GABBY…
Olivia fell beside the SUV, one of the Urbat having pushed her over. Isabelle pulled hard again, knocking the dick to his knees, and stealing some of the fear I’d tried to keep bottled. It wasn’t easy when there were so many of them. Just like that night we’d lost Ethan.
I closed myself off from the guilt and concentrated on the sparks flooding my mind. I knew what would happen with too many of Isabelle’s pulls and couldn’t afford to pass out now. Everyone needed me.
Within the confines of the protective circle, I watched Bethi gut another dog in front of me. She yelled angrily and turned toward the next attacker, Luke protecting her right and Clay protecting her left. Grey, Emmitt, and Thomas stood on the other side of the circle with Sam beside Clay. Winifred moved around us, keeping away the majority. Further away, Isabelle and Carlos fought in the sea of Urbat, for our protection.
“More coming from Grey’s side,” I called out. Winifred moved to that section, leaving Bethi and Luke more exposed. The Urbat pressed in, trying to take advantage. Bethi moved quickly, ending that attempt.
The sparks continued to reposition in a flurry of movement. And, not just the Urbat numbers gathered in force on the other side of the mountain range. The fighting at the outskirts of Logan had called the attention of humans, too. Traffic no longer passed us. Cars had stopped miles away, up the pass. The soft yellow-green of their sparks pooled around us much like our immediate protective circle.
The Urbat on the other side of the mountain range began to move.
Seeing the movement of the fight around me and tracking the movement of the sparks converging on us created a dull ache between my eyes. I blinked slowly. Exhaustion pulled at me. The naps I’d been living on since leaving the Compound before Thanksgiving had begun taking their toll long ago.
“More coming over the mountains!” I yelled. In less than fifteen minutes, we’d be hopelessly outnumbered.
Without meaning to, my fear slipped. Blake knew we had either Claimed or Mated with werewolves, and he had proven that he would remove that obstacle without hesitation. I glanced at Clay then returned my focus to the sparks in my mind. So many yellow-green sparks. Enough to outnumber the blue-grey of the Urbat now surrounding us. What would they do if they knew the future that faced them if we couldn’t complete this Judgement. Their fear of the werewolves would dim in the light of their fear for the things that hurt Olivia.
“Shields!” Isabelle called again.
I wished she could pull the fear from the humans. With their help, we could survive this.
Isabelle’s pull touched the center of my chest, and I quickly tossed my fear to the side, focusing on the sparks.
They moved. Not all of them, but at least half of the humans within the Logan mountain range started toward us.
“Humans,” I yelled. “They’re coming!”
I didn’t know whether to panic or cheer. The way they moved seemed like they were controlled by something. I turned to look at Charlene.
“Are you controlling them?” I asked.
“No,” she said, focusing on the Urbat trying to get to Thomas. Some of them flew backward as if hit by an invisible force. Without a doubt, that was her. I didn’t care what she did as long as it helped keep us all safe.
Clay twisted in front of me, dodging a swipe of a clawed hand and coming back around with a swing of his own.
The first of the humans reached us. I couldn’t see them, but did witness the light of their sparks abruptly extinguish. More came. And more. A few of the Urbat focused on them. Not enough to give the werewolves a break, though.
Not a single human spark lasted more than a moment once it met with an Urbat…until the first loud bang. One of the partially shifted Urbat yipped.
“The police are here and have guns,” Michelle called out.
“I’ll make sure they don’t shoot at us,” Charlene added.
The odds were far from even, but the humans with guns did distract the Urbat enough that—
Clay grunted, the sound oddly concerning in the din of all the other sounds. I looked his way and caught him stagger a single step back toward me. He immediately snarled and lunged forward at the half-shifted dog grinning at him. The grin didn’t last long. Blood sprayed when Clay’s claws sunk into the man’s throat and, with a fisted hand, pulled out his windpipe.
The Urbat clutched his neck, gurgling his last breaths. Clay didn’t make any move to fight the other Urbat pushing their way toward us, though. I watched in horror as one knee gave out, and he sank to the ground. Everything slowed when he turned slightly, and I saw the red blossoming on the front of his shirt.
Flashes of Ethan’s death filled my mind.
“Help me!” I screamed, breaking formation and rushing toward him.
A wall of bodies surrounded me. I didn’t look away from Clay. He sat heavily on the ground, one hand bracing his weight and keeping him from laying back completely.
