BRIDGER (41 page)

In shock I looked toward Memaw.
 
In the moment of distraction, I was blasted off the floor and slammed into the opposite wall.
 
I didn’t fall to the ground.
 
Pinned against the wall three feet in the air, it felt as though someone had put manacles on each of my limbs to hold me in place.
 
Try as I might, there was no way to move any part of my body.

Ankou smiled at Memaw.
 
“Yes, you really are losing your edge.
 
How are you going to let your only granddaughter be taken out so easily?”
 
He circled Memaw as he spoke, his right hand’s palm constantly directed toward me no matter where he went.
 
Whatever he and Memaw were doing, it originated in their palms.
 
I watched carefully, hoping to pick something up since there was no way of being any use otherwise.

Memaw was continually repositioning herself to counter Ankou’s movements while always watching Jamie.
 
The two were swaying back and forth, fast as cobra strikes. One second they would be three feet away from me, the next they were on the other side of the room. They seemed to evaporate into thin air at will.

Jamie was beginning to stir, which made me nervous.
 
Two on one was never good, no matter how skilled Memaw was.
 
Struggling against my invisible bonds in an attempt to break free, they became tighter. Something invisible clamped against my airway.

Ankou turned his gaze momentarily to me. “I wouldn’t move too much, little one.
 
You’re only going to cause yourself to die sooner by fighting against the binds.”

“Didn’t you see the jacket she was wearing, Ankou?” Memaw countered.
 
“She’s one of us now.
 
She’s beyond your reach.”

I was glad the block gagged my throat.
 
If I had known accepting the jacket was accepting immortality, it would still be on the hook in Adaire.
 
Liam wasn’t unconscious, he was dead.
 
His right arm hung oddly off the couch, and his head was congealing from a blow he must have received before we returned home.
 
It felt as though someone had shoved a white-hot branding iron straight into my heart.
 
I killed my best friend.
 
He told me he loved me, but I never had the chance to say it to him.
 
Tess lost her last son.
 
Memaw didn’t tell me what I was doing in Adaire.
 
I had to fix this.
 
It had to stop.
 

The heat in my heart seemed to be spreading like wildfire to every other part of my body.
 
There was no way to understand it or stop it.
 
If it weren’t for being bound and gagged, I would have been doubled over in pain.

Memaw had her back to me now, facing Ankou, Jamie, and Liam.
 
She chuckled as Ankou took in the jacket.
 
My own grandmother had incited a mutiny more treacherous than even Ankou could think up.

“Rebecca sees quite a bit of potential in her if she’s already taking lengths to make her immortal,” Ankou said. “It also convinces me you’ve created the link to bridging our realms.”

“Even if that’s true, it’s not something you could recreate,” Memaw said.

“You forget I have your lovely daughter MaKenna at my disposal,” Ankou said lightly, playing with a ball of green light that was slithering between his fingers like a snake.
 
“Plus, I have your grandson now as well.”

Ankou turned to Jamie, who had recovered from her slam against the wall.
 
She was standing a safer distance away from Memaw, rubbing her head. “Jamie, why don’t you bring your pet out here.

I shivered with anger.
 
Glaring at Jamie, she winked my way.
 
She blew a kiss as she skipped away, going into Chris’s room through the hall behind her.

Ankou returned his gaze to Memaw.
 
“You’ll be happy to know MaKenna has made you a grandmother time and time again.
 
Too bad none of the children were what I needed.
 
I disposed of them quite humanely once this became evident.”

The damage this information was inflicting on Memaw was undeniable, although she was trying hard to not show it.
 
During the conversation, it dawned on me that focusing on things other than the pain was possible. That, or it was subsiding. No one was paying attention to me at this point; Memaw was completely engulfed in the torture Ankou was inflicting upon her.
 
Ankou was engrossed in watching her suffer.

It was at this point I tried ever so slightly to turn my head.
 
Focusing completely on being free from the invisible bindings, I just tested my muscles to see if they would respond.
 
They did.
 
Excitement overruled the pain. The ability to undo whatever spell Ankou had used to pin me against the wall was within reach.

Instead of doing it immediately, I decided to wait for the opportune moment.
 
Unsure of when it would be, that meant I had to endure the pain no matter how excruciating it became. Waiting until it meant the most would give the move the best chance of helping.

As if Ankou felt this revelation, his head snapped to me, black robes billowing behind him in an invisible wind.
 
“Are you comfortable, little one?”

Instantly the pain was a thousand times worse than it had been.
 
There were no words for this pain.
 
If there were a way to make it end - if I could die - I would take it.
 
My eyes rolled back in my head, body convulsing.
 
Somewhere Memaw screamed. The pain was absolutely overwhelming.
 
It was impossible to care about anything beyond the moment I was in, the unbearable ripping of my limbs.
 
I had to be in the process of being pulled apart.

There was no way to tell how long this went on, but when the pain subsided, Memaw was on her knees beside Chris.
 
He had been hauled into the room sometime while I was being crucified against the living room wall.
 
Chris was sprawled out on his back in front of Memaw.
 
