Crimson Ties

by V L Moon

  Copi hit play again and watched the wolf stalk around his deck. Its legs rippled, flexing with the sheer volume of muscle lying beneath the long black fur. The damned size of its paws dried the saliva in Copi’s mouth. His eyes widened as memories slammed home. Vischeral had fought the big fucker and survived. Those paws were the reason his back had been hamburger.

  The image of his partner’s back combined with the cave full of human carcasses sent a wave of acid bile into Copi's throat. Anger burned white hot at the thought of all of the countless pain the victims suffered at the jaws of the beast.

  Turning on his heels, Copi searched for a door. He needed to get out. The suffocating confinement of being trapped by a threat that needed to be stopped plagued the cop in Copi. It surged to a point where he had to do something, anything to wipe away the smell and debris of the insurmountable misery and pain the savage beast had inflicted time and time again.

  He felt strong; empowered by Vischeral’s blood that still coursed through his system. He was sure in the notion the beast could be stopped. But, the claustrophobic nature of Vischeral's underground haven was driving him wild. His nostrils flared in irritation until his seeking gaze found the trapdoor leading upstairs. It would take some maneuvering, but he’d found his way out. The trick would be not exposing Vischeral to the sun’s light.

  Taking one last look at the male sleeping so soundly the bed, Copi felt a pang of need slither through his soul. His heart quickened with every beat, tempting him to cross the room and stay beside Vischeral in the comfort of his bed. Instead, he ground his molars together to quell his need.

  “I'll be back soon,” he whispered before climbing up and popping the lock. He surfaced topside into the façade of Vischeral's life, grabbed the keys and his gun on the way out of the door and headed for the Hummer.

  Copi drove with the cold Alaskan air whipping into his face and felt more alive than any other time in his uneventful life. Every aroma, from the fresh fallen snow to the pine fresh forests lining either side of the road sluiced through his senses. Twinkling Christmas lights framed the windows and roofs of the houses he passed. With the pressure mounting to catch the killer, he’d almost forgotten it was the holiday season.

  He sucked in deep lungful of purifying air. Exhilarated by the cold, he floored the gas. The SUV responded, roaring to life and burning rubber when he nearly two wheeled it onto the highway. Two things occurred simultaneously. The backend quit fishtailing just as a huge dark shape leaped free of the confines of the pine forest. It landed heavily on the roof of the Hummer.

  Tires screeched and plumes of blackened smoke rose from the pavement as Copi fought to control the top heavy vehicle. The Hummer spun crazily. Copi fought the wheel trying desperately to turn it into the spin. Trees, snow and those damned Christmas lights swirled in the windshield. Finally, the tires caught traction and the whirlwind ride slowed. Copi gulped air into starved lungs and glanced out of the passenger window. Chills crawled his spine. He sat on the lip of the basin dropping into Forsythe Park; the same place where Clara Dafoe’s mutilated remains were found.

  His gaze tracked to the windshield before a growl drew his attention to the driver’s side glass. The wolf stood paws braced wide apart, a snarl curling his lips back from large canines. Murder lurked in the black depths of his eyes. Copi fumbled for his gun, but wasn’t fast enough. The beast charged and everything went Tilt-A-Whirl.

  The SUV flipped at an incredible speed, crashing into trees and sending Copi bouncing around the inside of his ride like pennies in a jar. The vehicle rolled endlessly. Limbs shattered the glass, sending shards flying through the interior. Repeated flips crushed the roof while tree trunks reformed the metal frame. It finally came to rest at the bottom of the ravine, a twisted mass of metal and glass. Copi fared no better. Blood and bone shone against bronzed skin. Pain nauseated him.

  Barely hanging onto consciousness, Copi wished he'd listened to Vischeral’s warnings. As his blood leaked into the soil, he regretted the decision that robbed him of the chance of a life with his vampire partner. After coughing up ribbons of blood that lingered to coat his lips, he forced himself to quiet his breathing and listen. The air around the wreckage of the car was too quiet. And then, the rising call of the wolf's howl echoed into the darkening sky. It was all going to end without him seeing those ebony eyes shining with the love he craved.

  Excruciating pain drew Copi from the void of unconsciousness with an earth-shattering scream. Searing breath tainted with the fetid scent of decay and death filled Copi's nose, cloying his skin and causing bitter, hot tears to stream a burning trail down his bruised and battered face. Death was upon him.

