Vengeance: A Knight World Novel (Fireborn Wolves Book 3)

by Genevieve Jack

  Jason’s wolf stuck his head into the hole, snapping at the animal in the bushes behind them. He was still too big to fit through the hole and he retreated to dig again. Silas turned his face toward the full moon, now totally eclipsed, blackened out by the shadow of the earth. He’d shifted back faster because he was older. Jason would likely follow in a few minutes.

  Jason’s wolf whined as the creature from the bushes emerged, a dainty red fox with upturned ears and a long bushy tail. “Meredith?” Silas whispered. The fox’s eyes blinked knowingly.

  A sound behind him made her scamper into the bushes. He looked over his shoulder. The altar. Alex. The rogue wolf was shifting back, almost human again in the light of the fire. Olivia was still there, hovering over him like some kind of prison warden.

  Silas looked back down at his hands, at the place where Jason was still digging. Two magical jujus, similar to the one Grateful had used on Laina, lay twitching on either side of the hole. Did Meredith break whatever spell Alex had used to stop them from burrowing under? Was she trying to help them?

  The hole was almost big enough. Almost. It would be a tight fit. Silas pushed Jason’s wolf away, thankful when the beast obeyed. He must have still recognizing Silas as alpha, even in his human form. He grabbed Jason’s suit jacket and tossed it into the hole, lining the jagged earth at the bottom. Silas tried to slide under, but his shoulders wouldn’t fit. Fuck. Jason was slightly smaller; maybe he’d fit when he shifted back. Silas backed out of the hole.

  “Alex. Please. There’s still time to stop this,” he heard Nickelova beg.

  Quickly, Silas pooled his clothing to conceal the hole and crossed to the bars in time to see Alex stand, fully shifted, behind the stone table.

  “Get the sacrifice,” he ordered Olivia, leaning over the book.

  Sacrifice. Another sacrifice? Something besides the three?

  Olivia strode to the Suburban and opened the hatch. There was the thump of something heavy being repositioned, and then the woman emerged with another woman in her arms, one with mahogany hair and a curvy build.

  Silas forced his eyes to focus in the dim light and tried to get a better look. He sucked air through his nose. Even if he couldn’t see her face, he could smell her. Laina.

  “Alex, don’t you dare! I will kill you,” he yelled. “Let her go!”

  Alex grinned over the pages of The Book of Flesh and Bone. He moved aside slightly in order to give Olivia room to arrange Laina on the massive stone table behind the book. What was wrong with her? She wasn’t just unconscious. By the way her arm dangled lifelessly over the edge of the stone, Silas might have presumed she was dead.

  “I gave you a chance to join me,” Alex said, looking directly at him. “I gave you a chance to die. Now you will live with your sister’s blood on your hands, as your parents’ blood is on your hands.”

  “I’ll rip your heart out of your chest, you bastard.” Silas gripped the bars until his knuckles turned white. “Back away from her, now!”

  He gave Silas a patronizing look. “It’s over. Laina’s blood and that of her unborn child will be the ultimate sacrifice. Watch, alpha,” he spat. “Learn what happens to those who cross Alex Ravien Bloodright.”

  Alex placed his hand on the open book and began to chant, the amulet around his neck glowing bright red. Sweat beaded across his forehead and his face tightened with concentration. Purple flames sparked near the bonfire, then spread along the stones, encircling the demon, the vampire, and Nickelova.

  The dragon fae’s screams sliced through the darkness. Ordinary fire couldn’t hurt a dragon, but this was far from ordinary. It blistered her flesh. Silas covered his ears at her pitiful cries, helpless against the flames that consumed her. The vampire, drugged and barely conscious, did not scream at all. She burned as if she were already dead. The demon’s shrieks rivaled Nickelova’s.

  Silas had no personal attachment to the three creatures burning alive. Nickelova, at least, had earned her place in the flames. But no creature deserved the brutality of this ritual. The entire thing turned his stomach. Evil, by any definition. And he knew Laina was next.

  As Alex continued his chant, Silas noticed something change. The glow of the amulet faded with Nickelova’s screams. Was it possible that once she was dead, its magic would die altogether?

