by M. L. Briers
She saw the questioning look on Cynthia’s face and shook her head to deter her from saying anything as they followed Morag to the front door and the older woman disappeared inside.
Isabel shot Cynthia a warning look as she rounded on her.
“Oh Cyn, I’ve left the chocolate in the pickup, go fetch it will you?” Isabel made her voice as bright and breezy as she could as Cynthia went to speak, but Isabel widened her eyes, cautioning her without words.
“You’d forget your head if it wasn’t attached.” Cynthia shot back, eyeing the empty doorway over Isabel’s shoulder as Morag reappeared.
Isabel turned back and closed the distance between her and the older woman.
“Cup of tea sounds lovely. I could use that right now. Catch us up, Cyn.” Isabel gave Morag no real choice in moving aside as she carried on walking at her. Entering the house, she noted the semi darkness of the downstairs.
“Dark in here…” Isabel said and reached for the nearest curtain, yanking it open without a by your leave towards her hostess. She heard the old woman snort from somewhere behind her.
“So you know then…” Morag’s tone was accusing as Isabel slowly turned towards her.
“What’s going on Morag?” Isabel had overplayed her hand by opening the curtain. But from where she stood at least she knew that she was in direct sunlight and the vampire would be a damned idiot to run the gauntlet to get to her there.
“I could ask you the same question child, although I can smell him on you.” Morag spat back. There was venom in her eyes as she took Isabel in from her shoes to her head with scorn and distaste.
“Why would you risk the peace like this…?” Isabel closed the gap between the two of them. And that was her first mistake.
Cynthia walked back from the car towards the front door of Morag’s house. She wasn’t sure why Isabel had sent her away and she didn’t know how long she was supposed to be gone for, so she gave herself a few minutes before she headed back inside.
From the corner of her eye she saw the curtain being drawn over the front window and wondered at it. But it was only a fleeting thought as she clutched the box of chocolate in her hand and disappeared inside.
The sound of the front door slamming shut behind her made her shriek out as she started to turn to see what had happened, but her eyes caught sight of Isabel lying face down on the floor of the living room.
CHAPTER TEN
“Isa…” She screamed. The box she was holding fell to the floor with a thud, forgotten in her haste to get to Isabel. When the hands gripped her from behind and yanked her backwards against the hardness of his chest.
“Smells like we have two mates for the price of one.” The velvety smooth tones of the vampire past next to her ear, as Cynthia struggled against the hold he had on her. Just the feel of his cold hands against the bare flesh of her arms made her skin crawl and the bile rise up in her throat.
“This is what happens when sisters’ do not join the circle. Little Fae’s who believe that they can go it alone get snapped up by the big bad wolf…” Morag’s eyes spat out disgust as she considered the Witch in the vampires grasp.
Cynthia eyed the old woman back. The woman before her was nothing like the woman that Cynthia had grown up knowing. The face and voice were the same, although she was never that caustic. But this was far from the friendly motherly figure that had always treated her with such kindness.
“Morag, what’s happened to you?” Cynthia spat out in disbelief. Trying to shake the vampire’s hands from her body and not getting anywhere.
The old woman raised her brows in surprise. “Me child? I’m not the one warming a Lycan bed!” She ground out between clenched teeth, her top lip curled upwards as she regarded Cynthia with disgust.
“Perhaps her Lycan mate would think twice before taking her if she had a vampires mark on her pretty little body…”
When his tongue curled up her skin, over the vein in her neck, she wanted to be sick. Thought she might, until her attention was snatched by the moan that came from Isabel on the floor.
“Isa…” Cynthia twisted and pulled against the hold he had on her to no avail.
Morag closed the distance between them and narrowed her eyes on the vampire.
“Your job is to rid this place of the Lycan. Not to harm the Fae…” The old woman warned and the sound of the vampires’ soft laughter ran over Cynthia’s skin like an unwelcome touch.
