. “He’s not my brother now. He’s just a wild animal that needs stopping.”

  “So long as we understand each other,” I told her as Patricia removed the final person’s hood with a flourish, exposing the battered and bloody face of Norman Moore, Caitlin’s father.

  “Come say hi to Daddy,” Patricia taunted.

  “Dad,” Caitlin whispered. “Don’t you hurt him,” she shouted out. “He’s done nothing to you.”

  “He’s done everything,” Patricia snapped. “He had an affair, he didn’t stop you from becoming a pig. You should have joined me in my fight. You should have been by my side, not holed up in some shitty church, cowering at my words. This man, this useless fucking bag of flesh turned you against me. We had to kill a few guards to get to him, we lost two of our own doing it.” She kicked Norman in the stomach, knocking him to the ground, where she continued her assault.

  “Stop it,” Caitlin cried out, tears in her eyes. “Please, stop it.”

  The man, woman, and young boy had been left alone long enough to huddle together in a vain attempt at safety. Patricia glanced over at them and motioned toward Joshua, who grabbed the boy and dragged him away by his hair, head-butting the father who tried to stop him.

  “Should I hurt this one?” Patricia said. Her hand had transformed into one of a werelion, her nails now razor sharp claws. She held one against the boy’s neck. “Should I take this one’s life? Or should I make him watch as his family dies?”

  “Stop,” Caitlin called out. “What do you want?”

  “The guardian. Send him out and everyone goes free. He’s all we’re here for. You have ten minutes.”

  “I’ll go,” Father Patterson said immediately.

  I stood in his way and placed a hand against his chest as he walked toward the door. “No, you go out there and everyone dies. They’ll make you watch as they kill the boy and his family. I know this feels wrong, to do nothing, but the second you step out there, a lot more people die.”

  “Do you have a plan?” he asked.

  I turned back to the window and watched as the boy was thrown back toward his parents.

  The werelion who had held Caitlin in Washington dragged Norman roughly to his feet, which Norman countered by head-butting the younger man with everything he had. The werelion took a step back, touched his now bloody nose, and then tore out Norman’s throat, shoving Caitlin’s dying father down onto the ground, where he remained motionless.

  Caitlin’s face became a mask of shock and horror as I walked to the church’s front door and opened it, stepping outside before anyone could stop me.

  “Ah, the sorcerer,” Patricia said. “I don’t think you’ll find it as easy to throw me around this time.”

  “When you see him, say hello to your husband for me,” I told Patricia, who appeared confused right up until the moment the blast of air knocked both Joshua and Bianca off their feet. They flew back into the two werelions whose names I hadn’t bothered to learn. It wouldn’t matter; I would make sure they were dead before long.

  All four of them fell backward awkwardly as a second blast of air took Patricia’s legs out from under her, planting her face first on the concrete path.

  The werelion who had murdered Norman ran past the hostages right at me, turning into his werebeast form as he moved. I ran forward, driving two blades of white-hot fire into his chest. “Into the church,” I told the family, who didn’t need a second invitation and sprinted past me, as the werelion struggled to breathe with two punctured lungs.

  Once I heard the sound of the door slamming shut, I ended the werelion’s problem by tearing the blades out of him, cutting him in half and covering everything around him, including me, in red gore.

  Patricia got back to her feet and told the two nameless werelions to kill me, as she dragged Joshua and Bianca away, escaping in the mini-van.

  The two lions charged together. I sidestepped one and drove a blade of fire into his thigh, removing his leg in one swipe, and then decapitating him before he touched the ground. The second lion grabbed hold of me, lifting me off my feet, and drove me back.

  I twisted in his iron grip, smashing my forearm into his nose over and over again, until his strength waned and he released me. “Where are they hiding?” I asked.

  He said something that I could barely understand, so I repeated the question.

  “Go to hell, you piece of—”

  I cut his throat before he’d finished, removing a three-inch silver pendant from his neck and driving it into his ear. He died before he hit the ground, leaving me surrounded by, and covered in, blood and gore, while my anger burned brightly inside me.

  “We need to go,” I said as the two werelions who had been patrolling the rear of the church ran around the corner and saw me covered in the remains of their friends. A second later, and they too were running off, a problem for another day.

  The church door opened and Caitlin stepped outside. “You need to get changed.”

  “No time,” I said. “Get everyone into the truck and let’s go.”

  “Nate,” she said and touched me on the chest getting blood on her fingers. “There’s a frightened boy in there; you going in covered in blood is not going to make that better.”

  I opened my mouth to say we didn’t have time, but she was right. “Get everyone in the truck and go,” I said instead. “I’ll take my car.”

  “Where are we going to meet?” Father Patterson asked. “I have clothes upstairs for you. The boy and his family are with Fern in my office. You have time. We’re not going without you.”