  And then it was over. Nickelova and the demon went abruptly silent, the three rings now entirely swallowed by fire. Nickelova’s body was unrecognizable, a silhouette of ash. The demon was gone too, along with the bones that had called it here. The vampire had been reduced to a pile of dust.

  Alex slumped over the book, his chant becoming weaker. The amulet was as dark as an ordinary piece of jewelry. Now was Silas’s chance. Alex was drained, and Nickelova’s death appeared to have rendered the amulet useless. If he could escape, he might be able to take Alex down.

  A hand landed on his shoulder. Jason. His brother pointed toward the hole. Meredith, human Meredith, stood naked on the other side of the bars. She motioned to him, glancing back at Alex.

  Silas approached her cautiously.

  “Can I trust you?” he whispered.

  “It wasn’t me,” she said. “Whatever you think I did, it was my mother. She made herself look like me. Do you remember what I tried to show you in Soleil’s room?”

  “The pink-tinged jelly.”

  “Every time a skinwalker shifts they leave behind an excretion. It’s a thick mucus their bodies produce to protect them from the shift. When I saw it in Soleil’s room, I knew my mother had been the one to steal the book. I left you the heart, knowing the enchantment around your house would protect it. I thought you’d destroy Nickelova and end this. But then my mother lured your sister away.”

  “I hate to break up this little reunion, but we’ve got to hurry. Come on, brother. There’s no time for this.” Jason glanced over his shoulder. Alex’s chanting grew louder, the fire blazing toward the sky in great plumes.

  Silas stared at Meredith, trying to fit all the pieces together in his head. If what she was saying was true, his emotions had nowhere to go. Did he still love her? Could he forgive her for shooting Soleil and playing into Alex’s hands?

  Jason scoffed, then tried his best to fit through the hole. It was too small, even for him. Meredith picked up a stick and started breaking off pieces of rocky soil, helping Jason fight his way through.

  “Can you shift back? It will be faster if you dig,” Jason said.

  With tears in her eyes, Meredith took one more look at Silas and shifted into fox form. She dug frantically at the hole.

  Jason succeeded in getting his head and one arm through but could go no farther.

  “What now?” Silas murmured, his heart a lead weight in his chest.

  As if in answer to his question, the ground began to shake. He bent his knees to avoid falling over. The three interlocking circles had transformed into a pit of fire. In the center of it all, a dark figure rose, a huge beast, humanoid but for two massive horns growing from the sides of its head. The sight of the thing filled Silas’s heart with the kind of dread he’d only known in nightmares.

  “By the goddess,” Jason murmured.

  Olivia held a dagger out to Alex, his eyes focused on Laina’s unconscious body.

  Rage filled Silas, a deep, hot need for revenge that made his skin bubble as his wolf came to the surface. He hated Alex and as the goddess was his witness, he would not let him win. Concentrating all his hateful energy on his right hand, Silas drew on the eclipsed moon above and willed the appendage to shift. His bones broke and his fingers melded into his palm.

  “Silas… by the goddess.” Jason backed out of the hole. He looked toward Meredith. “I’ve never seen this done before.”

  With his shifted hand, Silas dug, giant claws ripping through the stone and packed earth. In no time, the hole was big enough for Jason to fit through. Meredith’s fox backed away as Silas slid through next, rotating his shoulders through the hole in the rough earth. He arose o
utside the cage, with only one goal in mind. He was going to kill Alex Bloodright.

  “What the hell is that thing?” Jason asked, gaping at the form within the fire.

  Silas took a deep breath before answering. “We’ve never been formally introduced, but I’m guessing that’s Panaal.”

  Chapter 26

  Through the fire and smoke, Silas tried to take in the horror that was Panaal. Aside from his size—he was at least eight feet tall and twice Silas’s width—his horns and the reddish tinge of his skin were a ringer for the human concept of the devil. Panaal’s terrible eyes absorbed the light of the fire, soulless pits of darkness that chilled Silas to the bone. The beast was here but not completely corporeal. His form flickered with the fire.

  Alex’s grin broadened as he viewed Panaal. “My lord, I free you from your ancient bindings!” Panaal’s presence caused the earth to quake, the fault line beginning under the immortal being’s cloven hooves.

