The Witch and the Wolf - Complete

by Lola Kidd

  He was heading deeper into the mountain. Hopefully, he would be able to put a lot of distance between them and Violet while she was fighting their parents and Jamie. The other coven members must have been adding to the protection magic because he could feel it hitting Rory as they drove. Good. The more magic around her, the better. Vampires could use magic, but not much. If they could cloak Rory again, it would take time for Violet to use a locator spell to find her. He would only need a day to get them to another safe house. This time he would head for a Golden Bear hideout. The coven didn’t know about that one so they couldn’t follow them there.

  Obviously that was how the vamps had found them. Their stupid ass parents had to come and protect them. It was a bad idea when he heard it. Had he and Rory slept together sooner, he would have been able to articulate why. Violet had probably been following Magda since the minute the Sun Riders lost track of Rory. They knew eventually, she would want to go see her daughter. And look at where the fuck that had gotten them.

  His wolf was losing its mind. It desperately wanted him to shift but that was ludicrous at the moment. When they stopped for the night, he would shift and let his wolf take night shift. It wasn’t an ideal situation, but he could stay up for seventy-two hours straight if he needed to. It would be a breeze if Rory was in danger.

  He was slowing down to make a turn when he and Rory were thrown from the bike. It felt like someone kicked the front tire and he lost control of the bike. He felt like a ragdoll as he flew through the air and hit the pavement.

  It was Violet. She must have gotten past everyone already. He said a prayer and thanked God he was going so slowly when they were thrown. He couldn’t tell if he was hurt because of the adrenalin coursing through his body, but he thought he was fine. In the seconds after the crash, he let his wolf take over. It wasn’t dazed at all and would do a far better job protecting Rory then he could in his human form. The minute he let his wolf out, it went to look for Rory.

  He found her on the side of the road with her helmet still on. He whined and nudged her. His heart didn’t beat again until she started to rouse. There was no way for him to tell her, but he nosed her toward the ditch next to the road. There was nowhere else for her to hide.

  “What happened?” she asked, pushing up her visor getting up stiffly. She saw he was a wolf. “Oh God! Is she coming?!”

  He nosed her toward the ditch harder. He knew it was risky having her move, but there was no choice. He couldn’t leave her out in the open like that. Her pants were torn and there was skin missing from her arm. She pulled off her helmet and threw up next to the side of the road.

  “I’m just scared,” she said, reassuring him. Her one bloodshot eye told him different. She had some kind of head injury. He was such a fucking idiot. He should have known Violet would dump his bike. There was no reason for him to be driving that fast. He had been reckless and now Rory was hurt. He had to protect her better than this.

  He didn’t know how he was going to, but he was going to have to kill Violet. The minute she came close to him his wolf was prepared to go for her jugular. That was their only shot. They would have time to run again then. Provided his bike would start again. He wouldn’t worry about that yet. Even if it didn’t, he knew how to hotwire a car. First, he had to kill this vampire bitch.

  Seven

  Rory’s head was spinning and she felt like she was going to pass out any second. She was sure she had lost consciousness when she had fallen off the bike. Cross was a wolf so she couldn’t ask him if he had just lost control of the bike or if it was the vampire. As unlikely as it was, she was hoping he had just lost control.

  He was trying to nudge her toward the side of the road, but she couldn’t get her body to cooperate. She rolled over onto her back and just lay there. It was pointless. She didn’t have the energy to cast a healing spell even. Cross was suddenly thrown away from her. She heard him whine as he hit the ground, but there wasn’t anything she could do to help him. This had gone horribly wrong very quickly.

  “Sorry about that.”

  Rory could just see a shadow out of the corner of her eye. It could only be the vampire.

  She leaned over Rory. “You look like hell, woman. Olaf is going to be very unhappy with me.”

