by Anya Nowlan
She could see Wes’ nose work as he glanced over at the table. The smell in the room was hard to miss, and with Wes’ delicate nose, he must have caught the scent well before he even stepped inside.
Rotting flesh. There’s really nothing else quite like it.
“It was Timothy, right?” Wes spoke up, his shoulders tense.
There was anger burning behind his eyes, with an intensity she had never seen before. Along with his bloody face, he looked downright dangerous, and Dakota had no doubt if it wasn’t for his demonic protection, Elias would be cowering in a corner.
Instead, the man let out a small laugh.
“You two have been doing your research,” he said. “I still haven’t even caught your name though, shifter,” he added, cocking his head at Wes.
“Why bother with the introductions now?” Wes shrugged, his tone even. “You’ll be dead soon anyway.”
“You might have misunderstood the situation here,” Elias replied, waving a hand toward Dakota. “Someone might very well die tonight, but it won’t be me. Marax will make sure of that.”
The demon behind Dakota grunted at that, giving her a squeeze that made her bones creak.
“You idiot,” Dakota spat out, fueled by her growing rage. “Sooner or later, a spell will backfire on you, and who knows how many people will get hurt in the process.”
“Now you’re just being dramatic,” Elias shook his head. “I know what I’m doing.”
“If you really think that, you’re even more stupid than I thought,” Dakota scoffed.
Elias narrowed his eyes at her, but turned away when Wes took a step closer to them.
“What did I tell you?” Elias asked, waving a finger at Wes, who looked to be ready to start tearing into the man with his bare hands.
Wes stopped mid-stride, his jaw clenching and his lips quivering, holding back a snarl.
“What’s your game, huh?” Wes pointed his chin at Elias. “You already have enough fucking money. What are you after?”
“Money doesn’t equal respect,” Elias scoffed. “I’ve had enough of living in my father’s shadow. It’s time to surpass the old man, once and for all,” he smiled to himself, fists clenching at his sides. “So what if I have to dabble in some dark, mystical shit to make that happen? That’s just the cost of doing business.”
“Ah, I get it,” Dakota nodded. “You’re insane.”
Elias rolled his eyes at her, but she could see from the vein popping near his temple he was getting worked up. From the corner of her eye, she spotted Wes taking a careful step forward, his eyes darting around the room, and passing over the crossbow on the floor.
“You’re just small-minded,” Elias said to her, smoothing a hand over the front of his suit jacket. “And now that I have you and your helper here, I can finally be rid of both of you,” he turned back toward Wes, who was now a lot closer than Elias had expected.
Before Dakota could even blink, Wes charged at Elias, slamming into the man and knocking him back into a wall. The drywall cracked, sending bits of plaster flying everywhere. Dakota watched, helpless, itching to do something, anything… But she was still pinned in place, pressed against Marax.
Behind Dakota, Marax was starting to shift his weight, his arms around her loosening ever so slightly. Elias was the one that had given the demon passage into this realm by summoning him into existence, and that made Marax bound to his new master.
If Elias died, the spell he had cast to get the demon here would be no more, and Marax would get sucked back to hell. And even demons hated that place. Why else would they keep trying to cross over?
Dazed, Elias clumsily attempted to get back on his feet, but was pulled up by Wes instead. Elias was little more than a rag doll in Wes’ hands, as Wes whirled the man around and wrapped a forearm around his throat.
Red in the face, it was clear from Elias’ expression Wes wasn’t holding back on the pressure. Only when Elias’ eyes started fluttering shut, his head lolling to the side, did Wes seem to ease up. Seeing Elias getting choked out finally pushed Marax into motion, but he didn’t let go of Dakota in the process, as she had hoped.
Instead, he tucked her under one of his arms, and started toward Wes with single-minded intent. Heart racing in her chest, Dakota kicked and punched at the demon, twisting and struggling, but it was no use. To Marax, she was nothing more than an annoying fly.
Wes was crouched, growling, assessing Marax’ every move as the two started toward each other.
“Let her go,” Wes snarled, his eyes flashing yellow for just a second.
Marax laughed, the sound grating and disjointed. Dakota would have covered her ears, if her arms weren’t pinned to her sides. The fact that this demon handled her like one would a purse or a newspaper they aren’t done with yet only added to her frustration.
“As you wish, mutt,” Marax said, and suddenly, Dakota was flying through the air.
She barely had time to react, or to brace for impact, before she thudded against Wes and they both went tumbling onto the ground in a pile of tangled limbs, near where Elias was groaning on the floor, slowly regaining consciousness. Wes wrapped his arms around Dakota, taking the brunt of the hit as they skidded into a wall.
“You okay?” he asked, hopping back to his feet and pulling her along with him.
“I’ll be better once Mad Max here is sent back to hell,” she replied, flicking her hair out of her face as she turned her attention to the demon.
