Reckoning: A Reverse Harem Tale (Mountain Magic Book 3)

by Dakota Brown

  His brain short circuited as pleasure so intense it hurt ripped through him.

  Pain he could have fought right away, this undid him long enough that the vampire had a solid control over him before he managed to come back to himself.

  The vampire drained his strength away as he tried to free the knife from the vampire's ribs, but his arm was trapped, and he couldn't get free. Grasping for Nikolai's magic from the blood he had taken from the mage earlier was like trying to catch the wind that swirled around them. It was there, but he'd already lost too much strength to manage it.

  His legs gave out and blackness circled his vision, though he still fought.

  Something slammed into them and the vampire lost his grip, tearing at Doc's neck as he was ripped away.

  Not taking time to try and figure out what had happened, he leapt forward, falling on the vampire. This time he didn't miss the heart.

  Doc got his first good look at his opponent. His blood covered the vampire's chin. Pale skin, dark hair, European features. It wasn't anyone he knew. He gathered his strength, jerked the knife out of the vampire's chest and slammed the blade down on his neck. He crumpled to dust as Doc's knife separated his head from his shoulders.

  "Fuck," Doc gasped as he collapsed to the ground.

  A blond wolf straddled Doc's chest and licked at his neck.

  He didn't have the energy to push Ed away, and really, Ed could have his blood if he wanted it. The werewolf knew what he was doing.

  Ed whined.

  "I'm okay, Ed." He rolled over and struggled to his feet. They needed to rescue Sam and kill the others. "Thanks for the save."

  Ed perked his ears and Doc dug his fingers into the werewolf's ruff for a moment.

  Hunger flared through him, but he wasn't in as bad a shape as he had originally thought now that he wasn't under the other vampire's control. His strength returned quickly, and he wrapped the shadows around him again.

  "Let's go."

  Chapter 21

  Ed

  He slunk through the swirling snow at Doc's side. The vampire had wrapped the shadows around both of them since Sofia's invisibility spell had apparently worn off when the vampire had clawed the shit out of him. Doc's blood had helped his werewolf healing take care of most of it and he ignored the minor discomfort as they worked their way through the forest.

  Snow obscured his vision, but his other senses compensated, and he knew this forest better than he knew anything. The energies of the land guided him until they were crouched not far from where the mages battled.

  Sam lay forgotten in the snow, hands bound and apparently unable to perform any magic.

  Sofia battered at Melinda's shields, while Alex cast offensive magic. Nikolai blocked the spells with his sword somehow, standing in front of Sofia so she could concentrate on battering away at the others.

  Sofia blazed with her lavender magic. Ed had to tear his eyes away so he could focus on helping Doc. He wanted to watch his mate destroy the enemy. They were weakening. Sam's presence limited Sofia's options, and they needed to rescue her so his mate could finish this.

  "I'm going to go after Melinda," Doc said. "See if you can drag Sam out of the way."

  Ed nodded. He could grab the ropes that bound her and drag her away.

  He followed as Doc rushed out of the shadows. Neither of the mages had time to react as his knife slid across Melinda's throat. Blood sprayed, and she spun, catching Doc with the edge of a spell and sending him flying into the trees. He disappeared into the shadows. Ed could still sense his pack mate through their bond, but Doc was probably out of the fight while he recovered.

  Alex shouted as Melinda sank to her knees.

  Sofia hit Alex hard with a blast that flung him backward. He lay still.

  Ed used the distraction to dart forward and grab Sam's wrists, teeth locking down on the ropes that bound her. He dragged her away in the distraction.

  Sam didn't struggle, eyes wide but seeming to recognize that Ed was helping her.

  Once she was as safe as he could get her, he backed away, not trusting the mage as he hid himself in the underbrush and watched.

  She looked around wildly, making it to her knees.

  "Ed? Allan?" She stuttered, teeth clacking together as she shivered in the cold air.

  Sam wore jeans soaked from the snow and a thin sweater, not at all dressed for the outdoors. Still, Ed couldn't bring himself to get closer. He could have helped her stay warm, but was she the enemy?

  She staggered to her feet and fell again.

  Ed's attention shifted back to the mages at Sofia's shout of dismay. Somehow Melinda was back on her feet and Nikolai was sprawled on the ground, unconscious. Blood coated the front of her jacket, but her neck was whole.

  "She's got some sort of leach spell going," Sam said. "Not sure who it's attached to, but whoever it was, just died. I think she's got one more. We're going to have to kill her again before we can really bring her down."

  Ed huffed. Of course, she couldn't be easy to kill.

  "I can help," Sam said when Ed crawled out of the underbrush.

  He ignored her and sent a thought to Sofia hoping she would understand he needed a big distraction.

  Moments later, Sofia unleashed a tornado of magic and snow and sent it straight for Melinda.

  That got her attention. Ed dashed toward the enemy, leapt, and clamped his jaws around her neck, snapping it.

