“This is dark magic,” Samira said, glancing at Vicky.
“Demonic.” The word came out in a whisper, but the wolves with her heard it.
“Can you break the spell?” Luca asked, crowding in behind her and Samira protectively. Teri did the same.
Vicky glanced at Teri, who masked his emotions with cold determination. But she didn’t miss how he watched Luca, noticing just how close the wolf was to her. She filed the possessive act in the back of mind for later. After they got Mary to safety.
“Move back just in case there is a magical rebound.”
Luca and Samira backed up to the edge of the porch. Teri didn’t move. Vicky didn’t think he would, and she didn’t have time to argue with him. Ignoring his intense heat, she raised her hand to the door again, called to her Gifted power deep inside her. It came to her, willing to do as she commanded. Purple strings of magic flowed from her fingers into the wood of the door. It crawled over the surface straight to the cracks.
Once her magic wrapped around the darker power fueling the spell, she pushed a stream of energy into the door, covering the whole thing. “Release.”
Energy blasted outward with a snap, making her and Teri take a step back. Teri cursed beside her, rubbing his arms and chest. The spell broke.
Vicky opened the door and stepped inside. The others filed in around her and froze. Vicky didn’t know what she expected the inside of the shack to look like. She hadn’t expected much, considering the exterior of the building.
The inside was much worse. There were holes in the floor and walls. A cot against the wall to their right and a bucket in the corner on the other side were the only items in the room. Cockroaches scurried across the floor to escape the new intruders. And the smell was awful—a mix of feces and death. Vicky's stomach churned. She smelled that scent before, but where?
The hunters didn’t cover their noses as Vicky did and she wondered just how many of those situations they had encountered.
With her hand over her nose and mouth, she scanned the room. In a dark corner was Mary curled into herself, watching them. Vicky tapped Samira on the arm and pointed.
With a nod, Samira moved forward, speaking softly to the female. “Hi. I’m Samira, a friend from Dark Moon Falls. Your uncle sent us to find you.”
Mary shrank back against the wall, shaking her head. It was like she didn’t recognize them. Well, she wouldn’t have known who Vicky was since she didn’t go to a small mountain town often. That was when Teri approached and knelt in front of her. “Hi, Mary.”
Flicking her terrified gaze to Teri, Mary relaxed but only a little. Recognition widened her eyes, then she flew into Teri’s arms, holding onto him like he was her lifeline.
Teri cradled her tenderly against him. “We’re taking you home.”
She started crying and nodded while clenching her fists into his shirt.
Vicky pushed away all feelings of jealousy at seeing another female in Teri’s arms. She couldn’t help the reaction. A reaction that only confirmed what she guessed since meeting the hunter years ago. Teri was hers.
However, at that moment, he was doing his job. Mary recognized him as her uncle’s friend.
Teri stood, taking Mary with him. After a moment, he set her on her feet and framed her face to force her to look at him. “Mary, I need you to trust my friends.”
She glanced at them and tried to hide behind Teri. Vicky’s heart ached. The poor girl was scared out of her mind. She couldn’t be any older than twenty-one if that. And she was human. Sure her uncle was mated to a wolf and lived on pack territory, but being kidnapped by a rogue had scared the shit out of her.
“Teri, go with her. I can hunt for the stone myself.” Vicky watched Mary. There was no way she would go anywhere with Luca without Teri with her.
He shook his head violently. “Not happening.”
Samira glanced between them. She knew why Vicky was there. “I’ll go with Vicky to retrieve the stone. Mary needs someone familiar until she gets home. And my brother isn’t exactly a people person. He’s about as comforting as a snake.”
Luca flipped his sister the bird and exited the cabin, fighting the smile that tugged at his lips.
After a long moment, Teri nodded then held Vicky’s stare. His midnight blue eyes darkened to the point they looked black. “Teleport to me as soon as you get the stone.” He picked up Mary and carried her out of the house.
