"Your boyfriend isn't much of a fighter, but you seem like the type of girl who can take care of herself." I just stared at him. As if remembering he had his hand over my mouth, Quillan let go and grabbed me by the hand, intertwining our fingers like we were old friends.
"Luna, Diana, put Romeo here in the trunk of the Benz,"
"What?" I gasped. Quillan winked at me.
"Consider him your motivation for behaving yourself." I kicked him in the shin.
His silver eyes grew darker as his pupils dilated.
Uh, oh. "Do that again and I test if that stake through the heart deal works on a vampire's servant," Quillan said.
He steered me from behind the dumpster, leading me with a hand on my back, the other still laced with my fingers. Luna and Diana were carrying Elliot like he weighed nothing at all. Must be that super-strength thing. Ruby followed us, her stilettos hardly making a sound as she moved through the night.
"Where are we going?" I asked. Quillan was chewing the inside of his mouth.
"To a rave. It's being hosted by Crave, a club in the city.”
All three sisters hopped into the backseat, Luna and Diana chattering excitedly while Ruby studied her claws. "Do you still want to go home, Rube?"
"I'd rather not be here when you do whatever it is you're going to do with them," Ruby said.
"Aw. Come on, sis. What's the worst thing I could do?"
"I don't want to find out," Ruby snapped. Well, neither do I, I thought. Quillan leaned in close to me, his breath tickling my ear.
"No worries, little witch. We're going to have some fun," Quillan said.
That was what I was worried about.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
GEMMA
Astral projection; that had to be what was happening. Several times, I had tried to intervene, tried to protect Ascher from the boy, Quillan, and his demented siblings, but not one of them noticed my attempts. It was as if I wasn't there, or at least, as though I were immaterial. I saw something like this in a movie once, where the good-guy was trapped, helpless, watching the people he loved die, though he couldn't do a thing to stop it. I watched, helpless as my little sister was taken away by predators.
I could smell what they were on the air, wolves. Werewolves to be exact. Trying to stick close to the car was difficult. Traffic kept running through me and though it couldn't really hurt me, it made me dizzy.
When I finally lost track of the car, I was left alone, in my ghostly form on the streets of Chicago. A few minutes of standing around, panting, and hissing didn't help the situation, but I didn't know how the hell I was supposed to get back to my house.
I want to go home!
My stomach churned.
Opening my eyes, I saw that I was in Ascher's bedroom, curled on the floor. I climbed to my feet, took a step, and felt myself sway. Doubling over to let the blood rush to my head only made me feel dizzier. I straightened myself, took two quick steps and slammed into an invisible wall.
Chapter Twenty Eight
ASCHER
If I had to describe a rave to you in one sentence it would be: lots of glow-sticks, kids dressed in white, and loud techno music. Oh, yeah and illicit drug use. As Quillan, Luna, Diana, and I moved through the heavily crowded rooms of a deserted warehouse, I found myself clinging to him despite the fact that I was his hostage. Ruby had split off from the group just as we left the car saying she was hungry and wanted to get a bite to eat.
Ugh.
When we finally sat down on a comforter covering wooden crates, I had to disentangle my hands from his. He gave me a strange look with his silver, husky eyes and I blushed feeling like a naïve little child clinging to someone for safety. Embarrased, I turned my attention to the dancers.
In my peripheral vision, I saw Quillan talking to Luna and Diana who nodded and disappeared into the crowd. People were dancing with abandon, pacifiers pressed between their lips making them resemble obscene babies.
"What's with the pacifiers?" I mumbled.
"It keeps the people who are tweaking from grinding their teeth."
It keeps the who from the what now?
"The kids who are high- the pacifiers help them from breaking their teeth because the drugs make their jaws clench."
"Sounds like fun," I said.
"Do I detect sarcasm?" Quillan asked.
"Oh, no. I love getting smashed out of my mind until who I'm with and what I'm doing don't matter anymore.”
My thoughts turned to my Godmother Elena who'd overdosed when I was just a baby. She was my father's little sister and she left behind my cousin Graham whom I hadn't seen since I was five.
