She shook her head. “No, and I won’t. My family isn’t able to take on the vampire nation. Rebecca couldn’t do anything if she tried now that the truce is in place. And my witch side of the family is just learning to be strong. Hunter traveling to another universe to search for a non-existent cure, and getting kidnapped by an evil wolf pack, shows the lack of maturity or even understanding of what we’re involved in here.”
“At least he wasn’t scared to do what he thought was right.” Lucky turned heatedly on his heel and left her standing alone in the woods, staring at his sexy backside. She felt the harshness of his words cut deep, but she wasn’t going to put her family in danger. Rebecca did that, and Savannah paid the price with her death.
Chapter Five
Hunter
SOMETHING, SOMEWHERE DEEP INSIDE TOLD Hunter he was in a dream, but being able to differentiate between reality and fantasy components was difficult. He heard the romantic music playing softly in the background. Where was he? He felt the silk table cloth between his callused fingertips, tasted the sparkling cider in his glass flute, and the buttery layers on the bread at the table. It was all so real, and yet so wrong. He had a reason to be here, and that purpose was on the very edge of his thoughts. He needed…someone… he needed…Natalia, no… Sundae!
“You called?” She appeared in front of him in tight jeans and a t-shirt. Her hair was in the pigtail braids again and Hunter was beginning to realize he liked her hair like that. It took away her fragile look, and made her appear stronger. The reason he was here came flooding back the moment he saw her.
“Yes. I think I can help you find us.”
“Us?”
“I’m here with Roger and his daughter, Freya, and some others. We need to save them too.” He spoke with more urgency than expected.
“I’m sure we’ll do what we can, but my only concern is you. Are you okay?” The compassion and concern in her voice matched the look on her face.
Hunter shook his head. “No, they took my powers away, Sundae.”
She frowned. “How?”
“Nanobytes,” he chuckled. “I mean, how science fiction can you get?”
“Have you seen the residents of this world?” She matched his sarcasm.
“Not really, just the supernaturals.”
“Well, I have a sneaking suspicion that all those science fiction writers visited here to get ideas for their stories.” Sundae smiled, putting a little humor into the intense moment.
Despite the dire circumstances, he laughed. Sundae had the oddest sense of humor ever. She relied on the truth being funny. Her straight face sobered his laughter almost immediately. If it was as truly sci-fi out there as she was saying, maybe there was some kind of cure for the nanobytes readily available. He would deal with that later. Now, he needed them to help him and the others escape. He gave her the details that Roger relayed, and hoped it would be enough to help them find him and the others.
“Hunter, you should wake up now.” Sundae’s voice sounded strange.
He didn’t want to wake up. He wanted to stay there, to eat, drink, and spend time with Sundae.
“Hunter, wake up!” Sundae slammed her hands on the table, upsetting the perfectly romantic meal they had. “HUNTER! WAKE UP!” And then Sundae disappeared. The room around him grew dark, and he found himself back in the dungeon. Freya, the little girl, was begging him to wake up.
Roger was gone, and Freya looked scared.
“What happened?” He asked as he tried to adjust to the darkness, and shake off the last vestiges of sleep.
“They took daddy.” The sorrow in her voice broke his heart and fully woke his mind.
He wanted to go to her, and wrap her up in a hug, but the shackles restricted him to the other side of the dungeon. “He’ll be back,” was all he could think to say.
She burst into tears. “They never come back.”
Hunter’s heart dropped to his knees. He had never felt so helpless as he did in this moment; no powers, shackled to a dungeon, with a young dragon shifter crying on the other side of the room. A level of hatred filled his body for Ophelia and her werewolf pack, and it helped him to think about the many ways he planned to kill the female wolf. It would be how he would fill his time while he waited helplessly to be rescued by his big sister and her pack.
“It’s okay, Freya. I’ll make sure you see your father again.” It was a promise he knew he couldn’t keep, but would do everything he could to make it happen. “And if anything happens, I will make sure you are taken care of.” Roger had told him earlier that her mother was dead. He was the only person the girl had in the world. He knew what losing a parent felt like. His own parent’s died over ten years ago under suspicious circumstances. No, his mother died ten years ago. His father, who he had believed was dead, reappeared in his life a few months ago with two more sisters he never knew existed. He didn’t trust any of them.
