The Victorious Redemption Complete Series Boxed Set, page 54
“It’s like wearing armor, though it’s getting tighter with every second that passes.” That was what Kendrick had said.
But this wasn’t getting tighter. If anything, this form fit her like a glove. Jasmine flexed her arms and fingers to test her new strength when a figure staggered toward her.
She batted the zombie away in one stroke and sent the poor creature flying. It landed awkwardly on top of one of its kin as the world resumed its pace and Jasmine became aware of the ongoing fight. Over the sea of heads, she could make out Kendrick and Arthur admiring her form. Delilah was struggling with her own demons, tearing through the necrotic warriors fighting the packs. All around her, combat ensued. A handful of sentient beings nearby noticed Jasmine’s new form and had the sense to retreat while Jasmine’s chest swelled with anger at the surrounding onslaught.
She growled a low bestial rumble that drove her confidence. Unlike when she had emerged from the grave, her legs had the strength to power her into the fray. She was only faintly aware of the zombies attacking her back as she swung her arms and carved a path before her. They were more like mosquitos than the threat they had once been.
With one hand, she picked up a zombie and squeezed. The ribcage crunched, and the light died from the zombie’s eyes. She kicked at a nearby necromancer and caught her off guard, breaking the coming spell.
Jasmine flexed her powers and went into full rampage. She tore around the space, taking down enemies at a pace she couldn’t have imagined. She freed Ghost Throats, aided Dark Walkers, and was soon near Delilah.
Delilah’s eyes flashed at this newcomer, and for a moment Jasmine wasn’t sure if Delilah would have the sensibilities to remember that not everything had to be destroyed. After a moment’s pause, Delilah offered a small nod. Jasmine returned the motion.
Movement caught the corner of her eye. A lone figure sprinted for the helicopter.
Deshawne Pierce.
Her mind said the words, but her throat translated them to a hate-filled growl. Jasmine hunkered down to all fours and broke for the asshole. Her claws dug trenches into the dirt. Wind whistled past her ear. Smoke surrounded her as necromancers attempted to slow her pace, but she broke through them all like a hot blade through butter. Jasmine’s gaze was fixed on Deshawne. Nothing was going to stand in her way.
Deshawne reached the helicopter. He scrambled inside, and his legs kicked behind him as his fear made him clumsy. The blades kicked into gear, whirling up a dust storm around them as Jasmine closed in on her increasingly obstructed target.
Don’t let him go. That was all Jasmine could think about. She couldn’t let him get away. Not now. Not after all this effort. All this chaos and destruction around her. He was one of the lynchpins, and he needed destroying. Every bad moment in her recent life had centered around Deshawne.
As he turned toward her, eyes wide, the helicopter began its ascent. He panicked, smashing buttons on the console. Jasmine’s heart pummeled in her chest, the first real sensation for some time as she narrowed the gap between them. Several necromancers stood in her way, but she broke them with a swipe. She swerved only slightly to avoid half a dozen zombies running to her.
Deshawne continued to rise. Jasmine fought against the power of the blades. A shit-eating grin spread on his cheeks as he looked down at her and waved. Jasmine’s eyes flashed. Her core temperature rose as she took the gamble and sprang.
She launched higher than she ever thought possible, and Deshawne’s smile slipped. Jasmine grabbed a fistful of the helicopter’s landing gear with one meaty hand. The chopper lurched violently to the side as Deshawne fought to gain control.
Undeterred, Jasmine swung her other hand to grip the gear. With powerful moves, she worked her way to the cockpit.
Deshawne kicked open the door, one hand still wrestling with the helicopter’s controls. They spun in a wide circle over the top of the bluff, attracting the attention of some of the warriors below.
“You stupid bitch!” Deshawne roared. A flash of silver accompanied his words as he drew the revolver on her.
Jasmine scowled.
“This ends tonight,” he announced. “Enough of the games.”
Bullets ripped into Jasmine’s flesh. Some struck bone, and others passed through her skin and muscle to exit from the other side. He fired until the chamber was empty. Jasmine was surprised by how little the attacks hurt. They had to be silver bullets, but still she held on tight, her determination unquelled.
