Deadly Beasts (The Curse of the Rose Book 1)

by T. M. Watkins

  “Can we get closer? I can't hear them.”

  “If we break through the wall, they will be able to hear us. Out here, we're good if we keep it down.”

  “But this is why we are here, is it not? To end this. The lycans were going to use me as a key to get into your world. That man there, he was the one that stuck a needle in me to knock me out. He abducted me.”

  I played on it, knowing how my mother ticked already. Someone had harmed her little girl and now they were about to face one livid fae warrior. She sucked in a deep breath through her nose as her eyes narrowed at Gerard, lengthening her body out. Her lips pursed together as she watched him, her eyes narrowing even further to narrow slits. She turned to me and lessened her scowl, her face was plain but there was still an element of being incredibly annoyed. Fury that was being subdued.

  “Alright. I shall open a gap to listen but remember, they will be able to hear us so no speaking, no moving and if you have to sneeze do tell me before hand.”

  My mother moved through the shadows of the trees and stood behind one that had a thicker trunk than the others. It was also on the other side of the luminous wall. She waited until I was beside her and then put her two hands together and pushed it through the wall. Halfway through she parted them, creating a window of nothing. The sounds of Eliandra's bubble world could be heard, all without them knowing.

  “How is it my fault Gerard? You should have been prepared for an attack.”

  “You were supposed to ensure they couldn't leave that blasted sanctuary Eliandra. That was part of the deal remember? You were supposed to put a spell on the place as soon as we confirmed William was in limbo.”

  “What are you complaining about? You got your key easier than you had thought and as a bonus you got a vampire to feast on. It's not my fault you didn't use the girl in time. Stop your bitching.”

  “You damn well know it was all about the timing. That's why you were supposed to put the spell on the place. Your obsession with the vampire has caused a perfect plan to become a complete farce.”

  “I'd watch out if I were you. My little pet will be needing his dinner soon and I would imagine that a lycan will seem most tasty when he is starving.”

  I wanted to dive through the clear wall and kill her, she was starving him and calling him a pet. It was likely that she was getting payback for all these years of refusal.

  “Fine.” He hissed.

  The sound of her soft maniacal laugh shadowed the crunching of gravel. In the distance to our right, Gerard was walking away. My mother removed her hands watching as he approached the wall, grabbing my hand she pulled me through it when it rippled. Gerard leaving had been perfect, the ripple was obvious and our own entry would have been easily detected. The look of supremacy on my mother's face amazing, clearly she liked it when things worked in her favour.

  Eliandra sauntered back into her house. It didn't look like the kind of place that I had pictured her living in. I expected some flash town house in the fashionable part of the city but she was in the middle of the woods in a tiny wood shack. It was picturesque, I'll give her that but it just didn't seem to fit the Eliandra that sauntered into my room. The area around the shack was cleared, the grass was cut and a gorgeous shade of green. There were a few pockets of wild flowers around the edges of the clear wall and a well sat off to the other side of the shack. I wondered if she was hiding. It seemed reasonable, William said that she had been stripped of her powers after she attacked me yet clearly that wasn't true. How could she put a spell on him if she had no powers? Something was amiss here and I wanted to know how she could still cast spells when she shouldn't be able to.

  We slipped to the side of the house, leaning to the wall with the hope that we might hear something. My mother took a quick look, assessing the view. She held up one finger which I thought must mean there was only Eliandra in there. I mouthed William with a concerned frown and she gestured to the bottom of the breast plate, lifting it to show some kind of metal. I frowned at her again, was she wearing chain mail under that heavy leather? She raised her eyebrows with a grin. Chained she mouthed to me. Finally the realisation hit me, he was chained. Which considering it was a witch that had chained him, it wasn't good. It could be a normal lock, it could be a spell. Until we got in there, we wouldn't know.

