by Kim Faulks
I shoved myself from the bed and turned as the clash of steel and bone filled the room. The old woman stumbled to the side. Her shaking hands dragged a long dagger from a white bone sheath at her hip. Her mumbled words crowded my head and the air inside the room grew thorns.
“You can’t fight the darkness forever, Abrial.” My sister whispered behind me. “Sooner or later, he always wins.”
The cold bite of winter found me in the middle of the room as Buck shoved Odessa to the side. The splatter of blood glistened on his white beard. I followed the trail along his cheek, then dropped my gaze to his hand as a scream ripped through the hallway.
A cold fist drove through my belly. I took a step to the right, rounding the end of the bed to block his view and caught sight of the blade in his hand.
Blood dripped from the steel to splatter against the floor. His smile spread as the scream grew louder as the old woman crossed the room. But I was stuck on that scream—I’d heard them before.
Not just any woman’s scream.
It was Maddy’s scream.
No. I lunged for the door as the knife came down. Too late. I’m too late.
The thought spread as Buck finally looked at me and charged.
Marcus
A muffled sound dragged me from the shower. I wiped the water from my eyes, but the goofy smile remained. The memory of her curves lingered and my body hardened in kind.
Bloodletter.
Corners of my mouth tugged higher.
Bloodletter….
The smile stalled, teetering for a second then died.
Bloodletter!
A scream filtered through the torrent. I held my breath, straining to listen.
Abrial? Another wail followed, and then another, and another, until the onslaught filled my head.
I twisted the taps and shouldered the shower door. Victor’s boom sliced through my skull as I snatched dirty trousers from the floor. Marcus! Where the hell are you?
Searing heat lashed my back as I stumbled for the door. A snap in my spine buckled my knee. I slapped my hand over my shoulder, probing shifting bones as they rolled under my skin. Spikes pushed against the surface.
Bloodletter, the wolf called, and my dragon came alive.
I stumbled and gripped my pants. My damp legs stuck to the inside as I shoved one foot through one leg, and then the other. The heady scent of her wolf filled me as I raced from the bedroom. I tasted her fear, her pain and her anger. My dragon rose toward the surface of my mind, powering like a locomotive at full speed.
Too fast… too much. I couldn’t hold the beast inside. I tightened my stomach and the handle slipped under my grip. I squeezed my fingers around the metal and twisted. Hinges squealed, a thud followed, as the door hit the wall and bounced.
My spine cracked, pain whipped along my spine, as one by one spikes pierced my skin and burst free. I grasped the wall and left those tortured cries behind.
“Abrial!” The guttural snarl slipped from my lips to boom through the hallway. The vibration lingered in my chest, but I knew the sound wasn’t my own.
I hit the corner and slapped a glistening hand against the wall. Pink flesh turned crimson under the overhead lights. My nails grew to black talons, the edge glinted like a razor. My trousers strained with each step as I stumbled down the stairs, toward the old woman’s quarters.
Marcus… We’re being attacked. Victor’s roar filled my head. But the wolf…. I clenched my jaw. The fist in my chest squeezed, until the muscle felt empty and dead—the wolf came first.
The steps blurred. My focus narrowed to the burn of my feet as they slapped the tiled floor. Not fast enough, still not fast enough.
A smear of crimson slowed my steps.
Whoops and swirls of a bloody caress marred the doorframe. I slammed into the frame, rebounding into the old woman’s quarters and scanned the room. A crumbled figure lay motionless on the floor. The stench of blood filled my nose. I forced my feet to move. “Shaman?”
Feathers and bones littered the floor around her. The old woman looked like a ghost, no more than layers of tattered clothes, small and lifeless.
Her blood glistened like spilled wine on the crisp white tiles, spreading tendril fingers along the cracks toward me. My bare feet left bloody prints as I waded through the muck and dropped to my knees. Fear stole the echo of my heart, leaving nothing but a dry hollow thud. I trailed my fingers along her hair, brushing the knotted strands from her neck. I scraped her skin with my claws, probing her neck with the pads of my fingers and searched for a heart beat.