  “We could go to the old mall,” Edward said before seeing the blood and turning to throw up.

  “That’s not a bad idea,” Caitlin agreed. “There’s a lot of open space, and no one in their right mind is going to think that we’ve run there. It should be enough to hold up while someone goes and informs the Portland guardians. Galahad needs to get here, now.”

  “Agreed,” I said. “I’ll go change and then we’ll go as one. How is the family holding up?”

  “Not great,” Fern confirmed as I stepped back inside the church. “They’ve been through an ordeal.”

  “We’ll drop them off at the police station,” I said. “It would be safer for them if their involvement ended here.”

  “That’s probably true of all of us,” Danny pointed out.

  “Yeah, but we don’t have a choice,” I told him and went off to get changed and remove the bits of werelion that were on me.

  CHAPTER 32

  I showered and changed into the clothes that Father Patterson had found for me. They were a little baggy, he was taller than me, but they were better than the blood-soaked ones I’d removed. “We’ve run them off, but they’ll be back.”

  “Agreed,” he said, surprising me. “As Edward suggested, the mall is the safest destination for us. That would also take us far away from the realm gate.”

  “Even better,” I said. “I know
you’ll no longer be invulnerable, but at least that gives us some space until reinforcements can arrive.” I glanced around the room. “Where’s Caitlin?”

  “Outside,” Fern said.

  I left the church and avoided the remains of the three werelions on my way to Caitlin, who was crouched beside her father, almost oblivious to the blood that saturated the ground and her hands.

  “Hey,” I said softly.

  She glanced up at me, her eyes puffy and tear-filled. “I can’t leave him here, like this. He deserves better.”

  “Yes, you’re right. But at this moment, we can’t do better. We don’t have time to do the right thing. I’m sorry for that.”

  “I understand,” she said. “I’m going to make sure my mom spends eternity in a deep, dark hole.”

  “I have no doubt you’ll get your chance.”

  “Can you feel my dad’s spirit?” she asked. “Can you tell me if he’s okay?”

  I closed my eyes for the briefest moments and reached out around me, trying to find what I needed. It took less than a second to discover the spirit, Norman Moore’s spirit. It was full of rage and hate, but more than that, there was a fire burning inside it.

  “He’s pretty pissed off,” I said while the power I’d absorbed began to course through me.

  “He was always the tough guy,” Caitlin said, more to herself than me. “Even at the end, he still went down fighting.”

  As I opened my eyes and completed drawing his spirit into me, I instinctively knew why I could find him and not other spirits. Like Hades had said, it was as if a light switch had been turned on, bathing me in the knowledge that had been absent for so long. The spirits I could use had to have died fighting. And Norman, even in death, was one hell of a fighter.

  “They need to go down guns blazing,” I said.

  “What?”

  “The spirits I absorb, with my necromancy, they need to have died fighting.”

  “You figured it out? Is he okay?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. I know his name, I know details of his life, but I can’t tell you how he feels right now beyond the fury at being murdered. I can’t communicate with him. I just use the energy that he provides to make myself stronger.”

  “Use that to stop the people who did this.” Caitlin placed a hand against my chest, leaving a bloody handprint on my clean t-shirt when she removed it.

  “You feel up to a road trip?” I asked. “The family needs to be taken somewhere safe. And then Galahad needs to be informed about what’s happening. You’ll have better luck getting Rebecca and company to listen than I probably would.”

  “Yeah, I need to do something, I can’t stay here.”

  We walked back into the church together, where we were met by the rest of the group.

  “Thank you for what you did,” the man said. “For saving us.”

  “We’re not safe just yet,” I told him. “Caitlin, Agent Moore, is going to take you and your family to the police station. Then she’s going to make a call, but she’ll stay with you until backup arrives, which will probably be a few hours. You’ll be surrounded by cops, but the bigger part of it is you’ll be somewhere that those people don’t care about.”

  “They broke into our house,” the woman said. “I don’t understand why they took us.”

  “They needed hostages,” I told her. “They won’t be taking you anywhere, ever again. I swear.”

  “Five minutes, people,” I said to everyone. “Make sure you’re all ready to go, because we won’t be back here for some time. If you have any weapons, Father, I’d advise you to get them.”

  He vanished back into his office, returning with a shotgun. “When I heard they were hunting me again, I invested. I’ve never even used it, but I wasn’t about to leave myself or Fern defenseless.”

  “Good choice,” I told him. “You ready?”

  He threw the truck keys to Caitlin, which she caught in one hand. “Caitlin, you take the family in the truck, the good Father, Fern, and I will take my Audi, and the officers can take their squad car.” We left the church through the front door in one group. I watched Caitlin and the family walk off around the side of the building, while I made my way toward my car.

