by Cheree Alsop
Aleric launched himself at the Ashstock. The werewolf grabbed him by the shirt and threw him to the ground. Aleric kicked out and sent the werewolf over his head. The werewolf hit the wall and then the ground, but was up on his feet again and charging. He hit Aleric with the force of a bull, barreling him to the ground once more.
The sound of glass shattering was followed by the ear-piercing concussion of a bullet striking the asphalt next to Aleric’s head.
Aleric looked up to see Dartan standing over the Chosen. The vampire had pulled one of Minnow’s red and white checkered table cloths over his head before diving through the window. The Chosen’s gun lay a few feet away. If it wasn’t for the vampire, the bullet would have been lodged in Aleric’s skull.
Iris stood in the diner with a hand to her mouth and her cellphone at her ear.
“That’s the coward’s way to fight,” Dartan said. He glared down at the Chosen.
Aleric’s attention was brought back to his own fight when the werewolf grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and his thigh and threw him against the wall. He hit the ground and rolled back up to his feet, only to see the werewolf sprinting down the street.
“Aleric!” Dartan called, but Aleric took off running.
The werewolf was fast, darting around corners and over fences as if they weren’t there. Aleric was about to phase so he could catch up to the werewolf when the fae took off up the side of a building still under construction. Aleric climbed the building after him, pulling up on I-beams and leaping to catch those above. They were nearly to the top before the werewolf slowed.
“Stay away from me,” he called over his shoulder.
Aleric pulled up to the final beam and followed the werewolf along it. He glanced down and realized how high up they had gone. Houses, blocks of apartments, and smaller buildings showed below. The sun had risen completely, its rays warming the chill from the cement and asphalt city. The trees of the small park beyond the next block glowed brilliant and green against the grass. Aleric was immensely grateful Dartan hadn’t followed. The vampire no doubt already had plans to torture him over the helicopter heights, not to mention jumping down to ride a dragon. Climbing a building still under construction would no doubt push the vampire’s comfort zone yet again.
The werewolf teetered on the edge of the final beam. He made as if to step forward.
“Wait!” Aleric called. “What are you doing?”
The werewolf turned. There was a wildness to his eyes that told of the desperation he felt.
“There’s no getting away from them,” the werewolf said.
Aleric’s heart tightened at the thought of the Drakathan. His guess had been right, then. He knew the hopelessness that came from acting in their clutches, but he was amazed the werewolf’s instincts would let him step off the edge of a building. He tried to stall as he searched desperately for a way to get them both down. “We can find a way,” he replied.
The werewolf’s voice was incredulous when he asked, “Yeah? How’s that going for you?”
Aleric remembered his fear at returning to Blays. It wasn’t because he had been worried about the reaction of the citizens. Instead, it was a deep, morbid fear that the Drakathan would find him and put him back to use. He wouldn’t have other people’s blood on his hands any longer. He would do exactly what the werewolf was about to, instincts or not.
“There’s got to be another way,” Aleric said. “Help me stop them. We’re stronger together.”
The werewolf snorted. “Like strength in numbers matters to them. The Drakathan are stronger than any of us; you know that.” His head lowered and his voice cracked when he said, “I tried to free the rest of them.”
That caught Aleric’s attention. “The rest of who?”
“The werewolves,” he replied. “The werewolves the Drakathan are holding prisoner.”
Aleric’s heart slowed; he had thought he was the last of his race. The appearance of the werewolf at the Chosen’s side had caught him off-guard. The thought that there were others alive, caught in the Drakathan’s clutches, filled him with fire.
“I didn’t know there were others,” he said. “We have to free them!”
The werewolf shook his head. “I’ve tried. I’ve lost too much. There’s only one path left to take.” He stepped over the edge.
Aleric threw himself after the werewolf. He caught the werewolf’s arm in a grip of iron. The momentum and the werewolf’s weight nearly pulled him over; Aleric grabbed the flange of the I-beam at the last second.
“Let me go!” the werewolf said, looking up at him with wide, tear-filled eyes. “This is my choice; it’s the only choice I can make for myself. They aren’t making me do this. I get to choose this.”
“No,” Aleric growled.
The werewolf’s eyes narrowed. “Then I’ll take you with me,” he said. He pushed away from the nearest support beam with both feet. The movement dislodged Aleric. He slid over the edge, their entire weight on his fingers.
“Stop!” Aleric called. “Listen to me! I followed you all the way up here. Give me at least that.”
The werewolf’s movements slowed. “What?” he finally asked.
“Tell me how to save them.”
The werewolf shook his head. “Weren’t you listening? There isn’t a way.”
“You said you tried,” Aleric pressed. “How did you try if there isn’t a way? You must’ve had some idea.”
The werewolf was quiet for a moment. Aleric gritted his teeth against the strain of both of their bodies centering on the grip of his fingertips on the I-beam.
“You have to break the bond,” the werewolf finally said.
“But they killed someone to make the bond. How do you break that?” Aleric asked. He gasped as the werewolf’s arm slipped slowly a millimeter at a time out of his grip.
“You have to face death.”
“This isn’t close enough?” Aleric replied through clenched teeth as the werewolf slipped further.
“That’s as far as I’ve gotten,” the werewolf said. He looked up at Aleric, his gaze pleading. “I’ve killed people and done terrible, terrible things. I accept my fate. Let me fall and face death myself.”
