Rage of Vendetta (The Vendetta Series #2)

Chapter 5

Author's Note: Just a little note that if you reach the end of this chapter and are confused, shimmy over to Chapter 25 of In Vendetta House for a little memory boost. Don't forget to vote or comment if you enjoy! :)

Chapter 5

I hold my breath while an eternity passes.

The raging wind has been calm for a while, and now it seems to completely still. I watch the lifeless body for a twitch, but every muscle is as still as stone. I don't know if it's because I had entered Courtney's thoughts, but I feel strangely okay with staring down at a dead body.

Only earlier was I nearly having a breakdown when Aunt Nelly murdered Elliot right before me. And now... what justification did we have for this senseless death? Nothing, only that we wanted to save ourselves. Only that Courtney wanted revenge, and I stood on her side.

I guess we are simply selfish. Justice has no meaning unless it's personal.

I shake my head briskly, clearing my mind.

"Burial?" Vee asks, shortly and simply.

Her calmness makes me wonder if she's done this before.

"No," Courtney says firmly. She places her shaking hands on her hips to still them. "If humans find him, they'll open an investigation. Too risky."

"Get him into our wrecked car," I suggest. My voice wavers. Clearing my throat, I glance away. Buckets of blood are strewn across the path I crawled out, puddling in some places where there is less grass. I look down my scarless arm. It's no wonder the Nephilum last so much longer than Cambions.

"If you're going to shove him in," Sasha calls, "do it now." She sticks her hand--finger to wrist--deep into the increasing black smoke billowing out the car. "It's going to blow in... I'd estimate about half a minute."

Courtney backs away, taking deep, concentrated breaths. She rests on a nearby tree, leaning her back against the truck and slowly sliding to the floor, regardless of any glass shattered there. Her face is utterly white, almost devoid of color, as she rests her chin on her trembling knees. Before I can make myself turn away and stop staring, I see her stretch out a palm without looking up, and the ground opens up to swallow all the parts of the SUV.

My head jerks itself away. Courtney wouldn't want my pity, and the least I can do is fulfill that.

"Better hurry up!" Sasha yells.

Vee raises both hands, and her expression unchanging, she slowly moves a levitating corpse towards our smoking car in the field. Sasha now has both her arms outstretched. I'm not particularly sure what she's trying to do, but I can only hope it doesn't blow up in our faces. Literally.

"Don't drop it!" I call to Vee.

Vee jams the body in at the driver's seat, and right in time too, because then, everything disintegrates into flames.

I stumble back, so startled by the noise that I fall back and nearly twist my ankle.

My butt is going to be so bruised for like, three seconds. I wait for intense heat to burn through from the explosion, but Sasha holds all the flames in. They reach a certain point before bouncing back in like it hit an invisible wall.

Slowly Sasha moves her outstretched arms towards herself, narrowing down the barrier that the flames can reach. Before long, the fire dies out, folded onto itself, and Sasha drops the invisible barrier, letting smoke rush out in a mushroom cloud.

I cough, waving off the smoke attacking my face.

"Burn the surrounding grass," Vee gasps out.

"What?" I wheeze, confused.