  Pain seared through him, and bones snapped as he crashed into the trees. He would recover, but it was going to be a few minutes before he could fight again. Laying there, he watched Melinda stagger to her feet and deflect Sofia's attack.

  Thunder cracked through the snow and Melinda jerked. Not thunder, gunfire.

  She staggered and the gun boomed again. This time Melinda went down and stayed there.

  The front door on the house opened and Sofia's dad came out followed by Ash. Dan held a rifle and Ash's hands glowed with magic.

  Together the three of them cautiously approached Melinda.

  "I think she's actually dead," Ash said.

  Dan clenched his jaw. "Good. What are we going to do with the bodies?"

  Ash's hands flared amber before the motes settled on her body. It rapidly desiccated into dust.

  Sofia gagged.

  "It only works if the person's already dead, if that helps any," Ash said quietly.

  "Yeah, kind of."

  They turned their attention to Alex.

  Before Sofia could even ask what they were going to do with Alex, the demon found Doc's knife, scooped it up and slammed it down into Alex's chest.

  Sofia's eyes widened and her dad twitched the muzzle of his rifle toward Ash before he took a deep breath and pointed it at the ground again.

  Sofia turned away while Ash destroyed his tormentor's body. Ed couldn't blame him. Not really.

  "That's it then," Sofia said, voice flat. She hugged herself.

  Her dad put his arm around her. "Where's everyone else?"

  That jerked Sofia out of her daze.

  Ed woofed and tried to get to his feet. His body didn't want to cooperate, though he could tell his bones were knitting.

  Ash tucked Doc's knife into his belt and zeroed in on the unconscious vampire. Sofia and her dad came over to where Ed lay.

  "Hey, you okay." She knelt next to him.

  He whined.

  "Here. I don't have much energy left." She cast a weak heal spell on him. Her magic tingled through him, helping a little.

  Dan handed the rifle to Sofia and knelt next to Ed. "Don't bite me, okay?"

  Ed nodded and Dan carefully picked him up. He yelped but managed not to struggle. Dan grunted but managed to lift Ed. "Well, you don't lose any weight when you change. Let's get you inside."

  Sofia went over to Nikolai and rolled the mage over on his back. Ed could hear his heart beating steadily.

  "Nikolai." She shook him and he groaned.

  "Am okay," he muttered and managed to sit up on hi
s own.

  Sofia grabbed his sword and took it and the rifle inside while Nikolai staggered after her, clutching his head.

  Dan put Ed down by the fire and Ash came in a minute later, Doc's arm over his shoulder as he helped the vampire inside. Doc collapsed into Nikolai's recliner, groaning. Nikolai sank to the ground next to Doc and leaned against his legs, resting his head on Doc's knee.

  Allan came over to Ed.

  "You okay?"

  He nodded. Allan sat down next to him ran his hand through Ed's ruff.

  Ash went back out into the storm. He hoped the demon was going after Sam.

  Sofia put the weapons on the kitchen table and came back into the living room.

  Ed watched as her eyes went to her parents. Dan stared at Doc, eyes wide. Sofia sighed tiredly, went over to the recliner, and half collapsed into Doc's lap.

  Dan twitched, but didn't say anything.

  He watched until Doc wrapped his arms around their mate, leaned his cheek against her head, and held her close. Nikolai lifted a hand and let it rest on Sofia's thigh.

  Satisfied that everyone would be okay, he let the exhaustion take him.

  Chapter 22

  Sofia

  I didn't move when Ash came back inside with Sam, feeling numb. We'd gotten our asses kicked, but we had still won. Everyone would recover, and the enemy was really handled this time. I shied away from thinking about Ash plunging the knife into Alex's chest. I didn't blame the demon, I just didn't want to think about it.

  Sam shivered violently and Ash brought her over to the fireplace.

  "Mom, could you get the comforter off of my bed for Sam?" I kept my eyes on the other mage but hoped Ash could handle her if she tried anything. None of the rest of us had any energy left.

  The demon worked at the bindings on her wrists, carefully cutting with Doc's knife.

  Mom came back and wrapped the blanket around Sam once Ash had her free. She didn't say anything, just huddled near the fire wrapped in my lavender comforter.

  "You know how I wanted a day where we had a really nice time and nothing bad happened?"

  "Yes," Nikolai answered.

  "I'm still waiting."

  Doc laughed, though it sounded strained.

  Just then someone's phone buzzed.

  Doc sighed. "It's mine. I'm not answering it. There is no one who could possibly want to talk to me badly enough right now."

  "Adriana?" Nikolai said.

  Doc muttered something impolite mostly under his breath. "I think that's what voicemail is for."

  After Doc's phone fell silent, mine started up.

  "It's definitely Adriana, or Victoria. They're the only two people I know who have both our numbers and aren't in this room." I didn't move.

  "Who's Adriana?" Mom asked.

  "Magic council person," I answered.

