by V. A. Dold
Ivan twisted his body and broke away. He grabbed Etie’s arm and threw him onto the table, collapsing it like a house of cards.
Etie was on his feet in a heartbeat, tossing Ivan at the bed. The bed frame wasn’t built for such an impact.
In spite of the weapons and power, she was sure both possessed, they fought like humans.
Willa was questioning why Etie wasn’t using his unparalleled powers on Ivan when Ivan flicked a power slam. Etie deflected it, rebounding the magic back to the sender. Ivan momentarily went to his knees.
“Ivan. You know better than to try magical warfare on me,” Etie warned.
Ivan scowled and got back to his feet.
A second vampire rushed into the room with Max hot on his tail. The vampire grabbed one of the hidden knives and launched himself at Max.
With a graceful spin, any ballerina would be envious of, Max avoided the vampire’s slashing blade. Then he grabbed the vampire and pitched him into a wall. The vampire’s body flew ten feet into the air, landing in a crumpled heap.
Max watched him as he avoided the fight raging between Etie and Ivan. Eventually, the vampire struggled to his feet, dazed, blood staining his blond hair red. When Max advanced on him, he held up his hands in defeat.
Etienne blocked each tremendous kick and strike that Ivan threw at him. He returned every blow with a punishing hit, besting Ivan at every turn. He had Ivan cornered when his brother yelled, “Warriors! Come to me.”
A moment later, two big males shot through the open door. With one glance at their leader, they rounded on her, fangs bared.
Max leapt to shield Willa from the vampires preparing to attack. “Run! Xander and the others are outside,” he yelled over his shoulder as he took them both on.
The hell she would. Willa picked up a discarded knife and stood back to back with him.
A blond vampire lunged at her, his dagger-like claws swiping for her neck. Willa blocked the blow with her left arm as she buried the knife in his chest. She heard a rib snap. Taking a page from Ivan’s playbook, she twisted the blade as she yanked it out. Blood sprayed like a geyser. Great spurts slickened the floor and drenched her in gore.
The vampire went to his knees, staring up at her in disbelief.
Having beheaded the second vampire, Max turned and blinked. A smile tugged at the edge of his lips, but he didn’t say a word. Instead, he reached behind his back and pulled a second sword hilt, activated the blade, and handed it to her.
Willa smirked and took it. “Two swords, Max?”
He shrugged. “You never know when you might need a spare.”
Willa raised the weapon and relieved the vampire kneeling before her of his head.
Three more vampires skidded into the room. Willa and Max turned as one to engage the new threat. Just as they readied for the fight, Angel, Trey, and Gray flanked the attackers.
Willa took advantage of the temporary break to check on Etie. The brothers had switched from fists to weapons. The sword battle that was taking place was the most incredible thing she’d ever seen in her life. If it weren’t a fight to the death, it would be beautiful.
He blocked Ivan’s thrust, flicked his blade up, and slashed his brother’s chest. Ivan bellowed in rage. He lashed out at Etienne, his moves frantic rather than coordinated. Etienne blocked him again and sliced Ivan’s arm.
Willa tore her gaze from the love of her life to find two more vampires sneaking into the room. “Here we go again,” she said to Max as she took up a position at his back.
She slashed at the neck of the one coming at her only to have him block her blow, then deliver a staggering punch to her belly.
The pain drove her to her knees. Sheer will had her regaining her feet a second later.
The vampire gaped at her in disbelief. Willa used that moment of confusion on the vampire’s part to swing her sword and send his head flying.
A hiss of pain from Etie had Willa spinning around. Somehow Ivan had gotten past Etie’s defenses. A red ribbon of blood spread across his back where he’d been slashed. As she watched with her hand over her mouth to stifle a scream, Etienne elbowed Ivan in the face and returned the favor with a slash across Ivan’s back.
Assured Etie was winning, Willa returned her attention to the men around her. That was when she noticed Xander had joined them. All of them were watching Etienne and Ivan closely.
“Are all of Ivan’s men dead?” she asked Max.
“Unless more are hiding in the shipping containers, all except Ivan.”
