by Stead, Nick
Amy wore the same dazed expression as the driver had while she listened. Then Lady Sarah released her from the hypnosis and gratitude slid into her features. She gave us a quick thanks and rushed to her front door.
“Will that be enough?” I asked.
“Her imagination will fill in the rest,” Lady Sarah murmured. “She will construct new memories around the story I have just given her.”
By the time Mum had opened the door and grabbed her daughter in a relieved hug, we were already out of sight. I felt a pang of longing to rush over to them, and it was a struggle to turn away.
“Where now?” Zee said.
I’d been so set on seeing Amy safely back home that I hadn’t thought about what came next. The worrisome thought that she or Mum would never truly be safe crossed my mind, one that would no doubt harry my conscience for years to come. But what more could I do to protect them? I’d already tried leaving home. Mum had even decided to move away from that area herself, and David had still found Amy and used her to get to me. And despite spending most of my nights on the move, they’d still managed to find me and capture me again. Was anywhere in the country safe?
“We need to keep moving,” Lady Sarah answered. “The where is of little consequence at the moment – not when our enemies are going to be actively hunting us again.”
“It’s me they seem to be most interested in,” I said. “And they keep on finding me, no matter what part of the country we run to, or how remote it seems to be. Maybe the only way to lose them is to leave Britain.”
Lady Sarah translated again and Selina’s eyebrows raised. “You don’t think they’ll still have people on the lookout for you abroad?”
“Probably. But there must still be some parts of the world beyond their reach; areas of true wilderness large enough for even a werewolf to hide in. Especially if I go somewhere with natural wolves and live with them. How will they recognise me if I stay in wolf form?”
“What about the war you have been so keen to fight against them?” Lady Sarah asked.
“I can’t fight a war on my own. And for as long as the rest of you refuse to make a stand, I might as well be hiding out in the wilderness instead of constantly running and risking my life in the odd skirmish. It’s probably safer than carrying on round here. Besides, Ulfarr still believes me responsible for the vampire killings and until we can convince him otherwise, I’m as much in danger from the rest of the undead as I am humanity.”
“He has a point,” Zee said. “And I can secure him safe passage overseas, or as safe as it gets for us. I may be biased, but I would argue that’s the best way out of the country, rather than risking smuggling him into one of those flying machines where security is so tight. The Slayers aren’t going to make it easy for us, but it can be done. But what about the demon we set loose? It’s still out there, somewhere.”
“There’s nothing else we can do about it at the moment,” I answered. “The Slayers are the immediate threat.”
“If you are sure this is what you want, then we will do what we can to help,” Lady Sarah promised.
“Yes,” Selina agreed. “Maybe we can even stay in the country and visit from time to time, to help remind you of who you are, so you don’t completely lose yourself to the wolves.”
“I know if I stay shifted I run that risk, but hopefully it won’t be so bad now my inner wolf is truly a part of me and not a separate identity anymore.”
“Hopefully,” Selina replied.
“Come then,” Zee said. “Let us be on our voyage before the Slayers put a stop to it.”
With that, I left my family behind for the second time and we set off for new lands. I had no idea that night where exactly I’d end up or how I’d earn the trust of a wolf pack when natural animals feared the monster they sensed me to be, but in my heart I knew it was the right thing to do. And for perhaps the first time since I’d been bitten, I felt optimistic about the future. Living as a wolf might not be any easier than anything else I’d been through, and of course I had to successfully reach a country where I’d be able to do that first, but at least it might offer me more than anything I’d known over the last year. And so I chose to look to the future with hope, ready to embrace the new life awaiting me and leave my past life behind for good.
CHAPTER THIRTY–ONE
Hell’s Servant
Red slit eyes narrowed in anger. They fixed on the face of His servant appearing in the flames, the fire a window to the mortal realm.
Lips peeled back in a snarl of displeasure, still bestial after the clash with the Reaper. That fight had been costly and one He would have preferred to avoid. No matter how great a power any being amassed, Death still remained one of the most powerful forces in the universe. Tangling with him was never wise, but His hand had been forced when the young werewolf’s life was about to end. He’d had little choice but to step in and save the wolf once more.
Eyes the cold grey of winter skies looked back through the flames, still devoid of the fear younger men might have felt in His presence. In fact, the old warrior met His gaze far too boldly for His liking. Perhaps He would remind this mortal of the sensation of cold terror, when there were less pressing matters to attend to.
“I have done everything you asked,” His servant began.
“Yes. And you want me to free you now, is that it?”
“I had hoped you might release me from our deal, yes.”
He laughed. “Don’t act so naïve. You’re intelligent enough, for a human; I know you understand how this works. You knew what you were getting into when you made that deal. You are bound to Hell now, and you belong to me.”
“I understand my soul is fated to enter Hell when the time comes, but would you not at least consider freeing me in life so I can live out the rest of my days as I see fit?”
