Vanilla Moon: Acrimony

by Airiel Hawkins

Her eyes bled from blue to violet and I knew. That was why she didn't look back. That was why the other Witch had let her go without much fight.

  "You bitch!" I spat.

  She glared at me. "That's not a very nice thing to say to your sister," she said.

  "You are not my sister! Where is she?"

  "It's her body, Wolfie," she replied. My skin crawled at her use of my nickname. "She's still here. I'm just borrowing her for a little while. She's got spunk though. She's fighting me every step of the way. If she were any older, she'd be able to kick me out."

  "What will it take to let her go?" I asked through clenched teeth.

  "I told you what I want for her freedom, Wolfie," she said. I bit my cheek to keep myself from telling her to not call me by that name. I didn't want her to know how much she bothered me by using it.

  "Then what the fuck are you waiting for?"

  "The pain in your eyes as you watch your baby sister become a killer."

  "Not if I can help it," Ceres said from behind her.

  We both looked at Ceres. She acted so fast that even I had trouble watching her move. Her arm came around Mira's neck and held her head secure. As they crashed to the ground, Ceres's legs clamped around Mira's body to keep her from flailing around.

  "What are you doing?" I demanded, staring at Ceres in shock. It may not have been Mira's mind in control of this situation, but it was her body. If anything happened to her body, I could lose my sister forever.

  "Trust me," Ceres said, meeting my eyes.

  What else could I do? She had a hold of my sister and the look in her eyes said she knew exactly what she was doing. After a few seconds, Mira's body went limp and her scent changed. Ceres let go of her in that instant and Mira gasped and sputtered for breath as Brenda, the real Brenda, threw another ball of Witchfire across the clearing.

  Ceres gathered Mira up in her arms and started to run. The other Lycans took their cue and poured out from the buildings. We outnumbered Brenda's people, but they were at their peak during the day. We rushed them because we were better at close combat than they were.

  I moved at Brenda. Her eyes widened as she realized they lost the game. My fist met her nose and I felt a great sense of satisfaction hearing it snap.

  She howled in pain and slashed at me with a silver dagger. I jumped back to avoid it and blocked her wrist as she came in for a second swing. She let go of her nose and let out another blast of Witchfire with her free hand. I managed to get out of the way just in time. I grabbed her other hand and slammed my head against her face. She screamed again at the further pain to her nose. I kicked her stomach twice and she dropped to her knees.

  I had a second to look at my companions. Rodney and Riley fought the Witch who carried Mira into the courtyard. Cynthia and Hunter fought the Black Witch, who still looked like she could kill you with a smile and purr as she ate you afterward. Luke and Margaret worked on the remaining Witch, the blonde with the sword. She also wore silver bracers, making it almost more painful for her to block an attack than deliver one of her own.

  Brenda came back up with a handful of gravel that she threw at my face. I had to move to shield myself and that distraction gave her everything she needed. I felt her dagger slice through my arm like warm butter. I screamed as it burned and tried to recover. She threw a ball of Witchfire at me, aimed at the same place she wounded. It hit, and the pain was so severe that it overpowered the knife wound.

  I heard her cry out as I recovered. When I looked up, I saw that Cynthia had abandoned Hunter to help me, in true Guardian form. She slashed at Brenda with her claws and growled when she only grazed the Witch's forehead. Brenda held her hands in front of her and "pushed" Cynthia into the side of the closest building.

  I moved. Once again, I punched at Brenda. This time, she ducked out of the way, caught my arm, and flipped me over her shoulder and onto my back.

  She moved to stab her dagger into my chest, both hands on the handle, but I was faster. I rolled out of the way and the blade slammed into the hard ground. I came up with my knee into her forehead and sent her recoiling. As she fell, Luke slashed at her back with his claws. She screamed again and flailed into Margaret's reach.

  My family's Rusalki grabbed Brenda's arm and took a bite out of it, tearing the flesh away with a sickening ripping sound.

  Brenda screamed and managed to put her free hand to Margaret's face. A burst of light showed that she had released a ball of Witchfire at a range that was sure to kill anyone. Margaret flew backward and crashed into the ground, unmoving.

