Rebirth (Rogues Shifter Series)

by Gayle Parness

  “The duel begins now.”

  Eleanor and Garrett moved in a blur practically invisible to shifter eyes, so to see them more clearly, I tapped into the lines. Garrett was already in trouble. He was barely able to defend against her attacks and could make very few of his own. I saw a few slashes across his face and arms where she’d used her blade, fangs and nails. She was a windstorm of fury and blood lust and I quickly became afraid for him.

  The frenzied action stopped as rapidly as it had begun. They continued to circle; taking a moment to adjust to each other’s fighting styles. Garrett looked worse than Eleanor, A chunk of flesh was missing from his cheek, his shirt was ripped to pieces with bloody red gashes visible through the holes and his arms were badly bitten. In a fluid motion he removed his shirt and pulled out his knife, never taking his gaze from Eleanor, his maker, who had forced him to become a vampire against his will, who’d forced him to watch his family die. I wanted to help him…

  “Jacqueline, stop!” Liam had pushed his way next to me. “If you let your energy heal him you will both die.” I kept very still as I quickly pulled in the tendrils of emerald magic that had been floating out toward Garrett. They hadn’t touched him, but they were close. “Your ignorance and lack of control won’t matter to the fae lord. You’ll still die.” I stole a glance at Lord Kennet and noticed him watching me with an arched eyebrow as my power dissipated.

  “Thank you, Liam.” I undid the belt and handed it to him along with his blade, never taking my gaze away from Garrett.

  "He has a plan. He will succeed in killing her."

  While Garrett bled and fought, I forced myself to think about his incredible abilities. He’s a master strategist, I told myself. He hasn’t pulled out his trump card yet. He hasn't used the lines. He’ll beat her. I took in a deep breath, let it out again with a shudder and forced myself to simply watch. Liam put his hand on my shoulder, maybe needing the contact as much as me and the rest of the team. I sometimes forgot that he was half human, and had been Garrett's close friend for over a hundred years.

  Eleanor arrogantly tossed her sword outside of the ring, seeming to enjoy using her nails and her teeth to draw blood. She was sure she was winning, and on the surface, it looked that way to everyone. The crowd near me had quieted and some of the shifter fighters were picking up their weapons, readying themselves for the battle to come with Eleanor and her nest after Garrett's death.

  Racing toward him again with her amazing speed, Eleanor sunk her fangs into his shoulder, ripping deeply and exposing some bone. Garrett managed to dole out a few wicked punches, hitting her stomach, ribs and then her kidneys as she turned away, but she retaliated by ripping into his chest with her sharper nails. When she swung her other arm toward him he managed to pull away at the last second, avoiding her long nails as they slashed at his throat. A kick to his stomach sent him flying across the clearing.

  Although the odds seemed to be in Eleanor's favor, she was tiring. She'd grown cocky and was taking more chances, leaving herself open to attack. Not a smart move around someone as skilled as Garrett.

  As she raked her nails viciously across his face, she stumbled, her momentum carrying her away and leaving her back exposed. He jumped on the opportunity and used his father's blade to slice across her flesh. A sharp growl erupted from her mouth as fury and pain distorted her features. The smell of burning flesh filled the air and the gash continued to bleed, not healing as her others had.

  Garrett was taking what she was delivering, all the while conserving his strength. He hadn’t used the lines yet, so I held my breath in anticipation, eager to see him kick her ass with his magic.

  This time, Garrett didn’t give her a chance to recover. He ran in and grabbed her arm, twisting and breaking it, bringing a startled gasp to her lips. She ignored the pain and forced him back with a shove, snarling and attempting to bite into his neck again. Garrett jabbed her in the stomach with his fist, breaking ribs and forcing her to let go of his arm and stumble backward. His blade ripped through the air, this time slicing a burning gash across her shoulder. She hissed again in pain and the fighting stopped as they each took a moment to gather their wits and recoup. As their wounds healed, they moved in a circle, silver gazes locked together in hate.

  Eleanor suddenly straightened and drew all eyes to her beauty, transformed once more from the feral beast fighting Garrett into the exquisite monster who'd sucked in so many innocent victims over the centuries. When she spoke to Garrett, her voice was a silky seduction, brushing against his senses, enticing him to obey.