"Hey, relax. No one's going to make you do anything you don't want to do. C'mon, I'm not even going to take anything. I can't. A werewolf’s metabolism is too fast, the drugs just burn out in our systems."
"Too bad."
"Not really. It's not a good thing for a werewolf to be out of control. Bad stuff can happen," Quillan said. He draped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me close until I was practically sitting in his lap.
"I don't really like grabby guys," I said. Quillan grinned at me, showing the points of four of his teeth. His eyes reflected the strobe lights, which were making me nauseous.
"Good. I don't really like girls who really like grabby guys," he said.
Was he serious?
"Just what do you think is going on here, a date? Because, in case you forgot, I didn't exactly come here voluntarily and I'm already up to my ears in over-aggressive supernatural stalkers." Quillan's grip tightened as he tensed at my words.
"Hey, you're with me whether you like it or not so you might as well play nice until I get bored and let you go.” I thought about frying him with my powers, but decided I'd rather have the protection of a werewolf, even an over-aggressive one, than to be alone with a bunch of stoner strangers. We were quiet for a blessed moment until Quillan opened his mouth again. "So, who are these supernatural stalkers of yours?"
"I don't really want to talk about it.”
"Elliot doesn't seem like the stalking type."
"It's not him, I mean…he's not who I'm talking about."
"Tell me who and I'll let Elliot out of the trunk," Quillan said.
"How nice of you. Why do you care anyway?"
"Maybe I can do something about it, put a stop to it," he said.
"I doubt it and since when do you care about…"
"Dance with me," Quillan said.
"What?"
"Just dance with me. It's this song- it's just. It's perfect. Just give me this one dance and answer my question about who's following you, and then you can go, okay? I'll pop the trunk, and give you Elliot," he said. I reluctantly took his hand and followed him.
A guitar riff was followed by the banging of drums. Quillan leaned into me, yelling over the loudness of the music.
"Just listen to the lyrics." I blanched as I recognized Limp Bizkit’s song, Eat You Alive.
I'm drawn to you, something's magnetic here…if I could approach you or even get close to the scent that you'd left behind, I'd be fine
I wondered if the song was written by a werewolf. It seemed very…well, wolfish. Quillan pressed his thumbs into my back, his hands sliding down to rest on my hips. The last time, and first time, I'd danced with a boy had been Elliot just moments before Gemma shapeshifted, I freaked, and my world changed forever.
My eyes watered at the memory. I was tired, too tired to deal with all of this. I'm only fifteen, I thought angrily. The lyrics of the song cut into my memories.
I'd eat you allliiive…I'd eat you alive.
My heart skipped a beat and I tried to pull away from him.
"Don't take it literally," he said, his voice a deep rumbling sound. I balked, turning my attention back to the music and dancing. I was sure that my face was bright red by now and I felt my heart speed up as I realized why Quillan wanted me to listen to the song, were the lyrics how he felt about me?
Oh,
God. First Daray and now Quillan. What, did fire-shifting let out some kind of preternatural pheromones or something?
Turning my head so Quillan couldn't see the horrified expression I knew I was wearing, I saw Luna and Diana wave at us from the bar, big smiles on their faces. I frowned. I would so not be having werewolves for sisters-in-law!
Quillan held me closer to him and, before I could react, dipped me in a graceful, fluid movement, balancing my weight on one arm. I felt my hair sweep over the ground and, gazing into Quillan's handsome face all painted in shadow, his eyes glinting at me in silver, I had to remind myself that I was his hostage. He leaned down and I thought, for a moment, that he was going to kiss me. I closed my eyes and felt his lips at my ear. He was whispering the lyrics. After a moment, he pulled back and smiled at me. I don't know if it was all the blood rushing to my head or if I was truly losing my mind, but when his lips met mine, I kissed him back.
After several lingering moments, Elliot's face flashed in my mind and my magic, startled out of its slumber, flowed upwards and spilled out, into his mouth.
