Fateful 2-Fractured

by Cheri Schmidt

  Horrified by what she was seeing, Danielle scooted backward, trying to brush the glass away, but did feel it biting into her hands as she slid. She kept going until her back bumped into the lower cabinets as she witnessed the scene play out.

  She watched in trembling horror as groping, growling werewolves fought to gain entrance but were wrestled back by vampires. The vampires appeared just as terrifying with their faces twisted with fury and their fangs exposed and snapping as much as the cursed beasts of the full moon.

  Werewolves were easily as disturbing as she’d imagined they would be. They were enormous creatures with long snouts, glowing gray eyes, were covered in thick fur and had nightmarish claws. No, wait … it was an image of a beast that flickered over the giant man. Like a hologram projected over a living being. Freaky. That was well beyond anything her imagination could have ever dreamed up.

  The guards from inside as well as outside struggled to keep the wolves from touching her. The battle was so fierce that none of them could pull her away from the cacophony as they were all engaged.

  Guilt for suspecting Richard skated along her conscience as she remembered watching him be dragged away. Was he all right? Could werewolves kill vampires? She really didn’t know. And what about Ethan? And Max? And Merrick? And Cedric, and all of the others who had sacrificed so much to protect her? Never had she felt so worthless and undeserving of what they were doing for her.

  Finally Ethan shoved past the wrestling match between a dark wolf and tall vampire. “Danielle!”

  Her eyes swam with tears as they locked with his. She hadn’t realized she was crying until she tried to focus on the blurry image of his face. More than anything she wanted to reach for him, but couldn’t. It seemed that the communication between her brain and limbs had seized up.

  Ethan’s shoes made a crunching noise as he traveled over the broken glass to her and tugged her upright. He then stripped her glass-covered robe from her, scooped her up into his arms and raced to Nadia’s room upstairs.

  Which, of course, was where Nadia was, but she’d awoken and appeared just as freaked out as Danielle was feeling.

  “Shhh, Danielle, it’s okay. We’ve nearly defeated them,” Ethan cooed as he lowered her onto the bed.

  Deep down she wanted to stop sobbing like this but she’d never been this scared, or felt this defenseless before. There was a sense of security being a black belt, even knowing the skill didn’t work against vampires, but that security was slashed to pieces with what she’d just seen. There truly were things worse than vampires out there.

  When Nadia got a closer look at Danielle she slapped a hand over her mouth and shrieked into it.

  Right, Danielle realized, she was bleeding.

  “Did they scratch her?” Nadia asked, clearly horrified by what that would mean.

  “No, it was the glass, which I need to get out of her hands. I need you both to stay here while I get the first aid kit.” His tone was tainted with intense worry. That concern was clearly more about this development than her injuries, which were not life threatening.

  When Ethan returned and began plucking bits of glass from her palms with a pair of tweezers, she asked, “R-Richard—?”

  “He’s fine, Danielle. They can’t kill us, or us them.”

  And she recalled the prince’s lack of fear as he was pulled into the melee. A weak sigh trembled past her lips as she winced at the discomfort she was suffering from his treatment. “He tried to help,” she said, remembering how Richard shielded her from the glass, “You’re wrong about him—”

  “If he does want you, Danielle, then of course he’d keep you safe.”

  She groaned at that and at the stab of pain that ripped through her flesh as he slid a large piece of glass out and then dropped it into a cup. Ethan was right; she couldn’t know where the prince really stood. He could still be a problem in some way. But she was too tired to care, and still hungry, and now worried about how Ethan was dealing with this gore while the influence of the curse hovered over him.

  “Are you okay with this? I can do it—” she reached for the tweezers.

  “I’m fine! Just hold still.” He certainly didn’t look fine but continued with the tedious task and then his frown deepened. “Sorry. Lean toward me.”

  She did, and he exhaled his breath into her face. A moan that Danielle couldn’t prevent tumbled out as she dropped onto the mattress. Well, that certainly helped to numb the pain.

