by Willow Cross
Mind drifting to Shana, Sarah was uncertain she wanted to start a new life without taking care of her debt to her parents.
Noticing the change in her expression, Brogan said, “That woman is the least of your worries, Sarah. She’ll get what’s coming to her.”
Although she nodded in agreement, she wasn’t sure she believed him.
Exhaling deeply, he returned to his seat. “Well I guess it’s about time I get down to business. There’s a war brewing children. An unholy, unnatural war. The vampires are fighting amongst themselves. The Wendigo population has become enormous. Demons are working hard to control all the supernatural races. Many of them already have a foothold that will be hard to break. Witches, Shape Shifters, and Jinn are already creating alliances. Some on the side of good and others on the side of evil. Werewolves, so far, have been left out of the mix, but it won’t be long until they too are brought in to this.”
Jason shifted in his seat. “Not that I don’t believe you, but you realize this is pretty farfetched stuff, don’t you?”
Eyebrows drawing together, Brogan returned, “Farfetched? Son, iffin you exist, and you do, then why is it so hard to believe that others exist? That’s just a handful of creatures that are out there. Now the elves, they won’t get involved in this mess, they’s above this type of behavior. And the gnomes and other faerie creatures? Well, they’s about the same disposition as the elves. But I’m telling ya, they do exist.”
Stretching, Pete rubbed the side of his face. “I don’t get it. What’s the point? What do they want?”
Pointing as he answered, Brogan said, “That right there is the ticket. It all boils down to one thing: humans. Those that want to own, enslave, eat, and control humans, and those what don’t.
“But I’ve always heard elves were good and noble. All the stories about them say they are wonderful beings. Why wouldn’t they get involved?” Sarah said.
“Elves and faerie creatures care about the earth, not what’s on it. They pay no mind to humans, other than to stay off their radar. They’ll not get involved in this, because they think it has nothing to do with them.”
“And why should we get involved in this?” Pete interjected.
“How many human friends you got? How many of them you want to see slaughtered?”
Pete thought for a moment and said, “None. I don’t really know any fully human people.”
Jason and Sarah shared a look of worry. Both had numerous friends in the human world. And growing up with no family, those friends were as close to family as they’d get. “Liz, Shad, and Ashley,” Sarah said to Jason.
“And their families, and everyone else,” he replied.
Her voice trembled. “The kids at school.”
“The guys at work.” Jason began shaking his head. “We don’t have a choice.”
“No we don’t,” she agreed.
Both sets of eyes turned to Brogan. “Okay, what do you want us to do?” Sarah asked.
“Are you both crazy? This is way more dangerous than Shana. We’re going to get slaughtered!”
Sarah leaned against him sliding her arm under and around his. “Didn’t you ever have that feeling that this couldn’t be your life? That somehow you were meant for something more than just mundane existence, and if the right opportunity arrived, you could really be something?”
Pete gazed into her pleading eyes. “I don’t know. Maybe? I guess so, but not that often.”
“This is that chance. I don’t know about you, Pete, but I don’t want to be just another monster. If I have to have this…this disease, I want it to be for something. You don‘t have to stay with us. You‘re free to go anywhere you like.”
Voice shaking with raw emotion, he answered, “I’m not leaving you. Not now, not ever.”
Sarah nodded as a tear trickled down her cheek. He deserved so much better than what she had to offer him. By rights, he should have her heart, but it wasn’t hers to give. Maybe someday, but right now a dark haired, green-eyed boy owned her. And there was nothing she could do about it.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The next morning, using his magic, Brogan returned the three to their hotel to gather their things. The room was a mess. Clothes were strewn all about, all their belongings had been rifled through, and the scent of vampire permeated everything.
“This buggar’s determined.” Brogan said, eyeing the mess.
Jason was the first to move and begin the cleanup process. “What does he want with us?”