A chill went down Willa’s spine when Ivan smiled at Etie. It was an evil, conniving smile. A heartbeat later, Ivan cut a rope she hadn’t paid any attention to. A silver fishing net fell from the ceiling.
She heard Etienne grunt as the net seared his flesh, smoke rose in a cloud, and the stench of burning hair and flesh fouled the air. Silver sickness sapped the strength from his body. His knees shook, then gave out completely, crashing him to the floor.
Ivan cackled and attacked. He thrust his sword into Etienne’s incapacitated body in a blur of jabs.
“Etie!”
He didn’t answer.
“Etie!” A swirl of emotions shot through Willa. Fear, protectiveness, and insanity converged as a roiling brew. She ran toward him, ready to do battle with Ivan to save her man. “Get him out of the net!” she barked at the stunned men.
A snarl tore from Ivan’s lips when she stabbed him with her sword and yanked on the silver netting ignoring her burning hand.
Ivan advanced on her as the warriors circled to remove the net and engage.
“You want to get to my férjé, you’re going to have to go through me,” Willa hissed.
Ivan laughed at her and parried her feeble one-handed attack.
The entire event played out in seconds. Before anyone could take out Ivan or release Etienne, a shower of sparkles followed by a bright, colorful streak rushed from a dark corner near the door. Everyone but Willa was frozen in place. For some reason, she was the only one able to move. Like an angry bee, a tiny woman with iridescent wings slapped Ivan’s head, causing him to scream in agony and topple to his side.
The tiny creature hovered for a moment and in a second shower of sparkles became a tall, lithe woman. She smoothed her dress and then focused her angry glare on Ivan. “Ivan, Ivan, Ivan,” she tsked. “That,” she pointed at the net, “is cheating. I was prepared to stand by as a witness to the long-awaited battle, but you forced my hand. I will not allow this.” She snapped her fingers and the net vanished.
Willa’s stomach heaved, but she fought it down. She fell to Etie’s side, putting pressure on as many wounds as her hands would cover. “Thank you—”
“Lilli, queen of the faeries and Etienne’s good friend,” the woman offered.
“Thank you, Lilli.”
“You are very welcome. Etienne would have won the battle without my assistance if not for Ivan’s cowardly tricks. I don’t care for cheating.”
Willa glanced at the woman and noticed the faerie queen was looking pointedly at Etienne’s sword lying at her feet. Lillie looked her straight in the eyes, glanced at the sword again, and then lifted her chin toward Ivan.
She got the hint and rose to her feet.
Lilli snapped her fingers, lifting the frozen state of everyone in the room.
Willa heard Ivan groan as he pushed himself to a sitting position.
Her fury made her hands shake, but she managed to grab the sword and lift it level with Ivan’s neck.
Ivan’s eyes widened. “No!”
Powered by raw fury and the need for vengeance, she swung the massive sword. Ivan’s head wobbled on its severed neck a second before his body crumpled to the floor.
The faerie queen gave her a regal nod, snapped her fingers, and she was gone.
Willa skittered on hands and knees to get back to Etienne.
“No, no, no. I won’t allow you to die.” Her vision blurred with tears, but she blinked them away. This was no time to break down. She w
anted to hold him, but she had to stop the bleeding. It was hard to tell where to put her hands. Blood was everywhere.
She had to see his chest where she was sure the damage was worse. She rolled him over onto his back and checked to assure herself that he was alive. His eyes were closed, and he was so still, it terrified her. His jaw was clenched so hard she heard something crack. Then he groaned. Not the sound she wanted to hear, but she would take what she could get. She kissed him tenderly for the briefest of moments and went to work putting pressure on the worst of the stab wounds.
Max and Xander fell to their knees on the other side of Etienne’s body to do the same.
“Over there!” Nick directed. “Park next to the tracks. We’ll hoof it from there.”
Derick cranked the wheel, jerking the SUV into the first open spot. Rafe, Sean, and Hans leapt from the car and ran across the tracks to where Darius awaited them. Nick and Derick joined them a second later.
