Bloody Endings

by Laura Hysell

  He would have said more, but I pushed past him and made my way outside. Mark followed me, as I knew he would. Jared followed him as well. Great. I stumbled toward the barn, feeling the effects of the alcohol finally catching up with me. I made my way straight to Izzy’s cage and slumped down on the ground. She moved forward, sniffing me loudly. Mark handed me another full beer and I took it thankfully, ready to finish drowning my sorrows. They sat down opposite me, silently watching and waiting. I didn’t know what was going to happen, if anything. Maybe Izzy would turn back human and I’d still be sitting here, drunk on the floor. Better than dead.

  I leaned my head back and finished the beer, letting the effects of the alcohol wash over me. The sun rose, sending its first ray of sunshine through the barn. The knife tingled on my side and I felt a shiver run down my spine. I knew what that was. Magic. I opened my eyes and looked over at Mark and Jared, who sat silently watching me. “Try to bring me back,” I choked out, my throat suddenly feeling tight.

  “We will, brother,” Mark replied, nodding his head. “We will.”

  Izzy sniffed the back of my neck through the bars, and I reached out, feeling the softness of her fur. Others entered the barn, standing back to watch the show. Declan was there, filling the room with a different kind of magic. The sun rose higher, drenching us in sunshine. Suddenly Izzy pulled back, and I felt the prickling magic increase. I screamed as pain suddenly shot through me, sending waves of fire and ice coursing through my body. My muscles seized up until I froze on the ground, screaming in agony. Fire erupted in my veins as I writhed, wanting nothing more than for the pain to stop. Darkness consumed me, and then there was nothing.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  The sun streamed through the windows of the barn, drenching me in warmth. I opened my eyes with a heavy heart, knowing what I’d find. The knife pulsed against my thigh, as though it had never left. Mark opened the cage, stepping inside with a blanket held out to me. I grasped the plush blanket, wrapping it around my naked body as I stood.

  “You retain the blade once more.”

  I looked around Mark until my eyes found Declan. He stood with his two companions, watching me like I was the most fascinating thing in the room. I supposed I was. “What did you do to me?” I asked.

  Mark moved his body closer, his arms wrapping tightly around me as the magician spoke. “I still have much to research, but I believe there was a misinterpretation of the book.”

  “No, you misinterpreted the book,” I retorted.

  He bowed his head in acquiescence, his hands folded before him. “You are correct. The mistake is mine, and I seek to remedy the problem.”

  Aidan, I called, closing my eyes and hoping he was still there with me.

  Aye, I’m here, he responded dejectedly. I sighed in relief and slumped against Mark’s shoulder. Does that idjit magician having any fucking ideas about how to bring me back for good?

  I smiled to myself, happy to hear Aidan’s voice again. His Irish lilt was stronger than I’d ever heard it before, and I suspected it had to do with his time in his own body. “When you say you seek to remedy the problem, what exactly do you mean?” I asked.

  Declan shifted his shoulders in a slight shrug. “After reviewing the text in the book, it seems the bond with the knife is permanent for Aidan. He was bound my magic, then died.” He stopped, cocking his head to the side. “How did he die?”

  A vampire bloody killed me with my own fucking blade, that’s how, Aidan yelled in my head.

  I winced as a sudden headache pierced my skull. “A vampire killed him with the dagger,” I replied.

  “Killed with the magical blade he was already bound to,” Ivan, the taller of Declan’s companions, said. His voice was full of awe as he held out the ancient book and began rifling through the pages.

  “That makes a difference?” Mark asked, his voice a rumble as I cradled my head against his chest.

  “Of course it makes a difference,” Ivan replied. “The notation I was talking about before. The blood was reversed, so there is no end. He can’t end. He can’t die.”

  “Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Declan admonished.

  “We knew the magic was irreversible already,” the shorter man stated.

  “Nothing is irreversible,” Declan retorted.

  “Wait, what do you mean that you knew the magic was irreversible?” Jed asked.

