Scarlet Dawn

by Megan J. Parker

  “SHUT UP!” Kristine glared, hurling her aura out at Serena only to have the whipping tendril deflect it.

  Serena shook her head, “Wait, it gets better: because Zane—the one you blame for ‘taking Devon away’ despite your murdering him without any guarantee that he’d come back—only reacted to Devon’s fractured personality; a personality that’d still be whole if not for you. And when Devon’s mind was too far gone to make the right decisions, it got him the peace he should have been allowed in the first place.” She narrowed her eyes at her, “The difference between you and me isn’t that I’m a stupid bitch and you’re not, the difference is that you’re a stupid bitch who can’t own up to it and admit that sometimes the fault is just your own!”

  She raised the two auric crossbows and took aim.

  “And now, you boring, repugnant cocksucker, you have to die!”

  Suddenly Devon was standing in front of her.

  “D-Devon?” Serena whispered, “It… It can’t be…”

  “It’s me, Serena…” He stepped forward and placed his hand on her cheek.

  “No, Kristine,” Serena leveled one of the auric crossbows to Devon’s chest. “If you’d been listening, you’d know that I’ve made peace with the fact that Devon’s gone, and there’s nothing that—”

  “Serena?” Zane stepped out from behind Kristine, “You have to stop thi—”

  Serena rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on, you stupid bitch! You’re not even—Zane! Will you please come out and show Kristine what a stupid bitch she is?”

  Zane’s aura spiked from the staircase where she’d left him and he poked his head out, “Huh? Do you need help or something?”

  Kristine’s eyes widened.

  Serena smirked, “No, that was enough. Thanks, babes.”

  “Uh… Yea. No problem,” Zane nodded.

  Serena turned back, shooting two “bolts” from each of the auric crossbows—two through the fake-Devon and into Kristine’s right shoulder and hip, one through the fake-Zane and into Kristine’s left thigh, and the last in Kristine’s chest—and walked through the Devon illusion as it faded. Slumped against the floor, Serena watched as Kristine struggled against the auric binds that pinned her against the wall.

  “Probably should’ve mentioned that Zane’s back, and in his own body, no less.” Serena shrugged, “Thought that Axle trick was pretty clever, huh?” Serena’s auric crossbows faded from her hands, leaving only the purple tendril that extended from her chest, “Now, as I was saying: it’s time to die.”

  “Y-you’re for-getting… my grea-greatest fault,” Kristine whimpered.

  Serena sighed, “Well, since you’re probably going to bleed out soon you might as well tell me.”

  Kristine chuckled against the pain, “If… I can’t win… I won’t let… anybody… win…”

  Turning her aura inward one herself, Kristine’s life-force snuffed itself and triggered an auric burst, consuming Serena in the blast.

  “She still hasn’t woken up?” Zane growled, driving his fist repeatedly into the empty gurney neighboring Serena’s body. “You said her aura’s active; you said that she was going to pull out of it! It’s been eight goddam hours! Why hasn’t she woken up yet?”

  Zoey bit her lip, “I… I can’t answer that, Zane. Nobody can. I’ve been feeding twice the standard energy doses into her and I’ve got her on a synthetic blood drip that’s four times the concentration of what we used to wake you up when you were in Axle’s body. Biologically, she should be bouncing around like a damn a hummingbird, but there has been a lot of stress and pain on her ever since you were taken,” she sighed. “I think that she’s exhausted, Zane; I think that her mind is taking a vacation to recuperate from all the sleepless, lonely nights and all the fear that she’d never get to see you again.” Putting the files aside and wrapping her arms around her friend, she used the contact with her left hand to drain some of his anxiety. “The most you can do right now is just be there for her.”

  Zane sighed and nodded, looking back at Serena and smiling. “Well, at least we all made it out of there, right?”

  Zoey chuckled, “You know she’s going to taunt me about being right when she wakes up, right?”