  Chapter Fifty-eight

  My mother seemed so confident, so at ease with the situation. I however, was a complete wreck. It was surprising that I wasn't throwing up because it certainly felt like I wanted to. The land around us was quiet though it wasn't comforting like it should be. I feared that there were lycans lying in wait, or worse yet, witches. Hesitantly I looked to the darkened sky, waiting for the horrid witch cackles to echo as they flew around on their broomsticks. Though I couldn't imagine Eliandra on a broomstick, she looked like she would be hard pressed to know what a broom was. My mother was on the move, creeping around the corner toward the front door, her hand gently ushering me to follow. She stopped and looked at me, lowering to my ear.

  “Anywhere will kill with a poisoned blade but the heart is instant death. Aim for the heart.”

  I nodded wide eyed at her, her face had become hardened and menacing. Gone was my soft and sweet mother, replaced by the fearless warrior. Carefully she put one foot onto the wood landing, waiting for that groan that seemed to happen in these situations. It didn’t happen and I held my breath as she took the next step, slowly bringing her full weight onto the deck. She was so slow and concise with her movements, taking care to avoid being detected too early. Her hand was up, telling me to refrain from moving. With each step she drew closer to the door, her hand reached out to the knob. It felt like my heart was in my mouth readying to jump for freedom, along with the contents of my stomach. Slowly she turned the knob and her hand turned upward as she looked at me with a wicked grin. She mouthed her count to three, my heart was beating so frantically I could feel it hammering in my chest. I gripped the sword at my hip, wishing I had the guts to kill the witch for myself but I knew that it wouldn't turn out that way. I knew it would be my mother that struck that all important final blow. Envious of my mother, it wasn't a good trait but she was worthy of being envied. She threw the door open and grabbed me, pulling me into the tiny shack.

  We had caught Eliandra off guard, she was deeply engrossed in some books as she sat at a table. It was stacked in great piles, some open and others closed. There was candles flickering and dripping their wax everywhere, some dribbled great lines over the stacks of books, others dripped onto the floor. But the worst sight was the man by her side. He was chained with a metal collar around his neck, forced to sit on the floor beside her. William was leaning on the wall, groggy and barely able to keep his eyes open. I wanted to cry and fold him into my arms, he looked so ill, his clothes were dirty and tattered. My mother turned her head with a serious look, she wasn't going to do anything. I knew in that moment that this was my show, she just ensured that I got here. Slowly she put her hand to her heart and tapped it gently, nodding with a soft smile. I stepped slowly toward the table, pulling my sword out. The sound of the metal roused Eliandra from her books, she lifted her gaze with shock.

  “What the hell?” She hissed.

  Her hands balled with a flash of colour, flaring it out toward me. The light roused William slightly but only enough to look at us and nothing more. I darted away from the ball of colour, moving to her faster now. She had gotten up from the chair and stood between me and William.

  “You will not get him half cast, he isn't interested in you any more.”

  She flicked another spell out at me and I deflected it with the sword. How I managed to think to do it, I do not know. It was done before I could really think about it. As the spell went hurtling back to her, it hit the top of her shoulder, slamming her into the wall behind her. The remnants of the spell glazed the wall in a thick red dust. Eliandra lifted from the wall quickly and threw out another spell, firing them at me fast. It wasn't easy to deflect them or to d
odge them, one of them skimmed off my hip. I went skidding across the floor, hurtling through the furniture that caused a serious amount of pain. For a second I stared at the ceiling and found the strength that was dwindling fast to get up, looking at the smug witch.

  “Pathetic. No wonder he lost interest so quickly.”

  “Lift the spell and see how much interest he has, witch.” I snarled.

  She laughed as she sauntered around to him, lifting his head by the jaw to look at her. “Such a pretty pet. Do you know who Mary is, my pet?”

  William shook his head, wearily gazing up at her.

  “Who is your master?”

  “You are.”

  His voice was soft, it crackled as he spoke the two horrid words.

  “And what do you think your master should do with the intruder?”