  The pretty face frowned and then she put her finger in her mouth and bit down. She put a single drop of blood to Rory’s lips. Rory was repulsed but Violet dropped the blood right into her mouth. It was such a small amount it went straight down her throat. Violet put her hands on Rory’s shoulders as she began to struggle.

  “Calm down,” she chided. “I can’t bring you back to Olaf like this and I’m not about to risk traveling with you like this either.”

  Rory had heard all the rumors about vampire blood. Only a single drop would kill another sup…or it would be like taking a million hits of ecstasy. It all depended on who you were talking to. From the way Rory was feeling, it sounded like neither of those rumors was true. She was feeling pretty great actually. She could feel her magic growing as she got stronger.

  “There’ll be none of that,” Violet said. She muttered a few words Rory couldn’t understand and it felt like someone had dunked her in an ice bath. She felt numb and her thoughts came slow as molasses. “I’m glad you’re feeling better though.”

  Violet smiled at her and it was hard to remember this was the same creature that had likely just hurt her mother terribly. It was obvious Melody had chosen her for her beauty. Becoming a vampire had only heightened everything nature had graced Miss Moore with…and Rory hated every inch of her stupid, perfect body. The vampire was lucky she had acted quickly to disorient her because Rory was going in for the kill.

  Rory could feel strange magic swirling around her. Violet was about to teleport! Another thing she didn’t think was possible. Vampires didn’t travel that way. Most of them flew if they needed to get somewhere in a hurry. Their magic wasn’t strong enough to transport them anywhere safely. Rory had never even tried doing it herself and she had planned on never doing it. There were so many things that could go wrong and leave the caster dead in pieces.

  Cross. She hadn’t heard him moving since the vamp had thrown him. She prayed he was alright. So many people had been hurt today because of her. It was for the best that Violet was taking her somewhere. Regardless of what happened to her from this point, at least the people she cared about would be safe. Her Mom and Jamie may have been hurt, but she knew they had to be alive still. She and Magda had a magical bond. She hoped the same was true with her and Cross since he had claimed her.

  If it was, he was hurt, but not dead. She would feel it if he was gone. As the magic enveloped her, she closed her eyes. She didn’t want to have to see her body snapping into pieces if the stupid vampire messed this up.

  In a flash it was over. Even with her eyes closed, she could see the light the casting gave off.

  When Rory looked around again, they were in a jungle. “What the fuck?”

  “I’m not going to make it easy for your little witch friends to follow my trail,” Violet laughed. “Now try to stand up. I want to make sure you're ok.”

  Rory obliged the vampire, but only because she wanted to see if she would be able to cast now. She was able to get to her feet fine, but when she tried to think of a spell her thoughts scattered. Damn. She was going to have to wait for the vampire to drop her guard.

  Violet nodded. “You seem to be fine. You know this is why your mother always warned you to stay away from boys with motorcycles.”

  “Why are you after me?” Rory asked. She was stalling and trying to think of spells.

  “The King can explain it to you if he wants to or not. My job is just to get you to him in one piece.”

  “Great job you’re doing there,” Rory sneered. “You almost killed me back there.”

  “Almost.” Violet smiled, her fangs showing. Rory felt the magic hit her again. They must be moving again. Rory closed her eyes again. When she opened them they were in the
middle of a field of corn.

  “Last one.” Violet said, before casting again. When they touched down again, Rory hit the ground. The casting had been too quick. Her body couldn’t handle it. She threw up on the sleek marble floor.

  “It’s just the teleporting!” Violet said quickly. “She isn’t hurt.”

  “She better not be, Violet,” someone said in a very heavy French accent. “We’ll need to clean her up before we take her to Olaf.”

  “Can’t have your King thinking you mistreated me, huh?” Rory wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

  “I didn’t mistreat you.” Violet pulled Rory roughly to her feet. “Now, let’s get you looking nice for your audience with the King.”