Freya’s sobs started to turn into hiccups. He knew that pain, crying until you had no tears left to fall. “Crying right now isn’t helping matters, and it’s dehydrating you, sweetheart. Save the tears until after we are safe. Can you do that for me?”
She sniffled, and nodded silently.
“Good, strong, Freya. We are going to get out of here.”
Chapter Six
Rebecca
AFTER SUNDAE DELIVERED THE DETAILS of Hunter’s location to Jaden and Kia, and Rebecca and Jaden were confident he knew where they were holding Hunter, the plan was easy to devise. Rebecca called the troops together and decided to take a vote.
“We think we have located Hunter, thanks to Sundae’s dream. Sundae feels there might be a need to go after him before daybreak. I thought we could put it to a vote.”
As she suspected, everyone supported a night rescue. “Okay, then I think the wolves, dragons, and vampires should go on the rescue mission, and the rest should remain here as backup. If we are not back by daybreak you can come rescue us.”
There were a lot of grumbles and angry glares. Rebecca held her hand up to silence the disagreements. “In case you haven’t noticed, it is below zero out there. Wolves, vampires, and dragons are better equipped to handle the cold.”
“I’m a trained protector. Weather does not affect me.” Lucky crossed his arms over his chest, and indicated the fur lined jacket he wore. “Besides, this is adequate protection for the elements.”
“We want to...,” Mira stated.
“…go as well.” Mystery finished. The fraternal twins had an annoying habit of finishing each other’s sentences.
“As Savannah pointed out earlier…,” Mira continued.
“…he is our brother too.” Mystery ended the sentence.
Rebecca held in a shudder. She really hated that freaky habit they had.
“And there is no way you are keeping me away from that rescue mission, Rebecca. He is my boyfriend,” Natalia pointed out.
“Okay, okay… I surrender.” Rebecca knew it was a mistake, but there was no way they would listen. ‘They are liabilities to us, not help,’ Siren, her wolf, snapped in her mind.
‘For once I agree with you, but they also make a good case. Besides, it’s not like I can keep them from following. It is safer if we take them with us.’
Mira picked up a couple of long blades of grass, and braided them into a bracelet while speaking under her breath. “If the cold is what you are worrying about…” She walked up to Lucky, and took his hand in hers while she wrapped the braided grass around his wrist, speaking under her breath while staring into his amber eyes.
Savannah took a step forward, her sapphire eyes zeroing in on Miracle. Rebecca could feel the tension growing, so she stepped forward maneuvering herself in between her sisters.
“…Then these should keep us warm.” Mira held Lucky’s wrist a little longer than necessary, and only when she broke the connection did Savannah relax. She moved to Natalia, and did the same thing.
“Alright, while Mira is outfitting everyone with spe
cial bracelets, let’s pack up camp and head out,” Rebecca ordered. It took only thirty minutes to pack their goods, and get everyone suited up and protected. Mira’s demonstration told everyone that she was an earth witch, a well-trained, powerful, earth witch. Rebecca couldn’t help but wonder why she didn’t step up to help with the cold earlier, but she figured the girl was reserving her magic. At least, that was her hope.
Following Kia’s and Jaden’s lead, the group traveled to the outskirts of town to one of the mountain ranges called Phillip’s Edge. In Rebecca’s universe, the mountain range was South Mountain, one Rebecca was extremely familiar with since she made it her home base on her Earth. But this mountain range was covered in grass and flowers, not desert sand and cactus. The trees were far more green and lush.
“A little different than home?” Kia asked in a friendly whisper. The wicked grin on her face showed she was a true warrior, excited over the adrenaline that flooded her system in preparation for the coming fight. Kia and Siren were kindred spirits.
Rebecca cracked a smile at her exhilaration. “Yeah, this is definitely not my hunting ground.”
