by A. C. Arthur
* * *
Mel came out of the cloak seconds after the truck stopped. She’d kept her nervousness about being able to pull off that part of the plan to herself. It was the first time she’d attempted a cloak since that night back in Burgess when her power had failed her and Aiken had tossed her onto his back to save her from the fire. She could hear voices and presumed them to be the witches greeting the driver. They’d come to the back of the truck momentarily, so she had to move quickly.
Easing her legs out and down to the ground, she stayed low as she looked around. There was no place else for her to hide, no other buildings that she could see. The huts the Schenek lived in were invisible. That thought slammed into her brain the second another huge drop of rain slapped her in the face.
Look for the headstones.
She didn’t see any to the immediate left or right and the chatter at the front of the truck had begun to move toward the back.
Think, Mel, think.
How the hell was she supposed to get away from this truck without being seen? As if in answer to her question, she glimpsed a huge tree through the sheets of rain. It was about fifty feet from where she was squatting behind the truck. If she could get to that tree without anyone seeing her... She couldn’t think on that any longer, she had to move. Tapping into all the Drakon powers she’d recently learned to use, she took off running, praying nobody noticed the bright red poncho, or if they did she’d be moving fast enough it would appear only as a blur of color they might pass off as something blowing in the wind.
In what felt like seconds her back slammed against the tree and she immediately sank into another cloak, just in case. Being buried against the bark of the tree gave her more opportunity to look around, to try and spot a headstone anywhere on what looked like nothing but straw covered land. There was no grass or even dirt hills that might be spotted in a normal cemetery. This place looked barren but for the trees placed in what she could see were measured intervals. They weren’t lined in a neat row, but she spotted the pattern after a few seconds of looking in all directions. It was a circle, or more likely, because they were dealing with witches and spells, a pentagram.
The bodies must be buried within this sphere. With that thought she zeroed in on the ground. Flipping to her Drakon eyes took only a second but her vision was immediately enhanced, the blades of straw appearing closer and more pronounced. There had to be a headstone somewhere in here, some type of sign that marked one grave from another.
Clenching her fingers, she silently cursed because she couldn’t see what she knew had to be here. Shola and Ravyn had instructed her to look for a headstone, but neither of them had actually seen the burial ground up close. What if they only presumed there’d be headstones marking each grave? The vampires could’ve been in underground vaults, one on top of each other, and since they were never supposed to come aboveground again, why mark them? Were there some vampire families allowed to come and visit them? Because that was generally the reason for marking graves at cemeteries, so that anyone looking would be able to find who they were looking for.
Well, dammit, she wasn’t looking for any particular vamp, all she needed was one.
The breeze picked up. It was warm but moving fast, almost like the wind during a hurricane or before a tornado. She lifted an arm to do a quick check of her time—three minutes left. She had to move, the truck was going to be leaving soon.
Fuck it!
She came out of the cloak and was just about to run to the right and hope she ran into a stone or some other identifying marker, when a bolt of lightning shot from the sky, sizzling into the ground about twenty feet in front of her. Despite being drenched in rain, the hay began to smoke in that spot and the next time she blinked a woman was standing there. But this was no ordinary woman, she knew that, and Mel was only staring at the back of her. Short wavy hair, curvy body in a black gown that dragged a little behind her and long arms lifted into the air, sparks of electricity coming from her fingertips.
Who the hell is she?
With no time to really think on that, Mel had another idea. Instead of running across the space with no guidance, she knelt and began pushing the hay aside, clearing a path as she crawled along the muddy surface. In the distance she thought she heard loud hissing and footsteps, definitely lots of footsteps. Cursing, she kept moving, the beast inside assuring her she was on the right track. Her hands were muddy now. Her hair and clothes were drenched, but she didn’t stop, she continued, searching, trying to ignore all that she now knew was happening around her. That’s when she felt it.
Moving her hands frantically, she pushed more hay aside, then scooped the clumps of dirt into her hand and tossed them over her shoulder. It was here, a copper plaque pressed into the ground. It had a name on it, something long and unpronounceable at the moment. She didn’t give a damn whose grave it was; her only concern was that she’d found one. Her heart leapt with joy as she reached around to yank the backpack off and unzip it. Grabbing the bottle of potion out, she hurriedly pulled the cork from the top and immediately began to pour about five inches above the plaque because she didn’t want anything to hinder the liquid getting into the ground. The bottle was just about empty when the sting of claws digging into her neck had her screaming, seconds before she was lifted off the ground.
The next thing she felt was her body being slammed onto the ground a good distance from where she’d been kneeling.
“Dragon bitch!” At the sound of his voice she quickly rolled over onto her knees, lifting her head to stare into the golden eyes of Duncan Sankano, the target she’d been after all along.
She immediately jumped to her feet, claws extended, sharp teeth extending. “Vampire scum,” she shot back. He had her by about six inches and at least fifty pounds but she wasn’t worried. The beast within was ready.
