Angelic Blood (#5): Alpha Warriors of the Blood (The Blood Series)

by Tamara Rose Blodgett

  She embeds the blade, hilt-deep in his thigh. “That'll stop a truck!” then, “or a dragon.”

  He kicks out viciously and Adrienne flies, hitting the nearest wall, and sliding down into a heap. Drake roars, fire leaking from his lips. But he doesn't hurt Narah, though his thigh has to be absolutely killing him.

  He limps to her, jerking the blade from his flesh. “I don't hurt pregnant females. But you test my limits.”

  Pregnant? I twist to look at her.

  Enforcer Adrienne gives me a sullen look. “What?”

  “I—I can't believe this!” I say, Merck's hand on my upper arm.

  “Let me go! I need to stay with Arden.”

  Merck shakes his head. “He's too far gone. No shifter can heal damage that extensive—especially by fire.”

  My head feels half-attached at the news. “What?” I ask, shaky.

  “He's dying,” Drake says dismissively, whirling in our direction, and beginning to hobble determinedly toward us again.

  “Dying?” My voice sounds far away, breathy—bereft. I shake my head, as though by denying Arden's impending death, it won't happen.

  “Dick,” Adrienne spits from the wall where Drake flung her.

  Drake smirks. “It is the way of the Mutable, female. The leopard knows this.”

  The vampire swings from Drake's shoulder, hanging on as iridescent blood flows down his muscular chest.

  Arden doesn't even manage a gurgle as Drake steps over his body, reflective eyes dimming as our gazes collide, locking in silent mourning and goodbye.

  I shift my eyes to Drake's, boring into him. “If you think that you're going to win me over by killing my best friend, you're sadly mistaken.” My lip trembles, but my chin kicks up.

  Drake stops, his unblinking gaze fixed on me.

  I cough at the smells in the air, not bothering to wrench my arm from Merck's hold, covering my mouth.

  “I don't need to win you over. I just need to breed you. Transition you to your true Lanarre wolf.”

  I'm so tired of that line.

  His forked tongue slides out of his mouth as though licking his lips is the only thing that matters in that moment.

  I don't hang around for a round two.

  Somewhere in the room, Duncan groans, still bleeding out from the wound Enforcer Adrienne gave him.

  Her eyes widen on mine as I jerk my arm from Merck's, sprinting to where Arden lays.

  A low growl of warning sounds from Arden. He's still trying to save me, even though he's dying. I duck low, tucking my hands underneath his matted bloody fur.

  “No,” I sob.

  Crystalline eyes meet mine, the last vibrant thing left of Arden. “I love you, Talyn.”

  I know. I know he does—and I ran from what he offered. Transitioning with him and Merck doesn't sound so bad anymore.

  A hand falls on my shoulder, ripping me away and Arden's eyes flutter shut, a final breath shuddering out of his failing body.

  I lift my hands in front of my face, my fingers come away bloody.

  I'm numb. Numb to who has me. To what I'll become.

  To my life.

  I close my eyes and let the arms that hold me take me where they will.

  I might as well be dead, like Arden.

  3

  Merck

  I should've known the change would be this screwed from the beginning. Now I've got a Mutable dragon in the equation, and there's nothing I can do but pray that I can avoid him long enough to get Talyn transitioned.

  Enforcer Adrienne heals from the toss by the Mutable, and stands, removing her sanctioned weapon, she levels it at the dragon's back.

  “Stand down, Dragon.” Her eyes take in the vampire Enforcer hanging off the dragon's shoulder. “Murphy—let go of him for fuck's sake. I can't take a shot when you're dangling off the perp.”

  “I can't,” comes the vamp's muffled reply. His mouth is full of dragon so it's hard to tell.

  I grab Talyn, and she's vacantly presence in my arms. Her eyes stare, but no one's home.

  Fuck. Shock.

  I glance at Arden. He's dead. His human form lies on the floor, naked, pock-marked and razed with severe burns.

  I begin my retreat, a look shot at the enforcer which conveys a message I hope she interprets.

  Enforcer Adrienne dips her chin, and for the first time in my life, I'm thankful for some form of the law. Or back up. As a Changer it's usually just me.