“Well it’s just a guess, but I’m thinking he wants your sister. She’s a rare find. It’s not just that she’s a female alpha. She has a rare gift, a knack if you will. Especially for a werewolf. The ability to enter minds, other than her packs’, is unheard-of. Most Alphas and seers can speak to each other, but her ability far exceeds that.”
“Well that’s just peachy,” Sarah replied as she shoved clothes in bags. “Because I’ve spent my whole life just hoping that someone would come along and want to kill me.”
“Ha! But that’s not what they want girl. They’ll want to keep you, train you, and use you. You’d be the best pet they’d ever had. What’s the one thing every general wants to know?”
“I have no idea,” she answered.
“Anyone? What’s the one thing?”
Zipping up a large suitcase on the bed, Pete answered, “To know what the other side is planning.”
“Yep. That’s it in a nutshell. And with you, they can do it. It ain’t just you though, why when they get you, they also get two extremely powerful bodyguards. You three are crown jewels in a vampire coven.”
After scanning the room, making sure nothing was left behind, they returned to the campsite. From seemingly thin air, Brogan produced two tents, and had set the boys to work preparing their makeshift homes. Sarah had been left with the task of cooking over the open fire, while their new mentor scavenged for more firewood.
When he returned, the tents were up, and a nice beef stew simmered in a large iron kettle hung from a tripod over the fire. “Lawd have mercy girl. That’s my potions kettle yer using! I hope you washed it out good.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“Well course you didn’t. You did wash it out good though, didn’t you?”
“I tried. It’s as clean as I could get it.”
Sighing, he sat in an unfolded camp chair, leaned back, and looking at the sky, chuckled. “I’m mighty glad you did. Last thing I concocted in there woulda killed us all.”
Pete and Jason exchanged worried looks.
“Aw, it’s fine. From now on though, remember the cooking pots don’t look so old as the one’s used for potions. Anyhow, we got other things to worry about. Your stalker’s scent is all over the woods. Near as I can tell, he left this morning before sunup. I‘m guessing he‘ll be back again tonight. We needs to catch him, and find out what he’s up too.”
“How are we going to do that?” Jason said.
“Well I have a notion that he’d jump at the chance, were he to find our girl here alone.”
“Oh, hell no! You’re not going to use Sarah as bait!” Pete exploded.
“Now just listen to what I’m saying. Here’s the catch…” Brogan laid out his plan for them. By the time he finished, everyone, including Pete, agreed that it should work.
***
The airplane shook hard as the wheels made contact with the Cluj Napoca runway. Shad and Ashley looked at each other, both wondering if the small plane would hold together. They had followed the minimal trail left by their friends all the way here.
Knowing their new identities made it almost too easy. Shad had not only paid the man for the information, but had also paid him enough to make sure no one else would come along and buy that same information again.
“We’re running low on money. Gramps canceled the credit cards faster than I thought he would.” Ashley said as she counted the cash from her wallet.
“We took out enough cash to get by. O
nce we find them, we’ll do what everyone else does, and find jobs. With four of us working, it shouldn’t be too hard to make it.”
“You mean five?”
“We don’t even know if Pete is still with them,” he answered.
Eye’s narrowing, she looked at her brother. “You know they mate for life. He’s imprinted. Have you thought at all about how you’ll handle that? I’m pretty sure you won’t stand much chance with her if you kill one of her friends.”
Over the loudspeaker a soft voice with a slightly German accent said, “You may now exit the aircraft. Please move in an orderly fashion to the front exit.”
***
“Velcome! You are looking for two rooms, no?” Greeted the grey-haired woman behind the front desk.
“Yes and no,” Shad answered, and then pulling a small picture out of his pocket, he said, “We are supposed to meet our friends here. But we can’t seem to get in touch with them. Do you have their room number?”
The woman frowned as she glanced at the picture, quickly returning her gaze to Shad. “They have spoken nothing of peoples joining them. Ve do not give out room numbers of our guests.”
