compel ed to do so. Now Lexie was thankful, she did not have to go out to into the darkened hal again just yet. She hurried back to her bedside stand and picked up the photo of her Dad. She slipped it out of the frame and into her back pocket. I can’t leave it behind.
El a’s room was silent and Lexie tried to swal ow back the sob in her throat. Her sister was stil innocent and naive about the world, if anything happened to her, she wouldn’t be able to live with her self.
She tiptoed across her floorboards to their shared
bathroom and careful y peered into the dark room. Her
eyes spotted something on the mirror. Stunned, she
noticed El a’s bubbly scrawl on a note taped to the glass.
“Nicolai’s taking me to Big Wal y’s. Meet us as soon as you can. Don’t stay in the house.”
Lexie covered her mouth trying to silence the relief that wanted to come rushing out. If El a was safe, she would somehow be okay. Could Nicolai real y be helping them?
Was he different than Maxim and Dragos? She had only
known him since July when Dragos first introduced the
brothers to her.
Thinking back, Lexie could not remember him ever showing an il temper towards her and he always doted on El a.
Lexie considered climbing out her balcony and scaling
down the side of the house so she could meet them at the diner, but the thoughts of her mother being alone and sick crashed back into her thoughts. If she left now, it was possible she would never see Ruby again.
Nick could be setting us up…
The panic sent another dose of adrenaline through her
system. She couldn’t stand it any longer, she felt like screaming.
There was no more time for “what ifs” and she needed to find her mother. Hopeful y El a was safe with Nick. Ful of anxiety, Lexie knew she would learn soon enough.
She stepped into the unlit hal way and crossed to the room Nick and Alik shared. With quiet apprehension, she eased open the door. Both beds were made and the floor was
tidy.
Lexie’s eyes fel upon Alik’s pewter col ection of dire wolves in a neat little row on his dresser. She hoped he was okay and that Maxim and Dragos hadn’t hurt him. She knew he was nothing
like they were. He was caring and mel ow. It wasn’t his fault that the older two were monsters.
Maxim was terrifying on a good day, and that was before knowing that he was some kind of animal. She had
accused the year old of stalking her, of acting like her parent, and of scaring off the majority of the school’s population. He never tried to be her friend; he would just stare at her and command her to be part of the family when she just needed her own space.
From this moment forward, she would trust her instincts when it came to strangers. She was right about Torin and must be about Maxim as wel .
Maxim’s room was the last to try. The door creaked as it opened, her hand shuddering as she turned the knob. A
rancid smel met her nose, similar to how Torin described the beasts’
markings in the woods. She didn’t want to look, but she knew she had to force herself. She stepped in, her legs like jel y and her teeth clenched with dread. There were flies everywhere.
Thick black ones covering the wal s and across the surface of Maxim’s bed. His floor was covered with soiled clothing and what looked like soda bottles and milk cartons
overflowing with a dark yel ow liquid.
Is that urine?
Lexie cringed at the thought and turned towards his bed.
There was a twisted mass under the covers. It looked too
misshapen to be Maxim; he was over six and half feet tal and weighed a good two hundred pounds.
She wanted to turn and run, but feared it was her mother or Alik, maybe even El a. Whoever it was, they weren’t moving and the smel of death permeated the room. She selected a pencil from the few scattered across his desk and poked the bulk under the blanket. It felt heavy and solid, but didn’t budge. She reached out and grasped the corner of the blanket and slid it off the object.
Her eyes couldn’t register what she was seeing at first, just blood and teeth. She bit down hard on her lower lip to silence her scream. It was a pile of animal pieces, mostly dog heads with their bulging eyes clouded over and
tongues hanging out. But there were human parts too.
Officer Barry and Courtney…
She couldn’t stomach looking a second longer to find out.
She bent over and dry heaved where she stood. The smel and the blood were too horrendous. She ran out of the
room back into the darkened hal way.
As her heart pounded, she could feel her bond with Torin.
His worry for her blazed through her, she could sense he wanted to find her.
She hurried down the stairs, the darkness made her feel claustrophobic and she needed to get out of the house.
How
could she think she was able to help her family? The
situation was impossible, Maxim was insane.
As she rounded the corner, she ran into a moving body.
Forceful arms encircled her, a hand clamped over her mouth so she couldn’t scream. She clawed her attacker’s embrace.
“Lexie stop, be quiet,” Alik commanded. “Maxim is down here somewhere, and if he finds us, we’re dead.” As her body loosened, he relaxed his grip on her and she didn’t move.
Lexie couldn’t help the whine in her voice, “You have to tel me where my mother is. I have to get her out of here.”
Alik took her by the elbow and lead her into the kitchen, moving easily through the darkness. He opened a drawer and pul ed out a wooden box that contained her mother’s engraved wedding cake knife. “It’s sterling silver. If anything happens to me, to save yourself from him, you’l have to bury it in him up to the hilt.”
She picked it up and turned it over in her unsteady hands.
The moonlight reflected off the cool metal. Her mind flashed to Donovan and how he described those who are cursed to the darkness, the ful vampires. Was Maxim a draugr? Did he find a way to exist in the daylight?