  Arden will never back up anyone again. And no matter how much I loathed his bid for Talyn, he hadn't been a half-bad male. Just been in the wrong place at the exact wrong time kind of thing.

  Like now.

  “Give me the female,” the dragon warns me.

  I hike Talyn up in my arms, leveling a look at the first shifter dragon I've ever laid eyes on. “Torch me, Mutable.”

  The dragon smirks, vampire still clinging like a tick with fangs. Dragon reaches behind him to grab the vamp just as the vamp's palms cover his snake-like eyes.

  See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, I think randomly.

  I whirl, sprinting for the door as a shot's fired. I don't bother to look back, slow down or hesitate. Instead, I clear the front steps of the shitty house, racing down the walk.

  I hit the piped top of the chain link fence with one hand, and throw myself over the four foot divide, landing with Talyn held in one arm.

  She doesn't stir.

  I feel the heat from here. Like a wave from an open furnace, it hits my back like a hot slap.

  I keep running.

  Run to escape the Dragon, and protect Talyn from a fate of gang-breeding by rabid Mutables. It's not an end for any female.

  When I reach the end of the block I turn, facing the carnage behind us. Flames shoot like exploded torpedoes, causing a false orange glow to saturate the night sky.

  I don't see the vamp, enforcer—or most importantly, the dragon evacuate the burning house.

  I have a pang for the enforcer. A female—and pregnant, though I'm not sure how the dragon knows—left behind to a fiery death.

  I gaze down at Talyn.

  She is my change—the only female I am responsible for right now.

  I will get her to safety—everything else is secondary.

  I keep running until I'm where I need to be. Wishing the entire time I could mask as Arden can.

  Could.

  4

  Talyn

  My eyes open slowly. Swollen and puffy from the tears.

  The smoke, blood and ash of my life flows like a river of singed grief, wrapping my soul, tugging at it like an anchor. Sinking me into a despair I'll never wake from.

  It's the only thing where I feel my schooling comes and saves me. My intellect chants the reality.

  Arden was my friend. He tried to save me—he also wanted me. He's not human—was not human. My eyes shut against the realization of his death.

  I'm not human either. Not really.

  The distant tick tock of a clock in the space measures my heartbeat. My despondent thoughts.

  “You're awake,” a quiet voice says from close by.

  I jerk up and off the couch, tumbling to my knees, and Merck's hand is at my elbow. I look up, trembling.

  I give a weary shake of my head. “I can't take much more of this, Merck. Arden's gone, and Drake's tailing me.”

  I giggle. Tailing me. Nice word selection, Talyn.

  “Hey,” Merck says, voice soothing. He lifts me up by the armpits, and gently sets me back on the couch. I suck in a sob, releasing an exhale so full of grief it scents the air between us. I know it does because Merck's nostrils flare.

  Or maybe my breath is bad. I dump my face in my hands and cry.

  He silently sits beside me, sliding a strong arm around my shoulders. “I usually change a female within seventy-two hours. I understood your change would be different because you didn't fall within the norms. But I couldn't have guessed this fucked up outcome if I tried. It's, hell—like a pulsevision dr
ama.”

  I laugh again. My life. Made for pulsevision. Pathetic. Like those early 21st century reality shows about people famous for being famous.

  I groan.

  Merck laughs.

  I punch him in the thigh.

  “Ow,” he says in a mocking voice. “Don't abuse your protector.”

  I look up at him, his blue eyes like ice chipped off a glacier, but somehow warm when they gaze at me. “I don't know what to do with all this.” I helplessly flip my palms over on my lap. “Last week, I was a therapist.”

  “You still are a therapist for the humans, Talyn.”

  I snort. Right. I bet there'd be so many people wanting advice from wolf woman. They'd line up at the door.

  “I was a therapist,” I emphasize, and Merck is silent. His arm remains a comforting weight around my shoulders, “but now I am a mouse in a maze. All these men are vying for a chance to be with me. But it's not a flattering thing, Merck. It's not me they want to be with. You—you want to be with me because that's your sole job. You find human women of mixed Lycan blood, and you sex them into a change.”

