Bite Me Baby! (Wicked Good Witches Book 7)

by Starla Silver

  He led the way, taking the first steps into the woods. Before long, it got too dark for him to see well, so Charlie took the lead, his silver eyes canvassing the woods as they prowled deeper and deeper into the park.

  The fireworks boomed. Their intensity rising, their timing quickening. Each blast masking their footsteps. The light from the bursts did not make it down to ground level, the trees to thick.

  “Stop!” whispered Lizzy loudly. Everyone froze. She motioned for everyone to stay put. She listened carefully in between the bursts. Charlie’s eyes scoured the area.

  Charlie saw it.

  Lizzy heard it.

  She raised her palm shooting off a spell. It hit the Feyk straight on, keeping it from popping out. Its body flew into the air. Charlie leapt upward and yanked it down by the neck, pinning it to the ground.

  Without hesitation, Lizzy stepped over it. “Do they know we’re coming?” she demanded.

  It just sneered, choking under Charlie’s grip.

  Michael heard another sneer and spun around to see a puff of smoke just a couple feet behind him. Jack darted to the plume but it was too late.

  “They definitely know we’re coming. Nothing changes. We keep moving.”

  “Except for you,” Lizzy spoke decisively at the sniveling Feyk in Charlie’s grasp. She reached down into her boot, pulled out a knife and thrust it into the Feyk’s heart.

  The Howard men gasped, dumbstruck by the audaciousness of it.

  Lizzy didn’t flinch, her stare direct. Her body determined in its act.

  It hissed through its pointed teeth, its gangly body going limp.

  Charlie let go, the Feyk, dead.

  “No use wasting a perfectly good potion,” stated Lizzy. She slid the knife back into her boot.

  Charlie stared at her, wearing a look of awed wonderment. “Wow,” he mumbled.

  “Problem?” Lizzy lifted a brow at him.

  “No. Just very, very glad you’re on my side.” The manner in which he spoke was one of praise and adoration.

  Michael mumbled to himself rubbing his temples, once again unwillingly pulled into his sibling’s emotions. “So much fun. Just love being an empath.” He was quite sure his brother had just fallen madly in love. And now he was sensing all about it.

  “In my day, we trained for this.” Lizzy repositioned her potion belt to make sure it was on straight.

  “I think we need to start doing that again,” reeled Jack. “Right. Let’s keep moving. They know we’re here now, but we expected that to happen. The noise from the fireworks will help cover our approach. The plan does not change.”

  Charlie scoured the area, seeing no more signs of the Feyk.

  He motioned them to follow and they continued, getting closer and closer to the old tree.

  ##

  Melinda was helpless. Again. This time, weakened by blood loss from forcing William to pretty near suck her dry. Her hands were bound once again and she was tied to a tree trunk. There was no need for them to bind her hands though, as she had no strength to perform any magic, no matter how badly she wanted to.

  Stricker wasn’t going to take any chances.

  Her head kept drooping; she was dizzy. She wanted to shiver, but her body didn’t even have the strength to perform this act. She was filthy from the Feyk dragging her across the ground. Her legs and feet scratched.

  Stricker came up to her. “I brought you a gift.”

  Emily’s unconscious body was unceremoniously leaned up against the tree.

  “Emily,” called out Melinda weakly. There was no response. Her eyes widened when she saw the puncture wound on her wrist.

  William... was he out there somewhere, healing?

  Or had Eva or Riley gotten to him first?

  Please let him be alive…

  Melinda breathed in short bursts, unable to suck in deep enough for proper air.

  “At least I didn’t burn to death…” she murmured through nearly closed lips. She couldn’t keep her head from falling over and gave up.

  Stricker stood just a few feet away, on the top of the crest just before it edged down into the creek bed. From this vantage point, he could see the meadow in front of the old tree and watch the battle unfold. From where he expected the Howards to enter from, the first thing they’d see is Melinda and Emily.

  He reached over with his wiry leg and kicked at Emily.