  Ethan ignored her drugged grin and continued tending to her hands until all of the glass had been removed, he’d applied an ointment and then bandaged them up.

  When he was done, he fished a candy bar from his pocket. “Sorry, it got a little smashed, but it should still taste all right.”

  “How? How did—?” she stammered as she accepted the chocolate bar.

  “I noticed the cake on the floor and figured that was why you were in the kitchen so late.”

  “Oh, right.” She was recovering from the dose of magic he’d given her as she tore at the wrapper, then lifted the treat to her lips with trembling hands.

  They sat in silence while listening to the eerie call of wolves whooping in the night. It was more frightening than the lightning storms that used to scare her when she was little. But it did sound like they were getting further away just as the sounds of a rumbling storm did as it passed by in the night.

  Nadia muttered, “Will they come back?”

  “You’re feeling really mortal right now, aren’t you?” Ethan asked.

  The black-haired girl bobbed her head up and down in agreement.

  “Do we need to worry about them every night?” Danielle asked around a mouthful of chocolate, caramel and nuts.

  “Well, since they are werewolves, they can only be a real threat when it’s a full moon.”

  “Are there really that many of them hiding right here in Glenwood springs?”

  “No, I’d say they’d gathered just for—”

  “—for me,” Danielle uttered weakly as she nearly choked on her last bite. “Nadia, you should move out. Go to the place you and Max had purchased, or better yet, go back to England. Get as far away from me as you can.”

  “No.” Danielle could honestly admit that she’d never seen Nadia’s eyes that dark with intensity. “None of us will be left alone. We’ve all been participants in this cure. Even Beon and Sophia have continued to deal with problems, even after we left.”

  She sucked in a breath. “I didn’t know that! Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked shooting an accusing stare at her husband.

  “There’s nothing we can do about it except fight. None of us can hide from this.”

  Right, this was war, and clearly he accepted the situation even though it must have been torture for his protective nature toward her and his unborn child.

  Could she deal with this? Could she cope with the threat of werewolves every full moon added to the other perils surrounding her? Thanks to these thoughts, those hormones struck with a torrent of tears down her cheeks.

  It seemed watching her cry always touched something deep within Ethan, because he dropped onto the bed next to her and enveloped her in his arms. “Don’t lose faith, darling,” he whispered while stroking her hair. “We were able to stop the beasts, and they are such a rare concern. We’ll be better prepared next month.”

  “What else is out there?” she barely managed to get out before a sob shook her.

  There was a long and distressing pause before Ethan answered. “I’m certain the pixies are still watching for us to enter the woods.”

  “What else?” she repeated.

  He hesitated again. “I honestly don’t know. But don’t get distracted by the other creatures that might try to capture you. It’s the vampires we need to be concerned with the most. That hasn’t changed.”

  With thick sarcasm, she said, “What a relief.”

  Ethan held her for a while until her eyelids became too heavy to hold up any longer.

  She
was only slightly aware of Max entering, promising to guard Nadia, and Ethan lifting her from the bed to take her to another bedroom, on the top floor. Which, she figured dreamily, might be a little harder to get to ... she hoped.

  Chapter 20

  Loss

  “What do you think of this one?” Danielle asked as she lifted up the decorative clock she was admiring.

  They’d talked the men into letting them shop again after being cooped up in the house for a couple of weeks. Nothing more had happened which was probably the only reason the guys had allowed it. Plus they traveled with a troop of thirty-four guards to watch over them, including Ethan and Max. The other men remained hidden, but lurked with listening devices in their ears, while Ethan and Max attempted to make it look like a simple double date.

  “I like it,” replied Nadia. “It would look nice in your sitting room, with the soft colors in there.”

  “I like it too,” Ethan said. “Go ahead and get it.”

  He began fishing his wallet out of his pocket, but she stopped him. “I have enough. I want to pay for it.”