“Don’t do this,” I said, shaking. “Don’t die. Don’t leave me.” I took off my jacket and pressed it to his stomach.
“Shh…it’s okay,” he said.
He reached up and smoothed his bloody fingers over my cheek.
“No, it’s not. I saw Ethan.” I remembered Isabelle’s reaction to Ethan’s death. Fate had been smart to make her Peace and not me. Everyone would die when Clay did.
“Sweetheart,” he said, brushing the tears streaming from my cheeks. “Lift the jacket and look. It’s not the same as Ethan.”
He pulled back the jacket and showed me the long gashes that had ripped open his stomach. It wasn’t a bloody hole, but it wasn’t good either. I could see intestine.
“Fuck. Shit. Fuck.”
He collapsed all the way to the ground. A spray of blood painted his face. I looked up, searching for help. A strangled gasp escaped me. Carnage lay around us. Human men. All dead. Clay lay in the center with me kneeling at his side.
Around us, with the help of the remaining humans, the rest of the group still fought a losing battle against Urbat. I focused on the sparks crossing the mountains. They were almost here.
“Isabelle, you have to end this,” I yelled.
She glanced at me and saw Clay on the ground, my jacket once again pressed to his stomach. Rage filled her features.
“Shields!” she screamed.
I felt the tug, but gave nothing. The Urbat fell to their knees with her inhale and completely collapsed with her exhale. Blood seeped from their noses and their sparks faded in the darkness of my mind.
The humans had remained standing, though, oddly unaffected by Isabelle.
“Thank you for your help,” Charlene said. “Once you return to your homes, you’ll feel happy that you helped defeat the Urbat and protect innocent women.”
None of them moved. I didn’t care. I stared down at Clay’s pale face. He’d closed his eyes.
“We need to get him to a hospital,” I said.
“You know we can’t,” Winifred said.
I choked on a sob.
“I’ll be fine,” Clay whispered.
I looked away from him to Olivia. I didn’t know what I wanted from her. Help? Hope? Answers? She stood from her place on the snow and came toward me.
“Gabby, now you. Release them,” Olivia said.
For a second, I thought she said him. Then I realized she was talking about the humans still standing there, not doing anything but staring at me.
Me? I looked at them again in shock. I’d called them.
“I don’t know how.” Yet, even as I said it, I knew I did. I focused on my fear for them, instead of myself and Clay, and touched their sparks with that fear. Those closest turned and ran away.
OLIVIA…
The Others played with the bodies of the dead, making them lurch and twitch on the ground as the rest of the group surrounded Gabby and Clay. I let my fear and anxiety pour from me.
“Show me Gabby’s phone,” I said. A few of the Others raced back to the vehicle we’d abandoned.
I turned and followed. Inside the vehicle, I felt along the seats until my fingers touched an object on the back seat. Her phone still had buttons, making it easier to dial Blake’s number. He picked up on the first ring.
“Father,” I said.
“Olivia. Stay there. They are coming for you.”
“If they do, we risk everything.”
Snow crunched behind me, and I held up my hand for silence.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“They are starting to trust me. They know they cannot Judge in favor of the humans. With me here, the Dreamer is piecing together the answer to the final Judgement. A day, two at most, and she will know. Sending your men forced Gabby to call the humans to her. This close to the end, their powers will only evolve with each attack, risking not only our men, but the Judgements when they fight against us.”
“And they just let you call to tell me this? Do you think I’m a fool?”
I could feel his growing anger.
“No, Father. They are caring for one of the men, Gabby’s Mate, who was injured during the attack. Gabby left her phone in one of the vehicles, which is where I am. You know I’m not lying.”
He was quiet a moment.
“What are you suggesting I do, then? Nothing?”
“Use me to follow them at a distance until the Dreamer has the answer. I’ll find a way to let you know. I need to go before they notice me.”
“Stay in touch.”
He ended the call. I turned and handed the phone to whoever stood behind me. The Others continued to play with the bodies of the dead as someone carried Clay to a vehicle.
“You’re playing a dangerous game,” Winifred said, accepting the phone.
“A game I’ve been playing since I bit Blake’s neck. The only game that might keep us safe and buy us the time we need for Bethi to find the answers.”
“What happens when she does?” Winifred asked.
“We tell Blake and meet him somewhere far from any humans. Then, we will pass our Judgement.”