Bloody Endings

by Laura Hysell

  Jed nodded and looked at me. “Go with this group,” he said. “I don’t want you out here when Henri arrives.”

  “You think I’ll be safer inside?”

  Jed looked at me with his eerie bright green eyes and shook his head. “No, but I do not want to deal with Henri’s theatrics right now. John and Mark are in position, but Petrivian hasn’t arrived yet.”

  “They’re in position already?” I asked, looking at the position of the sun. “They’re early.”

  “They didn’t meet much resistance,” Jed said softly.

  “What?” I asked, my heart beating faster. I could feel the vampires in the tunnels behind me. There had to be hundreds of them, maybe thousands. Something wasn’t right.

  “Go,” Jed said, ordering the next wave into the tunnels. I was about to protest, but Jed walked away, toward the forest. The next group of men and wolves entered the tunnel, racing past me with the overwhelming smell of fear in the air.

  Aidan?

  We can’t find them, he responded almost immediately. I feel them, everywhere, but they are not showing themselves.

  I stopped and leaned up against the cool tunnel entrance. The ground and walls felt like rock, carved right out of the inside of the mountain. Where were they hiding? I reached out through the knife, trying to feel for them. They were everywhere, as Aidan had said. I turned back, watching as the sun dipped further, painting the sky a dark red. Jed had disappeared at the edge of the forest, with a small band of wolves. The remaining humans were in their tanks, facing outward.

  Indecision gripped me as I felt the vampires moving quickly toward my position from west and south. There were at least over a hundred. Henri, I realized with a start. Aidan had said he would feel distinct, and he was right. I’d know him anywhere. He was moving quickly toward me from the north; and he was alone.

  Wolves raced toward me through the night, snarling and baring their fangs. I jerked in surprise as they ran toward me. No shimmer of magic illuminated them, and I knew immediately who they belonged to. These were Henri’s wolves. I stepped back against the cave wall as the wolves ran past me. I let out a breath of relief as they ran by, ignoring my presence. Behind them came men. Some looked at me, and I recognized several from Henri’s home, but they all ran by me without a word.

  My knife throbbed warningly on my thigh, alerting me to danger. I stepped away from the cave, letting the pack I had been carrying drop to the ground. I wouldn’t need extra guns and ammo right now. Henri stepped into view, walking casually while still avoiding the small slits of sunlight that filtered between the trees. He smiled, looking almost stupefied to see me. Since I had severed his bond to me, perhaps he was a little shocked.

  I smiled in response and took a step toward him, leaving myself room to maneuver. “Henri,” I said by way of greeting.

  “Isabella, you look well,” he said, eying me appreciatively.

  “As do you,” I said. In fact, he looked amazing. Power radiated from him, making him seem to glow with a golden light. Henri was a blond-haired god, walking on earth. He oozed power and sex, all while looking as though he were out for a casual stroll. He wore a bright white shirt, unbuttoned to show his bare chest, and black slacks. The remaining humans watched us warily, gripping their guns tighter as they quickly moved toward the safety of their tanks and trucks. I didn’t blame them.

  “I must say, I’m a bit disappointed in you,” he said, stopping just a few feet before me.

  “Disappointed? How so?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t normally sleep with werewolves. They’re pets, and battle fodder.”

  I smiled widely and winked at him. “What a bummer for you.”

  “Still, I would make an exception for you, my Queen.” He flashed his fangs at me and ran a tongue across the sharp teeth.

  “I’m taken,” I replied tartly.

  “Pity.”

  “Where are the rest of your men?” I asked, even though I could feel the pull of vampires all around us.

  “They are meeting your Alpha. Petrivian will be arriving within the hour, and I mean to be there when he does,” he said. “As much as I’d love to spend some quality time with you, my Queen, I have other pressing business.”

  “So you still plan on killing Petrivian?”

  Henri raised his eyebrows at me. “I have never lied to you about such matters. Yes, my dear Isabella, I most definitely plan to kill him.”

  He wasn’t lying outright, but there was something he wasn’t telling me. Henri walked past me into the mouth of the tunnel without a backwards glance. Pain ripped through me, sudden and sharp. I touched the knife, trying to figure out the source. Aidan was on the move, but unharmed. Mark I could sense farther away, and I reached out toward him. Pain hit me again, knocking me to my knees.

