“Stay close.” Roken reached for Heather's hand to join him. “There is a secret passageway over here.” He backed into the corner with her, but there was no point squeezing themselves into the opening if there was nothing in the room.
“Can you hear anyone moving around the house?” Heather muttered, clinging to his arm.
“Super hearing is a shifter thing,” Roken sighed. “I nearly died today proving I don’t have access to my shifter side anymore.”
Roken’s eyes danced around the room, but he seemed to be listening, despite telling her he had the hearing of an average human. Then he heard it. His body tensed, and his eyes widened. Roken knew what it was.
“Get in the cupboard.”
“The cupboard?” Heather questioned, but he ignored her and practically threw her in.
“It’s a teleporting demon. Searching the house. You need to be somewhere he won't fit," Roken said, turning the lock and passing the key under to her, not that it would unlock from the inside. “Stay in there no matter what.” Then Roken pushed the chair in front of the cupboard to block it, and by the time the teleporter appeared in Roken's bedroom, Roken had made the cupboard as awkward to reach as he could.
“How did you get in?” Roken asked, playing innocent as he rose up from the book that entertained him during his brief wait.
“Where is the girl?” the teleporter demanded. He sized up well against Roken. In a fair fight, Roken stood a decent chance, but in this fight, he could only hope to entertain the other demon until the others returned.
“She went to make drinks.” Roken glanced at the door, trying to indicate innocently that he was going to try to reach her downstairs, but the demon just smiled. He was a tall, bulky man, but he didn't need to be quick. He just had to teleport, so Roken needed to be careful.
Roken started to cross the room, and the teleporter disappeared, reappearing instantly by Roken’s left side and punching him in the guts before vanishing again. As Roken doubled up from the force, the demon appeared to his right and dealt him another blow before he had recovered from the first. As Roken fell forward, the demon’s fist smashed into his face, and Roken stumbled back.
The demon didn’t return instantly, giving Roken a brief opportunity to recover himself. When the demon appeared in front of him again, Roken swung at him, but his opponent was gone before he made contact. Roken stumbled forward, trying to get out of the room and lead the demon away from Heather. He made it three steps.
The demon didn’t stop. Punch, vanish, punch, vanish, punch, vanish, pause. No matter how hard he tried, Roken just couldn't get a hit in. There was a routine, like the demon needed to take a break every few jumps. Roken could use it to his advantage. He hunched up, covered his face with his hands and stood still. He took three blows from the demon, then stumbled forward before the attack started again. Maybe he could make it to the door.
The demon was becoming predictable in his attacks, which gave Roken a chance. He swung a punch and caught him in the face just as he appeared, then he ducked under the teleporter’s swing. Roken punched again but the demon was gone before Roken could make contact a second time. He counted to four then ducked as the teleporter returned on his predictable schedule, and the shifter countered with a blow of his own. He was getting the hang of this, turning the tables on the demon.
Then the teleporter returned, this time armed with a frying pan which he brought down on the top of Roken’s head. Roken stumbled to his knees as the sickening crunch of his head shook his brain. His body wanted to pass out, but he wouldn't let it. Blood trickled down his face as he crawled across the floor, but his goal remained the same despite the pain surging through his head. Nothing would stop him getting out of that room, however long it took.
“Why don’t you just stay down?” The demon leaned over him and laughed. “You fought well. Your vampire friends will not think less of you, given your current condition.”
Roken ignored him and continued. He felt a little better, even began to move a little faster.
“Why are you doing this for a girl you don’t know?” The demon continued to taunt him. “Do you even know her name? Her species?” The demon grabbed Roken’s blood-soaked hair and pulled him upright. Roken whimpered and grabbed at the arm, but the pain and the pressure on his skull had him disorientated, and he couldn’t connect
“Yeah? You willing to die for her? You don’t even know what kind of creature she is.”
Roken had to pull it together. While the teleporter was standing still, he had a single chance to reverse their roles.