  Brenda held her hand over the bite. Blood poured out from under her fingers, but when she pulled her hand away, the bite was healed. I grabbed her dagger from the ground, thankful for its leather handle. I flipped it so the blade was in my hand, burning my fingers, and threw it at her. The knife lodged in her sternum, but she laughed as she pulled it out.

  "You think silver can kill me, boy?" she taunted.

  That was when Riley kicked the back of her shoulders. She fell forward and hit the ground. I moved in to stomp my foot on the back of her head. As I did, the Black Witch fell dead. Her heart beat one last time in Hunter's hand before the silver blade of a sword pierced through his chest.

  "NO!" I shouted.

  Hunter looked down at his chest and coughed before he dropped to his knees. Luke let out a scream of rage as he buried his arm into the chest of the blonde Witch on the other end of the sword. He grabbed a fistful of her hair as he pulled her heart out of her body. She gaped at him, gasping for breath. He shoved her heart into her mouth and then broke her neck, as if she wasn't dead enough.

  Cynthia let out a bloodcurdling scream as she clutched her own chest.

  Riley shouted my name as he blocked an attack from the black-haired Witch. I looked down at Brenda and saw her moving with the dagger in her hand. She attempted to stab my foot, but I kicked her hand away. I knelt next to her and picked her up from the dirt by her hair. I made her look at the Witches we had already killed, then made her watch as Riley and Rodney finished off the last one.

  The brothers brought the Witch to her knees. Riley stepped on her hair, forcing her to look up at the sky. He grabbed her upper jaw as Rodney grabbed her lower. They pulled against each other. Her lower jaw went flying, turning her screams into wet gurgles.

  Riley, Luke, Rodney, and Cynthia walked up to me. They each grabbed one of Brenda's limbs. "This is what it feels like to be ripped apart," I said. We started pulling away from each other. Her joints were the first to go. Each one pulled out of its socket with a crack, followed by a scream. I didn't pull the same way the others did. I wanted her to live through this pain so that I could finish her off my way.

  I wanted to make sure she felt it.

  She continued to scream in agony. Tears fell from her eyes, making my hold on her head slick. I caught her around the neck, using her jaw as leverage.

  As they pulled, I watched tears appear at her bare shoulders. She screamed a long and endless cry as blood poured to the ground.

  One last tug and we quartered her. Her torso fell to the ground and she passed out from the pain and shock. I ripped her head off her shoulders. Luke handed me an iron rod that I stabbed through the hole I made. I carried her head in my hands like a trophy.

  Luke and Cynthia dropped their limbs and walked over to Hunter. He still knelt with the sword in his chest. Somehow, he was still alive.

  He looked up at his mate and son. "I love…" he gasped. He swallowed the thick blood in his mouth. "I love you," he gasped.

  Luke held his father's hand as Cynthia kissed him one last time. "I'll see you soon, my love," she promised. He nodded to her before she stood. She looked at me with tears falling from her eyes. "Don't let him follow me," she whispered.

  "What?" Luke asked, looking up at her.

  "Your token?" I asked, my voice breaking.

  She nodded and took the ring from her finger. She handed it to me before she looked down at her son. "I love you," she said. "No
matter what, I want you to remember that. We are so very proud of you, Luke," she said, her voice trembling. "You were everything we could have ever asked for in a son and we are grateful that you found Sophia. She's perfect for you, Son. Don't ever let her go. Cherish her."

  "Mom?" Luke's voice broke. He got to his feet as the disbelief began to morph into understanding.

  Cynthia gripped the handle of the sword in her hands. She ripped it from Hunter's body, causing him to slump forward. Cynthia rolled him onto his back and gave him one final kiss.

  "Wolfgang," she said.

  I stepped up to Luke with Riley next to me. Luke stood still as Cynthia started to back away toward the woods.

  "You're going to be a wonderful Enkidu, Wolfie," she said before she turned around and ran.

  "Mom!" Luke shouted after her. "MOM!" he screamed. He tried to start running after her, but Riley and I blocked his path. "MOM!" he yelled. Riley and I struggled to hold him back and Rodney came to help us.

  "LET ME GO!" Luke screamed. "MOM!"