“So they are here then?” Ashley asked.
Even though the young people had only spent one night in her hotel, the woman clearly remembered the scared young girl and her brothers. Seeing such a pretty thing so afraid, had brought out a motherly instinct she’d not felt in some time. As nice as these two appeared to be, she began to wonder if there was more to the girl’s fear than just terrorists. Shaking her head, she answered, “No, no. They are no longer vith us. You vill be vanting another hotel, no?”
Carefully watching the woman’s change in facial expression, Ashley leaned in and whispered, “She’s in big trouble, and she’s my best friend in the whole world. They didn’t want us to come, but we want to help. Really we do. I don’t know how to prove it to you, but it’s true. My brother and I mean them no harm, and we’ve come a very long way to find them.”
“Vhat kind of trouble vould they be in?”
“If they wanted you to know they’d have told you.” Shad hissed.
Once again shaking her head, the woman said, “No, I cannot help you.”
Laying her hand on top of the woman’s, Ashley pleaded, “Please. She is the love of his life, and her brother is mine. We have to find them before it’s too late.”
“Vhich one?”
“Which one what?”
Raising her eyebrows the woman asked, “Vhich brother do you love?”
Head snapping in Shad’s direction, Ashley gave him a questioning look.
His mouth drew to the side had he nervously ran his hand over his face. “He’s still with them.”
“I figured as much,” Ashley answered.
Shad leaned against the counter, bringing his face in closer proximity to the woman’s ear.
Uncomfortable, she stepped back.
“Look lady, I know you’re trying to protect them, and believe me I appreciate that, but the dark-haired guy with them is not her brother, and she might be in danger from him.”
Unbelieving, she answered, “She did not seem so scared of him.”
“No I don’t suppose she would be, but she doesn’t know everything about him. There are some very bad people looking for them and he is connected to those people. Right now they think he’s their friend, but I can assure you--he is not.”
Out of the woman’s view, Ashley slid her hand behind her brother’s arm, pinching it. He was pouring it on way too thick. No one, meeting Pete, and seeing him with Sarah, would ever believe he would hurt her. His feelings for her were all too apparent. “We just want to talk to them. Couldn’t you ring their room? Once they know we are here, they’ll be happy to see us.”
Eyeing the doorway, then returning her gaze to the young people, the woman snapped her fingers. A rather large man sitting in a lounge chair by the fire approached. “Andrei, see these nice people to the door. They must find another hotel as ve have no vacancies.”
“But of course,” Andrei replied. His lips spread into a challenging smile as he held his hand to the door. “I will assist you in finding your vey out, no?”
Shad’s eyes scanned the man from head to toe. Frustrated, he almost took him up on his challenge before Ashley intervened. “No. We can find our way out, thank you.” Grabbing her brother’s arm, she pulled him toward the door. “Good job Einstein, way to work the woman. Now what?”
Outside, he swore under his breath.
“Did you really think that tactic would work? She’ll never talk to us now, and that Andrei looked like he’d love to scrap with you. What were you thinking?”
“I know. No, I don’t know. I was improvising and that seemed as good a story line as any.”
“You’re going to have to get over this. Keep acting like this and she’ll end up hating you. Pete can’t help how he feels anymore than you can. Less maybe. You at least made the decision to love her.”
A small rust covered taxi pulled up to the sidewalk. “You need ride?” A small dark-skinned man yelled from the window.
Nodding, Shad opened the door for his sister, picture still in his hand. “Ahhh, pretty girl. Vas nice girl. Too bad they are dead.”
Voice frantic, body shaking, he asked, “What? You know them? How do you know them? What do you mean they’re dead.”
The man frowned. “Oh yes. They must be dead. No one spends the night in Hoia Baciu and comes back. Haunted. Bad spirits there. Poor kids, so sad. Three times I drove back after they not show up on time. Three times and nothing. Poor things. I told them. I told them vas bad place. They no listen.”
