Force of Fire

by Ali Vali

  “Thanks,” she said, thinking it was a sort of compliment.

  “Where do you think this thing is?” Morgaine asked, holding the skin up again.

  “I think the last of the ones he first created were the two in the vault, but this one seems different, so wherever he went, that thing went with him.” She touched the leather restraints and noticed how they’d frayed under considerable pressure.

  “That’s going to be tough to get through customs if he left the country,” Morgaine said.

  “Not if it walks out with him on two legs,” Vadoma said, and the statement rang true.

  * * *

  Convel sat in the front seat next to the driver who’d picked them all up from the helipad and taken them to the watcher Rodriguez’s house, and was now bringing them back for their flight home. It wasn’t a very long stay since Piper had almost immediately headed to a statue that had appeared to come from the site. Charlie picked it up and turned it over. Inside were tightly rolled scrolls that appeared to be old animal skins.

  She glanced back at Lowe, noticing how animated she looked talking to Piper. They were probably about the same age, and Lowe hadn’t had too many good friends among the weres that had traveled with them, so she seemed to be enjoying Piper’s company. They needed to discuss this situation before they went anywhere else, and it sounded like Kendal had figured out the next step, so they’d be moving on as soon as they were all back together.

  Convel really wanted to talk to Tala and Lovell and ask exactly why they were here at all. Neither she nor Lowe was prepared for this, and before they were placed in a situation she couldn’t save them from, she needed all the answers. She hadn’t treasured anything or anyone in so long, so nothing was worth losing Lowe. She wanted to complete their obligation, but she’d walk away before she sacrificed the one she loved more than anything in her life.

  “When we get back, we need to talk,” she said to Lowe when they stopped and everyone started for the helicopter.

  “About what?” Lowe slid her palm against hers and waved for Piper to go on. “Are you okay?” Lowe lifted her other hand and caressed her cheek.

  “Nothing’s wrong. I just want to spend a few minutes alone talking to you before we have to go out again.” Lowe nodded and kissed her before tugging her toward their ride.

  Piper stopped and waited for them, then asked Lowe to give her a few minutes with Convel. When Lowe seemed reluctant to leave them alone, Convel leaned down and pressed her lips to Lowe’s temple and let her go. Asra’s mate was more than she seemed, and up to now she’d underestimated her.

  “Will you tell her the truth?” Piper asked with no judgment. “I know you think she’ll change her mind about you, but she won’t. Like me, Lowe knows her mate’s not perfect, but you are the other half of her soul. It’s not about forgiveness. It’s about acceptance.”

  “Do you think I have a soul?” she asked, wondering what the Clan taught its converts.

  “Does it matter what I think?” Piper smiled in a way that made her appear young and beautiful. “But if you really need an answer, then I think you’re as human as I am. I might have joined Asra in forever, but I don’t think I’m any different than before, and no matter what you have trapped inside, you’re not different.”

  “So you’re a seer?” Unlike the were seer Trudy, Piper didn’t flaunt her gift.

  “That’s what they tell me, but I’m not very good at it yet. Some things come easily and clearly, and Lowe’s love for you is something even I can almost touch.”

  “Thank you,” she said, lowering her eyes to the ground.

  “Give her the chance to prove her love for you. The forever part of it is so much better when you give her your true self,” Piper said, placing her hand on her forearm. “Only then do you know that you’re loved for all the right reasons.”

  The trip was quiet, as if everyone aboard was lost in their own thoughts, so Lowe followed Convel to their room when they landed and locked the door when they were both inside. Before she could say anything, Lowe came to her and pressed against her before tugging her head down and kissing her like she was trying to brand her.

  “I need you to know something before we go any farther with the slayer and Piper,” she said, then went rigid. The shift came before she could undress, and her clothes tore from her body as she growled at the door. Lowe opened it, and she ran to the master bedroom and stood between the three young vampires and the baby bed.

  The handsome young man and the two women shifted as well, going from their beautiful façade to the faces of the demons that now lived within them, but she lowered her head and snarled at them. If they took a step toward the slayer’s baby, she’d rip their throats out before ripping their hearts from their chests. The nanny was behind her next to the crib, but she would’ve been no match for Vadoma’s filth.

  “Move aside, animal,” the male said as the women stood a foot behind him.

  She didn’t move when Asra arrived with her sword with Piper right behind her. The vampires hissed at the slayer but moved back a few steps when Asra, like her, showed no fear. To add to the tableau they were locked in, the baby started crying, sounding totally miserable.

  “Convel, watch Hali,” Kendal said as Piper stood back.

  It didn’t take long for Kendal to move and drive her sword through the male, and he disappeared in a cloud of dust. The women shrieked and divided to try to get around Kendal, but her sword struck again and another one died, but the other one got close to Hali before Convel jumped on her and sank her fangs into her throat. She shook her head and the woman clawed at her eyes, scratching her before Kendal was able to turn around and drive her sword through the woman’s chest.

  Her mouth filled with dust a second later, and she shook her head in disgust. The danger was gone so she shifted, not caring that she was naked, but Piper held out a robe to her and embraced her when she’d tied it off. “Thank you for saving our daughter.”

