“I don’t think that you are a killer.” Audrey bravely moved her arm around my waist and pulled me into a timid sideways hug. Gods it felt wrong to have her hold me like this. I felt like I didn’t deserve her, but I wouldn’t give her up for anything. Not now.
“That’s because you don’t know the real me. This person now, I don’t know who he is but I am starting to like him more than the real me. You make me better Audrey.” I didn’t look at her. Instead, I pulled her to my chest and held her close.
I don’t know how long we stood there when Elijah came to a screeching halt next to us.
“Fools! Did you not notice the Were that has been on your trail for the past half hour?” The wraith actually sounded mad. He remained in the car and rolled up the window he had just yelled through.
I opened the door for Audrey. Looking around, I couldn’t see any people that looked like a paranormal. Paranormals were easy to spot if you were one yourself, or if you knew what to look for.
Audrey slid in, trying to hide the fear in her body, but she failed with her stiff movements and her right hand moved to touch the stitching. I didn’t try to grab her hand to stop her from counting, she needed to do it to calm down.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Audrey
When we arrived back at the cabin I had counted the stitching three times. Stone didn’t turn around and try to comfort me. I was disappointed yet I could also see that he was trying to look around. He would open his window a crack and take deep breathes. Elijah would shoot him a look and the window would go back up. It was as if they were having silent conversations that I wasn’t privy to. I wanted so badly to ask, but Elijah’s face was in a fierce, dangerous scowl. I was scared to look into his eyes because I was scared that I would finally see something in them. I was scared that I would see that the anger had Increased tenfold in his eyes.
I climbed out of the car. Nixie waited by the cabin door. She nervously wrang her hands together, but seeing us, she let out a long breath.
“Gods, I was so worried about you guys!” She rushed over and hugged me.
“Elijah…” Stone started but when Elijah got out of the car his eyes were focused on the woods.
“We don’t have time.” He looked back at us. His voice never changed from its expressionless tone but the words sent shivers down my spine.
“Can we at least…” Nixie started, but when Elijah’s black eyes turned to her, she stopped talking.
“No. At best we have an hour before York descends on us.” Elijah said.
Nixie tightened her hold on me. I couldn’t tell, but I was sure that we were both shaking now.
“There is a lake nearby I am sure that I could hide us. At least sing them away.” She offered sounding smaller and quieter than the so alive and bubbly Nixie I knew.
“There are too many.” Elijah stated. Then he turned his gaze on Stone. They stared at each other for several moments. Stone abruptly looked away.
“So what, you want us to stand for an hour and wait for them to attack? We wait for our deaths? No thank you!” Nixie let go of me and started to pace.
I felt hopeless. I didn’t know the past between the York clan and Nixie, or Stone for that matter. They both looked nervous, and Stone hadn’t moved. His jaw ticked as he looked out toward the woods. Elijah watched me now. I didn’t know what to do. The world started to feel too open, too free, too much space. Too much space. Too much space. My breathing hitched and became irregular.
Stone moved quickly to my side. He caught me in his arms before my legs could give away. I wanted somewhere small, I needed somewhere small. The world was safer when it was smaller. It was manageable.
“Audrey…” Stone was trying to hold me up. My eyes were going out of focus. “Pay close attention. You will be safe. I won’t let anything hurt you ever again. I promise.” He stopped, looked up at Elijah, then back at me. “I need you to trust me,” he whispered as he kissed my head. Then, his arms were gone.
Elijah walked over to him and nodded. I was barely holding myself up with the help of the car. The Stone I knew melted away. He transformed into a small squirrel and ran up to a tree.
Elijah took Stone’s place and grabbed my arm to help me keep steady. But all I could focus on was that Stone was leaving us. He was leaving me. He could slip away; the rest of us would have to wait out our fates. I wasn’t sure if I could entirely blame him, but my heart felt like the tentative pieces that were forming back, were cracking all over again. It hurt.
