Dark Coven

by J. C. Diem

  Speeding as fast as I dared along the bumpy road, I tried to lock on to Reece’s thoughts and succeeded. Eventually emerging onto the main road, I saw the lights of Bradbury in the distance. The spell that Malachi had cast was gone and I could now follow our link easily.

  I felt a swell of panic from Reece and split my concentration. In a highly dangerous move, I watched through his eyes and mine for a few seconds. It was long enough to see that the others were speeding through the woods and that they weren’t alone.

  The SUV and my father’s blue rental car were being chased by several vampires. My mother hadn’t come to West Virginia alone. This time, she’d brought her entire nest with her.

  ₪₪₪

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  My hands were white on the steering wheel when I zoomed through town. It was far too late to worry about stealth now. A figure appeared in front of me. I swerved just in time to avoid an elderly pedestrian. I glanced into the rearview mirror to see him shaking his fist. He shouted something derogatory about my driving skills.

  Despite the danger we were in, Zeus was enjoying the ride immensely. Grinning from ear to ear, he had to brace himself against the door to stop from sliding on the seat when I took a corner too fast. I prayed that I wouldn’t have to come to a sudden stop. If I did, he’d probably go sailing through the windscreen.

  Apart from that single pedestrian, I didn’t see another soul as I sped towards the outskirts of town. Even without the bond to guide me, I knew where my friends were heading. Vampires couldn’t step onto hallowed ground, which meant the squad had to be racing for the abandoned church.

  Taking one of the rutted dirt roads, I retraced the route we’d used and closed in on the church. I sensed the undead before I saw them. They were an irritating itch in the back of my head. The sensation wasn’t dissimilar to how I felt when zombies were near.

  Reece’s relief that I was safe and unharmed increased when I drew close enough for him to feel me. He sent me a picture of what he was seeing. Mark, my father and Beatrice were huddled in the center of the dilapidated old church. Reece, Kala and Flynn were stationed on three sides.

  They watched through the open doorway and through the broken windows as the church grounds became surrounded. The vamps couldn’t get any closer and could only wander around the perimeter. They were attempting to bamboozle their prey into stepping outside. I counted seven vampires and knew there were more that I couldn’t see.

  Heads turned when I sped towards the church. Two vampires hissed and moved to intercept me. Avoiding their eyes, I tromped down on the gas pedal. “Get on the floor,” I said to Zeus and braced myself for impact as he tucked himself beneath the dashboard. It was a tight squeeze, but at least he was wedged in place and wouldn’t be sent crashing through the windshield.

  The car slammed into the vamps, sending them both flying over the fence and onto the sanctified ground. Bursting into flames, they shrieked in agony as their flesh was consumed by a beautiful silver fire.

  Leaving the car door open, I bolted towards the church just as I felt my mother’s insidious thoughts creeping into my mind. She’d taken a shortcut through the woods, knowing that I’d try to save my friends from her nest. The moment my feet touched the sacred ground, her thoughts became muted.

  Zeus bounded along at my side as I burst into the church. My father strode forward and caught me in a hug. “I’m glad to see you’re alive, kiddo,” he said, taking a step back and placing both hands on my shoulders. “But coming here might not have been a smart move.”

  “I didn’t have a choice,” I replied as the others gathered around. “Malachi took me to a farmhouse in the woods on the far side of town. Katrina found me there and she’s determined to turn me. This is the only place I could think of where I’d be safe from her.”

  “Did he hurt you?” Reece asked. His thoughts intruded on mine, searching for answers.

  “No,” I replied. “Malachi used a spell to knock me out then took me to an isolated farmhouse. It was another place where they used to perform their rituals. I was out for the whole day and only woke up at twilight. I found the talisman and destroyed it, which set the spirits free. They tore the warlock apart then faded away. I’m pretty sure they’ve moved on to wherever they’re supposed to go after they die.”

