Darkness Rising

CHAPTER [ 29 ] THE RISE

Lenore's heartbeat was deafening, drowning out the chaos and death swarming around her.

Her gaze swung toward where Kaiser's body lay. He wasn't moving. His head was fixed at an odd angle; a broken one. A tremble worked through her as she continued to stare into his wide, unblinking gaze. There was a tightness in her chest that made breathing hard; shallow, rushed panting breaths whooshing over dry lips.

She was pushing up off the ground, body swaying; legs unsteady. There was movement behind her, Lenore's instincts were screaming for her to react. Without conscious effort, she turned just as a Knight threw a heavy handed punch.

It skimmed the edge of her cheek, taking a layer of skin. She stumbled over her feet, elbow taking the brunt of her fall back into the wall. Numbing pain rushed up into her fingertips, a sharp gasp springing from her mouth. 

A familiar crack cut through the air. Distant lightning? No, not lightning-something far more terrifying. It was Camila's blood whip. Lenore watched it wrap around the Knights throat. Then came a harsh choking wheeze, before the whip sprouted thick thorns. They ripped through the knight's flesh as Camila gave a mighty yank, killing him instantly.

Lenore shuffled away from the dead, nearly headless knight, mind emptying itself of thought. This must be shock, her voice whispered. Once more her eyes drifted back to Kaiser's body. A high pitched ringing pierced her ears; the edges of her vision blurring. Only Kaiser was in focus.

He was dead? 

Her legs lost their strength, bringing her to her knees. All the air rushed from her lungs in a wheezing exhale. There was burning pain in Lenore's chest. A pricking sensation was building behind her eyes, the temptation to cry and rage hit her hard.

She didn't accept this.

A vicious, inhuman sound caught in her throat. The need to release all the pain and grief and fury she had kept pushing down for weeks overwhelmed her. Kaiser's dead stare was Lenore's undoing. Darkness bled from her like ink across a white canvas; a thousand fluttering wings beating at the air with a graceful violence.

"Kill them," she hissed, venom dripping from her lips. "Kill them all."

The swarm of carnivorous butterflies obeyed the command. Becoming a dark cloud of death and wrath, moving from one fleeing party goer to the next. Lenore watched—enjoyed her destruction. It didn't matter if she died anymore as long as they all did too. 

A heavy shadow fell over her, blotting out the world around her; the one that was crumbling down around her. Strong hands were latching onto her shoulder and shaking, threatening whiplash. If they wanted to stop her they should grab hold of her neck. Lenore's hands lifted and grabbed—clawed at the firm body blocking her way.

Then the hands were cradling her face, a tense voice shouting over the panic, calling her name. "Lenore!" 

Her eyes focused on face hovering in front of her. Emilio was staring at her with concern. She blinked slowly, becoming aware of the world around her like coming out of a dream.

"Kaiser—"

His heavy sigh blew back the hair that had fallen into her face. "He'll be fine. His core is still intact."

The words were confusing, they didn't add up to what she saw. "But—" 

"Trust me, he's alive."

"None of us will be alive for long if we don't do something about that," Patrick said, squatting down beside them, nodding his head toward the second floor landing.