  “See you soon,” I called after Caitlin, who gave me a thumbs up in response. I hoped she was going to be okay, that maybe protecting the innocent people in her care would give her something more to focus on than what had happened to her father.

  As I reached my Audi, an almighty roar came from the back of the church.

  “What the hell is that?” Danny asked.

  “Get in the car, now,” I said. “Take Father Patterson and Fern and get them to the mall. Go!” I shouted when no one moved.

  I didn’t stay around to watch as I sprinted toward the noise, the sounds of the squad car’s engine starting behind me.

  I ran around the side of the church, just as a cave troll walked into view. It noticed Caitlin and the family, who were just getting into the truck and roared once more.

  “Get in and go.”

  “What are you going to do?” Caitlin shouted.

  “Give you time,” I snapped. “Get these people safe.” I walked past the truck as the engine started.

  The troll took a few steps toward me and paused, sniffing the air. It glanced back at me and resumed its slow run, which quickly turned into a juggernaut-like sprint.

  The truck reversed and began to drive off, but slammed to a stop when the trees at the side of the church exploded and a wood troll burst out of the tree line and ran towards the cave troll. Recognizing this new danger, the cave troll tried to slow down and turn towards the incoming threat, but the wood troll was far too quick and slammed into its opponent with a deafening crack, taking the larger troll off its feet and dumping it head first through the nearest wall, which exploded outward as the runes became ignited.

  The distraction gave me time to sprint to the truck, which had stopped for me at the edge of the church.

  “Nate, get in,” Caitlin shouted as the cave troll climbed out of the rubble and kicked his assailant back dozen feet to land in a tangle heap.

  “I can’t,” I said. “The wood troll is going to die if I leave. Go, I’ll be fine.”

  Caitlin didn’t need to be told twice and slammed the truck into gear, driving away as quickly as possible.

  I ran toward the cave troll, which had grabbed the wood troll by his head and was repeatedly punching him in the face. I unleashed a column of fire at its knee, and the cave troll screamed out in pain, then threw the wood troll towards me. We collided, both of us hitting the ground hard. I managed to roll away and get back to my feet, resting my hand on an old tombstone, as the cave troll continued to yell about his burned leg.

  “You okay?” I asked the wood troll, who had finally started to move.

  “No,” he said softly. “I did not expect the wall to explode onto me. That hurt.”

  “Thanks for your help.”

  “Don’t mention it,” he told me and for the first time I got a look at his face.

  “Rean?” I asked. “Is that you?”

  “Nathan,” he said and spat blood onto the grass. “It’s been a long time, but maybe we should leave the reunion until the monster over there is no longer a problem.”

  “Sure, do you have a plan?”

  “No, I was hoping you did.”

  “Excellent, this should be fun then.”

  The cave troll roared once again and stalked toward us, ignoring the tombstones in its way as it crushed anything that could have been considered an obstacle.

  “Ready when you are,” I said and darted forward, throwing balls of flame at the troll, which didn’t hurt it badly, but it did take its attention away from Rean, who got close enough to it to punch it in the jaw.

  The troll’s head snapped around
and it staggered back a few paces, but didn’t fall. It struck out with an open hand, catching Rean in the chest and sending him flying. I used the opportunity to blast air at its legs in the hope that I might topple the beast, but it did nothing more than piss it off. It charged at me, and I tried to avoid it, but it grabbed my leg and flung me back toward the nearest tombstone. I managed to put up a shield of air in time, but the dust that covered me after was enough to blind me for a few seconds.

  The cave troll didn’t wait to take advantage, and while I was momentarily blinded, it grabbed me by the neck and lifted me above the ground, slamming me back down time and time again. Any air in my lungs vanished after the second impact and my vision began to go dark at the edges. I lost count of how many times I was used as a hammer and lashed out instinctively, throwing a continuous torrent of white-hot flame into its face. The troll roared in pain and anger, and threw me once more.

  I didn’t have time to use any magic to stop myself from crashing through the church wall, my body screaming as I hit the floor and bounced, slamming into several pews and coming to rest a few dozen feet away from the gap in the wall.

  I groaned in pain, my ribs and back on fire with pain. I desperately wanted to use my Blood magic, to help heal myself, but that was no longer an option. I’d only used my necromancy to heal myself once before and that was under much easier circumstances, but if I couldn’t heal, I couldn’t fight effectively. Which would mean that the cave troll would kill me and Rean. And that was an unacceptable outcome.

  With a deep sigh, I channeled my necromancy to feed my healing ability, using the energy from Norman’s spirit to knit my broken bones back together. It hurt like a son-of-a-bitch, but once it was done, I felt like a new man. I got back to my feet as the sounds of battle outside carried into the church. I ran toward the hole and jumped back outside. The cave troll was clearly winning the battle, but Rean, despite the blood that was pouring down his face, refused to give up.