Blood Melody

by Val St. Crowe

  After all, Landon had always seemed to have feelings for me against his will, as if he’d rather not care about me. I always thought that was because he knew he couldn’t be with anyone, not as a bloodhound. But what if it was because subconsciously, his obsession with me was about revenge?

  I mean, I knew he hated Desta. Maybe he’d go to any lengths possible to hurt her.

  Aston was in the back seat, because he didn’t feel as though he could explain to us the proper ingredients that we needed. He said that he’d have to examine everything, because if the ingredients weren’t of the highest quality, they wouldn’t function properly. He’d need to make sure that we got things that we could use.

  We pulled up to the building, which was a big, sprawling warehouse out in the middle of nowhere. The parking lot was mostly empty, so we got a good spot. We walked up to the door.

  It was locked, and there was a spot for a keycard, which we, of course, didn’t have. We knocked until someone showed up to open the door for us.

  Desta grabbed the lady and compelled her right away. Then the woman was very accommodating. She let us in, and she took us right to the ingredients we were looking for and she even provided some bags for us, so that transporting the stuff was easy. Aston looked everything over, and he didn’t have a problem with anything she gave us.

  Then we drove back.

  During the entire experience, Desta said maybe four words to me.

  I felt like hell. What was I doing, alienating my sister for a guy?

  It was only that Landon wasn’t just a guy. I knew it deep down. He was my family too. I couldn’t lose him.

  In the back seat, Aston was already mixing things together, mumbling to himself. I kept turning around and telling him to do that in his lab. He’d made such a big deal about things being sterile when it came to the bloods, after all.

  “Oh, this is an injection, not surgery, calm down,” said Aston. “I know what I’m doing, okay? And look, it’s done. Pop a syringe in that and your bloodhound is golden.” He waved a vial at me.

  “You’re sure?” I said. “Don’t you need to do tests or something?”

  “I’m positive,” he said.

  Desta stayed quiet during this, gripping the steering wheel with an iron grip.

  We were about a mile from the village when Desta suddenly stopped the car in the middle of the road.

  “Um, what are you doing?” I said.

  She turned to me. “I think you should let me drop you two off and take this car back to the city.”

  “Desta, this isn’t my car. It belongs to the pack. I can’t give it to you. How about I take you to the city and drop you off there?”

  “No, I don’t want to look at you anymore,” she said. “Aston’s getting on my nerves. And I definitely don’t want to be around while you and Landon are, you know, going at it.”

  “Well, then someone else can drive you,” I said. “Ewan maybe, or Judah, or… or Sinead. You like Sinead, right?”

  “Just get out of the car, Camber.”

  “What?” I said. “Here? No way.”

  “Fine,” she said. “Then I’ll get out.” She turned the key in the ignition and tossed the keys on the dashboard. Then she got out of the car, slamming the door behind her.

  I got out too. “Desta, the car is in the middle of the road. Someone’s going to run into it.”

  “I don’t care about that,” she said. “I’m going to the city, and you can’t stop me.”

  “I’m not trying to stop you,” I said. “I’m just trying to keep the car.”

  “You’re the alpha. Can’t you give me the car? I feel like you owe me, anyway, after this favor I did for you today.”

  “Listen, Desta, just come back to the village for a little bit. We’ll get this sorted out.”

  “No,” she said.

  I sighed, turning in a circle and sinking my hands into my hair. That was when I saw Sinead and Ewan on the other side of the road in the woods. They must have been walking in the woods together or something.

  Sinead gave me a half-wave.

  I motioned for them to come over. Maybe this was a good thing. Maybe we could get this sorted out.

  “Sorry,” Sinead said as she crossed the road. “We didn’t mean to intrude.”

  “No, it’s fine,” I said. “Actually, maybe you guys can help us out. How do you feel about driving Desta back to the city?”

  “Desta wants to go to the city?” said Sinead. “Like, for good?”

  “Yes,” said Desta, coming over. “And I don’t need anyone to drive me. I can drive myself.”

  “But it’s not your car,” I said. “Come on, what’s the big deal? They’ll drop you off.”

  “It would be no problem,” said Ewan. “You can drive, if you want, Desta.”

  Desta glowered at all three of us.

  Aston banged on the window. “Can someone open the door, please? The child protection lock is on.”

  “That’s because you’re a prisoner,” I growled at him.

  “Oh, come on, I’m helping you,” said Aston. “I feel strongly that I should be allowed to be on the team.”

  “What team?” I said.

  “Let me out.” He banged on the window again.

  Suddenly, the back door was ripped off the car and Aston flew out in the air. He floated there just above our heads and let out a high-pitched scream.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  I looked around, confused.

  “Who’s doing this?” said Aston. “Whoever’s doing this, put me down.”

  A figure appeared, coming through the woods. The figure was swathed in a long, flowing black robe. One arm was outstretched, long fingernails, rings on every finger. I’d hazard a guess the figure was a woman based on the hand, but I couldn’t be sure. She was muttering something in another language.

  Abruptly, Desta started floating.

  The figure came closer.

  Sinead and Ewan both rose into the air.