They dropped altitude as surprise caused Deshawne to ignore the controls in favor of getting rid of Jasmine. She reveled in the fear in his eyes as she worked her way closer. Her claws were within a few feet of his legs.
Deshawne whirled and reached for his machete. The blade winked in the moonlight as he hacked down at Jasmine. He snagged her flesh, but not enough to damage her. The vehicle listed and worked its way closer to the bluff, and Jasmine reached back and dug a deep groove in Deshawne’s flesh. He howled in pain.
“Watch out!” someone called from below.
Jasmine turned, surprised to find they were only a few meters from the surface of the bluff. Deshawne used her distraction and leaped. He landed awkwardly on his feet, then sprawled out on the ground.
She released the helicopter. The vehicle spun wildly away, free of its imbalance. It whirred toward the edge of the bluff, and as Jasmine landed, the helicopter crashed into the rock. It exploded on impact and shots of shrapnel fired all around them. Flames erupted as the engine ignited and blew, taking down a few nearby warriors from the fray.
Deshawne was a whimpering mess lying at her feet. He kicked at the ground, trying to push himself back as Jasmine stalked powerfully toward him.
“Give it up,” Deshawne warned. “You know there’s only one end to this, and it isn’t mine. You’re a scourge—an abomination. One way or another, they’ll get you, and then it’ll be game over. There’s no other way.”
Jasmine frowned. Her intention was set.
“No…” Deshawne begged. “No…”
Although it wasn’t begging, was it? That same hardened stare remained, cocky and arrogant even on the cusp of his death. Blood dribbled from the site of the wound on his arm, and it set Jasmine’s senses afire. She narrowed her eyes, a desperate hunger to destroy taking over as her mind filled with the hate and rage Deshawne had brought.
Before she knew it, he was screaming. Her teeth tore through his flesh and her claws shredded limbs and organs from his body. She allowed herself this moment of indulgence, finally completing the task she had been so desperate to complete. She took out her despair of her grandmother, of Dinah, of her father and mother and everything else that had gone wrong in her life. It all centered around Deshawne, somehow. This she knew. In this moment, it would all end. Deshawne would die, and then…it didn’t matter. Jasmine lost herself, and the catharsis felt good.
She was only vaguely aware of the muttering behind her. As her teeth tore at the scraps of remaining flesh and notched bone sitting in the dirt, stained with Deshawne’s blood, Jasmine felt the pull of attention. Virtually nothing was left of Deshawne but a mangled mess on the dusty ground. Quiet had fallen around the bluff, and as Jasmine finally peeled herself away from what lay of her meal, footsteps approached.
A hand touched Jasmine’s shoulder softly.
Jasmine whirled, all crazed fur and teeth until she saw Kendrick standing there, naked. His cheeks were sunken and the bags beneath his eyes were almost as dark as the night canvas above. Others, people that she knew and respected and loved, stood a short distance back.
“It’s over,” Kendrick offered gently.
Jasmine’s chest rose and fell from her efforts as she slowly scanned the top of the bluff. Bodies and cloaks littered the ground. Nearby, the fires had consumed the helicopter. It was just a metal carcass that crackled and popped and provided winking lights.
“What…” Jasmine managed. Her voice was foreign to her in this form. Already she felt herself softening, the bestial form shrinking away into her usual human self. Her fur drew back as she met Kendrick where he stood. Over his shoulder, she spotted Qadir on his knees, holding Dinah’s limp body to his chest.
Jasmine’s thoughts rushed to her own loss.
She ran to the limp bundle of her grandmother. She passed dead necromancers who were impossibly deteriorating into dust. While the slain pack members remained where they fell, the necromancers crumbled, forms shrinking into nothing and leaving only their garments behind.
She sprinted to her grandmother and collapsed to her knees. She pulled her tight to her chest. Jasmine’s tear-filled eyes fought to see the wound inflicted by Deshawne’s machete. She fumbled on dirt-caked skin to find a pulse, but there was none.
Her grandmother was dead.