Aleric shook his head. “I’m a doctor, or at least I pretend to be one when fae are injured. I heal people, not watch them die.” The thought of the ifrit whispered in the back of his mind. He pushed it away.
“You’re not letting me die,” the werewolf said. “You’re simply letting go.” He reached up and grabbed Aleric’s fingers. “You forget that sometimes, a life isn’t truly in your hands in the first place.”
The werewolf dislodged Aleric’s grip and fell.
Aleric watched him plummet through the air. He closed his eyes before the werewolf hit the ground far below. In his mind’s eye, he could see the werewolf’s last expression. It wasn’t one of fear or regret. Instead, the werewolf had given him a look of gratitude.
The expression stayed with Aleric as he slowly worked his way back down the side of the building. He made a mental note to tell Officer Ling where to find the body. He couldn’t bring himself to look at it after seeing the werewolf alive; besides, nobody would stumble upon it accidentally at the early hour. He was tired of death, and didn’t care to see it again.
He was nearly to Minnow’s when a thought occurred to him. He had closed his eyes when the werewolf fell, but he still should have heard the impact when the body hit the ground. Aleric’s head jerked up. He spun on his heels and ran back in the direction he had walked. He circled the building three times, sure of where the body should have been, but searching just in case their climb had disoriented him.
Aleric stood where the exact point of impact should have occurred. There was no body on the ground. Nothing showed of the werewolf’s presence besides the faintest linger of wolf in the air tangled with a barely detectable, tangy, acidic scent. Aleric stared up at the sky above him in shock. The werewolf had found a Rift. He hadn’t given up. He was going ba
ck to Blays to fight the Drakathan.
Aleric pulled up to the first I-beam. The least he could do was help. If he could free some of his own kind, perhaps they would have a chance against the Drakathan. If the Darkest of the fae were behind the attacks in Edge City, Aleric had to do everything in his power to stop them. They never gave up. The human city wouldn’t be safe until the Drakathan were destroyed.
He stood at the edge of the beam the way the werewolf had. It looked like a long, unforgiving drop. Aleric closed his eyes, took a step forward, and felt the wind rush past his face. His stomach rose at the falling sensation. Aleric braced for the impact that would kill him if he was wrong and wondered for the hundredth time in the past few days whether he had just made a major mistake.
An acrid scent filled his nose and the wind changed. Aleric smelled the musky decay of the forest. He realized the falling sensation had stopped. Aleric opened his eyes and his heart skipped a beat. Dark, unforgiving eyes met his gaze.
Thank you for reading Demon Spiral! I hope you enjoyed it. If you like werewolf books, I highly recommend reading The Silver Series. The First book in the series is here:
Amazon link for Silver
If you are in the mood for a different kind of adventure, try the space opera action adventure The Girl from the Stars:
Amazon link for Daybreak
Or if you are in the search for a new kind of werewolf series, try The Wolfborne Series here:
Amazon link for Defiance
BOOKS BY CHEREE ALSOP
The Silver Series-
Silver
Black
Crimson
Violet
Azure
Hunter
Silver Moon
The Werewolf Academy Series-
Book One: Strays
Book Two: Hunted
Book Three: Instinct
Book Four: Taken
Book Five: Lost
Book Six: Vengeance
Book Seven: Chosen
The Haunted High Series-
The Wolf Within Me
The Ghost Files
City of Demons
Cage the Beast
Ashes of Night
Heart of the Wolf Part One
Heart of the Wolf Part Two
The Galdoni Series-
Galdoni
Galdoni 2: Into the Storm
Galdoni 3: Out of Darkness
The Small Town Superheroes Series-
Small Town Superhero
Small Town Superhero II
Small Town Superhero III
Keeper of the Wolves
Stolen
The Million Dollar Gift
Thief Prince
When Death Loved an Angel
The Shadows Series
Shadows- Book One in the World of Shadows
Mist- Book Two in the World of Shadows
The Monster Asylum Series
Book One- The Fangs of Bloodhaven
Girl from the Stars
Book 1- Daybreak
Book 2- Daylight
Book 3- Day’s End
Book 4- Day’s Journey
Book 5- Day’s Hunt
The Pirate from the Stars
The Dr. Wolf Series
Book 1- Shockwave
Book 2- Demon Spiral
Book 3- The Four Horsemen
Book 4- Dragon’s Bayne
The Wolfborne Saga
Book 1- Defiance
Book 2- Ricochet
Book 3- Dark Coven
Book 4- Ghost Moon
The Prince of Ash and Blood
Game Breaker
Orion’s Fall
Find more books by Cheree Alsop here: Cheree Alsop’s Website
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Reviews are greatly appreciated as the best way for readers to find new books. If you enjoyed this book, please leave a review so that others can find it as well!
Amazon link to review Demon Spiral
About the Author
Cheree Alsop is an award-winning, best-selling author who has published over 50 books. She is the mother of a beautiful, talented daughter and amazing twin sons who fill every day with joy and laughter. She is married to her best friend, Michael, the light of her life and her soulmate who shares her dreams and inspires her by reading the first drafts and giving much appreciated critiques. Cheree works as a fulltime author and mother, which is more play than work! She enjoys reading, traveling to tropical beaches, riding motorcycles, playing the bass for the band Alien Landslide, spending time with her wonderful children, and going on family adventures. Cheree and Michael live in Utah where they rock out, enjoy the outdoors, plan great quests, and never stop dreaming.