Djinn (35 page)

We were making our way across the room when two Blooders came for us. Their eyes looked at us with a savage hunger I'd never seen before. They wanted our blood, and I feared they'd do anything to get it. One charged, unable to control his thirst, and Nate pulled the flame from a nearby candle, setting the Blooder alight. The scent of burning flesh filled my nose and I tried not to gag. The second Blooder didn't seem deterred by Nate's ability; he thrust out his hand and the all the drinks flew into the air, mixing together only to crash down, dousing the flaming Blooder.

"Nate!" I said, pulling on his arm.

"Go!" he replied and pushed me away.

I watched him engage in battle with the Blooder, but with all the commotion and the moving crowd I was swept away. I couldn't see Nate and I wasn't sure what to do. People and objects were flying around the room. Balls of fire and ice were being flung by Guardjinn and Blooders.

I slipped on some broken glass and snapped my heel off, falling to the ground. My ankle was hurt, but not broken. I pulled off my shoes, deciding that cutting my feet on the glass was still better than running in heels.

I hated my dress right then. It was too tight, too constricting. I couldn't move or fight, and it reminded me why I'd hated wearing dresses in the first place. I ripped the bottom of it off to free my legs.

"Kyra!"

I looked up to see it was Pyke who was offering me his hand.

"Pyke!"

He helped me to my feet as we dodged a flying couch.

"Come on, I'll take you to your mother," he said.

"Pyke …" I said unsteadily. I'd been trained to fight, trained to look after myself if I needed to; but I wasn't trained for this. I couldn't fight these monsters. I hadn't mastered my ability. I was useless, and it frightened me.

"Kyra," Pyke said, sensing my fear. "I will protect you."

He grabbed my upper arm and led me through the battlefield. Dead Blooders, Guardjinn and Djinn lay all over the floor. I tried to look away, but they were right in front of me: twisted, bloodied. My mind flashed back to the night when Will had come to rescue me. I nearly threw up on the spot when I saw a Blooder bending over a dead Djinn, or Guardjinn, I couldn't tell, and licking the blood pooling around their body.

"Get back!" Pyke shouted. The Blooder smiled like it was all a game, and smoke erupted from his body, clouding the area. Pyke shot shards of ice at a Blooder who appeared to be making smoke spill from his hands. The Blooder fell to the floor with a spike of ice sticking out from his chest. My legs gave way, but Pyke held me.

"Keep it together, Kyra," he said. "You're going to get out of this. Trust me."

I did trust Pyke, so I forced my legs to work and we kept on moving. We were nearly across the room when a very large, tattooed Blooder appeared from the crowd. His face was smeared with blood; who knew how many he'd killed and drunk from? How many powers had he acquired tonight? I realised then that every fallen Djinn and Gaurdjinn was a new power source for the Blooders. Every time one of us fell, they became even stronger.

"Kyra, get behind me," Pyke said. His eyes darted to the group of trees a little way away from us. I followed his glance and saw Isabelle's pink dress hiding behind it.

The tattooed Blooder lumbered forward and swung his arm at Pyke. Pyke shot off two icicles, but the man simply smashed them to pieces. His swinging arm hit Pyke, sending him flying across the room like he was nothing.

"Pyke!" I shouted.

Now, there was nothing between me and the tattooed man. I couldn't move or breathe. I'd never been so afraid and useless in my life.

The Blooder reached down to me with large, bloodied fingers. Ice smashed against his face, slicing his cheek. Pyke came running toward us; his eye was bleeding, he had cuts all over face, and his suit was ripped to shreds, but he had a look of determination on his face.

He punched out more ice, driving the tattooed man away from me.

"Kyra, run!" he shouted, tackling the big man.

I didn't want to leave him, but what could I do? I had no powers, and my fighting wasn't a match for what these Blooders could do. I ran toward Isabelle, not looking back for Pyke. I couldn't be distracted. I reached her within seconds, skidding across the floor.

"Isabelle!" I shouted, grabbing her attention. Her dress was ripped and make up smudged from crying.

"Kyra?" she gasped, pulling me close. "Oh, Kyra, you're safe."

"What's going on?" I demanded. Somehow I knew Isabelle knew something about all of this. "Why did you hire Pyke to guard me?"

She was in shock, hysterics really, so I shook her hard.

"Tell me!"

"I had to protect you," she muttered. "I knew they might come."

"The Blooders?" I asked. "How did you know they'd come to take people?"

"No, no, no," she said, holding onto me tighter. "They came for you."

Everything paused for me then. The sounds of the battle were silenced, and it was just me and Isabelle.

"They came for me?" I repeated. "What are you talking about?"

Someone was thrown against the wall behind us, and Isabelle's grip tightened on my arm like a vice.

"I won't let them take you," she said. "I won't."

I was so confused, but I couldn't focus. The Guardjinn were losing the battle because the other Djinn refused to fight. I could see them cowering around the room or trying to flee. They weren't going to lift a finger to help the Gaurdjinn and that was why they would lose.

Why we would lose.

"We can talk about this later," I told Isabelle. "I have to go help."

"No!" Isabelle screeched. "You can't. They'll get you."

"Mum, let go."

I didn't know what I could do, but I knew if I didn't do anything, then all hope was lost.

"I have to help," I told her, ripping my arms from her grip and running into the thick of the battle.

Chapter Thirty-Four

I didn't look back to see if Isabelle had tried to escape after I ran away. I was too involved in the fight in front of me. I wasn't sure how I could help; my powers didn't exactly cooperate with me, but I still knew how to fight with my hands. I wasn't sure how much damage I could do against monsters with superpowers, but I'd try my best to defend my people.