  I pulled away from Mark and walked out of the cage toward Jed. I was surprised how many of my Pack were still in the barn. Beth stood close beside Jed, with Hugo on her other side. Jared leaned back against the wall, with Vanessa nearby. Mark moved silently beside me as I stopped next to my Alpha. “You knew it wouldn’t work?”

  Declan shook his head. “You never should have been bound to the knife in the first place. No ritual spell connected you. It should have been an easy thing to release the knife’s hold on you. We were trying to sever that connection around you, by reversing the original spell. Look at this book. There are scribbled notes all over the pages, from different centuries. We did the best we could.”

  I leaned forward, looking at the page Ivan held open. Indeed, there were drawings and text in the margins, in various hands. It didn’t make me feel any better. “What is your new plan?” I asked.

  The magician looked down at the book, then back up at me. “The knife can’t have two masters,” he said slowly. “When you become a wolf, you are no longer the bearer of the blade. That is why Aidan returned in human form. He was the original master.” Declan trailed off, his words little more than a murmur. “There is no end.”

  “We need another knife,” the shorter magician said suddenly. “Link them each to a blade.”

  “Those older blades still have traces of their original owners, and most of them were evil men,” Declan shot back. “If we do that, we risk this same thing happening again.”

  “Make a new blade, then,” he replied.

  “A new blade? We can’t…” Declan stopped talking and grabbed the book, flipping through the pages. We stood silently watching as the magician rifled through pages, muttering to himself. He finally stopped on a page that was covered in what looked like dried blood. His hands traced over something in the margin. The other two men leaned over the book with him, their eyes glued to the page. The shorter man suddenly smiled, pointing to something on the page excitedly.

  “What is it?” I asked, unable to stay silent any longer.

  “The blade can’t have two masters, so we must have two blades. This might work,” Declan replied.

  “Might? What are the risks?”

  He shook his head. “We repeat the original spell with Aidan. You’ll have to be in wolf form, but nearby. I must work on this,” he said, turning and hurrying out of the barn.

  “Wait,” I said, picking up the blanket and racing after him. I grabbed Declan’s arm, and he shied away from me, backing into the other two men. “Tell me what you’re thinking first.”

  “I must consult my other books first, and make a call,” he replied.

  “Tell me,” I insisted.

  He sighed loudly, but spoke. “I think if we recreate this spell for Aidan, with a duplicate knife, I can link one blade to you and the other to Aidan. You’ll always have a knife, but at least you won’t have Aidan in your head. And if my suspicions are correct, he will stay in human form. The knife tethers him here.”

  I touched the blade that pulsed at my thigh. “A duplicate knife,” I mumbled.

  “Yes, that is part of the sorcery as well. That blade on your side was forged my magical means. I have much research to do in order to recreate this magic.”

  “Research is a good idea,” Jed said slowly as he walked up behind me. “I want you to be sure before you do any more magic.”

  Declan nodded and backed out of the barn. “Of course,” he said. He hurried out of the barn, but his two companions were slower to follow.

  “We won’t let you down,” Ivan said. “Come on Brody.”

 
The shorter man, Brody, stopped and placed a hand on his heart. “I, Brody Flannery, vow to solve this magic and bring both you and Aidan back to your full glory. This I swear.”

  Well, I shouldn’t expect any less from a fellow Flannery.

  “Thank you, Brody,” I replied, smiling as Aidan began humming a tune. The two men turned and followed Declan back to the house. I felt strangely reassured by Brody’s words. Or perhaps it was Aidan’s sudden cheerful humming that put me at ease. Either way, I shrugged off the worry and turned toward Mark. “Time to get dressed.”

  “Hurry,” Jed said, patting me gently on the back. “Your brother has an update.”

  Mark and I rushed back to our room and I got dressed in record time. We grabbed a couple breakfast burritos from the kitchen before hurrying to the lab. My brother wasn’t popular among the wolves, but the more progress he made against the vampires, the more the Pack warmed up to him. Jared was waiting for us outside the lab. He didn’t say a word as he opened the door and led us inside. Jared’s relationship with my brother was complicated, and not entirely friendly anymore. It saddened me, but I understood. My own relationship with Justin was strained as well.