His fist hit the teleporter’s abdomen, and the demon instantly disappeared. Roken dropped back down to his hands and knees and crawled for the door. That wasn’t what he hoped for. He wanted to wind the demon up, give himself a chance to get more blows in, but he was at least making slow progress towards the door. If he passed out now, he wanted it to look like he was trying to get to Heather elsewhere in the house.
The demon returned with a pan in each hand and swung them simultaneously into either side of Roken’s face. Roken dropped instantly to the floor.
He was down, but he wasn’t out. The demon turned away from him and started moving the furniture blocking the cupboard. He hadn’t been teleporting away for a break, he’d been hunting the house. The demon had worked out there was nowhere else for Heather to be hiding, but his focus on the cupboard meant he wasn’t watching Roken.
Slowly Roken found his way to his feet. He forced them to carry him to the demon, pausing to close his fingers around the handle of a bloody pan.
“What the…” The demon glanced behind and disappeared, long before Roken even mustered the strength to raise the pan.
He reappeared right behind Roken and grabbed the shifter around the neck and abdomen. Roken gasped as he fell back against the demon, and the pan dropped from his grip. He could barely see for blood, and spat a mouthful out on the floor, but the cupboard door was still locked. She was still safe inside.
“Just... fucking... die!” the teleporter sneered, then the world started spinning around into a darkening blur. Roken could do nothing to stop it pulling him into nothingness.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
S eb stopped walking and rubbed his ears. It felt like a change in pressure had made them ‘pop’ suddenly. The cause didn’t register right away, but it didn’t take long.
“Shit! Someone’s in the house!” He turned on his heels and took off, his only thought to get home fast.
“Someone else?” Arlo questioned, turning to follow the vampire. “Other than Heather and Roke?”
“Yes, someone else,” Seb almost growled.
Arlo didn’t need another word. He ripped through his clothing as his body transformed effortlessly into his wolf form, then he raced off ahead of the others. Arlo was home in no time, but the scent of vampires brought him to a halt just before he reached the house. About twenty or so were gathered on the road outside the house. They couldn’t get in, so their presence wasn’t the reason for the call for help, but they were going to make it difficult for Arlo to get inside.
Then something happened, and all the vampires turned to face the gate at once. Arlo leant forward to see.
“You brainless twat,” one vampire said, identifying himself as the leader. “We wanted a girl, y’know. Titties and no dick.”
“I know.”
The reply came from a man standing inside the garden, inside the protective field. Roken stood with him, or rather against him, held, pinned, or supported. He was a mess of blood, and his half-closed eyes didn’t see Arlo. They didn’t see anything.
“He won't stay out of my way.” The man in the garden spoke angrily, in a way that made Arlo proud of his bloodied friend’s efforts. “Sod just won’t stay down. I don’t have time to stop him and find the girl.”
The man—who had to be a teleporter—couldn’t pass through the protection field, and the vampires couldn’t go in. The teleporter shoved Roken forward and disappea
red. With nothing stopping Roken from passing through the protective field and out to the mercy of the vampires, he stumbled and dropped to his knees, helpless against their numbers.
“Arlo?” Seb was behind him. He and Oscar had caught up, and Arlo slipped quietly into his naked human form as the three hid in the shrubbery.
“They have Roken. He doesn’t look good,” Arlo explained. “There is a teleporter demon inside after Heather.”
“Ro!” Seb started forward.
“No.” Arlo grabbed his arm.
“If they get Heather, they’ll kill Roken. If we save Heather, they have a reason to keep Roken alive.”
“We can’t leave him.”
“We can’t take on all twenty of them,” Oscar agreed with Arlo.
Seb paused, his mental debate visible on his knotted brow. He didn’t like it, but he was unable to deny their logic. “Fine. We’ll go in around the back.”
Arlo returned to his canine form and ran off ahead. Although four legs were better than two, Oscar was by no means slow, and Seb kept pace by his side. By the time the two men reached the hidden rear gate, there was an Arlo shaped hole through it.