Sure thing, Mr. Bossy. There was no question in his tone. He simply believed she could find him anywhere, which she could because of the blood link that should have faded by now. She felt the reason why it hadn’t faded was because they were mates. That link could easily turn into a bond. One she wasn’t sure she was ready for.
Did he know that? Was that why he hadn’t touched her since their night together a few months back?
Shaking off the thoughts, she followed him to the SUV.
Once he put her in the back seat, he turned to Vicky. Nodding to the shack, he said, “Burn it down.”
“With pleasure.” She thrust her hand out to the building, and it engulfed into flames.
“No!”
Turning to the sound of shouting, Vicky snarled, showing the tips of her fangs. Bill rushed at them, anger and fury rolling off him in waves. Before she had a chance to react, Samira drew her Glock and shot him three times. The bullets didn’t slow him down. What the hell?
The stench of death and rotting flesh rolled from him. That was when she remembered what the smell was and why it was familiar to her. Soulsucker. Bill was possessed or had turned his soul over to the demon.
Vicky formed an energy ball and threw it. It hit her mark square in the chest, sending him back several yards. She moved with vampire speed and was standing over him as he hit the ground. Fear made his skin turn white as snow, and he pleaded for his life. She didn’t care. The bastard hurt Mary and gods knew who else. And he sold his soul to a demon, but for what?
Baring her fangs, she conjured her fire to cover her hand then struck. She punched the demon in the chest so hard her fist went through his flesh and rib cage, then she released her fire inside him.
Straightening, she turned and walked back toward the SUV. Samira moved in beside her. “That was awesome.”
Frowning, Vicky held Teri’s gaze. “He deserved it. Plus, he sold his sold to a soulsucker. He’s dying from the inside out because he no longer possesses his soul. That was what the rotting stench was coming from inside the cabin and from him.”
Teri stepped into her personal space, cupped her nape and kissed her. She sank into the kiss, wrapping her arms around him. He broke it off too soon. “Come to me when you get the stone.”
She nodded as he went back to the SUV and climbed into the back seat. Luca gave her a nod as his lips twitched in appraisal, then he got in and drove off.
Samira jerked her head to Bill’s car. “We should get rid of the car.” When Vicky nodded, Samira asked, “Do we have to worry about the fire from the house spreading to the surrounding area?”
“No, it was created with magic, so it’ll only burn the house and go out when there’s nothing left.” Glancing at the car, she frowned. “Have any suggestions on the car?”
“Push it off a cliff.”
“There is a ravine near the location of the stone so we could drive it there.”
Samira nodded and advanced to the car. “Sounds good to me.”
They got in the car and Vicky gagged. Samira cursed and rolled down the windows. “Smells almost as bad as the inside of the cabin.”
“The smell of death. Soulsuckers leave that stench behind.” Vicky rolled her window down. “But my question is, why did Bill sell his soul?”
And was it related to El’gar searching for the stones? But why kidnap Mary? She was human and didn’t have any connection to the stones or the Gifted. Unless the kidnapping was a distraction. But still, that didn’t answer what Bill wanted so bad he’d sell his soul.
Those were questions she�
�d ask Teri later. First, she needed to get the fire stone and hope the demons hadn’t found it.
Chapter Three
Vicky and Samira took a detour into the mountains to ditch the car. It felt like hours of following a winding two-lane road. In reality, it was only minutes, but with the stink in the car from the demon and the fact they were in a car, made those minutes tick on painfully slow. Usually, Vicky didn’t mind going to for a drive, but she had shit to do and a stone to find.
Samira slowed the car, bringing Vicky’s focus back to her surroundings. They stopped in front of an overlook and got out. Moving to the edge, Vicky peered over. No houses or other types of buildings. Good. With her vamp senses, she couldn’t pick up on anyone being in the area recently. “Looks like a good spot.”
The ravine she had spotted the day before wasn’t deep enough to hide the car, so they decided to look for a better spot.
Samira nodded. “Bill was a shifter. A rogue at that so no human would know his name. No one would report him missing.”