“That was not our arrangement. Besides, you almost cost me the wolf’s life after I explicitly told you he must live. The Slayers are just a means to an end. Do not forget who your true master is. I could drag you down here right now as punishment, but you did bring me a new toy.”
He paused to caress the human head impaled on a spike by the fire. The beauty of torturing souls over their flesh and blood counterparts was that the immortal pieces of them could never die, even when they lost the pieces that would have been vital to their endurance in their physical bodies. The wide eyes in David’s severed head were not the dull, empty eyes of a dead man. They held the agony his soul registered through its equivalent of torn nerves, his mouth gaping wide in a scream he couldn’t currently sound because his vocal cords had been cut. But souls could also be pieced together for fresh torment, unlike bodies of living flesh. And the demon would put him back together when He was ready for some new amusement. For the time being He liked the soul as just a head. He dug His claws in with each caress, blood gushing forth as the flesh split like overripe fruit.
“He had the arrogance to think he could become an architect of fate,” the demon continued. “All so he could get his revenge for the girl he thought he loved. How pathetic. I am pleased to be able to teach him the workings of the universe. Destiny is not for mortals to shape, only those of us with true power.”
“I am glad he pleases you, Lord. And I thank you for sparing me the punishment of joining him.”
“Yes, this will be your fate one day so you might be grateful that I still have use for you up on Earth. Now go. I will summon you when I have need of your services again.”
The face faded from the flames. Images of the young werewolf and his companions replaced it, and His bat-like wings curled almost protectively around them as He reflected on the latest turn of events.
Having one of His kindred up on Earth might prove useful. He could only rely on mortal servants for so much, given the limitations of humans. Someday He wouldn’t have any need for them at all, but the time had not yet come for Him to return to the mortal realm and so they were necessary, for the time being. Soon though. That time would come so
on.
But the terror demon could also pose a threat to His plans, which had to be taken into consideration. If it grew too troublesome He might have to intervene again.
He kept His wings round the flames, careful to keep the fire shielded from the rest of Hell while He had His grisly fun with His new toy. Yet He couldn’t quite keep the images of Earth hidden, a sliver of the flames visible through a large cut in His right wing where the Reaper’s scythe had struck.
At least the injury would heal, unlike the various other gaping wounds He bore, ever present, regardless of how much time passed. Until then it was more of an annoyance than anything. Fortunately, most of Hell was too content with torturing the souls they’d claimed to notice what He was doing. It paid to be careful though. Events were in motion that would present the opportunity He had waited so long for, and He was not about to risk anyone sabotaging that.
“See how much your revenge is worth,” He whispered into David’s ear canal as He cut away the surrounding cartilage, fresh blood trickling down the soul’s jawline. “When there is so much more at stake than your pathetic emotions. There are things more important than you could ever be. Even the werewolf is so much greater than you could ever be. You are nothing. Your love is nothing. In the vastness of the universe, your pitiful feelings are as insignificant as the lowliest of lifeforms. You will come to understand, over the centuries.”
The soul’s mouth continued to form its silent scream, reduced to nothing but a thing of unending pain. It was all it could do, all it ever would do in the demon’s clutches. For all of eternity.
EPILOGUE
Once again, as night falls and the hour is no doubt turning late for humans, I must leave off to feed and to rest. I sense you’re as curious about the older Slayer as I was back then and probably impatient to hear the next part of my tale, but again I beg your patience while I hunt and get whatever sleep is granted to me. With any luck, my enemies will not find us here for a few nights yet, and I can recount more of my tale to you without being interrupted.
This new patch of woodland I’ve settled in is still and quiet, the natural animals having the sense to hide and the humans sticking to the land they’ve shaped, for now at least. I lurk at the edge of the woods where nature gives way to man’s domain, waiting to ambush the next unfortunate victim to walk past.
I daren’t take to the streets after the latest brush with the Slayers last night, so I crouch in the shadows and wait for my prey to come to me. Even with a predator’s patience it soon grows tedious, but at least I have you for company. Can you forgive my sins yet? Or have you become a vengeful spirit, driven by that same darkness that’s ruled me for so long; that’s spawned hatred in all those it’s touched and created the need for revenge? Perhaps it is the darkness that truly binds us.
Footsteps reach my ears and I tense, preparing to pounce. I will eat well tonight and once my belly is full again and my body rested, then I will continue with my story. Patience, my friend – if I may call you that now. I will tell you more when the new day dawns, and you will have the answers to at least some of your questions soon enough. But first, allow me the indulgence of my dark desires once again.
My victim is a man this time, elderly and less tender than I would like, but I can’t afford to be picky. I drag him first into the darkness of the woods and away from prying eyes, and then into the darkness of Death’s embrace.