Quillan pulled away from me, coughing. Smoke poured out of his mouth as he choked on ash.
"Oh, my God. I'm so sorry. I just, sort of, freaked and…" Something hit me from behind and I fell forward, and onto Quillan. When we hit the ground, he smiled up at me, his eyes glowing a golden yellow. He twisted in one movement, putting me behind him and lifting us to our feet in a purely otherworldly way.
I thought a stoner had bumped into us, or one of the twins had thought I was trying to hurt Quillan. I even thought a wooden beam had fallen from the ceiling- the warehouse was so trashed and all, but what I didn't think was that I’d see the werewolf who stood in front of us- Fawne.
"Quillan what the hell do you think you're doing?" Fawne asked.
"Making out with my soon-to-be girlfriend," Quillan said. Fawne barred her teeth at us. "Fawne, allow me to introduce Ascher. Ascher this is my ex- girlfriend, Fawne."
"We've met," I said.
Oh, this was so not good.
PART SIX
ALPHA DOG
Chapter Twenty Nine
ASCHER
"So, having the warlock Prince at your beck and call isn't enough for you? You have to go after another girl’s boyfriend, too?" Fawne asked.
"Hey, I'm not here by choice," I said.
"Oh, what? He made you come here? What did he do, tie you up and throw you in the trunk?"
"No, I sat up front.” Fawne gritted her teeth and looked from Quillan to me.
"Quillan, just tell her what happened so I can get Elliot and go home," I said. Quillan's lip lifted in an Elvis-style curl as he faced Fawne.
"She's dating Prince Valerian?" Quillan asked.
"No!" Fawne snorted.
"Practically, she's been playing hard to get, but it's obvious. I mean, who wouldn't date royalty?" I felt Quillan's arm snake around my waist and his breath on my neck as he inhaled deeply.
"Not everyone has your obsession with climbing the ladder of the supernatural hierarchy, Fawne. And don't bother with the lies. I can smell the truth of Ascher’s words, or did you forget?" The coffee color of Fawne's skin seemed to pale as though it was splashed with milk. She narrowed her brilliant yellow-green eyes, running her fingers through caramel colored curls. "Why don't you just go somewhere else, Fawne? Nobody is going to miss you here. Ascher and I still have some unfinished business to take care of."
"I'm sure," Fawne said, fixing me with a look that made me feel dirty. "But, I'd rather stick around, maybe call Prince Daray, and let him know what's going on."
"You call that whacked warlock to come here and harass Ascher and I'll have you turned over to the Alpha for disobeying a direct order from his Beta."
"Still calling Daddy to fix our problems, Quilly?" Quillan's face grew red and he clenched his fists at his sides.
"I know what you're doing, Fawne and it's not going to work," Quillan said. "You think you can make me so mad that I'll shift in front of Ascher and do something… regrettable."
"Um, my sister shifts into a panther. I've seen the whole tendon splitting, muscle tearing transformation. I don't get freaked out very easily, anymore." Quillan smiled at me and I leaned closer, purposely flaunting that I was with him. Fawne was getting on my nerves which made me want to have a little fun with her. "Can we please go to your car now. I really want to do what we were talking about before.”
Though I knew he'd know I meant our conversation about letting Elliot out of the trunk, Fawne would probably think I meant something completely different. If she was going to stick around and eavesdrop on our conversation, she might as well hear something good. I don't know what had gotten into me. I guess Fawne just really made my claws come out. Fawne and Daray Valerian befriended me under the guise that they were going to help me get my sister back from Savian Radbourne, but they betrayed me. Daray used his own cousin as a bargaining chip, and Fawne had gone right along with his plan. She went as far as to shift into her werewolf form to hunt Gemma and I through the streets of Chicago.
"I knew that whole innocent thing was an act. You're just a skanky little…"
"Careful," Quillan warned. A shrill scream came from the makeshift bar. I turned to see one of the twins slapping at some random guy's hands while the other tried pushing him away from her sister. Quillan moved with speed and grace and almost before I could blink, the man was thrown about twenty feet away to land against the soft rotting wood of discarded crates.
