To Wrangle A Witch (Southern Sanctuary Book 3)

by Jane Cousins

  Carl ceased giving instructions to two orderlies immediately, jerking around abruptly to face Locke like a puppet on a string. “Nell’s helping evacuate patients in the east wing and blood samples are kept one floor down, in the lab.” Carl looked bemused for a moment, shot Locke a hard glare before turning back to finish what he’d been saying to the orderlies.

  Locke was about to suggest he be the one to check on Nell, not being a century old chosen warrior of the Goddess Maat and all, but it was too late, Drum was already a distant blur. His meld mate was in potential trouble, he would not rest until he’d seen with his own two eyes she was safe.

  “Come on.” Nate tugged on Locke’s arm. “Looks like it’s you and me. Stairs?”

  Locke led the way once more, the hospital wasn’t a huge complex, only two storeys high, modern and spacious but it could still be confusing to a first time visitor. The stairs leading down were reserved for staff only, mainly because the basement level contained the morgue and according to Carl, the testing lab facilities. The first indication they were headed in the right direction was in the empty eerily red lit corridor of the basement as they exited the stairs. Half way down the corridor, injured and unconscious lay Mortimer Jenkins, retired family enforcer, now full time security guard at the hospital.

  “Goddess.” Locke wanted to stop and help Morty but there was no time. Besides with the fire doors closed behind them no smoke was getting through. Morty would be safe enough here until the cavalry arrived.

  “What’s the plan when we find her?” He gasped out the question at Nate’s back as they raced down the corridor.

  “Kill. Destroy. Survive. Kiss pretty grateful girls.” Nate pulled a second sword out of a scabbard strapped to his back.

  “Ah, I was hoping for something…” The rest of his words froze in his throat as the double doors to the lab came into view just as Malcolm, Morty’s twin brother and partner, came sailing out, hit the floor, skidded across it and came to a stop, an awkward crumpled heap at the base of the nearest wall.

  “Game on.” Nate sent Locke a confident smile as he stepped up to the doors.

  Locke joined him, shoulder to shoulder, determined to present a united front against the lethal, almost too fast for the human eye, vampire Queen, who from his first impression struck him as only having a nodding acquaintance with sanity.

  The lab was a wreck, broken glass, bent metal and one unconscious lab tech slumped over a bench. More disturbing was the vamp Queen standing over the tech, absently licking her bloody fingers as she surveyed the mess with a rueful expression. Noting them in the doorway, a flirty smile appeared on her full lips, her incisors digging into her lower lip. “Lover? Couldn’t stay away, I have that affect.” She sighed, glancing down with clear disgust in her silver eyes at the unconscious lab tech. “I may as well admit now before we get much further into our relationship that I can be… impulsive on occasion. I don’t suppose you and the cutie in the suit are here to help me find the witch’s blood?”

  “Intelligent as well as beautiful.” Nate acknowledged.

  Wait! What? Locke had to work hard at keeping his mouth from falling open. Was Nate seriously going to flirt with the psychotic vampire royal? Though come to think of it, fighting her had got three of his colleagues nowhere close enough to plant a tracker, perhaps the warrior with the Romeo reputation was on to something.

  Vampira drew a long fingernail across her pale flesh, drawing attention to her small perfectly formed breasts barely contained by her black leather catsuit. “First a brazen display of brute strength resulting in a gratifyingly gory death and now flattery. Why it’s enough to turn any girl’s head.” She licked her lips thoughtfully. “I’ve never had a Maat warrior before. I wonder what your blood will taste like?” She kicked the desk aside with frightening ease, it screeched along the vinyl floor sending more glass shattering to the floor. “I suppose there’s no time like the present to find out.”

  Nate was ready for her; swords crossed, blocking her pounce as she leapt across the room at him, nails outstretched.

  “Orrff.” Nate expelled air as he took the brunt of her attack.

  The sound of metal clanging loudly as the armour the vamp wore strapped to each of her forearms met the blades of Nate’s swords. The Queen’s delighted laughter rippling throatily across the room, chilling in how joyful the sound was.