The group stopped short just inside the room where the bloodiest of the battle was evident. Blood stained great patches of the floor crimson, bodies and heads lay willy-nilly around the room. But the thing that froze them in place was the image of Etienne bloodied, and silver burned, crumpled on the floor. Etienne was never bloodied or incapacitated. Ever.
Nick was the first to regain his faculties. He brushed past Darius to kneel next to Willa. “Talk to him, hold him to you. Don’t let him slip away,” he ordered gently, as he took over her position and applied pressure to the wounds she had been handling.
“Derick. Get Seth Le Beau here immediately,” Nick barked without looking away from Etienne.
If he had glanced over his shoulder, he would have seen that Derick already had his phone to his ear.
Sean pulled his T-shirt over his head and put it on Willa. Etienne wouldn’t want his men ogling his muierimei. Not that they would. Most of them were avoiding looking at her as it was.
Within minutes, Seth rushed into the room, breathing hard. He knelt beside Etienne evaluating his injuries and getting to work without direction.
“Will he live?” Willa asked in a hysterical voice.
“I’ll do everything I can to ensure he does,” Seth said. His eyes were closed. His hands pressed to Etienne’s torso.
After a long minute of silence, Seth called out, “I need all of you not applying pressure to lend me your strength. Put your hands on my shoulder or the shoulder of someone who is touching me. Don’t be alarmed when you begin to feel drained. You’ll recover quickly.”
“Would the witches be helpful? I can call them,” Darius offered.
“No, I’ve got this. The healing magic will continue to do its thing even after I’m done. I’ll stabilize him and stop the bleeding before I jump-start his healing. He’ll need rest and lots of blood once you take him home.”
Angel took Seth’s right shoulder as Gray took his left. The rest of the warriors lined up behind them, hand to shoulder forming a chain.
Darius kept one hand on Angel’s shoulder as he called the witches to give them an update.
It was over fifteen minutes later when Seth opened his eyes. He was ashen, swaying with exhaustion. “Willa, he needs to feed. Score your wrist and hold it to his mouth.”
She tore into her wrist without hesitation and pressed the gash to Etienne’s lips.
Etienne swallowed reflexively. His hands grabbed her wrist hard. He was latched on and apparently, no one was taking the source of blood away from him.
Willa cradled his head, rocking him gently. She would give him every drop if that was what he needed.
Darius glared at the mess they had made of the room. “We’ve got to get him back to the mansion.”
“The SUV is just across the tracks. Let’s move,” Nick growled as he took up position to lift their leader and king.
“Open the doors to the back seat for me, Nick. I’ll carry him, and you can help me get him inside,” Darius ordered.
“I’m on it.” Nick’s response floated on the air even though he had already flashed from the room.
Darius turned to the rest of the crew and started issuing orders. “Derick, you’re driving.”
Derick jangled the keys. “You got it.”
“Seth, I would appreciate it if you would accompany us home. I would like to have you close in case of complications. Anything you need to regain your strength, name it, and we will provide it.”
Seth heaved himself off the floor. “I’m all yours.”
“The rest of you clean this mess up. We can’t have the humans walking in on the leftovers of a vampire war, can we?”
“For this, the witches and the cleaning crew will come in handy. The humans will never know we were here,” Sean assured.
“All right, let’s move him, Willa. I’ll walk slowly so you can keep your wrist at his mouth. If we try to take you away from him, someone will die.”
Darius lifted Etienne into his arms as gently as possible while working around Willa. It was awkward, but they managed.
When they reached the SUV, Nick was inside, ready to pull Etienne across the seat. He grunted as he pulled, and Darius pushed. All the while, Willa squeezed between the front bucket seats and the second-row bench seat, crawling along on her knees.
“Dang, Etienne. You weigh a ton,” Nick groused.
“Hush,” Willa scolded as she stroked Etie’s hair from his face and finally allowed her tears to fall.
As Derick backed the SUV out of the parking spot, Etienne roused for a minute. His tongue swept over the punctures on her wrist, then he kissed the spot tenderly. “I am all right, sweetheart. It is barely a scratch,” he whispered, without opening his eyes.
