by Dakota Brown
My skin tingled where Doc touched me, still shielding me with his body while he fed magic to me. As it melded with my own, my nerves tingled, and power coursed through me, connecting me to my surroundings and my pack. My awareness of Doc increased, his cool desert energy mingling with the raging storm of Nikolai's. With a moment's concentration, I could feel the mage's location, and then Ed and Allan entered my awareness.
Beyond the bond we had formed, I got a sense of Doc's awareness of everyone, and then Ed and Allan's senses. Nikolai's were enhanced through some of the magic he had cast, but remained much closer to my levels.
"Focus," Doc whispered in my ear.
His breath on my skin brought me solidly back to myself, but I was left with the knowledge I had gained from the others. I knew where our attackers were. There were five of them. Alex and Ash, and three men I didn't recognize. All mages. Only one smelled of gunpowder, and he was the one Allan stalked.
Ash and Alex came into view and studied the shield I had cast. Ash's gaze found Doc, though his expression remained neutral.
"Yeah, take that down." Alex gave a negligent wave toward my shield.
Ash pulled his attention away from Doc and raised his hands. Orange light built around them before he cast pure energy at the shield.
I poured more of my energy into it, and while the shield flexed under the assault, it didn't break.
Both Ash and Alex looked surprised.
I bared my teeth at them and focused on maintaining the shield while Ash tried to overload me. He would win, eventually, but it was going to take a lot longer than they had probably anticipated.
Alex blended his green energy into Ash's assault.
Sweat beaded on my forehead and ran down my back.
"You've got this," Doc whispered.
I drew on my own reserves and the magic Doc had taken from Nikolai through his blood and strengthened the shield before it could waver.
My arms trembled. Doc held me.
The gun fired, and a man screamed, but I could sense that Allan was okay. The bullet impacted my shield, and the only thing that let me keep it up against that much concentrated force was Doc's support. He was starting to run out of borrowed magic, though, and we were going to need Nikolai soon.
Fortunately, the mage stepped into the clearing behind Ash and Alex.
The demon continued to concentrate on the shield, but Alex had to stop and throw up his own shield as Nikolai pelted him with blue energy. I wasn't sure what spell Nikolai cast, but the shield Alex used shattered, and Nikolai hit him again, and Alex crumpled to the ground.
Nikolai studied Ash.
Ash ignored the mage for a moment, before speaking in Nikolai's dialect of Russian. "I was merely instructed to take out the shield. However, it would be unwise for anyone to observe that loophole. I will not defend myself unless I'm truly in danger."
"What'd he say?" Sam looked over at us.
I shrugged, though I understood perfectly well.
Nikolai brought his hand back and formed a glowing blue spear. He launched it at the demon.
Ash dodged, dropping his attack on the shield long enough to put up a token resistance to Nikolai's attacks.
He blocked the second, but the third struck home, and the demon collapsed to the ground.
Allan returned, eyes wide, but otherwise unharmed.
"The others are dead or unconscious," Nikolai informed us. He kicked Alex. "What should we do with him?"
"How long will he be out?" Doc asked.
I dropped the shield, sagging in relief. Doc pulled me to my feet and held me.
Ed and Sam also stood.
"A few hours."
"That's enough time to find their fae traps and get out of here."
"You truly want to leave him alive?" Nikolai looked shocked.
"I'm not certain killing him would solve anything," Doc replied.
"It would send message." Nikolai shrugged. "Very well."
"Wait, you'd just kill him?" Sam gasped.
"This is war. They started it, unless I'm mistaken. Always kill the enemy mages, or just fight them again. Unless they surrender."
She stared at him, horrified.
I was too tired to judge him, especially since I had no way of knowing what it was like to grow up like he had. I was just grateful he was here.
"Well done." Nikolai came over to me and put an arm around me, though he didn't try to take me from Doc. I hugged him back.
"Let's get these fae traps and get out of here then," Ed suggested.
Allan hung back, and I pulled away from Doc. I didn't need our pack bond to know something bothered him.
"What's up?" I put my arm around him and held him against me while we trailed behind the others. Still alert for danger, but thinking we were probably out of it for now.
He remained silent for a moment before his words came out in a rush. "I, uh, killed that guy who was shooting at us. Just snapped his neck. It was so easy. I was so worried about protecting the rest of you. I've never killed anyone before." He trembled.
Wrapping my arms around Allan, I let him feel my gratitude that he was there to protect us and my love for him.
Allan sighed, breathing in my scent, distracting himself from what he had done. "Mmmm, you smell like all of us."
"You did good, Allan. You did what you had to. They were going to kill all of you. Nik can probably take care of the bodies." I kissed him gently, then pulled on his hand, keeping it in mine when we found the others gathered around several iron pots. They were really simple, just round pots that you might make soup in. Inside lay quite a few of the tiny fae.
"Are they dead?" I clutched Allan's hand.
"Maybe," Nikolai replied sadly. He knelt by the traps, and the whole area glowed blue for a moment. I watched closely, trying to absorb what he did.
"There are no additional spells beyond the ones to attract and capture the fae." Holding his hand over the first of the traps, he whispered softly before lifting his hand slowly. The fae were drawn out on a bed of blue magic. He set them gently on the ground before moving to the next pot and repeating the procedure.
