by Mills, Julia
Just a few hundred feet up, he began to sense rather than see movement on his left. Signaling to the others of his Force, he got as low to the ground as possible, looking for anywhere his six foot two inch frame could take cover to get an estimate of how many combatants they needed to neutralize. One bush in particular shook more and more as the blasts from below them continued. He truly thought ‘The Auctioneer’ had a little better control of his minions than what they were witnessing, but it would help get his ass put away for his crimes, and give them something to joke about later.
Moving towards the shaking bush, he felt an especially dense pocket of white magic farther up the mountain. In a snap decision, he followed the trail hoping to find the witch. He pictured the spot he was sure held many of Andrew’s followers, and sent it out to his brethren. The trail of white magic grew stronger with each step, reaffirming his decision to investigate. If Andrew had found the magic practitioner, which Lance was sure he had. Then it only stood to reason that he wouldn’t leave her unguarded. And being the paranoid asshole that he was, the traitor himself would be guarding her, or at least close by. She was a powerful practitioner. Her
magic was leaking all over the mountainside from her anger. If there was one thing Andrew wanted more than revenge, it was power. He’d always been jealous of anyone that he couldn’t beat no matter if they were older or stronger or had more experience. The stupid son of a bitch had to be the center of attention, and would do whatever it took to get there. His recent resurrection, and bid to the rule the world by any means necessary, was no surprise. Stopping him was pretty much all that mattered to any of them.
Just above him, he could see the outline of what looked like an old tin roof covered in vines being held up with more of the same vines. He directed his senses, and opened them wide. The witch was definitely inside, and his original assumption had been right. She was pissed, and powerful. Moving with all the stealth of years of battle training, he made his way towards the structure, keeping watch for anyone or anything that may be lying in wait. He slid around the backside of the cabin, and waited to the count of ten for any sign of movement. He ‘felt’ the interior to make sure there were no surprises. All he could sense was one seriously feisty witch. “I hope she doesn’t turn me into a frog.” His dragon seconded that thought, and decided that neither one of them would look good as a green, slimy amphibian.
Creeping towards the front, staying out of the moonlight as much as possible, he finally reached the only way in or out of the cabin. Slowly opening the door, he caught a glimpse of the smallest woman he’d ever seen, trussed to a chair with duct tape, and with a red bandana hanging out of her mouth. Her vivid violet eyes spit fire, and the chair she was in began rocking side to side as she tugged at her restraints with surprising strength. He held his hands up, and hoped she understood he meant her no harm. The closer he got, the broader he smiled. Finally, she stopped struggling. He removed her gag, and put his index finger to his lips to make sure she knew to keep as quiet as possible. She nodded in agreement, and opened her mouth wide, moving her jaw side to side to loosen her muscles before speaking. Her voice was high and clear even when she whispered; reminding him of the fairies he’d met in the hills of Ireland many years ago. But that was where the likeness ended, because her attitude was all witch and all sarcasm. “Okay, dragon man, let’s get me out of this damn chair, and find that asshole.”
He was shocked, “You can tell what I am even though I’m shielding?”
“You betcha. I’m a helluva lot older than I look.” She winked at him, ending any misconception he had about the tiny white-blonde sorceress needing his help for anything, but to escape from the duct tape.
He carefully pulled the duct tape from her right hand, trying not to harm her in any way. About halfway through, she leaned close and whispered, “Rip that shit off. I’ll heal. You’re wasting time. I can hear all the chaos that idiot is causing.”
“What you hear isn’t Andrew’s doing. It’s a friend of his, maybe you’ve heard of him, ‘The Auctioneer’?” Lance questioned as he finishing releasing her hand.
“Nope, can’t say as I have,” she answered. Then she took a long deep breath, and in the next second, ripped the duct tape off her other arm, managing to stifle the scream he could see straining her throat.