  "Would you rather watch her suffer?" I demanded as I made him look at me. He stopped struggling as the words processed in his mind. "Would you rather watch her waste away without knowing how long it'll take her to find peace?"

  Luke dropped to his knees and began to sob. "Mom!" he croaked. I knelt with him and hugged him. He clung to me and I knew that I would experience his pain someday. I looked up at the sky as my own tears fell. Luke grieved as the realization hit him that he was now an orphan. Someday, the rest of us would join him.

  We were too close to the center of our packs for any other outcome. Like me, Rodney was Volsunga. One day, he would take his father's place as Enkidu, as I would take mine. That meant that Riley would also lose his parents. Luke was damned from the beginning with both of his parents being Guardians. The only reasons they survived this long were that they were trained, lucky, and we spent a lot of years in peace. There were packs in the world where the Guardians changed so often that you didn't bother to learn their names.

  I looked at Rodney. "Check Margaret," I whispered. He nodded before he walked to where she'd fallen. She hadn't moved. I had a feeling she hadn't made it. He knelt next to her, checked her for signs of life, then shook his head.

  As if we hadn't suffered enough.

  Chapter 19 ~Ceres~

  I rushed into the clinic with Mira in my arms. Bree looked up at me and I could see the exhaustion in her face. She stood up as I approached, and her fatigue gave way to alarm.

  "What happened?" she asked.

  "I just need to make sure she's alright," I said.

  "I'll page Sophia," she said, knowing that Dr. Cyrus would be the last person I wanted to see.

  Bree sat back down and picked up the phone. Less than two minutes later, one half of my best friend duo walked into the lobby. She gave me a worried look before she led me to an examination room. Mira was alert now, looking at the world with her normal blue eyes, smelling like her usual self again. She was a bit groggy, but I imagined anyone who went through what she had would be tired.

  Sophia checked Mira with the same dedication she put toward most tasks in her life. She scrutinized every vital sign and response. When she was satisfied, she gave me a nod. "She's all clear."

  I smiled. "Thanks."

  Mira looked up at Sophia. "Ceres saved me," she said. "The mean Witch was in my head and Ceres made her go away."

  There was a look in Sophia's eyes that said she wanted to know more but was afraid that she wouldn't like the answer. I wanted to tell her that there wasn't anything for her to worry about, but the reality was that I could have killed Mira if I hadn't been paying as close attention to her body as I had been.

  "What happened at the mill?" she asked.

  I shook my head. "I don't know," I replied. "The plan from the beginning was that I would grab Mira and get out. Brenda possessed her and used her to attack us. I don't know how I survived the Witchfire she shot at me."

  "Where did she hit you?"

  "My chest," I replied.

  Sophia pulled the collar of my shirt down to examine the sight of the impact from the Witchfire. There was a slight burn on my chest, but nothing serious. I fixed my shirt as she stepped back. "What happened?" she asked.

  "I freed Mira and used the distraction to get out of there. I carried her here because I wanted to make sure that the rest of them had an escape if things got bad. I'd imagine they're still fighting. It took me almost fifteen minutes to get here."

  Sophia sighed. "Gods, I hope Luke's okay," she whispered.

  I hugged her. "Luke's good at what he does," I said. "He's going to be just fine."

  Sophia nodded as she wiped tears away from her eyes. "I hope so," she whispered.

  "Have some faith," I urged. She nodded. I turned my attention back to my mate's little sister. "Come on," I said, holding my hand out to her. "Let's go see Mom and Dad."

  "Where's Mr. Thumper?" she asked.

  I didn't want her to know that I had no idea where her rabbit was. "I think he's at the house," I said. "If you didn't have him when the Witches took you, he should still be in your room."

  "I hope so," she sighed.

  I held her hand as I guided her out of the room. We walked through the hallways to the room where Richard stood guard. I sent a text to Wolfgang, letting him know that we made it to the clinic in one piece and that we were both fine. I had no idea if he'd see it before leaving the mill, but I had to let him know.

  Richard nodded at me and stepped away from the door as we approached so that I could knock. I waited for Ravyn to respond. Once I heard her tell us to come in, I eased the door open.

  I felt an enormous sense of relief when I walked into the room and found Leon sitting. He smiled at me as we entered.

