The Reckoning (Darkest Powers 3)

“Shoo, pooch. ”

Liam drew back his foot to kick it. Then he caught sight of the rabbit drawing alongside him. He backed away. The undergrowth behind him erupted in a flurry of breaking twigs and squeals. I couldn’t see what it was, but Liam let out an oath, almost backing into the snarling dog.

The dog lunged. Liam kicked it. As it flew back, moonlight caught the dog’s flank, and I saw a hole the size of my fist, squirming with maggots.

Liam saw it, too, and he cursed and backed away. The dog threw itself at him. Liam swerved out of its path.

“Stop,” I said.

The dog did. It stood there,

teeth bared, eyes blazing, every hair on end, growling at Liam.

The rabbit lurched toward him. He kicked it, and it flew into the undergrowth, only to come back out again. Something else came out with it, some kind of rodent, mostly skeleton, rattling and gnashing its tiny teeth.

“Stop,” I said.

They did. Liam looked at me.

“Yes, they’re dead,” I said. “Yes, I control them. And you can’t kill them. You can try, but you can’t. ”

“Well, then, I guess I’m going to have to fight the one I can kill. ”

He charged at me.

I commanded the dog to attack, but my brain stuttered, seeing Liam bearing down on me. I dove to the side. He grabbed my pajama leg and yanked. I fell onto my stomach, scrabbling to get up, fingers digging into the ground, nails tearing. I wrenched and his grip slid to my foot. I gave a tremendous heave and flung myself forward, leaving him with my sneaker.

As I scrambled to my feet, I heard a smack. I spun to see Derek-in human form-on Liam’s back. Liam bucked and threw him off. Derek grabbed him, and they went down fighting.

The dog raced toward the two. I commanded it to be still, and it slid to a stop, snarling and straining like a rabid dog on a chain. I closed my eyes and gave it another order-to leave its body.

I kept releasing it and the other spirits, desperately trying to ignore the grunts and gasps of the fight. When I opened my eyes, the animals had collapsed, their souls freed.

Liam and Derek rolled on the ground, locked in combat, Liam’s hands in Derek’s hair, trying to yank his head back, Derek’s hands around Liam’s neck, neither one able to get the grip they needed to throw the other off.

I yanked out my switchblade as I raced forward. I hit the button…and felt the blade sink into my palm. I let go. The knife fell into the undergrowth. I dropped to my knees, digging for it.

A crack like the snap of a tree branch. I shot up. Derek lay on his back, Liam over him, Derek’s hands still around his neck. Both had gone still. Derek stared up, wide-eyed. Liam’s eyes were just as wide, but they saw nothing, fixed in an empty look of final shock.

Twenty-three

“I-I DIDN’T…” DEREK BEGAN.

He scrambled out from under Liam. The werewolf’s body fell, limp, to the side, his head twisted, neck broken.

Derek swallowed. The sound echoed in the silence.

“I didn’t-I just-I was trying to stop him. ”

“You didn’t mean it,” I said softly. “But he did. ”

He looked at me, eyes refusing to focus.

“He would have killed you,” I said. “Killed both of us, if it came down to it. You might not have meant to do it, but…”

I didn’t finish. I could have said the world was better off without Liam, but we both knew the point wasn’t whether Liam deserved to die, but whether Derek deserved the guilt of killing someone. He didn’t.

“

“It wasn’t a fight to the death for you. But it was for him. ”

Derek nodded and rubbed the back of his neck, wincing as his fingers hit a scrape.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Yeah. Just a few cuts and bruises. I heal fast. Might need a stitch or two here-”

He glanced down at the blood-smeared cut on his side…and realized he wasn’t wearing any clothing. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t realized it already. Kind of obvious. It wasn’t like he’d been going to take time out to find his clothing before stopping Liam.

Fortunately, under the circumstances, I hadn’t had time to dwell on the lack of clothing. With the fighting and, now, as he crouched, I hadn’t seen any more than I had when he was in his shorts. That didn’t keep him from turning bright red.

I peeled off my jacket and wordlessly handed it to him, and he tied it around his waist with a mumbled, “Thanks. ” Then, “We should get going. ”

Only we didn’t get going. We lapsed into silence, with Derek still crouched beside Liam’s body, his head down, hair hanging around his face, his back and arms covered in a sheen of sweat. He shivered.

“I’ll go get your clothes,” I said, pushing to my feet.

He caught my elbow. “Ramon. ”

“Right. ”

I blinked hard, feeling fuzzy-from shock, I guess. One of us had to kick-start their brain, and Derek seem stalled, unable to stop staring at the man he’d killed.

“We need to move him,” I said. “At least into the brush for now, to cover the body. Then we’ll have to come back tomorrow and bury him. ”

I couldn’t believe what I was saying. Hiding a body? A body?

And what’s the alternative? Leave him lying in the path and hope none of the neighbors ever walks through here?

Body disposal might be something I never expected to do outside a screenplay, but this was my life now. Adjust or give up.

I stood and took Liam’s arm, giving it a tentative tug.

“I’ve got it. ” Derek rose. “I’ll carry him. We can’t leave drag marks or anything, and we’ll need to bury him right away, so no dogs find him. ”

“Bury who?” said a voice beside me.

I jumped so high, my heart rammed into my throat.

“Chloe?” Derek said.

I turned to see Liam walking toward us.

“Chloe?” Derek said again.

“It’s L-Liam. His ghost. ”

Liam stopped. “Ghost?” He looked at me, then at his body, on the ground. He swore.

“You’re dead,” I said.

“So I see. That must make you one of those people who can talk to the dead and”-he glanced at the bodies of the dog and rabbit, lips curling-“raise the dead. ”

His gaze returned to his own corpse, and he swore again.

I cleared my throat. “As long as you’re here, I have some questions. ”

He looked at me, brows lifting. “You’re kidding, right?”