  Pungent steam rose from the long feral snout of the snarling wolf. Copi shuddered, cold dread slithered over his blood soaked flesh. He released a slow tortured moan as his body, racked by intolerable injuries shivered from the deathly cold of the Alaskan wind. Copi stilled when the wolf’s salivating mouth opened wide showing long glistening rows of razor sharp teeth. It snarled; a guttural growl that rumbled forth from its huge barreled chest to rent its own fury into the cold. It howled long and triumphantly at the capture and despair of his latest victim.

  Fighting hard against the pain of each fracturing breath, Copi strove to thwart the oncoming attack. He clawed hard with his unbroken arm, aiming for the eyes of the looming beast. Its huge snapping teeth missed his face and gifted Copi the chance to retaliate. Pushing down the overwhelming pain of broken bones and the excruciating inability to breathe, Copi grabbed onto the wolf’s thick neck and bit down hard, tearing through the grizzly fur coated ear with a blood curdling cry.

  Blood pooled in Copi's mouth, thick, acrid and decisively foul. Copi immediately regurgitated, spilling the stank remnants from his bloodstained mouth only to be dragged further from the truck, and then thrown with ease by the prowling angered wolf.

  Turning to face Copi, the wolf's eyes glowed a bone chilling, menacing red. It lunged, pinning Copi to the cold hard earth. Serrated canine fangs worked to sever bone and flesh, thrashing him from side to side and ripping and shredding again and again until all Copi could do was wait and wish for the horrific end of his painful death.

  Warm thick blood rose in his mouth, chocking off his air supply. Copi’s vision became a surreal and unnatural hazy shade of crimson. Only the memory of the ebony black well of Vischeral's glare soothed away the tendrils of a slow encroaching death, warming his last memory of the male he would never know. Vischeral.

  ~*~*~*~

  Deep in the grip of the Sole Dormire, Vischeral's large frame twisted and writhed in the black silk sheets. Tension tightened massive shoulders while his fists clenched in the bunched material around his waist.

  “Copi!” The name exploded from firm lips. Images flickered against sealed eyelids; glowing eyes, shifting shadows, blood, carnage, danger and warning signs, a hulking feral form. Dread yanked hard at his conscious pulling him forcibly toward wakefulness. A last desperate measure, the bond screamed into ‘I will not be denied’ mode, springboarding Vischeral straight from a supine position to a snarling crouch beside the king size bed.

  Hurriedly, he donned the leathers and black tee from the night before. His senses and the bond had already informed him Copi was not in the house. His scent trail led straight upstairs. “Fuck!” Vischeral spat into the room while fumbling with his boots in his haste.

  It wasn't safe for the male to be out alone. The bastard wolf was too fucking close and way to fucking cunning for Vischeral's comfort. Gaining his feet again, he stopped and clutched the spot where his heart would beat if he'd not lost it so many centuries ago. He bent double gasping, and then staggered.

  “Cophious!” He roared into the room as the bond clearly relayed his partner's tremendous pain and helpless despair. Closing his eyes, Vischeral tamped down Copi's mental call and centered himself. Casting out across the ether, he searched for his partner's location. Just as he locked on to Copi's signature heartbeat, a wolf's triu
mphant howl pierced the night. Vischeral refused to acknowledge the terror that slicked through his chest. “I warned you wolf,” he hissed into the room a second before his body winked out of existence.

  Taking form in the park where Clara's body had been dumped, Vischeral cloaked himself from the sight of any passersby and the wolf. Masking his scent would prove harder; and Vischeral prayed to any deity that would listen to assist him. He turned in a slow circle, his stomach dropping to his knees when the Hummer came into view.

  The windshield was a spider's web of splintered blood-spattered glass. Dents pocked the sides and steam rose from beneath the twisted hood. Gas from a busted line reeked. Every cell in his body yearned to cover the undisturbed snow and pull his male from the wreckage, but the wolf was still out there.

