“What kind of punishment are we talking about?”
“Sometimes it’s as little as a warning or a fine. Other times they can exile someone. Or, in extreme cases, which have been rare, they’ve been known to execute someone.”
Execution?
“Dad, what’s going to happen to us?”
“I’m not sure. Hopefully Roger’s not stupid enough to actually go to the Council, considering he’s blackmailed us, and tried to kills us, in the last couple of weeks or so. It would be suicide to turn us over to the Council. That’s good and bad for us.”
“Good because we don’t have to deal with old, fussy werewolves, but bad because Roger can still do whatever he wants to us.”
“What if we beseech the Council?” Jenna asked. “We could go to them, explain everything, and hope that they see reason. Obviously their bond is still there, they can’t deny that. The only problem I see with that is them not believing us about Roger.”
I gaped at her. “Are you crazy? You think they’re just gonna give Quinten and I a free pass because we went to them instead of them coming to us?”
“Well, I don’t know. But if they do find out, and they realize we didn’t inform them, we could all be in serious trouble.”
“Maybe we could just discredit Roger, and then go with our original plan to move. If he goes to the Council, after he’s been exposed, they might not believe him. I mean, I can’t remember there ever being a werewolf that loved a vampire,” Ray said, frowning. “But how do we expose Roger?”
I suddenly remembered a promise I’d made. “The dhampirs.”
“The what?” Jenna asked.
Carmen looked confused.
“Roger has a dungeon full of dhampirs. People that are half human and half vampire. If we free them, and get some of them to testify against Roger, maybe that would discredit him.”
Carmen’s hands clenched into angry fists. “That bastard’s keeping vampires locked up in his dungeons?”
“Yes,” I said, looking at her. “I promised one of them that I’d come back for him, and get him out of there.”
Ray looked doubtful. “Alanna–”
“At the very least it may get us more allies. Do you honestly believe that none of them are going to take an opportunity to get back at that monster?”
“Alright, let’s just say for one second, that we do manage to break into Roger’s dungeons, free the dhampirs, and sneak back out. What good will that do us? The Council is not going to listen to the testimony of vampires. Even ones that are only half vampire.”
I frowned. “We’ll think of that when the time comes. The point is that I can’t leave Darren in those dungeons for another minute. He’s been held and tortured for years, and it’s going to stop. I bet he’d offer to help us.”
Ray groaned, and rubbed his face. “Kiddo, why do you have to cause so much trouble?” He joked. “Sometimes I wish you were just a normal girl, worrying about college, and boys, and shopping.”
“Dad, you don’t really think that I would ever worry about those things, do you?”
He sighed. “I guess not. I just don’t like the thought of you being in so much constant danger, from two such dangerous people.”
“I’ve got you to help protect me, Dad. Plus there’s Quinten, and Jax, when he gets back on his feet. We’ll be fine.”
“I guess we could really use some more help, huh? The three of us aren’t going to be able to protect you very well.”
“Four,” Carmen said. “I’m not letting anyone hurt my daughter.”
“I’m in,” Jenna said, surprising me.
“Jenna, it’s too–”
“Don’t you tell me it’s too dangerous, Ray. Just because I’m the smallest person in the room doesn’t mean I’m useless. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”
I looked between the two of them, surprised. He was worried about her, and I had the feeling it wasn’t the way a friend worries about another friend. Was there something between the two of them? Could there be?
Ray was devastated after he thought Carmen was dead. Could that broken-hearted man piece himself back together enough to even try and love another woman?
I hoped so. Ray was such a good man, and he deserved to be as happy as possible.
Ray smiled warmly. “I know you can take care of yourself. You’re one of the strongest women I’ve ever met.”
Well, that made it more obvious. How had he not told me about her? Was he worried that I wouldn’t approve? Or was I just imagining this whole relationship?
“But you’ve got to understand, siding with us is dangerous. Roger could decide to kill you, and I might not be able to protect you.”
“I’m willing to take that chance,” she said softly.
I noticed Carmen watching their entire exchange with a venomous look. She was angry, and she had absolutely no right to be. She’d walked out on her family, not the other way around. Ray had a right to be happy with whoever he chose, and Carmen did not get a say in the matter.
How many people were capable of finding a second chance of happiness after the loss of their soul mate? I could only remember four that Ray had ever told me about. Susan, a werewolf born in the late eighteen hundreds, had found happiness the second time around. She and her second mate were still together.
Pearl, a werewolf born in France in the early sixteen hundreds, had managed to find a second mate, one that she was with for almost one hundred and fifty years, until they were killed years ago.
Marcus, a werewolf born in Germany in the early thirteen hundreds, had found a second mate that he was perfectly happy with. They were together for almost four hundred years, before they both died.
And the final was Preston, a werewolf born just eighty years ago. His soul mate had died in a fire. It had taken him almost thirty years to get over her loss, but when he did, he found a second mate, one he was still with to this day.
Werewolves were capable of loving after their soul mates were taken from them. Would it help speed up the process if the love was already fading from a relationship? Carmen and Ray were soul mates, but they were horrible together.
