Feeling short of breath from how rapidly she had been speaking, Alison took a slow breath in and then exhaled. “These early trials, along with some of the earliest witch trials on record in Germany during Pope Innocent VIII’s papacy, laid the ground work for the Salem witch trials in this country in the sixteen hundreds.”
“They were vampires.” Coleen spoke casually.
“Who? Ferdinand and Isabella?” Alison’s mouth was open in shock as the implications of this revelation ran through her mind.
“Yes, and his holy father, Giovanni the innocent.” The vampire chuckled as she referenced the pope’s birth name. “Laughable really. Of course most of the Catholic church’s power structure at the time was populated with vampires.” Coleen tisked. “I never could abide the comingling of faith and power. One almost always perverts the other.”
“So what does all this mean?” Sara stood and walked to the bar cart and poured herself a glass of sherry. She knew a drunken stupor was impossible, but given the enormity of what they were being told, she could at least pretend.
“It means we have to kill Annabel and her little clique.” Coleen rolled her eyes at the blonde. “Clearly, that’s the only solution.”
Sara put the bottle of sherry down, and tapping her nails on the small stemmed glass in her hand, she looked at Rachel. “I don’t like the idea of murdering people.”
“That hardly seemed to matter when you ripped poor Ela’s head off.” Rayven spoke for the first time, and as usual, managed to make matters worse.
Sara’s eyes flashed blue and Alison watched as her incisors slowly extended past her upper lip. A low growl came from Rayven as her obsidian eyes lightened and sparks of gray shot through them.
“Poor Ela?” Sara’s voice had dropped several octaves. “Are you serious? The woman was a sociopath.”
Alison felt Bryce’s hand tighten around hers and her lover shifted so her right shoulder was in front of Alison.
“This doesn’t accomplish anything.” Ash’s voice was even as she spoke. “And for the record -” The detective leveled her gaze at Rayven. “Ela was bat shit crazy; so Sara did us all a favor.”
“What do you know about it, shifter?” Rayven bared her teeth as she snarled at Ash.
“Stop.” Coleen sighed. “This is getting boring.” Rayven looked at Coleen and then back at Ash, clearly calculating what the repercussions would be if she took a bite out of the shifter.
Coleen’s eyes glowed an iridescent cobalt blue as she hissed at Rayven. “I said stop.”
The speed at which vampires could arrive at the edge of feral startled Alison, and she was gaining a newfound respect for the restraint Bryce - with the exception of the lake - was showing, considering she was supposed to be the least refined of the bunch.
“Can we refocus, please?” Emma stood shoulder to shoulder with Ash and sounded calmer than the situation warranted. The doctor looked at Sara. “I know it’s a terrible choice, but they don’t just pose a risk to us; humans are threatened as well. Anyone they see as a threat.”
Sara shook her head. “Can’t the same be said about us?”
Emma frowned. “I’ve only taken two human lives and I have to live with that - forever. But this is different.” She hesitated, clearly trying to find the right words. “If we leave this unchecked, they will continue to kill humans and vampire indiscriminately. I can assure you it will only get harder to stop them and conceal their true nature - and ours.”
Sara looked from Emma to Rachel. After a few seconds, Rachel nodded and Sara took a deep breath. “Okay. How can we help?”
Emma’s shoulders visibly relaxed as she sat back down. Alison sensed the tension in the room was lessening and a course of action was forthcoming. Looking around the room, she was struck by the fact the majority of the vampires were truly struggling with the decision to kill the witches. For the thousandth time since this had started, the professor was humbled by how little she actually knew of the world.
“What about the lycans?” Ash asked Emma in a lowered voice.
Emma’s brow arched. “Right.”
“Lycans? What’s this about?” Coleen’s tone sharpened and her eyes narrowed.
“While I was reviewing the autopsy results of the three vampires, I noticed the same comment on each regarding canine hair and saliva on the bodies. The coroner concluded roaming dogs must have scavenged the bodies. I pulled the samples and the thickness of the hair and the shape of the follicle shaft -” Emma looked at Alison, whose eyes were large with amazement and disbelief. “I have no doubt they were lycan.”