  “Hm. What a pity, I really wanted the spirit vessel alive. I guess we’ll see what happens.” A Feyk approached Stricker. “Any sign of our shady shifter?”

  “No. She’s injured and the vampire got free, is chasing her in the woods.”

  “That’s a shame,” he tut-tutted.

  “Should we go after her?”

  “No. Our bargain is fulfilled. And after what she did to that vampire… she’s done for now.”

  “Very well, Sir.” The Feyk left to join the others in preparation for the battle.

  “I was looking forward to working with her,” said Stricker. He gazed at the old tree. “But I don’t share power with anyone. And she wasn’t one to submit…”

  CHAPTER NINE

  Courtney Jessup hiked her way into White Pines after successfully sneaking past the sheriff and her roadblock. She stopped and took out a crystal. This crystal served one purpose, to track the Feyk known as Sir Tinkham Sickereaux, otherwise called, Stricker. She blew out an anxious breath when the crystal showed her the direction she needed to go.

  A snap in the woods.

  Courtney slipped the crystal into a backpack and held her breath.

  Footsteps and heavy breathing. Not hers.

  A tangled mess of white stepped into view. The woman’s chest heaved from overworked lungs. There was dried blood on her forehead and her arm; she hobbled with a limp, one of her legs not working right.

  Eva stopped, taken off guard to come across a hiker in the woods.

  William wasn’t too far away. She could hear him lumbering through the woods to find her.

  “Please help me,” implored Eva in the most frightened voice she could muster. “He’s right behind me. He’s trying to kill me.”

  “What!?” Courtney ran to the white-haired woman and grabbed her hand, helping her to run. She found a ditch with an old fallen log that was hollowed out from rot, and told Eva to hide inside.

  “What about you?” spoke Eva, innocently. “He’s a mad man. A monster…”

  Courtney just grinned, smugly. “You were found by the right woman. Just stay in there. Don’t come out no matter what.”

  Eva nodded meekly and worked her way into the log. She didn’t plan on staying though. She shimmied her way inside and headed towards the exit. The woman wouldn’t stop William for long.

  Courtney held up her arm, her palm facing outward ready to strike the man approaching. What came out of the woods was not a man. Mad, perhaps. A monster, most definitely. One with fangs.

  “Vampire…” she breathed out.

  She did not recognize William from her previous encounter with him. Just how many freaking vampires are on this Isle?

  This one looked crazed, and hungry. Burned and scarred. Practically naked, his eyes seething with venom.

  He snarled at the reporter, his fangs warning her to stay out of his way.

  This was more than Courtney was prepared to battle. She came to kill Feyks. One in particular… Stricker.

  “Get out of my way,” warned William. The human blood pulsing inside him cut away his control. He smelled the reporter’s blood, pumping hard and fast as adrenaline forced its way through. “Leave. Now!” he told her savagely. If she didn’t leave, he feared he would suck every last glorious drop from her body.

  “I’m not going to let you kill her,” said Courtney, standing her ground.

  William wasted no time. The blood rush was at its peak. It would burn out if he didn’t act and kill Eva now. He dashed forward with every bit of speed he could muster and shoved the reporter out of the way. Courtney went sprawling acr
oss the forest floor.

  He hadn’t meant to push her so hard.

  It didn’t matter right now. He needed to end Eva Jordan, fast.

  Eva shimmied her way through the hollowed out log and got to her feet. She hobbled a few steps when William slammed into her, taking her to the ground. He pinned her arms underneath his, restraining her legs with his own. Ignoring the pain it caused him, with each touch and grab.

  His breath was hot and close. His fangs rubbing down her neck.

  Eva cried out, feeling a pinch.

  A warrious cry resounded from behind William, the reporter landing on his back, kicking, hitting and punching.

  “Leave her alone,” Courtney shouted.

  William sat up on his knees, trying to stop her.

  Eva pulled herself up, feeling her neck. He hadn’t broken through. She squirmed out from underneath him and got to her feet. Hobbling into the woods.