Carmen was the problem, she had to be. She was a human at the time, and she didn’t understand the concept of a love that could last through the centuries. She was more concerned with her own happiness, than that of her family’s.
Your soul mate was the person that was perfect for you, but you didn’t have to actually love your soul mate. Some people found their soul mates, and never entered into a relationship with them. They found other mates that they were perfectly happy with.
“Ok, Alanna, did you have a plan on how to get into Roger’s dungeons?” Quinten asked.
I looked over at him. “I honestly have no clue.”
“You’re the only one of us to have seen them. We’re gonna need any information you can give us if we’re going to get inside.”
I nodded. “I know. I’ll think of something.”
Chapter Five
I brushed a sweat-soaked piece of hair away from Jax’s closed eyes. It’d been almost two hours since Jenna had managed to fix his leg, but he was still asleep.
I couldn’t imagine how much pain he was in. The thought of everyone getting hurt for me made me unhappy. Jax was lying here on this bed, in pain, and it was all my fault. And now I was going to be putting them in danger again.
Everyone was counting on me to come up with some kind of plan, because I was the only one to have seen the dungeons. I knew the way in, I just couldn’t think of a way to get everyone back out. If Darren was in the same condition as he was when we met, he would be in no shape to escape, at least, not without help.
I needed time to think of a plan. So much hinged on our ability to pull this off. If we couldn’t destroy Roger’s reputation, we were doomed. Unfortunately, we didn’t exactly have a lot of time to plan. Roger could be contacting the Council right now, and if he gets there before this plan is carried out, Quinten and I co
uld be executed.
Would they really do that? Kill two people just because they were in love?
Jax moaned, interrupting my inner thoughts. His eyes slowly opened, and I smiled at him. “Hey, how do you feel?”
“Terrible,” he croaked. “What happened?”
“Roger broke your leg in two places. Jenna Miller came over to fix you up. Now she’s in on our cause.”
His eyebrows rose into his hairline. “Why would she offer to take our side?”
“I think she and Ray have been playing with the idea of maybe seeing one another. There’s definitely something there. Only a blind man could miss it.”
He chuckled. “How’d your mom take that?”
“Not well, but she doesn’t have the right to complain. Ray deserves to be happy. Do you think he might be ready to move on?”
“If he wasn’t before, he is now.”
“What?”
“Alanna, your mother faked her death, to run away with another man. Ray has to have realized in the last few hours that Carmen was never the right person for him.”
“How do you figure? They were soul mates. They still are.”
Jax shook his head. “Being someone’s soul mate doesn’t mean that they’re perfect. Being someone’s soul mate means being able to overlook your partner’s flaws, and still loving them despite the fact that they’re not perfect. You probably don’t want to hear this, because she’s your mom, but Carmen has some serious flaws.”
I snorted. “Ya think?”
“Alanna, we find in our soul mates the best chance of passing on our genes. We find the person that’s been preconditioned to love us, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t love someone else, too. There are plenty of werewolves out there that have lived their entire lives with someone that’s not their soul mate. Those people have spent centuries together sometimes, and you’d never know they weren’t soul mates without asking.”
“So, you think Ray and Jenna could actually be happy together?”
He sighed. “Ray’s in a tough place right now, having the woman he loved for years show up again, finding out that she faked her death, but yes, I think they could be happy together. Eventually. Someday. Right now he needs time to think.”
I nodded. “Jax, we’ve decided to free the dhampirs.”
“Good. What can I do to help?”
“You’re staying here, because you’re in no condition to move, but I could use some help planning all of this.”
“Alright. I’ll see what I can come up with.”
*****
That night, Ray, Carmen, Quinten, Jenna and I prepared to break into Roger’s mansion. I wasn’t sure how many dhampirs might need help escaping, but we’d need numbers on our side to take out any guards as well, so it was best to bring everyone we had.
The run to Roger’s was done in completely silence. Nobody really had anything to say, and it was best to remain as quiet as possible.
When we reached the edge of the forest, we stopped, and examined Roger’s mansion. I could make out six guards, dressed from head-to-toe in black, scattered around the grounds. They probably had weapons of some kind, not to mention radios to communicate with one another.
The nearest guard was separated from the others, and he was busy watching the stars above him. They were obviously not expecting anyone to be stupid enough to attack Roger at all, let alone at his own home.
Could we get in without hurting any of them?
There was a feral snarl, and Carmen was on him before he could scream. The moonlight highlighted her figure in the darkness, and I saw her bend down over his throat, and bite down. An arc of blood spurted over the ground, and he collapsed in a silent, unmoving heap.
I looked over at Ray, who was watching Carmen with a disgusted look on his face. I was glad to see that even Quinten looked slightly nauseous. Apparently he didn’t want to go around ripping out people’s throats. That made me feel better about what he’d become.
Carmen stood and wiped her mouth with her sleeve. “Are you coming or not?” She whispered fiercely.