  “We were worried about you!” Kala scolded me. “The coven figured out that their wards had been tripped by a spell and fled back to town. Mark tried to call you, but you didn’t answer your phone. Reece couldn’t sense you through your bond.”

  I flicked a glance at him to see that his expression had turned grim. “Where is the rest of the coven now?” I asked. With Malachi dead, that left five witches and warlocks still unaccounted for. Their power should have been destroyed along with the talisman. Maybe the ghosts had already torn them apart and had completed our mission for us.

  “We have no idea,” Mark replied. “They turned tail and ran before we could take them down. They used a spell to hide from our sight and other senses.” That meant the squad couldn’t track them by their smell. “I’m afraid we have a more urgent problem to worry about right now.”

  I checked my watch to see that we had maybe twenty minutes left before the moon would rise. “What are we going to do?” I asked, trying not to let my despair take over. Even if Reece and I managed to control ourselves again when we changed, Kala and Flynn wouldn’t have the same ability. They’d rip the humans to shreds and feast on their meat. Mark, Beatrice and my father would shortly be trapped between bloodsuckers outside and meat eaters inside.

  “I don’t know,” Mark replied softly. “This is the worst possible scenario.”

  My father stepped over to one of the windows to assess the threat. “How many bullets does it take to kill a vampire?” he asked Mark.

  “More than we have with us. You might be able to kill a few of them, but you won’t be able to destroy all of them.”

  “Is that really you, Philip?” Katrina called out with false sweetness as she spied my dad through the window. “I’ve missed you, darling. Come outside so we can be reunited once more.”

  Beatrice put her hand on his arm. “Don’t listen to her,” she warned him. “Every word that comes out of her mouth is a lie. The woman you loved is gone. That thing out there is pure evil.”

  My father looked stricken for a few moments before hardening his heart against his long dead wife. We shared a look and I read his unspoken promise that he’d rather kill us both than allow us to end up like her.

  I looked at Reece and he felt as bleak as I did. I wish there was some way we could link ourselves to Kala and Flynn, he thought.

  If they’d been werewolves, we might have been able to forge some kind of link with them. As it was, we were practically already a pack. That thought seized me and I turned to face them. They were a different species to me, but didn’t I feel kinship with them anyway? Reaching out, I strained to touch their minds and felt a faint, tentative connection.

  “Do you feel that?” I asked Reece. He moved to stand beside me, struggling to pick up what I was feeling. Touching always seemed to boost our bond, so I clasped his hand in mine.

  Hope rose inside him when he felt the same connection that I felt to our friends. I sent him a picture of what I wanted to do. “We have to try,” he said in response. We’d become bonded by biting each other. I wondered if sharing blood would also forge a stronger connection with the other two shifters.

  “Why are you looking at us like that?” Kala asked uneasily.

  “What are you two planning?” Flynn was just as wary.

  “Do you trust me?” I asked. Kala nodded immediately, but Flynn took longer to reply. He stared into my eyes and I urged him silently to surrender to my will. When he bowed his head submissively, I felt a sense of rightness, as if this was meant to be. “Give me your arm,” I commanded and he reached out with his left hand. Reece took Kala’s hand and we simultaneously bit down on their wrists.

  Swallowin
g down his blood, I felt Flynn’s thoughts whirling around inside my head. It was much fainter than the link I had with Reece, but it was there. I could barely feel Kala and knew that I’d have to mark her as well. Swapping places with Reece, I bit down on the mark that he’d made. Now I had three minds vying for attention, four if I included Zeus.

  “I can feel you in my head,” Kala said incredulously, touching her forehead with an unsteady hand.

  “I can feel them, but I can’t feel you,” Flynn said to her and they exchanged a long look. Reaching a mutual decision, they bit each other’s wrists and we all felt the connection link us together.

  “What did you just do?” Mark asked. Even in the face of imminent death, he was still trying to learn as much as he could. My father had pulled his gun and was watching us warily. He could sense the power that was surging between all four of us. Beatrice looked frightened. I wasn’t sure if she was more scared of us or of the vampires.