“Not to rain on your parade Morag, but you owe me some nice Fae blood and yours is a little… sour.” The sarcastic nature of his words did nothing to diminish the smooth tone of his voice, and Cynthia’s whole body seemed to be repelled instead of drawn in by him.
“She’s already tainted by the Lycan that’s been inside her. If you want her blood, take it.” Morag spat back, showing her disgust for him as much as everyone else.
“No!” Cynthia squirmed and tried to back kick him, but he wrapped one steely arm down over her body in an iron grip that held her back firmly against his chest as his other hand fisted her hair.
He tugged her head to the side and ran his tongue down the length of the jugular vein in her neck that was beating an erratic beat to the pulse of her heart as fear gripped her.
“Morag…” Cynthia cried, trying to get through to the woman who had been her friend for as long as she had been alive. But the old woman just looked at her with scorn.
“You made your bed child and you lay in it with a dog. Now you must pay the piper.” Morag spat out without an ounce of sympathy in her voice for her plight.
“Says you, you old hag.” Isabel ground out between clenched teeth as she tried to push away the pain that was thumping through her head at the same time as she palmed the floor and pushed her body up.
Every muscle seemed to ache within her body and her head thumped with the beat of her heart. But Isabel was determined to go down fighting for Cynthia.
“Sleeping beauty awakens…” The vampire scorned, as he tightened his hold on Cynthia’s hair until she gasped with the pain, taking Isabel’s attention from Morag to him.
His black eyes gleamed in the semi darkness of the room as he regarded the powerful little Witch he had met the night before. She was the one he would like to sink his fangs into. He knew just how powerful a Fae she was and he could almost taste the blood from her vein on his tongue.
“Thought I could smell something past its sell by date…” Isabel shot back as Morag turned to face her. The old woman backed off towards the safety of the vampire, as Isabel’s eyes never left his.
“Did you miss me?” The vampire drawled with a devilish smile that played on his lips, as he tightened his hold on Cynthia again, by way of an unspoken warning to Isabel.
“Like the cramps…”
“Really? I can help with those.”He shot back. He tipped his head and ran his tongue up hard over Cynthia’s vein as she squirmed within his arms.
“I’d let her go if I were you. Because you know this is going to end badly for you, right?” Isabel made sure that the conviction she felt washing through her veins was directed into every word.
The vampire took a long moment to consider her words.
“I like to live dangerously…”
The sound of the heavy thud that came from behind the curtain mixed with the sound of glass shattering into the relative silence of the house and made Isabel jump back away from the window.
The curtain seemed to billow out for just an instant before being ripped from the poll above it as the grey wolf sailed through the air. Bits of shattered glass hovered around him for just a moment before he landed in a mass of glass, wood and fabric on the floor.
The sunlight cut through the room and a thin strip reached the Vampire. The skin on his hand blistered under the sun rays a moment before Morag reached out with her mind and slammed the door shut in front of them, trapping Cynthia behind the door with the vampire and the Witch who had offered her as a blood sacrifice to the beast.
“No!” Isabel reacted i
mmediately as the wolf tried to regain its footing. His paws slid over the fabric as he tried to make room for the second wolf that appeared through the shattered window.
Isabel ignored the sound of more glass breaking and the other wolf’s appearance within the room as she tried to pull open the door.
“Take her upstairs and do what you will…” Morag ground out as she used her powers to keep the door firmly sealed.
Cynthia tried to fight against his hold as she felt herself being lifted, but he swept her up the stairs and into the darkness before she could do anything. The sound of Isabel’s voice from behind the closed door was of little comfort to Cynthia now.
‘Cynthia. No…’ The desperate cry of Joshua echoed within Isabel’s mind as she summoned the energy within her and concentrated all of her power on the door.
Joshua’s claws dug into the hard wooden flooring as he powered towards the door. He didn’t have a clue how hard the wood was, or what kind of force it would take to break through the door, but he couldn’t stand by and do nothing while his mate was in the clutches of a vampire.