Still mostly human in form, I wonder if that makes me appear all the more monstrous. No matter. I begin to strip the old bones of flesh, savaging them as I have so many times before, lost in the bloodlust once again. You can only watch as the light leaves the old man’s eyes, all that he ever was and all that he ever could be stolen by my hungry jaws. Hate me if you wish, but such pleasures are few and far between for me now, and I must enjoy them when I can. Allow me this primal enjoyment for the brief time it lasts, and then we will return to the cave. Until then, patience.
Dear Readers
Thanks for reading Vengeance. I really hope you enjoyed this third instalment in my Hybrid series and will check out Damned (coming soon!). The series has been a real labour of love over the seventeen years it’s taken to get to these revised versions, and is the result of hundreds of long hours spent at my desk. If I could ask a few moments of your time in return, please would you write me a review?
It doesn’t have to be detailed. In fact, you don’t even have to write anything if you don’t want to – even a star rating is a big help! But reviews are really important for bringing new readers to the series, and bringing me a step closer to my dream of quitting my day job and becoming a full time author.
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DAMNED (Sample)
Book Four of the Hybrid Series
Pain, white hot and pulsing through my ruined flesh and bone, excruciating in its intensity. I limped on my three good legs as best I could, a far cry from the mighty beast who had terrorised the British countryside on similar nights of the full moon such as this. But the leaf Selina had used to bandage my ruined foreleg had come loose and the wound was still pumping out fresh blood. My strength was leaving me, the last of my reserves all but gone. I was close to collapsing again.
“Come on, Nick,” Zee said, turning to look at me. “We can’t stop yet.”
I shifted my gaze to Lady Sarah, relying on her to translate while I was trapped in wolf form and limited to speaking the wolven tongue. “I can’t keep this up for much longer. Can we not hitch another lift to somewhere safe to shelter from the sun?”
Lady Sarah shook her head. “You should know by now the kind of country we will have to cross to reach an area far enough from humanity. We are better off on foot, even with your wound.”
“Dawn is still a way off,” I growled. “If you expect me to carry on like this, one of you is going to have to do something to stop the bleeding.”
“Here,” Zee said, tearing a strip of material from his shirt and handing it over. “For the sake of a few more hours, we’re as well bandaging him again.”
Lady Sarah tended to my wound this time, wrapping the scrap of fabric so tightly round my leg that it made me yelp and snarl, the pressure aggravating the pain. I could barely feel my paw when she’d finished. At least I wouldn’t have to endure the discomfort for too long. Dawn would release me from my lupine shape, healing the damage in the process. That next transformation couldn’t come soon enough.
She took a moment to admire her handiwork. “That should hold until sunrise. Now we must go on, before the Slayers find us.”
“Do you even know where we’re going?” I growled.
“I have a place in mind, yes. We will rest there for the day, then we head for the coast.”
“Aye,” Zee said, his lips twisting into a grin. There was a glint in his eye and his fangs were visible. It was the same fierce excitement he’d shown on the edge of battle. “Tomorrow night we go southwest, all the way to the Pembrokeshire coastline and then across to Canada.”
“Oh great, colder climates.”
Lady Sarah didn’t bother to translate my less than enthusiastic response. Geography had never been my strongest subject but from what little I knew of the world, I supposed it made sense. Canada ought to be both large and wild enough for the four of us to
hide in, plus it still had a wild wolf population and plenty of prey to support even my unnatural appetite. And I supposed Wales was as good a place to sail from as any. I trusted the pirate had picked that coastline because it offered an easier escape from the country than simply running for the nearest shores.
Selina was quiet, her eyes scanning the darkness with less confidence than the vampires. Did she feel vulnerable without the tools of her craft? A shiver ran through her. The prospect of colder climates must have been even less thrilling than it was for me.
“Sarah’s right, we should keep moving,” she said.
I gave another growl and forced my good legs back into action, and together we resumed our flight from Doncaster to whichever temporary haven Lady Sarah had in mind this time.
The urban area Mum and Amy now called home soon gave way to the kind of rural haunts I’d had to grow used to since leaving the human world behind. I didn’t have much time to dwell on all I’d just left a second time, the physical pain of my fractured bone helping to keep the emotional heartache at bay. Besides, I’d already reached the conclusion I couldn’t go back; not after everything I’d done. There was no sense in torturing myself with more thoughts of what might have been. So I stayed focused on the journey ahead and clung to the hope of the salvation I felt awaited in far off lands, be it Canada or some other country we ended up in. There was a life for me amongst natural wolves, I was sure of it, while only death lay with humanity. And I’d had enough of death already.
Terror spread through the livestock we passed like a disease, jumping from host to host and infecting entire herds with a panic that ran deeper than the usual fear of prey before predator. They fled to the far end of their fields as we prowled by, and the night air filled with their bleats. I imagined they were pleas for mercy. It didn’t matter to them that I was currently lame and weakened from loss of blood; they only knew the threat of the wolf and the two other unnatural predators in their midst, and instinct told them to run as far from us as possible. But they were safe that night.
