by Candy Crum
“We didn’t have sex, Cass. Stop this.”
“No, but what I did was far more intimate. I stayed outside the door and watched. Yes, I had to because I needed to make sure your technique was good, as weird as that fucking sounds. But I need to make sure that you weren’t using too much or too little energy. I needed to make sure that you’d leave satisfied, but not kill him. So, yes, it was my job to watch you. It wasn’t, however, in my job description to want you. To need you. To lose control and watch you, not out of duty, but out of nothing but lust. It sure as hell wasn’t in my job description to go in there and feed you from my own lips. Most of all, I shouldn’t have bitten you. I just… just…”
I paused for a moment, waiting for him to continue on his rant, but he didn’t. He focused on the road, lost in thought.
“You just what?” I asked. I could smell the spike in his arousal. He must have been thinking about it all over again.
“I remembered how you felt. I remembered what it was like to give you what you need. I just wanted to hear you scream like that again, but not for him. I wanted you to scream for me. I wasn’t jealous of him, but I wanted it for myself. So, I suppose that is a form of jealousy. Just not the jealous boyfriend type of jealousy. He was food. I wanted to be your pleasure.”
Wow. I had no idea what to say. That was intensely sexy. Cass and I were friends, but more than that at the same time. I wasn’t sure if it was or would be anything romantic, but we certainly had something.
“You have no idea what you…” I didn’t get a chance to finish that sentence.
“What the fuck is that?” Cass asked.
We were outside of the city then, heavy trees on both sides of the road. About a half mile away an SUV was stopped in the middle of the road, but the passengers weren’t alone. There was something outside of the vehicle on both sides rocking it back and forth.
“Holy shit!” Cass called out, slamming on his brakes.
“What is it!?” I asked, terrified of what I was seeing.
I looked back out the windshield, only a few hundred feet away from where two monstrous creatures stood on either side of the navy-blue SUV. They were tall. It was impossible to judge, but they looked to be at the very least nine feet in height. They stood upright on legs, but they looked like wolves. Their fur was short, sleek, like a Doberman or a Great Dane. One was jet-black and his fur glistened in our headlights, the other, a silvery grey, was just as beautiful. Beautiful, yet terrifying.
The black one busted through the driver’s side glass with his fist before shoving his massive head through the window and pulling a fully-grown man out with his powerful jaws. The man was screaming, and I could hear a woman inside screaming as well.
“What the fuck are they?” I called out, fear ripping through me.
“They are the forsaken,” was all Cass replied with as he shoved the car in reverse and hit the gas.
Chapter Seven
The wheels spun hard on the damp pavement. It had rained a little in the time we’d been gone, but the skies were starry right then. There were loud growls mixed with the screams.
“We have to help him!” I screamed at Cass.
“Are you crazy? Do you see that? That is a forsaken werewolf! It will tear us to pieces! We don’t have near the amount of power it would take to drop one, let alone two.”
The silver one turned his attention on our hasty retreat and took off running after us.
“Oooh, no!” I said. “He noticed us! He’s coming for us!”
“Fuck!” Cass called out just as the car hit something hard. “No, no, no. No, no, no.”
Once I regained my senses, I turned back to see another forsaken, this one a dark, brown-black color with a jet-black face. He was snarling; his lips pulled back, large sharp teeth gleaming, drool dripping onto the car. His massive clawed hands were gripping the trunk tight. We weren’t going anywhere.
“What do we do?” I asked. “I thought they couldn’t change unless it was a full moon.”
“Wrong again,” Cass said. “We really need to work on your history at some point – if we survive this. I can run, but you’re not fast enough, and I won’t leave you. Neither one of us are strong enough.”
“So, what does that mean?”
Cass shook his head. “I don’t know.”
