A dark shadow moved from the tree and landed silently in front of her. Red eyes glowed at her as she heard Logan kicking the door.
“Logan,” Emily screamed, but the dark figure surrounded her and darkness closed in on her as the vampire lifted her into the trees.
* * * *
“Wake up, little bitch.” Emily opened her eyes and looked into a pair of red burning eyes. “Ahhh, there you are.”
Her breath rasped in and out of her lungs, and it hurt to breathe. Her body hurt like she’d been run over by a truck, and the tremors that shook her body didn’t help. What had happened? She tried to think as the face of evil stared back at her. The car had been rolling and she’d been crashing around. “Jackson,” Emily whispered with a gasp of horror. Had he made it out okay? “Where’s my baby?”
“I am sure the youngling is fine. I heard him squalling when I arrived to collect you.”
Emily squeezed her eyes shut. Maybe when she opened them again, this would not be real. She’d wake up safe in her bed, and surrounded by her mates.
“So, you’re the little human that snared the big bad wolf.” Hard fingers gripped her chin and squeezed. “Look at me.”
Emily opened her eyes and whimpered. The reddish-colored eyes had no compassion or sanity in them.
He shook her slightly as he said, “I’m Mortef, and you, little human, are going to help me reignite the wars between vampires and lycans. It is so convenient that I found a coyote that wants to kill you because Logan killed his mates. He’s gay, but I am sure he will like to participate in my plan. He will get what he wants, and I will get what I want. Perfect!” Mortef’s eyes burned with an insane light as he rubbed his hands together enthusiastically. “The council will be too busy trying to contain the fighting, they’ll never see their end coming. When I have control, we will rule humans. Those that aren’t food will be our slaves.”
Emily couldn’t stand to look at his face anymore. The evil she saw there turned her stomach, and she closed her eyes. Sweat broke out over her body, and her lips trembled. Mortef was insane. Not only was it insane to want to start a war, she could see it in his eyes.
“So, to help my plans along, my little coyote pack here wants to play with you. They feel cheated after you escaped twice. Come along. They want to hear you screaming.”
Mortef let go of her face to grab her hair and lead her to a dimly lit room. Old blood and the stench of death coated the walls, and Emily started fighting in Mortef’s grasp. She didn’t know what he had planned, but she knew it would end terribly for her.
Emily’s eyes widened, and a terrified whimper escaped from her chest.
He grinned and rubbed the bulge in his jeans. “I get my chance at her before you kill her, right?
Emily shook her head emphatically, and her whimpers turned more hysterical as her eyes adjusted to the light and she saw the fat man who had tried to grab her in the woods. He stood over a dead man, and blood coated the wooden stake he held in his hands.
“Meet Vhlan, or what’s left of him. He is a spy for my nephew, and we’re going to send his body back to him in pieces. If Devon wants to side with the curs, then so be it.”
Emily’s gaze couldn’t move from the dead man as her thoughts spiraled. They were going to kill her; they’d probably rape her first and then kill her. The thoughts nauseated her, and she couldn’t hold her stomach and wretched up her supper.
“Fuck, you hurled on my damn shoes!” Mortef threw her at one of the coyotes. “I wanna feed before you kill her. Clean her up, and be sure your phones are fully charged. I want every moment recorded for her mates to witness.”
Emily imagined he would torture and record it and held herself tightly as the coyotes threw cold water on her face and scrubbed her with rough cloths to wipe away the vomit.
When they shoved her back into the room, Mortef was rubbing his hands gleefully. “Did you get your phones charged?”
“Yes, overlord. They’re all set.” The fat coyote held up the fully charged phone.
Mortef gripped Emily’s arm and pulled her to him. She’d already felt her body shutting down as she looked around the room. Several men had their phones out and had them focused on her.
Mortef’s breath fanned across her face, and she tried to look away. Would he start hitting her, or cutting her? Mortef’s sharp claws ran across her skin, and Emily tried to jerk away from him. “Please don’t hurt me. Please. Just let me go. I just want to go home to my baby.” Emily felt the sting of his claw and her screams grew more intense.
