Unforgiven (Wanderers #3) (56 page)

“You really want to take that risk, believing in some
old wives tale?”

“Enough talk,” he said, agitated that I would
question him. He looked almost as unsure as I was whether or not if
it would work. “I’m ready for this show to end. And from what I
hear, it’s going to be a killer.” He lunged for me.

I was quicker. That was always Jack’s problem. He
talked too much, was in to the theatrics, so I always knew when he
was about to make his move. Not happy that I was able to knock him
to the side, he attacked again and I countered his attack.

I kept trying to use my powers, but all that
concentration was making me weak. I flashed back to the day Gabe
had told us we needed to learn to fight as if we had no powers at
all. We had spent the whole day on hand to hand combat. I was never
so thankful for that day, because without my powers, I was
struggling. My damn dress wasn’t making it any easier either. I
needed to stall to catch my breath. “Where are your goons this
time, Jack? Waiting in the wings?”

He smiled. “I decided tonight would be a private
party.”

Not wasting any time, my instincts kicked in and I
went head to head with Jack; knocking him down as many times as he
knocked me down. I kicked him in his side, he flew onto the ledge
of the fountain, and I heard his ribs break. Satisfied with my hit,
I went to attack again to get the upper hand, but he grunted
through the pain and knocked me on my behind.

“Ella!” I heard someone call my name in the
distance.

“I’m in the center,” I screamed back before Jack had
my throat.

“That was very dumb of you,” he growled.

I heard more people screaming my name. “So, which one
of your Romeos is here to rescue you?”

I clawed at his arms, leaving scratch marks
everywhere, and drawing blood. But he barely flinched. He was
crushing my wind pipe and I was quickly losing the struggle. Not
wanting to die like that, I went for the cheap shot and nailed him
right in the groin. He fell over in pain and I was so happy Josie
convinced me to go with the pointed toe heels tonight.

“You’re going to pay for that.”

I pushed myself up trying to catch my breath. “Sorry,
but can’t risk having you produce a bunch of little bastards,” I
smiled cockily.

“Ella! Ella!” more
people cried.

Jack stood and shook off his injury. “Roman, Tristan,
Roman, Tristan,” Jack said, holding his hands out like he was
weighing the pros and cons. “Unfortunately, you’ll never get to see
who your knight in shining armor is because you’ll be dead before
he gets here,” he leaped, throwing his full force of weight on
me.

He knocked me over into the fountain and I cracked my
head on the bottom. I stood back up, ignoring the blood that was
dripping down my face. Tired of this battle I said, “Let’s finish
this.”

“Gladly,” he smiled, coming at me.

We fell down in the water from the slippery tiles
beneath us; thrashing back and forth, getting nowhere. I tried to
climb out of the fountain so I could regain some balance. I knew I
could defeat Jack on solid ground. He had a different idea. Jack
grabbed my foot, my shoe slipped off, freeing me for a spilt
second. I grabbed the edge of the fountain to pull myself out. Jack
grabbed my ankle and tugged me back in as my arms and hands
scrapped against the jagged edge of the concrete surrounding the
fountain. I cried out in pain, feeling the burn from the cuts. I
kicked and struggled to free myself and when I turned to escape,
Jack grabbed my hair and shoved me under water.

I pushed and kicked and tried everything I could to
get free, but the more I struggled the worse it got. So once again
I found myself about to die at the hands of Jack. I was going to
drown.

As the water filled my lungs and burned my chest I
wanted to scream. I wanted to fight. I did not want to die like
this. My lungs started to constrict. I was losing the fight. I
could feel my legs start to go limp, no more strength left to kick.
I could feel my body giving up, making it harder and harder to
fight back, but I still tried. I would not let him win. I tried to
push myself off the floor but my hands slipped on the tile. I
stopped struggling. The pain was too much and I couldn’t take it
anymore. I could hear Dean projecting to me in my head and I knew
the spell was breaking, because I was dying.

Just when I thought that was it, I saw the faintest
glow from my hand, and then I heard my grandmother’s voice.
“You
are the strongest person I know. The power you possess lives deep
down inside you and no one can take that away from you.”