Vicky studied the other female. Her black hair was braided down her back. They’d known each other for as long as Vicky had known Levi. Samira and Levi’s sister, Grace, were best friends.
Even though the female liked to stay to herself, she valued family. The hunters, her Pack, and Grace was her family. Samira would do anything to keep them all safe. She also had a dark streak.
“Do you dispose of evidence often?” Vicky looked out over the undeveloped valley below them.
“It comes with the job.” There were no emotions on Samira’s face, but her tone had a hint of amusement in it.
“Well, let’s push the stinky tin can off the cliff.”
A chuckle came from Samira as she turned to move around the driver’s side. She turned the key in the ignition and put the car in drive. Then together, they gave it a push and watched as it rolled over the edge. The crunch of metal faded as the car hit the side of the steep wall.
Vicky waited while watching the car crash to the bottom valley. When she didn’t see the car burst into flames, risking the forest around it, she held out her hand to Samira. “Ready?”
Samira frowned but nodded as she locked hands with Vicky. In a flash of a moment, they materialized in front of the ruins of what once was a stone house in the middle of the forest. Only the foundation and two of the walls remained. Vines and moss covered the stone.
That was what the spell allowed for them to see. Vicky discovered in her research that the sunstone was placed in a witch library. It took some digging and many sleepless nights to find out where they were located, and which one housed the sunstone. Still, there was a big chance that it wasn’t even there. However, she didn’t tell Teri that.
Not letting go of Samira’s hand, Vicky moved forward, noting how Samira palmed a dagger in her other hand. The female hung around the Gifted long enough to know that not everything was as it seemed. So her leeriness wasn’t a surprise to Vicky.
Stepping inside the ruins and past the illusion spell that concealed what it was, Vicky scanned the room that looked like a cross between an old study and a library. A large wood desk sat regally in the center of the room, demanding all the attention. It was beautiful dark mahogany with ivy hand craved long the edges of the top and down the sides. The walls around them were covered with floor to ceiling bookshelves that housed books and artifacts.
Samira let go of her hand and stepped forward, taking in their surroundings. “What is this place?”
“A magical library. I’ve heard stories about them but thought they were myths until I found this one.” Vicky had doubts that it existed, so she visited the ruins the night before, careful not to draw attention from anyone else looking for the stones.
“And the stone is here?”
Vicky nodded and moved around the desk and began opening drawers. “These are the coordinates I found.”
It was a riddle-like puzzle she ran across while searching through Zoe’s mother’s things. Zoe was Levi’s mate and her mother, Paige, was a witch from an old bloodline—the same bloodline that was said to be the ancestors of the Gifted. At least that’s where their witch halves came from. Some say the old magic is dark, but Vicky didn’t believe that any magic was dark or white. It depended on the individual and how they used the magic.
“What are we looking for? I know it’s a sunstone, but is it a pendant like the one Paige had?” Samira started her search at one end of the bookshelf and slowly moved around the room.
“Not sure. As far as I know, the stones could all be set in pendants or at least made into jewelry of some kind. But look for anything with a fire symbol or anything odd.” Vicky opened the last drawer and slammed it shut. Damn. They were all empty. Not that she expected them to be full of papers or writing instruments or other supplies.
She ran her fingers under the edge of the desk, first along the front, then moving around it, searching for a button that could release a hidden door or something. When she didn’t find anything, she crossed the room to the opposite wall from where Samira was searching.
The books on the shelves were a variety of fiction, as well as magic volumes. Some were in a language she didn’t recognize. Frustration brewed inside her. She was sure she got the riddle right. Why else would she find the magical library? Was she missing something?
“This is odd.”
Vicky whirled around to face Samira. “Odd is good,” She rushed to her using her vampire speed.
Samira held up what looked like a wooden box. She turned it in different ways, studying it. “It doesn’t seem to open.”
“Can I?” Vicky held out her hand, and Samira placed the box in her palm. Pressing her lips in a think line, she inspected the box. Protective runes were etched in the sides and on the top—which could’ve been the bottom for all she knew. Looking closer, she recognized that the symbols were of the four elements. Hope made her heart race.