  When we walked into the lab, Justin was already talking animatedly to a small group. Jed stood at the front, arms crossed over his chest, a frown in place. Justin’s eyes found mine, and whatever he had been saying died on his lips. He motioned me forward, and I pushed my way past the small group until I stood in front of my brother. He grasped me in a hug, surprising me. Just as quickly, he released me and turned back toward Jed.

  “As I was saying, I have exciting news. Not only have other labs started producing the serums to counter the vampire vaccine, but they’ve started releasing it into the population with amazing results!” Justin said excitedly. “It’s working. The vaccine is actually working. And the people they’re releasing want to fight along with us.”

  Jed growled, but I don’t think Justin realized the dangerous ground he was treading on. “What do you mean the people want to fight with us?”

  “It’s all there,” Justin said, pointing back at the paper in Jed’s hand.

  “This is in code,” he bit off angrily, thrusting the paper back at Justin.

  Justin took the paper, his excitement dimming slightly. “Well, yes, of course it’s in code. We didn’t want word getting back to the vampires. The humans have started forming a resistance of their own. They know there is a group behind the vaccine, and they want in on whatever it is we’re doing.”

  “You’re in contact with these people?”

  “Not exactly,” he said slower, his eyes darting back and forth. “I got the message with the serum results, from the Texas lab. They want to talk.”

  “Talk?”

  Justin nodded, his excitement gone and fear in its place. “I haven’t spoken to anyone myself. I’m just a messenger.”

  “Good,” Jed said quietly. “I’ll send John to come talk with you about this.”

  “Yes, of course,” Justin replied, nodding his head again. “I have more information, sir, if you wish to hear it.”

  “Go ahead.”

  Justin swallowed, his eyes darting to me before resting on Mark beside me. “I’ve been testing Mark’s blood repeatedly, checking for any sort of reaction to vampire blood. It’s perfect. I don’t want to make any guarantees, but I’m fairly certain no vampire will ever be able to control him again.”

  “So the vaccine is working,” Mark said.

  “Yes,” he said slowly, his eyes darting back to me.

  “What is it?” I asked. Justin picked at his fingers unconsciously as he bit his lower lip. “Justin?”

  “Okay, so I still have a sample of your blood,” he began as he walked around the table. He worked as he spoke, putting blood onto slides and arranging the large microscope. A projector was set up through the microscope, so everyone could see what he was doing. He moved the slides around until both were visible. “The one on the left is Mark’s. The one on the right is yours, Izzy. This is a very small drop of vampire blood. Watch closely.”

  He put a dropper of something dark onto Mark’s blood, then zoomed in on the sample. The blood swirled around the invader, attacking it. “Look at Izzy’s sample,” Justin said softly. I looked over at the other slide, watching as the blood seemed to swirl and move in sync with Mark’s blood. As soon as the vampire blood was extinguished, both blood samples went quiet as before.

  “What the hell?” Jared breathed.

  “My thought exactly,” Justin said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “They’re mates,” Jed said, his voice gruff. I turned to look at him, surprised to see a sheen in his eyes as though he were holding back tears. “True mates. This only confirms it.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means you are linked forever. You will always be able to find one another. You can heal each other, and lend strength. You are two halves of a whole. When one is injured, the other will feel it.” Jed stopped and took a deep breath. “Science just confirmed what we already suspected.”

  “I checked some other blood samples too,” Justin said slowly.

  “Other samples?” Jed asked.

  He nodded and said, “I’ve noticed a connection with the Pack bond as well. Particularly you, as Alpha. So, I wanted to test the theory. While the reaction is not quite as intense, it is still there. When anything foreign is introduced to anyone in the Pack, there is a reaction among all the Pack. It’s small, but it’s still there. Some reacted more than others. Your blood, as Alpha, reacted first, followed by Mark’s, which triggered Izzy’s, then everyone else followed suit. It’s truly fascinating.”