Swal owing dryly, she asked “Are you saying Maxim is a vampire?”
Alik jerked, “No, he is a pricolici –a lycan, just like my father… the seventh son of a seventh son or something like that.”
“Werewolves -” her mind scrambled to make sense of what he was saying. Is that what Braden meant by shifter? “But I don’t understand.”
“I don’t have time to explain this to you right now. We have to end him while the moon is ful or he wil kil us al .”
Alik looked desperate, stress emanating from his eyes.
“Please, you have to help me, I can’t do it alone. He
fol owed you to your boyfriend’s house and he’s insane with jealousy. He wants you for himself. ” Alex began to head for the basement stairs, so Lexie fol owed him down each step even though her instincts insisted she run like hel .
Torin, I’m sorry I didn’t listen…
Staying only inches behind Alik, she held onto the knife with al of her strength while using her free hand to grasp her cross. If she died, would she see her father again?
Dad, please show me what to do. I’m so scared.
There was a smal light in the left corner of the basement by the furnace and Lexie could see Dragos kneeling on the floor next to Ruby’s uneven form. With his shoulders hunched he looked like a broken man. Her mother’s
nightgown was covered in vomit and a glossy sheen
covered her pale complexion.
“Mom…Mom, what’s wrong? Why are you down here?”
Her voice sounded smal and childlike as she tried to asses her mother’s condition. A trickle of blood ran from Ruby’s nose and ears. “You’re bleeding.”
Ruby mumbled something unintel igible and squeezed her eyes shut.
Lexie looked at Dragos for an explanation but he wouldn’t
make eye contact. With his body slumped he kept turning his head from her and glancing at the floor, his color ashen and his body trembling.
Lexie didn’t expect this kind of response, everything that was usual y intimidating about Dragos was gone. He was practical y cowering before her. “What’s wrong with him Alik?”
her voice quavered with trepidation.
“He’s no longer alpha. He’s defeated and he either steps down to omega or he dies.” Alik was candid as he opened a tool box and pul ed out thick suede welding gloves.
She was confused. “But, why? Why would Maxim do this?”
And how is Alik so damn calm?
Pul ing on the thick tan gloves, he walked over to Lexie and kneeled down by her mother and pul ed her eyelids apart to check Ruby’s pupils. “Wolves are pack animals, there can only be one male leader at a time Lexie.” Standing up, he put his hand
out in front of her and gestured for her to hand him the sterling silver knife.
Without question, Lexie passed it over, wondering what he would do now and how they could stop Maxim from doing
more harm. “What about my mother? What have they done
to her?”
“Her body is fighting the virus. Bet you didn’t guess it was sexual y transmitted?” Alik walked behind his Dad and
rested a gloved hand on his shoulder, “Any time now,
Maxim should be here. Prepare yourself.”
She was about to ask what virus when suddenly Alik
slammed the silver knife right into Dragos’s back. The older man pitched forward with an earsplitting scream. Lexie skirted back as Dragos’s body thrashed on the floor next to Ruby’s. He shrieked in a language that could have only been Romanian.
Lexie jumped up, confused and horrified. “What –“
Alik rol ed Dragos over onto his back and thrust the
wedding gift into the man’s chest. Blood immediately
pooled through his linen shirt. Her step brother looked up at her and gave the crooked grin she was once fond of, “Might as wel put him out of his misery now.”
Lexie couldn’t breathe. Her bond with Torin flared through her.
Alik’s lost his mind…
She heard what could only be a howl as the large metal hatchway exploded and Maxim jumped down, landing in a
crouch. One look at his transformed appearance and she felt her knees weaken. She flattened herself against the damp wal . I’m going to die.
Standing across the room covered in blood and bits of fur, Maxim stood nude on his hind legs. He resembled Alik’s figurines with his elongated face and oversized teeth, but it was his violent yel ow eyes and razor sharp claws that screamed monster. His body undulated with massive
muscles and sinew as he tore across the room leaping
between her and Alik.
He’s going to tear my throat out…
Lexie glanced down at Dragos; the silver cake knife stil protruding from his chest. Not being able to reach it, she scanned the dim area but could find nothing to protect herself with. She forced herself to keep alert and not give in to the madness around her.
Torin…save me…
Her breath froze as Maxim pressed his nuzzle into her
cheek. She clamped her eyes and mouth shut, trying to hold in her whimper as his thick tongue slid across her jaw, tasting the salt on her skin. With a snort, Maxim turned to where his father spil ed blood on the floor. Maxim’s head darted up and swiveled
to glare at his brother. A guttural growl resonated from his barrel shaped chest.
Alik stood tal ; holding Maxim’s gaze as he careful y
unbuttoned his shirt. “Brother, you have final y joined the party….”
Maxim snarled, “Leave her alone and stand down.”
Alik removed the rest of his shirt and threw it on to the floor.
