The Moon's Light

Chapter Twenty-Seven

I stiffened when Katty and Jason started gearing up for a fight. And then I made a quick, spur of the moment decision and followed them.

Katty let me along, though I could tell she didn't like it. I couldn't quite say why I was so eager to stand on equal footing with them. Perhaps because I wanted to prove my independence. Show them I didn't need to be rescued anymore.

I wasn't actually prepared for the fight we ran into. I had been expecting a couple wolves and some posturing. This was two armies gathering before a battle. Katty sent me away, ordering me to run back home and away from this fight with a single word and a hard look. I retreated a step as she strode into battle, taking down wolves with a minimum of movement.

I bit my lip and turned to run as she really got into the thick of things. Protecting myself and standing on even ground with them was one thing. Throwing myself into a war and getting myself killed was something else entirely.

I just couldn't leave completely. I wanted to protect them too. I found a place on the fringes of the battlefield and watched, fingering the knife that Jason had belted around my waist. Everyone on Katty's side of the altercation seemed to be doing alright. Jason moved like a whirlwind, slicing through anyone in his way. And I already knew Tony loved a fight.

Katty's wolf friend had cut a path to his leader and the two of them were moving as one, giving each other both protection and openings of attack. I wasn't even completely sure how. It was like they were one mind in two bodies.

Katty had stayed on the edges, dropping wolves with her guns. Providing support rather than going into close combat. And there was obviously no shame in it because I could see wolves doing the same, pacing behind, ready to leap in should an ally need help. I saw the charge before Katty and the warning stuck in my throat.

A wolf bowled Katty over and they rolled and scrambled on the ground. I could barely make any sense of the snarling, hissing mess until Katty screamed. It was a scream of pain and one I knew all too well. I was out of my hiding place and running to her aide before thinking. All I knew, was that she needed someone. That someone would be me.

I spotted the gun they were both reaching for and skidded in, snatching it up and out of the wolfs reach. They both flinched as I lifted the muzzle of the gun and pulled the trigger. The sharp noise, the smell of gun powder and blood, and the sight of brain splattering yanked me harshly out of the focused protection.

My mouth fell open in shock. I had just killed someone. I was a murderer. Air left my lungs and I stared at the lifeless body, flopping limply off of Katty when she pushed it.

Then Katty was on her feet and yelling at me, breaking me out of the tunnel vision centered on the body. "What the hell are you doing here?! I thought I told you to run?!" Anger heated my chest, banishing the cold sense of horror.

"That's some way to thank the person who just saved your life." Motion behind Katty drew my gaze and my eyes widened as they focused on the charging wolf. I didn't even manage a warning before Katty hooked her arm around my neck and dragged me off my feet and to the ground. She ducked over me as the wolf flew over us, then she was yanking the gun from my hand and blasting it away. Then she shoved the gun away to pull me back to my feet.

"My life is not worth yours." I would have protested the statement, but her broken arm had caught my attention. She still used it to switch out the magazines in her gun and ready it to fire again. I shivered at her whimper of pain.

"Thanks for the rescue, now get out of here and stay safe. Take this. If anything comes at you, you fire until it goes down or you're out of bullets, got it?"

I hesitated to take her weapon. "Don't you-"

She quickly shook her head. "No. You need it more than I do. Now go. Go!" She took the barest of moments to look at me, then she was running off again. I wasn't sure how she intended to fight hurt like that but it didn't appear to stop her at all.

I turned to go back to my hiding place to wait for the battle to end. I had almost made it there when a figure in my path stopped me. My gaze jerked up and I panicked at the man leering at me. "The Vampire's lover, eh? You'll make a fine kill."

He started to lift the shotgun that had been hanging in his grasp. I whipped Katty's gun up and fired everything I had. I let out a shuddering breath when the gun clicked, empty of ammunition. I let my arm fall back to my side in defeat. I had hit the wolf twice, but not anywhere that mattered enough to save me. My fingers closed around the hilt of Jason's knife, feeling the futility of challenging a wolf to close combat when he had me at gunpoint.

I stared down the barrel of the shotgun and wished I didn't have to die.

Time slowed to stretch my imminent death out for as long as possible. I closed my eyes as the wolf started to pull the trigger. A rush of wind slipped past me. Then the gun went off. I flinched, then blinked in surprise when there was no pain. I looked up to see if the wolf had missed and felt my heart stop when Katty fell flat on her back in front of me. Her chest had been turned unrecognizable by the shotgun damage.

I choked on tears as I rushed to her side, completely disregarding the shot gun aimed at me again and the sound of a charging werewolf behind me. Katty wasn't disregarding anything. She snatched her gun from me and reloaded it, firing off twice to drop the wolf with the shotgun and then the one charging us.

I gathered her into my lap, apologizing through tears and anguish choking me. She gently shushed me. "It's alright Max. You're safe. That's what matters." Her words caught on blood in her throat and she coughed. I held her a little tighter, wiping the blood from her face as I searched for any way I could help.

"Come on Katty. You can't die. Take a drink." I held my wrist in her face. For a moment, I thought maybe I could be useful. Maybe my blood would give her what she needed to survive. She took my wrist in her hand, and crushed me when she gently kissed my pulse. And she smiled. She bloody smiled.

"A full stomach isn't going to save me Max. I'm done. I'm moving on to the undead. But listen, no matter what happens after this, no matter if I completely change, know that I love you. I love you so much."

I shook my head, sobbing in hysterics. How could she be so calm about this?! "No. You can't. Please!" I would have poured out everything, but Jason dropped down next to me. Her attention turned to him, then Tony. She complimented Tony on her fight and joked about training more. She entrusted Jason with telling me something. Jason dropped a hand on my shoulder and nodded as she made him promise not to let me see her until it was safe.

I didn't understand. The both of them were sad, but they were taking it far better than me. I could have screamed at them. Didn't they understand? They were losing a lover. A sister. Did that mean nothing to them?

My gaze jerked back down to Katty when she suddenly panicked. Finally made some reaction that was normal for this situation. Her gray eyes went wide and she looked at Tony, reaching for her sister as she bit out Tony's name.

Tony inhaled sharply. Katty's hand dropped and she relaxed again. I glanced between them, trying to figure out what they had been communicating. Then Jason's fingers tightened on my shoulder and he choked.

I looked down at Katty again, listening for her breathing. Feeling for a heartbeat. I swallowed down another sob and shook her. She was limp. Lifeless. I struggled to breathe. I heard Tony as if she were underwater, faraway and hard to understand. But her tone was still sharp.

Then Jason was gathering Katty away from me and lifting her in his arms. I just sat there, staring after them as he bore her body away, following Tony. Hands lifted me to my feet and gave me a shove but I had no idea who had done it. My mind had gone blank. My mouth was dry and my face was wet. My heart had exploded into a million tiny pieces. I stumbled after Jason as I faced the dark reality.

Katty was dead.