Chapter Sixty-Four
Sinc was bleeding badly. Her artery had been nicked and a trickle of blood was pulsing out to combine with the blood pouring from her shoulder wound. Her skin was very pale and her pulse had slowed. I pressed down hard, hoping to stem the flow and looked up at Ethan. He was just as pale as she was, probably more worried about her than he’d admit.
“Ethan, I need you.” He came immediately, crouching next to me. “Hold this cloth down as firmly as you can. Don’t let up even if she cries.” He took over for me as I moved to her other side and tapped into the lines. I pulled in the energy until I couldn’t hold another drop then focused it on the jagged tear in her neck. I concentrated on healing the nicked vein and then the rest of the gash, being careful not to leave any gaps. The blood flow slowed and then stopped and I slumped to the ground to hug her. I talk a lot about the wonderful men in my life, but Sinc and Bridgett are just as precious to me.
A fight was starting between the two Alpha wolves, but I couldn’t pull away from her just yet. I grabbed Ethan’s hand and looked into his beautiful golden brown eyes and made a decision. “She’s going to kill me for telling you, but she didn’t sleep with Sasha. She gave him blood and got his scent all over her and then lied to you, to get you to go off and find someone better. I need you to talk to her now and tell her that you’re here for her. Say whatever you have to say, to get her to regain consciousness, even if it’s a freakin’ lie. I need her to wake up, Ethan. She hit her head on a rock and she’s lost a lot of blood. She was standing over you like freakin’ Xena, protecting your ass with Kyle’s crossbow. You owe her this at least.” He nodded, wisely deciding not to argue with me.
I left him there, running over to grab Garrett around the waist from behind. I sent to him, “We couldn’t stop them before they cast the spell. I’m so sorry.”
“How’s Sinc?”
“She’s unconscious. I got the bleeding to stop, and Ethan’s with her. If she’s going to wake up, it’ll be for him.”
“I’ll get her some blood.” Garrett sighed and shook his head. “I was a fool not to take this encounter seriously. Any injuries are my responsibility.” I heard Sinc moan in pain just as Rick walked over, bit into his wrist and put it to her lips.
Garrett and I turned to watch the two alphas face off against each other. So far they’d just been circling in a strange kind of ritual, a full circle one way then another in the other direction. They backed away a few steps, crouched and lunged. Fred’s gorgeous black wolf was larger, faster and in much better physical condition, But Johnny was desperate. His entire pack was dead and his short stint as Alpha was over. He knew that he was dead either way, but instead of just lying down to take the killing blow, he fought with every ounce of strength he had left.
His first lunge took a chunk of flesh and fur out of Fred’s right foreleg and his second a chunk from Fred’s left hindquarter. Fred, although bleeding from the wounds, defended himself with minimum exertion then stood passively and nodded slightly to Johnny, who returned the nod. When Fred lunged, it was over quickly. He ripped Johnny’s throat out with one savage bite and spit the blood and flesh in his mouth back at the twitching body. It was as if he’d allowed the other pack’s alpha to save face before he met his end. It was a powerful moment and we watched, a little bit awestruck, as Fred transitioned smoothly back to human. Mike handed him his clothes and he dressed and faced us.
He spoke to Garrett. “Thank you. We would have been exterminated and our families killed or tortured. Please, call on us anytime. Can we do anything for your brave snow leopard?”
“Thank you, the bleeding’s been stopped and her pulse is stronger. She has a minor concussion and we’ll be taking her home in a moment. Could I ask you a question, Fred?” He nodded. “What is your history, because you’re more than just werewolf, aren’t you?”
“My mother was a witch who was bitten and became a were. Through her powers, she was able to carry me to term. I was never bitten. I was born in human form and transitioned naturally to wolf for the first time at fifteen. My transitions are much easier than the bitten wolves. And I don’t have to change at the full moon. I’m more shapeshifter in that way.
Garrett sent to Bridgett and allowed me to listen in. “Bridgett, we’d like to hear what happened when we were knocked unconscious. Please transition back to human and dress.” She ran off to do as he’d asked.
I walked to the edge of the clearing to check on Sinc. She was sitting up with her back against the tree, talking to Ethan who was crouching next to her. He’d put his jacket around her shoulders and although I could see she still looked pale, she was smiling. I checked her neck and her shoulder and was glad to find that the wound had healed.
Bridgett loped into the clearing having dressed again in her jeans, tee shirt and hooded sweatshirt. She looked pretty confident for someone who’d just had to hold the fort against a bunch of angry wolves. She’d grown up with weres and was used to their behavior, although I doubted she’d ever had to face down so many.
She beamed at the new alpha. “You were awesome, Fred. I didn’t know you could fight like that. Have you picked a name for the pack?”
