Gypsy Moon (All The Pretty Monsters #4)(95)

She thrusts the blade above her head, eyes going up as the entire sky lights up, the lightning trying damn hard to break the seal—the natural versus the unnatural.

“Nooo!” Marta shouts just as the flaming cyclone gets drowned out by nature’s own rain, and all the wraiths dive for her at once.

I almost fall when the earth under my feet shakes violently, and in the next instant, I’m thrown to the ground as something hard hits me in the chest. Bright, blinding light almost sears my eyes.

A roar escapes the wolf, and a cry escapes Marta, as she shouts Violet’s name. The wraiths scream over all of us as though they’re the only ones in pain.

I drop to my back, narrowly dodging an old, rusted piece of metal that sails inches above my face. My eyes widen at the sky as more and more metal sails toward us at really fast fucking speeds.

I roll out of the way as part of an old car slams into the spot where I was, shatters into smaller pieces, and gets sucked up by the wind again.

“What the fucking hell is happening?” I bark at Marta.

“This is new!” Marta shouts as she grabs ahold of a tree trunk, pulling herself against the wind, just as I start sliding toward the same place all the metal is getting sucked. “But look at it all going through the seals!”

“Where are the wraiths? I can’t see anything!” I call over the raging winds, as the whirling cyclone now stays black with the extinguished fire’s smoke.

“Violet!” Emit calls toward the center, two-legged again as he continues to slam into the third barrier.

Another bolt of light crashes, and Emit is launched back like I was, only this time I know why.

The lightning strikes, and the center of the cyclone lights up as Violet stands alone. Violet’s pained scream finds my ears as another bolt of lightning runs at a horizontal angle, like it’s chased her for miles. It finds the tip of the blade, running into Violet just the same.

Then another joins it.

And another.

And another.

So many all start coming in at once, and I go from not being able to see, to gaping in shock, as the storm tries to pull me in closer, sliding me across the ground until I absently stop myself.

Violet is glowing as the ground continues to vibrate and break apart, no sign of wraiths, who apparently aren’t the least bit lightning proof. Neither are we. We can’t get any closer or we’ll just be blown back again.

One tree after another turns to ash, as the bag Marta brought goes soaring through the air.

Ribbons whip through the wind like razors, slicing through branches above us with sharpened ease, before stabbing the ground all over the place.

My breaths come out shakier when Violet’s scream goes silent, and the lightning just continues to strike, the rapidness lighting up the entire area for miles. It quickly starts getting too bright to watch.

The metal lands all over the ground, but not one spark touches anything but the Van Helsing blade Violet is holding…until she drops it.

The lightning vanishes, and silence spills around us as the storm stops almost too abruptly, the light cutting out everywhere except for Violet, who is practically glowing, as she staggers and drops to the ground.

Blood drips from her nose as we stand slowly, not trusting the abrupt silence, watching as she weakly places a hand on the closest piece of metal.

Sparks shoot off, flying around, sizzling and spreading across every single piece of metal in the massive burial ground.

My panic is gone.

I’ve been reduced to a numb, unmovable fixture, forced to do nothing but watch with rapt attention as more whirring of threads fill the air like buzzing bees, shooting into the orchard from every angle, coming from seemingly nowhere.

My eyes stay on Violet as she turns her head, staring into the thick fog that is only growing and bubbling higher now.

Groans send my spine rigid as I stare at the fog in disbelief, seeing the silhouettes of bodies rising.

So many bodies…

So many things reattaching and moving together as a few more groans and moans ring through the air…

Emit moves past the third barrier like it’s no longer there, and he sprints to Violet the rest of the way.

All the seals are gone. She bloody broke them.

“She really was made for this. More so than I even realized,” Marta says so quietly that I know it’s intended for just her own ears, as she stares over at Emit scooping Violet from the ground, not even protesting as she just watches.

“She didn’t just raise them,” I say almost to myself, as I see the silhouettes in the growing fog.

The bodies are now standing and lumbering this way.

“She stitched together and charged every single one of them,” Marta states like she’s finishing my sentence.

We both cast a dubious look at the other, just as Vance slides to a stop at my side, and Arion drops in front of me. They both look on with the same stupefied expression I’m likely wearing.

“What the fucking hell did you do and how?” Vance asks, almost like he expects me to have really somehow fucked shit up and zombies now walk among us.

“I’m not entirely sure what happened, but Violet has more secrets than I even imagined,” I tell him, adjusting my collar as I grow slightly agitated, eyes moving to Marta.

“If you think I have all the answers, you’re sorely mistaken,” she states quietly as Emit just holds Violet’s limp body, staring out at the throngs of silhouettes as they seem to multiply.