“Stand strong, Audrey.” Elijah watched Nixie who had the same look of acceptance on her face about Stone’s disappearance as Elijah. She remained calm and came to stand closer to us.
“I’m so sorry, Audrey.” Nixie whispered.
Something rustled in the nearby trees. That’s when I felt a prick in my neck. Nixie and I both fell to the ground and everything went black.
Chapter Thirty
Stone
The moment Elijah met my eyes he started speaking to me…in my mind. His voice took up too much space, it was painful, but I kept a straight face. He told me what I already knew I should do. I didn’t want to leave Audrey though. Though our alliance to Braden clan would protect us, Audrey had no such protection. The York clan might try to force an alliance on her. She’d survived the Vedenin clan’s attempt, but a second round…it might break her. I couldn’t leave her, I wouldn’t. But Elijah interrupted those thoughts.
You must abandon her for now. Change forms. Wait. Take out a guard and assume his form. I can hide your scent. Logic ruled his cause and I knew his plan was the only way to save us all, but I wasn’t sure if I could do it. I wanted to protect her, I needed to be there. Looking down at her and seeing how fragile she was in this state of fear, how could I walk away? And yet I did.
Somehow I had managed to change my form and watched as the Yorks knocked out Nixie and Audrey with darts.
Elijah wouldn’t be affected by the sleeping poison, but even the host form he held couldn’t fight off a full-blooded witch. Witches held the power to wield lightning and ,from past experiences, I knew that Elijah could be knocked out with lightning.
Two goblins and a weresnake moved in. Elijah moved fast taking out the goblins by snapping their necks by appearing behind them. The weresnake kept up with Elijah for a while but Elijah slipped out of his path and slammed the weresnake’s head into a tree. These were just grunts and I knew that more would arrive.
I would have to wait until other main players showed their faces. I could take out the witch, but if she was asked to do a spell I wouldn’t be able to do it. No, I would have to wait for a were or another animal paranormal.
I was surprised when a male Zana came out. Zana’s were normally peaceful creatures that lived in the forest in Romania, where they originate from. I knew it was a Zana by the way its skin was a tree bark brown color, and his eyes were leafy green. What really confused me, was how built the Zana was. It was rare to find a male Zana, but to find a male Zana that was bigger than five foot five was unheard of. This one though was at least five nine, and while he wasn’t as built as I was, I could tell he would be a handful for Audrey, which he was heading for. There was witch who was a short little thing with long black hair; her entire body seemed to be marked by tattoos of some sort. I could see some were runes which meant that she wasn’t a naturally powerful witch, but needed the enhancements of runes to increase her power. Elijah went down last after her first attack with lightning.
Two long legged, skinny were-cheetahs headed toward Nixie. They looked like brothers, and I knew I couldn’t assume one of their forms. I needed a loner paranormal. Someone the others were less likely to talk to.
Finally, a dwarf came out. They were known for their hostility and exclusiveness. I watched the dwarf go over to Elijah. I memorized his form and rushed after him as he left the clearing. The witch walked ahead of him, starting to outpace him. As I stretched and reformed my cells into the form of a dwarf, I moved in. I waited until the witch put more di
stance between them. I needed to be quick, at the moment I was completely naked, and I would have to steal the dwarf’s clothes.
I silently moved up behind the dwarf and twisted his neck. I took his weight combined with Elijah’s and set them on the ground. I quickly stripped his clothes, dressed and lifted Elijah onto my shoulder. I picked up my pace to catch up with the witch.
The walk to their vehicles wasn’t a long one, and they had three separate vehicles. One was a family looking van, but I knew the back would have been gutted and changed into a sort of prison on wheels. There were also two black SUVs with tinted windows. The Zana carrying Audrey in his arms, bride style, moved to the last SUV. I wanted to growl and tell him to get his hands off of her, but I knew that wouldn’t make any sense, not as a dwarf who didn’t even know her.
“Come along, Grumpy! That one has a special little cage!” The witch was dancing around, proud of her conquest even though I could feel Elijah’s muscles’ tensing, he was faking being as out as he seemed.