  Flattening his hand atop the shaking book, Alex read again, the guttural series of syllables coming fast and frantic. As he accepted the diamond-shaped blade from Olivia, its obsidian color flashed in the firelight. A black blade. Laina had mentioned it was a black blade that had stabbed her at Four Paws. Alex had marked her as his sacrifice from the beginning! Silas sprang into motion as the bastard centered the blade over Laina’s abdomen.

  “No!” Silas screamed. He ran toward Alex at full speed, the ground shaking beneath his feet. With the slightest gesture of his head, Alex ordered Olivia forward. She barreled toward Silas at a full run. Although he was twice her size and werewolves were stronger than shifters, he’d have to deal with her quickly if he was going to save Laina.

  He tried to veer to the left and use her momentum to his advantage, but at the last second, she leapt into the air and caught him around the neck. Her legs wrapped around his hips, her force and weight knocking him to the ground where the two rolled across the packed dirt of the clearing. With a sound like a pop and a splash of something warm and thick, her body transformed into a snake that constricted around his neck, arms, and legs.

  Alex raised the dagger. No. No! Silas fought, pushing and biting at the boa constrictor Olivia had become, but to no avail. Then, a miracle. A red fox sprang from ground to altar, it’s teeth sinking into Alex’s wrist. Meredith! Taken by surprise, Alex dropped the dagger. She didn’t waste a moment. Meredith released Alex’s wrist and caught the hilt of the blade between her teeth, Her delicate red paws scrambled under his arm and off the stone slab.

  And then Jason’s face was above his own. “Damn, some women don’t know how to let go.” He slammed a sharp rock against Olivia’s reptilian head. She loosened her grip for a fraction of a second. It was long enough. Silas wedged a hand under her coils and lifted, sliding fluidly from her grip. Unfortunately, since Jason still held her head, the serpent coiled around him in a heartbeat.

  A high-pitched cry turned Silas’s attention to the altar. Alex had caught Meredith by the tail, her furry red body twisting masterfully to keep the dagger from his opposite hand. But she was in pain. She wouldn’t be able to keep up the fight for long.

  “Why isn’t he using the amulet?” Jason asked as he wrestled the boa.

  “Nickelova is dead. I don’t think it works anymore.”

  “Then what are you waiting for?” Jason pinned Olivia’s tail under his knee. “Go! Help Laina and Meredith.” The boa snapped at his face as he squeezed her throat. “I’ve got this.”

  Silas took off toward the altar. Alex saw him coming and stopped reaching for the dagger. Instead, his hands landed on the fox’s slim neck. He gave her slight body a hard shake. With a sickening crack Silas could hear yards away, Meredith’s body went limp in Alex’s grip, the dagger dropping from her teeth. He cast her aside as if she were garbage and scooped the blade from the dirt.

  “You fucking bastard.” Silas plowed into Alex, thrusting the dagger above his head. They toppled to the ground, Silas on top.

  Alex managed to turn the dagger around, pointing it at Silas’s face. With both hands clutching Alex’s wrists, Silas could keep the sharp point from piercing his flesh, but just barely, and his mind was cognizant that if he was wrong about the amulet, one pulse could incinerate him. The earth shook harder, the sound of cracking earth coming from the vicinity of Panaal.

  “Why can’t you see, Silas? This life you’re living is meaningless. It’s an illusion. You call yourself alpha, but you have no real power. You are a pawn of the goddess. Panaal could make you a god.”

  Silas grunted, his muscles straining to keep the dagger at bay. “I don’t want to be a god. All I want is to keep the people around me safe. And that can’t happen while you’re alive.” He pushed harder on Alex’s wrists, his arms growing fatigued from the effort.

  A groan came from the direction of Meredith’s disposed body. Silas concentrated on keeping pressure on Alex, even when the rogue wolf’s eyes darted toward her. Out of the corner of his eye, Silas saw the movement of human flesh. She was alive, and she had shifted. With jerky, pained movements, she passed them and headed for the altar.

  “No!” Alex yelled. “Don’t be a fool.”

  Concentrate, Silas told himself. Don’t get distracted. He kept his eyes on Alex, even when his expression revealed extreme distress.

  “You stupid girl,” Alex spat. “If you interrupt the spell, there’s no telling the consequences.”

