The Wizard Wolf (WindWard Triad Book 1)

by Noah Harris

  “There has to be something you can do to help him Alyssa. Do whatever it takes, and I promise you Johnny and I both will work toward saving the Coven. Even if it takes me my entire life, I will work toward that goal if you save him,” Kell insisted, pleading with her.

  Alyssa gestured helplessly. “Kell, there’s nothing. I have no power great enough to overcome the Coven, let alone the Coven and Pack together. There’s no leverage, no knowledge, no nothing, that I can use against them.”

  Her words sparked a memory of Johnny’s reaction to something Kell had said before, and he gripped her arm. “What if I told you that I’m a ten-month child?”

  Alyssa’s head snapped around to him, her eyes narrowing. “What did you say?”

  Kell nodded. “It’s the only thing I know about my birth. And it got Johnny’s attention.”

  “He knew?” Alyssa asked.

  “Yes,” Kell hissed, his grip tightening.

  “A Ward. So the whispers were true,” Alyssa said, gazing at Kell in wonder and shock.

  Kell nodded vehemently. “Johnny acted like it was confirmation of what he suspected from the beginning.”

  “Because it’s a clear sign of a Ward according to…everything that’s ever been spoken about the Wards. That son of a bitch was escorting a Ward around this whole time and he never said a thing. Johnny, you asshole,” Alyssa said with a low, genuinely amused laugh.

  Kell straightened, emboldened by her change in attitude. “So it’s as significant as he made it sound?”

  “Look, that’s leverage, that’s more leverage than you had before. The Coven has been turned on its head ever since the Vigil first came after you,” Alyssa explained.

  Kell glanced at Johnny. “He said he thought the Children knew what I was.”

  Alyssa shook her head. “Johnny has been on the run for too long and it’s made him paranoid. He’s forgotten how bad dissemination of information can be sometimes, especially since the Coven is so spread out. No one has known exactly what you are, only that you’re strong. Some are calling you a miracle to be revered and worshipped, others think you’re just a powerful distraction and should be dealt with quickly, so we can get back to the war with the Pack.”

  Kell eyed the witches, then Johnny. “But they ultimately decided to take me in instead.”

  Alyssa nodded. “The leadership decided to skip over whether you were a threat or an object of worship and decided to try to bank on your value instead. If you were useable by the Coven, then it didn’t matter what you were, so long as you were useful.”

  “And the Pack?” Kell asked.

  Alyssa shrugged. “Hard to say. If they thought you were a Ward, which they have to wonder just as much as the Coven, then they’d be all over having you in their camp instead. In truth, if you’re taken by either side and discovered to be a Ward, the other factions will fight all the harder for you.”

  “Yeah, but the Vigil just wants me dead, which they’ve proven a few times,” Kell said.

  “If it meant killing you to keep the others from having a Ward on their side, the Children would do just the same,” Alyssa told him.

  Kell thought about that for a moment. “So, I could temporarily call a standstill to this, maybe negotiate Johnny’s freedom and safety.”

  Alyssa snorted, giving a shake of her head. “You’re thinking too small here, Kell. Think bigger, think freer.”

  Kell raised a brow. “What, show off and then take off with Johnny?”

  Alyssa smirked. “You already showed both sides a taste of your power back at that bar. If you really are the Ward Johnny thinks you are, that’s only a brief taste of what you can really do. Show them what happens when they cross a Ward. Make a statement they won’t forget.”

  He understood. She wanted him to bring forth such a show of power and skill that they’d hesitate to come after him so fervently. If he was capable of bringing down enough of his own magic to shock and terrify them, Kell could theoretically buy himself and Johnny time to get away. If they were able to get far enough away, they’d have a better chance of hiding out of sight, and perhaps finding the answers Alyssa sought.

  “Or that could force them to unite with the Vigil, and all three would come after us harder than they have so far,” Kell said aloud.