  Levitating his weight enough that he didn't leave footprints, Vischeral cautiously approached the hissing and popping SUV. The spicy scent of Copi's blood clogged Vischeral's nose and ripped at the hole throbbing painfully his chest. The truck was empty. Panic clawed at Vischeral’s throat. His only consolation and the only way he maintained his sanity, he knew Copi to be alive if very, very close to the precipice of death. Unwillingly, his eyes tracked the inside of the truck narrowing with savage hatred when he saw the profuse amounts of his partner's life's blood. Blood he sorely could not afford to lose thanks to Vischeral's own unrelenting hunger.

  Rounding the rear of the upturned Hummer, Vischeral sank into a crouch a snarl of challenge dancing toward the moon. The enormous black wolf stood vigilant over a broken and bleeding Copi. When he caught Vischeral's scent, his ears lay back flat against his skull and his muzzle curled back to reveal blood stained fangs. Savage rage boiled through Vischeral's large frame. Only a drop of Copi's blood would have guaranteed the wolf's death. Now, the fucker’s very soul was in jeopardy. Vischeral made a silent vow to deliver the bastard straight to Hell and gift Lucifer himself the ebony pelt as a throw rug. After Copi was safe.

  Vischeral’s eyes raked over Copi noting each slash in his bronzed flesh. Every tooth puncture recorded in minute detail alongside each scrape and broken bone. Copi’s eyes fluttered open. The amber depths were wracked with pain and the knowledge his impending death. Unveiling himself to his partner, he stared deep into Copi’s eyes, willing him to hang on. To fight.

  “I will not let you die!” he sent, hoping the bond would relay the message to the human male. Copi’s gaze went vacant, and his lashes graced the hard planes of his cheekbones. Brutal agony seared through Vischeral almost bringing him to his knees. His gaze lifted and Vischeral’s eyes fired. The onyx orbs changed to glow a deep scarlet, visual evidence of his rage.

  The wolf’s head swung side to side. His nose twitched as he searched for Vischeral’s scent. Without dropping the shield, he transported himself to the wolf’s left side, his fist already balled and in motion. Even as the beast caught the gust of air signaling his arrival, Vischeral slammed his fist into the wolf’s ribs, taking perverse pleasure in the snapping bones.

  When the wolf’s head swung around, his monstrous jaws snapped the air where he expected Vischeral to be, but Vischeral stood on the opposite side. Grasping a double handful of fur, Vischeral heaved the wolf off of its feet and over his head before flinging him like a Frisbee into the trees. More bones cracked and shattered upon impact. Vischeral paused only long enough to ensure the wolf was down.

  Squatting beside Copi, Vischeral laid cold fingers along the male’s throat. A faint, thready heartbeat blipped faintly against his touch. Leaning down, Vischeral brushed his lips against Copi’s blood-stained ones before smoothing back the male’s hair.

  “Hang on for me, Copi. Please.” He whispered the words, and then let his mind delve into Copi’s. Pain, stark and overpowering swamped his senses. Ruthlessly, he pushed it aside in search of the night’s events. He watched the attack through Copi’s eyes, felt his fear, and experienced his pain. A growl rumbled in his chest when Copi’s sickness overcame him. The fucking wolf’s blood sat like bitter wine in Vischeral’s mouth. Copi’s conscious memory faded with one word. Vischeral’s name. Touching his forehead to Copi’s, he kissed the cool lips once more.

  A feral snarl brought his head up just in time to catch the weight of the monster. Shoving up from the ground and in the same motion, he threw himself backward to keep the bastard from doing any further damage to the dying human. Together, Were and vampire rolled through the snow, crashing into trees and careening off mini boulders. Vischeral easily dodged the crimson coated, snapping muzzle. His speed gave him an edge over the brute.

  Locking his arms around the wolf’s colossal chest, Vischeral squeezed, exerting immense pressure on the already broken ribs. The wolf whined. His back legs lashed out trying to find purchase in Vischeral’s flesh. Vischeral evaded most of the raking claws, but grunted as one swipe dug deep into his right thigh.

  They rolled to a stop, Vischeral’s back against the hard packed snow. Struggling mightily, the wolf gained his footing and pushed up trying desperately to escape the cage of Vischeral’s hold around his ribs. A paw bigger than Vischeral’s fist landed in his groin, forcing the air form his lungs and breaking his hold. The wolf leaped away and darted for the shadows in the trees. Vischeral caught him by the tail and snatched him backwards.