  “Come home to me. You’ve always been my favorite. I won’t punish you or your sweet cheetah. She and her friends can live out their lives as they please. None of us will touch them, I promise you. I want you back where you belong. Come to me, Garrett.”

  I heard a few shifters behind me whisper, "He should go back. She's so beautiful..." Her Influence was incredibly strong, spilling over into the crowd, but my mate was used to her deceptions.

  Garrett curled his lip back in a sneer and I felt the first small vibrations as he began to pull magical energy into his body. “Eleanor, I’ve never believed your lies. You plan to kill them all, just as you killed my family, just as you're planning to kill me the moment I let my guard down. But tonight it will be my pleasure to end your depraved existence.” He spit on the ground at her feet and she hissed in rage at his act of disrespect.

  “I claim my independence from your nest, Eleanor. I am no longer your property."

  I felt a change in the air as Garrett stopped moving, his voice echoing with power and his own brand of Influence. “Eleanor, you’re my maker, a position that should have earned my respect and obedience, but you’re an evil bitch, only interested in your own sick pleasures. You even torture your own nest.” He indicated the figures crumpled on the ground on the far side of the clearing. “You've taken hundreds of innocent lives and you've forced your nest to participate in your perversions. I have people to avenge tonight, and then I will allow you a true death. I hope you find no peace on the other side."

  Eleanor tried to act nonchalant, but there was fear in her eyes for the first time. She was an older and more powerful vampire than Garrett, but she’d forgotten in accepting his challenge, that Garrett was not only a vampire. Her voice was a little shaky when she answered him, although she put on a good face. “Garrett, you’re pathetic. You and your little cheetah make me laugh. I’m going to skin her alive when I’m through with you: like I did to your sweet little sister.”

  In a flash, enormous amounts of magical energy spun into the clearing as Garrett’s aura cleared and grew brighter. He picked her up in a blur and threw her across the ring into a fir tree, cracking the trunk. She jumped back up immediately, but her fear and shock was obvious to all of us.

  Garrett stood perfectly still: the blue of his eyes completely hidden by the silver of his rage. His body pulsed with the power which crackled around him in a magical circuit. He reached out to her with his mind, his magic and his unbound anger, his hand tracing a shape in the air. Garrett's rich voice rang out, “Se soumettre, Submit!”

  Eleanor was instantly kneeling on the ground. She struggled but couldn’t rise. Her arms and hands were locked at her sides. She snarled and hissed in fear and he circled her, his smile devoid of warmth. Holding his knife out, he ran his finger over the sharp blade, making blood flow down its length to drip into the sand at his feet. He cut a shape on her forehead and rubbed his blood into it as if completing a ritual. Her eyes grew wide with terror.

  “Eleanor,” he hissed. “I will drain you slowly.”

  “You won’t do this. I am your maker. Release me.” When he didn’t respond, she said, “I love you, Garrett.” I felt her desperation but not an ounce of pity.

  He laughed quietly and it made me shiver. “With each minute of your pain, I’ll remind you of every innocent I witnessed you destroy.”

  She glanced toward her nest, only to realize that she’d left them too we
ak to help her. She began to moan and tremble, then scream, as her body tightened. Waves of energy left her and entered Garrett. I watched his blue aura intensify with each magical pulse as her body slowly shriveled and dried up. Eleanor cried and pleaded while Garrett whispered to her in French, cursing her and reminding her of past victims and past treacheries. Her skin, bones and organs burned and cracked causing her excruciating pain, but denying her death. Garrett took his time.

  At one point, he reached out to transfer small jolts of magical power into me, Francois, who stood across the ring from me, Liam, Maya, Aaron, his Alpha cousin, Elizabeth, the witch and even Eleanor’s depleted nest of vampires. We all gasped from the sudden shock and then fed on the energy, using it as we wished. I stored some, in case there was a battle with his nest later, and then released the rest back into the lines, way too much to hold onto. He could only share with those of us who could connect to the lines, but the rest of the shifters could feel health returning to the island, as Eleanor's dark power was extinguished.