“Name’s Kyra, by the way, and I figure you already smelled I’m one of good guys for yourself, but just so we don’t have any misunderstandings, no black magic is welcome here.” She started taking the tape off her ankles, one at a time. At least it was over her pants so there was no more pain…just tons of tape to get through. “That little fucker came to me about six or seven months ago with some sob story about needing to hide from y’all. So, I made him some amulets, and then he came back for more. I’ve never been one to get caught up in disputes between clans or any other sects. I work for whoever I can barter with or can pay me. The first time, he paid. This time, we were to barter specialty ingredients. But as soon as I was finishing the talismans, the shithead tied me up and one of the idiots with him mentioned blowing things up. I knew the stupid shit had messed with my magic, and that just pisses me off.” She finished whispering through gritted teeth. He could tell she would’ve been screaming had the situation allowed it.
“So you didn’t design them to blow up?” he asked, curious to see exactly what she was capable of.
“Nope, sure didn’t. I designed some to hide scent, and some to stun a person if they get close enough, but nothing that would blow up. I’ve taken a vow to do no harm unless necessary for survival, so you can see where making amulets that blow up just might go against that. Now, I don’t know how much you know about witches,” she looked at him waiting for an answer, and only continued after he shook his head to indicate little to nothing. “Well, if I violate my vows, I get a visit from the Council, and that never ends well for someone that goes against any of their rules, especially if that witch is not part of a coven.”
She stood up, and shook out her arms and legs. He was once again amazed at how short she really was. No taller than five foot one or two with petite features but the power that rolled off of her small frame was incredible. The saying, ‘dynamite comes in small packages’ came to mind.
“Something funny there, dragon man?” she said with a look that he feared meant he might end up a frog after all.
‘Not at all, and the name’s Lance. I was just thinking how appearances can be deceiving.”
“You got that shit right there, Lance. Now what are we gonna do to catch the asshole, and make him pay for pissing me off?”
She shook her head, and frowned, not waiting for him to answer her question before she started talking again. “I should’ve known better. I thought I sensed dark magic on him one of the times we met, but I couldn’t get a good read so I let it go. Douchebag had a good sob story. I even hid up here in this shithole that used to belong to my nanny to avoid him after word came through the grapevine that he was in some shit a few months back, but the bastard found me anyway. Then earlier tonight, I got nothing from him with black magic in it, just long unused dragon magic, but the loser that came to help him stank with the nasty shit. Which sucks, but also means I won’t get nicked for the changes in the amulets.”
He held back his laughter as she then cussed a blue streak. He added it the list of things that didn’t fit the visual. One thing was for sure, she was right that it was past time to get the hell out of Dodge. Smacking himself in the head, he remembered that he’d forgotten to tell any of his brethren what he was up to. “Hey, Rayne, I found the witch, and she is as pissed as we are. Fucker double crossed her, too.”
“You sure we can trust her?” Rayne asked, ever the Commander.
“Yeah, I’m sure,” he answered, looking back at her and waving for her to hurry up.
“I’m close. I got your back, Bro,” Aaron added.
“All right, Max and I have a clusterfuck to clear up down here. Find that sniveling coward,” Rayne s
ounded as pissed as he had ever heard him, and from the sounds of the continued gunfire, he had a reason to be.
He watched through his Commander’s eyes for a few seconds. Thankful, his longtime friend and leader trusted him to do so and saw the problem they were dealing with right away. ‘The Auctioneer’s’ goons had spread out too far, and were so poorly trained that they were actually shooting at one another. Any other time Rayne probably would have just let them kill each other, but they were on the hunt for Andrew, so they were forced to stop the gunfire in order to get the coward to show his face. Opening the door just wide enough for the top of him to fit through, he used every enhanced sense he had to make sure it was safe to take Kyra out, and found nothing dangerous. The little witch slipped out in front of him, and put a silver disc hanging from a leather strap over her head. He tapped her shoulder and motioned to her necklace. “Amulet for cover and protection,” she whispered in answer. “I’d give you one but your dragon magic would just null any spell I could put on it. You must be pretty old there, Blue Eyes.” Again she winked, and he chuckled under his breath, thinking about the sexy woman waiting for him. Damn, he missed her.