  “We are a pack,” I said and Kala laughed in pure joy.

  “We are one,” Reece said and tears welled in Flynn’s eyes. His pupils were beginning to change and the green was now far more vivid. Kala’s fingers were growing longer and were turning into vicious claws. The Shifter Squad might have been a team for the past five years, but they’d still felt alone. Now we were linked together, even if it was only temporary.

  Any minute now, we’d burst into our animal forms and I didn’t want to ruin my clothes. I also didn’t want my dad to see me naked. “You’d better move to the far end of the room,” I instructed the humans. “You, too,” I said to Zeus. With a whine of protest, he followed my father to the only side of the church that didn’t have a window in it.

  “Do you think you’ll be able to control Kala and Flynn?” Mark asked. His tone was hopeful.

  “Yes,” Reece replied. “We’re both alphas and they’ll do as we say.” He said this as though the answer should have been evident.

  We removed our clothing, shoes and weapons, but left our underwear on out of modesty’s sake. Excitement mounted and my wolf began to rise inside me as the moon ascended. As if we’d choreographed it, our bodies reacted at exactly the same time.

  Far quicker than previously, my hands, feet and face elongated. Claws burst from the ends of my fingers and toes and fangs erupted from my gums. My spine popped, my ribs conformed to a new shape and black fur grew all over my body. I howled in pain and Reece echoed me as he also underwent the same rapid change. It took only seconds for the change to be complete.

  Kala screeched in torment as she transformed. It began as a high pitched wail, but ended in a throaty roar. Her fur was the same shade of tawny blond as her human hair and her eyes gleamed gold. Her fangs and claws were even longer than mine. Sleek and strong, she was a different species from me, but I had to concede that she was beautiful. She grinned fiercely, eager to tear into our enemies. Her long tail twitched then curled around her leg.

  Flynn’s transformation was the most startling. His legs merged and lengthened into a long tail, while his head changed into something resembling a cobra. His forked tongue flicked out to taste the air.

  From his neck to his waist, he was still humanoid, but the rest of him was pure constrictor. His shoulders, arms and chest were far more muscular than they were when he was human. His fingers lacked claws, but his fangs more than made up for it. Long and viciously sharp, clear fluid dripped from them and fell to the floor. Steaming when they landed, they began to eat through the wooden boards. His venom was as acidic as it was poisonous.

  Light green scales covered his back, sides and tail. They faded to yellow when they reached his chest. The scales on his abdomen were cream. He turned and his hood flared when he spied the humans. Black scales formed an intricate, mesmerizing pattern on the back of his head.

  He slithered towards the tasty humans who were handily lined up against the wall. No, brother, I thought and he turned back to face me. They are not food.

  Disappointed, he pointed at the dog. Can I eat that? It looks tasty.

  I looked at the animal and felt a strange connection to it. My mate shook his head and answered the question for me. The dog is important to my mate. None of the beings in this building are food.

  The cat stretched, reaching upwards with her impressive claws. I’m hungry, she complained. If we can’t eat them, what can we eat?

  Sensing enemies surrounding the building, my human memories welled to the forefront of my mind. Food will have to wait, sister. First, we must hunt the soulless.

  I sent them a picture of the undead creature who wanted to turn me into her kind. My mate growled in fury, the cat hissed in rage and the snake clenched his fists. His temper was more even than ours, but when roused to anger, I sensed that he would be formidable. First, we shall kill the soulless, he agreed. Then we can feed.

  With that decision made, we headed for the door.

  ₪₪₪

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  My mate and I took the lead once we were out in the open. These soulless were different from the ones that we’d previously fought. Instead of being slow and witless, they were fast and cunning. Linked to all three shifters, I felt their eagerness to engage with the enemy. We were made for battle and we weren’t going to shy away just because they outnumbered us three to one.

  Tilting my head back, I howled at the silver moon that had called us forth from our human bodies. That was the signal to attack. We leaped over the fence and tore into the undead. We instinctively knew not to bite them. Doing so would be deadly.

