Fox Lost (The Madison Wolves)

by Robin Roseau

  The female I'd stabbed pulled the knife out and threw it straight at me. I caught it, spun around, and threw it at Karen's vampire, burying it in his throat. He fell back, and she launched herself at him, but he threw her to the side before pulling my knife from his throat and tossing it in the other direction. Karen launched herself at him, knocking him away, then took her guard position at the box again.

  Slowly we moved towards the car.

  "Mr. Morton," I said. He looked past Elisabeth to hiss at me. "If you care for Aspen, help us! Or let us take her away."

  "She is mine!"

  "You would rather see her dead?" I asked.

  But then one of the females facing Lara and Serena spoke.

  "Zane, did you know who you have been harboring?"

  "She is Aspen, a minor fae. She is mine!"

  "No," said the female. "She is Deirdre, and she belongs to the Queen of New Orleans. If you help us kill her, my master will reward you."

  Damn it.

  Serena launched herself at that female, snarling and snapping, but the damage was done. The vampire retreated, but if Serena pursued, it would have opened a hole in our defense, and she could do nothing but hold her ground.

  "They'll kill you next, Mr. Morton," I said. "Your best choice is to help us. Your second-best choice is to leave while you can. These vampires are Gideon's enemies and yours. The wolves and I are not your friends, but we are not your enemies, either. We only seek to keep Aspen safe. These vampires came to invade your territory; they would have entered your home to kill Aspen and you."

  He snarled, but I wasn't impressed. Both Elisabeth and Lara could snarl far better than that. Then he turned tail and ran.

  The other vampires screamed and launched themselves all at once. I turned to help Lara and Serena, but then Elisabeth flew past me, knocking away one of the vampires before jumping backwards, reforming the protective box.

  Slowly we worked our way to the car, one vampire facing off against each werewolf, with me pulling on Deirdre's arm, keeping her moving.

  Karen howled in pain, and I dashed to her side, fighting the vampire off of her, taking a scratch across my face. I stabbed at the vampire's throat then laughed as I healed the damage. But Karen was hurt, and there wasn't time for her to stop and heal. She faced off against the vampire, but I stayed at her side.

  The vampires were fast, but I was faster.

  "That's impossible," said the vampire facing us. "What are you?"

  "I am your worst nightmare, vampire," I said. "I am the hunter. Do the wounds I give you burn?"

  He had healed the damage from Karen's claws, but the wounds I had given were more difficult for him. He hissed at me, and while he was distracted, Karen dashed forward and raked him with her claws again, driving him back. Then she pointedly put herself between the vampire and me, pushing me backwards towards Deirdre.

  Slowly we moved west.

  Lara took a scratch across the shoulders, but the vampire lost a chuck of muscle out of her arm in the process. Then Serena took a serious blow, and I heard her shoulder crack.

  I stepped into the space as she cried out, lashing with my knives. Serena whimpered with the pain, but she was still moving.

  We closed the distance towards the car, five or ten yards at a time.

  "Serena, can you heal it?"

  She huffed at me.

  My vampire smiled at me. "You will all die."

  "You first!" I screamed. I feinted at her, and she swung at me. I ducked under her swing and plunged my knife into her stomach, but she fell away, and it wasn't a mortal blow. I barely retained possession of the knife

  We used the opening to make it fifty yards closer to the car. The vampire I stabbed fell behind, holding her stomach, but then she laughed and came after us again.

  "Lara, stop her, I've got yours!" Lara turned right to the oncoming vampire, and I dashed forward to slash at her vampire. He went after Lara, but I ducked and buried a knife in his leg. He screamed and fell backwards, yanking my knife from me. I crouched down and grabbed my last knife from my ankle.

  Lara kept the female off us, and we made another forty yards. But then all four vampires surrounded us again, and Serena didn't sound good.

  "Serena?"

  She huffed and whimpered. She was in pain.

  "Can you shift?"

  She huffed.

  Karen howled in pain again, but I couldn't afford to look at her. Then Elisabeth grunted, and I saw red streaking across her shoulder.

  "Give us the fae," my vampire said, "and we'll let the rest of you leave."

