His whip cracked past me and I jumped as he pulled another werewolf toward him. I turned back to the right and saw Alek freeing David and Luther while a fully transformed Bade took on two snake men. Richard helped David and Luther to the safety of the trees while I looked in time to see Dr. Williams going for Bade’s unprotected back.
Quickly, I snatched the blade strapped to my left thigh and threw it. The weapon lodged itself deeply in the thick hide of Bills back. He screamed and fought to reach the blade while I closed in on him.
To my surprise and horror, he began to laugh at the sight of me. “What do you think you’re doing?” he hissed down at me.
“I think I’m looking at a new pair of boots,” I snarled.
I felt my eyes burn amber as I extended my blades again and braced myself for his attack. Before he could come at me, Bade’s massive body stepped in the way. He had sustained some minor scratches and cuts, but no major damage.
“If you’re anything like your snake men,” he growled, “this should be no problem.”
“Excuse me, but I believe I was here first,” I said, stepping up beside him.
“Are you always this competitive?” he growled as Dr. Williams took a flying leap at us both.
“Yes,” I grunted as I stabbed the back of Bill’s thigh. My blade had some difficulty penetrating his skin, and the wound was not as deep as I’d have liked. “This could be bad.”
A massive black hand caught me square in the chest and I went flying backward through the rain. I hit the ground hard and went sliding across the wet grass. As I gasped for breath, I looked up to see a female werewolf flying through the air toward me. She burst into flames a second before she would have hit me, and I rolled out of the way. The she-wolf lay writhing on the ground. No amount of rain seemed to extinguish the flames. I looked around for their source and saw Alek watching me from a few feet away.
“Thanks,” I panted, offering him a weak smile.
I turned back to Dr. Williams, determined to not be outdone as he sent Bade flying through the air as well. The impact of Bade’s massive physique sent me sprawling.
“Get your hairy ass off of me,” I growled.
Bade rolled to the side and put his big hands around my waist. “Is anything broken?” he asked. He growled softly while he continued to feel up and down my ribs and torso. I believe he was upset at the prospect of hurting me.
“Probably, but I can still breathe,” I gasped.
Truthfully, my body hurt so bad, there was no telling what damage had really been done. But as long as I could stand, I intended to keep fighting.
Dr. Williams came charging through the rain and clotheslined Luther who was running to my rescue. From his position on the ground Luther grabbed Bill’s ankle, and started trying to chew his way through the snakeman’s thick hide. After some effort, Bill shook him loose. Luther hit the ground, and immediately began to transform. I didn’t want to watch my friend become a werewolf. Fortunately, something else caught my attention.
“Lilith!” Richard screamed.
Richard was clawing his way through the mud, trying his best to escape the clutches of a yellow snakewoman. I started running to him, but the ground was now so wet that I slipped. I had gained enough momentum that I slid right between the legs of the snake. I thrust my hips upward at the same time I spread my legs wide, knocking her off her feet. She bounced back instantly, and I scrambled to my feet, ducking her first punch. I nearly tripped over the still prone Richard before David pulled him out of the way. The woman was much taller than me, and I needed a good head shot to keep her down for more than a second. As she came at me again, I jumped as hard as I could into the air, and caught her under the chin with my knee. I heard something crunch and the woman fell to the ground, spitting out teeth. Before she could recover again, I was on her chest, with a blade to either side of her throat. I closed my eyes as I sliced off her head. The warm spray of blood across my face sickened me in contrast to the cleansing rain.
I wiped my face on the back of my arm and looked around for Dr. Williams again. Two more snakes burst into flames as Alek rose to Richard’s defense somewhere to my right. A pain filled howl echoed through the night, and for a second, everything stood still as I looked for the victim. It was a wonder I could distinguish one ragging howl from another, but it just seemed wrong somehow.
To my left Dracula brought down two more werewolves, but I was still looking for the source of that awful noise. Then I saw him. Bade staggered from behind Dr. Williams. As he moved, another wolf dove after him, and Bade swatted the beast like an insect. He was still fighting, but wounded horribly. A long, thick wooden pole was lodged completely through his back, and protruding from the right side of his chest.