Oscar dipped as he entered through the hole and onto the property. His ears popped as he entered the invisible barrier that was preventing the vampires carrying out their own dirty work. He knew in exactly which room Heather was. Arlo was already scratching at the door, growling and snarling. He was in as soon as Oscar turned the handle, and the teleporter looked up and then vanished.
“Heather?” Oscar called, looking around the room. It was a mess. There was blood everywhere, and he could tell it was Roken's by the strong smell of iron. There was a strange pile of furniture against the cupboard, so Oscar climbed over and knocked on the door, hoping Heather was inside.
“Oscar?” Heather’s voice called back. “Is Roken ok? I heard fighting.”
“Stay in there. It’s not over yet,” Oscar called. “Are you hurt?”
“No, I'm ok. Is Roken ok?”
Oscar sighed. He'd seen Roken outside and the blood inside. There was no easy way to answer. “Heather, honey, I need you to stay there a little longer and keep quiet so we can listen.”
He and Seb stood together, back to back. They stood a greater chance against a teleporting foe this way, but he would still be a difficult opponent. Arlo climbed on the window seat and fixed his eyes firmly on the fellow shifter he couldn't help.
“Where is he?” Seb grumbled.
“Gone, maybe?” Oscar suggested hopefully. “Now they have Roke?”
“No,” Seb replied abruptly. “He found a way in, not out. That's why the vampires are outside waiting for him. They planned to get Heather out the way they got Roke.”
“So, even if they get Heather, we’re stuck with a teleporter in the house?” Oscar moaned. They were standing here doing nothing. Roken was just outside, and they couldn't help him. Heather was close and safe, but they couldn't let her out.
“We need to level the playing field,” Seb muttered to the others. Then he yelled to the teleporter, “Oy, Jackass! You know you can't get past three of us! We want Ro back! Let's talk!”
“You have a plan?” Oscar asked, frowning.
“Yeah, to get Ro back.”
The teleporter appeared in the room, in the opposite corner to the three housemates. “Talk.”
“You talk. We have something you want. You have something I want. Tell me, how do I get him back?”
“Hand over the girl.”
“And you'll teleport away. No deal,” Seb huffed. “You’ve gotta give me something better than that.”
“Well, you tell me your terms.”
“Bring back Ro, and we'll do a swap here and now.” Seb shrugged, like handing Heather over was an easy option, and Oscar clenched his fists. Seb didn't know Heather like he did, but to hand her over after all Roken had been through, it would be unfair to both of them. But without a better plan, Oscar had to stay quiet.
“Acceptable.” The demon nodded. “I'll go and get him. You can get the girl.”
The teleporter vanished.
Oscar looked at Seb, hoping for a clue to his plan. Seb’s eyes were cold, and there was a sadness there. Seb was holding back tears, and they were not tears for Heather. He didn't know her that well. Oscar was seeing the product of the sadness Seb felt for Roken, and that meant Seb had a plan.
Oscar knocked on the door to the cupboard. “Heather, do you have the key? You can come out now.”
“No. Roken said not to.”
“Honey, Roke is in trouble. He couldn't fight the teleporter alone, he's very poorly,” Oscar sighed. He'd seen all the blood, so much blood, and without his ability to shift, it could take Roken months to heal, if he managed it at all.
The key slowly slid from under the cupboard door and fell on the floor. Oscar unlocked the door and reached in his arm. It wasn't until he had a tight grip on her arm that he opened the door fully.
In a heartbeat, the teleporter was there, right next to him. Oscar stumbled from a hard shove, but he kept his tight grip on Heather. The demon couldn't teleport two. Heather was safe so long as he kept hold. Seb grabbed the teleporter’s arm, it would stop him being able to teleport away without taking Seb with him.
Arlo pounced from the window, his mouth opened wide and he took the teleporter’s head off in one bite.
“Shit!” Oscar sheltered Heather as blood splattered across the room.