Willa brushed away her tears, then kissed his lips softly. “You can’t lie to me, Etie. I was there.”
He pushed at the seat with his hands and tried to lift his head as if he would sit up.
Willa pressed him back. “What are you doing? Stop that.”
“I want to sit up. I am injured, not dead. Humor me,” he teased weakly.
“I’ll humor you all you want when you’re back on your feet. Until then, I’m in charge. Stay down.”
“Fine,” he mumbled as he slipped back into unconsciousness.
Willa laid her cheek on his forearm and linked her fingers with his. “Sleep, baby. I have everything under control.”
Willa crawled into bed beside Etie, tucked the blanket around him even though it didn’t need adjusting, and then laid her head beside his on the pillow.
Darius had carried him to their suite an hour ago, but it had taken time to wash him. Which had been a mountain of a task. After a few minutes of trying to do it herself, she had conceded defeat and asked for help. Darius and Xander had patiently rolled Etienne so she could clean every speck of blood from his skin and healing wounds.
She woke a couple hours later to find a tray of food and a mug of hot chocolate on the bedside table. The thoughtfulness of those dangerous warriors was endless. She would have to remember to thank them.
The aroma of steak, baked potato, and hot chocolate lured her from the bed. She lifted the stainless-steel dome and sighed. Settling herself into one of the high back chairs in front of the fireplace, she dug in.
Between being kidnaped, fighting vampires, and feeding Etie, she was famished. She cleaned the plate in five minutes flat and didn’t feel an ounce of guilt over it. She was sipping the last of the hot chocolate when Etie began to flail on the bed.
“Hang on, Willa! I am coming for you. Stay alive, baby. Stay alive for me,” he yelled and thrashed to get free of the sheets.
“Shhh, baby. I’m right here.” She gripped his shoulders, using her body weight to hold him down. Slowly, he quieted but didn’t open his eyes. It was a nightmare. Etienne was reliving the horrors of the day. “I’m right here,” she whispered again into his ear.
The hard lines of his face relaxed as he slept peacefully again.
A quiet knock sounded at the door a second before it opened sl
ightly. “May I come in?” Seth whispered. “I need to do another healing session on him. The internal injuries were extensive. Even though his vampiric healing abilities are doing a lot of the work, he needs a little boost.”
Willa stepped away from the bed to give him access. “Please, come in. Do you need me to help?”
“No. I’ve got this.”
“In that case, I’ll take a quick shower. I washed him but didn’t bother with myself. If he sees me covered in blood, he’ll go ballistic.”
“Take your time. I’ll sit with him until you return.” He pulled a chair beside the bed, placed his hands on Etienne, and closed his eyes.
She showered as quickly as possible. Scrubbing dried blood from her skin and hair proved a time-consuming chore. In the end, she was clean and refreshed. She pulled on fresh clothes and opened the bathroom door to chaos.
Etienne was thrashing wildly on the bed again with Seth flat out on top of him trying to calm him down.
The instant she took Etie’s hand and whispered to him, he quieted.
Seth eased off Etienne and smoothed his shirt. “Holy shit, he’s strong.”
“I know. That was the second time he’s done that. Will it be much longer before he wakes up?”
“He should come around within the next twenty-four hours. If you are able, feed him again. He needs all the blood he can get. But don’t drain yourself doing it. Ask one of the men to supply blood for you before you give him more. He won’t like that you fed from another, but it’s unavoidable.”
“If you’ll sit with him for a few more minutes, I’ll take care of that now.”
“Good. I’ll be here when you return, and then I have to head home.”
Willa touched his arm and smiled. “Thank you for everything, Seth.”
“You’re welcome, Willa.”
She closed the bedroom door quietly and went in search of Angelika. If she needed to feed, there was no way she would use one of the men. Etienne would never forgive her and would more than likely kill the poor soul for his selfless deed.
The next morning, having eaten breakfast, which was again provided for her on a tray, she showered and went to check on Etie. His color was back to normal, and his wounds were healed. She sighed as she gazed at his handsome face. He had to wake up soon.