  “Find the…” Nate heaved upwards, sending the Queen stumbling back several steps as he followed up in attack mode, his two swords flashing with dizzying speed. “Find Sera’s blood and… destroy it.”

  Locke ducked spinning blades and flashing claws, heading for the refrigerator units located on the far side of the room. Assuming Serena’s blood hadn’t been tested yet it had to be there. Conscious he was turning his back on a vicious psychotic nutcase he had to trust that Nate would keep her occupied as he opened the first glass door and rummaged through the contents. It was hard to concentrate with Vampira getting her fighting flirt on, especially when every now and then she gave a high pitched giggle that made the marrow in his bones want to freeze. Goddess knows how that creepy sound was affecting Nate.

  The first fridge didn’t have what he wanted so he moved to the second, which with a quick cursory glance he realised contained samples but none of them were blood. Damn, turning he scanned the room, there didn’t seem to be any other likely storage holders for Serena’s blood. Had it already been tested and destroyed?

  The only other option being that it was somewhere else in the room, on a bench top maybe, waiting to be studied. There was no way he could attempt to look for it with Nate and Vampira duelling in the centre of it. Though the way they both moved it was almost like they were dancing. Certainly the Queen seemed to interpret the whole encounter as some weird take on the tango, but with swords, claws and smutty banter.

  Ideally Locke would have liked to have made a run for the door, but the lab was set up so that four benches were between him and the exit. No way could he chance slipping past the fight and accidentally getting skewered by vamp claws or one of Nate’s spinning blades.

  Goddess, even with two swords how was Nate going to keep up with the deadly Queen when she’d already taken on three Maat warriors, emerging with nary a scratch or for that matter a discreet electronic tracker slipped onto her person somewhere?

  So far the confined space and crowded lab seemed to be working in Nate’s favour. The Queen couldn’t get her mega leap on thanks to the low ceilings and the narrow aisles between the benches. Goddess he felt useless, the only thing he could do was remain crouched where he was trying to recall in popular vampire lore besides staking and decapitation what other weaknesses vampire’s suffered from.

  * * *

  She was a feisty psychotic bitch, Nate would give her that much. Thanks to a century of training Nate was able to attack using the sword in his right hand whilst defending himself against those wicked sharp dagger like claws with the sword in his left. Maat she was liquid fast, they’d been fighting almost five minutes and the only opening he’d been able to exploit was when she’d skidded slightly on some broken glass. The tip of his sword opening a small deep cut along her right cheek.

  She jumped backwards like a cat, landing some ten feet away on top of a bench, remaining there in a low crouch. Lifting a finger to her cheek and flicking a glance at her own blood before giving him a dazzling smile of admiration mixed with a heavy dollop of insanity. “Oh Lover, it gets me excited the way you tease.” She licked her finger; it was all kinds of creepy watching her taste her own blood.

  Nate walked slowly around the bench between them. “Imagine how much more excited you’ll be when I put my sword through your heart.”

  She laughed softly. “All this talk of penetration.” She arched her back. “So bold and commanding and you haven’t even asked me my name. It’s Destiny by the way.”

  Nate couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “Please tell me you did not choose that yourself? For one, it’s a completely clich
éd comic book super-villainess catch phrase… as in ‘prepare to meet your Destiny – Batman’.”

  For the first time something dark slid behind Destiny’s eyes, she hadn’t liked that taunt.

  “And two…” A deep rumble came from behind Nate as Drum stepped up beside him, sword drawn. “It’s a stripper’s name.”

  “Hey man.” Nate smiled. “I thought you were checking on Nell.”

  “She’s got everything under control. The Doc’s helping get patients out, she shooed me away once I’d done the head to toe check.”

  “She shooed you away?” Nate shook his head laughing. “Marriage has changed you dude, made you soft.”

  “I accept that challenge little man.”

  “Done, let’s just deal with Tiffani here…”

  “My name is Destiny.” The Queen crouched even lower, eyeing them like a dessert buffet. “Less girl talk, more fighting.” With that she leapt, but not straight at them, instead she went right, hit the wall, rebounded and flashed in behind the two warriors. Barely giving them a chance to block her attack before she blurred past landing this time on the desk closest to the door, sending papers, notes and pens falling to the floor.