  Courtney didn’t stop her attack.

  William recoiled when teeth bit into his flayed skin.

  She swiped the blood off her face, disgusted that she’d gotten his blood into her mouth. It tasted salty and rusty and a bit like burnt toast. Some of it slid down her throat even though she tried to spit it out.

  William didn’t have time for this.

  Eva’s frame disappeared into the shadows ahead of him. He reached over his back and with a fierce pull grabbed the reporter and threw her on the ground in front of him. She gasped, the wind knocked out of her.

  Courtney eyed him, terrified. She tried to move, but her body would not obey.

  William’s deadly stare focused on the vein popping in her neck. He licked across his teeth, his tongue craving to taste her. His throat hungry for the red slick. The fear in her gaze fed the monster, dared him to take her. His eyes lowered in half-mast, the vein in her neck throbbed, calling to him.

  With a snarl he yanked her body upward and plunged his fangs into her.

  “Please don’t,” Courtney cried out. She beat at him, but it did no good. Her body weakened underneath him. She tried to summon a spell, any spell, but the terror and the weakness was too much.

  William pulled his fangs out of her, blood dripping down his chin.

  And agonizing wail escaped his lips and he dropped her. Disgusted by what he’d just done. And yet the darkness inside him bathed in euphoria. Screamed in the pleasure her blood gave him.

  So full. So full of life. Scouring through him, healing and strengthening. Awakening desires so long asleep and controlled. He wanted more blood. To sink his teeth and suck her dry.

  You can’t… kill this woman, a small voice, somewhere deep in his mind told him. Melinda… you have to get back to Melinda. You must kill Eva Jordan… a low snarl slipped through his lips. His eyes lifted, peering into the woods with deadly intent.

  He wanted more blood.

  But wanted Eva Jordan, more.

  William got to his feet, bloodlust heavy in his breath.

  Courtney saw this one chance to stop him, before he either killed the girl with the white hair, or someone else. She pulled herself to her knees and lifted her palm, ready to strike a close blow behind him. She wasn’t even sure it would work.

  A twig snapped under the pressure of her movement.

  William spun around, his eyes wild and unrepentant. A feral preservation took over. He reached down and thrust his fingers around her neck and yanked her into the air, tossing her like a doll. He spun around taking off after Eva, ignoring the cracking snap, as Courtney’s body slammed into a tree.

  His bloodlust wouldn’t be satiated until Eva Jordan was dead.

  William tore into the woods following Eva’s trail.

  She wasn’t far. And the reporter’s blood was allowing him to move faster.

  Eva had no breath left. Her wounds were taking too long to heal. She stumbled, grabbing for anything within reach to keep herself standing.

  William whipped up behind her exhaling exuberantly. A rough hand snaked around Eva’s shoulder yanking her head to the side. His other hand snaked its way down her stomach and with a vicious embrace he pinned her against him. “Farewell, Eva.” His fangs sank into her milky white skin, sealing her fate.

  She gasped. The first pang of his venom punching through her.

  It was over. He’d bitten her. The vampire had won.

  She expected him to let go and revel in her slow and painful demise. But he did not stop. William did not care that he was sucking in werewolf blood. He knew it would weaken him. Maybe even kill him since he was only steps from death already. But he wasn’t leaving anything to chance.

  He was going to kill Eva Jordan until she was totally fucking dead.

  Even if it killed him to do it.

  Eva Jordan would be one problem the Howards never had to fear again.

  He heard Eva’s raspy breath. His venom spreading through her, shutting her down. William listened to her heartbeat, pumping hard to stay alive. She inhaled, her breathing constricted. Her muscles convulsing, unable to fight the poison killing her.

  He released his bite with a lurching sway, losing his grip on her. His body ravaged with werewolf blood.

  Eva slumped to the ground. She lay on her back fighting for every breath. Each attempt growing harder and more painful. The vampire venom spread like wildfire, burning her insides like the fire that had burned William’s body for an entire night.

