Page 50 of Jackal's Pride
I wasn’t aware of time, I only knew that I drove myself to this to stop the shit storm around us. I trusted the people around me to take care of everything during the seconds—minutes, or longer maybe—that I lived in agony.
Later, I didn’t know how much time had passed; I dragged my eyes open, and Jackal’s face loomed over me. I was on the ground. By the stiffness of my joints I assumed I had been convulsing on the ground like we all did when Isabella got a hold of us. As I sat up, he moved back.
I glimpsed around and groaned. “It’s over?”
“It’s over,” he said, and I glanced up.
Grabbing my head, I stood and ignored Jackal’s outstretched hand. I peered around slowly, scared to take in the aftermath of what just happened. My chest was heavy with grief as I took in the town. Or should I sayhad been?There was nothing left besides a few cars with humans scrambling to get out. There were also a few houses half-standing. I was sure one of them had been protected with barriers but even so, they would collapse soon. The human knew this and ran out. Signs, trees, and collapsed buildings covered the roads and grass. Prudence dropped down from the sky in front of me.
“Did any—did we save them all?” I asked.
Sadness crossed Prudence’s face and my heart broke. We tried so hard, but failed.
“We had a few close calls, and there were some injuries. The majority of the residents are fine.” She rubbed the back of her neck while her gaze swept over me. “What happened to you?”
“I got held back by something minor,” I said with my normal sass.
Her nose wrinkled, the dull expression never leaving her eyes though. “You reek of vamp.”
I stiffened but offered, “I took care of it.”
She paused a moment just to inspect me. I could never understand what Prudence was thinking, not when she rarely gave away anything in her eyes. “Good.” She briefly glanced at Jackal. No matter how hard I tried to ignore his presence or my awareness of my longing for him, I couldn’t. He was just too close. I inhaled the piney musk of him. Prudence walked away. Payne ambled between vehicles, carrying two grown men over each of his shoulders. With a huff, he laid them down against what was left of the hospital building.
Only when we thought it was over, our Reaper senses started tripping again. Another part of the human world needed us. With no time for a breath—or a sigh, we raced to where we were needed.
Chapter 20
Maureen
Breaking News:
Less than twenty hours ago, a small town in Kansas suffered a rare, multi-vortex event. The phenomenon has never been caught on camera, but one brave crew managed to record it from a safe distance.
What is a multi-vortex event? It’s one where a giant tornado has more than one funnel within it. The combined force causes the tornado to break down into smaller ones. Despite numerous warnings, the strange pattern attracted people to the town. Even more amazing is the fact that the tornadoes stayed in the area, never moving beyond the town’s limits.
Speaking to Alex, a meteorologist for Lee Station, this storm was unprecedented. “I looked it up. Never before has one town been hit ten times by a single EF-3 tornado.”
It’s unbelievable, but no lives were lost in the chaos. Yes, homes along with much of the town were destroyed. If you’d like to donate supplies, check the bottom of the screen for a phone—
Hold on, I’m getting another report! Another multi-vortex event is happening in Japan. Does Japan even get tornadoes, Alice?
Let’s show some footage of the tornadoes first, then we’ll—
A customer turned up the volume on the newscast. I was sure it had something to do with my giant ass family and their loud mouths, sitting around three small tables. We were at some steakhouse in some city, possibly New York.The truth was, I couldn’t tell you what part of the human world we were in considering there was so many places we’d been in the last twenty-four hours.
“Pass the ketchup,” August barked, shoving his burger in his mouth, biting off way more than anyone could chew.
Saving the world was exhausting. We were hungry and tired from overusing our powers.
“What the fuck, Payne?” August hissed. “Your fat-ass took all the ketchup.” I pinched my lips together to keep from laughing. There wasn’t an inch of fat on Payne, but it was somewhat relaxing hearing their usually banter after all that happened.
“August!” Mom whisper-shouted at him. I grinned as he ignored her.
“Look, there’s some on that table behind us.” Payne jerked his head back. “Grab it!” August did, smothering his fries in the red stuff with a cheesy smile, and Mom shook her head. There was no help for him or any of us as kids, I didn’t know why she tried now when we were all over a hundred years old.
“Take it easy, I need some for my steak.” Sebastian yanked the ketchup from August’s grip.
“Ew.” Kitty wrinkled her nose. “I eat everything, but ketchup on steak, Sebastian? That’s just wrong.” Kitty joined up with us after finally sensing my presence again with the rest of them. Gavin had cloaked me from them. Apparently, Dad had sent her to search for me while I was held captive.