“We’re keeping the old one: The Brownlow Pack. Your dad made a mistake getting involved with Lord Kennet, but he’d been a good alpha and his father founded the pack. We’re leaving it the way it is. You were pretty amazing yourself as a cheetah. Kent would’ve been proud of you—your mom too.”
Her smile was sad. “Thanks.”
She turned to Garrett. “So, I was up in the tree over there and Sinc was farther behind me. I heard the booming noise and then you all just dropped. So then Sinc starts walking forward right away with her crossbow, like some superhero, and stands over Ethan and waves it back and forth so no one comes near him. The other weres were standing and watching her. I think they were totally amazed that she didn’t just run. I jumped down and told her that I was going to try to wake you up, ’cause I knew that I’d have a chance connecting to you. I got you up and then you saw the rest.
“How did you tell Sinc you were going to wake me up?”
“Umm…I kinda forced it into her mind.” She grimaced and looked toward Sinc.
Garrett smiled. “I’m sure she’ll forgive you. Why do you think you two weren’t affected by the witch’s spell?”
“Sinc was pretty far back, so the spell must have been limited in area. I’m resistant to most magic unless someone is touching me. Like at the house when you went into my mind to find out about Kennet, you touched me. I don’t think you can glamour me without touching me.”
“This was excellent work. You and Sinc both kept your heads and acted as a team. You saved some lives today. The two of you faced down twenty-three wolves while Jackie and Sasha incapacitated the witches.” He looked at me.” Where are they, by the way?”
“Come with me. The rest can follow Sasha.” I took him through the lines to where we’d left them tied to trees. They were struggling, but we’d stuffed Sasha’s socks in their mouths and tied their hands so they couldn’t trace any symbols. There were dead animals strewn around and some jars that had contained human organs: evidence of them working blood magic which was forbidden in every supernatural community, except perhaps the demon realm.
As soon as they saw Garrett, their skin paled and they stopped moving. He took my hand and twisted me around so I could see his face. “You may not want to watch.”
“You don’t need to protect me. I’m fine.” My determined expression discouraged all argument.
As he turned to face them, magical energy crackled around us, making the hair on my arms stand at attention. Garrett was pulling in power to show them what they were up against and to encourage their cooperation. His fangs were down and looking deadly as his eyes flashed silver, making their eyes grow even wider. He moved like a deadly predator toward the closest one.
His voice was a whispered sword at her throat. “If I remove the gag and you try to work a spell, I will crush your jaw. Do you understand?” She nodded, so he took out the sock, slipping me a wry glance. I just shrugged, smiled and sent, “Sash made the sacrifice. I’m not wearing socks.”
Garrett shook his head and focused again on the nearest witch. She was dark haired and eyed, wearing jeans and a loose shirt. Blood had splattered on her clothes. “Tell me your names.”
After spitting some sock lint out of her mouth she said, “Eloise. She’s my sister, Claudia.”
“What did you tell the weres from the Pine Ridge Pack to force them to fight us?” Her sister witch was shaking her head violently, trying to get her to keep her mouth shut. Unfortunately for her, the others had arrived, so Heinrich hissed at the squirming one, making sure she saw the blood on his fangs and around his mouth from the fight. She stopped moving.
Eloise snarled. “It was their idea. We did nothing. They paid us.”
Garrett untied one of her arms, and took her hand in his in an almost gentle way. “I’ll give you another chance. Tell me the truth, Eloise.”
“That’s the truth.” He squeezed, inundating the night with the gruesome sound of splintering bones. She moaned and gasped, tears filling her eyes. “We… We told them we would…torture their families. They wouldn’t cooperate.” She spat at Garrett. “We’d do anything to get to you, bloodsucker, to avenge our sister, Miranda. We knew you’d help the Brownlow pack because of Bridgett. You think you’re such a fucking hero.”
Garrett hissed and moved in front of her, eye to eye. “Your sister, Miranda, tortured me for hours and planned to expose me to the sun. Her death was easy compared to what she had in mind for me, Eloise.” He held her crippled hand where she could see it. “Tell me what you’ve done to their families.”
“Nothing!” she hissed. Garrett curled his lip and yanked on her wrist sharply, breaking it and causing her to scream in agony. His hand slid slowly up to her elbow. “Please, no more!” She was sobbing. “We’ve taken one from each—each family. They’re in an abandoned warehouse in Gasquet. Downstairs. Just let us go. We’ll move out of your territory.”
Garrett put his hand over her forehead and I watched his eyes glaze over. Eloise whimpered as he explored her mind, then hissed again and pulled away, repulsed. “You and your sister have been very busy over the last year. Four human victims, sacrificed for your blood rituals. Two were children. And you were intending to use your prisoners, no matter what the outcome was today.”
She was trembling as she pleaded. “We’re very powerful, Garrett and we…we can enhance your powers. You’re a vampire. You kill for pleasure, right? You surely understand. Your nest can feed from them, too.”
