Golden eyes shimmered from the shadows as they walked up the front path and stepped out onto the road; werewolves watching, knowing what they were about to do, and why.
The vampires seemed puzzled by their sudden appearance, and a path opened before them as the vampires stepped to the side to allow them through. The road was lined with cars, doors left open as if the occupants had exited in a hurry, and Lia imagined that these vehicles had carried the invasion force into the packs’ territory. She could picture the abrupt arrival from how they had been discarded, could almost hear the roar of the engines, the screech of hard breaking tyres, smell the rubber that marred the road where tyres had bit.
Lucian had chained Diedre to the fence in front of her house spread-eagled. Her lip was split, and there was a bruise forming over her cheek, and her hair stuck to her head with sweat. The sleeves of her blouse had been torn from her arms, baring the skin to Lucian’s torture, and Lia had to look away from what he had done.
She could understand why Diedre couldn’t shift – with her arms and legs pinned like they were, the wolf joints and bones would break during a shift. Diedre had no choice but to endure the torture, or severely injured herself trying to escape it.
Lia tightened her grip around Raiden’s hand. She could hear his growl, deep in his throat.
Lucian turned from Diedre, and his face lit up as he saw their approach. “My darling Lia,” he purred. “So nice of you to join us. Come here,” he curled his fingers to summon her to him.
And, just like that, she was back in that little grey room. Her skin crawled, her blood turned to ice, and her hair stood on end along her arms and the back of her neck. She panted like a trapped rabbit, her heart racing within a rib-cage constricted.
Fear tasted a lot like blood, she thought.
“Lucian,” Raiden had stepped before her, physically sheltering her from the blonde vampire. “Mum,” there was question in his voice.
“Raiden,” Diedre replied lifting her chin, her eyes fierce, proud, and golden with her Other.
Lucian’s lips curled, and he laughed, but the tone of the laughter was mocking. “You werewolves have balls,” he sneered. “I will give you that much. Lia,” he said with increased firmness and held out a hand and gestured come hither with his fingers. “Come here, or I will rip your dog’s heart from his chest and eat it whilst you watch.”
Lia drew in a deep, shuddering breath and stepped in front of Raiden. Now was the time, she told herself, to fight back. “You could try,” she brought her power to her hands. “But that would just make me mad.”
Lucian’s eyes narrowed as he evaluated her risk to him. “Always so feisty,” he reproved. “This time, I think I will heed Alex’s advice, and rip your tongue out of your mouth. You will find it difficult to cast your little spells without it.”
Raiden growled as vampires moved to enclose them, leaving no path of escape. Lia’s power flashed as it created a shield around them, and the vampires danced back away from its perimeter as it sizzled and spat.
“Very pretty,” Lucian smirked. “But how long can you maintain it for? And how long can you watch me hurt Diedre?” He dug a finger into an open cut in Diedre’s arm and she flinched, her neck cording as she bit back on her teeth in a grimace of pain. He licked the blood off his finger, smiling at Raiden provocatively. “Werewolf always tastes so… gamey.”
“F-k you, Lucian,” Raiden spat. “Hold on mum.”
“I am fine,” she bared her teeth in a snarl. “Lucian ought to worry about what I will do to him when I get free.”
Lia saw a flash of movement from the corner of her eye.
Lucian reacted, his movement so swift that it seemed that he did not move at all, and suddenly Elior stood before him, his wrist, reaching for Lucian’s throat, caught in Lucian’s grasp. The two vampires bared their teeth at each other, and moved, blurring motion as they exchanged blows, and wounds appearing as the fight took pace too fast to track.
Lia saw Wade, naked, run up to the front fence, and use a bolt cutter on the chain that bound Diedre. She shifted immediately, tearing through her clothes impressively, landing on all four paws and snarling, her hackles raising, the wounds on her arms visible even in her shift as strips where the fur was peeled off showing raw flesh below. On the other side of the fence, Wade shifted and stalked to the open gate, until he stood beside his mate, growling audibly.
The vampire force that surrounded them were tracking the battle of Elior and Lucian with bewildered awe, and those few who had noticed the release of Diedre, obviously considered the alpha pair as lower risk than the fist fight that took place too fast to see except for momentary pauses when the combatants locked, snarling, and hissing at each other.
Beyond the semi-circle of vampires, taking advantage of their distraction, wolves stalked the shadows. After that first glance, Lia kept her eyes to the battle waging between the two vampires, so as not to give away the approaching werewolf force.
Lucian and Elior locked again, each holding the other’s throat in one hand, and the other arm by the wrist., panting. Lucian’s lip was bleeding, and there was a nail gouge just beneath Elior’s left eye, both men’s clothing showed the passage of the fight, torn and soiled with blood and dirt.
Lucian grinned. “Still weak, Elior. You might have had her blood, but it doesn’t change the fact that you are weak. Inbred. Bloodlines are telling, and what they produce,” he snorted his disdain. “Pathetic.”
“I am not even trying,” Elior replied, smugly. “Just feeling you out to see what you can do.”
His next move broke Lucian’s arm, and the vampire cried out sharply in pain. The bone pierced the skin. Lucian hissed, grasping his forearm by the wrist and pulling, the bone sliding back under the skin, and setting into place with an audible click. He raised his arm to his mouth and licked the wound closed.
Elior watched, just out of arms reach, his hand on his ribs, recovering from an injury that was unseen beneath his clothing.
“We could do this all night,” Lucian observed.