“Don’t worry, Jaden and I are very familiar with this mountain. We will be there soon.” She continued to lead the group. Rebecca took a moment to look behind her, making sure everyone was keeping up. She felt a level of pride at how well they were doing, especially her best friend, Jackson.
She slowed down, and he caught up to her quickly. His light-brown hair shined from the reflection of the moon, which made it look a little green. She didn’t understand why he insisted upon coming, but ever since he moved into the wolf compound, he was always around, and was supportive of any mission. They’d come so far together, and after all these years, he was simply her most endearing friend. “How are you holding up?”
He shivered. “Cold, but the movement actually helps, and Mira’s bracelet has been effective too.” The mist that came from his breath on the brisk night air told her he was putting on a good face. She wished he had opted to stay home. At least then she would know he was safe.
“Have you had any visions about the upcoming battle?” She asked.
He shook his head. “You know how it works. I rarely see things that I am close to.”
Rebecca nodded. She knew he’d been trying to enhance his abilities since he joined their pack so he could be of more help. She also knew he had grown close to Hunter in the process since they were working together on helping him break through the barrier. Asking him if he had a premonition was a long shot, but it was always good to play any upper hand she could get.
“I am trying though. I’ll let you know if I get any messages.” Jackson smiled.
“Thank you, Jacks.”
“I do know one thing,” he said with certainty.
“What’s that?”
“We will win. We always win.”
She wished she had as much faith in his words as he did. Ophelia and her pack were formidable foes, but she did singlehandedly take down another alpha wolf who challenged her just a few weeks ago. They did seem to have a way of getting out of binds when their backs were to the wall.
After thirty minutes of slipping through shadows and shrubbery they came upon a clearing, which doubled as a campsite. Rebecca scanned the area, and saw no threats, so she came out of cover to run toward the first tent. Kia pulled her back with lightning reflexes.
“What the heck?” Rebecca hissed, annoyed that she fell so hard onto the unforgiving earth.
Kia held a finger up to her lips, and picked up a pebble, tossing it toward the campsite. It hit an invisible barrier and incinerated instantly. Two guards came around the corner out of nowhere, weapons drawn. Rebecca sunk back into the earthly cover and mouthed a ‘thank you’ to Kia.
She grinned and nodded. She and Jaden shot out from the cover of the brush, and attacked the two guards. Jaden took a shot to his shoulder, but managed to subdue his guard. Kia miscalculated a spin kick, and sent her guard back into the shield. The guard incinerated as quickly as the pebble had.
The rest of Hunter’s rescue team watched in terrified awe as the shield made the strong guard disappear into thin air. Kia pulled the other guard back under the brush cover, and Mira and Natalia went to work helping Jaden heal his wound.
Mira pulled Jaden’s shirt sleeve up to get a better look at the damage and sucked in a horrified breath. The blast area seemed to be expanding, not healing. She touched his burnt skin, and he let out a soft, painful moan. She turned determined violet eyes on him. “What can I do?”
He offered a shaky grin. “There is nothing you can do. They hit me with dragon blood. It’s only a matter of time before the infection spreads.”
“Dragon’s blood kills dragons?” Mira’s eyes grew large with confusion.
“Ironic, isn’t it?” Jaden offered a weak groan.
“It has to break the skin or be ingested.” Kia placed her booted foot on the enemy guard’s throat to keep him quiet. “Selfish and power hungry dragons used to kill other dragons for their treasures. Our creators got tired of the endless death, and internal genocide, so they made our blood poisonous to each other. It brought us together, and became a secret we held dearly against enemies, but Brick and Ophelia managed to get the secret out of one of their prisoners. Now, they use that knowledge against us.”
“It’s the only reason they achieved an upper hand in this war.” Jaden let out another painful moan. “We don’t have much time. Get the code from him so that I can still be of some use to you.”
It made sense. Now Rebecca understood why Becky needed her help. “There has to be something we can do.”
“We can make him a vampire,” Maverick offered.
“Killing your friends seems to be your go-to move, doesn’t it, dear old dad?” Rebecca’s words tasted like acid on her tongue.