  Kendal nodded and offered her a hand. “Thank you. I’m in your debt, but Vadoma will pay for this,” Kendal said, turning to leave.

  “Wait,” Convel said, holding on to Kendal to keep her in the room. “These didn’t belong to her. Believe me, I hate to say it, but I recognize the scent. They’re not of her creation.”

  Vadoma came up as if she’d sensed they were talking about her, and her eyes went from them to the smattering of dust on the floor and the sword in Kendal’s hand. “What happened?”

  “Some of your disciples decided my baby was fair game,” Piper said with so much anger that Vadoma took a step back, shaking her head with her hands out in front of her.

  “Do you honestly think I’d condone that?” Vadoma stood straighter and seemed to make a decision when she stepped closer. “I was once a mother who had to leave her child after my cousin took my humanity, so I would never allow any follower of mine near a child. You don’t have to believe me, but that’s the truth.”

  “Piper, it wasn’t her,” Convel said, not happy that she had to agree with this abomination. “They were followers of Ora, but they weren’t from her or from here. The accents were European, so we need to figure out how they got this close to us without raising any alarms.”

  Piper nodded, then ran out of the room and down the hall toward Lenore and Morgaine’s room. When they all joined her, Lowe was standing near Ana’s bed with Morgaine close by with her sword in her hand. The moment Vadoma stepped in, Morgaine raised her weapon and went after her with the obvious intent to kill her until Kendal stopped her advance by raising her own sword and stopping the swing.

  “I know you’re pissed, but it’s not her,” Kendal said, the muscles in her jaw clenched to keep Morgaine back. “They were Ora’s, and they’ve probably been out there awhile, but only decided to attack now. That doesn’t make any sense, considering we’re in here, and they had to know they wouldn’t succeed. They would’ve had a better chance had they waited until we were all away.”

  “They were fledg
lings,” Convel said, placing her hand on Morgaine’s wrists. “I can’t explain why they were here, but they were probably some of her last converts.”

  Lenore placed her hands around Lowe’s thick neck and cried into the soft pelt. “Thank you for protecting our child.”

  “Thank you both,” Morgaine said, finally relaxing.

  “Asra, we have to leave by morning, and we have to be vigilant tonight for any more attacks,” Convel said, moving toward Lowe. “I can’t be sure, but I think this is Garza’s way of telling you that he’s untouchable. He knows you’re here, and he’s flaunting his power over every one of your enemies and showing how you can’t beat him at this game.”

  “I’m not interested in touching him,” Kendal said menacingly. “I’m interested in killing him and whatever kind of freak show he’s got under his spell.”

  “Lock the doors and have Rawney place a protection spell to keep out anyone not welcome until we’re gone,” she said, taking Lowe back toward their room. “The problem with taunting anyone is you show your hand, and that only makes it easier to chew off.”

  Convel dropped Kendal’s robe and waited for Lowe to shift back once they were alone again, wanting to finish their talk before anything else happened. She held Lowe, enjoying the press of her skin along her length. This woman had reached inside her and made the world much more bearable, and had never let the cruelty that had marred much of her human life extinguish the hope and wonder she seemed to have in abundance.

  “They were going to kill those little babies,” Lowe said tearfully.

  “I don’t think that’s why they came, but I’m glad we stopped them.”

  “Why do you think they came?” Lowe leaned back a little to look her in the eye.

  “To take them, not kill them. You take what’s most precious to someone, and they’ll do anything to get it back,” she said, knowing she hadn’t been that different when she was younger. “I want to finish our talk from earlier.”

  “Nothing you can tell me will change my mind about being with you,” Lowe said, intuitively knowing she was afraid of the conversation.

  “I hope that’s true, but Piper’s right in that you deserve the truth.” Lowe took her hand, led her to the bed, and curled around her with her head on her shoulder once they’d lain down. “I met the slayer early in her life in Macedonia,” she said, and the faces of those who’d followed her away from the pack and their families came flooding back to her.

  “It’s okay, baby,” Lowe said, rubbing her back. “Just say it.”

  * * *

  Macedonia 142 BC, The Korab Mountain Range

  Convel sat up in the cave they’d been using as their den and tried to drink some water. The wound on her hand the slayer had put there had festered and left her feverish for days, until she’d used the salve Erik had left. It was actually healing, but it would take time since she’d waited so long to apply it. Two of the males had led the hunts while she recovered, and her lover had stayed behind to care for and protect her.

  The pack returned with two calves from the farms below them and dropped them at her feet. Her two best men seemed proud of themselves as they stood naked and bloodied from their easy victory. It was then she knew that part of what the slayer had said was true. She’d led these people not only away from their families, but away from their true nature. Wolves were true hunters, not thieves that brought down farm animals.

  “We’re leaving as soon as I’m healed,” she said, and the celebration and feeding frenzy stopped. “It’s time to start hunting again before we forget how.”

  “I thought we left so we didn’t have to scrounge like the rest of the pack,” one of the males said. “These people will learn to fear us, and that’ll allow us to take whatever we want.”