  "Daddy!" Mira cried with an overwhelming sense of happiness in her voice.

  Ravyn looked at me. "What happened?" she asked.

  "That's a loaded question," I sighed.

  "It isn't meant to be."

  "I know." I sat down next to her. "A lot has happened in the last three days."

  "Pick somewhere to start."

  I nodded. "Wolfgang managed to replenish some of our lost numbers by calling on the pack's connections to the vampires and his uncle."

  "Wait," Leon said, pushing himself into a sitting position. He stared at me through one good eye. "What?"

  I sighed again. "He didn't tell you," I said. I ran my hand through my hair before I launched into an explanation of Clive and the Hirudo showing up first thing after we arrived back at the house. "Wolfgang met with them and they told him that the Hunters were giving us permission to destroy the coven. They even gave him a map that had their locations marked—which Wolfgang verified by having Hunter and Luke look them all up. Before they left, the Hirudo offered the services of the kiss. He said that since there were no issues between us that he would have no trouble sending some of his Vampires with us to destroy the coven. After all, if he didn't and we lost, he knew they'd go after his Vampires next. At first, Wolfgang didn't want to accept the offer, but when we realized how many places we would need to be and how thin that would stretch us, he decided to call. The Hirudo wouldn't guarantee the numbers we needed, so after we talked about it, he called Mike. Mike agreed to send up the bodies and we gained almost a hundred people, some of whom are willing to stay here to help us rebuild."

  "Do we know how many?" Leon asked.

  I shook my head. "Not yet. Two for certain, but that's because they can no longer stay in Moab. They're personal friends of Rodney and he's vouching for them. There will also be Riley's son," I said, thinking of the woman who died to save Selena.

  "Riley's son?" Ravyn asked.

  I nodded. "His ex from Moab came out here with the others," I explained. "During the attack on the house—"

  "Attack on the house?" Ravyn cried, her eyes wide and amber.

  I sighed. "Yeah," I said. "While Wolfgang and the others attacked the coven, Brenda and h
er three strongest people attacked the house. Mira and I were their targets. They knocked me out by throwing all of the furniture in Mira's room on top of me and then took off with her."

  Ravyn rushed to Mira's side and started searching every part of her body for the hint of damage.

  "I will slaughter her," Leon vowed.

  "I already did."

  We looked to the door and found my blood-soaked mate standing at the threshold. He held up Brenda's head before he set it down, facing away from us. I jumped out of my chair and rushed to him, hugging him tightly. He hugged me back for a moment before he pulled away and turned to his parents.

  He reached into his pocket and pulled out a bloody handkerchief. Tears fell from his eyes as he unwrapped it to reveal three pieces of jewelry that I recognized.

  "No," Ravyn whispered.

  Wolfgang looked up at them as more tears fell. "We outnumbered them," he began. "They fought us with every trick they had. Margaret was the first to fall. She was beside me when Brenda killed her with Witchfire." He picked up an earring of a wolf tooth that I always saw hanging from her ear. He held it out to his mother. She had tears in her eyes as she accepted it with shaking fingers.

  Tears welled up in my eyes as I realized what was happening.

  "Second was Hunter, who perished because a Witch stabbed him in the back with a silver sword." He held up a leather necklace with a shield pendant hanging from it. Leon held out a trembling hand and took the necklace from his son.

  "Last," Wolfgang's voice broke, "was Cynthia. She survived the battle, but the death of her mate caused her to retreat into the woods. She left her token behind."

  Wolfgang picked up the last trinket, a ring so simple that it could have been discarded as junk if it didn't have a presence of power and significance.

  Ravyn's hand shook as she took the ring. She began to cry in earnest as it dropped into her palm.

  "I'm sorry," Wolfgang whispered. His face was screwed into agony as his tears fell. "Mom, I'm so sorry." His voice was high and tight as he dropped to his knees. "I should have protected them. It should have been me—"

  "Don't you dare!" Ravyn snapped with a wavering voice. "You disgrace them by saying that. They gave their lives so that you could live. They sacrificed themselves for this pack because that was what they chose to do! You are the next king, Wolfgang, and they would have given their lives a hundred times over if only to ensure your survival."