  “Very well,” he said, even though he did look rather unwilling.

  As they left the shop, Ethan asked, “What would you like for dessert this evening?” She smiled up at him, and he laughed as he added, “Why do I even ask? I’ll need to get some fresh strawberries, and I’m low on chocolate.”

  She sensed that Ethan wanted to caress the tiny bump on her stomach but didn’t dare draw attention to that in a public place, so he held back.

  “Thank you, you’re the best ever.”

  They were distracted by a small family that passed by and their baby bubbled with a bunch of adorable cooing sounds. Ethan practically sighed when he smiled at them.

  “You want that, don’t you?”

  “More than anything,” he whispered back.

  With that smile still fixed on his features he swept a look over her belly and then exhaled. “I’ll go now, and meet you back at home.” He kissed her forehead and then left.

  She and Nadia rushed through another store, mainly because they suspected Max was getting restless. Actually it was all too obvious with the way he shifted his weight back and forth between his feet while they browsed. Just as Danielle was going to suggest checking yet another store, Max cut in, “The sun will be setting soon. I think it’s time for the shopping spree to end.”

  Before she or Nadia responded to him the knight froze, lifting a hand to the listening device in his ear. It seemed whatever he heard wasn’t good because he began searching out eye contact with his men.

  “What is it?” Nadia asked, twisting to look around.

  Danielle turned as well and felt her stomach sink, because she knew the look on Richard’s face as he approached meant there was a serious problem.

  After a brief conversation between the knight and the prince, Max touched his ear-piece again and began dividing the men into two groups and then sent Nadia off with eleven of them. They were splitting them up just as they’d split Ethan and her up at the theater.

  Danielle felt slightly claustrophobic as the remaining guards joined Max and closed in around her. “Max, tell me,” she asked starting to feel slightly nauseated as well as concerned.

  “Celeste was here. Dorin saw her. We need to leave as soon as possible.”

  Celeste?

  The tension surrounding them became almost tangible as they traversed to the exit. Once outside, Danielle thought the anxiety would dissipate but it remained as they moved on to where they’d parked.

  Shouts that sounded like battle cries came from all directions as they moved across the parking lot. What looked like an army of a hundred men advanced toward them. Max and Richard took her arms and turned back toward the mall but they were surrounded.

  They’d been ambushed.

  One by one the guards were plucked from around her, as from every direction, they were engaged in battle in which they were outnumbered three to one. It wasn’t long before Max and Richard were forced to distance themselves from her because they were being attacked by at least fourteen each. She knew this was bad because they’d singled out the two guards who were obviously in charge of her protection.

  Danielle yelped when Dorin snatched her roughly by the arm and dragged her to the Hummer.

  She dropped back against the side of the vehicle unable to take her eyes from the scene. This tangle was more destructive than any she could have imagined during daylight when they should have been weaker. And she supposed they were, but they were still creating a lot of damage. Men were thrown into cars that dented under their weight. Windshields crushed, setting off car alarms. Her insides twisted when she noted Lucas wrestling with Max, but watched with pride as he used what she’d taught him to reduce the number of men attacking him by half in a matter of seconds.

  Her gaze shifted to Richard and he appeared to be doing just as well, but then his eyes locked onto hers as he wrangled with several at once. He looked murderous and ... worried? She frowned when something metal bounced light from the sunset into her eyes. Her gaze dropped to what Dorin was holding in his hand. It wasn’t keys, it was a knife. A long blade trained on her.

  “No!” Richard screamed, as he leapt onto the roof of a car, ignoring the men attempting to tackle him, and began loping toward her across the vehicles.

  “Danielle!” Max bellowed, struggling to do the same.

  Dorin’s lips twisted into a victorious and sadistic leer as he moved the weapon closer, twisting his wrist so the flat side caught the light again.