  Jed! Mark screamed, his voice echoing in my mind.

  The pain was the Alpha’s. He was being attacked. I got to my feet, screaming and waving my arms at the humans, pointing in the direction Jed had gone. A man stuck his head out of a tank in front of me as I ran toward Jed. “We’re being attacked here!” I screamed, pointing. “Hurry!”

  Footsteps pounded behind me, and I heard the sounds of engines firing. They were coming, but would it be enough? I ran into the forest, seeking only one thing: Jed. The Pack magic flowed through me, urging me toward my Alpha. I could still feel him, but he was hurt. There were other wolves with him, but all I could sense was pain and anger.

  I pulled out my dagger and ran straight into a vampire. No shimmer of magic surrounded him, and blood coated his chin. I struck out with the knife, slicing across his chest as I raced past. His screams followed me, but I pushed on, following the sounds of battle ahead of me.

  The scene I stepped into was one of confusion. Men, wolves, and vampires fought, tripping over bodies of the dead and injured that already littered the ground. I only had a moment to survey the situation. Vampires shimmering with magic fought vampires with no shimmer. Wolves fought vampires. Men fought anything that moved against them. A small group of wolves was grouped together, fighting ferociously against the vampires surrounding them. In the center of those wolves was Jed. Blood poured from his head and side, soaking the entire right side of his body. Still, he stood upright, clutching his side while still firing a gun over the heads of the wolves in front of him.

  The dagger hummed in my hand and I embraced the sensation, letting the magic flow down my hand and into my body. Then, I moved. I jumped over a log and struck out at the first vampire I saw, stabbing him in the back. He went down with a scream as I yanked out the blade and turning toward the next one. I slashed right and left, slicing the vamp over and over. He jumped backward, but stopped suddenly as he looked at his skin. Every cut of the blade had left a black line of char across his skin. The vamp clawed at his skin as the char spread quickly. I turned away, moving on to the next vampire.

  The crackle of magic filled the air, and I found myself suddenly flying backwards. I slammed into a tree and dropped to the ground, rolling back to my feet as Brody stepped into the clearing. His bright red hair stood out against his pale skin, making him seem to glow despite the darkness of the forest. The smell of burning flesh scorched my nose as I looked around. Vampires were writhing on the ground everywhere, burning, but not yet dead. I shook my head, trying to clear it, and stood up. Gripping my knife, I stepped toward the first vamp and stabbed him quickly with my knife. I repeated the motion with the next vamp I saw as I made my way toward where I had last seen Jed.

  Jed was lying in a heap on the ground, surrounded by men and wolves. I moved toward him, reaching through the Pack bond as I sheathed my dagger.

  I dropped to the ground, pushing a wolf off Jed, and feeling at his throat for a pulse. It took me a frightening minute before I felt the slow but steady beat beneath my fingers. I sighed in relief and quickly looked him over. There was a large gash on his head, which was where most of the blood seemed to be coming from. His hand still cradled his side, eve
n unconscious as he was. I pushed his hand aside and pulled back the shirt, revealing a gaping wound. Blood poured from the wound, and I quickly pushed his shirt back over it, looking around for something to staunch the flow.

  Brody caught my eye and hurried toward me. He reached his hands out toward Jed, and I felt magic flowing up from the earth through him and into Jed. Minutes passed, and I watched Jed, waiting for something. Brody shuddered suddenly and sat back on the ground, taking deep, shaky breaths. I looked from Brody to Jed, then gently pulled back Jed’s shirt. The wound was still there, but the blood flow appeared to have slowed. I looked back at Brody, who looked exhausted.

  “What did you do?” I asked.

  Brody looked up at me with his strange gray eyes. “He had massive internal damage. I healed what I could, but I’m afraid that’s not my specialty,” he said slowly.

  I looked around at the dead and dying vampires on the ground. Some vamps were standing up, and I felt a trickle of fear. “We need to get out of here,” I whispered.

  He shook his head and said, “They’re on our side.”