“My name is Marax,” he replied, looking indignant.
Dakota ignored him completely as she exchanged a look with Wes.
“I’ll get it,” she said, hoping Wes understood what she meant.
If she could only reach her crossbow, still sitting on the floor behind Marax, this could all be over in the blink of an eye. All she needed was a couple of seconds, and an opportunity to get past the hulking demon.
Wes nodded, his features tight with determination.
“Go,” he said, a moment before he lunged at Marax, letting out a savage battle cry in the process.
Dakota pushed herself into motion, trying to focus only on the crossbow. From her periphery, she could see Wes clash with the demon, but she couldn’t let herself get distracted by that, no matter how much she wanted to make sure Wes was okay.
And to think, she had been so adamant about going it alone… Now, she couldn’t even imagine not having him by her side. How quickly things changed when love was involved.
Dakota’s heart skipped a beat at that thought, as she dropped to the ground, fingers outstretched. Skidding on the uneven floor, she grabbed the crossbow, quickly propping herself up on one knee to take aim.
Grip tight and arm steady, she could feel adrenaline pulsate through her as she found Marax in her sights. The demon was grappling with Wes, but she still had a good enough shot at his huge frame that she knew she had to take it.
So she pressed the trigger.
The next moment was as if in slow motion. Marax whirled around with inhuman speed, eyes widening as he saw the bolt speeding toward him. He shoved Wes aside, putting enough strength behind it that Wes all but flew backwards, his head bouncing off the wall when he hit it.
“No,” Dakota shouted, as Marax’ hand shot out, stopping the bolt that had been headed for his heart mid-flight.
And just like that, he was holding the silver-tipped projectile in his hand, entirely unharmed. Marax tossed it aside with a snarl.
Dakota’s stomach dipped, her insides turning hollow as the demon shot her a look of pure anger and incredulity. Wes was still slumped over in the corner, his head lolling to one side, and all Dakota wanted to do was to run to him.
But there was one very large obstacle in her way.
In the meantime, Elias had gotten back up, looking worse for wear but grinning proudly at this latest development. Dakota sprang to her feet, her fingers going to the pouch still around her neck. There was still one bolt left, her last chance…
But befo
re she could even get her hands on it, Marax was already on her, his huge hands gripping her shoulders so tightly that she couldn’t help but scream in pain. He lifted her off the ground, kicking and screaming as she was, with pure malice in his eyes.
So this is it, Dakota thought. I’ve not only gotten myself killed, but I’ve doomed Wes, too. And I never even got to tell him…
Tears sprang to her eyes, all of her regrets flooding through her brain. Squeezing her eyes shut, she focused on the first face that came to her head. One she had admired enough to picture perfectly. She imagined him smiling, that lopsided grin that always disarmed her…
“I love you, Wes,” she whispered, as the demon’s hands slid from her shoulders to her throat, until she was held up by her neck alone.
The next thing she knew, she hit the floor with all her weight, jarring her to the bone. Snapping her eyes open, she looked around the room in a panic. Marax was gone, vanished as if he had never been there at all.
Wes wasn’t slumped in the corner anymore either. Instead, he was kneeling in the middle of the room, over Elias’ unmoving body. The top of a crossbow bolt was sticking out of the man’s chest, a pool of blood quickly painting the entire front of his white dress shirt crimson.
On jellied legs, Dakota ran to Wes, running her hands over every part of him she could reach.
“Are you okay?” she asked, as Wes looked up at her with tired eyes. “Are you okay?” she asked again, more insistent.
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” he gave her a weak smile.
“Is he…” Dakota trailed off, glancing over at Elias, who was staring at the ceiling with unseeing eyes.
“Dead. I couldn’t stop Marax. But I could stop him,” he replied, taking her hand in his. “Are you all right?” he asked, squeezing her fingers.
“I am now,” she sighed, every muscle in her body relaxing at once.
“Dakota,” Wes said, staring right into her eyes.
“Yes?”
“I love you, too,” he smiled.
Dakota couldn’t help but laugh. Here they were, proclaiming their feelings over a dead body right after battling a demon. This was as far from normal as you could get. Yet, for them normal didn’t really exist anymore, did it?
Squeezing Wes’ hand, she looked back into those hazel eyes of his that had gotten her heart beating faster the moment they had met.
“And don’t you forget it,” she said.
Epilogue
Wes
“So that’s the only copy in the entire world?” Wes asked, as he and Dakota sat around a campfire, perched on an upended tree trunk.
The air around them was cool, and the fire provided some much-needed warmth. Not that that was the reason they had started it. Orange embers flitted up toward the night sky, as a thick book turned to ash in the middle of the fire.
Two months had passed since Elias Campbell’s death, and he and Dakota had not spent that time idly.