  “Kill her.”

  She nodded with pride as she ran her fingers over his jaw, caressing him. He closed his eyes and softened into her hand, enjoying the affection. It was worse than his terrible answer to kill me, watching him enjoy the vile woman's touch.

  “You see? He does not want you, his desire is for me now. He realises that he has been wrong all of these years and is going to stay here forever, aren't you my pretty pet?”

  He nodded with an awful grin, one that felt like he had stuck a knife into my heart.

  “You are hungry, aren't you?”

  William nodded again, his eyes catching mine.

  “You will be able to feed from her soon lover.” Her eyes flashed at me with a grin of supremacy. “Did I forget to mention that? He willingly gave himself to me, said that I was the best he's ever had.”

  Her fingers brushed through his hair as he looked up at her. His eyes were still weary but the admiration was there. It was sickening.

  “Isn't that right William? You've never had better.”

  He nodded and I could feel the anger burning through me. I knew he was under her spell but it was hard to take. His compliance was awful, his loving gaze at her was wrong.

  “And if there is any doubt in your mind half cast, look.”

  She undid the buttons of her top showing the bite marks on one of her breasts.

  “Such a voracious feeder and lover. Just the first of a few bite marks, the others are far too intimate to be showing someone as young as you.”

  My mother stepped out from the shadows, Eliandra's eyes flashed to her and the smugness was gone replaced by obvious fear.

  “She is a liar, those are the marks of a lycan who has fed from her. Speak the truth witch, tell her that you have not allowed such lies to be the truth.”

  Eliandra stepped back, hitting the wall. Puffs of red floated into the air, the lingering spell causing her become a little drowsy. As my mother stepped closer she snapped out of her haze and moved further along the wall trying to put some distance between them.

  “Tell her!” She roared.

  “Fine!” She hissed. “It is all lies. The spell has made him lethargic and this is all that he has done since we got here.”

  I stooped to William, his eyes looked into mine and it was a heartbreaking moment but I knew he did not recognise me. Eliandra laughed, coldly finding amusement in his memory loss. I looked up at her with pure hatred, I had never hated someone so much but now she topped the list. Even more than Adrian which was surprising, I didn't think that there would be any one that could ever take his place as enemy number one. I stood to my feet looking at the horrid woman who was smiling.

  “How could you treat him like this? You clearly want something but this won't help your efforts, will it? Why do it?”

  “Because he is a liar!” She screamed.

  When I saw tears welling in her eyes I knew that this was more than obsession, this was more than I think I wanted to know.

  “He promised we would be together, he was going to leave his family and we were going to run away. If it wasn't for his meddling father we could have had something so perfect. Daddy says don't let your eyes wander to the witch, boy, don't offer what you are not permitted to give. And of course good little William does as daddy says and rejects poor old Eliandra.”

  “Did you have something to do with his parents death?”

  A grin curled into the corner of her mouth as she lowered her eyes. The tears trickled out over her rosy cheeks, glistening in the light of the candles.

  “Now why would you think that I had something to do with that? Just because they are dead and can't come back? Hmm, that's some pretty heavy magic there half cast. Might be a bit beyond my expertise.”

  She said it but I did not believe it for one second. I think she had a lot to do with their death. Eliandra was moving ever so slightly, I looked at the wall further along and saw a long brown stick. A wand. Damn it my mind hissed. She was distracting me and I had fallen for it.

  “Stop moving, I know what you are after.”

  I stalked closer as she began to fumble with the chain, pulling William to her. “Please, don't.” She begged. “You win, take him.”

  She pushed him outwards, his body slumped to the floor. My mother stepped out and lifted William into her arms.

  “Do not trust the words of a darkened witch. End it now Eliria.”

  “Trust me, I intend to.”

  Eliandra got to her knees and begged, I stepped back noticing that she managed to close the gap fractionally. But it was close enough, her hands balled as she sneered at me, her eyes darkened in the shadow of the light. I rammed the sword deep into her chest, hearing the shocked gurgles as she stared at the sword in her.