“Filthy animals, your cousins.” Coleen looked at Ash as she sat her empty sherry glass down on the end table. “They crawl into bed with anything if they think there’s something in it for them.” The woman’s eyes went to Emma for several seconds before continuing. “No matter. They’re easily handled.”
“We shouldn’t underestimate them if -” Ash attempted to interject, but stopped short when Coleen’s eyes lit up and her gaze focused on the detective.
“I said no matter. Your cousins can be dispatched with relative ease.” The intensity of Coleen’s stare faltered and her tone softened. “You and I have dealt with them before.”
Ash was surprised by the unexpected sentimentality in the vampire’s voice and opted not to push the issue. “As long as we are all aware, and prepared.” The detective scanned the room for acknowledgement and seeing multiple heads nodding, was satisfied the group understood the challenge the wolves presented.
Alison sat next to Bryce, her palms sweating as she clung to her lover. She felt she was moving further from the center of the world she had known. She was navigating along a perilous course, fraught with expansive crevasses and jagged edges. She was casting off the sheltered and delicate world she had inhabited and replacing it with circumstances beyond her control, an ever changing horizon. To her astonishment, she wasn’t afraid - she was determined.
Chapter 14
“It’s for the best at this point. I hate that we’re not together, too, but you’ll be safe at your parents’.” Bryce kissed Alison’s hand while maneuvering her car along a two lane road in the Texas Hill Country. It was nearly three in the morning and the lights of the city had faded behind them.
“It sucks.” Alison had reluctantly agreed for Bryce and Rayven to drive her to her parents’ house near Canyon Lake. Wayne and Elaine were out of town at a convention and the house was empty for a week.
Rayven had been sent as Coleen’s emissary, to ensure everything was executed to the vampire’s specification. Coleen had been very clear, they had enough to worry about without having to work around human fragility. Alison knew she was right, but had resented the implication all the same, as well as the fact she was being left alone with the hostile vampire while Bryce was being wielded as bait to flush the witches out.
“Could you two just give me a small break, please? It’s bad enough I’m stuck in a car with you, but do I have to listen to this blathering?” Rayven seethed from the backseat of Bryce’s Corolla, her posture reminiscent of a petulant child with her arms crossed over her chest and her shoulders slumped.
Alison turned in her seat, and before she could deliver her retort, the air was knocked out of her lungs as the car suddenly began to tumble end-over-end down a roadside embankment. The strap of her seatbelt dug into her clavicle as pellets of safety glass pelted her face.
Disoriented, Alison was only vaguely aware she was being pulled free of the car by Bryce’s cool hands. One of the car’s headlights was still working, and illuminated the shadows near an adjacent tree line enough that Alison could see Rayven punching and biting the back of what looked like an enormous upright dog.
The animal was over seven feet in height, covered in coarse black hair, with its arms and legs abnormally long in comparison to its torso. Its massive wolf-like head jutted back and forth, snapping and biting at Rayven.
“Stay here. Near the car.” Bryce spoke quickly, and th
en a split second later was beside Rayven, grabbing the lycan’s legs, and slamming the animal to the ground. Bryce’s eyes glowed in the darkness, as low growls and hisses escaped her. A quick thrust of her fist into the animal’s chest, and a moment later, the vampire removed her hand, the lycan’s heart spasming in her clenched fist.
Crouching against the side of the overturned car, a low thunder came from the woods behind Alison. Then the vehicle began to shake as five lycans sprung off the car and toward the two vampires. Bryce took the brunt of the attack as four of the animals tackled her to the ground and dragged her into the woods, snarling, ripping and biting sounds filling the night.
The remaining lycan had managed to knock Rayven to the ground, and Alison couldn’t figure out why the woman wasn’t getting up. She seemed pinned, her arms and legs spread.
“I can’t hold her for much longer!” Christine’s shrill voice came from somewhere in the darkness, and Alison felt a shiver run up her spine.