Jasmine howled. Her pain echoed around the bluff and into the beyond. The moon stared passively down at them, shining its light brightly enough that Jasmine could make out all the grooves and contours of a life well-lived sketched on her grandmother’s face and skin. Her eyes were closed, and the old woman looked peaceful, which somehow made it harder for Jasmine. The hole where her heart had been ached, and she wasn’t sure how long she sat shuddering with tears and gasping for air before someone approached.
Once again, a hand was placed gently on her shoulder.
“No loss could have been more tragic.” Eli stood above her, somber with his brow furrowed and his lips pressed into a thin line between breaths as though trying to hold in his own pain. “Tonight, a star has burned and died, and in its wake only darkness remains.” A single silver tear rolled down his cheek. “Rest In Peace, Charlie. You were one of the best ones.”
Jasmine swiped a fist across her cheek, clearing the worst of the blurring tears. Eli’s presence pulled her back to their situation, and she glared at him, upper lip peeled back into a snarl. “You’ve got a job to do. There isn’t much time. Make it happen. We can all mourn our losses once the job is complete.”
Eli held her gaze for a moment, then gave a confirming nod. He turned and made a beeline for Deshawne.
Jasmine softly rested her grandmother’s head down, then rose to her feet. Her eyes were set, grim determination rising above the pain and hurt. She would soon grieve, but she had work to do. They hadn’t come this far to only come this far.
“What are you doing?” Delilah appeared naked by Jasmine’s side. Kendrick drew up on Jasmine’s opposite side. The three of them would be a strange sight to those who didn’t know of wolves and specters and zombies.
Jasmine answered, “I figured out how to kill a billionaire without the world losing its mind. Should we leave him in pieces tonight, the world would know that something was amiss. Someone this high profile missing from the city would be pursued, a line of investigation funded by the billions in his stocks and savings.”
Kendrick cocked an eyebrow. “So, how are we doing this?”
Already Jasmine had clocked the strange occurrence taking place as Eli approached the body of Deshawne. She frowned, replying with a simple, “You have the billionaire kill himself.”
Kendrick and Delilah exchanged a confused look.
What should have been shreds and ribbons of flesh and meat had all but sewn itself back together. In front of their eyes, Deshawne’s flesh knitted and grew where the holes had been. It was like watching a timelapse of a plant or piece of fungus. Only this parasitic asshole contributed nothing to the world.
“Whatever they did to you and Deshawne, I don’t like it,” Delilah stated.
“Me neither,” Jasmine replied. She was trying to process this latest development of immortality in her rival. All satisfaction of slicing him to pieces was evaporating as his body melted back into being at an alarming rate. Limbs and torso took shape as if from clay in the hands of an invisible child.
Eli looked over his shoulder at Jasmine. “I’d suspect this isn’t a permanent feature. The ritual wasn’t complete. This may just be a flare of the effects sparked on by the moon.”
“We’ll have to wait and see,” Jasmine conceded, glaring down at the asshole now smiling back at her.
Deshawne raised his head with some effort, his naked body all but healed. “Jasmine. We’ve got to stop meeting like this.”
“That’s the plan,” Jasmine agreed. “How the hell is this possible?”
Deshawne grimaced as he pushed himself up and propped himself on his elbows. “I don’t question the magic. I just pay the right people for the right spells.” He chuckled, the sound boiling anger in Jasmine’s stomach. “I’m sorry things didn’t go your way.”
“We’re not done yet,” Jasmine retorted.
This time Deshawne bellowed laughter. The last of his strength was returning to him and he sat up and clutched his knees. “You’re kidding, aren’t you? What possible power do you have here? You can’t kill me, Jasmine. I’m invincible. I’m immortal. I’ve drained your essence and now there’s nothing in the world that can stop me. I’ve been blessed with the ultimate currency: time.”
“That may be,” Jasmine replied. She held on to her keen calmness. Inside her head she pushed back the pain and the hurt from the events of tonight. This needed to go right. “But we don’t have to let you go. You can live forever in a jail cell or a hole in the ground for all I care. That was your hope for me, wasn’t it?”