  She’d only suffer for minutes.

  William fell to his knees right next to Eva, falling to his back. His head turned toward her. It was his final movement. His body seized, the werewolf blood paralyzing him, effectively killing the healthy human blood he’d gorged on to finish the job.

  William struggled to stay conscious. The world spinning around him.

  His eyes froze open. Still able to see.

  It was a beautiful sight to behold. Eva Jordan’s last exhale...

  No life in her eyes.

  No breath in her lungs.

  No beating of her heart.

  It was finished.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Fireworks boomed across the Isle. The Howards and Lizzy Deane were closing in on the old tree in White Pines. If what they expected to happen, happened, they’d be ambushed at any moment by the Feyk.

  The attack came just seconds later, spells shooting at them from every direction, including overhead.

  “Now,” ordered Jack.

  Charlie and Lizzy downed their vials of cloaking potion, followed by Michael and his father. Within seconds, the Feyk didn’t know what to aim for as the foursome disappeared.

  Charlie used the silver eyes of his wolf to spot the silhouette of a Feyk sitting up on a tree branch overhead. Charlie lunged upward shaking the branch. The Feyk dropped to the ground with a startled grunt. Before it could pop out, Charlie seized him, pinned him, and tore the evil grin off his face. The ring allowed just the right amount of his wolf free to do the job.

  Lizzy planted her palm square at the back of the head of another, shooting off a spell that blew it to bits.

  The Feyk army popped in and out, hissing when their counterparts were torn limb from limb, or blown up, knocked into trees and killed off. All by an invisible foursome, they could not see or fight. They had not expected this.

  So far, the plan was going smoothly. The Howards and Lizzy were taking control of the battle. Keeping their enemy on the run.

  Another Feyk went down, this one at Michael’s hand.

  Fireworks boomed across the Isle, covering the sound of their footsteps.

  Michael backed off after doing away with the Feyk, only to crash into his father. Jack yelped, falling over. Michael called out, unable to see his dad to help him.

  “I’m fine,” said Jack, back on his feet. “Quiet now.”

  Michael obeyed, relieved, and searched out the closest Feyk.

  ##

  Out at the entrance of the park, Mack heard the blasts of the battle through the fireworks bombing across the Isle.

  “S
o it begins,” she muttered. She looked up to see an ambulance driving in. “Good. Alex is here. Not a moment too soon.” She was surprised when a few vehicles followed behind it.

  A few of the locals got out, offering their help.

  She shook her head. “None of you should be here.”

  “We just knew that your deputies were in town managin’ the holiday crowd. We figured you might need a little backup.” It was old Freddy Collier.

  “From you, Freddy? You’re liable to go needin’ the dang ambulance,” scolded Mack.

  He laughed at that.

  Another vehicle approached. This one Mack was expecting.

  “Hiya Earl. Josh.” She climbed up the side step, leaning in on the window of the cab. “Just park it for now.”

  “Hellofa final job,” Earl jested in a rough voice. He was retiring that week.

  A thunderous boom echoed from inside the park. Mack let out a low whistle.

  “Sounds like a war zone in there,” said Josh, his eyes wide.

  “That it does,” Mack responded glumly.

  Earl reached out and touched Mack’s hand. “They’re gonna be okay.”

  Mack wanted to agree. Desperately.

  She looked at Earl unable to say it.

  It was the first time she wasn’t sure they would be.

  ##

  They had just minutes before the cloaking spell wore off and their invisibility advantage would end. Each of them searched out the Feyks, killing them off one by one. It was getting harder as the Feyk were catching on and dematerializing much faster, leaving plumes of smoke in their wake, which served as a screen to block them from view when they rematerialized a few feet away.

  Charlie took out four, Lizzy four, Jack three and Michael two.

  Lizzy was about to sneak up behind another when her foot caught a branch and she tripped, making too much noise and alerting the Feyk to her presence.