  “Can’t really blame her,” Zane smirked, “She was right about everything!”

  “Can you do me a favor and not feed her that gloating right for at least a day?”

  “Only if you do me a favor,” Zane smirked.

  Zoey groaned, “What?”

  “I am dying to get a Slushie and a cheap, nasty gas station hot dog in my belly, and I’m sure Serena would love to have a Snickers and one of those magazines she’s always reading. Do you think you could drive me to the city and front me the cash to grab the goods?”

  Zoey frowned, “Why can’t you drive and buy your own garbage?”

  “Because then it wouldn’t be a favor,” Zane chuckled.

  “I guess that makes sense… sort of,” Zoey nodded. “Alright, fine.”

  Zane frowned and looked over. “Why are we keeping that thing in here?”

  Zoey looked over at the ykali body that was still being infused with the Maledictus curse and frowned, “Because that’s a corpse…?” She frowned, “And we’re in the medical center. Would you rather we kept it in the cafeteria?”

  Zane frowned at the creature and shrugged, “I guess I just don’t like the idea that it could suddenly wake up.”

  “Doubt it. It’s not that it’s not going to wake up eventually, but that’s been out without any sign of life—no pulse, no brain activity, and barely any measureable auric activity—for days, where Serena’s breathing and dreaming no differently than if she was just napping. Between the two of them, I’m willing to bet that Serena’s going to be the first to open her eyes.”

  Zane frowned, glancing back at Serena. “You promise?”

  “STOP THE CAR!” Zane cried, barely letting Zoey complete the stop before he was grabbing at the door handle and trying to get out of the car.

  “What is it?” Zoey asked, looking in her mirrors, frantic to know if she’d done something wrong, “Did I hit something?”

  Zane shook his head—his eyes wide and unblinking as he stepped from the car and stared down the sidewalk. Unable to bear the tension and suspense, Zoey threw the car into park and stepped out, as well. Stepping over to stare in the direction of Zane’s unseen obsession, Zoey frowned at the simple and common sight of people walking around the city streets.

  “Zane…?” Zoey frowned, looking up at her friend, “You’re scaring me. What are you looking for?”

  “I…” Zane shook his head and sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I thought I saw somebody I used to know. Sorry about that.”

  Zoey shrugged and started back towards the car. “Happens to the best of us, I suppose.”

  Getting back to the clan, Zane started back towards the medical center, daring to flip through a few of the magazines he’d picked up for Serena.

  “‘Ten ways to please your man with just your toes’? What the fuck is wrong with this women? Serena, I swear to god, if you ever try any of these things on me—well, I guess number seven looks alright… hmm—but yea, if you—”

  The magazines clattered to the floor along with the extra-large Slushie and Zane’s half-eaten hotdog.

  The room was in shambles.

  Half of the equipment was ripped from the walls and in pieces; the other half had been fortunate enough to be out of commission on the other side of the room. Supplies and materials were strewn about like confetti, and the room was littered with ykali scales.

  And Serena’s gurney was empty…

  With nothing but a tuft of platinum-blonde hair to testify to the owner’s abduction…

  To be concluded in Scarlet Dusk

  By Megan J. Parker

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  Crimson Shadow: Forbidden Dance (Book 3)

  Nathan Squiers

  (Available Now)

  Chapter Twenty:


  Defense

  Journal entry: December 15th

  Estella,

  After some thought and a severe, supernatural ass-kicking, I’ve decided that what I did was justified. I understand that you’re hesitant to accept what you are now, but you need to come to grips with it before it gets you killed.

  There’s some bad, dangerous humans (if they can be called that anymore) out there killing lots of innocent mythos, and I need to make sure that you don’t become one of their victims.

  Now that I have seen your aura and I know what I’m looking for, I WILL find you, and I will bring you back with me.

  Nothing will stop me from saving you and showing you how sorry I am for what happened and how much I love you!