  A rush of elation lifted the corners of Silas’s mouth. At that moment, he was certain of three things. One: if Alex could have used the amulet, he would have by now. Two: Meredith was attempting to destroy the spell and was clearly never the one to help Alex. And three: he loved her. He still loved Meredith.

  “Do it, Meredith! Do it!” Silas yelled. He risked a glance in her direction.

  She’d fisted the top page of the open book and strained to tear it from its binding. A deep growl rumbled like thunder from the area of Panaal’s chest and a mighty wind blew through the clearing. Panaal bared his teeth, those black eyes fixed on Meredith.

  “You fucking bitch,” Alex yelled. “You’ll doom us all!”

  Leaning into the wind, her red hair whipping around her head, Meredith ripped the page in two. Carefully, she fed the pieces into the purple flames in front of the altar. The parchment caught fire at Panaal’s feet, even as the ground shook harder and the wind increased to hurricane proportions. Panaal’s mouth opened in a brain-slicing scream, his teeth gnashing in Meredith’s direction. But his bite passed right through her.

  She limped back to the altar, in obvious pain. With both hands, Meredith lifted one side of the massive tome and slammed the book shut. Panaal’s growls turned into howls as the god of the underworld descended slowly into the purple flames.

  Alex gaped. A mixture of rage and disappointment strained his features. For a moment, his muscles flinched. Silas used the opportunity to remove one hand from his wrists and punched Alex in the side of the head. With all of his weight behind the blow, it was enough for Alex to loosen his grip. Wrestling the dagger away, Silas twirled the blade and centered it over Alex’s heart, pinning his arms to his sides with his knees.

  “You’ve won,” Alex said. He went limp under Silas’s weight. “Take me in. Lock me up. Let the pack deal with me.”

  “I should. Maybe it’s the right thing to do,” he mumbled.

  “Of course it is. What kind of alpha would you be, what kind of detective, if you didn’t uphold the process of justice?”

  “You have a point.” Silas watched a smug grin crawl across Alex’s face.

  “You can’t kill me, Alpha. It wouldn’t be the right thing to do. Not when I’m surrendering. Unarmed. I’m giving myself up.” The words held a well-practice acerbity.

  “I shouldn’t. You’re right about that. Only, I promised my brother vengeance. And I’ve recently learned that there is no substitute for family. I need them, Alex, and they’ll never be safe as long as you’re alive.” He placed both hands on the hilt
and looked directly into Alex’s eyes. “This is for my mother, my father, my siblings, my pack, and for Soleil. Go to hell and take the horned god with you.” He thrust the dagger into Alex’s heart.

  Alex’s mouth opened, but no sound came out. His pupils dilated with disbelief. Silas watched the light fade from his widening eyes until there was no more breath, no more fight left in his mortal enemy. And still, he pushed the dagger deeper into Alex’s chest, his hands shaking with the need to make certain he was dead.

  He’d hated Alex for so long, dreamed about this day with such fervor, he expected choirs of angels and a rush of elation. But as it became more and more obvious the man was gone, he merely felt hollow. Miserable that killing Alex was necessary, helpless that it was impossible to bring back all of the people the man had killed, and thankful that it was over while remaining hyperaware that it was not.

  A scream behind him seemed to bring him back into the present. He climbed from Alex’s dead body and whirled to find Olivia, in her human form, crouching over Jason. “What have I done? What have I done?” Her hands were shaking. She backed away.

  Silas ran to his brother’s side. There was a red ring around Jason’s neck, but otherwise, his brother seemed okay. He coughed into his hand. “I’m okay.” He rubbed his neck and gave Olivia a sideways glance.

  “Silas!” Meredith cried from the altar, Laina in her arms. “My legs won’t work.”

  She was staring at the widening crater that crept toward her toes. Panaal was still trapped in the flames, sinking into the rumbling earth like quicksand. But it was the space around the horned god that was the problem. The ground was giving way, black steaming emptiness growing from the inside out.

  Silas ran for her, right as Panaal opened his flaming mouth. The beast laughed, a hissing charcoal bark that increased in its maniacal splendor as the earth swallowed the horned god. Meredith screamed as the creeping black hole claimed the altar and the book. Both tumbled into the abyss.