"Bitch!" Fawne said. I had forgotten about her for the moment. "Quillan is only interested in you because of your power. Why else would the Alpha's son go for a flat little loser like you?"
Now, I was really mad.
"Yeah? Well, at least I'm not Daray's little lap dog!" Fawne shoved me and I fell backwards. Someone caught me from behind and helped me right myself.
"That's enough, Fawne," Quillan said. Fawne slashed her nails at my face, but Quillan used the arm that wasn't supporting me to catch her wrist. She followed up with her other hand, scratching a sharp nail across the front of my throat. Warmth trickled down over my fingers and I held my hand up to see red rivulets coating the fingertips.
"We'll see who’s the lap dog now.” Fawne took off through the crowd, Luna and Diana chasing after her. I felt my neck to make sure the cut wasn't on my jugular and when I felt the slash a safe distance from any important veins, I took a deep breath to steady myself.
Feeling woozy and very, very yucky, I stumbled. It felt like I was floating, with the rave dancers taking on a weird, dreamlike quality. Quillan lifted me into his arms, his eyes wide and wild.
"I need some gauze. I need a Band-aid or sssomethin,'" I slurred.
"I'll take care of it.”
A few moments later, we were outside, the crisp night air biting through my thin sweater. He jostled me a bit while pushing on his car keys to open the door, placing me gently on the back seat. Closing my eyes, I heard the door shut as I settled against the leather interior. Something heavy pressed against my legs and I opened my eyes to see Quillan leaning over me, his eyes now completely black, his pupils fully dilated. He opened his mouth and I saw the sharp points of his four canines.
"Wh..what're you doing?"
"I told you I'd take care of it," Quillan said, and then he lunged at me.
Chapter Thirty
GEMMA
Air surged all around me, whipping my hair around my head and stealing the breath from my lungs. I’d knocked over the candles when I fell, leaving deep burn marks on the carpet. Something warm and wet trailed down my chin. I touched my fingers to my nose and they came away red with blood.
“Great,” I said. Muscles straining as I climbed to my feet, I reached towards the outer-rim of the circle to smear the line of salt that was keeping the magical energy trapped inside. The air around me grew still and I sighed. Cupping my hands around my nose and mouth, I hurried to find some tissue. Tiny red droplets already dotted the ground. Ascher was s
o going to kill me.
Ascher.
“Oh, shit.”
It took five minutes to get my nose to stop bleeding and less than two minutes to get dressed, grab my keys, purse, and a couple of wooden stakes. I didn’t know what I could use on a werewolf so I grabbed my bolline- a ceremonial dagger witches use, and Ascher’s athame. Grabbing my keys with the “big sis” keychain from the table by the front door, I choked back a sob. These werewolves were going to regret messing with the Rafferty sisters.
Chapter Thirty One
ASCHER
"What are you doing?" I asked, using my fire magic to keep Quillan as far away from me as was possible with both of us in the backseat.
"A werewolf scratch releases toxins that paralyze prey. It's eventually deadly," Quillan said. "That's why you're so dizzy right now. I don't want to scare you, Ascher, but I need to give you a sort of anti-venom."
"How?" I asked. Quillan sat back on his heels in a posture that resembled a dog at bay.
"I have to bite you."
"What?!"
"Just a little nip, not even a real bite. Just enough so that the saliva can mix with the wound.”
"Can't you just lick the scratch or spit on it or something?" Quillan furrowed his brow as if thinking on it.
"That could work," he said. "But, I've never had to counteract another werewolf's scratch before. I think I should bite you just to be sure.
Werewolves were always wanting to bite.
"You're not biting me.” Quillan's normally silver eyes were now totally eclipsed by his pupils.
"I'm trying to make this easier for you by explaining the situation, but the fact is, you don't really have a choice. I'm the Alpha's son, one of my werewolves has hurt you, and it's up to me how I'm going to deal with it." I strained to do a quick sit up and shoved him away.
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