  Xander

  Xander closed the notebook and set down the pen. He wasn’t sure why he’d felt compelled to write that one last letter before going out to make things right, but after months and months of writing letters to Estella that he was positive would never be read it just seemed like the right thing to do.

  Timothy, who had patiently sat nearby with a toy gun that Xander had bought him and exterminating imaginary enemies, glanced up at him with eager eyes as his mentor rose to his feet; excited to know what was in store for him. Xander smiled at his apprentice and ruffled his hair before patting his shoulder.

  “I want you to train with Zeek again tonight.”

  Timothy frowned, “You’re leaving again?”

  Xander nodded, “It’s important; very important. But I promise that when I get back everything will be alright.”

  “What about the hunters?” Timothy’s voice cracked.

  “Don’t worry about them,” Xander smirked, “You’re already tough enough to take both of them on one-handed.”

  Timothy laughed nervously, “I don’t know…”

  Xander shrugged, “Maybe you’re right. But soon,” his smile widened. “You’re doing really well.”

  Timothy blushed at the compliment, but quickly looked away and frowned, “What if they come tonight while you’re gone?”

  “They won’t.”

  “But what if they do?” The little vampire demanded.

  Xander frowned, “Then I want you to run—run faster than you’ve ever run before—and find the best hiding place you can; let the others fight.”

  “But if they fight then they’ll die!” Timothy’s eyes were beginning to water.

  “They may,” Xander saw no reason to lie, not about this, “But they’d all proudly die to make sure you lived, so you can’t let them down. Understand?”

  Timothy wiped his eyes and nodded.

  “Good,” Xander stepped out of the tent, “I won’t be long.”

  Zeek was already waiting outside for them as they emerged. Timothy smiled at the sight and stepped from Xander’s side to join the anapriek, and Xander couldn’t help but smile at the little vampire’s strength and eagerness.

  Xander silently promised himself that he wouldn’t let anything happen to him.

  “Be sure to kick his ass,” Xander chuckled.

  Zeek glared at him but said nothing in protest as he took Timothy’s hand and turned away, leading him off.

  Estella was close—at least she hoped she was. She’d been walking for several hours now, her trek into the forest starting in the late afternoon, when the sun was still hanging in the sky. She’d been up all day anyway, wandering and thinking life-changing thoughts.

  Her mind was still a jumbled mess that she was slowly working to organize when she first heard the growling. Like an audible bear-trap, it picked up as her foot touched down on the frost-bitten forest floor; ensnaring her in a fearful tremor. Her first instinct was to step back away, hoping that reversing the step she’d taken would appease the creature.

  It didn’t.

  Instead it grew louder as whatever was making the sound came closer.

  Xander had told her about therions. The description had been slightly biased at the time, the explanation coming shortly after he’d almost been killed by one of the creatures, but somehow it still came out sounding strangely beautiful. Unlike the legends of werewolves, therions didn’t simply come in the one shape. Like humans, there were all different sizes and shapes to them.

  As Estella stood there, watching the creature charge at her now, however, it wasn’t as easily labeled as Xander had made it sound. Large, broad shoulders like a gorilla pumped as it loped forward, its body the color of burnt toast and speckled with spots like a leopard. A large, brownish-red mane of hair flurried about its head as it came, and the jaws that snapped were broad, the muzzle jutting out like a bear’s.

  It was massive.

  And it was angry.

  Xander was nearby when he first heard the snarls; unmistakably Inarin’s. The therion was probably one of the biggest he’d ever seen, and by far one of the pack’s most loyal members. Xander had seen him fight only once several months earlier when they all tried to hunt down and kill Lenix. Though they’d failed, most of his mind-controlled army had been destroyed, and Inarin had more brought down more than his share.

  But what had him so worked up now?

  Had the warrior from the other night come back to try and convince him once again to join their efforts against the hunters?

  Whatever it was, it was about to get ripped apart.