He shrugged. “It is better than dying.”
Rebecca shook her head. The man just didn’t get it. “I thought only the queen could make new vampires.”
“I have some of her blood for emergencies like this.”
“I have some healing abilities. May I try?” Mira asked tentatively. She watched with wide eyes as the wound continued to grow, darkening the veins as it spread.
He shook his head. “There is nothing you can do. It’s in the blood stream. I can feel it burning me from the inside out.”
“I have to try.” Mira didn’t wait for permission this time. She placed her open palm on the center of the wound, and closed her eyes.
Rebecca watched in awe as her sister worked to heal the wound while Natalia assisted. Sweat formed on her forehead as she spoke in whispered tones a language she didn’t understand. First Jaden’s pained expression began to reduce, and then his blackened wound started receding.
The unmistakable crack of a jaw pulled her attention to the interrogation on the other side of her. Maverick held the werewolf guard down while Kia punched him, and Jackson asked for the code. Mystery, who rarely spoke, always allowing Mira to be the voice for both of them unless they were completing each other’s sentences, stepped forward and asked quietly, shyly. “Why do we need a code?”
Kia stopped punching long enough to answer her question. “To bring the electromagnetic shield down, you need an authorized hand print and a code.”
“Where is the unlock pad?” Mystery looked at the invisible shield, questions in her eyes.
“Anywhere you touch it with the right hand print, the unlock pad will appear.”
Mystery appeared to chew over the information. She cringed looking at the bloodied face, and hearing each bone-crunching punch. “You don’t need a code.” Without another word she ran from their hiding place and touched the barrier.
Rebecca and Savannah ran after her, but were too late. Their little sister was already touching the barrier. Her eyes were closed, and she was speaking in a strange language, similar to the one Mira was using. The barrier lit up like a light show in the sky. It was like it was fighting the intr
usion, but wasn’t winning. After a minute, the rest of their group came out of the clearing to watch the sparks of electricity zap, crackle, and pop between the shield and Mysti. The shield flashed black, and then it was gone.
“See, no need for a code. The shield is broken. Hurry though, I don’t know how long it will be down.” She smiled, and collapsed. Maverick caught her before she hit the ground.
“I’ll take care of her. Go get your brother.” He looked at Savannah and Rebecca who were both shocked at what they just saw.
Rebecca nodded, and tentatively led Gabriel, Lucky, Savannah, Sundae, Jackson, Natalia, Kia, and Georgie over the threshold. There were a few people who were outside the tents watching the light show, trying to discover what happened. Miraculously, they managed to stay hidden as they worked their way to the middle of the camp, which is where Hunter was being held according to the intel he gave them.
Chaos broke out when someone realized the camp shield was down. A deafening alarm burst through the darkness. Rebecca’s night vision, and tracking ability helped her locate the in-ground cage where Hunter was being held amidst all the chaos of people running around. At first, no one took notice of them. Perhaps they thought they were other camp members. Rebecca was simply thankful for the distraction because it kept them from being attacked.
Lucky and Gabriel pulled up the camouflaged tarp, and found the bars of the cell that held Hunter.
“Hey, what are you doing?” A guard came rushing around the corner. Kia surprised him with a sucker punch, and he fell backward, momentarily dazed. Sundae grabbed the keys, and tossed them to Lucky.
“Hunt, are you down there?” Rebecca grabbed Lucky’s hand before he could put the key in the lock. No response. “Hunt, it’s me, Rebecca. We’re here to help you.”
“Becks?” his voice was raspy, but it was him. “Oh my gods, Becks! Am I dreaming?”
“No, Hunter, you’re not dreaming,” Sundae offered.
A fight started to break out between the pack and the guards, and Lucky tossed the keys to Rebecca before he turned to help their friends who were under attack. Sundae went to help protect Natalia and Jackson. Full of nervous energy, and with shaky fingers, Rebecca opened the lock, and she and Savannah used their strength to pull open the heavy lid. It was the first time since all this started that they truly worked together as a team.
Fire Master Rising Page 4