Mortef’s thumb brushed over her bleeding scratch and he licked her blood. “Hush now, Emily. It is not what you think. You are going to enjoy your last moments alive, I promise you.” Mortef wiped her tears away as his hands moved her hair. “Get me the clip.”
Once he had a hair clip, he pinned her hair on top of her head.
Emily’s eyes darted around as she looked for any sign of rescue. Perhaps one of the coyotes would help her, or maybe Devon would come again. “Help me, please. Logan won’t hurt you if you help me.”
Several laughed as they continued to point their phones at her.
Mortef’s hands ran over her bare neck. “I want you to know what is going to happen. Don’t feel bad when your body loves what I do to you. I thought about just letting it happen, but I want you understand what is happening, dear girl.” Mortef turned her so her back was to him, and he licked her neck. “I could just simply turn you into a slave, but that is painful. I decided to feed off you.” He licked her neck again, and Emily cringed, expecting to feel the pain of his bite at any moment. “Now, when I first bite you, it’s going to hurt, a lot, but then I will release my venom into you and that will trigger intense orgasms. You are going to be screaming in pleasure as I feed on your blood. I’d hate to waste this perfect moment to fully enrage your mates. So, while I feed, you get to ride the coyote who lost his mates to your mate, Logan.”
Emily shook her head, and her blubbering cries grew even louder. She’d rather be tortured to death than suffer this fate.
“Oh yes, you will love this. It’s how we feed without humans struggling, or rather fighting. Most do not kill the human, but you, I will. That is how you get to start a new era in history. The pack will not overlook this, and I plan to make sure Logan knows my entire coven backed your death. “Mortef’s nose inhaled Emily’s scent from her hair. “Look, that lucky dog gets to enjoy the ride since I have no desire to fuck you.”
Mortef pushed Emily toward the other men in the room. “Get her clothes off. We don’t have long before her mates find her, since they’ve bonded. Make sure the phone is left on her body, so they are sure to see the video.”
Emily screamed and fought with every bit of her strength as the coyotes ripped at her clothing and pushed her toward a filthy bed. Mortef’s fangs extended, and his eyes were a blood red.
“You.” Mortef pointed at the fat coyote. “Logan killed your lover, so why don’t you take his.”
The coyote looked at her with his lips curled in disgust. “I don’t like females, but I’ll do it just to get back at that asshole Logan.”
Mortef forced her to turn around and look him in the eye. “Now be a good girl and get on the bed.”
Inside her head, Emily was screaming at herself to stop, but her body did exactly as Mortef told her. She allowed Mortef to back her onto the bed, and Mortef turned her head so that her neck was fully exposed to him. Mortef’s breath was hot on her neck, and she felt the pain of his fangs. His body pressed her into the mattress and she could finally move again, but now she was trapped by Mortef’s strength.
“Don’t shoot her up with venom yet. Let her feel the pain for a bit.” One coyote sneered at Emily. Since Mortef had broken eye contact, she could move again, but her body was burning in agony. She could feel his fangs in her neck, and they hurt like nothing she’d ever felt before. She tried to shove his body away, but he was like an immovable brick wall.
“Yeah, Mortef. We a
ll know how bad vampire bites hurt without that fucking venom. Let her suffer for a bit before you let her fuck.”
Mortef’s hands tightened around her arms, and the pain in her neck increased and stole her breath. Judging by the pain and not an orgasm, Mortef agreed with the coyotes. She preferred the pain though, and she hoped that Mortef changed his mind and just killed her without putting her through the horror that he’d described to her.
Tears ran down her face as she imagined the horror of what was about to happen.
The door and windows all shattered in at once, and there was a roaring that shook the walls.
Blinding pain seized her as Mortef stood up while still holding her, and he swung her around like a rag doll.
Emily opened her eyes to see splatters of blood flying as wolves shredded vampires and coyotes alike.
She watched as Logan changed into his skin, except for his hands. Long, razor-sharp claws grew out of his fingertips and he shoved them into the fat coyote’s chest.
Screaming, the coyote gripped Logan’s arm as it protruded from his chest. “You hunted my mate. You dared to kidnap her and harm her, and now I’ll rip your heart out.”