  “That's for making me suffer your lies, bitch.”

  Her body crumpled, the blood seeped through her clothes. The smell of the venom was thick in the air as it leached through her body. Her once pretty face was now greying and haggard, crumbling away before me.

  “Keep it in there until she is nothing but ash.”

  Just as she said, the body turned into ash and crumbled to the bare wood floor.

  “Ding dong the witch is dead.” My mother said with a wry smile. “You may remove the sword from the ash my dear, I think that is more than sufficient.”

  I grinned a beaming big smile at her, she was beaming her own motherly pride. As she moved to the door something caught my eye, something that I didn't think was possible.

  “Son of a bitch.” I whispered.

  My mother looked at me with concern, I knew that time was imperative but I could not believe my eyes. It did not seem possible.

  Chapter Fifty-nine

  Walking to the wall beside the door, I looked at the table that was set up like a shrine. My mother assessed it and looked at me.

  “Something of his?”

  I nodded and looked at her. “Can I take it? Will it do something?”

  “I do not know but I do know that it is a spell and if you know that it belongs to William then you would be wise to remove it before it falls into the wrong hands.”

  I grabbed the enormous angel statue and followed my mother out of the house. “How long before he's okay?”

  “Based on his weight, I'd say he needs a decent feed. After that, I don't know. I am not knowledgeable on vampire health.”

  She looked up to the sky, dawn was moving in on us fast. “Hasten dear child, his time in the outdoors is drawing to a close.”

  We moved through the clear wall, struggling with the thick undergrowth of the woodland. As we came to the edge of it, I couldn't help but feel that we were being watched. My old friend dread was back, crawling up my spine in a way that reminded me to be mindful of my surroundings. I glanced around, not seeing anything. We made our way through the field of long grass to the petrol station. Opening the door to three rather worried vampires, I offered them a sun free passage to the boot. Well okay, it was walking out of the bathroom. They watched as my mother gently placed William into the boot, his body sagging with the weight of the spell. Eliandra might be dead but I figured it would take time to be fully free of it.

&n
bsp; “She is dead.”

  “Well done.”

  Augustus smiled with his own pride for me. It was odd, I had never seen this man smile like this and I didn't know how to take it. “William will be most happy that the vile thing is gone. You did what he always wanted to do but was never able to get close enough. She always managed to avoid him when he was ready to kill her.”

  “I'll drive.” Nick rounded the car. “We'll be home in half an hour.”

  Marty and Augustus climbed into the boot as my mother shut it for them, I was watching Nick with complete confusion.

  “Are you crazy? You'll never make it!”

  “Just get in the bloody car!” He snapped.

  My mother rolled her eyes and got into the back as I got in the front seat. I had been front row for Nick's mad driving and I was about to be subjected to it again. Only this time we had further to go.

  “Why not back to the keep?”

  He shook his head as he drove, eyes firmly fixed on the road as he pressed his foot on the pedal hard.

  “We need to go back to the house, didn't you see the state he is in? She's used a memory chant on him.”

  It was as I had figured, the vile woman had done her damnedest to make him completely hers.

  “We have to get him back to the house and into the pool before it's too late.”

  As he drove through the street we passed the woodland that was the front of Eliandra's property, I could still feel that unnerving sense that we were being watched. Nick was driving like he was in a race and I could only hope that there weren't any police around or other motorists that might get in his way. I don't think Nick knew what the brake was or if he did, he didn't like to use it. His eyes glanced at the enormous statue that was awkwardly resting on my lap.

  “Was that in her place?”

  I nodded as I looked down to it. There was an oddity about it, a small scroll was tied to the left leg at the base of the statue. I grinned at the stupid thing, again with the left. It was wrapped around the leg and tied with something soft and delicate, almost like strands of hair.