Ray was the first to move, and we all followed him. When we caught up to Carmen, she dashed off to handle the next guard as silently and efficiently as she did the first.
I tried not to throw up.
Quinten stayed close by my side as Ray and Jenna handled the other guards in a less brutal way. He was visibly shaking; the scent of blood in the air must have been driving him crazy.
Then I thought of something that made me pause.
These dhampirs had been locked up for years. They probably hadn’t fed in at least that long. If we set them free, would they turn on everyone in the area? Would their thirst be impossible to control? How dangerous were these vampires going to be?
Now wasn’t the time for hesitation. This was going to be our only chance to free them. Even if they did cause some damage, my conscious would be clear, knowing that at least Darren would be free to live a decent life, one free from torture and humiliation.
I slid around the back of the mansion, and found a window to pry open. I climbed in first. Quinten was next, followed by Jenna, Ray, and then Carmen. When I looked around, I realized that we were just outside the dining room.
The ballroom was to our left, and beyond that, the entrance to the dungeons. So far, this plan was actually working. We might actually be able to get away without confronting Roger and Ilene.
Ilene.
Was she up in Roger’s room this very instant? Was she snuggled up against him? Had they fallen asleep after a night of passion?
The thought sickened me, and again I fought the urge to throw up.
Ray and Quinten both stayed close to me, and their presence was incredibly comforting. I knew that I could never have attempted this without them with me. My nerves wouldn’t have held up past our front door.
We crept through the dark house, careful not to disturb anything. If Roger woke up, this whole mission was over before it really began. When I finally reached the dungeon’s door, I almost jumped for joy.
I turned the handle, and descended the stairs, wincing as each one creaked. The dungeons were as horrible as I remembered them, and I tried not to cry at the sight of the bloody table that had held Darren’s torn, bloody form.
Carmen, Ray, and Jenna split up to get to work on freeing the dhampirs, and Quinten remained by my side. Together, we walked up to the first cell we found, and I was glad to find Darren, curled up on a straw mattress.
“Darren,” I whispered.
His head snapped up, and his eyes focused on me. “Alanna?”
“We’re here to rescue you.”
“We?”
“My family and friends. We’re getting all of you out of here. Where are the keys to the cells?”
He stood, and gripped the bars of his cell tightly. “At the foot of the stairs, there’s a hook, it’ll be above your head. The keys are kept there.”
Quinten disappeared, and I leaned forward closer.
“You actually came back for me.”
I nodded. “Of course. I promised you I would, didn’t I?”
“After you left, I started to think about what you said, and I hoped that you’d keep your word. But, a few days passed, and you didn’t show. I figured something bad had happened to you, or you’d forgotten about me.”
“No, I didn’t forget. I was kidnapped.”
“What?” He asked surprised.
“I’ll tell you about it later,” I said as Quinten came back.
He handed me the keys, and I unlocked Darren’s cell door. For a minute, he just stood there, looking around at his grimy prison.
“I’ve been here for so long. I don’t even know what to do now.”
“Help us bring down Roger,” Quinten said. “He needs to be held accountable for the thing’s he’s done, and we’re gonna make sure that it happens.”
Darren’s eyes hardened. “I’ll do whatever I can to help.”
“Good,” I said, turnin
g to Quinten. “Bring these to Ray. Help him with the others,” I said, handing him the keys.
He hesitated, but finally nodded, and took off into the darkness of the dungeon.
“He’s your soul mate, isn’t he?” Darren asked quietly.
I nodded. “Come on, can you walk by yourself?”
“I’ll walk from this place if it kills me,” he said, stepping shakily out of the cell.
He moved closer to me and, with a shock, I noticed that he was in worse shape than he’d been when I last saw him.
His reddish brown hair was matted with what looked like blood, and his face still held that gaunt, hollowed-out look. His skin was still pale, bruised, and cut, but some of the older welts had healed over, and in their place was fresh pink skin. His large hazel-colored eyes were a little dull, but happy at the thought of being finally free from his prison.
He stumbled, and I caught him in my arms. “You ok?”
He nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Darren, how many other dhampirs are being kept here?”
“Five or six, I think.”
All around us, I could hear the sounds of cell doors opening, and victorious whispers as the other dhampirs took their first free breath in probably years. Or even decades.
“Darren, if Roger just moved back into this home, how have you been here for years?”
“I haven’t been here, actually. Roger moves us around. He likes to keep us close, so he moves us in under cover of darkness. I started out in his home in Florida, and then I was moved to Colorado, and then to here.”
“I’m so sorry for what you’ve endured.”
“It’s alright; I’ll get my revenge if it’s the last thing I do.”
As horrible as it sounded, I really liked the sound of that. I wanted revenge on Roger as well. So did everyone else in our little group. I couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when that revenge finally came.
Darren and I waited at the bottom of the stairs for the others to join us.
When they did, I saw five scrawny, bloody, terrified dhampirs. They all appeared to be the same age as Darren, but that didn’t mean much. Roger had told me that Darren stopped aging when he reached adulthood.
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