Isabel centred all of her energy as she raised her index finger and made a light tap in the air towards the door. The sound of wood splintering was almost deafening as the door shattered a moment before Joshua reached it.
He saw the old hag standing on the other side. Her arm had started to rise to protect herself from the explosion of the door, but as her eyes caught sight of him fear flashed across her face a moment before he took her down.
The beast within him intent on vengeance as he slashed out just once with his paw, his claws embedded within the flesh of her neck as he made a clean cut through her wind pipe and jugular.
Isabel heard Cynthia’s cry and followed Joshua through the doorway. There was no thought or concern for the woman that lay dying on the floor as Joshua’s wolf took off up the stairs following his mates cry.
Elijah passed Isabel and tore off after Joshua up the staircase. Both wolves disappeared from view as Isabel fought against the pain that burned deep within her body, and the steady thumping in her head and her heart to reach the top of the stairs and follow the cries and whimpers of her friend.
The snarls and growls of the wolves was all that Isabel could hear as she entered the room at the end of the hall, just in time for the vampire to let go of Cynthia’s body and she dropped to the floor at his feet.
The sound of her body hitting the hard wood floor echoed through the room and Isabel’s mind as she screamed out her torment for what he had done. His black eyes met Isabel’s and she saw the gleam of amusement that resided there, as Cynthia’s blood clung to his lips and dripped from his chin.
Joshua howled his heartbreak into the confines of the room a moment before he launched himself at the vampire.
Isabel only had eyes for Cynthia’s lifeless body as she closed the distance between them. Dropping down onto her knees, she paid no mind to the sound of snarls and jaws snapping as the vampire and the wolf did battle in such close quarters.
She didn’t even see Elijah take up position between her and the fighting as he protected her from any attack that the vampire could launch against her should Joshua lose the fight.
Isabel reached for her friend. The sight of her blood still spilling out from the deep bite marks in her neck filled her with terror as she dragged Cynthia onto her lap and cradled her against her.
“No…” The word kept repeating over and over in Isabel’s mind and she didn’t even realise that she was speaking it out loud.
The almost inaudible gasp for air that left Cynthia’s lips had Isabel’s heart slamming into her chest with hope.
“Don’t kill him, she isn’t dead…” Isabel cried out into the room. “Don’t kill him, his blood can save her. Don’t! Don’t!” She screamed out to make sure that there could be no misunderstanding as Joshua pinned the vampire down on the ground beneath his body, his jaws open and ready to snap over his neck.
Isabel didn’t have a thought in her mind except saving Cynthia. The vampire’s blood could do that, but only if he was still alive to deliver it. The moment the vampire died his blood would congeal within his veins and all hope would be lost.
Isabel saw Joshua’s jaws about to snap around the vampire’s neck and reached out her hand, brushing him away with the power of her magic as though he had been caught in a twister.
The wolf flew across the room to land with a thud against the opposite wall as the vampire sprang to his feet. Elijah snarled at the beast in front of him and was ready to pounce, when Isabel snapped her fist tightly shut and the sound of bones breaking shattered the silence of the room.
Elijah held almost motionless as he watched the vampire scream in agony as he dropped to the floor.
“Elijah shift and bring him to me…” Isabel cried out as Joshua’s wolf regained his footing and started towards the helpless vampire.
Elijah shook off his wolf and turned to face down his Beta. His eyes glared black at the animal before him and he drew on his Alpha wolf’s dominating presence to halt Joshua in his tracks.
“Stand down Joshua!” The sound of his voice was akin to nothing that Isabel had ever heard before. Her whole body seemed to want to submit to Elijah’s will. His very presence as her Alpha tugged at her and she struggled to put up her shields and push his aura away from her.
“Now, Elijah, she’s dying.” She managed. The effort to hold her shields in place. The pounding in her head and the pain that tore through her was all depleting her energy.