“I am certainly prepared to do so,” Elior replied with a sneering grin.
“I have more pressing matters to deal with than a relic like yourself,” Lucian replied archly. “World domination, for starters. And you forget, I have the advantage,” he gestured to the army around him. “I am not here alone.”
Elior laughed. “Neither am I.”
The werewolves snarled, alerting the army of vampires to their presence, ringing them, the vampires’ alarm rippling through the company, as they turned outwards, preparing to defend themselves.
“A dog pack,” Lucian chuckled. “One that is outnumbered and out classed. Dogs fall to gunshot, as much as humans do.”
“I wasn’t talking about them,” Elior said with relish. There was gasp of surprise from the army as two paths were shoved through the vampires, and Rebecca and Nate appeared at Elior’s side.
“Hi, Lucian,” Rebecca ran her tongue over her left canine, cleaning blood from the ivory. She snapped her teeth together in a ghoulish grin.
“Rebecca,” Lucian smiled slowly. “How interesting,” he looked back to Elior. “Because, neither am I.”
Toby and Alex appeared, flanking him.
Lia drew in a harsh breath. “Oh, god,” she whispered.
“Lia?” Raiden murmured. “How are they like Lucian?”
“They drank from me when they stole me that night. Not as much, though, if that makes a difference…”
Raiden grimaced. “I think we are about to find out.”
The six vampires sprung at each other with a roar, and as if this were a signal, the werewolves and vampire army leapt into action. The sound was overwhelming, a tidal wave of violence that triggered a primal instinct in Lia, turning her bones to water as gunshots, screams, and snarls combined.
Raiden crouched over her as bullets ricocheted off her shield.
“Lia,” he was panting, his Other rising, fighting back the need to shift. “We need to seek shelter.” He wanted to be fighting alongside his pack, she knew, meeting his eyes. But he couldn’t whilst he had to protect her.
A wolf, tossed by a vampire, struck the outside of the shield, fur smoking. Lia exclaimed and released the shield. Raiden ran to where the wolf had landed, his hands checking for injuries.
“It is Tara,” he looked up at Lia with fear in his eyes.
“Shit,” she dropped to her knees beside him. “What is wrong with her?”
A vampire fell over them, knocking Lia onto her side, whilst Raiden crouched over his sister protecting her from flying feet. The vampire had his arms crossed, fending off the snapping jaws of a wolf. His scream as the wolf, infuriated, sank sharp teeth into his forearm, was brutal.
Raiden and Lia’s heads jerked up as there was a flash above them, and Cael hurtled towards the ground, his wings tucked tight to his body, screaming, a shrill sound of anguish and fury that cut through the roar of the battle around them, drawing all eyes heavenwards, mouth falling open in astonishment and awe.
“Lia!” Raiden cried out, too late as Cael seized her by the waist, and surged back into the air, the force of his wing strikes carrying them above the rooftops before the vampires or werewolves had the chance to respond.
“No!” She shrieked kicking and flailing against the winged man. “Cael! No! Put me back down!”
Cael held her against him, his wings working hard as he lifted them upwards, ignoring her, his face angled upwards, and the cords of his neck standing out against the skin. He had stopped that terrible scream, but his mouth was still open, his lips pulled back from his teeth in a terrible grimace.
“Cael!” She ceased to fight and instead clung to his shoulders as the ground receded below them. “Cael! I need to help them…”
He hovered, so high that the battle between the werewolves and vampires was lost to sight, the houses like doll houses below them.
“This all happened because of me.” He was weeping, and the sight of his tears stole her anger at his interference and clenched her chest with panic. “I was stupid enough to believe I was meant to pull a little girl out of a burning car. I am the reason, and my people have worked it out – they know that this disturbance, this slave war, is because of me.”
“What has happened?” Something terrible, she realized, had caused that scream.
“They are hunting down my entire line down, and they are making sure we don’t survive the amputation of our wings,” his response was a sob, and she felt the shudder pass through him. “My mother… my father… Oh, f-k,” he cried it out, his hands gripping her so tightly it caused her to cry out in pain. “Oh, f-k,” he repeated, sucking in air, his chest heaving. “What have I done? My mother warned me.”
“I’m sorry,” she breathed. His pain was terrible to behold. “But Raiden, his family, my friends… They’re fighting for their lives down there. You must return me.”
“I broke the rules and I interfered in the slave realm and now my family,” his voice broke and he looked away his face a rictus of pain. “My family is paying for my self-indulgence, for my weird addiction to you.”
“Cael,” terror stole her breath. “What are you…?” She looked down, suddenly realizing just how far from the ground they were. “Cael, please… No.”
“Because of me,” he said darkly. “I shouldn’t have saved you,” the tears tracked silently down his face. “Evelyn gave birth to a monster, and it created a mutant line, a toxic line, it’s no wonder that you have brought about the slaves’ Armageddon, you are cursed, you are poison.”
She gasped, clutching his shoulders, fear racing through her. “Cael, no… I’m pregnant.”
“You are the reason for this, Cecelia,” he said quietly. “You are also the way to end this.” He released his hold on her and framed her face with his hands, kissing her savagely. “I’m sorry.”
“Cael!” She shrieked it, struggling to hold herself to him as gravity tugged her down. He pulled her arms from his neck, her nails gouging the skin, the blood running in trails down his chest and then his forearms, as she fought for grip. For a moment their eyes met, hers desperate and pleading, and his grieved. And then he released her.
Her scream cut through the sky as she fell.