The front of the car crunched, the entire thing shifting under the weight of the silver forsaken. The engine died, and I knew that with the wolf’s weight and the crushing sounds that had been made, there was no coming back from it. The car was dead. I had no idea what a forsaken was, other than a snarling werewolf, but they were huge, and they were terrifying. I wished that Tristan was there. I wished that he could help us. Surely, he’d be able to compel them all.
I focused my eyes on the forsaken’s. He stared at me with cold, blue orbs that held the desire for death and destruction within their depths. I surrounded myself with power and pushed it forward, hoping that I could hold him, even for a moment while we figured out what to do. His eyes narrowed as his body relaxed a bit, our gaze never breaking.
“Please… just… leave,” I said out loud. “Just… go.”
I knew, even as quiet as my voice was, that he heard me. I just didn’t know if it would work or not.
Not.
Very not!
He pulled his arm back, preparing to shove his massive fist through the windshield just as his black furry friend had done to the other vehicle. I closed my eyes tight, preparing for my death – my next death, but it never came.
I heard a loud crack of thunder overhead. The entire car shifted, causing me to open my eyes. The forsaken, hand still in the air, was now staring at the sky. A sky that had been full of bright stars not moments ago, but thickening with clouds. Lightning webbed across the sky, one bolt right after another. Thunder rolled over and over again. Something wasn’t right. That was no normal storm.
“Oh… fuck.”
I looked over at Cass only to see his eyes wide as he stared at the sky.
“You once asked me about the immortals,” he said, his voice soft, afraid. “I think you’re about to see one.”
Lightning leapt from the sky, striking the silver forsaken on the hood of the car. The current went through him and into the car, passing through to the forsaken holding onto the trunk. The tires blew, one right after another. Further stranding us.
“Wait,” I said. “Didn’t you and Tristan say the immortals were evil? They’re the ones taking over the world, right?”
Cass nodded. “Yes.”
The black forsaken howled into the night as he came to the defense of his fallen silver friend. Within seconds the other beast was up, the third one coming to join them.
“You also said that the bad creatures work with them.”
“Yes, I did,” he said. “The only thing keeping me from losing my damn mind right now is that fact. Because there is no such thing as a good forsaken. They were once beautiful wolves that were forsaken by Anubis for betraying him and humanity. That’s why they look like him. If they were just attacked by an immortal, there stands a chance the immortal is on our side.”
“We need to get out of here,” I said. “I don’t want to stick around to find out.”
“Believe me, I would love to, but we can’t do anything. The car is fucked. It’s completely dead and the tires are shot. If we run, they will catch us. I’m probably fast enough, but I’m not old enough to stand in a fight against them. You’re a succubus. You’re not fast, and you’re not strong. Not like a vampire. I’m the only one that stands a chance, and I will not leave you. We are trapped. No running. No fighting. We can’t do anything but pray.”
Loud growls pulled our attention forward. The three forsaken were staring into the woods, their bodies positioned ready for a fight. Thunder still cracked overhead as the lightning brightened the night sky.
Out of nowhere a massive rock the size of one of their heads came flying out of the wood line and directly at the black fo
rsaken, exploding into hundreds of pieces as it hit his chest. It sent him sliding back a few feet, but he recovered easily.
I focused on the wood line and watched in amazement as a beautiful woman with curly, golden blonde hair stepped out and strolled up the road like nothing was happening.
“Vampire!” she called out.
Cass’ eyes widened as he stared at her. I imagined my expression looked no different.
“Vampire! Succubus! Get out of the car and help the humans. No harm will come to you. I will make very certain of that.”
“Help the humans?” I asked.
“We can trust her,” Cass said. He sat back and took off his seatbelt. There was no longer any hesitation.
“Whoa!” I said, grabbing hold of him. “Is she a succubus, too, and not an immortal? Did she compel you? Can immortals compel? You were terrified just a second ago, and now you’re willing to do whatever she says.”
“Look at her aura,” Cass said.