“NO!” I screamed, running forward to slice the hands from the wolf who meant Bade further harm. It did something to me to see Bade hurting. I wasn’t sure why, but I couldn’t stand it. I hacked the fallen werewolf mercilessly. Bade’s big hand on my wrist finally stopped my brutal assault.
“I think you got him,” he said weakly.
Dracula’s whip cracked past me again and I heard Bill scream. Bade had done a lot of damage to the snakeman, but not enough to bring him down. The vampire moved with the agility of a big cat stalking its prey. Back and forth he paced, cracking the whip in his wake. All the while, his eyes never left his enemy. The rain had soaked him through, and his wet hair clung to the sides of his face. His eyes glowed the familiar deep green that was both frightening and sexy. Anyone who wasn’t on our side was already dead or dying, and we all stopped to watch the show.
Dr. Williams was fast, but Dracula was faster. He moved with a speed I had never witnessed, but every step seemed to be calculated. No move he made was an accident, no snap of his whip out of place. We watched with rapt attention as he finally brought the snakeman to his knees. I had unconsciously moved closer to the scene, and when Bill reached out a hand toward Dracula, I cut it off. He screamed miserably as I stepped forward, extended the blade on my right arm, and sliced his throat. The cut would have decapitated anyone without Bill’s thick skin, but he just started bleeding. The vampire fell upon him, and drank from the wound.
“Wait, wait,” Bill pleaded weakly.
I put my hand on Dracula’s shoulder, and pulled him back.
“What?” I asked.
“Surely, we could work something out,” he wheezed. “It doesn’t have to be this way. Is there something you want? Is there nothing that would make you spare my life?”
I looked at the snakeman for a moment, as if I were considering his offer. I hated to kill people who begged for their lives. Even if they were the scum of the earth, it haunted me. I didn’t want to lose more sleep over some jerk that deserved what he got, but I couldn’t be the one to finish it this time. I almost felt sorry for him, but then I remembered what he had done to Richard. “You know what I really want?” Bill looked to me expectantly. I leaned toward him conspiratorially and whispered, “I want a pair of snake skin boots.”
“No!” he screamed as the vampire fell on him again.
Just as I turned my back on the gruesome scene, Bade dropped to his knees. I ran to him and slipped in the mud as I tried to kneel down.
“Bade,” I said, taking his face in my hands. Even in his half-wolf form, I could read his expression enough to know he was fighting to stay conscious. “We’ve got to remove the pole,” I said.
Luther stepped up to help. He was covered in soft white blond fur. He was an impressive sight, though not quite as tall as Bade. He got on his knees in front of the fallen werewolf and gripped his shoulders.
“I’ll hold him,” he growled softly.
Bade leaned forward and took hold of Luther’s shoulders for support. I took the massive pole in my hands and he whined like an injured dog. I didn’t want to hurt him more than was necessary, but the pole had to be removed. I braced myself for the task. Without warning, I placed my foot on Bade’s back and snatched. The pole came loo
se as Bade’s pain filled roar echoed through the clearing. Luther released him, and he fell to the ground.
“Shit.” I dropped the bloody pole in the mud and ran to lift Bade’s head. “Can you transform?”
He blinked at me a few times before answering. “Why? That would take energy I’m going to need.”
“Because I can’t heal you like this,” I answered, biting back a sob.
“Why would you heal me?” he asked softly.
I tried to apply pressure to the wound, but blood continued to flow, leaving the werewolf increasingly cold to the touch.
“Because this is my fault,” I whispered. My tears began to mingle with the rain as I looked down at him. “You wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t come looking for you. You’d be back at The Dungeon with Mason.”
“A cheap thrill,” he coughed. “You didn’t force me to be here.”
“But, it’s my fault,” I insisted.