“You can’t die. Do you hear me?” My dragon snarled.
The vein jumped under the pressure—a tiny throb of life—it was enough. I cradled her shoulders with one thickening arm and slipped the other under her legs.
Her head lolled against my chest as I lifted. The gaping wound at her neck yawned, white tendons peeked out through the torn bloody mess. A mortal would be gone forever.
Bloodletter!
I clenched my fist underneath the witch’s body as my dragon rose to the surface. Savage snarls through my mind ravaged my heart, tearing and shredding.
One slow jagged breath echoed from the frail woman. I held on tight. “I’ll find you somewhere safe to heal. I need you, do you hear me. I need you.”
Rage boiled like a broken furnace within me, spitting, hissing, spreading out to singe and blacken anything close. I lengthened my stride, making short work of the stairs. Shouts echoed through the hallway as I headed for my room. “No one will look for you here.”
My closet was big enough to hide someone so small and frail. I snatched the quilt from the bed and draped it under the shaman as I found my way to the back of the closet and knelt to the ground. The comforter smelled of sex and lust, driving a rusted nail into my heart.
I’m coming wolf. Wait for me. My dragon snarled, eager for blood. The deafening sound shattered good intentions. The old woman’s head slipped from my grasp and hit the soft pile with a thud.
The Bloodletter rose like the devil himself all fire and flames. I climbed to my feet and swayed. My body felt heavy and thick. The floor seemed further away as I crossed the bedroom and entered the hallway.
Bones crunched, then shifted, expanding my chest. I inhaled as wings sprouted, filling the hallway. Chucks of drywall littered the floor behind me as my talons tore through the gyprock. The hollow thud in my chest sped. My wings slammed against the wall and scraped the ceiling. I grasped the timber balustrade and leapt.
I hit the stairs with a heavy thud that tore through the house. A blur outside dragged my gaze to the glass wall as a boom rocked the room once more.
Silver veins raced along the glass. Khaki stood out against the backdrop of evergreen as Sheriff Morse racked another round into the shotgun and took aim.
The deafening boom ripped through the room, shattering glass littering the floor. I ducked and wrenched my hands to my face and by the time I dropped my hands the Sheriff was gone. Shards impaled my shoulders and my arm. I pulled the slivers free as agony lashed my chest. Through the shattered glass wall hunched figures raced from the trees to descend on my home like a plague and the sickening feral stench of the Echo pack followed.
I scanned familiar faces for a spark of fire amongst the horror. Abrial!
Save my pack Marcus! Save my damn pack!
Her plea sounded muffled and strange, tinged with pain and torment. I clamped my wings against my body and edged toward the foyer as the patter of feet dragged my gaze toward the shattered wall. A female wolf from the Bloodstone pack scurried through. My heart lunged at the sight of her bare feet. “Stop. There’s glass everywhere!”
But I was too late.
The crunch of glass filled my ears and her panicked screams followed. I bit the inside of my mouth, swallowing the anguish and forced my feet to move. Agony lashed my soles like a hot iron as I reached for her. “Let me help. I won’t hurt you.”
She flinched, turning her fear-stained eye
s toward me. My breath seemed to stutter in my lungs, tightening like a fist. Agony tore through my skull as horns pierced my forehead. My knees locked, then released as I swept an arm through the air. My fingers found the wisp of fabric then glanced across her hips as I grasped the female wolf’s waist and lifted.
“Don’t scream.”
The plea turned to a snarl as the sun faded through the broken glass wall. I lifted my gaze. The smell of wolf saturated my senses. Someone climbed over the courtyard wall and headed for the house. Thick hunched shoulders laden with fur was too big to be a woman and the sickening odor of male wolf assaulted me.
No.
I tried to focus on his darkened face as a warrior of the Echo pack crossed the light. Sunken fevered eyes, ravenous with death seized me. Blood dripped from the fur on his arm as he raised his hand. How many wolves had he killed? Steel glinted from the gun and I stared down the barrel.
More Echo pack warriors scurried over the wall behind him.
But instead of the hard glint of murder in their eyes, they held fear.