  “Maybe, or maybe you’ll strike a blow which will leave them afraid to move too far in one direction. The Coven and Pack both make a show of being united internally, but despite that monolithic appearance, there are factions. Make a big enough show and you might split them down the middle, or into thirds, only time will tell. Even if it doesn’t, it’s the difference between Johnny dying now and you in one of their hands, or fighting down the road when you’re better prepared,” Alyssa said.

  It was the difference between being dragged to one’s execution or walking to the gallows willingly, with your head held high, as Johnny had done. In the end you were still dead, but sometimes, the way you did something mattered more than what you did. Kell wasn’t sure if he was ready to start a war between himself and the citizens of every other supernatural faction in the world, but he knew he wasn’t going to stand by and do nothing while Johnny was executed either.

  “If I manage this, you stay by me. Johnny did that in the bar and it saved him. I can’t promise what will happen, but if you’re near me, you probably won’t get hurt,” Kell muttered to her.

  Alyssa smiled sadly. “Don’t you worry about me. Worry about yourself and Johnny. Anything after you two is secondary right now.”

  Kell looked up at her, laying a hand on her arm. “Thank you, Alyssa. And I promise you, we’ll do what we can to help if we get away from here to safety.”

  It was as if the words were the key needed to bring their senses back into the flow of time. Movement regained its sense of fluidity and the witches who strode toward Johnny did so at a normal pace. Both Kell and Alyssa shivered as their senses were dragged back into the river of time.

  “Now, Kell,” Alyssa muttered, too low for anyone else to hear.

  Kell shook his head, bearing down on where he knew the power he could wield should be contained. There was another flicker, a breeze of power which flowed through him. It was nothing like the power he’d summoned in the bar, however, more like the energy he’d drawn upon in the abandoned house to float and glow. Nothing short of a miracle would end the oncoming execution and Kell desperately grasped for his inner strength, praying he could find it before it was too late.

  Either unable to help himself or sensing something in Kell, Johnny’s eyes opened, and he turned his head. In the brilliant sunlight, Johnny’s eyes shone the clearest blue Kell had ever seen. For a moment, Kell’s heart fluttered as he saw Johnny’s compassion for Kell, his hope, and the peace Johnny had made with his own choices. They were the eyes of a man content with what was to come, overflowing with such serenity and love. It was as if in his final moments, Johnny had found the answers he sought, yet would never have the time to appreciate them as he deserved.

  At that final thought, the wonder within Kell gave way beneath a blade of fury. The feeble trickle of power from him poured outward in a blast of anger and righteous justice. From beside him, Alyssa gave a cry as the wind caught her, picking her up. With a thought, Kell curbed the force of power around her, flinging her several feet into the forest where she would be safe.

  It wasn’t just wind that screamed around and away from him, electricity crackled through the air around him. Rain and ice swirled in an aura encompassing his body, and he felt his feet lift from the ground with only a thought on his part. Overhead, he could feel the clouds return, thicker and blacker than they’d been when called by the witches. Thunder cracked and roared as the wind extended around him, bending the trees fiercely as they bowed before him.

  “Enough!” he cried, his voice imbued with the strength of his magic, crackling with power and booming in the storm.

  Every face turned toward him and he gazed upon a sea of myriad emotions. There was no wonde
r, but there was plenty of awe and fear in the faces of the men and women forced to look up to him. Johnny’s serene expression was the only one in the crowd looking anything but afraid.

  With barely more than a thought, Kell reached out to Johnny, in both body and mind. The winds he summoned pulled Johnny back, away from the Children, while his thoughts soothed Johnny’s inner turmoil. No harm would come to Johnny so long as Kell wielded power, and the winds which buffeted and blew against the Children cradled Johnny gently as they carried him away.

  “You have hunted us, attacked us, bullied us, and now you would attempt to kill Johnny through trumped up charges. It ends here. You will not touch him and you will find a way to end this stupid war among yourselves. The Vigil have proved they care nothing for any of you and would sooner you wipe one another out than ever have to glance at you again. This division between witch and werewolf serves no one but them,” Kell bellowed down to them.

