Frosted Torment (Marked Mortals Saga #1)

Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19

W e spun around, eyes magnetized to rolling clouds that erupted with darkness across the sky—a clear omen of Maros’s arrival. Time stood still, and there was no room for doubt. We bolted across the field and headed down the gravel path.

Amidst the chaos, I tripped over an unseen rock and tasted the sharp sting of gravel against my lips.

“Fuck!” I was getting tired of running for my life and was ready to end him.

Baz appeared beside me like a protective shadow, his canines bared and ready for attack. Leaning on his sturdy leg, I pulled myself back to standing as a lightning bolt launched Jossy and Lex backward.

Their landings resembled a cat’s grace. Massive wings unfurled and shimmered with ethereal colors. Jossy’s flaming crimson and gold contrasted beautifully with Lex’s marbled slate and ivory. Yet, the sight did little to temper the dread gnawing at my insides.

The storm raged overhead like an angry beast, and when I peered over at Nakoma and Dawson, they struggled up the porch steps against the onslaught. My heart sank as I wondered how we would survive this. But Ena turned and planted herself firmly on the ground beneath her. She raised her hands, fingers swirling through the air as if capturing invisible threads.

Gathering momentum, Ena channeled the very essence of nature, drawing upon its energy. Her unexpected display of power briefly countered Maros’s destructive winds. It allowed Nakoma and Dawson a chance to escape inside the house. I looked at Baz, who nodded at me in reassurance.

“I thought Maros couldn’t get through the wards!” I yelled, using the wolves to block out the wind.

“He can’t! Unless…” Baz’s voice trailed off, his eyes narrowing and a ground-shaking growl rippling from all three wolves. He swiveled back to me. “There’s a traitor among us.”

Before I could process his insinuation, a voice boomed from above as Vincent and Nevaeh appeared at the edge of the tree line that had been our refuge a minute ago. My mind raced to Ivy. Where was she in all this chaos? A cold dread strangled me, and I clutched my chest.

“Now that we’re all assembled!” Maros’s words dripped with a sinister glee. A maniacal laugh punctuated each syllable and echoed through the clearing like a haunting melody.

His hands tamed the winds as he loomed over us. A shadowy figure clad in ornate ebony and cardinal robes that swirled around him like a cyclone of smoke. His ruby-red eyes bore into mine—gleaming with superior amusement .

“You are quite the spectacle, Noa,” he grinned with malice, as if he were savoring an unseen feast. “I do regret your little stunt yesterday—taking out my daughter—but don’t worry, pet, we will have our reckoning, you and I.”

Nausea surged within me, and the wolves formed a protective barrier to guard me from Maros’s gaze. But through a narrow gap between their bristling bodies, his menacing face was still in my view. I noticed the way his hooked nose twitched, a telltale sign of his frustration simmering below the surface, and realization struck me.

“He can’t step on the ground,” I whispered, tugging at Baz’s leg.

“We know,” Baz replied, his voice low and edged with impatience. “It’s sacred land.”

“Then what is he doing?” My heart raced, each beat echoing louder than the last in my ears.

“What demons do best. Playing twisted games,” Baz snapped, the weight of his emotions evident from having to hold back and not intervene.

“Can’t we do something?” I pleaded with him, worry crawling up my throat.

Baz’s snout lifted as he scanned the sky above us. I followed his gaze and felt my stomach drop as I saw them—creatures lurking in the clouds, their shapes a grotesque fusion of bats and dragons.

It was impossible to discern their features from this distance, but the sight of their elongated hind legs was terror-inducing. Each time they dove to attack the invisible shield, their talons screeched like banshees. It made my entire body recoil .

“Maros brought reinforcements and we’re outnumbered,” Baz added as he looked up, tracking the sky.

Sprinting back into the frenzy, Nakoma now held a sleek silver bow that almost matched his height. Maros looked down on Nakoma as if he were a nuisance he could flick away. Maros lifted his lips into a wicked smirk, revealing a hint of his sharp teeth as Vincent strode into the middle of the field with assurance.