  Her reaction was instinctive and swift as she moved into the best karate defense for this exact situation. Unfortunately, it would never work against this fearsome giant, this powerful vampire, but she had to try. And fail….

  A pained gasp wrenched past her lips as the blade sank into her abdomen, slicing through what she suspected were vital organs. The noises around her, the shouts of the others trying to get to her to save her sounded like they’d been drenched in syrup.

  Dorin actually laughed as he slid the knife from her and stabbed her two more times. “I told you they were watching,” he sneered with another evil chuckle, and then he left.

  “Max,” she whispered, doubting anyone could have heard that because the word came out so weakly. She felt herself slip along the side of the Hummer as her knees gave out and she dropped to the pavement.

  Her eyes rolled back and her lids drifted down halfway as she struggled to keep a grasp on consciousness. She strained her ears to listen to the others fighting to get to her, shouting, and cursing more and more violently, and then shivered at the sensation of warm blood leaking from her wounds, drenching her clothes.

  “Call Ethan,” someone shouted. She thought it was Richard or Merrick?

  “Danielle,” she heard Max say as he lifted her from the street to his lap. “The sun is almost set, you’ll be just fine.”

  She couldn’t seem to process exactly what he meant by that. What did the sunset have to do with anything?

  His fingers stroked her hair and face as the sound of a car racing through the parking lot reached her ears. The tires squealed against the blacktop and the engine revved as it neared.

  “Just hang in there, love. Ethan is on his way, and the sun is almost below the horizon.”

  Why was Max again mentioning the position of the sun?

  And how this all looked to pedestrians and owners of the smashed vehicles never crossed her mind until she heard the growing buzz of commotion, and sirens in the distance.

  “We need to get out of here. We need to get her out of here,” another man said, Cedric this time? “We can’t let the paramedics get involved.”

  Then the car that she could hear approaching screeched to a stop near them and a door opened, followed by Ethan’s frantic voice, “Oh, God,” he prayed. “Please don’t let her die!”

  “She won’t if you turn her, Ethan.”

  Oh, she thought hazily ... the sun….

 
“What the hell happened?” Ethan shouted.

  “There were too many. Just too many,” Richard rumbled over and over again, as he cursed creatively. “I feared we had a spy amongst us. I couldn’t take my eyes off her, but they knew who to single out and stall with most of their men. We couldn’t get to her. Damn Dorin! I’ll kill him myself!”

  That’s why the prince had stared at her so much…. He wasn’t obsessed with her, just her safety as he feared this kind of treachery.

  A groan was forced from her as she was passed from Max to Ethan and lifted from the ground.

  “Drive, Max!”

  “Hey!” someone shouted, most likely a mortal eyewitness. “You can’t take her like that! The ambulance is almost here!”

  The shouts were ignored as the engine revved again and two doors slammed shut. The inertia as they jerked forward created another painful experience, and she whimpered.

  “Do it as soon as you can!”

  “Danielle, honey, can you hear me?” Ethan asked, his tone gentle.

  She opened her eyes, as much as she could, which was still only about half way. Her breathing was erratic and shallow. It hurt to move air in and out.

  “You can’t survive this.” He paused, then another tear dropped onto her cheek, and she realized that it wasn’t hers. An anguished sob escaped him before he collected himself and continued, “The baby couldn’t have survived this. I’m so sorry.”

  Yes, she knew. Painful, wrenching cries ripped from her throat. The discomfort sliced through her like being stabbed all over again. She may have wanted to be free of the medical demands of having a baby, but not like this. Because deep down, she knew she loved and wanted this child and would have gone through any number of frustrating doctor’s visits to have it.

  “Shhh. Shhh, try to be calm, darling.” His eyes locked onto the view out the front windshield as his hands stroked her face and hair in what she perceived as an attempt to soothe her.

  Ethan was watching the sun dip lower, and she could see the golden glow of it slide slowly down his features until it was finally gone. His gaze dropped to hers then and she could see the fangs there behind his parted lips.