by Candi Fox
With lightning speed, he struck her hard across the face. The blow would have floored her, except she had drunk vampire blood. She was stronger.
Harley’s mind began to clear. She was starting to see through the fog. This couldn’t be David. David was dead. This time, when the blow came, Harley wasn’t there. She surprised herself with the speed she moved. Her muscles seemed fluid.
She managed to dodge the next few blows, which gave her time to recall her sword. Still, not completely sure what was going on, her survival instincts kicked in.
The next blow was blocked with the sword. Harley seized the opportunity and kicked the assailant’s knee. She heard a loud pop and knew she had dislocated the knee.
He roared in pain, slashing with a clawed hand and caught Harley across the chest. She was mid-swing with the sword. Pain blossomed across her chest. She carried through with the blow severing his head from his body.
The face that looked up at her was not David’s. It was the vampire she ran into downstairs. She remembered looking into his eyes. Damn, first rule of dealing with vampires, never, ever, look in their eyes.
Not every vampire could capture your mind, but it wasn’t worth taking the chance. She rushed out of the bedroom and down the hall. She needed to get back downstairs to the rest of the fight.
Ghoul bodies littered the floor there was greenish blood splattered all over the floor and walls. She thought she saw spots of it on the ceiling.
Four vampire bodies lay headless before her. She scanned the rooms quickly trying to find Emery, Aiden, and Lieutenant Meyers. She found two of the policeman dead. Their wounds had been severe. One of their necks had been savaged. It looked like his throat had been gnawed on before being ripped out.
Walking into the dining room she found all three of the men she was most worried about. They were all injured but looked like they would heal. The Lieutenant was on the phone calling in cleanup crews and paramedics.
Emery was the first to spot her. He was quickly by her side. “You’re hurt. Come and sit down. Let me look at you.”
She held his hand and followed him. “I’ll be alright.”
He looked her over and was surprised to find some of the wounds looked like they were healing. The ones she got on her side earlier were already nearly closed. The red welts from the ghoul blood were all but gone.
Some witches had a terrible reaction to ghoul blood, while others were not bothered at all. This was the first time she had been exposed to the blood and made a mental note to avoid the pools of it scattered all over the house.
“How did our vampires fair? I haven’t seen any of them.”
“They all survived, but it will take them a while to heal. They have gone to the safe house. Wanted to make sure they weren’t around in case any media showed up.
“This is, after all, the third attack on a residential house by these vampires.”
At least it would be their last. They still had to try and tie the vampires back to Perovsky, but she had no idea if they had the evidence to do that.
Until they caught him, the family would have to be under guard or relocated. They would have to be in a witness protection type of program where they hid and changed their names.
It was another two hours before they were free to leave. Emery decided to go with Lieutenant Meyers. He had some questions he wanted to ask the Lieutenant.
The crime lab team, along with everyone else was gone. She and Aiden were the only ones left in the house and it was eerily quiet.
Harley wondered through the rooms one last time. Tonight had gone as well as could be expected, yet she sensed something wasn’t right.
She couldn’t put her finger on what it was. Something was off. Had the night been too easy? Not really. There were people dead, good cops.
She had been rolled by a vampire. He’d captured her mind and nearly killed her. If her instincts hadn’t kicked in she would have been dead on the master bedroom floor.
She’d felt him pull the memories from her mind. The ones of her dead husband. He’d used that and tried to make her kill a police officer.
Harley would have to learn to guard against vampire gazes. She made a mental note to talk to Luc about possibly learning how to block the control.
The greenish goo of the ghoul’s blood was stinking up the downstairs. Harley wanted to get out of there as fast as she could, yet she was drawn to look around.
The garage, she hadn’t seen the inside of the garage yet. Hurrying down the stairs she passed Aiden in a hurry. She would have to explain later.
Heading out the back door she quickly crossed the space to the door on the side of the garage. She turned the handle. The door was locked.