  From behind me, I heard Deirdre begin to chant, and a moment later, the world grew brighter. The vampires began to smoke, and they screamed, all of them falling back, outside the circle of light from Deirdre.

  But she had stopped moving, standing in one place, her hands outstretched, her legs spread, chanting. We formed a box around her, Serena and Karen moving slowly, Elisabeth and Lara both bleeding from multiple wounds.

  I pulled on Deirdre, but she stood her ground, and I couldn't move her.

  "Go," she said to me. "I can hold them only for a few minutes. It's me they want." The light flickered, but then strengthened when she began to chant again.

  Lara flowed into human, stepping up next to her. "We're not leaving without you," Lara said. "Elisabeth, help me with the fae. Michaela, keep an eye on the vampires and help Serena and Karen."

  Elisabeth shifted into human, and then she and Lara picked up Deirdre. The light immediately went out.

  "My feet must touch the ground!"

  The vampires rushed forward but fell back when Lara and Elisabeth put Deirdre back down and the light sprang forth. Then they began dragging her slowly backwards.

  "Move," said Lara.

  We set off for the car, Karen and Serena leading the way with me watching the vampires. Deirdre's light flickered as her feet bounced from the ground, but it was enough to keep the vampires at bay, at least for now.

  We moved as quickly as Serena could run. Minutes later, we reached the top of the ridge immediately above the road, but Deirdre's light was waning.

  "Elisabeth!" I yelled. "Carry Serena. Lara. Carry Deirdre. Run!"

  They didn't wait. Elisabeth released Deirdre and scooped Serena into her arms, throwing the wolf partially over her shoulders. Serena grimaced and whimpered. Lara grabbed Deirdre. And suddenly we were running.

  We made it to the car a scant second ahead of the vampires, now right on our heels. Karen spun to my side, snarling. Elisabeth threw a howling Serena into the car then flowed back to wolf and jumped to my other side. Lara threw Deirdre into the car, narrowly missing Serena, then stepped up next to me. "Karen, drive!"

  Lara shifted back to wolf and Karen backed off, then dashed to the driver's door and climbed in, shifting to human as she settled into the car.

  Lara, Elisabeth and I held off the four vampires.

  "Elisabeth next," I said. "Shift to human and be ready to pull me in as soon as Karen hits the gas. Karen to floor it the instant Lara jumps in."

  They both broke off from snarling to huff at me.

  "I'm the only one with a voice," I said. "Don't argue. Elisabeth, my life is in your hands."

  Two of the vampires threw themselves at me. I ducked underneath and Lara intercepted one. I buried a knife in the gut of another and wrenched upwards. I caught the heart, and the vampire fell back. I lost the knife. I was down to one more, and there were three vampires.

  The car started. Karen honked twice. I feinted at Elisabeth's vampire and she dashed into the car. Lara and I backed up to the door. I felt Elisabeth wrap an arm around me. Lara turned and dashed and Elisabeth yelled, "Go!" The vampires surged forward, two of them reaching for me just as the SUV pulled forward. They grabbed my legs as Elisabeth fought to drag me into the van.

  I thought I was going to be pulled into two. Karen floored the SUV and Elisabeth held me as I screamed. Then I shifted to fox, and the vampires lost hold of me. Elisabeth pul
led me across her lap, and I fell against Lara, who was holding onto her sister. The door slammed closed, and we sped away.

  I was having trouble breathing, and something was wrong with both my legs. We went over a bump, and Serena whimpered.

  It had to be bad if Serena was complaining.

  "They're coming," said Deirdre from the back seat. "Faster."

  Karen was a good driver, but it was a gravel road, and the SUV was going to follow the laws of physics. She could only take the turns so fast.

  "Do you have anything left, Deirdre?"

  "No," she said. "And I couldn't do anything surrounded by all this steel. I can barely stand it."

  Then she screamed as a vampire launched himself at the back of the SUV, smashing into the back and slamming a fist through the rear window.

  Lara reached back and grabbed Dierdre, pulling her away and tossing her into the front passenger seat. "Buckle in." Then she climbed into the back seat, shifted to wolf, and slashed her claws across the vampire's hands over and over.

  He fell back, but when I looked, there were three more running after us. I guess I hadn't killed the one I had stabbed.

