Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles 1)

The wind began to pick up, whipping the rain through the air like glass. Lightning tore across the sky. Thunder crashed so loud the ground shook. Clearly we were no longer in the eye of the storm. I knew Lena couldn’t control herself much longer.

“When were you going to tell me?” she screamed over the wind.

“After you Claimed yourself.”

Sarafine saw her opportunity and took it. “But don’t you see, Lena? We have a way. A way you and Ethan can spend the rest of your lives together, marry, have children. Whatever you want.”

“She’d never allow that, Lena,” Macon snapped. “Even if it were possible, Dark Casters despise Mortals. They would never allow their bloodlines to be diluted with Mortal blood. It’s one of our greatest divides.”

“True, but in this case, Lena, we would be willing to make an exception, considering our alternative. And we have found a way to make it possible.” She shrugged. “It’s better than dying.”

Macon looked at Lena, and countered, “Could you kill everyone in your family just to be with Ethan? Aunt Del? Reece? Ryan? Your own grandmother?”

Sarafine spread her powerful hands wide, luxuriously, flexing her powers. “Once you Turn, you won’t even care about those people. And you’ll have me, your mother, your uncle, and Ethan. Isn’t he the most important person in your life?”

Lena’s eyes clouded over. Rain and fog swirled around her. It was so loud that it almost drowned out the sound of the shells at Honey Hill. I had forgotten we could get killed, by either of the two battles being waged here tonight.

Macon grabbed Lena by both arms. “She’s right. If you agree to this, you won’t feel remorse, because you won’t be yourself. The person you are now will be dead. What she’s not telling you is that you won’t remember your feelings for Ethan. Within a few months, your heart will be so Dark, he won’t mean anything to you. The Claiming has an incredibly powerful effect on a Natural. You may even kill him by your own hand—you will be capable of that kind of evil. Isn’t that right, Sarafine? Tell Lena what happened to her father, since you are such a proponent of the truth.”

“Your father stole you from me, Lena. What happened was unfortunate, an accident.” Lena looked stricken. It was one thing to hear that her mother had murdered her father from crazy Mrs. Lincoln at the Disciplinary Committee meeting. It was something else to find out it was true.

Macon tried to turn the odds back in his favor. “Tell her, Sarafine. Explain to her how her father burned to death in his own house, by a fire you set. We all know how you love to play with fire.”

Sarafine’s eyes were fierce. “You know, you’ve interfered for sixteen years. I think you should sit the rest of this one out.”

Out of nowhere, Hunting appeared just inches from Macon. Now he looked less like a man and more like what he was. A Demon. His slick black hair stood up like the hair on a wolf’s back before it attacks, his ears sharpened to points, and when his mouth opened, it was the mouth of an animal. Then he just disappeared, dematerialized.

Hunting reappeared in a flash, on top of Macon, so quickly I wasn’t even sure I had really seen it happen. Macon grabbed Hunting by the jacket and tossed him into a tree. I had never realized how strong Macon really was. Hunting went flying, but where he should have slammed against the tree, he barreled right through it, rolling to the ground on the other side. In the same moment, Macon disappeared and reappeared on top of him. Macon threw Hunting’s body to the ground, the force cracking the earth open beneath them. Hunting lay on the ground, defeated. Macon turned back to look at Lena. As he turned, Hunting rose up behind him with a smile. I yelled, trying to warn Macon, but no one could hear me over the hurricane building above us. Hunting growled viciously, sinking his teeth into the back of Macon’s neck like a dog in a fight.

Macon screamed, a deep guttural sound, and disappeared. He was gone. But Hunting must have hung on because he disappeared with Macon, and when they reappeared at the edge of the clearing, Hunting was still locked onto Macon’s neck.

What was he doing? Was he feeding? I didn’t know enough to know how or if it was even possible. But whatever Hunting was taking, it seemed to be draining Macon. Lena screamed, ragged, bloodcurdling screams.

Hunting pushed away from Macon’s body. Macon lay slumped over in the mud, rain battering down on him. Another round of canisters rang out. I flinched, rattled from the proximity of live ammo. The Reenactment was moving toward us, in the direction of Greenbrier. The Confederates were making their final stand.

The noise from the rounds muffled the growling, an altogether different, but familiar sound. Boo Radley. He howled and leapt into the air toward Hunting, bent on defending his master. Just as the dog sprang toward Hunting, Larkin’s body began to twist, spiraling into a pile of vipers in front of Boo. The vipers hissed, slithering over each other.

Boo didn’t realize the snakes were an illusion, that he could run right through them. He backed away, barking, his attention on the writhing snakes, which was the opportunity Hunting needed. Hunting dematerialized and appeared behind Boo, choking the dog with his supernatural strength. Boo’s body jerked as he tried to fight against Hunting, but it was futile. Hunting was too strong. He tossed the dog’s limp body aside, next to Macon’s. Boo was still.

The dog and his master lay side by side in the mud. Motionless.

“Uncle Macon!” Lena screamed.

Hunting ran his hands through his slick hair and shook his head, invigorated. Larkin wound back through his leather jacket, into his familiar human form. Between them, they looked like two drug addicts after a fix.

Larkin looked up at the moon, and then his watch. “Half past. Midnight’s comin’.”

Sarafine stretched her arms up as if she was embracing the sky. “The Sixteenth Moon, the Sixteenth Year.”

Hunting grinned at Lena, blood and mud on his face. “Welcome to the family.”

Lena had no intention of joining this family. I could see that now. She pulled herself to her feet, soaking wet, covered with mud from her own torrential downpour. Her black hair whipped around her. She could barely stand against the wind, and leaned into it, as if at any moment her feet would leave the ground and she would disappear into the black sky. Maybe she could. At this point, nothing would have surprised me.

Larkin and Hunting moved silently in the shadows until they were flanking Sarafine, facing Lena. Sarafine moved closer.

Lena raised a single palm. “Stop. Now.”

Sarafine didn’t stop. Lena closed her hand. A fire line shot up through the tall grass. The flames roared, separating mother and daughter. Sarafine froze in her tracks. She hadn’t expected Lena to be capable of much more than what she probably considered a little wind and rain. Lena had taken her by surprise. “I’ll never hide anything from you, like everyone else in our family has. I’ve explained your options, and I’ve told you the truth. You may hate me, but I’m still your mother. And I can offer you the one thing they cannot. A future with the Mortal.”