At that moment I knew. No spell could hold me. No
amount of magic could keep me from using my powers. I had
McCallister magic with me. There were generations of it on my
bracelet. And it was in my blood.

The glow from the bracelet started to grow. The spell
was breaking.

I pulled what little strength I had left and reached
for my powers. They were there, deep down and I knew I could find
them if I just pushed a little harder. I pulled strength from the
ground as Ms. Kraft had taught me. I pulled strength from the
bracelet that was blessed with magic from generations of
McCallister women.

I felt a sudden burst inside me and I slammed my hand
down, hard, on the bottom of the fountain. Water sprayed out from
every angle bursting out and throwing Jack off of me. I clenched on
to the side of the fountain coughing up water and gasping for air.
“Ella!” Tristan called, busting through the entrance. He pulled me
from the fountain and held me tight in his arms.

Once I could catch my breath, I pushed Tristan away
from me. “Ella, what are you doing?” he asked, trying to hold on to
me.

I saw Jack in the corner. He was starting to come to
and I knew I had a very small window of opportunity. I stole the
stake from inside Tristan’s pocket. “Whoa, hey,” he said, trying to
take it back.

I ignored him. My only concern was Jack.

I stood over him, stake ready to plunge into his
heart, but I couldn’t do it. It just didn’t seem fair for it to end
this way and I hated the thought of having to kill another person
even though they tried to kill me several times. I backed away and
waited until more help arrived. Tristan ran over to me and took the
stake from my hands. It took all I had not to collapse in his arms.
I laid my hands on his chest and rested my head softly. “It’s going
to be alright,” he soothed.

Before I could react Jack was up. He threw Tristan
into the fountain, knocking him unconscious, and then turned on me,
knocking me to the ground. “You’re pathetic. I knew you would be
too weak to kill and that’s why I will win. Why I always win,” Jack
said, exposing his fangs.

I went to kick him again, but this time he was
prepared. He had all his weight on my legs and was holding my arms
down. I struggled to get free; twisting and turning. I saw the
stake out of the corner of my eye. I managed to slip one of my arms
free. I socked Jack in the jaw, knocking him off of me. I rolled
over on to my stomach and reached for the stake, but Jack was
already on me, and dragging me across the stones. I twisted and
turned and clawed my way closer to the stake, but Jack dragged me
further away scrapping my back and sides against the stones. I
winced from the pain, but fought through it. “You can’t do it Ella.
You never could. Just face it. You will always be the weaker link,
a bottom feeder.”

I was not going to let him win. I was tired of being
called weak. I stretched my arm out. The stake was just out of
reach. I cried out using every ounce of energy I had left to call
the stake to me. It slid across the ground and straight into my
hand. A victory smile played across my face. Panicked, Jack dropped
my leg and dove on top of me. I swung around and plunged the stake
into Jack’s heart. His face paled and turned to shock as he saw
what I had done.

“Wrong Jack. You lose.” I finished him off by pushing
the stake all the way in. Blood poured from his chest and dripped
down on to my arms. He coughed, spitting blood. I let go of the
stake and scooted backward.

Jack looked down at the pointed stick protruding from
his chest and then up at me. He gave me a bloodied smile. “Congrats
Ella, you are officially no better than me.” He fell on his hand,
holding the other to his chest. He looked up at me. “See you in
hell,” was his final words before he fell on his side and then
rolled over on his back. His chest rose and then fell and then he
was still. His body lay there motionless.

I heard a noise over by the fountain. Tristan. I
pushed myself up from the ground and made my way over to him. He
was struggling to get up. I wrapped my arm around his waist and he
grabbed his side, wincing in pain. His lip was busted and he had a
gash on his head. “How bad are you hurt?” I asked, checking for
other injuries.

“I’m fine,” he grunted. “Nothing that can’t be fixed.
What about you? And where’s Jack?”

“Dead,” I pointed over my shoulder.