He signaled with a cock of his head that they were going down the back way, and when she tried to lead, he calmly grabbed her shoulder. As she looked over her shoulder, he could see she was about to object. He gave her the ‘Yeah, right’ look. She shrugged, and let him pass. He damn sure had to admire her confidence, which made him think of Sam. He really needed to get back to her. At the edge of the cabin, he stopped and waited as she came up to his side. He leaned down, and whispered, “One of my brethren is just over that ridge.” She nodded, and he was sure she could see Aaron, which made him wonder what else she might be able to see or sense.
“Can you see or hear anything,” he asked.
She squinted her eyes, tilted her head to the side, and focused on something beyond his comprehension. A few seconds later, she shook her head, “Nope. That son of a bitch has altered my amulets so much that I can’t track them.”
“Well, then we’re doing this the old fashioned way,” he felt the grin on his face, and figured she thought he was nuts, but when she grinned back he knew they were going get along just fine.
“All right kiddies, let’s get moving,” Aaron sent straight into his mind.
“What took ya so long there, Bro?” Lance chuckled.
“Had to tie up a young wizard that thought he could sneak up on us. When he wakes, hanging over that cliff over there, he may rethink his plan,” Aaron laughed in his head, but he could feel the tension thrumming through his brethren. They could all feel how close they were to catching Andrew, but for his actual brothers, it had to be bittersweet.
“Damn, wish I could’ve been there.”
“From the look of things, there are enough of them spread over this mountainside for you to have as much fun as you want. All we have to do is get the little one there to safety.”
“Little one?” Lance scoffed. “Scan her for a sec Bro. She’s no one to be fucked with.”
Two seconds later Aaron answered. “Holy shit! No, I guess she’s not, but she’s still a tiny little thing. Let’s get her to Sam’s house and then kick some ass.” He could tell his brethren was more than ready to have a go at the traitor, and nothing was getting in his way.
“I’m heading down,” Lance answered Aaron and then whispered to Kyra, “You ready?”
“Damn straight,” she answered. “And I can tell you’re talking to one of your clan. I’m sure you big strong dragon guys have decided I need to get out of your way, but let me tell you one thing,” she narrowed her eyes, “if we run into that little fucker on the way down, I’m gonna kick him in the balls.”
He mock saluted, “Yes, ma’am.” She was a real piece of work, and he had to admit, funny as hell. His dragon was trying to tell him something about the little witch, but he didn’t have the time to figure it out. Later, after he got home, and held Sam in his arms for about a week, he would figure out what about Kyra made his dragon pause. But at this point, he would take all the help he could get to catch Andrew and end this bullshit once and for all. Rayne would probably kill him if he let her so much as raise a finger. The Commander was definitely old school when it came to females, but Lance would let her get a few kicks in if the chance presented itself.
Leading the way, they headed towards a crevice covered by a huge bush. The blasts from below had lessened, but the sound of gunfire still broke through the night air, and as he listened to Rayne directing Aidan and Devon, he knew the wizards ‘The Auctioneer’ brought with him were providing cover for the humans. Sick and tired of waiting for something to happen, he decided on a new plan. “Aaron, come get Kyra, I think I know how to draw Andrew out.”
“Dude, that’s not what Rayne wants,” Aaron warned half-heartedly.
“Yeah, well this shit is taking too long. The bastard came for my mate, so this is my fight. Get Kyra to safety and hurry back.”
“Whatever you say, you’re gonna do what you want any way, and it’s your ass,” Aaron laughed. “Be right there.”
In less than three heartbeats, Aaron came up behind them. Kyra turned, and whispered, “Hey, you the cavalry?”
“Yeah, you might say that. I’m your way down the mountain,” Aaron smiled, but Lance could tell he wasn’t thrilled.
She turned back to Lance, “You gonna raise hell, dragon man?”
“That’s the plan,” he grinned. “But I’ll bring him to ya so you can get a couple kicks in before he’s off to solitary, deal?”