I spotted Will on the far side of the ballroom. He was fighting two Blooders at once. They circled him, like foxes hunting a chicken; but Will was no chicken. The Blooders attacked him with blades, long samurai-looking swords that would slice a normal man in two, but Will's tough skin was stronger than their steel. Will defended the blows with ease, leaving barely a scratch on him.

A third Blooder was sneaking up behind Will with a fist full of fire. Blades might not pierce Will's skin, but fire would still burn him alive. I dashed across the room, jumping over bodies and dodging fireballs. I leapt through the air and onto the Blooder's back, causing him to stumble under the extra weight. The distraction extinguished his flame, giving me the opportunity to throw my weight forward, slamming the Blooder's face into the floor. He groaned through bubbles of blood, and I lifted his head and slammed it once more to knock him out cold.

I ran to Will's side, kicking one of the Blooders hard in the groin. He dropped to the floor, and I followed up with another swift blow to the head. Will dodged the other Blooder's blade and elbowed him in the jaw. The Blooder dropped the sword into Will's hands, and he spun it around into the Blooder's stomach. I turned away, unable to watch such violence up close. I had only knocked out my Blooders, but Will had murdered his.

Will yanked out the sword and the Blooder fell to the ground. He turned his blade on the Blooders I'd knocked out, but I grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Will, don't!" I screamed, but he pulled free of me and stabbed one in the neck.

"We have to kill them," he said. "Or they'll kill us."

Will turned to the last Blooder, the one I had slammed into the floor. The look in Will's eyes was one I had never seen before: savage. I grabbed Will's arm again and held on with all my strength.

"Will, please don't murder him."

"Kyra?" he said with surprise, like he hadn't realised it was me fighting by his side. "What are you doing here? Get out!"

"I can't," I replied. He seemed to lose interest in the Blooder, and the old Will I knew returned.

"You need to get to safety," he said, looking for an exit to push me toward.

"No!" I said, with more force than I knew I had. "You can't fight them all on your own."

"The Guardjinn can handle this."

"They can't," I said, almost pleading. "There are too many of them. The Gaurdjinn can't do this all on their own. The Djinn need to help, too."

"That's a nice gesture and all, but they'd rather flee than fight. You should be fleeing too. I won't see you get hurt."

"You don't have a choice in the matter," I said, pushing him away. "This is my home too, and I won't let you or anyone else get hurt."

"Kyra, look out!" Will stepped in front of me as glass shards shot across the room like arrows. The shards hit Will, barely scratching his skin, but cutting his suit to ribbons. Suddenly, a Blooder flew into the air and went slamming into a wall.

"Was that you?" Will asked.

"I don't think so," I replied, looking at my hands.

"That was me."

I turned around to see Seth standing behind us. His lip was bleeding and his hair was an even bigger mess than usual, but he looked like he was enjoying himself. Standing behind him was Nate, a cut over his brow and a flame in his hand.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Looking for you," Nate replied.

"All of you need to get out of here. Especially you, Prince Nathaniel," Will said. Nate nodded, but I couldn't let him agree with Will.

"No," I said, staring at Seth and Nate. "We need to help them. You both have strong abilities; you can help. It's what Queen Celeste is fighting for, Djinn and Guardjinn working together. It's the only way we have any hope of winning this battle."

Nate nodded at me. "You're right, Kyra. I can't let the Guardjinn fight for me if I'm not willing to fight for them."

"Seth?" I asked.

"Sure." He shrugged.

"I can't let you do this," Will said.

"You don't really have a choice," Seth replied.

Will turned to Nate. "Prince Nathaniel, please."

"We're doing this together," he said.

Will straightened up and gave a swift nod. "As you wish."

The four us, Nate, Will, Seth and I, ran out, working together to take down Blooder after Blooder. Will shouted commands at us as we fought in total sync.

"Nate, behind you," I shouted.

Nate blasted a fireball at a Blooder while Will tackled him to the ground. Seth was throwing Blooders around left, right and centre like it was a game. He was unbelievable powerful. I was throwing punches and kicks where I could.

Other Djinn saw what we were doing and some even joined us. Not a lot, though. Will ordered Guardjinn to fight alongside any Djinn who stood and fought, to lead them in battle.

As we ran off to take on the next Blooder something grabbed my leg, pulling me to the floor. I hit the ground hard, cracking my head on the stone floor. I felt blood trickling down my face. I looked up to see it was the tattooed man. He was badly injured, with spikes of ice sticking out of his chest.

"You …" he gurgled, blood spilling from his lips.

"Me?" I said.

Our eyes locked and his grip tightened. I screamed, trying to pull free.

"Kyra!"

Will and Pyke's voices carried over the crowd as I saw them appear at my side. Pyke created an ice spike in his hand and stabbed the Blooder in the wrist. The Blooder roared in pain and released my leg. Will helped me wriggle free.

He held me close, looking me over with the concern and kindness he used to.

"Are you alright?" he asked, brushing back my hair.

"I'm fine," I whispered, snuggling into his shredded shirt.

Pyke stood in front of us, and his face said it all. He had been the one to save me, he had risked his life and yet I was in Will's arms. As much as I wanted to feel something for Pyke, I couldn't, and I think in that moment he knew it too.

Two blood-covered hands grasped Pyke's head and snapped his neck; the golden light faded from his eyes.

"PYKE!" I screamed, lunging from Will's arms.

The Blooder tossed Pyke's body aside like a used tissue.

"No!" Will yelled, and launched himself at the Blooder. They locked hands with a battle of strength.

I crawled along the floor, through broken glass, blood and food, until I reached Pyke's side. "No, no, no, no," I said, through tears.