  “Oh no fuck you don’t, wolf,” Vischeral growled, yanking the wolf even closer. A yelp of pain pierced the air. The wolf spun to snap at Vischeral’s hand and met the solid steel knuckles of his opposite fist. The beast fell stunned to lie at Vischeral’s feet. Vischeral sucked a deep draught of air into his lungs.

  As a police detective on a human police force, he knew his obligation was to call for back up and report the capture of the serial killer. His eyes flew across the snowy expanse to rest on his partner. His Copi. His vampire nature howled in protest.

  Vengeance would be his.

  Rolling the wolf onto his back, Vischeral stood over him, his stare deadly. He bent at the waist and wrapped one hand around the wolf’s snout holding it closed. Full awareness returned and, the bastard tried to wiggle away from Vischeral’s booted feet wedged tightly against its sides.

  “I warned you not to fuck with what was mine,” he hissed placing a hand on the fur covered chest. “Tell Lucifer Vischeral Bourne sends his regards.” Raising the hand that rested against the wolf’s pelt, Vischeral balled it into a fist and smashed through fur, skin and bone to wrap long fingers around the wolf’s beating heart. In his grasp, the wolf wilted against the frozen ground, eyes glazed.

  “If he dies this night, I will see you in Hell and this pain will only be a distant echo of what I will do to you.” With a brutal jerk, Vischeral ripped the wolf’s heart free of his chest and slung it down beside the twitching body. He didn’t wait for the beast to revert to human form. He didn’t think about how to explain the carnage to the department. He turned and made his way to Copi’s too still form.

  His senses and Copi’s unconscious mind gave him a rundown of the full extent of Copi’s injuries. The male was in critical condition on the verge of death. Only Vischeral’s vampire blood kept him alive and even it was weakening. Carefully sliding his arms under the male’s traumatized body, Vischeral stood, cradling his partner against his chest.

  The weak pulse tripped, but continued to beat. Vischeral started walking. It would take to long for an ambulance to get to them. Vischeral could get him to help faster. His pace increased. He cut a path through the wooded park headed straight for the main highway. The swish of cars reached his ears. He glanced down to murmur reassurance to Copi and truth slapped him hard in the solar plexus. Copi wasn’t going to live. Falling to his knees, a single bloody tear tracked down Vischeral’s face. Gently, he laid Copi against the snow. Pain tightened and squeezed his chest. The ice protecting his heart cracked and thawed in the wake of the scorching pain.

  Looking down at the male his heart chose, hope sprang anew. Vischeral held within his power the ability to save Copi. But could he actually do it
? The vow he’d made hundreds of years ago played on fast forward; a vow to never change a human. He’d never been tempted. Not until Copi’s life hung in the balance.

  From the past, his mind sprang forward to a future without Copi at his side. Vischeral’s lips curled back, exposing needle sharp fangs to the glimmering moonlight. He couldn’t fathom a future without Copi. It was not a future he wanted, but what would Copi want?

  Shaking his head, Vischeral made to rise up off of his knees. His frame shuddered, but refused to budge from Copi’s side. He hung his head; his inner battle raging ferociously. He couldn’t change Copi. The male would never forgive him. But could he leave Copi’s soul to the darkness of death’s unforgiving embrace? Could he survive the severing of the bond that tied him to Copi so overwhelmingly?

  Vischeral tried to rise again, but weighed down by immeasurable grief, his legs refused to cooperate. Time was running out. He only had until Copi drew his very last breath and each breath Copi drew grew more shallow, the beat of his heart even more faint. Vischeral had to make a decision. His face hardened; his firm lips sealed in frustration. Sagging forward, he pressed warm lips against the cool skin of Copi’s neck. Could he? Should he?

  ~*~*~*~

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  ~*~*~*~

  Copi's fragile heart stuttered and missed a beat. Bent over him, Vischeral's own chest tightened in response. With his lips pressed firmly to Copi's neck, the male's vein pulsed weakly against them. The decision slammed into Vischeral hard and fast. An easy decision actually. He couldn't survive if Copi died. The blackness that always threatened to consume him would finally win. If the male—his male—died, the final shred of humanity he held onto would unravel. Pulling back just enough to open his mouth, he allowed his fangs to descend. He couldn't look Copi in the face knowing what he intended, even with Copi unconscious. His lips moved to Copi's ear.