  His lips thin, eyes tightening with my implied put-down. Or not so implied.

  “Then Arden, my friend from high school, jumps on the ʻlet's hump Talyn and make her preggersʼ train.” I suck in a breath, shoring myself up. One oxygen hit isn't enough, but I manage to stop shy of hyperventilating. “Then there's the Mutables. What an awful group of nothing but misogynistic fuckers.”

  My fists ball.

  Merck covers my clenched hands with one of his own.

  My sigh is a shudder as his touch ignites another wave of heat from my core, wetting my walls like a mini fire hose.

  Merck, for once, doesn't flare his nostrils, make a comment about my ʻreadiness,ʼ or otherwise distract me from the words I need to say. “So there's no going back. I have to screw you, so I can avoid this rape fest, then everyone will leave me alone, right?”

  Merck blinks at the baldness of my words. “ʻEssentially, yesʼ.”

  I cross my arms, shrugging off his big arm, and turn to face him. “What do you mean, ʻessentiallyʼ?”

  Subtle color infuses Merck's face, his neck and lower jaw growing ruddy.

  “Uh-oh. What are you going to tell me that I'm going to hate?”

  He stares back at me silently. “You need to use the bathroom or get some water?”

  “Don't patronize me!” I yell. “I'm almost thirty-nine years old. I am not some naïve twenty-something. I have heard horrible things for too many years to be anything other than jaded and indifferent to whatever news you want to unload, so don't try to distract me.”

  Merck runs a hand through his golden brown hair, yanking it. His arm leaves me, his palms falling to his jean-clad thighs. “I change you then you're handed over to my Alpha for placement.”

  My lungs deflate like a pierced balloon. “Placement?” My eyes search his face, “I'm afraid to ask.”

  His features grow wary.

  Definitely afraid to ask.

  “After I see you through your transition, you'll be assigned a mate that is compatible to you.”

  I fold my arms. “You mean, a stud that will have the highest degree of viability with children as the outcome?”

  Merck nods, his flush deepening.

  Unbelievable. I scoot away from him on the couch. “I can't have children. We've gone over that.”

  Merck flops back against the couch, eyes to the ceiling.

  I look up too. Black rafters intersect twenty feet above our heads. My eyes travel the space. A large brick wall with a faded gray wash of paint says Foundry in a pale ivory. The cursive is old-fashioned, oversized in an almost cartoonish way. Tall windows sit at my right, framing people just two floors beneath having coffee. Shopping.

  Going about their normal day. While nothing is normal for me.

  It won't ever be again. I successfully blink back tears.

  “Have you never explained this to other women? They just go like good little sheep to the den of inequity to get their husband handed to them?”

  His eyes tighten, hardening to ice again. “I wouldn't say it like that.”

  “Oh—I know. You don't do a lot of talking, Merck. It's all about doing.”

  Anger flashes through his eyes. “That's not fair. I am a Changer. It is my role in this life, for the good of all Lycans.”

  “So there will be little Lycans,” I comment quietly.

  “Yes,” he replies in loud relief like, the dumb doctor is finally getting it.

  Well fuck him. I stand, and he does too.

  “I've never been one to follow the path of least resistance, and I'm not inclined to now. Arden's—Arden's gone.” I bite my lip to stop the quaking. “And there's a pack of stupid Mutables...” Merck raises his eyebrow, and I ignore his obvious irritation, “...waiting to ʻbreed meʼ.”

  I don't say anything about the possible Lycan hubby. Or Drake.

  “But that doesn't mean that I've got to be part of an arranged match with some man I've never laid eyes on, give up my work. My freedom.”

  Merck smirks. “You'll have to give up something.”

  I want to punch him. “I know what you're thinking.”

  “The same thing your body has been trying to get you to do since you met me.”

  A tear slips out of my eye. I'm cornered and frustrated, and my sadness has turned into rage.

  I glare. “Fine, I'll fuck you, Changer. But that's all it'll be. I'm not saying yes to this mating thing with a stranger.” I spit my words into his face.