Where was Hermione Granger when you needed her? Harley sent magic energy into the lock until it filled the spaces and the tumblers started turning. It was the witches’ version of a lock picking set.
It took a few minutes. She wasn’t an expert thief after all. She felt along the wall next to the door finding the light and flipping the switch.
She squinted while her eyes adjusted to the light. An SUV and a sedan sat in the garage. They had left the family’s car there to keep up appearances. The garage was neat and tidy with plenty of room for storage. Boxes lined the walls on shelves.
Each box facing forward was labeled. Someone had a touch of OCD. Two boxes at the end of one shelf were unlabeled. Harley knew she was crossing a line by looking at them. She decided to do it anyway.
She lifted the first box down and sat it on a work table. Looks like the dad or the sons enjoyed working on cars. There were a lot of tools on the bench.
The box was sealed. Harley took out a dagger and slit through the tape. Inside the box were files. She pulled out the files and started looking through the information.
It was on the other families. Stacks and stacks of papers on the three families that had been killed. Except in the college student case. Only the student belonging to the family that made the pact had a file. The rest of the students that were killed did not have a file.
He’d found the relic and decided to keep it. He wanted to show it off to his friends. He’d decided to bring it along on their late-night expedition. No one knew what they were doing in the forest that night.
Harley quickly took down the other box. Not bothering to use the knife she simply ripped the box flaps off. The second box was full of research on vampires. The names and the pictures of the five vampires they killed were contained in the files.
She was stunned beyond words. Taking out her cell phone she quickly dialed Lieutenant Meyers. “Meyers here.”
“We had it all wrong. It wasn’t Perovsky that was working with the killers. It was the Chamberlain family.”
“What? Are you sure?”
“Yes, I found the proof in the garage. It’s all here. Two boxes of files.”
“Hang tight, we are on our way back.”
Harley didn’t get to finish the call. She dropped the phone as pain jolted through her. If felt like someone had stabbed her in the back. She felt her body being spun around. When it stopped she was face to face with Zoe.
“Remember me, stupid bitch?”
Zoe was holding a wicked looking dagger that was dripping with blood. Harley had been stabbed in the back. Harley managed to step out of the way of Zoe’s next strike.
She called her daggers to her hands, striking back, catching Zoe off guard. “Oh, bitch. You will die for that.”
Harley knew that Zoe already planned on killing her. It was obvious this vamp was off her rocker. But, Harley would be much harder to kill now. She briefly wondered if Zoe knew she had drunk Luc’s blood.
That fact would infuriate the vampire even more. She was obsessed with him. A small smiled crossed Harley’s face as a plan formed in her head. She would win tonight.
“Come on bitch.” Harley snarled at Zoe. Taking the passive route didn’t work with Zoe, so let’s see if another route would.
Harley crouched d
own in a fighting stance, her blades ready. Zoe launched across the garage toward Harley. Harley side stepped her, sweeping her legs and sending Zoe flying into the boxes on the wall.
Two of the shelves broke as boxes flew everywhere. Harley needed more room to maneuver so she headed out the door and into the side yard.
Zoe raced out after her, thinking she was trying to get away. Harley surprised her by stopping in the middle of the yard. Her blades held ready for Zoe.
“Does Luc know where you are?”
“Luc! Don’t call him that you filthy whore, you are not fit to say his name.”
“Oh, I have done much more than say his name.”
“No. You haven’t touched him. I would know. He would never allow himself to be touched by a human.”
“I’m not human, Zoe. You should know that.”
“Filthy whore. I am going to cut you into pieces.”
Zoe brandished the knife towards her slashing the air for emphasis as she said it.
Harley didn’t wait for Zoe to run towards her. She made a move towards Zoe. She feigned left, then slashed right hitting Zoe’s arm up high.
Blood flowed from the wound. Zoe gave a small scream. It was more of surprise than of pain. She lunged for Harley again. This time the blade caught Harley, slicing down her arm.
Not enough that she couldn’t still use the arm. “Come on Zoe. Let’s finish this. Once you’re dead, I can go to Luc. I can go to his bed, again.”