“Who’d have thought I’d bleed to death trying to save Marco’s wolves? Talk about irony.”
“You’re not going to bleed to death. Please, Bade let me help you.”
“Will your loyalty to Marco allow you to heal me?”
“This has nothing to do with Marco.”
That was a lie, and we both knew it. Saving the only alpha who challenged his power might not go over well with Marco, but I couldn’t watch Bade die.
“Please, Bade,” I whispered softly, as I rested my forehead against his. “Please.”
I felt the hair that touched my forehead begin to retract, and I kept my eyes closed. My ears were filled with the sound of Bade’s bones breaking and reforming. His shoulders which were pressed against my legs began to shrink. The pointed ears that had been beneath my hands seemed to slip through my fingers. In a matter of minutes, I was holding handfuls of Bade’s golden hair and looking down into the pale blue eyes of a man I should have let die.
“Sit up,” I said.
Bade got shakily to his knees before me. The cold rain poured over every ridge and curve of his naked body. He was a vision of sinful desires, glistening in the pale moonlight. Only the gaping wound in his chest ruined the illusion. Truthfully, I wasn’t sure if I could heal Bade or not. I had never tried to use my abilities to heal anyone’s physical injury before. I had healed my own wounds, but not consciously. Whatever happened, I had to try.
The warm sensual power flowed through my body as I looked at Bade. I called on that part of myself that had been passed down from The Seducer. I might not know how to heal him, but Mathias did. I knew he did, and he was a part of me. That meant somewhere deep down, I knew how to heal Bade. It was just a matter of tapping into that knowledge. Time was short, and I decided to let my instincts take over.
Steam began to rise from my body where the cold rain touched me. A fire such as I had never felt before burned within me. I reached out my right hand, and placed it over the grisly wound. Blood seeped through my fingers, and I fought back more tears of regret. Bade wasn’t going to die, not when I could save him.
“I thought you didn’t have any hang-ups about killing me,” Bade said gently.
“Things change,” I said as I pulled him toward me. His full lips were soft and tender as they pressed longingly against mine. With my other arm, I hugged Bade against me and he trembled. Through my direct contact with his skin, I knew Bade did not shiver with cold. He wanted me that much. I hadn’t realized. I felt his desire as if it was the tide coursing through him, and crashing against my lips. I called it to me. I pulled Bade’s desire from him to fuel the fire inside of me. Through his lips, I drank him in, pulling him down like a moth into my flame. I thought of everything I’d ever wanted to do to Bade, and I used that energy. I let that desire build until I thought the fire would consume me. I released the flame, and felt it course through my body into his. The wound began to close underneath my hand. Bade threw back his head and cried out, only this time, his voice was not filled with pain, but pleasure.
I dropped down in the mud and looked up at him in amazement. The wound was not completely healed, but the hole in his chest was closed. There wasn’t a scab and the skin was still raw, but the wound was closed. Bade looked down at his chest with a startled expression. He reached behind his back, obviously looking for the other hole and withdrew his hand without a trace of blood.
“I don’t understand,” he said as he toppled over onto my lap again.
“Neither do I, but you’re not going to bleed to death tonight.”
Bade was still very weak from his injury, and probably against my better judgment, I decided to take him home with me. Luther and I helped to support Bade back to the car. Alek, Dracula, David, and Richard all followed while Luther and I argued.
“Marco is not going to like this,” he insisted.
“Well, I don’t like people dying because of my poor decisions. What happened to Bade is my fault and I’m not going to send him off like this and just hope for the best.”
“He’s Marco’s challenger!”
“And he was my responsibility tonight! It doesn’t matter who he is, he risked his life to save other people that should count for something.”
Bade remained quiet through all of this, mostly because he was slipping in and out of consciousness. Once we got him in the front seat, I took a blanket from the trunk and covered him. It wouldn’t do to have someone see me with a naked werewolf in my car.
Just as I was wondering how everyone would fit in the back seat, David said, “One of them actually stole my car, so someone could ride with me. It’s just over on the other side of those trees.” He pointed in that direction.