  Now, they were all yelling at this figure.

  I rushed at her, getting ready to shift into wolf form.

  But she raised her other arm, palm out.

  I stopped immediately. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. I was stuck.

  “Alpha,” murmured the dark figure. “Nothing but trouble. I don’t need you.”

  I tried to move. I couldn’t. I tried to shift. I couldn’t. I couldn’t do anything. I was panicking, and I needed to make this stop.

  The figure beckoned with her other hand and the others floated after her.

  She walked into the woods, and they floated along behind her, screaming and cursing and crying.

  I still couldn’t move.

  They were swallowed up by the trees.

  And then whatever she had done to me broke, and I could move.

  I sprinted after them, into the woods.

  They were gone.

  * * *

  “Slow down,” Judah was saying. “Go over all of this again.”

  “I don’t know how many more times I can say it,” I said. “Some witch captured my sister and Aston Waterfield and Sinead and Ewan, and we have to find her and get her back.”

  “How do you know it was a witch again?” said Judah. “You said you didn’t even know if it was a man or a woman. All you saw was a person in a black robe.”

  “Well, the dark figure was doing magic,” I said. “So, it was a witch. It doesn’t matter what it was. We need to go after her. Now.”

  Judah was in his living room. He furrowed his brow. “That’s strange. I can’t feel Sinead or Ewan through the pack’s bond.”

  “I know,” I said. “It’s as though they’ve just disappeared.”

  Tempest peered in the doorway. “Um?”

  “Shut up, Tempest,” I said without looking at her.

  “You don’t tell me what to do,” she said.

  “I’m your alpha, so yes, I do,” I said.

  Judah sighed. “Camber, please.”


  “I came to talk to you, not her.”

  “Listen,” said Tempest, “I know it’s not my business, because I’m not an alpha like you guys are, but I feel like Camber is always making bad decisions regarding the protection of the pack.”

  “Well, you’re right,” I said to her. “It isn’t your business.”

  “I only mean,” said Tempest, “that it’s tragic that people have been captured and all, but shouldn’t you be worrying about repairing the protection spell by mating instead of rushing off again to try to save people?”

  “It’s my sister and my best friend and her mate!” I glared at Tempest. “When it was Judah who was captured, you—”

  “I’m just saying, the safety of the pack is what’s important,” she said, folding her arms over her chest.

  Judah turned to me. “You know, Tempest has a point.”

  “Oh, blood and fangs, I’m not going to mate right now. I couldn’t possibly even get in the right mood.”

  “I think,” said Judah, “that if you want to talk about leaving the pack and going off after some witch, that you better take care of the spell first. The pack is in danger from the vampires, you know.”

  “And you’ll have to pick a human,” said Tempest, “since that Waterfish person was captured before he could make your bloodhound’s precious injection.”

  “Actually, he did make it,” I said, glaring at her. “Actually, it’s in the back seat of the car out in the woods.”

  “Well, there you go,” said Judah. “Go get it, mate with your bloodhound, and then we’ll have this conversation.”

  I shook my head at him. “You are unbelievable. You really are. If you weren’t my mate and my fellow alpha, I would punch you right now.”

  “Come on, Camber,” said Judah. “We do have to put the pack first.”

  * * *

  I did go back out to the car to get the vial that Aston had made. Not because I was in any mood to get busy with Landon at this moment, but because it wasn’t safe to leave it out there.

  I was going to go and explain the situation to Landon, and I knew he would help me save my sister, and he wouldn’t be pushing for us to be intimate at the most inappropriate time. This was a one-shot deal. We would only ever have one chance to be together. I wanted to be fully present for it. I didn’t want to rush. I didn’t… I couldn’t do it right now.

  I stalked back toward the woods toward the pack village.

  “Camber,” came a voice from the darkness. It was a male voice, and it didn’t sound like the dark figure from before, but maybe it was, and maybe I could get that witch person to tell me what she’d done with my sister.

  I whirled around. “What? Come and face me, coward!”

  Viggo sauntered forward, smiling at me. “Hello there. I’m looking for Desta.”

  I gaped at him. “Viggo?”

  “Listen, we could be petty about everything, especially considering the last time I saw you, you tricked me in order to escape, but let’s let bygones be, well, bygones and just move forward from here. I understand that Desta is with you. And it’s taken me quite a bit of time to find you, but now I have, so I can only ask you to please tell Desta that I’m here, and if she herself won’t see me, then I’ll—”

  “Desta’s been captured by a witch in a black robe,” I said.

  Viggo started. “W-what?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “I was right here, and this woman came out of the woods wearing a robe and she made everyone float, and she froze me, and I couldn’t do anything, and she took Desta away, along with my best friend, her mate, and this guy named Aston Waterfield, who I don’t really care about, but the rest of the people, I want to rescue, only my stupid pack is only concerned with their stupid protection spell, and why am I talking about this with you?” I turned on my heel and stalked away from him.

  He caught up with me. “If Desta’s in danger, we have to save her.”

  “I know,” I said. “But I don’t even know where to start. I don’t know anything about this person. I don’t know where Desta is. I don’t know how to look for her.”

