Page 41 of The Wayward Sons & The Vampires of Fortune (The Wayward Sons #4)
G ray grabbed my face, making me look at him. I’d caught half the exchange between him and Sam, but it was enough to make my stomach drop out. I knew he was going to do something—some wild and crazy thing to tip the odds in our favor. Wasn’t that what we always did?
“Don’t do nothin’ stupid,” Gray told me, his tone firm. “I got this.”
“No, you don’t—”
“I got this,” he repeated. The kiss he gave me was swift and fierce, short-lived and practically painful as his determination bled into me.
I hated it.
Whatever he was about to do, I hated it.
Releasing me, he walked right into the darkness and into the clicking.
They’d kill him.
“Gray!” I hollered. I tried to run after him—to stop him—but Sam’s arms locked around my chest. “Let me—get off! Gray! Get fuck—Gray!”
No matter how hard I struggled, I couldn’t break Sam’s hold. No surprise there, considering his power.
“Gray!” I screamed.
Underneath us, the ground began to rumble—enough to make us damn near topple over. Sam and I clung to each other in an attempt to remain standing.
“ Get those fuckin’ Hellhounds ready to attack, ” Gray ordered through the Bluetooth.
In the darkness, a flare of green light burst to life. It crawled through his veins and tracked its way under his shirt and up his neck. That gorgeous honey-chocolate coloring in his eyes vanished as his eyes glowed bright.
The ground fractured, and roots slithered over along the asphalt.
That green glow shifted—changing, becoming brighter as streams of white joined it.
The wind picked up, swirling violently overhead.
The first powerful draft swept through us.
Claws scraped on the ground as the Hellhounds were dragged forward.
All of us stumbled and struggled to maintain our footing.
“ Find somethin’ to hang onto! ” Nash yelled as another draft yanked us all forward. The wind howled louder, drowning out the noises of the vampires and Hellhounds around us.
Sam and I grabbed onto the hangar door handle. It barely did any good as the wind tugged hard at us. My feet slid out from under me. Over and over, I attempted to keep standing, but it grew harder with every passing moment.
“Holy fuck… he’s powerful,” Sam exclaimed in awe.
“Yeah,” I agreed with a hefty nod. But I’d always known that. His skills may not have been fine-tuned like some hunters, but Gray was a relentless powerhouse when he wanted to be.
Keyword: relentless.
That part terrified me most of the time. There was no length he wouldn’t go to if the situation demanded it.
His power flared bright, flooding all of us with its light—including the vampires.
They tried to disperse in an attempt to remain hidden, but the wind around them was stronger.
It yanked and pulled on them, dragging them forward.
As it did, roots lashed out. They coiled around the vampires, trapping their legs and grabbing them around the torso.
They ripped at the roots, trying to free themselves. Every time they managed to break free of one root, two more wrapped around them. Gray’s assault was endless. Coupled with the wind, they were inevitably trapped—stuck in his orbit and unable to free themselves.
Until they stopped fighting and turned on Gray. They rushed toward him, using his power against him.
“Gray!” I shouted, realizing what they were about to do.
It was one against three.
He’d never survive.
Before they had the chance, the Hellhounds cut them off. Winston plucked the closest right out of the air, his jaws clamping down hard around the vampire’s neck. Two others followed his leave.
Body parts scattered in the whistling wind. Blood spilled everywhere, and bones shattered and fragmented in the air.
Bile bit the back of my throat as I watched the horrific scene unfold, unable to look away, no matter how badly I wanted to.
This was one of those moments that would be forever imprinted in my brain—one I wished I could forget.
Even still, the carnage would be minimal as the vampires turned to dust and vanished.
The wind died down.
The earth stopped shaking.
The roots receded into the ground.
And in the middle of it all, the light from Gray’s power faded until the darkness swallowed him.
“ Ooh-wee! ” Gray exclaimed with a loud huff. “That was fuckin’ intense.”
Relief flooded my system. Holy fuck, he was alive.
We were alive.
“Well, fuck me sideways,” Nash said into the quiet. “We fuckin’ did it. We fuckin’ killed them all.”
“Yeah,” Sam agreed, the word disappearing into an awkward chuckle. He sagged on the ground next to me. That chuckle turned into a full-blown laugh, one that caught on until all of us were laughing, high on adrenaline and the relief that we were alive.