“Oh, it’s the hero cherub I came to see,” Maros said, his voice dripping with mockery, as if savoring the moment like fine wine.

Vincent’s eyes blazed with fury, threatening to consume everything around him.

He stared up at Maros, searching for any hint of his intentions behind the demon’s vacant gaze. “Whatever you’re thinking of doing, Maros, don’t.”

Maros wagged his finger and shot back with a flourish that echoed across the field. “Afraid I’m going to spill your little secret, Vinny?” he probed.

“You won’t make it out of here alive today,” Vincent spat, hatred igniting within him as he unfurled his wings and rose to meet Maros mid-air.

“We’ll see about that.” Maros crossed his legs and took a theatrical bow. The angel with the eye patch from breakfast appeared below. He was carrying someone in his arms.

My mind raced as I tried to piece together what was happening. Was Vincent lying to us? Or was Maros setting him up? Either way, I couldn’t stay hidden anymore.

Baz growled low in his throat, his fur spiking in fury. “That son of a bitch,” Baz barked in my head. “We should rip Jax apart right here.”

My chest clenched, and it felt like someone had stolen my breath. “Is it Ivy?” I cried out, trying to push through the wolves.

“No,” he confirmed. “It’s someone else. Now, stay still.”

I placed my hands on Baz’s side, unable to contain the frustration of my inability to see.

“Move!” I demanded, and a flash of static electricity shot through my fingers.

Baz jumped and shook his head as the other wolves glanced at me with a look of annoyance in their eyes.

“What was that, Noa?” Baz’s confusion was clear in his question.

I stared down at my hands for an answer. “I don’t know,” I admitted. “I only wanted to see what was happening for myself.”

Baz chuffed in amusement and stood beside me as he focused back on Jax walking across the field. My eyes darted back and forth between Vincent and Jax.

As Jax approached the center of the field with a woman whose life now dangled by a fragile thread, Vincent’s wings gathered strength behind him like a storm. Jax dropped the body to the ground with the casual disdain of flicking away an insect. The soft thud of her form hitting the earth echoed in the stillness, and I swear Vincent stopped breathing.

The entirety of his skin drained of all color as he retreated backward from Maros. Vincent turned and dove toward the woman’s body, hitting his knees, and agony took over. Jax stepped back and held out his arms with a smug smile across his face, proud of having helped to end the woman’s life .

Out of the corner of my eye, Nakoma released an arrow at Jax. It sliced through the icy air with a piercing whistle before embedding itself deep within him. Brilliant flames now engulfed Jax. They licked at his flesh, seeking to consume him. Then, he turned to ash before us. His bones and wings remained, like a forgotten myth.

“No worries, pretty boy,” Maros taunted. “I have more where he came from. But for now,” he hummed and gestured a kiss to Nakoma. “I’ll let you have that one.”

Vincent’s wings collapsed like wilted petals. He lifted the woman’s head, wiping away the blood from her mouth with jittery fingers. Nevaeh ran to him, and her hands flew to her mouth with a gasp.

Maros laughed at Vincent as he spiraled in the air. “Did you honestly think I’d hand over half of everything to you?” He rose higher toward the top of the trees, clapping erratically. “Not to mention that I believed you wanted to share it all with me. What a naive fool you are!”

“Is Vincent in on this, Baz?” I asked him, terrified of the answer.

His tone was serious as he replied, “It could be a ploy. Remember that.”

Maros reached his hand out and pulled at the air as if it bore an invisible enemy. Whatever it was, he grasped it by the throat with his talons. Then, a thunderous crash shook the earth as dark tendrils of smoke erupted around him, curling back toward us like living shadows. Baz and the other wolves stood tall, barking into the air and ready to attack.

“Stand your ground, Lex!” Jossy’s voice cut through the chaos across the field .