Zoe screamed again, this time the rage shook her body. “No!”
Harley used Zoe’s own momentum against her as she rushed to strike. She allowed Zoe’s blade to cut her deeply so she could reach her throat.
The magical blade cut deep, slicing the carotid artery. This alone would not kill her. Zoe’s hand grasped her throat, as she did so she dropped her defenses.
Harley struck again this time hitting Zoe’s heart. She drove the knife in with all her strength. Zoe gasped in surprise as the blood gurgled from her neck. Her eyes widened before they went blank.
Harley made sure to push the blade deeper. Some vampires could live from a heart wound once you took the blade or steak out of their heart. Taking no chances Harley pulled out the sword and cut off Zoe’s head.
Her body began to turn to ash. Like a movie, it fell in on itself and just became a pile of ashes.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
She watched Zoe’s ashes begin to blow around in the wind. Blood ran down her body in more than one place. She was tired. She didn’t know where Aiden had gone and she had to wait for the Lieutenant to get here.
Harley was lucky that the vampire blood she drank from Luc still seemed to be working. She was bleeding and hurt, but she wouldn’t have to go to the hospital. She would heal. It might take a few days, but she would heal.
She realized that the air was heavy with smoke. Harley turned looking at the house. It was completely ablaze. She looked on in horror realizing that Aiden had to still be in there.
Harley made her way through the back door. The place was filled with billowing black smoke. She made her way to the kitchen opening the drawers frantically until she found towels.
She wet down several towels tying one around her mouth and nose and placing the others over her body. She ran into the house searching for Aiden.
She called for him, repeatedly. He didn’t answer her. Where the hell could he be? What was going on? She didn’t understand. He was fine when she left.
She found his body at the foot of the stairs. Blood flowing from his left temple. She couldn’t tell if he was breathing. She didn’t have time to find out. She put her arms under his and lifted him up. Damn, he was a lot heavier than he looked. She drug him out of the house while the black smoke got thicker. The fire was everywhere. The curtains were ablaze. Fire, smoke, and embers flying around every point in the room.
She heard a crash behind her at one point. She didn’t turn to look. One of the beams of the house had fallen behind them, and from the heat, it had just narrowly missed them both.
Harley drug Aiden out the back door and towards the woods. Laying his body down on the fallen leaves she checked for a pulse. It was slow, but it was there.
Thank god. Taking one of the wet towels off her body she began to mop around his face. “Come on Aiden. Wake up. Please, wake up.”
Soot covered most of his body. His green hair was blackened with it. It looked like the opposite of frosted tips. Harley continued cleaning his face. She wiped the blood from his temple.
The gash on his head didn’t look like it was too deep. Head wounds tended to bleed. She knew it looked worse than it probably was.
Finally, he woke up, gasping for air. He choked and sat up, taking great gulps of air. She was sure his lungs were on fire after being in the smoke.
“Harley?”
She reached out to him taking his hand. “I’m right here.”
He looked at her. Still sitting up, she was kneeling beside him. “You saved me.”
Harley smiled at him. “I guess we are even.”
“You’re bleeding.”
“I’ll be alright.”
He took her into his arms holding her against his smoky chest. Harley hid her face in her long hair, a single tear sliding slowly down her cheek.
She was so thankful he was alive.
In the forest behind them, Nikolas Perovsky looked on. An empty can of gasoline lie at his feet, and a smile was on his face. His plan was working perfectly. Aiden worked for him, not Luc. And soon, he would have the witch, her power, and his relic.
Yes, things were working out.
THE END
…FOR NOW
Index
Candi Fox- www.candifox.com
Lady Jayne’s Bewitchery- www.ladyjaynesbewitchery.com
Sylva Pagana- www.sylvapagana.com
The Killing Chronicles Series
Strange Beginnings- http://amzn.to/2nTCMfU
Sweet Obsession- http://amzn.to/2oRKqIh