Grinning Shad shut the door and glanced at Ashley. Her eyes twinkled as a smile slid across her lips.
“Vhere you vant go?”
Ashley leaned forward handing the man a wad of bills. “Hoia Baciu, if you please.”
“Oh no. No, no, no. I not have responsibility for more deaths. You not need go there.”
Still smiling, she dropped more money on the front seat. “Oh yes we do. You have no idea how badly we need to go there.”
***
“Hello beautiful, did you miss me?”
Sarah’s essence recoiled at the mental intrusion. Heart beating wildly, she struggled to remain calm. Sitting alone by the fire, she felt entirely too vulnerable. Even though she knew the others were just a call away. Knowing she couldn’t move until he was inside the inner circle of the camp, did not help matters any. Shifting in her seat, she scanned her surroundings. So far he wasn’t close enough to be seen. Her mind instinctively reached out to Jason, before she reeled it back. No contact. Brogan was specific about her not calling to them until the spider was caught in the web.
His scent grew stronger. Desperately wanting to be in wolf form, Sarah sat unmoving, waiting for him to approach.
“Don’t be that way. I’m not going to hurt you. Where are the others? Surely they wouldn’t leave you alone. You and I are going to be wondrous friends,” he enticed.
“What do you want from me?”
“Nothing of importance. I’ve not run across one like you in my lifetime. And I can say that is quite an accomplishment. Come to me.”
“No.”
His voice ebbed and moved seductively through her mind. Tantalizing, caressing, it pulled her forward. “You shouldn’t be out here alone. The old man knows how dangerous this forest is. There are things more dangerous than you or I that dwell within it. Didn’t he tell you that?”
“You’re the only thing out here trying to get me alone in the woods.”
“Ahhh, well, I’m just trying to help you. To keep you safe.”
“Sure you are, and I am the Queen of Sheba.”
Just outside the glow of the fire a figure appeared. Still half in shadow, it moved meticulously around the outskirts of the camp. “I find it odd for you to be here all by yourself. What are the four of you playing at?”
“Look buddy, you’re the only one p
laying games here. How many countries have you followed me across? How long have you stalked me?” Sarah watched his face as he moved into the lighted area. The dancing flames cast odd shadows over his face, but his eyes glowed with a strange luminescence. Almost hypnotic in their appeal, she lowered her gaze to his mouth. Brogan had already warned her about glamouring, and she wasn’t about to be taken in.
His actual voice was just as seductive and alluring as the voice projected into her mind. Stopping by the fire, directly across from her, he persuaded, “Come closer. I won’t hurt you. You have my word.”
Sarah licked her lips and took a deep breath, wondering if this sensation was similar to what her pack felt when she gave an order they didn’t want to obey. Remaining seated, she crossed her legs, and folded her arms across her chest. “I think I’m close enough, thank you. What are you doing here?”
His lips slid open, revealing a perfect white smile. Handsome was hardly the word for the man. Even gorgeous was an understatement. His short blond hair surrounded his head like a halo, and even through the jeans and button down shirt he wore, she could see bulging muscles. “We’d be quite a team you and I. Together, we could have almost anything our hearts desire. What is it you desire?”
A vision of Shad smiling down at her immediately entered her mind.
“Ahhh. So that’s it. Just a boy? Surely you can do better than a boy. But you’re young yet. You have much to learn.”
Realizing that her fingers had begun nervously tapping against her arm, she quieted her body and continued staring at the man.
“Still so nervous?” He asked looking around. “Where are the others?”
“Wouldn’t you be nervous if you were alone with a vicious killer?”
He laughed before once again peering into her eyes. “But I am. You are certainly a match for anything I could do.”
This was it. Exactly what she’d been waiting for. Uncrossing her legs and arms, she leaned forward and nearly hissed, “Oh I probably am. That’s why you’re still over there. It would take me less time to change and rip out your throat, than it would you to get to me.”