I looked out and saw it. I remembered him telling me the darker creatures had darker auras. The weres had deep purple auras while the woman had a light blue aura. It was quite beautiful. When I saw it, I felt the same thing that Cass had, or what I imagined that he had. I also unbuckled my seatbelt.
We moved slowly as we exited the car. The wolves were growling and snarling at the woman. It was obvious they were under no control, but they were terrified to move. There were three of them and only a single tiny version of her. What the hell was she? Immortal, yes, but… What the hell was she? She had so much power emanating from her. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen, not that I’d seen much.
“The human man is about to die. He has severe lacerations to his throat,” she said. “I have the forsaken controlled. They will not dare defy me. Move. Now.”
Cass and I quickly made our way over to the man lying in the road. His collar bone had been broken and was pushing through his skin. His throat was torn open and his body couldn’t decide if it wanted to bleed to death, or drown in the blood running down his trachea.
“Succubus. The vampire can take care of him. Check on the woman inside the vehicle. I can feel her fear from here.”
I nodded once before doing as I was told. The woman began screaming as soon as I opened the door, but I knew what to do. I quickly reached across and grabbed her bare wrist, immediately feeling the connection between us grow.
“Shh,” I said. “You’re safe now. Your husband is safe now. He will be just fine. Everything is going to be just fine.”
Her body relaxed against the seat as she stared into my eyes.
“I bet you’re exhausted,” I said.
The woman nodded. “I am. I am so tired.”
“Good girl. Sleep now. All this has been a terrible dream. A deer came out of nowhere and damaged the side of your vehicle. You passed out, but you had the craziest dream. Your husband has blood all over him, but it was from the buck. It ran off into the woods.”
“Deer around here do the craziest things,” she said, her voice sounding a bit drunk under my control.
With that, she closed her eyes and fell asleep. Hard. I backed out of the door and closed it. There was only a moment of reaction time between hearing the loud ear-splitting growl and turning to see another forsaken that leapt from the wood line directly for me.
I gasped and arched back against the truck, not even a scream able to squeak its way out of me before the forsaken came to stop only a few inches away from me. There was a beautiful blue glow that exploded between us, and I realized that had been the only thing that stopped him from getting hold of me. Out of my peripheral, I could see that Cass and the human had been enveloped as well.
I looked over to see the woman holding a single hand in the air while her main focus remained on the three forsaken before her. I couldn’t believe her strength.
“You should have listened. I know you could hear me from wherever you were in the woods with those big ears,” she said.
With only a flick of her wrist, the forsaken in front of me ignited in flames. Howls, growls, and screams of pain filled the air as the fire engulfed him and burned him to nothing more than ash.
“Anyone else care to challenge me?” she asked.
The three forsaken before her lost all of their feistiness. It was crazy to me to watch all three alpha-like creatures submit and admit defeat as they took a few steps back, their heads hanging low.
“Let this be a lesson to you,” the woman said, her voice icy. “The war is coming. Khia will fall. And when she does, I’m going to make sure to send every one of you to hell right along with her. Now get your asses back to Egypt where they belong.”
The forsaken turned and ran full speed through the woods. They were a blur as they disappeared in the trees.
“Holy shit,” I said. I didn’t actually mean to say that out loud, but it popped out anyway.
“Are you alright?” the woman asked as she approached.
“We are fine,” Cass said as he stood up. “Thanks to you.”
She smiled. “I’m glad to hear you’re fine. My name is Wendy Cain. Who are both of you?”
Chapter Eight
At first, I was frozen. I wasn’t quite sure if I should run screaming or ask her a thousand questions. I stared at her beautiful blonde hair, her ice blue eyes, her beautiful smile and rounded cheeks. My brain wasn’t braining. Not one bit.
“I’m Cass.” His voice shook me out of my thoughts, but I was still not quite thinking yet.
I waved. “Mia.”
“Nice to meet you both.”
“Why did you save us?” I asked. “Aren’t your kind supposed to be evil?”