  ***

  Violet used magic to toss Cross like he was a ragdoll. He hit the ground hard and was dazed for a few seconds. A few hundred feet away the vampire was leaning over Rory and talking to her. He wanted to get up and help, but it was like someone had tossed a cold, wet blanket on his back. His wolf was having trouble even standing up.

  He watched in horror as the vampire bit her finger and put it to Rory’s mouth. She couldn’t! He didn’t know what vampire blood did, but it sure didn’t have any place in his mate’s body. The vampire was up to something. He could feel the magic even this far away. It was something big. A bright light started to envelop her and Rory.

  Cross summoned every ounce of strength in his body to get to his feet. He had heard of teleportation portals before. If he let Violet escape with Rory, it would take him a full day just to get to the vampire king’s compound. He would have to come up with a plan on the way and hope that his brothers would be willing to help. He didn’t want to have to entertain that scenario. He needed to get to Rory before Violet teleported her way from him.

  They were disappearing before his eyes. He ran full tilt and jumped as soon as they were close. It was no use. He hit the ground where Rory’s body had been a second before. He howled in the air. They were gone! He sniffed the spot and circled a few times. The spot was vibrating with the powerful magic Violet had just used. He could still smell Rory. The scent was moving away from the spot she had been in even though she had never gotten up.

  Curious he followed the scent trail. After running after the scent for a mile, he saw a shimmer in the air in front of him. It was moving fast in the same direction as Rory’s smell. It had to be the portal Violet used to transport them. It was his only chance. He wouldn’t be able to follow it forever and it would be out of his reach in only a few precious seconds. If he waited, there was no telling what would happen to Rory.

  He jumped into the shimmer and was inside a bright tunnel. The magic was so strong he felt sick again. He had expected the portal to act like the ones in a movie. As soon as he went in one side, he thought he would fall out on the other. Maybe that was how it worked when you went through right away, but Cross was inside a bright white tunnel. He could still smell Rory so he forged on.

  He left the tunnel without warning. His claws sunk into the soft dirt of a jungle floor. He didn’t know where he was, but it was nowhere a wolf should be. All the new smells disoriented his wolf. Once he had his bearings, he looked around for Rory and the vampire. They should have been right under the portal, but there was no sign of either. He smelled the jungle floor around the area until he picked up on Rory’s scent again and followed it through the jungle. He could feel the magic again and realized Violet must be portal jumping.

  He was having a hard time following these portals, but a witch would have been able to pick up on them weeks after the portals had closed. Magda and the coven would have been able to find Rory easily if Violet had gone through only one. She was a very smart girl. He spotted the next portal moving through the jungle and leaped into it. This time he was prepared for the onslaught of magic in the tunnel and ran full-tilt to the other side.

  This time he was in a corn field. This was more his style. He couldn’t have been very far behind them this time. The portal was closing only a few hundred feet away from him. He ran through this one and when he got out on the other side he skittered on very expensive-looking, black marble. He fell down before he could get any purchase on the slick stone floor.

  He smelled the air and growled. They had reached their destination. He could smell vampires all around him. It had to be the vampire king's home. Who else would have marble floors in a hallway? It was over-the-top, just like Olaf. The Norseman had very expensive tastes. Cross clung to the side of the wall and followed Rory’s scent into a room just down the next corridor. It was a small bathroom. He sniffed around outside the room but couldn’t find anything.

  Panic crept up along his spine. They must have washed her. He couldn’t smell her anywhere. He couldn’t even guess where they would have taken her in this huge compound. Maybe they had even put her in a car and left. Maybe they had already handed her over to the Lost Tribe. He paced in a circle. He didn’t know what to do. Fear paralyzed his mind. Where was she?! His wolf was no help in the situation now that the trail was gone. He circled a few more times. There were only two options left.