Elijah stalked to the vampire and reached down. His fingers wrapped around his neck and he wrenched his body from the floor. Elijah eyed Joshua as he snarled at the defenceless beast his brother took towards their mates like an offering. He dropped him on the floor beside his mate, before he reached down and lifted the vampire’s twisted and broken arm.
Flicking the claws out of his fingers, he sliced across the skin of the vampire’s wrist, the blood already pouring from the wound by the time he offered it to Isabel.
“Fuck you…” The vampire hissed out between his teeth. The pain from his crushed body kept him bordering somewhere between consciousness and unconsciousness.
Isabel forced Cynthia’s mouth open. Pushing the vampire’s wrist against her lips she squeezed the wound and watched as his blood washed over her friends tongue and down the back of her throat.
“Swallow, drink the blood…” Isabel begged her friend as she lay lifeless against her.
Isabel saw the hands reach for down for Cynthia as Joshua knelt next to his mate. He had shifted to human form to be with her now. Lifting her head and shoulders he cradled her against his chest, as Isabel held the vampires wrist against her mouth.
“Please sweetheart, don’t leave me…” Joshua bent his head to her ear as the tears flowed down his cheeks. His words were whispered over and over as he told her that he loved her. Told her to come back to him. Told her how much he needed her. “I can’t live without you. Please don’t leave me…”
Elijah rested his hand against his brother shoulder, willing him the strength he needed now. Willing Joshua’s mate not to die.
Cynthia’s body jerked as she choked against the blood that had pooled in her throat and Isabel tore the vampires arm away from her mouth and threw it away from her hold.
Isabel’s eyes focused solely on the wound at Cynthia’s vein. Watched as the blood flow eased, the wound healing from the vampire’s blood that flowed through her veins, and she closed her eyes and thanked every god and goddess that she could name.
Elijah felt the wave of relief and happiness wash over him from his mate, a moment before he felt it from Joshua. Cynthia started to stir within the safety of Joshua’s arm just as he felt Isabel’s distress.
His eyes flicked to his mate just in time to see her eyes roll up in her head as she lost consciousness. He reached her before her head hit the floor.
“Isa…” He growled down in concern. He knew she had been in pain from the m
oment he had entered the house. A pain that throbbed through her like her heart beat, but she had pushed it aside.
Then when she used her magic to get Joshua through the door downstairs that had given her more pain, but he couldn’t tell where the pain was centred.
He ran his hands over her body, frantically trying to locate the source of her pain. What had they done to her? He felt the large bump under her hair on her head and scowled down at her. Elijah’s other hand came into contact with the shard of wood embedded within her side.
“Isa…”
Isabel opened her eyes and saw Cynthia’s concerned face staring down at her. The pallor of her friend was near normal, even if she was covered in her own blood, and that of the vampire.
The pain that had been closing in all around her body was almost gone as Elijah held her against him, unwilling to let her move.
Isabel’s eyes fell on the vampire that lay dead beside them, his throat torn clean out and his eyes still open as if he was staring at her.
“I missed it…” Isabel’s voice was low and gravely and her mouth tasted like…
“Welcome back…” Cynthia beamed at her and Isabel frowned in disgust.
“Tell me no-one gave me vampire blood to drink.” She demanded and Cynthia immediately balked.
“You gave it to me…” She shot the accusation back and Isabel tried to sit up, but Elijah wouldn’t let her move.
“Stay still and heal…” He growled down at her and she snorted her disgust.
“I’m healed well enough… And you were dying!” Isabel glared back at her friend.
Cynthia shrugged her shoulder, a little smirk on her blood smeared lips as her eyes beamed with mischief.
“Waste not want not, we had a whole vampire just lying around…” Cynthia teased with an edge of sarcasm, and Isabel balked as she spat out the taste from her mouth.
“You did that on purpose…”
“Paybacks a bitch…” Cynthia shot back as Isabel tried to force Elijah’s arm from around her, but he wouldn’t give way.