Samira stepped closer. “What is it?”
“Another puzzle to solve.”
Just then the magic keeping the library both hidden and in place rippled and the bookshelves disappeared. The room took on a red hue.
“What’s going on?”
Vicky teleported the box to the top drawer of her desk in her room at the mansion, then grabbed Samira’s hand. “Someone is trying to get inside.”
She was betting it was someone who knew where the stone was.
“Demons,” Samira growled.
“That’s my guess too.” Vicky met Samira’s gaze. “Ready?”
Samira pulled out one of her blades from its sheath on her thigh and handed it to her. “Use that.”
Vicky almost laughed. Samira knew how powerful she and the other Gifted were. They knew how to fight because they spent several hours per week training. Demons weren’t the only beings that wanted the Gifted for their powers. But she took the dagger and tested its weight in her hand.
Stepping out of the library and back into the forest, Vicky and Samira braced for an attack, not knowing what to expect. With a single thought, Vicky called to the magic as four large demons faced them, snarling.
This particular breed of demons was human-like. They didn’t smell like the soulsuckers. But dark energy surrounded them, and their eyes held an emptiness like they weren’t all there. She wondered if someone was pulling their strings from afar. Slave demons? She was betting on that.
El’gan was behind it for sure.
Vicky bared her fangs. The demon lord was too much of a coward to hunt for the stones himself. To face the Gifted like a man, well the demon lord he was supposed to be. He had to send his lackeys to do it for him.
The demons rushed at them, teaming up so two charged at Samira and the other two came at Vicky. Her vampire side smirked in satisfaction to make the demons bleed before they finish them off.
She formed two energy balls, then threw one after another at the demons. They hit their mark, sending the demons flying backward. They crashed into a large tree and slid to th
e ground. She threw another energy ball at them.
A flash of fur to her left drew her attention to Samira. She’d shifted into her black wolf that was identical to her twin’s except for the heart-shaped white patch on the top of her head.
Teeth bared, she growled at the demons in front her as she circled them, taunting and challenging them. Then she lunged, taking down one of them and locking her jaw around his throat. The other one moved in behind Samira, getting ready to pounce.
“Oh no, you don’t.” Vicky threw an energy ball him. It slammed into the side of his head, making him stagger a few steps away, but he recovered faster than the two that charged at her. The two that were currently rushing back at her like being blasted with magical energy was only a slap across the face.
That wasn’t good. The demons were much stronger than usual.
Vicky threw out her hand to the one still trying to get at Samira while the wolf fought the other one on the ground. A stream of fire shot from her palm and hit its target.
Then she turned on the two coming at her, slicing out with the dagger and catching one across the throat. Blood poured from the wound, making the demon cover it with his hands as he stumbled away from her. Whirling around, she kicked his friend in the gut while blasting him with fire. He screamed as the flames consumed him. In seconds he was ash on the forest floor.
Narrowing her gaze to the demon still trying to hold his throat together, Vicky flicked a ball of fire at him before moving to Samira. Their deaths were too quick, but she didn’t have time to mess around with them.
Samira finished playing with her prey and was circling the body. Vicky stopped beside them and waited for Samira to acknowledge her. It wasn’t a good idea to spook a wolf—especially one that just killed.
After a few moments, Samira came to her and pressed her side into Vicky’s legs. Stroking the wolf’s head, Vicky asked, “Are we done?”
Samira sat and made a sneeze-like sound. Smiling Vicky took that as a yes, then set the dead demon on fire to get rid of the body.
Once the body was nothing but ash, Vicky closed her eyes and searched for Teri. The fact that he knew she could trace him wherever he went didn’t go unnoticed. Yet he let her tell him Levi had told her the location. Which he had, but Vicky already knew. Normally vampires could only track another if there was a blood bond. In Teri’s case, she could follow him anywhere because he was her mate.
Dark Moon Falls: Volume 2 Page 79