“Deal!” she said, and her grin said she was going to do a whole lot more to the traitor than a few kicks if she ever got her hands on him. Made him damn glad that look was not meant for him.
He nodded to both of them, “See you at the bottom.”
They nodded back, and Aaron added through their link, “Watch your ass.”
“Sure thing,” he answered, and took off back to the cabin. He knew for certain the little coward would come back for the witch, and he planned to be waiting when he did.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Waiting sucked! And with the fucking Dragon Guard scouring the mountain, and ‘The Auctioneer’s’ buffoons making enough noise to wake the dead, his followers were getting nervous. He was getting text after text asking what they needed do, or if they should retreat. Retreat? No fucking way! They’d come too far and waited for this day for too long. This would be the day he finally got to begin his revenge against the Dragon Guard. He could feel it in his bones. All they had to do was be patient, those idiots would screw up, and he would capitalize on it.
It had been a real shame as he watched them take apart most of the booby traps he’d set on the ground below, but they’d missed a few of the amulets he and John had added their special touch to. All they had to do was trip over them, and the stupid Guardsmen would be out of commission for quite a while. From his perch he could see that Rayne and the werepanthers were effectively handling ‘The Auctioneer’s’ crew, and even some of the wizards he had with him. He was sure he recognized them as some of the weaker members of Master Eaton’s coven. Funny how the lead wizard and his stronger followers hadn’t come to the fight, but then again, they might just not be where he could see them…yet. When this was all over, and he had at least one of the useless Dragon Guard neutralized, he was going to approach ‘The Auctioneer’ and Master Eaton to hopefully form an alliance. John had assured him over and over that neither had any idea what they’d been up to for all these months, and together the three of them could make all his plans for revenge a reality, and then of course, he would kill them too.
Then there was Kyra. She would remain useful until the end if he could keep her from setting him on fire, or banishing him to some unknown world. She was powerful, and he had to do everything in his power to keep her from finding out what he was really doing with the amulets she made for him. He had almost ripped John’s head off when he’d entered the cabin without hiding
who and what he was. Andrew was sure the little witch had sensed what he was by the look of pure hatred in her eyes. He only hoped he could convince her that he was only using John to keep the big bad dragons from finding him. She was smart, and he would have to do some seriously fast talking, but he was smarter. It also helped that he was not in any way associated with the idiots that were blowing the woods to bits, that fact alone would go a long way to convincing her to keep working with him.
The men are restless. We need to move, was the text message that appeared as his phone vibrated in his hand. He wondered if it was the men or John that were restless.
Not yet, was his response. They would wait until he told them to move, or they would die. It was as simple as that. He wanted as many Dragon Guard as possible on the mountainside. That would give him the best possible chance of capturing, wounding, or killing at least one of them, with capturing being at the top of the list. He wanted them all to feel what they had left him to endure, just a taste of the pain and humiliation, before he gave them their forever death.
He thought again about Kyra, and wondered whose mate she was and if the Guardsman knew. Since she was left completely alone, and not even watched by a Guard-in-training, he had to think they had no clue she existed, and that gave him an idea to draw them out. With a quick text to John to keep all their cohorts in place, he headed back to the cabin to fetch the little witch. All the waiting was getting them nowhere; it was time to light the fuse.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Aaron had been right and after taking a little more scenic route back to the cabin, Lance had been able to pinpoint several heavy pockets of black magic, indicating the locations of the hiding wizards. Even though he wanted to eliminate their natural enemies, Andrew was the target du jour. He had to think that the little shit was calling the shots, and wondered exactly how stupid the wizards were to follow such a loser. Coming up on the shack from the rear again, but the opposite side from last time, he opened his senses completely, and searched for Andrew or anything out of place that might tell him that the shithead was nearby. When he found nothing, he walked to the front, opened the door slightly, and there, standing over Kyra’s work table, was the stupid fucking bastard that had turned all of their lives inside out. In less than a second his broadsword was drawn and he was charging towards the unprotected back of the traitor, all the while screaming through the link to his brethren, “The stupid son of a bitch is up here!”