Alek went with David, and Richard and Dracula crawled in the back seat. We hadn’t gotten far before I saw flashing lights behind us.
“Son of a bitch,” I said as I beat the steering wheel in frustration. “This is just all I need. All right,” I said, turning to the men in the back seat, “you two try to look respectable, and don’t say anything.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Dracula wiped frantically at his mouth to remove any last traces of blood, while Richard tried unsuccessfully to manage his wild gray hair. They looked like exactly what they were: a vampire and a mutant scientist sitting in my back seat.
“You want a tic tac?” Richard offered Dracula.
I couldn’t control the laughter that erupted at this suggestion. I made a quick attempt to cover the wound on Bade’s chest with the blanket as I pulled to the side of the road. The officer approached the car slowly with his flashlight shining directly at me. I lowered the window and said the first thing that came to mind. “Is there a problem officer?”
“Well, that all depends on the reason you were driving so fast,” he said.
From the few glimpses I got of the cop’s face around the bright light, he looked young. Maybe I could charm him.
“I’ve got a sick friend,” I said as sweetly as possible.
He shined the light over Bade about the time he took a deep breath. The blanket slipped just enough to reveal the still raw wound in his chest.
“Okay, ma’am, you need to step out of the car.”
“Wait a minute, I’m Lilith Mercury. I’m the leader of H.A.V.O.C., and this is official business, I swear.”
He took a step back and yelled over his shoulder, “Elijah, you better have a look at this!”
Elijah! Was I ever glad to hear that name? Elijah Jasper was a friend of mine. We’d spent a lot of time together that past summer, and become fairly close. Truth be told, I’d sort of dated him while Alfred was out of town for three months. Since nothing was set in stone between Alfred and I at the time, I figured it couldn’t hurt to spend some time with Elijah.
“Lilith,” he greeted me with a smile. “Put that away,” he said, pushing the other cop’s light away from my face.
“Thanks,” I said, returning the smile.
“So, what’s going on here?” As Elijah asked this he shined his flashlight in my back seat. There sat
Richard with his clothes torn to shreds and a visible cut on his forehead. Then on the other side was Dracula with blood stains at the corners of his mouth. “What the hell is going on here?!”
I summed up the evening as best I could for Elijah without incriminating myself, or anyone else in the car.
“So, your friends were taken by this snakeman that’s been on the loose and you went to rescue them, in your official capacity,” he added the last quickly.
“That’s right.”
“Then how do you explain the naked man in the front seat?”
“Oh.” I blushed. “That’s Bade. He’s a werewolf who was injured tonight. I’m taking him to have his wounds treated.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t Bade the one who had us both kidnapped last year?” Elijah’s voice told me he knew exactly who Bade was, and he was aghast that I would have him in my car.
“Eli, I can’t imagine how this must look to you. Believe me when I say that a lot has changed since last year.”
“With Bade?” He was definitely insinuating something.
“Yes. He never meant for our kidnapping to get as rough as it did, but that’s beside the point.”
“Is it?”
“Just listen, please. He was nearly killed trying to save some of my friends tonight. Surely you can understand that I couldn’t leave him to die. The past is finished. There are things I’m sure we all regret, especially Bade. But we’re alive and all we can do is move forward.”
“Actually, that makes a lot of sense.”
“Does that mean we can go?”
Elijah sighed after a minute’s pause. “All right. Get going then, I’ll see you later.”
“I cannot believe that worked,” Dracula said as we pulled away.
“Don’t jinx it,” Richard warned.
Once we got back home, Alek and David were waiting on the front porch. Since the police hadn’t stopped them, they’d arrived first. Alek and Richard moved Bade to the couch while I went upstairs with Dracula. He kept a spare toothbrush in my bathroom cabinet. I unzipped the front of my suit to look at the purple bruise on my chest where Bill had hit me.
Lilith Mercury, Werewolf Hunter Series (Boxed Set, Books 1-3) Page 74