Annabel stepped out of the shadows, clad in a pair of dark jeans, black leather riding boots, and a black scoop neck sweater, her long hair tied in a bun at the nape of her neck. Without a word, the woman knelt next to Rayven. The vampire hissed and spat, her incisors exposed, and the veins in her neck protruding.
“Hold still -- or don’t. Either way, this will be very unpleasant.” Annabel held her hand a few inches above Rayven’s chest. Though the light was dim, Alison could see the vampire’s body begin to vibrate. Seconds later, Rayven began screaming hysterically, the sound piercing the air and bringing tears to Alison’s eyes.
Standing, Annabel addressed the remaining lycan. “Finish her, and then tell your brethren to bring the other one to me.” Something caught the woman’s eye, and she turned towards Alison. “I didn’t realize you were there, Alison.”
The witch walked toward the cowering woman . “You’re afraid.” Shaking her head, Annabel stopped. “Naturally, you’re of little consequence to the bigger picture - nothing new for you, I’m sure.” She looked toward the tree line. “Clearly, though, you’ve taken up with these things and restitution is due.”
Fear gripped Alison as she managed to stand. Her hands and legs shook, and she grabbed for the car to steady herself. “Annab -”
Bringing her index finger to her lips, Annabel whispered. “There’s no point.”
Rayven’s screams slammed Alison back to reality. Looking over the witch’s shoulder, her stomach turned. The last lycan was tearing and ripping at the woman’s shoulders and neck, blood covering its elongated snout. A second later, Rayven was silent as the animal’s massive teeth sank into the front of her throat.
Annabel casually glanced over her shoulder. The lycan was growling as thick strands of Rayven’s blood and flesh hung from its muzzle. “She managed to leave this world in a relatively quick manner.” The woman turned and glared at Alison. “I showed her far more mercy than her kind has ever afforded me.”
Shrugging, the dark haired woman ambled toward Alison. “Professor, given your area of study, I’m sure you’re fluent in the methods for killing a witch?”
Alison stepped back, pressing her back to the side of the overturned car. “Annabel, we can talk through -”
“Shut up!” The woman’s voice cracked, the high pitch tone reminding Alison of nails down a chalkboard. Taking a deep breath, Annabel fanned her hand in front of her face, her voice calm again. “Clearly you didn’t realize I was asking a rhetorical question.”
Stepping to within a foot of Alison, the woman took a deep breath in through her nose, her eyes widening as she looked closely at Alison. “You’ve been with one.” Taking a step back, Annabel shook her head. “Bryce.” Getting no response from Alison, Annabel’s right hand pulled back, and quickly shot forward, delivering a vicious slap across Alison’s left cheek.
Covering the offended spot with her hands, Alison stifled a cry, determined not to give Annabel the satisfaction. Leveling her gaze at the dark haired woman, the professor clamped her jaw shut.
“Again, then.” Barely had the words left Annabel’s mouth before she was assaulting Alison with a barrage of slaps. Her face on fire, Alison managed to deflect several blows, before the woman finally stopped.
“The vampire is a disease, Alison. An abomination as close to pure evil as you will find on this earth. They have sought to stamp my kind out for millennia.” Seething, Annabel grabbed Alison by the front of her shirt. “They come to us cloaked in beauty and perfection, but their insides are rotten, misshapen beasts - wooing and trapping the sheep to the slaughter!”
Alison sunk to her knees as Annabel released her. Clapping her hands together, the witch’s voice verged on hysterical, her eyes lit up with excitement. “I want to show you what they’ve done to us, Alison. You need to know what these things you’ve taken up with are capable of.” Looking up, Annabel’s voice was flat. “Grab her.”
A vise like pressure wrapped around Alison’s ankle, to the point she thought it would snap as she was suddenly being pulled and bounced along the ground on her back, with tears streaming down her face.
Christine now stood next to Annabel, her face distorted into a wicked sneer. “Can we play for a while, first?”
Annabel laughed. “Not with this one.”
With a violent jolt, Alison was hanging upside down in midair, the blood rushing to her head as Christine spun her around several times before raising her high enough off the ground that Alison was now eye level with the two witches.