  “The slayer found us easily enough, so we need to move on, but more importantly, we need to remember the part of ourselves that makes us unique. Hunting is our right and our heritage.”

  “No,” one of the others said. “Taking from those sheep down there and killing anyone who gets in our way is our heritage.” The others nodded and looked back to her.

  “Then we stay, but be prepared to fight.”

  “The slayer can’t take all of us,” the hunt leader said. “If he comes back we’ll leave his throat and eyes for you, Convel, but he’s not running me from my home.”

  She shifted since the healing went much faster in this form and howled loudly, shaking her head when the pack joined in. They were right, this was their home, and no one would take it from them.

  Chapter Twenty-four

  “What happened?” Lowe asked when Convel paused in her story.

  “I didn’t find out until much later that Erik Wolver was actually Kendal, but she’d done the job she was sent to do. She warned me, and I chose to ignore her since I had fifty-three in my pack. Erik couldn’t possibly kill us all.”

  “How long were you there?” Lowe said, still touching her gently.

  “About a year, and it started slowly,” she said, closing her eyes. “I’d send out hunting parties, or they’d go out on their own, but a few wouldn’t return. At first I thought it was the ones who’d gotten homesick and left without warning so we wouldn’t think them weak, but then we started finding the bodies. The heads were severed, and the wounds were infected with the same silver that had cut me.”

  “How many?” Lowe said and stopped her hand.

  “In a few months only about ten of us remained, and instead of leaving I stayed to hunt the slayer and make him pay. The last day we were all together I bragged about how I’d kill the butcher that had taken so many of us, and I could barely see through my hatred.” She remembered touching her lover but with no tenderness, yet she hadn’t cared. Her spirit had embraced the animal inside her, and it wanted blood.

  “Another five were killed before they begged me to leave like the slayer had said, but I wanted revenge more than I wanted to keep them safe. I ordered them to come out with me until we found Wolver again so we could fight to the death.”

  “Did you find her?” Lowe asked, placing a kiss on her jaw.

  “The slayer wasn’t responsible,” she said, having to take a deep breath to keep from sobbing. “The butchers that had killed my friends were hunters hired by the locals, and they’d put a high enough price on our heads to drive them into their own killing frenzy. So on that last day, they had us surrounded, and my pack fought to stay alive, but I ran. There were too many of them, and they knew about the silver somehow.”

  “It’s okay,” Lowe said as she cried.

  “The hunters used arrows first, and when they had weakened my pack enough, they used their swords and pikes. I watched and did nothing as they slaughtered my friends and my little sister.”

  Lowe wrapped her entire body around Convel and held her as she cried, but she didn’t leave. It was the first time she’d told anyone what had really happened and how she’d fled from her responsibility instead of leading her pack. Kendal had known the truth, but she’d never called her on it.

  “They killed your sister?” Lowe asked, wiping away her tears with the corner of the sheet.

  “Felan had come with me, thinking it would be one big adventure, and had tried to talk me into going back every chance she got, but I didn’t listen. That day she stood with the pack while I hid, and she’s only alive because of the slayer.” She remembered Kendal standing between those men and her little sister and killing a couple before the others realized their hunting job was over. “She saved her and brought her back to the pack. I’ve hated Kendal ever since because she knew the truth about me. I’m nothing but a coward.”

  “No,” Lowe said loudly. “A coward wouldn’t have faced her past and the woman who was a part of it, and a coward certainly wouldn’t have protected the slayer’s child.”

  “I left them all to die. Don’t you understand that part?”

  “When I was young, my parents threw me out because I liked girls, so I had to hook to survive.
I didn’t want to, but I did it to stay alive. What you did was like that, so I’m not going to judge you for it. Everyone has an innate urge to try to cheat death, so don’t think it’s something to be ashamed of,” Lowe said, kissing her. “You saved me, and you love me, so don’t ask me to judge you. I love you too much to ever do that.”

  “She was right,” she said about Piper, not forgetting but letting some of the guilt go. “I’m sorry for not telling you sooner.”

  “This was the perfect time to tell me, so honor those guys who followed you by burying the past but keeping their memory alive. Right now and the future belong to us.”

  She put her arms around Lowe and rolled her over. “You have to believe me that I’ll never leave you. I love you, so I’ll try my best to always protect you.”

  “I know that,” Lowe said, running her hands down her back. “I belong to you, but you belong to me too, so we’ll protect each other. And when this is done, I want to meet the rest of your family. It’s time to go home, baby.”

  “I promise, but not until we finish this. Right now I can’t face those families who lost children because of my immaturity.”

  “No matter what, the people that are the most important are the ones who forgave you a long time ago without asking anything in return. The rest, you’ll have to accept and do your best to live with, but you deserve a home and people who love you.”

  “Thank you. My mother is going to love you.”

  * * *

  Vadoma followed Kendal downstairs to the large office space and ordered the two people with her to wait outside with Charlie. “Some part of you probably doesn’t believe Convel, but no matter what you might think of me and my kind, my word still means something to me.”