Ankou and Jamie stood on either side of him.
 
The exultant smiles they wore were inhuman.
 
It doubled the pain I felt to see Memaw falling apart.
 
She couldn’t do this now, not when our lives were at stake.

Ankou continued his emotional beating of Memaw. “MaKenna is doing well, Emily, don’t worry.
 
She’s completely safe and sound.
 
I would venture to say she’s taken to looking at me as father figure, since her mother abandoned her at such a young age. She still hasn’t forgiven her mother for that. You can understand how damaging that would be to a child.”

He grinned as he said the hurtful words, watching for Memaw’s reaction.
 
She stayed still, holding her hand against Chris’s neck, trying to find a pulse.
 
“She and Aiden have been very busy.
 
You should tell Tess he’s also doing well.
 
Liam might want to hear the news of his baby brother, though. He could pass the information along, don’t you think?”

Liam wasn’t dead?
 
He was as still as a corpse on the couch.
 
Maybe taking the jacket hadn’t killed him.
 
Whatever happened before we returned home, Liam had lost the battle.
 
Ankou grinned evilly at me and then pointed his hand toward Liam.
 
Flipping his hand to palm up, he lifted it upward slowly.
 
As if on strings, Liam levitated off the couch like a rag doll.
 
His chest was pulled upward, his head, arms and legs dangling limply back toward the earth.
 
It was one of the most grotesque things I had ever witnessed.

Ankou pointed his index finger toward the ceiling and made a small circle with it.
 
Immediately Liam began spinning like a top.
 
It was more than I could bear.
 
Screaming, I tried to pull away from the wall but found myself more bound than ever.
 
I shrieked at the top of my lungs, the gag on my airway nowhere to be found. “Stop it, you evil, soulless, murderer!
 
He’s never done anything to you!”

Smiling, Ankou lifted his hand into a stop motion. He seemed to be surprised at my ability to speak. Liam stopped in mid-rotation, limbs flailing like rubber hoses.
 
“You are correct.
 
This man-child has never done a thing to me.
 
However, your grandmother has.
 
You being her seed means you carry on the hateful legacy she’s been spawning for centuries.
 
By you even affiliating with him, he was doomed.
 
I’ll take out everything Emily holds dear, one by one.
 
She will pay, and I’ll start with someone special.”
 

With that, he dropped his hand completely, causing Liam to crash to the floor, his legs landing behind his back.
 
There were multiple gruesome cracks as he connected with the floor in the awkward position.
 
I winced from the pain Liam would undoubtedly be in when he woke up.

As if on cue, Jamie disappeared into Chris’s room again.
 
Punching the hooded figure she led out in the back, the figure cried out in pain.
 
I knew who it was before Jamie ripped the veil off, causing her more pain by yanking out a handful of hair as well.
 

Gagged by a black satin cloth, Jamie forced my mother down onto her knees, facing Memaw. Mom’s deep auburn hair was matted around her face from sweat. Her eyes widened when she saw us. She and I were a mirror image of one another in this moment. I couldn’t imagine what she was thinking, seeing me pinned midair against the wall. She struggled against the bonds, causing Jamie to shove her down onto to her stomach.

Jamie smiled at me.
 
“When we came for the visit today, we were met by her.
 
It seemed she might appreciate a vacation, so we decided to take her with us.” She pulled Mom back up and ran her hand across Mom’s cheek.
 
“You look a lot like her, Ash. Same eyes, same hair.”

That was all it took.
 
Seeing Mom touched by Jamie put me over the edge.
 
She had Chris, she had Mom, and she was slowing killing Memaw in the process by breaking her heart.
 
After all of this, yanking my hand away from the wall was effortless.
 
As soon as the one hand had been pulled away, all the bindings fell off and I dropped to the floor.
 
Unlike Jamie, though, I landed on my feet and rushed forward.
 
There was no weapon to wield, but I was beyond any level of fury that could be explained.
 
I could have probably ripped a car in half with my bare hands.
 
Jamie’s neck was going to be no problem at all.
 

I hurdled Chris’s body and arced gracefully mid-leap to extend my arms and wring Jamie’s neck. Out of nowhere, I was ripped out of the jump by my ankles.
  

Crashing to the floor in front of Mom, I extended my arms, trying to reach her.
 
As our fingertips grazed one another, someone pulled me away.
 
Crying out in frustration, I rolled onto my back to face Ankou.
 
Instead, I stared into the half-crazed eyes of Chris.

THIRTY-TWO

A fanatical gleam in his eye, he grinned widely as though he had just won the lottery.
 
“Jamie!
 
I caught the disgusting thing!”

“Very good, baby!
 
Now finish her off.
 
That’s the only way you’ll get your real sister back,” Jamie said behind me.

Memaw roared behind Chris, sprinting forward to attack Jamie.
 
She was a complete blur.
 
I didn’t turn to look to see the outcome of the fight, because Chris diverted my attention with the worm blade he pulled out of his pocket.
 
There was no way I would be able to be repaired like Memaw had been.
 
Out of self-defense I kicked him in the face with a sharp thrust he hadn’t been expecting.