I sighed. Maybe I shouldn’t have done that . . .
“Friends of yours?” Gavin was behind me. He was sweating, bloody, and his chest was heaving up and down.
I grinned, though I didn’t feel it. “Apparently, I’m not so in control of my powers as I used to be.”
He frowned at me. “Were you ever?”
I shrugged. “I thought I was better.”
A deep and ferocious roar came from behind us and we looked over, just in time, as Gregory stopped, grabbed the wounded Mori in front of him on both sides of his head, and he twisted the head completely off. The body fell back to the ground with a thud, but Gregory wasn’t done. Tracey yelled at him as she lit her Mori on fire. She tossed the lighter to the Goliath-sized vampire, and Gregory lit the head on fire instantly. He dropped it on the ground as he lit the rest of the body on fire, too.
Both of them, Gregory and Tracey, looked at where Gavin had left his Mori on the ground.
He hadn’t burned the body, but it wasn’t needed. The body had been pulled apart, literally. Arms, fingers, legs, parts of its stomach and chest were scattered all around the beach.
Gavin remarked, “I was mad.”
Gregory grunted. “Got that.”
Tracey didn’t reply, but she began to gather the body parts. Gregory did the same until every part of the Mori were thrown in one burning pile. By that time, Cal and Spencer were done throwing up and we gathered around the fire. It wasn’t enough. The flame should’ve been higher, and without thinking, I held my hands out and began to mutter a spell. The fire began to grow.
“Who-a . . .” someone muttered.
I didn’t care. Every last part of them had to become ash and even then, the pile of ashes would need to be spread all over. I didn’t know the Mori lore and how to kill them, but I wasn’t taking a chance. I kept chanting and the flames doubled in size. A white twinge started to grow on the outskirts of the fire, but that was from The Immortal. I couldn’t see myself, but I knew my eyes had changed to The Immortal white. I kept them lowered so no one could see them until the Mori were completely gone. Then, as the last piece of ash fell to the pile, I raised my hands and made a motion to the left. A strong gust of wind swept through the clearing where we were and picked up the ashes. I sent them off, directing where I wanted them spread, and once I was content, knowing they would never return and never come back to life, I stopped.
I could still feel The Immortal in my blood. She was on an adrenaline high, like she was intoxicated. I was buzzing, but I still waited until an ounce of calmness settled over me. Cal and Spencer had come up behind us, and I turned to look at Tracey, so my back was to the hikers.
I asked in my he
ad, “Are my eyes still white?”
She answered back, “You’re fine.”
Reassured, I looked back over the group.
All of them were staring at me with mixed emotions. Cal and Spencer looked like they were crapping their pants, while Gavin was closed off. I felt his anger. It was just underneath the surface. He was keeping it contained until the humans were dealt with. Gregory and Tracey had similar reactions. I felt the awe in both, but they were also resigned. They were waiting for Gavin and me to fight, then to keep on with whatever we decided.
I grinned slightly, but felt regret, too. “I shouldn’t have left.”
That was all Gavin needed. He erupted, “YOU THINK?”
“AGH!”
Cal and Spencer fell back again, their fear spiking once again.
I took a breath and held a hand out to Gavin. “You didn’t need to come.”
He bristled back. “You had three Mori about to rip your spine out, and you’re telling me we didn’t have to come?”
Tracey said quietly, “You knew we would.”
“You cast a sleeping spell over us.”
I stiffened, hearing the accusation coming from Gregory. I started, “I’m sorry—”
“Wren is alone,” Gavin interrupted. His eyes were narrowed to slits, and his jaw clenched. “She continued to Roane.”
“I didn’t ask you to come with me,” I argued back. My blood started to pump again. “I came here on my own.”