Bricks fractured, then collapsed as long, thin legs followed. A black beast of eight legs mounted the wall, then scampered over, moving faster than two legs ever could.
Xael had partially shifted, the Scorpio, had come.
Inky armor glinted from its arachnid body, like the monster had been dipped in Hell itself. Half-scorpion, half-woman, this beast vaguely resembled the dragon Xael had once been, but even in her weakened state, my sister was terrifying. I blinked through the glare and caught sight of her tail and the long barbed spear whipped through the air toward the Echo pack wolves and the heavy throb inside my chest quickened.
Something whipped through the air, a long shadow followed, then there were the screams. The chilling shriek fractured mid-flight, ending in cold, stony silence.
Xael rose and swallowed the sun, then swept reptilian eyes toward me, seizing me with a carnivorous stare before she turned to our attackers. Movement came from one of the wolves on my right, followed by a battle cry.
I threw my wing out wide, catching the female wolf with a hard sweep and threw her against the balustrade.
The ebony creature let out a fierce howl and lunged. Glass fragments scattered at my feet as our attacker slammed into the wall beside me. Bones snapped, something wet and warm hit my face, and a sickening tear filled the air. The gun jerked in the male shifter’s grip, yet he had that look of sudden shock. The whites of his eyes peeked around big black pupils, growing wider with each second as a barb the size of my arm impaled the wolf to the wall.
Night glistened as the creature loomed closer. The wolf whimpered behind me and the smell of urine saturated the air. I lifted my gaze to stare into bottomless black pools and whispered her name. “Xael.”
“Nice of you to join us brother.” The creature growled. Her lips parted, drawing in my scent. Her long black legs scratched and tap danced on the glass as her pale lips stretched into a smile. “Bloodletter? It’s about time you made your presence known, it’s only been what? A thousand years? But it seems you’re a little late to the party.”
My knee buckled. I clutched the cracked bannister as my muscles stretched and strained and my wings straightened. In the bottomless black of her eyes I saw my reflection. My dragon opened his mouth and razor sharp teeth sparkled white. Denim tore, cool air licked parts of my body that should remain covered.
A howl tore from the woods. Octaves increased, pulsing with terror until the cry ended. I wrenched my head back to my sister and whispered. “Zadoc?”
Xael’s smile stretched as she leaned close and shoved her talon deeper into the wolf’s chest, then yanked her tail free. The dead wolf hit the ground at my feet. “I think he’s the only one having a good time. The male wolves came from the mountain and demanded your wolf and the mage. They didn’t like it when we told them no.”
Something dug into my side. I uncurled my wings and turned to see wide eyes. The woman whimpered at the sight of my face. I flinched from the sight of her fear and snarled. “If I wanted to hurt you. I wouldn’t have saved your life.”
The shifter shook her head and inhaled before whispering. “You’re right, thank you.”
I bowed my head and let loose a grumble. “Upstairs in my bedroom, there’s gauze and antiseptic to clean your feet.”
She flattened her spine, taking a look at the dead wolf at my feet and edged along the railing. I reached out, grasping her arm and scraped her skin. She squealed at the touch, then clamped her mouth shut. I jerked my hand away. “There’s an old woman hidden in the closet, take care of her.”
I gripped the banister and turned as she limped up the stairs. My nails drew a line in the shattered fragments as I dragged each heavy foot. “Abrial?”
“Last time I saw her she was trading blows with her father.”
I swung my head toward the trees and dropped my weight onto my front feet. Blood red splashed against the shattered glass as I crushed the fragments under my claws. I ducked my head and eased through the opening, feeling my weight shift and expand.
A shiver raced through my body, shaking lose the last shackles of the man. I inhaled the air, searching for her scent and found nothing. Wolf. Her beast rose, stinging my mind with rage. You’re not taking my sister again! Leave her alone. Leave. Her. Alone. Rowen… Rowen!
Abrial. My muscles quivered as the wolf’s senses flooded me. I couldn’t scent her, but I could feel her.
