28. A Peak at Madness

"Ember!"
I've spent most of my eighteen years of living either being completely ignored or overlooked by the people around me, but this amount of attention was a bit too much for even me.
The sardonic thought didn't stop me from jerking out of the way in time as Fred lunged though. Neither did it slow me down as I twisted my wrist out of Rick's hand and shoved him into a stumbling Fred- whose bony arms were making wobbly little cartwheels in the air.
"Sorry," I croaked, watching the two men crash almost comically into each other. "Please don't fire me later."
If I made it out alive.
And I knew hesitation would get me killed. Or at least that's what I assumed Alpha was planning with this fiasco. I don't think he needed a hundred werewolves to knock me out, and if he had wanted me unconscious then he wouldn't have bothered waking me up to begin with. Which meant no hesitation on my part. Absolutely no hesitation. So no over thinking.
Ignore the fact that I'm outnumbered by a hundred to one, or that they're all (most of them anyway) werewolves that I don't want to hurt. Ignore those crashing sounds that are booming from somewhere in the house, ignore the tremors, none of those things provide a solution to my problem here. Let it fade into the background.
I took a deep breath, then willed my feet to move forwards and not backwards like my instincts were suggesting. The first person to make a grab for me was a tiny but very imposing woman. She was also obviously more dominant than I was. I heard the voice of instinct once more: Don't attack her, crazy! All you have to do is show her your neck in submission and everything will be alright- as dandy as candy.
I caught her by the elbow and flipped her.
I left her lying on her back and got no further than a couple of steps before a man was charging me. I danced around him, turned, threw a kick to his backside- and was hauled to the side by the front of my dress. Shocked, I stared wide eyed at Caitlyn, Helen's protégé. She was being controlled like everyone else (I could see the smoke drifting across her bare shoulders) but she was also the only one who wore a nasty smirk on her face. Her eyes were swimming with malice.
"I can't stop, Ember. I'm so sorry I have to do this," she said, voice high with mock regret as her hand began curling into a fist.
"Well, I'm not sorry," I said, gripping the back of her neck and jerking her head towards mine.
The sound of my forehead slamming into hers was delightful-the shock shooting through my own body not so much- and then Caitlyn was going down like a sack of potatoes. My head stopped throbbing by the time her head hit the floor. Perks of fast super healing.
And it was that quick healing- along with Aster's gloves- that helped me get further across the room, I'd knock out a larger opponent, my knuckles nearly shattering with the force, but as good as new by the time I came upon another person. But it wasn't just my werewolf healing that kept me alive- it was also the pack.
"Left hook!" Someone yelled.
I leapt to the right, narrowly avoiding a punch.
"Duck!"
I dropped to a crouch, hearing the whoosh of a leg above my head. A moment later I was sweeping the other person's feet from under them, getting to my feet and bounding away.
It continued that way, me relying on my instincts and the warnings of my pack mates, drudging along and staying-amazingly- alive. Yet it became quickly apparent that I wasn't going to make it to the roof in time if this went on. Not only was the pace too slow and I'd already wasted time with that fainting spell, I was beginning to burn up from the constant mending. I was going to black out again, soon. Unless...
I thrust an elbow into a face, muttering an apology and twisting to my right, grappling my way around bodies. The tip of a blade sliced at my shoulder but I barely noticed, was focused on getting to my new destination, focusing on the smell of baked potatoes, cake and wine. I'd seen plenty of them earlier, there had to be one close by. Hopefully one against a wall.
I evaded another reaching hand, gaze flickering around, searching- and there it was: A buffet table. Not the one Jett went crashing into, this one was still intact. It was shorter than I'd imagined but it was still against a wall. With a single hop, I was on it, my feet squishing through food. I looked up at the balcony on the second floor, steadying my arms as I got ready to jump.
Tonight was a night for insane ideas.
This one, unlike my earlier one, worked. Almost.
I gathered all the strength I could muster in my legs and jumped-wincing at the pull in my neck. But I was going up. Going up, hearing shouts of encouragement coming for below, going up, my hand closing on one of the balcony's rails-
"Ember, what the hell are you doing?!" Darius yelled.
My hand jolted, missed the rail by a few inches. Gravity began pulling me back down.
No!
Desperate, I grasped out blindly. Three fingers caught hold of the balcony's floor and I slipped out of gravity's grasp, my feet dangling indecisively, waiting for gravity to pull at me again. I held on tight, the muscles in my arm trembling as my other hand went up, took hold of the rail.
"Ember!" Darius called.
"Would you shut up?!" Someone retorted.
I didn't turn to see who it was, I was climbing now, getting away. I laughed with triumph, hauling myself over the banister a moment later and landing heavily on my feet. I leaned over, catching up with my oxygen debt as my eyes scanned the place.
There wasn't anyone up here. They probably all went downstairs when Alpha sent them after me, but it was naive to think it would stay that way forever. If I remember correctly, there was an archway a few yards from here that would lead to a hall and the upstairs rooms. To the left of the hall was another set of stairs that led to the roof. It wouldn't take a minute to get up there from here.
Especially with a clear path-
The ceiling exploded.
My hands flew up to shield my face from flying debris- just as a large rock bounced over the side of my head. I yelped, stumbling backwards, breathing in cement. I felt something hit my foot, felt something else sail past my cheek but after a minute the flying objects stopped flying. I opened my eyes, blinking through the white film of dust surrounding me. Cool air from outside rushed in and I coughed as it blew the dust down my throat. I waved a hand in front of me while inspecting my head for any bumps. None, fortunately.
A wolf barked.
My mouth went as dry as a desert as I watched a black wolf limp into view. Its fur was covered in a film of white and small pieces of ceiling, but other than the limp in its step it seemed to be in perfect shape. Its amber eyes were bright with twinkling humor and intelligence. It- Alpha, I was certain it was him from that glint- gave me a lopsided grin before trotting over to the balcony and leaping over it and out of sight.
He was gone, but his voice found me anyway.
You've got two minutes left. Better hurry, Emy.
I was on the edge of panic when another wolf fell through the hole in the ceiling, one I recognized immediately...and reluctantly.
I've seen Kane's wolf several times during pack runs (before I stopped attending them). It was a regal silver beast that came past my waist, large but still lithe, its gaze as calculatingly cold as that of its human's. So I was more than shocked at the sight of the rabid wolf I was currently staring at.
He was frothing.
Frothing at the mouth, the saliva already forming a little puddle on the wooden floor, his large teeth were bared in a gruesome snarl. Unlike Alpha, he was only barely on his feet. His beautiful fur was matted with blood, one eye sporting a cut that kept it closed. But it was his other eye, what was in it, that awakened the dread in my chest.
It was the same crazed glint in Alpha's eyes, only more primal. Alpha's seemed to burn, but now I knew his insanity was more cooled, it had settled comfortably into his head. What was in Kane was still trying to find a seat and kept falling out, screaming in fury as it tried another chair.
He put on this creepy ring, Fred had said.
Kane lumbered towards me(to attack?) and only got a step when that black smoke curled around his paws and drew him through the air like a fish caught on a hook. He went sailing, growling so fiercely the walls seemed to tremble and shrink inwards (I fell on my butt) and went over the balcony just as Alpha had.
I wanted to go after him. I thought that was where I was going too when I got to my feet again, but then I was running through the archway and down the second floor hall. Aster needed my help first.
I just hoped Kane wouldn't need it more by the time this was over.