  "Michaela," said Elisabeth. "You need to heal!"

  I knew that. I tried, but I was out of reserves. I needed food. I shifted to human. "Food," I said. "Help Serena. Help Lara. I'm out of weapons, anyway."

  We careened around a corner. Behind us, the vampires leapt at the SUV. One missed, but the other two held on. Lara snarled and snapped at them, and one reached for her. The other clambered on top of the SUV.

  Karen hit the breaks, and the one on top slid right off the front. Then she floored it again, and there was a sickening crunch as she drove over the vampire's legs. That had to hurt.

  Elisabeth climbed over the seat then jumped into the far back. She shifted to wolf, ravaged the vampire's arm for a moment, and then Lara shifted to human and peeled the vampire's hands loose. She fell off the back. Elisabeth shifted back to human.

  "I can't do that again," she said, slumping for a moment. But then I heard her open a cooler and she began handing food to Lara, who turned around and dumped it on the seat next to me. I didn't know why they were bothering. I needed at least a half hour to heal all the damage, and we were either going to be free or dead by then. But I grabbed the first thing I saw, fumbling with it.

  "Help Michaela!" Karen yelled at Deirdre. "Get food into her."

  I couldn't get anything open, so I scooped it all at Deirdre, making a mess of it, but she grabbed something and opened it with her teeth, shoving it back at me. It was junk food, but it was full of calories, and I began shoving it into my mouth.

  I hated junk food.

  Elisabeth dumped a duffle bag on the seat next to Lara then climbed all the way to sit next to me.

  "Is Serena dying?" I asked.

  "No," she said. "Her shoulder is dislocated and she has broken ribs. I have to set it before she shifts. She's holding on."

  "They're coming again," Lara yelled then shifted back to wolf, howling in anger.

  Elisabeth turned around, and I heard a zipper. A second later, she thrust two silver knives at me and then my favorite weapon: a Soaper Soaker CPS 2000. She pulled out a second Super Soaker 50, much smaller.

  "How do these work?"

  "You've never fired a Super Soaker?"

  "How do these work?" she screamed at me. She pointed it out the back window and pulled the trigger, but it wasn't pressurized, so nothing came out.

  "Pump it!" I said. I tried to demonstrate. "Pump that one then switch." In my current condition, I'd never get this one pumped. "Don't break it!"

  She gave the smaller gun several pumps, then two vampires launched themselves at the car. She aimed and pulled the trigger, catching one of them right in the face. The vampire screamed, clawing at its face, and fell off the back.

  "Trade, Elisabeth!"

  She switched with me and began pumping the big gun. Another vampire jumped onto the car. Lara flashed her teeth at them, but they both climbed on top of the car. Karen began swerving back and forth, trying to shake them loose, but suddenly I saw fingers punch through the roof of the van. There was a harsh, metallic screech as the vampires peeled the top off the SUV. I was reminded of sardine cans.

  I reached up through the hole, pointing straight at one of the vampires, and pulled the trigger. Some of the silver nitrate splashed back at my hand, but I ignored the burns. The rest of the silver emptied into the vampire's mouth. He screamed and fell off the back.

  "Elisabeth!"

  She climbed over, poked her head through the hole, and then gave the last vampire a silver nitrate bath. There was a horrible scream, and then she was gone.

  We hit a straight stretch, and Karen put the pedal to the floor.

  Return Flight

  We didn't stop until we reached Asheville.

  Elisabeth and Lara, working together, pulled the roof of the car down out of the slipstream so it didn't flap around too badly, then Elisabeth held it in place the rest of the way. It made a horrible racket.

  I managed to heal my ribs, but I was delirious with the pain from my legs, and we ran out of food long before I could finish healing. Lara attended to Serena, but she wasn't doing well.

  "She needs food," Lara declared. "So does the fox. Karen, how are you doing?"

  "I'll live," she said.

  "Elisabeth," I said. "Remember my ransom night." And then I faded out entirely, lost to the pain in my legs. I wondered if they were too damaged for me to heal. I pieced the rest together later.

  They found a fast food restaurant that was open. They bought fifty dollars of food, shoving it down my throat as fast as I would take it. Everyone ate, replenishing lost energy. Lara ordered me to heal my legs. There wasn't anything they could do for Serena until we got somewhere we could stop.