  My mate and I already carried a sickness within that had been caused by being bitten by one of these things. Our bond was keeping that illness at bay, but we knew that it would take us over sooner or later. If the cat or snake were to ingest the blood of the soulless, they would perish.

  My claws rent cold flesh and sent sluggish, dead blood flying. One of the vampires jumped onto my back and sank his fangs into my neck. He thought that would incapacitate me, but he was wrong. Already infected, I couldn’t contract the taint again, but fire ignited in my veins as the taint was increased slightly.

  Reaching over my shoulder, I tore him free and punched my fist through his chest. Coughing out clots of dark, noisome fluid, his eyes rolled back into his head and his body fell.

  I’d slain four of the beings when I sensed something strangely familiar at my back. Whirling around, I beheld another of the soulless. The female was small with long, black hair. Her scent was familiar. This was the creature that had infected me.

  Before I could snarl in fury and attack, she spoke. It took a moment for me to understand her words. “Come, daughter,” she beckoned in a falsely sweet tone. “Let me change you from that bestial form into what you were truly meant to be.”

  My mate growled in warning when I lumbered forward to stand in front of her. Three of the walking corpses had him surrounded, preventing him from coming to my aid. Standing over the small creature that believed she had a kinship with me, I stared into her dark eyes.

  “Give me your hand, darling,” she crooned and I obeyed. Her flesh was cold and lifeless, yet it was animated with an evil magic. I felt the same magic within myself and loathed the sensation. I knew that if she were to pierce my flesh with her teeth, that she would own me. Her mouth lowered towards my wrist and her fangs descended.

  A loud noise rang out and she stumbled back as a hole appeared in her forehead. I glanced at the building to see a tall human peering through the broken window holding a gun. He took aim again and another of the soulless made a sound of pain. His weapon was all but useless, but it had been enough to break me from the vampire’s spell.

  Turning to confront her, I grabbed her by the throat. The wound in her forehead was already healing. Lifting the creature off the ground, I snarled into her face and she screamed in fear and fury. Her hands clawed at me, tearing furrows in my arm. They bled freely for a few seconds before closing.

  I squeezed down hard and her screams shut off. She wa
s silenced, but choking her wouldn’t kill her. How could it when she was already dead? I’d learned one method of killing zombies that I was pretty sure would work on her as well. I put my hand on the top of her head with the intention of pulling her head from her shoulders.

  “Stop!” a voice roared. Another vampire stalked from where he’d been hiding among the trees. Ancient and wicked, he wore a dark coat that covered him from his chin to his toes. Arrogance poured from his every pore. So did power. It oozed from him and froze me in place.

  All of the remaining undead were linked to him. Their bond was similar to how our small pack was joined. I wasn’t sure how it was possible, but the vampire was also linked to me. I sensed that the connection was due to the female who was dangling from my hands. He could control me through the psychic leash she held around my neck.

  “Katrina,” he admonished, “you did not mention that your daughter is a werewolf.”

  With my hand still crushing her throat, she could only gasp her response. “I thought that I could turn her, master. I nearly succeeded.”

  “It is forbidden to attempt to turn those abominations into our kind,” he said coldly and she cringed. “It would not have worked even if you’d tried. Shifters always die when our blood is mixed with theirs. I am afraid I will have to punish you severely for this, my love.” He turned his dark eyes to me and bared his teeth in a smile. “Let the death of your kin serve as your reprimand.”

  My mate sent me a frantic thought as he battled his foes. Why do you not tear their heads from their shoulders?

  I cannot move, I replied. He is controlling me. The master vampire took a silver knife from a sheath at his waist. He handled it carefully even while wearing gloves. The metal was almost as deadly to them as it was to us. He wouldn’t be harmed as long as he didn’t cut himself.

  Trapped by his will, I was held immobile as he closed to within touching distance. The female moaned in anguish as he drew his hand back to stab me in the heart.