Tristan hobbled around to look, then turned to me and
looked deep into my eyes. His hand gently caressed my cheek. I
tried to smile, but I was too weak. I collapsed into his arms and
he slowly brought us both to the ground. Tristan leaned his back
against the stone wall of the fountain. He positioned me carefully
in between his legs and wrapped the arm that wasn’t holding his
side around me. I shivered. He carefully took off his jacket,
wincing with every movement, and wrapped it around me. I wanted to
stay in the comfort of his arms forever.

He kissed my forehead gently. “It’s over Ella. It’s
finally over.”

“Why don’t I feel like it is? Why do I feel like this
is only the beginning?”

The end…for now

Unforgiven Playlist

Longest night (Journal entry) * Brooke Annibale – You
Don’t Know

Just a Dream (Dream/ jack) * Empires – Hello
Lover

The Garden (Drive from airport) * Hey Marseilles – To
Travels and Trunks

Belief (Ride to hotel/ella’s struggle with drinking
blood) * Jann Arden – Hanging By a Thread

This Nowhere (Search for Tristan) * Barcelona –
Slipping Away

Untamed (Ride to club) * Dropkick Murphys * I’m
Shipping up to Boston

The girls in their summer dresses (Inside club)*
Robin Thicke – Give It 2 U

Smells like teen spirit (Slow dance w/Josef) * Jason
Mraz – I won’t give up

If it kills me (Fight to get out) * Dropkick Murphys
– Hang ‘Em High

Roll away your stone (Wakeup/working in garden) *
Fitz and the Tantrums – Dear Mr. President

Let it go (Crying with Deirdre) * Dum Dum Girls –
Coming down

Shake it out (Café/phone calls) * Gavin Degraw – Let
It Go

Best thing I never had (Roman’s call) * Gavin Degraw
– Jealous Guy

Falling slowly (Journal) * Howie Day – The Longest
Night

Something’s gotta a hold on me (Bar) * Manchester
Orchestra – I’ve Got Friends

Breaking the Habit (Fight) * Disturbed – Down with
the Sickness

Miracle Mile (Finding Tristan) * Birdy – Without a
Word

Love Don’t Die (Cleaning Tristan/waking up) *
Sleeping At Last – Atlantic

Promises (Ella’s confession/Tristan freaks) * Plumb –
Don’t Deserve You

Come a little closer (Tristan/Ella talking) * Sara
Bareilles – Satellite Call

Waiting Game (Ella/Tristan in bed) * Adele – Make You
Feel My Love

How I feel (First time) * Rhianna ft Mikky Ekko –
Stay

Take it All (Talking in bed/ remembering dreams) *The
Civil Wars – Pressing Flowers

Someone Like You (Dean’s omission about Cameron) *
Adele – Daydreams

Dirty Little Secret (Tells Tristan about roman) *
Cary Brothers – Never Tear Us Apart

It’s Time (Bathtub) * Carousel – Iron and Wine

True Color (Ella/Deirdre) * Janis Joplin – Me and
Bobby McGee

The Arms of an Angel (Dance with Tristan) * The
Airborne Toxic Event – All for a woman

Can’t Live Without You (Finds out Josie is leaving) *
Jakob Dylan – In the Arms of a Ghost

Hanging by a thread (Ella says goodbye to Josie) *
David Gray – The Other Side

Don’t Let Go Yet (Tristan) * The Naked and Famous –
Hearts like ours

Wake Me Up (Letter from Tristan) * Noah Gunderson and
The Forest Rangers – Day is Gone

Homeward Bound (Plane ride home) * Phil Phillips –
Home

I Never Told You (Dad’s present) * Sarah Blasko –
Illusory Light

White Wedding (Engagement party) * Cults – Most
Wanted

Breathe me (Talk with Danni) * Eminem ft Rhianna –The
Monster

I did a bad thing (Dean /Cameron) * Meiko – Bad
Things

Courage Is (Ella talking to Grandma Bea/ Danni) *
Passenger – Patient Love

It Doesn’t Mean a Thing (Danni and Xander) * Kari
Kimmel – Remember

Good is Good (Birthday celebration) * Carrie
Underwood – See You Again