  “We’re Pack,” Jed said simply.

  “It’s more than that,” Justin said, the eagerness and excitement back in his voice. “The moment you received the vaccine, everything changed for the rest of your Pack. Even the ones who hadn’t received the vaccine yet. It was a small change, but it was still there. Unfortunately, it didn’t last long. Proximity seemed to help as well. The closer your blood sample to the others, the better.”

  “So if I get heavy doses of the vaccine, my Pack will be safer?” Jed asked.

  Justin shrugged. “Theoretically, yes. This also means that if you get infected, the whole Pack could be taken over as well.”

  Jed was silent, his eyes turning a strange, vibrant green by the second. “Mark, come,” Jed barked as he marched out of the lab.

  I turned to follow them, but Mark stopped me. “No, Izzy, stay here. Talk to your brother. Word of this can’t leave this room.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “I’m second, remember? Beta. I have to go.”

  I nodded and let him go, turning back toward my brother. The only other people still in the room who had heard my brother’s words were Beth and Logan. “This doesn’t actually change a thing,” I commented as I pointed at the screen still displaying my blood. “We knew the Alpha controlled the Pack. Nothing has changed.”

  “Magic is one thing, Izzy, but this is science,” Justin urged.

  “This is why Henri wanted Mark.”

  “What?” Beth asked suddenly, her shrill voice piercing through my thoughts.

  I turned and looked at her. “He couldn’t get to Jed, but he could get to the next best thing.”

  “That’s why it was so difficult for me to synthesize a solution for Mark,” Justin contemplated. “His blood works like Jed’s, but not as strong. He gives but doesn’t receive. That’s also why the serum suddenly started working.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You, Izzy. This bond, whatever it is between the two of you, strengthens him. It strengthens both of you, I imagine. You’re stronger together. I think the Pack is the same way. Stronger together.”

  I shrugged and glanced over at Beth, who was staring at me with a strange expression on her face. The look was unreadable on her, but on anyone else I’d have thought it was compassion. Empathy,
even. “We’re Pack,” I said simply.

  “You’re mates,” Beth murmured. She smiled weakly at me before leaving the lab. Logan frowned and quickly followed her.

  “Don’t tell anyone else about this,” I told Justin.

  He nodded and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Izzy, you have some influence with the Alpha. Talk to him.”

  “Talk to him?”

  “About joining with the other humans. We deserve to have a say in this fight too. After all, we were the first victims.”

  I swallowed the lump that suddenly formed in my throat when he said the word ‘we’. It didn’t mean me anymore. I was no longer human. “I’ll do what I can, Justin. No guarantees though.”

  “Of course.”

  I left the lab, surprised to find Jared standing outside the door, waiting for me. He fell into step beside me as I made my way back toward the main house. “I thought you’d left,” I said after several minutes of silence.

  He shrugged and said, “Mark asked me to watch over you.”

  “Did he now?”

  “I wanted to talk to you anyway, about Aidan.”

  “What about him?”

  Jared kicked at the ground as we walked, flinging leaves and grass. “When we go attack the vampires, I think he should come along.”

  I raised my eyebrows in surprise. Wow, Aidan, what did you do to impress everyone so fast?

  I may have killed a few vamps.

  That will impress them.

  “I’m sure we can find a way to bring Aidan. If we haven’t figured out this magic yet, then I could just stay in wolf form. Assuming it works again, and he comes out when I turn furry,” I added.

  “You’re still a little unpredictable as a wolf,” Jared commented.

  “I’m getting better,” I said defensively. “I remember what happened with Aidan. Most of it, anyway.”

  “You are getting better,” Jared agreed slowly, and I sensed the hesitation.

  “But?” I urged.

  He sighed loudly and stopped walking. He wouldn’t look at me, and kept his eyes turned toward the boots on his feet. “I think you should stay here, in wolf form, in the cage.”