  He could tuck tail and try to escape the compound. He couldn’t go back the way he had come. The only way to get help would be to find a phone somewhere to use. It was much better if he did that outside of the compound. Going full speed, he could be in a human town in a matter of hours. Then he would have to sit tight until his brothers and the witches got to him. Hell for all he knew, they were already on the way to him. Their first guess would be the vampire king's compound too. Though he hoped they weren’t stupid enough to try to storm the compound themselves.

  His second option was much riskier. He could find a vampire and let himself get caught. Maybe they would take him to the same place they were holding Rory. Or they could kill him on the spot for trespassing. That was a crazy idea and a long shot. The second option had a lower probability of working and much higher probability of instant death.

  To Cross, the choice was clear. Whichever option brought him to Rory fastest.

  Eight

  Violet and Melody washed Rory and dressed her in a nice gown. She fought until they cast a spell to subdue her. The dress was nice. It was a real gown and it probably cost more than the Silver Café earned in a month. It was sleek and fitted, but it wasn’t revealing or too tight. It had a halter neck and was fitted tightly around her bust. The dress gathered at a clasp around her waist and then fell to her feet. Melody did her hair while Violet did her make-up. She felt like a giant Barbie doll and after their attention she was sure she looked liked one too.

  Still feeling drugged, they lead her down another marble hallway to a sitting room. Finally, she was walking on carpet. The sound of her high hells clicking on the marble was beginning to annoy her. It was a small thing to focus on considering the day she was having, but dammit it was her small thing! She couldn’t let herself think about her Mom, Cross, or any of her friends. Fretting over the stupid noise of her heels helped keep her from losing her mind completely.

  “Ah, finally. I thought you would never get here,” Olaf said as the trio entered his formal sitting room.

  “Olaf, dear, 100 years and you still expect me to be on time?” Melody asked, going to kiss the vampire king on both checks. Now that they were together, Rory could hear Melody’s accent better. They had to be from the same European country originally.

  “One can always hope,” he turned to Rory. “My now, isn’t she lovely?”

  “You wouldn’t say that if you had seen her an hour ago,” Violet said.

  Rory felt the magic around her loosen. “Did you hurt my mother, you bitch?”

  The three vampires laughed.

  “Now this one has a spirit!” Olaf said with glee, and then sighed deeply. “I wish I could keep you for myself.”

  “I didn’t hurt the old witches,” Violet said. “I just stunned them. I owed them after all. They were the ones that led me to you.”

  Rory breathed a little easier. Everyon
e who mattered to her was far away and safe. Whatever happened to her now, at least there was still a silver-lining.

  “I hope you wouldn’t mind joining me for dinner while we wait for your next hosts to arrive?” Olaf asked.

  “You can cut the shit,” Rory said. “I’m not going to play all Southern Belle for you while we wait for bloodthirsty fae to come and kill me.”

  Olaf looked shocked. “Young lady! I would never negotiate a trade where someone was going to be killed. You must take me for some kind of monster.”

  “Well, if the shoe fits.”

  Melody pinched Rory’s inner arm hard. “I’ll be happy to hold your tongue if you don’t know how.”

  Olaf held up a hand. “There’ll be no need for threats, Melody. If she wishes to starve as she waits, that’s fine by me. Take her to a room to wait, Violet.”

  “Wait!” Rory said. “I’d like to eat.”

  Olaf smiled huge, his fangs showing. “Wonderful.”

  Olaf offered Melody his hand and they led the way to the dining room. It was just as opulent as the rest of the house. It looked like he had designed and decorated the room during the 1920s and had never changed it. The floors were white marble and the wallpaper was gold and cream designs. The table was very long and was made of a heavy wood. The tablecloth was an incredibly heavy and soft material that Rory didn’t recognize.

  She picked up a gold fork. “You have very…expensive tastes.”

  “Thank you,” Olaf said. “I picked everything you see here myself.”

  He clapped his hands and men holding silver platters appeared around the table. “I made plans to suit a human palette as well tonight.”

  The man standing next to Rory pulled the top off his platter. There were Cornish game hens arranged on it.