I followed the witch and made my steps a little bit louder. When I took over another person’s place I normally watched the creature and figured out how they acted. Since this was a spontaneous change, I would have to go off what I knew from dwarves. They typically walked heavy.
It had been a very long time since I had been a dwarf and getting used to doing all my movements felt unnatural. The witch and I placed Elijah in chains in the back of the van. He was strapped in so that he couldn’t move at all. The witch started to do another spell. I recognized the words. She was trying to bind Elijah to his current body. I wasn’t sure that her spell would work, but I stood to the side watching as the Zana lightly placed Audrey on the seat. When his hand touched her waist as he locked her in with the seatbelt, I felt a snarl pass my lips. Luckily no one heard it.
Nixie was placed between the were-cheetahs who I noticed wore ear-plugs. Clever, but I wasn’t sure that would work with Nixie. She looked safe for the most part. They had handcuffed her, but left Audrey alone, which confused me. The witch jumped out from the back of the car.
“Zeke!” She called out to the Zana, who was closing Audrey’s door. “I think that the wraith might be waking up!” She sounded worried now.
Zeke, the Zana, moved over to the van checking the inside.
“It is fine. Grumpy you can ride with Imogen,” he said.
I nodded keeping a blank face. Maybe his name really was Grumpy, or maybe he tolerated the nickname because neither Zeke nor Imogen reacted to my acceptance of the name.
The group moved out. Imogen drove the van and I sat next to her. We drove for three hours straight. Elijah remained quiet as if still knocked out. When I turned and checked on him per-Imogen’s request, I saw how stiffly he was sitting. I nodded when I turned back and she accepted it.
We arrived at their facility. The single story building had a big domed glass ceiling at one end. The York clan was rather large. I didn’t see how this facility could house them all…unless there were more levels underground. Imogen pulled into a large added on garage, following the rest of the vehicles. I watched the doors of the SUV holding Nixie open as Imogen parked.
The cheetahs flanked Nixie, who stood on her own. I saw they had gotten rid of the earplugs and had attempted to gag her. I saw that Nixie was chewing her way through the cloth they used. I didn’t think that sirens could take even a partial form on land yet it seemed that Nixie had a lot of secrets.
Mermaids and sirens had dangerously sharp teeth, sirens only when they were in the water. It was more of an evolution thing. For food they needed the sharp teeth. Now their teeth didn’t look like Elijah’s sharp shark teeth, they were more barbed at the ends, tiny little needles. I watched for the car that had Audrey.
Finally, the last SUV pulled in. When the door opened, Zeke lifted Audrey out and set her down, I almost made a move to go to her but Nixie’s eyes snapped toward me. Her eyes narrowed. It seemed that she finally figured out whose form I took because she slowly, barely shook her head at me. She knew what I was planning. I put my foot back down on the ground. No one else had noticed the movement.
Audrey started to stir. She had a bag over her head but she was reaching out. Her arms still free from any constraints along with her legs. Watching her reach out made my body shake with anger. She was looking for a comforting touch. For me. Gods, I hoped it was for me.
Zeke helped her up. She flinched away from his touch and it made me almost shift forms right then. I was going to get myself captured as well, if not killed, if I couldn’t control myself. Thankfully, Imogen started squealing about something.
“Zeke! Grumpy! He is awake! I don’t know if the spell will work again! Can’t we just knock him out with a bat or something? Gods those eyes!”
I pushed her aside and jumped into the van. I removed most of the chains holding Elijah, but kept the reinforced manacles on his wrists. He didn’t even look at me, he was still staring at the witch. A strange expression was on Elijah’s face. It was absolutely terrifying. His lips were pulled back in a snarl showing off his jagged teeth, and his eyes narrowed.
“Damn witch! I will kill you!” Elijah rasped. His voice sounded hoarse and different from the monotone wraith I knew. I wasn’t expecting Elijah to push me away, but he tried to.