“It never ceases to amaze me how violent shifters are in beast form,” Seb sighed.
“Why?” Arlo spat blood from his mouth as he shifted back to Human form. “Did you think for a second he would get Roke back for us?”
“Not for a moment,” Seb smiled. “But now that Heather is safe, and the house is secure, we can concentrate on how to get Ro back.”
That would be easier said than done. They had twenty vampires to deal with, and there was the chance that Roken would be used as a shield, or worse, that he would be killed instantly.
“I'll go outside and talk to them,” Seb sighed, then turned and headed to the front door. He walked down the path to the front gate and looked at the few vampires still around the property. There had been twenty, but now there were around five. And there was no sign of Roken.
“Where is he?” Seb demanded. He needed to know if Roken was ok.
“Very interesting.” One of the vampires turned and walked to the gate. “You have opened up your house to someone you know nothing about and willingly lay down your lives for her.”
“I'm not laying down my life,” Seb retorted. “Though your teleporter did.”
“I meant your shifter friend.” The vampire replied.
“Who are you? Tell me your claim to this woman,” Seb challenged. He needed to know who they were up against. “As you said, we know nothing about her.”
“My name is David, and she is my wife.”
“Liar. If that were so, you would have called to us, asked for her back like a gentleman. Rather than sneaking into our house and attacking one of us for no reason.” Seb stepped back. “I don't really care why you want her. But if you want to talk, you bring back my shifter and we'll talk.”
Seb waited for the answer, one which would tell him what he needed to know about Roken. If Roken was gone, David wouldn't agree. If Roken was very sick, there would be an urgency from David to negotiate before the shifter passed. If Roken was alive and relatively well, there would be no rush for David, and he would delay and take time to weigh his options.
“Very well. I'll be in touch,” David concluded their discussion.
Seb hoped he was right, that David’s decision to delay negotiation meant Roken was not as injured as they feared. Seb wasn’t a patient man by nature, and it was going to be hard for him to sit and wait for David to make the next move. He needed to be doing something to ensure Roken was home soon, but he wasn’t going to achieve that standing in the front garden with his fists clenched, so he headed back into the hous
e with the others. They needed a plan.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
R oken sighed, and his eyelids fluttered but refused to open. He was lying on his side, and blood had pooled in his cheek, so he spat it out. It was dark even when he finally managed to open his eyes, and it was cold. The chill was worst where his body lay on the cold, hard floor. But there was one thing that registered above everything else. Pain. Absolute blinding pain.
He tried to move little bits at a time, checking to see what worked, what didn't, and where the pain was. His fingers worked and his toes too. His feet were still in the socks he had been wearing, but metal clinked as he moved them. He knew that sound. Chains. He could feel the same tightness around his wrists as he fingered the thick, metal cuffs holding him.
He tried to remember what had happened or how he had gotten there, but most importantly he needed to know why he was in so much pain.
It took him a while to realise it was his head. At least that’s where most of the pain seemed to be. Unfortunately, he needed his head to be focused before he could work out what was going on. Somewhere behind him, came the grinding creak of a heavy, old door on rusted hinges, followed by the sound of footsteps. Just enough light entered the small room for Roken to see there was nothing to look at before the door slammed closed, immersing him in darkness once again.
“How are we feeling?” a man asked as he approached. Using his foot, he rolled Roken onto his back to look him over.
The pain spiked in his head, leaving him unable to answer, and something inside Roken speared him with the urge to kill.
“You can't speak?” The man crouched down by his head. As his hand brushed through Roken’s hair, pain splintered through his body, and his scream was his only comfort. “Fine. You can listen. My name is David. I am looking for Rhea.”
Roken frowned. He didn't know anyone called Rhea. David rubbed his hand through Roken’s hair again, and pain splintered through the broken pieces of his skull. The pain rivalled the agony he had felt when his body first shifted against its will, when Seb had first injected him with the serum all those years ago.
Broken Dreams (Broken Promises Book 1) Page 14