  Kell gestured to the Children. “You are children of earth and sky. Your power comes from a place the Vigil will never understand and they fear it, just as they envy it. The more you squabble among yourselves like blood drenched savages, the closer they come to their ultimate aim of our extinction. It is time that pride fade and age-old wounds heal.”

  His attention turned to the bound Vigil prisoners. All but one woman cowered on the ground, their faces almost in the dirt. The lone woman, however, stared up at him, her face contorted in indignant rage. For a moment, he gleaned something from her mind, a knowledge, but mostly, there was no surprise there.

  Kell brought himself down, so he was nearer to her. “And you and your ilk. Attempting to claim a moral right to kill, when all your beliefs are nothing more than an excuse for murder. You have no right, divine, natural, or otherwise, to bring death upon a people, no matter how much you may fear them.”

  The woman spat at his feet, sneering. “Your power is an abomination. We’ll see you cleansed.”

  “My power flows from a place more natural and purer than you will ever comprehend from behind your blinding mask of irrational hatred. When you return to the Vigil, tell them what you’ve seen here and what I’ve said. Tell them that I’m done being treated like prey in their chase, and I will not tolerate their attempts on the lives of me and mine. Mine is the anger of the gods and my fury is like the storm,” Kell proclaimed.

  Kell lifted her up easily with the winds, hovering her helplessly as he tilted his head. “And they are pissing me off.”

  Just as he’d done with Alyssa, he flung the woman away into the woods. It was far less gentle, but the power which followed after the woman would make sure she wouldn’t walk away with more than a broken bone at worst. He needed the woman alive, a breathing witness to what would happen if the Vigil came for him again. They, above any other group, sought his outright destruction, and would destroy anything he cared about in the process.

  His anger broke forth once again at the thought, and Kell felt the power slip the mental leash he had around it. With a furious howl, the winds turned to gales that sent the Children stumbling and knocked the kneeling Vigil members over. Images of Johnny accepting his fate, of Johnny ready to die for Kell’s sake as the Children waited triumphantly, filled his mind. They would know his power and they would know the cost of coming for him.

  Pure power, mingling with the furious winds and crackling lightning, exploded out of him. Every living thing left on the road was caught in the blast and knocked away. Limp, the unconscious bodies of the Children scattered into the dirt and sand on the side of the road, and the Vigil members slumped where they’d cowered.

  Kell’s power drooped and he allowed the last of his magic to bring him safely to the ground. The clouds thinned above and the sun began to peek out. Debris, both the metal from the Vigil’s convoy and wood and sticks from the forest, was scattered around the road. Scraps of cloth and pieces of glass mingled with the debris, all wet from the rain and some charred by the lightning.

  Looking around, Kell gave a low moan when he caught sight of Johnny’s unconscious body. His furious blast had unintentionally caught the man as well and knocked him closer to their stolen car. Kell hobbled over to Johnny, his muscles feeling weak and wobbly as he thumped across the asphalt.

  By the time he reached Johnny, the strength in his legs had gone. Collapsing beside Johnny, Kell reached out, fearful of what he might find. Clumsily, his fingers found the side of Johnny’s neck. Before he could grope for a pulse, he watched as Johnny’s nostrils flared, his chest rising and falling in even breaths. Kell’s cry of relief came out as an ugly, barking sob and he slumped forward.

  “I did it, Johnny,” Kell whispered.

  His head lay in Johnny’s lap and he breathed as deeply as he could. Under the awful smell of smoke and blood, Kell could sense the woodsy smell which permeated Johnny’s scent. After a few deep breaths, it was all Kell could smell as the rest of his strength began to fade away.

  As darkness filled his vision, Kell smiled, thinking of a secluded meadow in an ancient wood.

  Chapter 10

  Johnny

  The first thing Johnny became aware of was a pressure in his lap. The presence was warm and his arm was slung over it. Johnny gave a low hum of happiness as he tried to draw what he realized was a person closer to him, appreciating the small moment of comfort. Content, he took a deep breath, prepared to sigh happily.

  The horrific smell of burnt flesh brought his eyes open in a flash. Memory returned in the same moment he looked out on the empty wasteland of the road before him. The asphalt was still wet, glistening in the light. Johnny looked up at the blazing sun and determined that it hadn’t moved very far, that he couldn’t have been out for very long.