  I was in and out of awareness all the way to the airport. Karen drove through the gate and parked next to our airplane. I woke up when we came to a stop.

  "Where?" I asked weakly.

  "Airport," Elisabeth said. "We're going to help Serena. Stay here."

  I nodded weakly. Lara and Elisabeth climbed out of the car then carefully helped Serena, lowering her to the ground.

  I heard her scream, and I started to cry.

  "That's the shoulder," Elisabeth said. "Lara, you need to align her ribs."

  "Wait," I said. I slumped onto the floor of the car and pulled my way to the door. I looked out. "Serena, look at me."

  She turned her muzzle to me, panting heavily.

  "You have to shift slowly," I said. "There is no way they'll align it perfectly. You have to shift slowly so the bones have time to move into position."

  She chuffed once, then whimpered before laying back flat on her side. Lara knelt over her, and I heard her whisper into Serena's ear. "Be strong, Serena. Here we go." Lara put her hands on Serena's side. I could hear the bones grinding, and Serena screamed. There was more grinding of bones, and then Lara said, "Now, Serena. Slowly."

  And she began to shift.

  Once someone learns to shift instantly, a slow shift is difficult and painful, but she did it. We watched as she shifted. I saw tears in Lara's eyes and felt them sliding down my own cheeks.

  It took two minutes, which was still a fast shift, but then Serena lay, naked on the cold concrete. She wasn't moving.

  "Serena?" I said. "Serena?"

  She wasn't moving.

  "Lara?"

  "She's breathing, honey. Use your ears."

  I listened. I heard heartbeats. I isolated them, one by one. Deirdre's was weakest and fast. Everyone's was fast. But I knew their heartbeats. I heard Karen, now loading our few things into the aircraft. I heard Elisabeth and Lara, sisters, their heartbeats very similar. I heard my own, rapid and weaker than I would like.

  And I heard Serena's, a little ragged, but strong.

  I heard her breathing, and the rasping was gone.

  "Elisabeth, immobilize her arm then get her into t
he airplane. Wrap her in blankets and buckle her in." She looked up. "Deirdre, help her. There's tape in our equipment bag."

  "Where?" she asked.

  "Rear seat," Lara said.

  Lara turned to me.

  "Go preflight," I told her. "Elisabeth and Karen have this."

  "As soon as we're in, Elisabeth, call the local pack and tell them to take care of this car. Bill Carissa." She stood and ran for the plane.

  Deirdre climbed out of the car then opened the back and pulled out the equipment bag. She brought the entire thing to Elisabeth.

  I watched as Elisabeth lifted Serena into a seated, although slumped position. Deirdre wrapped tape around Serena's ribs then taped her arm to her side and across her stomach. When she was done, Elisabeth called out to Karen, and the two of them gingerly carried Serena to the aircraft and got her settled.

  "Get in," Elisabeth told to Deirdre when she got back to the car. "Back seat."

  Deirdre didn't argue but ran for the plane. Elisabeth turned to me and knelt in front of me.

  "Elisabeth," I said weakly. "I'm afraid to look at my legs."

  "They're a mess," she said. "We can't stay here to deal with it."

  "Bring the rest of the food," I said. "You're going to have to cradle me on the floor, with my legs straight out, and keep feeding me. I'll keep healing. Put something down. I'm still leaking."

  Karen scoffed. "Everything's fubared, and she's worried about making a mess."

  "Lara would make me clean it," I said.

  "How do you want to do this, Michaela?"

  "I'm going to go away for a while. Wake me when we're in the air and it's steady."

  And then, again, I faded away. I didn't feel it when they wrapped me in a blanket, and I didn't feel it when they carried me to the plane. I didn't feel the take off or the first thirty minutes of the flight as we climbed to our altitude.

  * * * *

  "Come back to us, Michaela."

  "Hurts..."

  "You have to finish healing," said Elisabeth. "You can't wait."

  I opened my eyes. I was crosswise on the floor of the airplane, Elisabeth's arms wrapped around me from behind. From head to toes, I was wrapped in a blanket, but I was shivering.