  I turned and looked back at the vampires who were getting to their feet. Sure enough, each one of them had a faint shimmer around them. The wolves, too, were stirring. Those closest to the blast, a few feet to my left, seemed to be taking longer to recover. “We still need to get Jed out of here,” I said. “It’s not safe here.” I could feel more vampires coming, and I wasn’t taking any chances that they were on our side.

  Brody nodded and stood up. I moved toward Jed and reached around him, wondering how I could possibly carry him. “Not like that. His wound is too fresh,” Brody chided as I tried to lift Jed in a fireman’s carry. I moved to his head, pushing bodies out of the way as I did. I tried not to look, not wanting to see the dead at my feet, but my eyes found him anyway. His chest was a mass of red angry slashes that no man, werewolf or not, could have survived. Last time I’d seen Logan, he had been in wolf form waiting with Jed. I turned away, not wanting the image of his sightless eyes burned in my brain.

  “Izzy, hurry up,” Brody urged.

  I nodded my head and turned back to Jed, lifting him under the shoulders and dragging him out from under the bodies of Logan and another man I didn’t know. Brody grabbed Jed’s feet, and together we carried Jed back through the forest. Wolves surrounded us, touching their noses to Jed’s limp hands. He needed to heal, and to do that, he needed to shift forms. How, though?

  Mark, I called, reaching through our bond. Mark was already hurrying toward me. I could feel him moving swiftly my direction. He didn’t say anything, but I felt his acknowledgment.

  The vampires were almost on us, which urged me to move faster. Some of the trucks had followed us, but they were unable to drive through the trees. One of the soldiers ran toward me and grabbed Jed, lifting him easily from my arms. I let him go and followed as he carried Jed to the back of the nearest truck, laying him in the open bed.

  “More vamps on the way from that direction,” I said, pointing back the way we’d come. “Not sure if they’re friendly or not yet, but let’s not stick around to find out. We need to get Jed to Mark as quick as possible. Into the tunnel.”

  The soldier nodded to me and ran around to the driver, relaying info while Brody climbed into the back of the truck with me. “I need rest. That magic took a lot out of me,” Brody said as he closed his eyes and leaned back.

  I didn’t care what Brody did. My attention was on Jed. His skin was pale and clammy, but at least he wasn’t bleeding anymore. The truck took off, flinging dirt behind us as it sped off toward the tunnel entrance. More vampires were that direction. I could sense them all around, but I could also sense Mark. He was so close. The truck slammed to a stop, and I grabbed Jed to keep him from injuring himself further. I started to stand up, when the driver took off again, swerving right and then left. I stumbled down in the bed of the truck, flinging out my hand to catch Jed again as he slid across the truck bed.

  We drove into the tunnel, and the sensation of vampires grew. “Mark,” I whispered, just before the truck slammed to a halt again.

  Mark jumped into the back of the truck and I sighed in relief. He was in his half-wolf form, towering taller than usual, with fur covering most of his body. He knelt awkwardly over Jed, his eyes glowing brightly. Pack magic filled the air, and I could feel Mark drawing strength from me as well as the rest of the Pack. His eyes glowed brighter, changing from the usual golden glow I knew to a bright green that I only ever saw with Jed. He drew more power, sucking it in until he was full, then he unleashed the power into Jed.

  Jed gasped, his green glowing eyes opened wide. He shuddered, took another breath, then the transformation took hold. Fur covered his skin, quickly spreading as his body shifted from man to wolf. His mouth elongated, ears formed, claws grew from his hands. The entire change took less than a minute. As Mark released the magic, Jed howled, his wolf voice echoing through the cave and filling me with a powerful sense of belonging.

  The Alpha shook out his fur. He was a large wolf, with thick brown and black fur, and not a single sign of injury. I let out a breath of relief as he leapt out of the truck and began racing through the tunnel. Mark looked at me, his eyes back to their golden color. Petrivian has arrived, he said in my mind, since his half-wolf form didn’t speak well. I nodded and followed him out of the truck, pulling my knife out once more. Vampires were flooding the tunnels behind us, and I could still sense them all around even though I couldn’t see them.