“We don’t kill innocents, but we do kill our enemies, and not always in a merciful way.” He ran a fingernail down her cheek opening up a thin, bloody gash. Her eyes widened in terror as his fangs extended even further. He knew exactly how to play this bitch. “You’ll give me the address of the warehouse, or I will continue.” He twisted her already badly damaged arm at the elbow and she gasped. “If I find that you’ve lied, I’ll get more imaginative.” She was shaking violently now, her face pale as milk. She gave us an address and he spoke to me without taking his gaze from Eloise. “Jackie, please take Sasha with you.” Sasha walked to me and I took his hand then traveled the lines.
They were where Eloise had said, huddled together in a cold, windowless room that had been padlocked shut. There was no food, a few empty water bottles and a bucket in the corner. They were mostly children and had been crying pitifully for their parents when we’d arrived. None of them seemed to be seriously hurt, although a few of the older teens and young adults had bruises on their arms or faces. I smiled, slightly surprised to see Sasha making a point of inspecting each one for injuries and speaking to them in a gentle, reassuring voice. Giving one of the adults my cell phone, I waited while she called and then made her swear to wait until everyone was picked up safely. I reconfirmed that the witches were the ones who’d kidnapped them and then told them that it was our team and Fred’s pack who were freeing them and that the witches had been captured and wouldn’t harm them again.
We didn’t mention that the adult males in their pack were all dead, feeling it wasn’t our place and would have been cruel news, only adding to their misery. We traveled back and gave Garrett the information.
His eyes were smoldering as he turned back to the terrified witch. “Eloise, you and your sister witch are responsible for the death of twenty-three weres from the Pine Ridge Pack, the kidnapping and mistreatment of their family members, and the death of at least four humans in the past year alone.” He turned to the new alpha of the Brownlow Pack. “Fred, I’d like to dispense justice, if you’d agree.”
“Garrett, I defer to your judgment.” He nodded back. As violent as the supernatural community could be, there was a ritual amount of respect that each group granted the other, making events such as executions, by-the-book proceedings.
“I sentence you both to death, under the authority of NAVA, the Western Pack Council and the Shifter Council of Crescent City. It will be a merciful one and relatively painless, as I intend to drain you. William, Heinrich you’ll take the sister, Sasha and I will take Eloise.” He shoved the sock back in her mouth. “I’d rather not hear you cursing us.”
The rest of us stood quietly transfixed, as the four blood-splattered warriors transformed themselves into willing executioners, fangs out and eyes streaked with a terrifying silver bloodlust. William ripped into Claudia’s wrist without hesitation, while Heinrich tore into her neck. Sasha took Eloise’s injured arm and licked it, letting his fangs scrape her skin, playing with her as she watched in horror and moaned in pain. He viciously bit into the tender flesh inside her elbow as Garrett whispered into her ear. “Say hello to Miranda in hell, Eloise.” He was almost gentle as he bit into her neck and pulled in long gulps of her powerful blood. The two witches whimpered and moaned and then eventually grew silent.
The sounds of their feeding ended when the witch’s hearts stopped. The vampires smiled as they straightened to look at each other, all of them glowing with energy, their auras pulsing brightly with health.
“Like old times, Garrett.” Heinrich seemed even larger as he stretched his arms over his head, enjoying the feel of the new blood in his system.
“The difference is that no innocents ever get hurt, Rick, only the wicked.”
“The wicked taste damn good, Garrett.” Sasha was wiping his mouth and laughing. “Being on this team of yours is going to be better than I thought, master.” Garrett gave him a playful shove and laughed, sending Sasha crashing into a nearby tree. Sasha shook the leaves out of his blonde hair and smiled evilly. “I’m ready to have some fun with Nathaniel tonight.”
William wiped his mouth and looked at Bridgett warily, probably afraid she’d be turned off by watching him feed. He’d forgotten she’d grown up a shifter surrounded by a bunch of powerful werewolves, who’d spent plenty of time ripping into each other with lunar regulated feeding frenzies each month. To Bridgett, what he’d just done must have seemed normal. She walked to him, smiling and gently took his hand.
Fred moved forward. “We’ll burn the witches’ bodies and also their paraphernalia.” He winced, indicating the human organs in various jars and other spell casting items.” I’ll make certain the dead wolves are returned to their families for burial, then I’ll see what our pack can do for them. Their mates and children have suffered enough. Tomorrow I’ll start interviewing for the club.” He shook Garrett’s hand and turned to Bridgett. “Come and visit us, Bridge.” He smiled warmly.
“Sure, I’ll bring the gang.”
He looked at the four vampires, their clothing ripped and blood-splattered from the fight and the feeding, their eyes still glowing with power. “Greaaat.”
We laughed together.