Once he was finished, he glared at the pots. "These, I will destroy."
He didn't wait for anyone's objection, just picked them up, tossed them into the air, and blasted them with magic.
They disintegrated, and he hit the air with a light breeze, blowing the metal contaminants away from the fae portal.
Once he finished, the forest lit up with sparkles as the other tiny fae descended on their brethren and carried them away.
A couple remained.
Nikolai held out his hand, palm up, as if used to dealing with fae.
The tiny creature landed on his palm, bowed their thanks, and then took to the air again.
Once we were alone, Nikolai headed back to the trail, and we followed.
"Can you do something about the bodies?" I asked.
"Yes." He knew what I referred to and headed off to handle the deceased mages. Ed went with him. The rest of us trudged back down the path. Even Doc looked exhausted.
We said goodbye to Sam at the parking lot and climbed into Doc's pickup, waiting for Ed and Nikolai to catch up. They finally joined us.
"I still cannot tell if Sam was involved or not," Nikolai grumbled once we were headed back to Doc's place.
The shadows stretched, and it would be late by the time we got back.
"I can't tell, either, but they know about you now. That won't go over well," Doc replied.
"No."
"You're sure we can't keep her up at the cabin with us?" Ed pulled me against him, nuzzling my hair.
"It might be good idea," Nikolai agreed.
"We'll talk about it. We also have to worry about Victoria's safety," Doc reminded us.
"We could bring her up, too," Ed suggested hesitantly.
"Regardless, she's not going anywhere tonight." The possessive tone in Doc's voice sent tingles through me, and I squirmed in pleasure.<
br />
∞ ∞ ∞
Allan still felt awful about killing that mage, so Doc pulled him onto the couch and put an arm around him, comforting him. I sat on the other side and lay in his lap, one hand stretched to Doc's thigh, and the rest of me pressed into Allan. The werewolf leaned into Doc and rested his hands on my arm and hip. Doc held my hand with his free one.
We didn't speak, just let the physical contact keep us connected while Nikolai helped Ed in the kitchen.
"Food will be done in about thirty," Ed declared when he came into the living room, followed by Nikolai. He sat down on the loveseat, and Nikolai sank into the armchair.
"Nikolai, Sam was very surprised when you turned yourself invisible. She said that was supposed to be impossible. Do you know what she was talking about?" Now that everything had settled down for a while, I thought we should talk about the day a little.
"Perhaps she thought I teleported? Invisibility is my favorite spell." He grinned. "I perfected it to steal pastries."
I raised my eyebrows. "Really?"
He ducked his head for a moment, grin widening. "Yes. I was four. The baker was a werewolf. Very sensitive nose. It took six months before I perfected the spell so I wouldn't get caught. It has proven very valuable. It is easy for me, but most people have a hard time with it."
"How old are you, Nikolai?" Doc asked after a bit.
"I am old. Twenty-five." He smiled.
Ed snorted. "Not that old."
"Not now, no," Nikolai agreed. "Practically ancient for someone who's been fighting in battle since he was ten." He shrugged. "I am lucky to have survived."
"Ten?" I blurted.
"Different times. Powerful mage in a family of powerful mages. I learned the sword as soon as I could hold it. Magic almost since I was born. If we weren't fighting the Tartars, we were fighting the elements."
The oven timer chimed, interrupting us.
I reluctantly got off of Allan's lap, and we all headed into the kitchen. Even if he still felt like crap, not much would keep a werewolf from dinner. I helped Doc bring over food, and we dug in. No one spoke much, and by the time everyone had finished, my eyelids were drooping.
"Why don't you three go to bed," Nikolai suggested. "Doc and I can clean up and keep an eye on things for a while. It may be best if someone keeps watch tonight."
I shivered, unnerved by the necessity. Nikolai was right, though. We were safer here, with established protections and whatever Nikolai had added to the house, but we weren't safe.
It didn't take long for us to get ready for bed. I curled up between the two werewolves, and, knowing Nikolai and Doc kept watch, fell deeply asleep.
Chapter 17
Nikolai
"Can we keep her safe?" Doc sank down onto the couch and Nikolai sat next to him, pulling his leg up on the cushion and turning so he could face him.
Nikolai shook his head. "It is hard to say. In my time, yes. We would simply take the Andersons out. Then she would be safe. Now? Well, I don't truly exist on any records. I could still do it." He shrugged. "I would need help though, and it is dangerous. Best bet is to keep training her. She has to go to classes, though, and that takes up time. One of us should be with her all the time, but I am not sure how that's possible." He wished he had a better answer, but he didn't know enough about this time to really come up with a good solution.
"We can ask Victoria if she minds if you sleep at the dorm," Doc suggested.
"It would be better to keep her here, but that could work."
"Victoria has some protection against the mages. Sam made a shield spell for her."
"I noticed. It will not protect against physical attack, though." Nikolai sighed and leaned back against the couch. "It is very complicated. Things were much simpler when you could simply attack the enemy."
"Do you miss home?"