  “Time to wake up, Brody,” I said.

  Brody’s eyes flashed open and he nodded, jumping out of the truck to follow us. He looked back at the tunnel entrance, touching my shoulder. “Vampires are coming, and they’re not all friendly,” he said.

  “Shit,” I said, thinking of my brother and the other humans in their trucks. Guns could only do so much, and vampires were fast. Even armored vehicles would only last so long, and I was pretty sure all the werewolves had entered the tunnels by now.

  “I will stay,” Brody said.

  “Are you rested enough?”

  “Enough,” he replied. “Go. Cut off the head, and the body will die.”

  “Got it,” I said, turning and following Mark back down the tunnels. Petrivian was within reach. The faster he died, the sooner this was all over. Cut off the head.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Jed raced off ahead, looking mostly healed. I worried still, knowing that one more major injury and he’d be down for the count. It wasn’t my concern. I shook off the worry and pulled out my dagger, letting the magic course through me. Mark cast me a glance before starting off down the tunnel after Jed. I followed behind slower, using the dagger’s power to pinpoint the vamps. They were everywhere. After just a few steps, I stopped and looked around. How could the sensation of vampires be so close, when none were visible?

  Izzy, where are you? Aidan called. We’re in place here.

  I’m on my way with Mark and Jed. I hurried after the Alphas, unwilling to put the dagger away as the sensation of vampires around me grew. More were coming through the tunnel, and I hoped these were the friendly type. If they weren’t, I was dead.

  I pushed my body harder, struggling to keep up. After ten minutes running flat out, I finally caught up to Mark. He had stopped at the main branch that had been marked on the map. We were near Petrivian’s lair, where the tunnel crisscrossed multiple times. This was the spot Jed had worried about. Werewolves filled the tunnels, milling about as though bored. Waiting. There shouldn’t have been any waiting. We had crunched the numbers. There should have been a lot more vampires up and about by now. Even if we had managed to destroy the majority in their sleep.

  Mark moved us around, ordering units to various locations, securing our rear. Where were the vampires? Where was Thomas? Where was Henri? Worry gnawed at me as I took up a location further away from the heart of the tunnels. The dagger throbbed on my side. Mark, I called out as I paced back and forth with my unit. I can feel
the vampires.

  I know, Mark replied quickly. We have scouts out.

  I don’t like this.

  None of us do. Petrivian’s transport has arrived though. We’re about to move in. Stay sharp.

  I nodded my head, even though Mark couldn’t see me. Being delegated to the safe zone wasn’t what I had in mind when I had insisted on coming along. I flipped the knife over in my hands. At least I had already managed to kill a few vamps. The dagger pulsed warningly, repeatedly, and heat coursed down my hands. I spun around, searching for the source of danger. Nothing jumped out of the tunnels. Still, I could feel them moving, surrounding us. My heart raced as the sensation of hundreds of vampires increased.

  “We’re being surrounded,” I whispered, stepping backward. One of the men beside me frowned at my comment, but he readied the shotgun he held nonetheless.

  They were everywhere, closing in on us. I reached out through the dagger, letting the magic flow into me as Aidan had taught me. There were so many, it was hard to distinguish, but one vamp stood out. Henri. I could feel him nearby, and there was something else. Someone else. Another vampire, who felt like Henri, yet not. This one was moving past Henri, drawing closer to our location. He moved slowly, unhurried, as though he had no cares in the world.

  My feet seemed to move of their own accord, turning toward that strange vampire. There was only one vamp it could be, who felt so much like Henri, yet not. I let the feel of magic fill me, tasting the differences and similarities between the two. Age. This vamp was old, so much older than Henri. Fear made my heart race faster, pumping adrenaline through my body. Mark had moved past the vamp and was now close to Henri, yet he wasn’t fighting. No one was fighting.

  I moved faster, running down the tunnels until the sensation of vampires had grown so thick I was practically choking on it. I should have been surrounded by them. I should have been shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of blood-suckers, but still there was nothing. Wolves and men looked at me strangely as I ran past, holding my knife before me. Aidan was on the move as well, racing toward me. He had sensed me. We didn’t communicate; we didn’t need to.