“Summons and Spirits, Volume II, gone forever,” Dakota nodded.
The flames flickered, painting her face in warm tones of red and yellow, and Wes could hardly take his eyes off her. Not only was she gorgeous on the outside, he had seen the strength and perseverance inside her firsthand.
That made her a whole other level of beautiful to him.
“At least getting this one was easy,” Wes shrugged, inching closer to her. “No battles to the death, no demonic interventions… Kind of dull, really.”
Dakota gave him a small grin as she pulled her windbreaker more tightly around her.
“Maybe the next one will be more exciting,” she said. “Wouldn’t want this whole stopping demons gig to get boring for you,” she teased.
“Oh, it has its perks,” he replied, throwing an arm over her shoulders.
Rolling her eyes at him, she smiled, as they both turned to look at the fire. The covers of the book were still intact in places, but the insides were little more than ash. No one would be reading this particular tome ever again.
“You think it really spoke to her?” Wes asked, pointing his chin at the cinders.
The elderly collector they had visited earlier that day had certainly seemed to think so. A tiny woman with gray hair and a heavily lined face, Mrs. Lane pretty much shoved the book at them and told them to get it out of her house.
Usually, he and Dakota didn’t bring up the mystical nature of the items they sought to recover from people that procured pieces from her father’s collection, but the fear in the woman’s eyes as soon as they even mentioned the book had told them a lot.
Dakota had barely hinted at the thing being dangerous in a horror movie kind of way when Mrs. Lane had offered to return the book, not even asking anything in return. And Wes knew it had not been a cheap purchase for the woman.
“Entirely possible,” Dakota shrugged, leaning against him. “All kinds of entities can end up attaching themselves to items of power like this book. And no creature likes sitting on a shelf for all eternity.”
“Well, haunted or not, it’s the end of the line for Summons and Spirits,” Wes replied, taking a deep breath.
The smell of burning wood mingled with Dakota’s scent, filling up his lungs. It made him think of what home really was. Back in Pinedale, he and his fellow wolves often sat around a fire like this, just shooting the breeze.
While Wes would always look back on his time with the pack fondly, and while the wolves there would never stop being his brothers, he knew that it was with Dakota that he truly felt like he belonged. He knew he could do more than he did at Pinedale. He was an Alpha. Made to fight, to lead, to conquer. Together with Dakota, he could do all that, and be so much more than he ever thought he could be.
His wolf let out something akin to a purr deep in his chest, as if showing its agreement. Wes had never been more in sync with his animal side than after he and Dakota had admitted their feelings for each other.
Every day, he was glad to wake up next to her. And each night, having her in his arms made him the luckiest man in the world.
In a way, it was odd to be so sure that a person was the one for you, to the point of knowing your life would be lacking without them. But Wes wasn’t complaining, that was for sure. Listening to Dakota’s heart beat next to his, he watched the fire engulf the last pieces of the book.
Tomorrow, they would head off to Ohio, to talk to another collector, and hopefully get back another piece of Dakota’s father’s collection. And once they did, the world would be just a little bit safer. At least when it came to magic.
Sometimes, Wes’ mind would drift back to that moment when he plunged the crossbow bolt into Elias’ chest. That was a real human life he had taken, and he knew that was something that would stay with him forever.
But killing Elias had saved Dakota’s life. So it was a decision he couldn’t bring himself to regret. And each day he spent with Dakota, the weight on his shoulders became a little lighter.
“I went through the papers this morning, while you were still asleep,” Dakota said, snuggling closer to him. “Another deal that Elias brokered while using the book has fallen through. Whatever spells he used to get ahead, they’re all backfiring now, one by one.”
“And they still think he’s missing?” Wes asked.
“Inordinately wealthy man, looking forward to the collapse of his company? Yeah, they think he skipped the country, too embarrassed to face the music. And it’s not like they’ll ever find the body to prove otherwise.”
“No. No, they won’t,” Wes replied, staring at the flames.
“That’s twice you’ve saved my life now, by the way,” she nudged him. “And I’ve only returned the favor once.”
Looking down at her, Wes squeezed Dakota closer to his chest.
“I’m sure the opportunity will arise,” he smiled, kissing the top of her head.
“It better,” she joked. “I like things to be even.”
“You can always repay me for my heroics in other ways,” he wagged his br
ows at her.
“You’re incorrigible,” Dakota laughed. “But we did kind of promise to visit Gus and Mack again…” she trailed off, a glint in her eyes.
“You think we’ll get the time?” Wes asked, brushing a stray curl away from her cheek.
“We’ll make the time,” she replied.
Leaning in, Wes planted a soft kiss on her lips, fire crackling in the background as she wrapped herself around him. They would make the time, he was sure of that. The path he had been looking for was laid out before him now, and there was one thing both he and Dakota were certain of.
They were better together.
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