Dawson stepped onto the porch with an assault rifle slung over his body and aimed at Maros. Ena remained ready if needed. When I looked back at Maros, he raised his arm high and, with a snap of his free hand, Ivy appeared ensnared in his grip.

“I’m keeping this one for good measure,” he purred, clutching her tighter.

“Ivy!” I shrieked. Without thinking, I ran for her, Baz on my heels.

Before Baz could reach me, Lex materialized next to me and then enfolded me in his wings.

“Stop, Noa!” Lex pleaded in my ear. “You can’t help her now, and this is what Maros wants.”

“Then let him take me,” I said, sobbing against his chest.

Ivy thrashed erratically, her wings flapping uselessly against Maros’s unshakeable arm. I balled Lex’s shirt in my hands as I struggled against the urge not to run to her again. Though Ivy’s wings were on display, they remained motionless, pinned to her sides.

Ivy released a guttural scream as she slashed at Maros’s face, her sharp nails glancing off his skin, leaving him untouched. Jossy and Lex exchanged a glance. Then, Lex released me. He and Jossy flew up, circling Maros like vultures ready to descend.

“Notice anything, boys?” Maros grinned while stroking Ivy’s midnight wings. She’d turned entirely dark. “Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of her for you,” he snarled.

“You’re going to die!” Jossy bellowed, then twirled in the air like an acrobat. He dove, slicing at Maros with the razor-sharp edge of his wing.

Maros dodged him, using Ivy as a shield, and a gash opened across her stomach. Scarlet droplets began to fall like rain from the sky as Jossy landed in a puddle of her blood. Lex reached for his neck, but sensing him, Maros used his free hand to strike him, sending Lex tumbling to the ground.

“And when I’m done with you, brother,” Maros cackled down at Vincent, “I’ll pick off your toy soldiers here, one by one.”

“But I’ll save my favorite morsel for last. She’ll bleed for me, and I’ll relish every secret I wring from her frail human mind.”

Maros blew me a sardonic kiss. I shuddered with revulsion as his malevolent laughter rang across the ranch. He snapped his fingers, and they vanished without a trace.

The wolves unleashed a murderous howl. Baz stayed close to me as the other two prowled the forest’s edge. Vincent fretted over the mystery woman’s lifeless body, and the wards continued to flicker around us.

We were all exposed and vulnerable. My eyes darted about, uncertain of where to look or how to breathe.

Nakoma fashioned his bow across his back to a sling, then ran to Jossy, wrapping him in a fierce embrace. Their lips met, fusing with an intensity that threatened to consume them both. A bittersweet revelation for me among all our pain.

And as much as I wanted to share in Jossy’s happiness, my world had fallen to ruin in mere minutes. Ena and Dawson ran toward Vincent and Nevaeh, who were sitting around the mostly dead woman with the other wolves. Nakoma and Jossy released each other and sauntered toward the group.

“We need to get you someplace safe,” Lex urged, taking my hand as his wings released me. “This is too dangerous and we don’t know who’s turned on us. ”

My body stiffened and I trembled with fear. “But Ivy. She just?—”

I dropped his hand and stumbled toward Vincent and Nevaeh. The answers I’d longed for were here and staring me in the face. Taunting me to make a move before they did. Challenge accepted.

“Think about Jack and Claire, Noa,” Lex called after me, staying on my heels. “Maros will go after them.”

“No.” I stopped and turned to him, placing my hands on his chest. Shaking my head, I added, “I’m staying right here, and I will fight this.”

Then I joined everyone else in the middle of the field. Endless thoughts looped in my mind. What was Ivy’s true motive? Did she join Maros because I couldn’t love her the way she needed me to? Ivy couldn’t have done it alone. She needed help, or Vincent forced her to do it.

Although Jax betrayed Vincent and the rest of his family, there had to be more who knew about the attack. I glanced down at Vincent, who now cried over the woman dying in front of him. Something about him and this woman, only he and Nevaeh seemed to know, stirred my suspicion.

I knelt on the ground to get a better look at her.