  He stands before my seething rage and says nothing. When he holds out his hand, something inside me dies.

  My humanity.

  5

  Narah

  “Did you hurt her?”

  Murphy.

  I'm dizzy and flat on my back.

  Not a good place to be. I peek from behind the slits of my eyelids. The house I was inside isn't there anymore.

  The dragon is.

  I roll to my side, hopping to my feet, arms loose, hands fisted.

  Murph smirks. “Damn darling, I thought you were in trouble.”

  I scowl, fighting coughing. “What does your blood tell you?”

  Murphy cocks his head, mentally analyzing our tie. “You'll live.”

  “Right-o.” I turn my head to Dragon. “What's your story?”

  His gaze narrows on Murph. “Your associate was a hindrance in my acquisition of Talyn Phisher.”

  A huff breaks out of me before I can stop it. “Not my problem.”

  He walks to me and we stand chest to chest. Actually, it's my nose to his sternum. I could really pop that about now. With my new vamp strength, it'd be kindling.

  I don't.

  Because the dragon has not really shown violence toward me. I show restraint. Generally not my first reaction.

  “Female. I will not harm you. Stop inciting me to do so.”

  We lock gazes for a handful of seconds. I sigh, retreating a step. Murphy comes behind me. Has my back. But we both know who is the more lethal of us.

  It will always be me.

  But Murph knows my secret. And now, for reasons unknown, so does Dragon dude. Got a lot of hate for that.

  I glance at the blown up house behind him. “What happened to the house?”

  “Propane tank, love. I think it's a brilliant outcome.”

  “Agreed.” My eyes narrow on the dragon.

  “Drake,” he says, holding his big hand out. I give him my non-dominant hand in return. He notices, a slight lift of lips touching his mouth, an echo of a true smile, but what probably passes for humor with the inscrutable dragon and his strange half-form.

  “Narah Adrienne.” I jab my thumb behind me. “This is Murphy.”

  His nostrils widen, scenting us. “Your youngling?” he asks, but it's more like statement.

  I lean toward him and he stands his ground. “Good sniffer you got.”

  His smile widens, a dim
ple appearing. “Nice blade.” He hands me my obsidian blade, hilt first and my eyes sting.

  The business end faces his torso. It's a show of extreme trust. And the change in our status isn't missed.

  I lift my eyes to his. “What do you want?”

  “You know what I want.”

  I sigh, sheathing my dirty blade and placing my hands on my hips. “Listen, I'm an enforcer. We've just began taking on supe cases. I'm out of my league here. But I do know that Dr. Phisher is not interested in changing.”

  Drake tips his head back. “It doesn't matter that she isn't interested.” Disdain rolls over his features. “Interest has nothing to do with changing. It's about living. If she doesn't breed with someone who can transition her—she dies. It's a simple concept, Narah.”

  “Yeah,” I answer softly. I jerk my chin up. “Let the Lycan. He's a Changer, she's Lanarre—royalty for the werewolves. He can get her fixed, and then she can figure it out.”

  Drake shakes his head. “He won't ʻfigure it outʼ for her. He'll change Talyn then hand her over to the Alpha of his den. He will choose whatever male within the pack he deems worthy.”

  I wrinkle my nose, hope fleeing. “She's not gonna dig that noise.”

  A laugh bursts out of Drake, and Murph snickers behind me.

  I elbow him.

  “Oof!”

  Drake glances at a sullen Murphy then his eyes come back to mine. “You're very plain-spoken, Enforcer Adrienne.” The glint of humor sparkles in his eyes.

  “You have no idea,” Murphy grumbles from behind me.

  Jerks.

  6

  Merck

  Talyn walks to the sink, fills a glass of water and downs it. All the time her eyes shoot daggers at me.

  She drinks the last of it, popping the glass down hard on the pure white quartzite countertop. She brushes by me like a guy that wants to begin a fight and strides to the bathroom.

  I follow her, stopping when she opens and shuts the door in my face. I press my fingertips to the door. I listen to the sounds of running water, a toilet flushing.

  The door swings open and my hand flies to the jamb. Glad I'm holding on to something.

  Talyn's naked.