  And then Xander sensed it.

  The familiar auric signature…

  Estella!

  He was in overdrive and rocketing in the direction of the sounds before he’d fully registered what he was doing. Her aura, a darker shade of orange than it had been before, shone in the distance like a beacon. He pushed himself to go faster than he’d ever moved before. Inarin’s golden-brown aura was nearly on top of Estella’s own! Though time was practically frozen for the world around him he knew it wouldn’t be long before…

  NO!

  He couldn’t allow it!

  He knew that the moment he jumped off the ground he’d be thrown back into normal time, and he fought to gain enough momentum to combat the unforgiving force of nature.

  He had to time it perfectly!

  When he was practically right under his pack-mate he threw himself upward with every bit of strength and speed he had. Shifting Inarin’s course would not be simple. As he crashed into the therion’s massive form he saw the world around him suddenly spring back to life around him the two slammed into ground with enough force to tear the earth beneath them.

  Xander was the first to his feet, breathing heavily and making sure he was between his snarling packmate and Estella. Inarin pulled himself up, standing at his full height as his lips peeled back and displayed his teeth. Xander countered with an angry hiss, baring his own fangs and flaring his aura so that the forest pushed and swayed away from him and the broken ground cratered even further beneath his feet.

  He would not let anything take Estella away!

  Not again!

  And if that meant killing Inarin—killing a razor-sharp, nine-foot monster—then so be it!

  “Xander…” Estella gasped.

  Her voice was all the proof Xander needed to know she was still alright, “Stay behind me.”

  Inarin roared, once again announcing his disapproval in the only audible way his bestial form would allow. Xander didn’t need words or his psychic abilities to know what he was thinking, though. Estella was another trespasser among many; yet another outsider. This was the third time that their territory had been made infringed upon, and the majority of the pack had grown bloodthirsty after the first night when Zeek and the others had shown up.

  This one last visitor had been the last straw, and Inarin was eager to vent his pent-up rage by spilling blood.

  But it wouldn’t be Estella’s.

  Not if Xander had anything to say about it.

  Xander pointed back at Estella, never taking his scorching gaze off of the therion, “She lives,” he growled, “She LIVES! You can have anybody else but her. Go into the city and rip apart all the
humans it takes to calm your ass—put yourself on The Council’s list of rogues to be executed—but you will not hurt her!” He hissed and took another step towards him, kicking up his aura once again, “Or I will kill you!”

  The therion glanced over his shoulder at the trespasser, roaring and pounding his chest.

  “You don’t want it to happen this way,” Xander assured him, already clenching his fists.

  Inarin didn’t listen.

  He charged—running on all fours as he usually did when prepared for battle—before throwing himself into the air, ready to use his bulk to crush Xander in an attempt to get past him and to Estella. Seeing this intention—both reading his mind and having seen the tactic before—Xander leapt up to intercept the therion and brought his knee up, driving it into the underside of his comrade’s snapping jaw hard enough to send the therion reeling backwards.

  As Inarin crashed to the ground, Xander threw out his aura and held himself in midair for a moment before floating down, softening the landing for himself and his now-sore knee. Inarin was up in a flash, grabbing a young sapling and ripping it from the ground—its tortured roots snapping and raining clumps of soil—and brandishing it like a baseball bat. Xander bared his fangs again. The tree was swung with tremendous force, its branches whistling as they cut through the air. Just before impact, Xander wrapped his aura around himself like a shell and Inarin’s weapon splintered and shattered around him.

  The sound was like thunder.

  OSEHR! Xander sent out a telepathic message, GET OVER HERE, NOW!

  Inarin was in the air again, coming down like a wrecking ball. Xander, relying on his instinct, executed a back handspring that landed him several feet away from the spot that he’d been occupying; the spot that Inarin then crashed down upon. Though there was no way to know for sure, Xander was positive that it would have been enough force to shatter even a vampire’s bones.