I held him back and looked at him, trying to get him to see me. But that is when we both heard Audrey. She called out for Nixie. His expression changed back to the drone, blank look that it always had and his muscles relaxed just slightly.
It should have been my name. By leaving her in the clearing, I might have destroyed her trust and affection toward me. It was a risk that I had to take and I would do it again to make sure that we got out of this mess alive and hopefully unharmed for the most part.
Nixie started to tell off the weres and I knew she had managed to get through her gag. She could to sing the weres into helping her. Zeke called out for us to take Nixie and Elijah to the dungeons using their Romanian names from his birth country, but I didn’t catch what he had called Audrey. I knew that he was speaking to her, but I couldn’t hear. Damn dwarf ears weren’t even average.
By the time I reformed the internal works of the dwarf ears so that I could hear better, it was too late. Audrey was being taken away and Imogen was screeching at me.
I moved to pull Elijah out of the van when he started to step out. Imogen led the way. Nixie started to whisper things to both the were-cheetahs. I knew in no time she would have them under her spell. I saw one of their grasp slacken a little, the other took a bit longer, but he finally caved as well. Now, with the cheetahs on our side as well, it was our team. Imogen stopped talking and just marched forward. I was thankful because my ears were still sensitive to the change that I had put them through and her voice grated on my nerves.
We all knew we needed to make a move until I found Audrey again. That meant both Elijah and Nixie would need to go to the prison cells…but with the doors unlocked. I would come back for them after I found Audrey. The problem was finding her. I was fearful that they might take her to exchange her with the Vedenins. The Yorks had been working closely with the Vedenins for a while and if their partnership was still intact then I had to get Audrey out sooner. The Vedenins would be expecting the Bradens to come after her again because we knew she existed…whatever she might be. That didn’t matter to me anymore. All that mattered was saving her.
We moved farther into the building and stopped at a pair of industrial elevators. The buttons showed two subfloors. Imogen handled all the security, telling the guards on duty which floor we needed. She told the cheetah brothers which cells to use, then left. I watched as she walked away thinking that York had gone soft, and was seriously lacking on the security they used to have. But when the doors to the elevator opened, inside stood a Valkyrie and a Stone Giant, and I realized that we were in trouble. Stone Giants were rare at best and seemed to be the only thing immune to a siren’s song. Valkyries were fierce warriors. This was going to be harde
r than I had originally thought.
Chapter Thirty-One
Audrey
My head was shrouded in darkness. I couldn’t breathe regularly. I remembered this feeling before. The last night I’d seen my father…I struggled to recall it all, but couldn’t. I was desperate to feel a comforting hand in mine. I hadn’t realized how addicted I had become to those small touches that Gabriel had given me. At times, I wasn’t even sure he was aware of how his hand skimmed along the edges of my arms, or how his hands would play with my hair. Now I missed them. I needed them. And they were gone again. I tried to reach out to Nixie whose touch also offered a sense of comfort, but I couldn’t find anyone in my dark world.
“Stop moving your head, Balaur.” An accented voice demanded. He was dangerously close to my head, but I didn’t know how close to me he was. Then I felt his touch, a hand on my upper arm. “We are standing now. Walk.” His words were clipped. We paused after a few steps. “Take the sirena and the fantoma to the prison cells. We will question them later.” He started to move again dragging me with him.
“Nixie?” I called out quietly.
“Get your filthy paws off of me you mother-fishing Were!” I recognized Nixie’s voice and I tried to move toward it. It was going the opposite direction of me. The accented man didn’t like that; he pulled me roughly back in the direction we were going. I walked blindly for what seemed like forever. When we stopped there were muttered words.
“Well Balaur it’s time for a family reunion I think.” The accented man tugged the cloth from my head. I blinked. The room was bright and big. There was a lot to look at, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the creature in the middle of the room.
Its eyes were shut, body curled in on itself. Its steady even breathing told me it slept. Scales were an iridescent red, as smooth as a ruby.
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