“You won’t get out of here alive.” It was a weak taunt, he could’ve come up with something better, but she wasn’t waiting around for him to do so.
Lunging first, she went for his neck, swiping her claws out, and landed with a speed that shocked him right off his feet. He fell back to the ground and she pounced, bringing her arms around, preparing to choke him. But if she killed him, she wouldn’t collect the fee. That split second’s hesitation cost her as another vampire grabbed her from behind, tossing her to the ground where she rolled in the mud. Turning over quickly on her back so she could at least see what was happening, she gaped when she saw the one who’d thrown her.
“Enes.” The name fell from her lips as she jumped to her feet.
At the same time another loud sound echoed throughout the area. It was followed by an uptick of the wind and a familiar scent that wafted to her nostrils, seeping into her where the strength from her beast could be felt pressing against every muscle of her human body. The Legion was here.
“Kill her!” Duncan shouted.
Enes looked over her shoulder to see him standing now but moving in the opposite direction. With her gaze focused on him now, Mel saw he was walking toward the woman in black, who was holding her arms up, those tendrils of electricity coming from her fingers, growing longer, the sound crackling through the air.
Now was the time. She willed herself to shift. Did everything exactly as Aiken had taught her. Focus on the strength, let it seep into every pore of the human body. Relax her mind, give the beast complete control. And then shift.
But nothing happened. Instead there was a searing pain at the back of her neck, a heat that her beast readily absorbed but at a startling cost. It felt like something was dripping down her neck now and it wasn’t the warm rain, it was something much hotter, with a stinging effect that began to make her feel weak.
More vampires filled the space running into the area of the pentagram. Beyond them she saw other women, dressed in some sort of tribal outfits, their mouths moving in sync as they chanted. These were the witches and they were trying to
break whatever power that woman in black was spewing. Mel tried to take a step. She wanted to at least run to them to help if she couldn’t shift, but Enes stepped in her path.
“I don’t need to do anything else to you. The poison from his nails will kill you anyway.” The vampire’s golden eyes glowed as she stared at Mel with what appeared to be contempt—but no, maybe it was something else.
Mel didn’t have time to think of what because the sound of wings flapping came close, the air shifted from warm to a tortuous heat and before she knew it, a dragon, just a bit darker yellow than her own beast, touched down near them, tucking its wings back immediately.
Enes took a few steps back from the beast and then stopped, reaching out a hand as if she wanted to touch it.
“You knew,” Ziva yelled the second she came out of the shift and walked, naked, until she stood directly in front of Enes. “You knew we were coming here, and you told them.”
“Z, you don’t understand.” Enes gasped the moment Ziva slapped her hand away.
“Make me understand, Enes. Make me understand how I fell for you all over again. How I let you hold me in the hours just before dawn so you could fall asleep, how I gave myself to you, body and soul. You fed from me!” Ziva yelled. “And I swore to my clan that you were helping us!”
Mel wanted to intervene. She wanted to jump between the two women because she could feel this spiraling out of control, but she couldn’t. Her legs wouldn’t cooperate and when she looked down to see why, she watched them buckle and her body crumpled to the ground.
“I had to tell them. Temptra wasn’t going to let me—”
“Temptra!” Ziva shook her head. “She’s dead. We killed that bitch months ago back at the cemetery.”
“No,” Enes said. “You didn’t. She got away, remember. You saw all that red smoke in the sky, but you never saw her body, or any ash where her remains had fallen to the ground.”
“The whole place was on fire after we scorched it,” Ziva snapped back.
Now Enes was nodding. “That’s right, and that’s exactly how she got away. And she never stopped trying to raise this army. She created Duncan to help her. Just like I told you, he was sent to Burgess to get help from Montoy to come here and do exactly what they’re doing now. I was trying to help.”
Mel lay on the ground, trying desperately to move or speak, but there was nothing. Rain continued to fall over her, but she’d ceased feeling it, or anything else for that matter. She was paralyzed.
“Were you trying to help when you listened to my call with Bleu, confirming our plans to come here? You had to have told them because last night you told me they were still searching for witches, still hoping to find one who could come up with a spell to get you onto this burial ground. You knew we had a way in, and you told them.” Ziva took another step closer to Enes. “You just stood here and let them hurt one of us. You lied and you used me.” Ziva’s voice cracked on those last words, raw and painfully real emotion etching each one.
“I loved you, Ziva. Remember that? Remember I told you I loved you and you still walked away from me. You gave me that ultimatum and then you left me standing on that corner at two in the morning all alone. You told me it was over, and you had no more time to deal with me, and you walked away. Ten minutes later those bastards came to rob me, and they tried to cut out my guts when I didn’t have enough money to give them. I lay in that hospital for hours, two steps away from death, before Warrick appeared.”
“You conniving bitch!” Ziva lunged at her.
Enes was ready for the attack, baring her teeth and bracing against Ziva’s taller body as it slammed into her.