Deshawne beamed. “And you think people won’t come looking? You think my absence will be ignored? Jasmine, please. I’ve got people across the city who are no doubt already looking for me. You don’t stand a chance. Remember, I can’t be killed…” His eyes darkened. “But you still can.”
Deshawne’s head rocked back as Eli kicked him in the face.
Jasmine laughed.
“Sorry,” Eli stated. “Couldn’t help myself.”
Jasmine approached Deshawne. She crouched in front of him, eyes dark. She looked at Eli, and they both nodded.
“What is this?” Deshawne sounded uncertain for the first time.
Jasmine kept her gaze fixed on Deshawne as smoke leaked from behind her. Those gathered watched on in awe as the form of Eli melted away in a cloud of smoke. As the smoke dissipated, the dark figure of a man they all knew stood where Eli had been.
“No…” Deshawne breathed.
Standing in front of him was a near-perfect replica of Deshawne. His eyes were of matching hue, with the same cocky smile that Jasmine had come to detest. His body was in perfect proportion to the man sitting on the ground.
“You won’t be missing,” Eli informed him. His voice was unmistakably Deshawne’s. “You’ll be returning to the city tonight. Only, rather than your usual activities, Deshawne Pierce will be doling out his wealth to the needy and vulnerable, helping the less fortunate in the city. Perhaps after that, Deshawne engages in some…less than favorable scandals, and his reputation is besmirched before the city’s eyes. Very public. We’ll make sure we get it on the front cover of magazines. After that…well… After that, I’m sorry to say that your nearest and dearest—if you even have those—are going to find a lengthy suicide note saying that it was all too much and you’ve decided to end things.”
“That’ll never work,” Deshawne promised. His calm and composed expression was screwed into an ugly mask. “You’ll never get away with this.”
“The fuck we won’t,” Jasmine replied with a smile on her face. “It’s a tale heard over and over again. Meanwhile, we’ll enjoy keeping your immortal ass tied away and hidden from the world. You may not rot like the rest of us, but you’ll wish you did. Every day that passes will be a monotonous haze of endlessness in which you’ll wish you could die. A painful living death, much like that which you bestowed upon me.”
He pushed himself to his feet with a growl and spun on his heels to make a break for it. He only managed a few awkward steps before Delilah was on him. She landed a blow to the back of his head and knocked him unconscious.
When Deshawne opened his eyes some time later, he found he could not move. Thick iron chains wrapped around his body. They were locked in place and didn’t budge as he tried to wrestle himself free. A glowing blue energy surged through each link as Qadir finished the last of his enchantments and gave a satisfied nod.
Deshawne threw his head back and screamed. A moment later, his sounds were muffled by a filthy rag stuffed down his throat. Kendrick stepped back with a grin on his face. “That’s better.”
Jasmine crouched once more before Deshawne. It was only then he realized that they were on the precipice of the bluff. A long tumble lay before him as the pool sat silently below.
He muttered something that sounded like “please” and “no” through the cloth. His eyes were wide. For the first time since she had met him, she saw genuine fear behind those dark eyes. It gave her a grim sense of satisfaction as she placed a hand on his shoulder. “Enjoy your hard-won forever,” she crooned. “Of all people, you deserve this.”
She rose to her feet, towering over him. “Oh, and one more thing: as a lay, you were an eager C-grade at best. Just something to think about as your wallow in your watery grave.”
Before Deshawne could respond, Jasmine kicked a nearby boulder. The boulder lurched toward the edge of the bluff and tumbled over the edge. Deshawne’s chains clattered and uncoiled as the boulder crashed down, and he realized they were connected. He had enough time to mutter one final strained cry for help before he was dragged over the edge.
Jasmine watched, memorizing every detail as his figure descended into darkness. The boulder crashed into the water, shortly followed by Deshawne. She had no idea how deep the pool was. She only knew that Deshawne was gone beneath the surface. Maybe not the death she had wanted for him, but the most he deserved, given the circumstances.
They gathered at the edge of the bluff and stared down into the darkness. For a short while, bubbles filtered to the top of the pool. The ripples cresting out in concentric circles.
After a few minutes, the bubbles stopped and the circles faded.
In the eager moonlight, the pool returned to its usual glass-like state.