  Something twigged in Locke’s brain when the pens fell to the ground. Of course, scrabbling through his jacket pockets he blew out a deep relieved breath, he still had it, his silver pen. Gripping it tightly in his fist he prayed to the Goddess above that his aim would be true, he couldn’t let the vamp Queen escape. He knew the Chippendales wanted to track her movements but they’d yet to get close enough to covertly tag her, she knew Serena was alive and well, he was not letting her leave so she could take that information back to Sek and Mot.

  “So Suit.” Those eerie silver eyes were suddenly directed Locke’s way.

  He clenched the pen to his side hoping the Queen hadn’t glimpsed what he held.

  “You found that blood I need yet? No? Well that blows, back to drain the little witch dry it is then.”

  “No!” Locke hurled the pen as hard as he could, straight at the evil bitch’s heart.

  Luck, the Goddess, eighteen years of training, who knows what was on his side, the Queen wasn’t expecting a surprise attack from the guy in the three piece suit. Even so she was a creature of instinct and something caused her to flinch, just enough so the pen struck her spine deep, three inches from that black heart of hers. Even so she looked more surprised than upset, staring down at the expensive pen protruding from her chest.

  “Silver trumps vampire.” He gloated. “Bitch.”

  Destiny hissed back at him, her eyes no longer silver but the deepest vilest of oil slick blacks. If possible she’d turned even whiter. And the veins around the stab wound pulsed silver, as the poison slowly infiltrated her body. “Silver is just an old wives tale Suit, though it’s never burned quite this badly before.” The Queen looked down with more interest than pain at her chest wound. “Now you’ve just gone and pissed me off.” She erupted like a tornado, whirling around the room, picking up Drum, massive, built like a battleship and probably weighed about as much, sending the warrior crashing through the nearest wall into the next room.

  She hurtled past Locke, who managed to duck her attack but couldn’t avoid the fridge falling on him and trapping him in place. Nate tackled Destiny, the two of them flying across the room to land on top of one of the work benches. Nate had dropped one of his swords and was now clutching the pen, the Queen’s hand wrapped tightly around his wrist, preventing him from moving the pen any closer to her heart. Nate’s remaining sword was held several inches away from her neck, caught by the metal plate strapped to her forearm, keeping the sword at bay. Only inches separating them.

  The Queen’s features were etched in pain but she still managed to laugh. “Oh Lover, you only had to ask.” She struck, mashing her lips hard against Nate’s, one of her fangs ripping into his lower lip.

  Nate reared back, spitting out blood, his eyes full of loathing and disgust.

  Destiny giggled a high pitched sound, part delight, part insanity. Licking her lips she made throaty happy sounds. “Oh Lover… you taste of sunshine with the merest hint of ripe berries and sinful dark chocolate.” She gave another throaty moan, her eyelids fluttering. “It’s like discovering vintage wine after a century of watered down cheap plonk.”

  “Keep your fangs to yourself bitch.” Nate focussed all his strength on trying to move the pen, but even weakened the Queen held his wrist steady. “That’s the first and last taste you’ll ever have of me.”

  Destiny opened her mouth to say something, paused and sniffed the air. “Well, well, what do we have here?” Lightning fast the Queen bought her boots up, placed then against Nate’s stomach and sent him flying back across the room. Reaching down the vamp Queen plucked a test tube up, running it under her nose like a fine cigar. “The witch’s blood.” She tucked the vial into her catsuit, pulling up the zipper slightly to keep it in place. “Well this changes everything Lover, no time left to flirt, have to fulfil my contract, I was going to trail the witch and kill her for a bonus fee but now… now I think I’ve got more important things to think about.” She licked at a stray drop of Nate’s blood resting on her upper lip. “Oohh.” She shivered. “Minions to lure, contracts to complete and a tasty new playmate to seduce… be seeing you real soon Lover.” She blurred out of the room.

  “Shit she’s getting away.” Locke gave the side of the refrigerator unit he’d just managed to squirm out from under a frustrated kick.

  Drum shouldered some drywall aside and stepped back into the room, resting a hand on Nate’s shoulder. “Good work.”