The two fought and in the distance Mel could see the witches getting closer to Duncan and the woman in black, the one she presumed was Temptra. Glorious winged beasts flew above, some shooting fire from their mouths, others, flying closer to the ground, knocking vampires out with the edge of their wings. The fight to save the realms was in full swing and there was nothing she could do but lie there and blink. Fat tears poured down her face, mingling with the raindrops as she realized this was how it would end. These were the last things she would see before the poison from Duncan’s nails in the back of her neck would kill her just as Enes had said.
Aiken was her next thought as she blinked and through blurred vision saw one of the huts appear in the distance. The potion had worked, thank the heavens. She tried to whisper Aiken’s name, tried to tell him as she had last night as they lay in bed together, that she loved him. She would always love him.
Chapter Seventeen
Theo and Reese had joined Aiken when he was outnumbered by the vamps outside the village. They’d been on their way to offer backup and it was a good thing too, because Aiken had been about to shift and scorch the entire area until he could get to Mel and take her out of there before the vamps could get to her.
So many things happened simultaneously that he had to deal with what came at him first. These vamps were different than the ones he was used to confronting in Burgess; something in the opaque gold of their eyes gave the impression that their mission was focused solely on killing, with no other options. They almost moved like the mummies that had come from the cemetery that night a few months back when they’d fought Temptra.
He used more of his power instead, tossing their bodies away while Reese and his indestructibility power acted as a battering ram, taking the vamps as they charged him and knocking them straight into ash. Theo apparently heard the Drakon signal first because in the midst of tossing a vamp across the ground, Aiken saw the emperor stop, and toss his head back so that his beast roared loud and strong.
The others were overhead, flying through the rainy sky, swooping down over the village. Running in that direction, Aiken could see there were others in the village—he could actually see the huts now that hadn’t been visible before.
“The witches’ spell’s been broken!” he yelled as he ran, Theo right behind him.
With the others in the air, neither of them decided to shift, and a quick glance over his shoulder showed Reese still handling the vamps they’d left behind. In seconds, his booted feet clomped over the muddy terrain as he headed straight for Mel. She was down, that was all he could see, and it was all that mattered. Until he couldn’t see her any longer.
The yellowish glow of lightning streaking through the sky and carving through the ground stopped both him and Theo in their tracks.
“You’re too late.” The familiar gloating tone came as she appeared through a red smoky haze.
He remembered that smoke.
“Temptra.” Saying her name only made the Dhampir smile.
“You’ve brought your little dragon team all the way here for nothing.” Her voice echoed like chimes as the black dress she wore hugged all her curves, covering the evil being that she was in a sexy package meant to deceive. “My vampires have done what we’ve come to do. Our ancestors will be raised.”
“No!” Ziva tumbled through the red smoke, stark naked and covered in scratches dripping with blood. “Mel poured the potion. I saw her. She did it!”
“Lies!” Temptra spat just as Enes came through the smoke too, the side of her face burned to a crisp.
He didn’t know what the hell was happening at this moment and he didn’t care. All he wanted was to run through that smoke and get to Mel.
“She’s not lying, but Duncan stopped her. He grabbed her and he tried to stop her,” Enes added.
“Fools!” In a flash Temptra extended her arm and more electrical bolts shot from her fingers, striking Enes, whose body seized from the power before dropping to the ground in a pile of ashes.
Ziva yelled out, going to her knees before Theo could catch her from completely collapsing on the ground.
Tired of all the drama and the half-breed witch blocking his way, Aiken focused all his power on lifting Temptra off the ground, and
just when she was bringing her arms up to aim those deadly bolts at him, he aimed for her arms, twisting them behind her back so that the bolts shot straight down to the ground seconds before he released her body from his hold. She fell onto the bolts, her body reacting to the electricity but not vanishing into the dust the way Enes had. He jumped on her and let the beast rip free, thrusting his claws into every part of the Dhampir’s body until she was nothing.
Reese, with his powerful arms, grabbed him around his chest and pulled Aiken away from the pile of blood, bone and ash. “It’s done, man. It’s done.”
Wrenching out of Reese’s strong hold wasn’t easy, and was only made possible because Reese allowed it to be, but the moment Aiken was free he ran through the red smoke that was beginning to dissipate and saw her lying there on the ground, her eyes filled with tears as she stared up at him. Her body perfectly still.
* * *
“I shouldn’t have pushed her to be this,” he said, hours later when he heard the door to the hotel room open and close quietly. Without looking up he knew it was Theo.
He’d known Theo would be the one to come out to see if he was okay. Reese would’ve considered it, but Bleu would’ve stopped him because Reese wouldn’t have been able to keep a wisecrack or some other insensitive remark from interrupting the compassionate act of checking on a fellow Drakon. The thought didn’t bother him, Reese was who he was, unapologetically, and they all accepted that about him.
“She made her own decision. Then and now.” Theo sounded just like the father figure, or perhaps older, more experienced, brother he was supposed to be to this clan.
“But I pushed her.” With both hands he rubbed at his temples and tried to tamp down on the guilt that was presently trying to strangle him.