“Mia!” Cass snapped.
Wendy laughed. “I see you’ve not taught her much. No, my dear, I am not evil. My ancestor, Khia, now that’s a different story. There are some of us that fight on the side of good. I saved you because your auras told me that you’re inherently good. He is a daywalking vampire with a light aura, and you are a succubus with a light aura. I’ve not met many good succubi or incubi.”
“What are you doing out here?” Cass asked.
“Actually, I’ve been tracking someone down. He disappeared at random. There is a lot happening, and he was supposed to help me. When he went missing, I set out to find him. My quest got sidetracked when I caught the foul aura of our friends there. I should have killed them, but Mia looked like her head might explode. I doubt they will test me again.”
“My head wasn’t about to explode,” I said, my tone defensive.
Wendy’s left brow rose.
“Okay. So what? I’ve never seen anything like that. It was awesome!”
“Who were you looking for?” Cass asked. “If you don’t mind my asking that is.”
“Not at all. I’m looking for an Incubus named Tristan,” Wendy said.
“Ha!” I laughed. Probably wasn’t the correct response, but it got her attention.
“Yes, young one?”
“Tristan is my bio-donor. Uh… Sorry. I mean, he’s my dad.” I could kick myself. Sometimes my mouth worked faster than my brain. “I’m older than I should be for my powers to come in, but they did. He disappeared to come find me.”
“Oh!” she said, a smile on her face. “You’re the daughter of Tristan? That makes sense. He is the only other of your kind that I’ve ever known to be good.”
“I propose a deal,” Cass said. “How about you drive us, since my car is FUBARed, and we will take you right to Tristan? Because we need to get out of here.”
“I think that’s a great idea,” Wendy said. “Mia, if you wouldn’t mind, could you call your father and tell him that we are coming? I want to make sure that his disappearance had more to do with finding you and less with avoiding me.”
I did as I was asked, grateful to have been given the chance. I wanted to hear out of Tristan firsthand that this goddess was indeed a friend. He didn’t disappoint. He was actually so excited to hear from her that he asked me to put her o
n the phone. Wendy was all smiles as they spoke. I wondered if they’d done it before. Ew.
We compelled the humans to drive us to Wendy’s car, which Wendy wasn’t necessarily proud of, and then went on our way. Cass had heard my compulsion and told the man the same story. To them, we were random people with a broken-down car. They would go through life not thinking about anything that happened.
When we returned home, Wendy was happy to see Tristan. She followed me inside and he met her with a hug.
“Hi,” my mom said. She wandered up with my dad, smiles on both their faces. They were always excited to meet everyone. They never cared who or what anyone was, as long as they were good. They were too good for this world. “I’m Claire, and this is my husband James.”
“Hi there,” Wendy responded, shaking both of their hands. “I’m Wendy Cain. It’s great to meet you both.”
“We have much to catch up on,” Tristan said.
“Yeah. No shit, old man. This chick is unreal. I thought we were all dead. If there are bad versions of her out there, we are all fu…”
“Mia,” my mother chastised, a small smile on her face. “Must you speak like that so often?”
“Sorry, Mother.”
Wendy laughed. “It’s quite alright. I’m used to hanging out with two overgrown vampire man children. Though, one is far worse than the other.” Wendy turned to me and smiled. “I’m not the strongest. Actually, I’m the baby. I’m the youngest living immortal. Well, except for Kailah, of course.”
“You’re the youngest? And you have that much power?” I asked. “Holy shhhh-crap. Who is Kailah?”
“Kailah is the first of her kind. She is a hybrid. She was born an immortal, but was later turned vampire. Now she is both. The immortal to survive the change,” Wendy answered.
“Wait, is she the chosen one?” I asked.
Wendy nodded. “She is. I was a prodigy. I learned how to use my abilities hard and fast, but Kailah has done even more, even quicker. Actually, she’s the reason why I’m here.”