A blur moved through the trees and the scent of male saturated the air. I propelled my body forward, watching the shifter lower his head and sprinted toward me. My top lip curled as I inhaled the male’s scent and lunged. Branches snapped, gouging my side as I forced my way through. The shifter charged around the thicket, his head was down until my shadow swept across his path.
His head tilted, a tiny cry slipped from his mouth at the sight. The rancid stench of terror filled me as fear staked its claim. His legs buckled. He reached out, but it was too late to stop.
I opened my mouth and my dragon took over, lunging to sever the man in two. His head butted against the roof of my mouth, bones snapped, piercing the soft flesh as I thrashed my head from side to side. My throat opened and the warm, salty liquid ran down my throat as my dragon bellowed. You came for the wolf? Then, you’ll have to go through me.
Light pierced the trees. I jerked from the glare and the remains of the shifter fell from my mouth, hitting the ground with a thud as I hissed. The burn spread along the back of my leg as the light grew, then faded. Blackened scales sloughed away, crimson glistened underneath. I sniffed the stench of burning flesh and felt the fire leak from my belly to sear my throat.
The scent of burning pine followed as another flash lit up the sky. I closed my eyes to the glare and the scent of scorched earth stung my nose. The thin pines creaked and moaned like a tired old man as I barged through the small gap.
A grunt echoed, followed by a male growl that was all too familiar. The Sheriff wrestled with Rowen in one hand and pointed the gun at Abrial with the other. “Try that again and I’ll knock you out. Now, move or the sister gets a head full of pellets. You wolves are tough, I’ll give you that. But the boss gave strict instructions. It’s either the both of you, or you alone. Now, I don’t give a fuck about the redhead, but you… you’re my ticket out of this fucking place.”
The power of my dragon hummed with a deadly charge, sending a shiver along my scales, then like the turn of a dial the energy died away. I shoved my way through the thicket, catching red amongst the green. Abrial dragged herself up from the ground. Fresh blood coated her face, running in a rivulet down her forehead. She swiped her cheek, jerking her head toward the thud as my feet hit the ground.
The pain in her eyes sliced me down the middle. She lifted her head, taking in every inch of the beast, then smiled and muttered. “I knew you’d come.”
A low keening sound echoed from my chest to resound along my throat. She called the Bloodletter and he answered. He
loved her as much as I did. The Sheriff’s hooded gaze widened as he swung his focus from Abrial to me. His lips moved, mouthing words I didn’t care to hear. I stilled while the scent of Abrial’s blood swirled in my veins and clenched a steel trap around my heart.
“Do what he says, child. No one else needs to get hurt.” I spun toward the sound as Abrial’s father slid from the shadows. He risked a glance to his daughter, then fixed his gaze on me. “Easy now, all they want is the mage.”
Abrial’s face turned as red as her hair. She climbed to her feet and swayed, spitting her words like venom. “You! Don’t you dare call me child. Her name is Rowen, you spineless bastard! You can at least say her name, seeing as though you betrayed her twice!”
Her father flinched. His words cold as ice. “You’re right. I tried, Abrial. You don’t understand how hard I tried. But I couldn’t save the pack, or my family. I had to choose.”
Abrial’s gaze never moved, but the tone turned lethal. “And you made that choice perfectly clear.”
“Let them take Rowen and this will all be over.”
Abrial barked a laugh and shook her head, sending strands of her hair into the air like sparks against a night sky. “It’ll never be over. Don’t you get that by now? I’ll never stop looking for her. I’ll never stop fighting for her.”
“You always seemed to fight for the wrong things.” A voice echoed from the darkness. I yanked my head toward movement as one of the Bloodstone pack slipped from the shadows.
“Hurron.” Abrial spat.
His long hair glistened and stuck with blood to the side of his face. I dropped my gaze to his sodden hands, crusted nails darkened with the life of his enemy. His sleeves stuck to thin arms and the blood held Abrial’s gaze.
Her shoulders rose. The sudden draw of air seemed to linger and in this moment she stood like a giant, before the gush left her body and she was my little wolf once more. “Bloodstone blood.”
His eyes widened. I caught a nerve twitch at the corner of his eye before he answered. “Seems I’ve outgrown this pack anyway.”