  Nate grinned, wincing as he managed to haul himself to his feet.

  “Good work? Seriously? Vampire Queen has Serena’s blood, how is that by anyone’s definition good work?” Locke kicked the refrigerator again.

  Nate leant heavily on the nearest bench, holding the bottom of his t-shirt up to his torn lip giving a half nod for Drum to take the explanation.

  “Well first off, none of us are dead. More importantly we just got a world of Intel. We know the vamps aren’t contracted to kill Serena and the stripper Queen herself said pursuing a bonus fee is more trouble than it’s worth. So for the moment Serena is safe.”

  “Sek and Mot are still out there wanting vengeance for their brother’s death. They find out Serena’s still alive they’ll come looking for her.” Locke absently brushed dirt off his wrinkled torn jacket, more out of habit than real concern for its sad state, too focused on Serena and her problems.

  “Hadleigh has a plan in place to fix that.”

  Locke studied the two, shaking his head. “If you say so. I still can’t work out how letting Vampira live and get away with Serena’s blood is good.”

  “Well…” Drum looked at Nate.

  “When she kissed me I slipped the tracker into her mouth.” Nate spat again, no blood this time but perhaps he was just trying to get rid of the taste of vampire Queen lingering in his mouth.

  “How could you possibly have known she’d try to kiss you?” Locke asked gob smacked.

  Nate shrugged, giving him a self-deprecating smile.

  Drum snorted. “Because he’s a chick magnet. Especially the psycho ones… they meet Nate and they never know whether to kill him or fuck him.”

  “It’s a gift.” Nate acknowledged, absently rubbing at his wrist where the vamp Queen had practically ground his bones into dust. “We’ve never gone up against vamps before, we were hoping despite all Hadleigh’s warnings that we would get all the info we needed during the first engagement at your house, why else do you think we triple teamed her and didn’t scratch her up. We had hoped pandering to her ego might get her to spill her guts on the terms of her contract, whether they were under a kill order or just needed Serena’s blood and maybe where the Chaos duo were hiding out. If the vamp Queen didn’t spill we were considering torturing one of the blood sucker lackeys into telling us what we needed to know. But… who knew she’d be
such an uber-villainess floozy and her minions were obviously too much in her thrall to do us any good. So we switched to plan B, let her get her flirt on with me with during some one on one fighting to get her blood up and weasel as much information out of her as we could get. Letting her go once we’ve tagged her… it’s a risk we have to take if we want to get to Sek and Mot and find Apep’s coffin.”

  “But all the damage upstairs… the injuries.” Locke couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

  “The chick is bat shit crazy, who knew she’d go berserker.” Nate shrugged. “But she has Serena’s blood now, her contract is officially fulfilled, there’s no reason for her to come back here.”

  “Except she’ll tell Sek and Mot that Serena is alive!” Locke couldn’t understand why the dynamic duo weren’t more concerned.

  “We’re tracking Queenie now, the plan is to follow her at a discreet distance back to her clients, find out where they’ve stashed Daddy’s coffin and then take out all three. Trust us. Sek and Mot will be satisfied that they have Serena’s blood and once Hadleigh’s plan goes into action they won’t be looking for Serena’s body.”

  “Body?” Locke paled as all the blood drained from his face.

  “Haven’t you guessed dude, we’re going to fake Serena’s death.” Nate grinned.

  “Of course you are.” Locke looked at them dubiously. “So you’re not troubled by the fact that you’ve basically just handed over half of the equation to wake the God of Chaos. I know you said you destroyed Xander’s blood but with Serena’s now in their possession all the rat bastards need to find is another long lost descendant to drain dry.”

  Drum sent him a serial killer grin that Locke fought hard not to flinch away from, when this dude was happy it was kind of scary. “Don’t worry about Serena’s blood, Nell always adds a coagulant to any blood tested here in the hospital. Something about ensuring ‘special’ blood can never be removed to be used in any magic or rituals. The test tube looks perfectly normal until they try and use it. Which will be never if we have anything to say about it. Come on, we’d better go check in with Marcus and make sure the tracker is working. Stripper Queen will hopefully lead us right to those twin evil fuckers.”