  Almost at the end, Garrett shifted into his magnificent cheetah and ripped her throat out with his sharp teeth. The people in the crowd who hadn't known that Garrett had once been a cheetah, were struck dumb with shock at first, then began to shout in support of his final actions. He tore at her neck with his claws and his fangs until her head rolled on the ground. Her dust blew away into the sea and dissolved in the currents. He had avenged his family in a most fitting way, his cheetah delivering her true death.

  “Garrett Cuvier is declared the winner.” When I glanced over at Lord Kennet, I was surprised to see that he was looking at me.

  Chapter Forty-six

  After a few seconds of stunned silence, cheering erupted from our side of the clearing. While Ethan, Kyle, Rob and Sinc were laughing and shouting, I was watching Garrett. Francois was by his side when he transitioned back, helping him into a robe and going with him to Eleanor's side of the clearing. To keep us all safe, Garrett had to quickly control his nest mates who’d been weakened by Eleanor's drain. The energy he’d shared had strengthened them enough to stand and talk, so he and Francois confronted each one insisting that they pledge loyalty to Garrett by sharing blood and taking an oath, or else face immediate execution. The few who refused, the newly made teens, were beheaded instantly by Francois. Lily was the last one they approached.

  “You piece of shit!” She growled at him. “You’ll never be able to take her place. I’d rather die a true death than live under you.”

  “You have a brother who still cares about you despite your cruelty. And your life will be different if you pledge your loyalty to me. I’m not Eleanor. You’ll have to change, but you’ll be treated well if you do.”

  Lily snarled, “You tortured her. You tortured Eleanor, our maker.”

  “Many deaths needed to be avenged. It’s over now. Share blood and join my nest.”

  “Garrett, let her die, she doesn’t want to be a vampire.” Kyle had run over to see what was up.

  Lily turned to face him, emitting a slow, snakelike hiss. Her fangs dripped with saliva and her face had taken on a dangerously feral look. “Stupid, Kyle. I love to torture weaklings. My life began when Eleanor turned me.” She hissed again at Garrett. “I won’t live like you do. Kill me so I can join my maker in death.”

  Garrett looked at Kyle.

  Kyle’s face was blank but his aura had turned muddy with pain. “Goodbye, Lily. I’m—I'm sorry.” He nodded at Garrett and then turned and walked back to where Ethan, Sinc and Peter waited for him. Peter led him away as Francois’ sword sliced through her neck with a slick sound. Lily turned to dust, her last wish granted.

  Exhausted, Garrett sat down hard on a nearby stump and put his head in his hands. I ran to him and knelt by his feet wrapping my arms around his legs sending my healing energy pouring into him.

  He ran his hand through my hair but didn’t speak. Francois sat on a large rock nearby.

  “Garrett, I’ve arranged to take your surviving nest to the house I’m renting. I’ll see that the four of them feed and I’ll interrogate them to see if they’ll be able to adjust. You should make an appearance tomorrow evening so that you can determine how you want to proceed.“

  “Thank you.” He stood and hugged his grandsire. “Thank you for all that you did here tonight.”

  “It was a very great pleasure, believe me. Vous etiez tous les deux magnifiques.” He smiled charmingly in my direction.”How is your hand?”

  I laughed. “It’s fine, thank you.”

  He took it gently in his and kissed it. “Bonsoir, Jacqueline, Garrett.”

  Garrett’s arm snaked around my waist as Francois walked away. We leaned against each other and relaxed, staring out at the ocean and the stars, still too wound up to talk. No one interrupted our moment together, although there was a flurry of activity around us as shifters and weres made off down various paths toward their docked boats.

  “Jacqueline Crawford. A word with you?” Lord Kennet was standing on the shoreline twenty yards away. He looked a little less alien in the moonlight.

  “Go ahead. I have things to take care of.” Garrett kissed my forehead and walked back toward the clearing as I nervously moved toward Lord Kennet, still keeping as much distance between us as I could manage, and waited for him to begin.

  “I was most impressed with your use of the lines. Who has trained you?”

  “Garrett and various other friends.”