His skin began to ripple, as if there were hundreds of snakes moving under the surface. “I’m afraid that isn’t happening. Do you want to know why?” his voice grew
throatier as he spoke. “Because you aren’t alpha material – you are ridiculous and stuck in father’s old ways.” Alik pul ed off his pants and stood before them naked as his body continued to pulse and swel as it sprouted hair. With stiff posture, he stared penetratingly at his brother despite the grinding and cracking noises his bones made as they realigned beneath his skin. His shoulders pulsed and split as his arms lengthened and his fists became claws.
Alik pointed at Ruby, “Father was weak fal ing for that woman and insisting upon doing nothing when her body
began showing signs of resistance.”
“And you,” his face revealing his pent up hatred, “are pathetic for trying to protect me by covering up my kil s.” He glared at Maxim in obvious disgust. “You took my trophies and
hid them in your bed when they were mine!” His eyes
flickered and rol ed back in his head before turning the putrid yel ow that now matched Maxim’s. As the smal bones in his face pushed and split, he took on the same horrific canine characteristics his brother had.
Shame fil ed her as she thought of how she responded to Torin’s facial features in the woods. How could she have thought he was a monster compared to this? She wished
she had listened to him, she wished she could have spent eternity with him. This was it; she was going to die in the basement. The end of my dream - so this is how it happens.
“Stand down Alik,” Maxim warned again. “I’m the alpha
now. Let Lexie leave.” His massive body crouched, getting ready to pounce.
With disbelief, the realization hit her. Max is trying to protect me.
Alik’s lips curled back; his mouth contained a row of razor sharp teeth that bulged from his gums. A growl boomed
from deep within his chest. He charged ful force and struck his brother. As Maxim rocked backwards, Alik rode up on his shoulders, using his claws and teeth to slash at Maxim’s throat.
The larger brother grabbed him by the esophagus and
pitched Alik to the floor. Maxim pounced onto Alik, his claws digging into his brother’s chest.
“You can’t overpower me,” Maxim’s spittle shot over Alik.
“You wil leave and never come back. You are no longer a part of this pack.” He pul ed his claws from Alik’s muscle.
Lexie watched as Alik’s chest healed as quickly as Torin’s injury.
Alik rol ed onto his feet, and lurched forward. Maxim
dodged his attack, sending his own elbow down between
Alik’s shoulder blades. Their bodies shifted position so fast, it was hard for Lexie to see where one brother ended and the other began.
Just when Maxim appeared to be subduing Alik, the
smal er of the two would gain leverage with speed,
attacking with bites to Maxim’s neck, chest, and haunches.
Lexie covered her ears, the sound of their flesh tearing and bones breaking made her stomach turn. Each time she
was convinced one was mortal y wounded, their body
regenerated.
Both were covered in blood and their rasping sounds made her skin crawl. If there was a way she could have
disappeared into the dank wal behind her, she would have.
Her brain screamed at her to start moving and make an attempt to slowly step towards the stairs.
I can’t die here, not like this.
She pushed her fear aside and began to advance towards the steps. An abrupt yelping sound startled her and she spun back around towards the brothers. No longer battling, Maxim lay sprawled across Alik’s huddled form. Maxim let out a
victory moan and proceeded to clamp his jaw down on the back of Alik’s limp neck. Both were breathing laboriously as their blood slickened bodies began to mutate back to their human features. They were only inches away from
where Dragos’s dead body was pouring dark crimson onto the cement floor.
Lexie wrestled with what to do next. Her mot
her was just a few feet from them and if they began to attack again, Ruby was vulnerable.
Lexie dismissed her pounding heart and hastily proceeded to her mother. “Mom, we have to go, you have to wake up.”
A painful pressure clamped down on to her ankle. As she spun, Maxim leaned forward holding her tightly. “I tried to protect you Lexie,” his voice pleaded as his eye color returned to his usual steel blue and his facial contours softened. “I made him submit.”
She attempted to pul her foot away, but his crushing
strength hurt. “Please, let me go Max. I won’t tel anyone.”
His sul en expression showed his disappointment, “I love you Lexie.”
Alik’s arm suddenly darted out to where Dragos’s body lay beside him in a slump. Grabbing the knife, he bound up in a broad powerful arc. With a sudden twist of his wrist, he forcibly thrust the knife right through Maxim’s heart. Maxim let go of
Lexie’s ankle and pressed his hand to the punctured hole.
Tilting forward, he hit the cement in a sickening thump. His bril iant red blood poured from the wound, mixing on the floor with what Dragos already left behind.
Alik dropped the knife, his hands blistered from touching the silver. “Wel that was easier than I expected.” His cal ous yel ow eyes traveled the length of Lexie’s body.
“Now, we just need to get rid of that freak you cal your boyfriend.”
TORIN
The earlier rain shower couldn’t mask the stink one of the Serovs left behind. The burning sulfur stench burned in Torin’s nostrils as he sped across his parent’s property and through the woods into Cian’s yard. The metal ic scent of human blood was everywhere – splattered over grass, tree limbs, and rocks. The beast was making a statement, the blood was a warning.
Teagan rushed up the driveway, “I just checked my place –” Alarm ousted his usual grin. “He’s been there too.”
Braden crouched by the fountain Cian’s mother had sent over from her childhood home in Westport. Blood was
mixed in the pool; the cherub sculpture that stood in the center was bathed
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