  The warmth in his lap turned out to be a sleeping or unconscious Kell. The dry smell of lightning and wind permeated the man, but it didn’t cut into the horrible smell. Blood soaked the ground, washed out by the rain into small puddles by the side of the road. Yet the smell wasn’t the iron rich scent of blood, but the undeniable aroma of burnt hair and flesh.

  Johnny’s eyes fell on the heap of bodies at the side of the road. They were positioned where Johnny remembered the Vigil prisoners had been arranged. Four bodies lay, still smoking, on the shoulder. Their flesh was blackened almost completely and their clothes were tattered memories with only fragments remaining, burned to the scorched flesh.

  Mouth agape, Johnny looked down at Kell in shock. Considering how he’d dealt with accidentally killing the Vigil member in the bar, it was jarring to think Kell would so coldly murder unarmed prisoners. Yet the more Johnny thought about it, the more he thought it likely.

  Kell had been something else entirely while in the grip of his own power. Even his pattern of speech had changed, the tone warping and shifting, cracking forth unexpectedly like lightning. Everything about him had spoken of the storm he’d called forth and commanded so easily. Kell had turned, even if momentarily, from the man Johnny knew and had come to cherish in such a short amount of time into a pure force of nature. Kell might not have been willing to kill so easily, but Johnny wasn’t so sure the Ward would’ve been so hesitant.

  In his lap, Kell began to stir fitfully. Whether from bad dreams or his slowly awakening mind remembering what had happened before he’d collapsed. Johnny didn’t know, but he held Kell close to him, rubbing a soothing hand through his hair and over his cheeks. Little by little, Kell’s movements became calm and his eyes slowly opened.

  “Hi there,” Johnny whispered when he saw Kell’s brown eyes fix on his face.

  Kell tried to speak, clearing his throat and then trying again. “Hi.”

  Johnny wasn’t surprised to hear scratchiness from Kell’s throat. “How are you feeling?”

  “I’m not really sure,” Kell whispered.

  Johnny wasn’t surprised, Kell had summoned a great deal of power in order to save Johnny from the Children. Reminded, Johnny looked around, only to realize they were the only people left. Save for the fo
ur corpses and those still left in the ruined mess of the Vigil’s convoy, there was no one around but him and Kell. It seemed, during the time he’d been unconscious, the Children of the Moon had left.

  “What’s wrong?” Kell asked softly.

  Johnny shook his head, smiling down at him. “Nothing. I forgot about the Children for a minute there. I guess they took off while we were having a nap.”

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hit you too,” Kell whispered.

  Johnny stroked Kell’s hair. “Don’t be sorry. All you did was knock me out for a little bit. Considering what they wanted to do to me, I’ll take a little rest instead.”

  Kell’s eyes cleared and he pushed himself up so he could glare at Johnny. “Speaking of, what the hell were you thinking?”

  Johnny blinked, reminding himself that Kell’s moods could swing without warning. “Uh, is that a trick question or is there just no right answer here?”

  Kell’s eyes narrowed further as he jabbed a finger at Johnny. “What possessed you to think that giving yourself up to the very same people who’d been hunting us was a good idea?”

  “The only one which got you out of danger?” Johnny said slowly, unsure if he should be answering at all.

  “So we go through all of this stuff together. Fight and run like hell, only for you to give yourself up the first time we run into a rough spot?” Kell demanded.

  “Is there anything I can say that isn’t going to get me yelled at more?” Johnny asked weakly.

  “Sorry would be a good start,” Kell told him with a jab of his finger into Johnny’s collarbone.

  Johnny took hold of Kell’s finger, cradling Kell’s face with his other hand. “Then I’m sorry. It was the only thing I could think of which would keep you safe for a little while longer. I trusted that you would find a way to get out from their grasp when the time came. I didn’t expect it to happen right before they gave me their version of justice, but I’m glad it did. So, I’m sorry, and thank you, for saving me from myself.”