Blood ran down the coyote’s chest as Logan shoved his bare hands into the gash he’d sliced into his chest, and then Logan pulled his hand out with a heart. The coyote’s screams turned into gurgling whimpers, and then he fell onto the ground with a hole in his chest and his eyes staring vacantly to the ceiling.
Everything was silent for a moment, and Emily held her breath as Mortef held her close to his body. He turned and swung her from side to side as if to wave her like a white flag.
“Let her go, bloodsucker,” Logan’s deep voice rang out menacingly.
Mortef let go of her neck finally and shook her. “I will kill her. It will only take moments to drain enough blood and I am not that easy to kill. She’ll die first.” Mortef bit down once again, and Emily screamed. It was like acid burning in her neck.
The window by the bed crashed in, and Emily fell away from Mortef, twisting her body to further her distance from him. A dreadful snarling filled the air, and Emily watched as Ash and Mortef fought. Logan jumped in to fight the vampire as his fangs flashed and he tossed Ash away as if he was a toy.
One of the coyotes attempted to attack Logan, and he turned and his large teeth sank into the back of the coyote’s neck. Emily heard the crunch of bone as Logan’s jaw crushed through muscle and bone. The coyote let out an ear-splitting yelp and then fell over. Logan didn’t waste a moment; he sank his teeth into the coyote’s neck and ripped it out, and blood pooled around the still coyote. Although time felt as if it were moving slowly, it had only been moments.
Emily felt wetness dripping down her neck and weakness numbed her limbs. She fell to her knees as dizziness overcame her. A gray wolf shimmered in front of her, and a man she recognized knelt next to her. “Garrett! Shift and get in here!”
“Fuck, he slashed her artery. She’ll bleed out.” The healer, Garrett’s, voice sounded far away as he pressed a hand to her neck. “Hold on, Emily. This is going to hurt, but stay still.”
“My baby,” Emily whimpered as Garrett grew a claw out of his fingertip in place of his nail.
“Thank the universe that we have a lycan healer,” another enforcer said as he went from watching Garrett to the fight going on.
Snarling, yelping, and screaming filled the air of the room they all huddled in.
“Hold her still. I can’t have her moving around as I try to close this.” Garett’s eyes never moved from her puncture wounds as several enforcers held her down.
Emily whimpered as searing pain hit as Garrett sliced over her neck. “Sorry,” he murmured, and Emily tried to move. It hurt so bad as Garrett dug into her neck. Was he trying to finish the job Mortef started? No, if he was trying to hurt her, enforcers wouldn’t be holding her down.
“There, got it. My fix won’t hold for long though. Yerel needs to repair this artery properly. Let’s go.”
Emily fought the darkness as someone lifted her. She couldn’t lift her limbs now even though no one was holding her down. “My baby, where’s my baby?” she whispered.
“He’s fine. He is with your two grandmothers,” Garret said as he ran next to her. “Just stay awake, Emily. Yerel is close.”
“It’s leaking already. Fuck. If my repair blows, she won’t survive another bleed.” Garrett look worried as they ran out into the dark of night. “The van, there. It’s Yerel’s.”
They changed directions to a black van. The windows were dark, but as soon as the door opened, bright light had Emily wincing. Although the bed they laid her on was padded, it was hard. Yerel stood over her and nodded to the others in the van. “This will hurt. I don’t have time to numb it, and she’s too weak for anesthesia.”
Emily tensed before the pain hit. She opened her mouth to scream, but she could only whimper weakly. She tried to lift her arms, but even if she had any strength, Garrett and the enforcer held her still. Her neck burned as Yerel worked. She whimpered until the burning finally subsided and Yerel stood up straight. “There, that should hold. You did a good job, Garrett.
“No,” Garrett said as he shook his head. “She nearly bled out because I fucked up.”
Yerel shook his head. “No, that was a good save. Don’t discount your ability to heal, lycan. She made it. She’ll be fine.”
Yerel felt her pulse, and she saw him shake his head at Garrett. “She lost a lot of blood, and she’s human.”