He shrugged. "I barely know enough about this world to say if I miss home or not. I miss some of the people. I don't know that I miss dealing with the, eh, politics, I guess you could say." He did miss the familiarity, but the companionship he had found with Sofia and the others was making up for a lot of his loss.
They sat in comfortable silence for a while before Nikolai held out his arm. "You must be starving."
Doc glanced at Nikolai, raising an eyebrow.
"You used a lot of energy helping Sofia today. Seems to follow."
Doc nodded and took Nikolai's arm. "Are you sure you're not exhausted?"
"No. I am fine. Remember, I am used to fighting entire battles with magic and sword. Despite this altitude, I'm not tired."
"Thanks."
Nikolai wasn't in the mood to start anything with Doc, and he was fairly certain the vampire wasn't interested at the moment, either, so he tried to ignore the pleasure when Doc bit down on his wrist. He leaned on the back of the couch and stared at the wall, concentrating on keeping his breathing even. Peter, his vampire partner, had never quite been able to explain how vampires controlled what the person they fed from felt, but he'd had quite a range that he could inflict on people, from outright pain, to a more neutral pleasure that only masked any potential discomfort to varying degrees of pleasure, depending on what the situation called for. Doc didn't seem to have as much control in that area, and despite his best intentions, he was still panting and hard when the vampire finally released him. Modern pants were simply too tight. He shifted in discomfort.
"Sorry," Doc apologized.
It took a minute for him to catch his breath, then he shook his head. "It is fine. Get some rest. You can take over in a while."
Doc nodded and curled up on the couch, while Nikolai got up and found the tablet Doc had given him. He curled up on the other end of the couch and settled in to learn more about this world he found himself in.
The wards would alert him with plenty of notice if something was going on. He could have gone to sleep as well, but he decided it was safer if one of them were awake.
After a few hours of catching up on history, Nikolai got up and went to the kitchen to make some tea and stretch his legs. He wandered around the cabin while the tea steeped, and even that didn't wake Doc. He had thought to wake the other man up in a few hours so he could get some rest. Doc was exhausted, though, so he left him alone and returned to his spot on the couch.
At some point in the middle of the night, Doc shifted around on the couch until he was actually laying down, with his head on Nikolai's thigh and his legs curled so he fit. He didn't think Doc woke up and chose to cuddle with him, so much as he had gotten used to sleeping with the werewolves, and now Sofia, and had felt alone.
Nikolai ran his fingers through Doc's long hair, and marveled that the others had accepted him so easily into their pack.
Sofia had a lot to do with it, he was certain. He studied the pawprints she had added to his wrist for a moment, before he went back to playing with Doc's hair, amazed that she also had accepted him so quickly. True, she needed him, but it was more than that, he was sure. Or hoped.
Doc's light breathing changed, and the vampire tensed.
"It's still the middle of the night," Nikolai whispered. "All's quiet." He slid his finger along Doc's temple, brushing the vampire's hair out of his face. "You can go back to sleep."
"I thought the idea was for us to take turns," he replied softly.
"You need the rest more than I do, I think."
Doc didn't reply. He also didn't move, so Nikolai continued to play with his hair. "Tell me about where you are from," he asked once it became clear Doc wasn't immediately going back to sleep.
"I'm not sure I'm really from anywhere," Doc mused after a while. "I was born in Arizona, though it wasn't a state when I was born. We moved around a lot when I was younger, traveled all over the Southwest. California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico. I didn't make it up to Colorado until much later. Lots of desert. Lots of cactus." Doc spoke slowly, as if he were reliving memories while he shared a few hints of his early life.
"First time we spent m
ore than a few months in any one location, was at a cattle ranch in California. My father had injured himself, and they graciously allowed us to stay while he recovered. The cowboys taught me to ride, work cows. We ended up staying for nearly a year before the cowboys started asking questions about me. That's when we moved on. We continued to move around until my father died. Then I started spending a little more time in one spot, mostly cowboying. Occasionally hunting down rogue vampires or werecreatures."
Nikolai's hand stilled. He had never considered that Doc might be a hunter. He spoke slowly. "I suppose you've killed many vampires?"
"Only a couple. Only ones that were noticeably preying on humans. More weres. I was not quite so dedicated to the cause as my parents were. I only got involved when there was a real problem."
He went back to running his fingers through Doc's hair. "How did you end up with Allan and Ed?"
"Their parents were killed by werewolves while they were out camping. They ended up in the foster care system, which is a bad place for a couple of new werewolves to end up. Somehow, they evaded detection, but it was getting tough for them. They ran across me not long after I moved to the area. Long story short, I was able to get them out."
"And then you found Sofia," Nikolai added.
Doc smiled. "Yes. She has certainly turned our lives upside down."
He traced his fingers lightly along Doc's jaw and down his neck.
The man shut his eyes and tilted his neck, enjoying the attention.
"What do you want for yourself, Nikolai? Now that you're here," Doc asked after a few minutes of silence.
The mage stilled his hand, resting it on Doc's shoulder, and thought. "I don't know. There is so much to learn before I can answer. I suppose in the short term, I want to help keep her safe. See where I fit in to this modern world. Figure out how I fit in here."