“There’s always the typical tie you up, toss you in the river, and see if you float method.” Annabel circled Alison as she spoke. “But that’s been overplayed.” Crouching down in front of Alison, the woman grabbed a handful of the blonde’s hair. “We could make you recite the Lord’s Prayer, but I find that particular one trite and a bit boring.”
Standing up, Annabel turned to Christine. “What do you think, sister?”
A short, shrill laugh escaped the woman. “Let’s strip her down and look for his mark.”
Annabel tisked. “That would be more for your amusement.” Pacing back and forth, the woman stopped, cocked her head to the side, and looked intently at Alison. “A less well known method was to bury us alive, but not before driving nails into our jaws.”
The fear Alison had been holding in check, cascaded through her, and a loud sob tore from her mouth. Annabel began to gently pet the frightened woman’s cheek. “Shhh, don’t worry. I forgot the nails.”
Alison felt a prickling heat building at the back of her neck. A moment later, the world tilted again and she lost consciousness.
***
A metallic taste coated Alison’s mouth as if she was chewing on a handful of pennies, and the ringing in her ears was making her feel dizzy, even though she was lying down. After several seconds of trying to focus her eyes, which felt heavy and loose in her head, Alison realized she was cloaked in absolute darkness.
Alison lifted her head, and a hard, wooden object ground into her forehead. Reaching to rub the offended spot, Alison found she couldn’t move her arms. To her horror, her body was pressed between the bottom and lid of a narrow wooden box.
I’ve been buried. A wave of nausea swept through her, and she swallowed hard. Her heart began racing in her chest as she took deep gulps of air. To her horror, in spite of the rapid breathing, she wasn’t getting enough air. The oxygen in the enclosed space was being depleted rapidly.
Slow it down, slow it down. Alison repeated the mantra in her head in an effort to bring her breathing under control. Sweat was gathering on her forehead, and the humidity in the small space was stifling.
Tears began to stream from Alison’s eyes as sobs of fear and panic tore through her. Thrashing about from side to side in a fruitless effort to free her hands, she only managed to scrape and cut herself.
“Help!” Alison choked on the thick air as she screamed. Her ears rang, and sharp stabs of pain shot through her head. “Help me!”
The only response was the
hammering of her pulse in her ears, and the gasping sound of her labored breathing in the otherwise silent coffin.
I’m going to die. The realization that her life was going to end, and that she knew the when, the how and the what of it, brought Alison’s breathing to a full stop. As if a cooling spike had been plunged into her burning chest, the woman felt the stillness of the air around her, and the fear and panic being suffocated by it.
She wanted Bryce. She wanted her strength and comfort, the coolness of her touch. A muffled sob escaped Alison as her mind raced to her mother, and her family’s anguish as they would more than likely never know what became of her.
The stillness of the coffin began to seep into Alison. She felt a calmness blanket her as her heart began to slow and the space between her labored breaths became wider. Her muscles relaxed and she felt as if she were sinking into the porous wood of the box, unaware of the scratching sound coming from the earth above her.
“Alison!” Bryce ripped the coffin’s wood lid free of its metal hinges and threw it across the deserted field. Her hands and nails caked with dirt, she scooped the unconscious woman into her arms, and in a single leap, landed nearly ten feet from where Alison had been buried.
Gently laying the blonde to the ground, Bryce tilted her head back and began to carefully administer CPR. Tempering the chest compressions for fear she would crush Alison, Bryce listened for the woman’s heartbeat. The silence was deafening.
“Please breathe.” Forcing three breaths into Alison’s lungs, Bryce paused. A faint thumping sound was coming from Alison’s chest. “That’s it.” A moment later, a dry, wheezing cough broke the silence.
Bryce turned her on her side, and began rubbing her back. “It’s okay. Breathe slow.”
Alison’s entire body ached as she rolled onto her back. Her eyes burned and her lungs felt stiff and hot. Managing to focus, she saw the piercing green of Bryce’s eyes inches from her. Trying to speak, her throat felt like sandpaper. “Bryce.” The single syllable sent a stab of pain down her throat.
Dying Forever (Waking Forever Book 3) Page 25