  “I know that Liam lent you the fae blade. Has he expressed interest in you as a mate?”

  The shock must have shown on my face. “No. I’m bonded to Garrett, Lord Kennet.”

  I watched his curious expression turn scornful. “A shifter turned vampire. He isn’t worthy of you.”

  “I’m a shifter, Lord Kennet.” I was starting to get annoyed, but I knew that giving a fae Lord attitude would be really stupid.

  “You, Jacqueline Crawford, are a manipulator of magic with great potential. I could help you reach that potential and more.”

  I remembered Garrett saying that the fae always wanted something in return. “At what price?”

  His smile was kind of creepy. “A very pleasant one. I will take you as my lover and train you personally to use your magical gifts. We will have very powerful children. I have no heir.”

  My heart began hammering in my chest. I looked away so he wouldn’t see my horrified expression and tried to organize my thoughts. I knew if I said the wrong thing I’d be in deep shit, if I wasn’t there already.

  I dug deep for courage and faced him, praying that I wouldn't say something that would anger him. “Lord Kennet, I'm overwhelmed by your compliment and I sincerely thank you, but I’m mated to Garrett and plan to remain with him for the rest of my life. I love him.” I showed him the mark on my wrist.

  His eyes flashed with a golden fire and his expression made my stomach churn with fear. “I could force you to go with me now, wipe him from your mind.” Moving closer, he touched my cheek with only the tips of his fingers. The desire to touch him, to kiss him, to please him, plowed against my shields. I dug my nails into my palms, bit my lip hard and automatically reinforced my wall as much as I could against this force of nature. Kind of pathetic, actually, but he pulled back, looking amused by my efforts.

  When I could speak again, I tried not to sound afraid. “Yes, I see now that you could destroy me, but then you would alienate two valuable allies of the Cascade Sidhe.”

  “You do not fear me?” He tilted his head in surprise.

  “I fear your power, Lord Kennet, but not you." I lifted my chin and looked him in the eyes, trying with all my might to appear brave.

  He smiled slowly. “It has been a very long time since someone separated the two.” He turned away and looked out at the sea for a moment while I held my breath. “It is true that your chosen mate is considered an ally. I disagreed with the decision, but could do nothing. You however, have not been so designated. You are not protected in that way.”
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  In desperation I was sending out waves of calming energy, hoping he wouldn’t notice, hoping it would be enough to send him away content. His eyes narrowed and he tilted his head in curiosity, then threw it back laughing heartily. I jumped, a little shocked by his reaction.

  “Jacqueline, I am a Fae Lord of the Seelie Court. Your use of magic on me, even healing magic, is considered confrontational in fae society.” His expression turned serious. “You are an ignorant child. You should have proper training if you wish to have dealings with us.” I waited for him to speak again, not wanting to say anything that could dig my grave any deeper.

  “I will recommend to the Elders that Liam instruct you. You will hear from me again, Jacqueline Crawford.” He nodded, turned away and disappeared. Like poof.

  That last comment had sounded too much like a threat. I shuddered and searched for Garrett, finally spying him talking to Rob and Maya, dressed in sweatpants and a tee shirt.

  “How do you feel?” Maya asked me in her cool, professional way.

  “I’m okay. A little shaky, but not in pain.”

  Rob gave me a gentle bear hug “You were amazing. Antoine was an experienced killer. We’re all proud of you.”

  Hearing Antoine's name again made reality sink in big time. Tonight I’d killed. Although Antoine deserved everything that he'd gotten and more, I still felt dirty. Garrett must have picked up on my emotions because he pulled me into his arms and sent, “It doesn’t ever get easy. It shouldn’t.”

  Rob could sense our need for some alone time. “I’ll take the rest of the team in my boat.” He left to gather up the others.

  “Let’s go home.” I’d prayed to hear those exact words all night, but now that Garrett spoke them, I was afraid. He’d killed his maker and was now the master of his own nest. Would that change things between us? Had I handled Lord Kennet competently or had I made more trouble for him? I'd thought that winning against Antoine and Eleanor would be the end of our problems, but it seemed that life just kept getting more complicated.