  “In a hood with a black robe, you say?” said Viggo.

  “Yes,” I said.

  “Well, you leave that to me,” he said. “I’ll make some inquiries and get back in touch with you. Perhaps we should exchange numbers.”

  I stopped walking and just surveyed him. “You’re very, very…”

  “Yes, yes, we hate each other, whatever. But we have a common goal, saving your sister, so let’s join forces, shall we? Your phone number.”

  “I don’t believe I’m doing this,” I said. And I gave the vampire king my cell phone number.

  Desperate times.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Landon held the vial that Aston had made up to the light. “And this is all we have?”

  “Look, I don’t even want to do it right now,” I said. “There’s way too much else going on.”

  Landon set the vial down on the mantle in my living room. Since there were no longer so many of us, I had determined it made better sense to relocate back to my smaller cabin. Here, Landon could stay in the guest room. I had spent the evening trying to get Judah to either call other alphas and ask about this black-robed witch or, failing that, to give me their numbers so that I could call them.

  Judah was a broken record, however. He wouldn’t stop harping on the idea that I needed to strengthen the protective spell.

  “And we don’t even know if it will work,” said Landon. “It hasn’t been tested.”

  “Exactly,” I said. “It’s too risky, and there’s no way that we can do this right now.”

  “But if we don’t do it,” he said, “you’re going to want to go after Desta right away.”

  I clasped my hands together. “I know you hate Desta, but that doesn’t mean you want her tortured or kidnapped or hurt, does it?”

  “Actually…” Landon spread his hands.

  “Landon.”

  “No, of course, I’ll help you save your sister,” he said. “Of course. I mean, Desta needs rescuing. Must be Thursday.”

  “Landon.”

  He picked up the vial again. “Assuming it works, we’re mated, and then your spell is strong. Your pack is safe. And as much noise as your making about your sister right now, I know how much you care about your pack.”

  “Yes, but I don’t… I don’t want it this way,” I said. “When we do this, I want it to be slow and careful and… and special. I mean, this is our only chance, and I’m too worried to properly appreciate it right now.”

  He set the vial back down. “Look, it’s probably not going to work anyway. Wouldn’t you rather know that now than to go on a long quest to try to save Desta and then get back, having been looking forward to it the the whole time and then find out it’s a dud?”

  I bit down on my bottom lip. I hadn’t thought of it that way.

  “You keep thinking our story can have a happy ending,” Landon said softly. “When you and I both know it can’t. Let’s get this disappointment over with.”

  I swallowed a lump that had somehow formed in my throat. “Fine,” I muttered.

  “Fine,” he said. “You got any syringes?”

  “No, you know, I’m fresh out.”

  “I’ll go by Waterfield’s lab and pick one up.” He put the vial in his pocket.

  I watched him go, and then I threw myself down on my couch. He was right. There was no way that stupid injection was going to work.

  Which meant that I was going to have to leave the pack unprotected while I went after Desta. That lump in my throat was coming back. Why was it so hard to balance everything I cared about? My romantic life, my sister, my pack? How could I be all the things to all the people?

  My phone rang.

  I checked it and it was Viggo. Wonderful. Just what I wanted to do right now, talk to him. I picked up the phone. “Hello?”

  “I’ve gotten word that there are other werewolf packs in these woo
ds who have seen a similar figure to the one you described,” he said.

  “You have? How do you get word anyway?”

  “I have connections.”

  “You’re practically in exile. Your kingdom was taken away from you and you’re public enemy number one according to the television.”

  “Yes, well, I was finding being king tedious anyway. Nothing has excited me in a while, nothing except Desta. If she is badly hurt or… or worse, I don’t know what I’ll do.” He sounded genuinely puzzled about that. “At any rate, not only have werewolves been taken, but some humans as well. The dark figure has also been seen in human towns. There seems to be a trail the figure is leaving behind. We can follow that trail. But we need to leave soon.”

  “Right,” I said. “Okay, well, there’s just one thing I have to take care of first. I could probably be ready to leave in the morning.”

  “I’d rather travel at night,” he said. “But don’t worry, there’s not enough darkness left tonight for us to be ready and get moving. Tomorrow at dusk, then. I’ll meet you at the entrance to your pack’s village, where all the cars are parked.” And then he hung up.

  I made a face at the phone. “Yes, thank you for asking if it was okay with me.”

  “Who was that?” said Landon.

  “You’re back,” I said, turning to him.

  “Yeah,” he said. “Who was on the phone?”

  I sighed heavily. “So, um, I might have left out one teensy detail about going after Desta.”

  “Oh?”

  “Viggo’s going to go with us.”

  Landon groaned. “You have to be kidding me. I’ll rip him to shreds.”

  “Could you really?” I said hopefully.

  “Ehh… probably not. He’s really old.”

  “Figures,” I muttered. “Anyway, he’s really motivated to find Desta.”

  “I guess you want to take advantage of that,” he said.

  “Look, I don’t think my sister meant to hurt you,” I said. “Is there any chance you guys will ever get along?”

  He shrugged. “Well, we’re all beings who have really long life spans. Anything’s possible.”