The door opened again, and Emily vaguely made out a man’s shape.
Yerel’s eyes widened. “Are you looking to die, Devon?”
“No, sorcerer. Her mate knows I am coming to help. My uncle said he ripped open her artery. She won’t survive any other way.”
Logan jumped into the van as well, and his face looked frantic. Yerel nodded. “Do it. She won’t last otherwise.”
A black claw extended from Devon’s fingernail, and he sliced open his own wrist. Once his blood was flowing, he held it up to Emily’s mouth.
Emily turned her face away. She wasn’t letting him turn her into a vampire.
“No, Emily, drink my blood. Let it heal you.”
“Do it, love,” Logan urged. “His blood can heal you since he is kin to the vampire that bit you. It won’t turn you.”
Emily always thought vampire blood would be cold, since they were supposed to be dead, but his blood was hot. She tried to spit it out, but Devon’s eyes glowed. “Swallow, Emily.” Her lips wrapped around his wound.
Heat filled her body as everything faded away. She heard gunfire and a yelp outside, and fresh tears fell as she imagined turning into a vampire and her lycans’ enemy.
She heard the door open, and an enforcer poked his head in. “Ash has been shot.”
Darkness overcame her as one last tear slipped out.
* * * *
Emily’s eyes opened, and she recognized the lodge where she’d first met up with Logan. She was in a bed, and not far away, Garett and Yerel worked on someone else.
“My baby,” Emily whispered.
A blonde woman’s face filled her vision. “It’s okay, Emily. Jackson is safe.” Emily stared into the woman’s intense blue eyes and smiled.
“He’s okay?”
“Yes.”
The events before she’d lost consciousness hit her. “I drank Devon’s blood. Am I a vampire now?”
The woman shook her head. “No, dear, you’re not. That is all myth. Vampires are born, not created.”
Emily breathed out a sigh of relief. “Oh thank god.”
“I’m Enon, Yerel’s mate,” Enron said with a laugh. “He’s working on Ash, but he’ll be okay. That lycan healing of his will have him up and around in a couple of days.”
Emily smiled at Enon. “Why did Devon make me drink his blood then?”
“Because if a human drinks enough vampire blood, it’s healing. He saved you, but he didn’t turn you.”
Em
ily let that sink in. That was twice that Devon had helped her. She remembered him telling her he was tempted to help her before when she was hurt. “What’s a blood bond?”
Enon stroked her hair. “You and Devon are now bonded. Not in a mating way, but he can sense you now. You two are linked in a way that only death can separate.”
Emily’s eyes widened. “We’re bonded?”
Enon nodded. “Much like siblings, not mates. For mating, there has to be an exchange of blood.”
“Logan knows this?” Emily wondered how angry he was now.
“Yes, he’s relieved you lived and he’s pacing outside waiting to see you. He thinks he can threaten Yerel into letting him in since I put up a barrier to keep him out.”
Emily blinked. “A barrier?”
“Oh yes. Magic. I hold it up just long enough for Yerel to get done. Until then, Logan is stuck.”
Emily felt sort of bad for Logan. He had to be so scared. “Tell him I’m okay.”
“Yes, child. He knows. Rest now.”
Emily closed her eyes and let sleep take her.
Chapter Twelve
Three months later, Ash’s belly wound was fully healed, as was Emily’s neck wound and broken ribs. They’d healed quickly under Yerel and Garrett’s care, but her nightmares were much longer in resolving. For weeks, she woke up screaming as events from that night replayed in her dreams. Except this time, she suffered the fate Mortef wanted for her and her mates were dead.
Just recently they’d finally stopped, and Emily started initiating sex with her mates again. She knew they were scared of causing her pain, and if she wanted any, she’d have to take the lead.
They were showering together when Emily dropped to her knees and took Logan’s hard shaft into her mouth.
Logan gripped her hair. “Are you sure, pet?”
Emily released his cock and nodded at him. “Yes. I want you, and I am doing better every day.”
Logan’s eyes darkened as she once again took him into her mouth.
Enforcers Embrace [Southern Supernatural Alphas] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 19