  "Oh."

  "They've been marginally helpful."

  "She just wants in Doc's pants," Nikolai muttered, jealousy coloring his voice.

  Doc sighed.

  "Everyone wants in Doc's pants," I said, momentarily forgetting my parents didn't need to know that. "He's hot."

  Dad made a strangled sound and Mom put her hand on his shoulder. Sam laughed.

  Ash unfolded from the ground and left, probably to retrieve my phone. If it was Victoria something might be wrong. If it was Adriana, she could wait.

  The demon came back a minute later and handed me the phone.

  "Sofia, don't tell her about any of this," Doc cautioned. "We have no idea how they're interpreting any of their so-called rules."

  "We can disappear into Siberia," Nikolai said.

  "I don't like the cold as much as you do," Doc grumbled.

  "Doesn't bother you, don't know why you don't like it," the Russian countered.

  "I do get cold, just not as easily as you do."

  "Do not get cold easily." Nikolai huffed.

  I laughed tiredly while I stared at the number on my phone and debated calling back.

  "So, vampires are affected by weather?" Dad asked. It was probably the best way he could have broached the subject.

  "I don't think so," Doc answered. "At least not easily."

  "But..."

  "I'm not..."

  "Yes, you are," Dad barked.

  "I was going to say, I'm not a full vampire. You've seen me in the sunlight. That's real, too." Doc didn't look at Dad while he spoke, just continued to stare off into space as he quickly repeated the story of how his mother had been attacked right before he was born.

  I remembered Sam didn't know any of this and glanced at her. She had paled considerably, and it was clear she hadn't guessed that possibility at all. She glanced toward the door, but a shiver wracked her body and she huddled closer to the fire instead of bolting.

  "Guys, shut up for a minute. I'm going to call Adriana back."

  Everyone fell silent.

  Adriana picked up quickly. "Sofia. We were just checking on all of you."

  "We're fine, why?"

  "We still haven't managed to track down Alex or Melinda Anderson. Have you seen them at all?"

  "No."

  "Okay. Have you considered our offer any further?"

  "To help you guys? We're thinking about it, but I'd also like to get through school, too."

  "Of course. Please keep us updated on your plans. We really want to talk to Ash, and we need to talk to Roy."

  He tensed. "What about," he spoke up enough that the phone would catch his words.

  Adriana sucked in a breath, clearly not expecting Doc to respond right away. "Uh, just some of the things Alex said while we had him."

  "I'm sure Alex is a completely trustworthy source of information," his voice dripped with sarcasm.

  "Well, yes, we have taken that into consideration."

  "Why don't you focus on finding Melinda and Alex and actually containing them this time. Maybe then we can talk. It's the middle of a blizzard here, and no one is going anywhere for a while, regardless. We'd like to get through the rest of the holidays without another disaster or confrontation."

  "Sure, Roy. It's probably not that urgent, anyway. Sofia, thanks for calling me back. We'll leave you alone for a while."

  "Thanks, Adriana. If we do come across Alex, we'll let you know."

  "Be careful, Sofia. I'm sure they're not happy with any of you."

  "Well, we're not happy with them, either. I'm certain they realize that." I clenched my hand on the phone.

  "Happy Holidays." She hung up.

  "Okay, I'm texting Victoria and then everyone is turning their phones off!" I almost threw the thing, but I didn't want to have to buy another one, so I sent Victoria a quick text letting her know we were all right and that I was turning my phone off for a while.

  Ash took the phone from me and left the room for a moment.

  "Okay, quiet, peace? Raging blizzard? Can we just have dinner and not deal with the real world for a while?" I snuggled into Doc who tightened his arms around me.

  "Sure, honey," Dad said after a moment.

  "Sam, are you okay?" Doc finally asked her.

  "Starting to warm up."

  I groaned. "Maybe we should cleanup."

  Doc sighed. "Yeah."

  Nikolai grumbled in protest when I moved off of Doc's lap but accepted my hand when I pulled him to his feet.

  "You two first."

  Doc nodded, tiredly got to his feet, and headed for the master bathroom. After a quick glance at my parents that I think only Mom noticed, Nikolai headed off for one of the other bathrooms. She smirked as she watched the mage head down the hallway. Mom really had accepted my pack dynamic pretty easily.

  Allan climbed to his feet and followed Doc into the master bedroom. I took his spot next to Ed on the floor and gently ran my hand along his shoulder, thick fur warming my hands. He didn't move, though his side rose and fell evenly.

  Sam stared at me, eyes wide.

  I ignored her.

  "You knew all th
at?"

  I turned my attention to the other mage. "Yes. And if you tell anyone, I'll personally end you."

  She blanched.

  Fortunately, my parents still didn't protest my violent intentions.

  "Do you want me to get you home before the blizzard gets to bad?" Ash offered.

  "Yeah, maybe that would be best," Sam said. "I think I'm warm now."

  "You taking the Camaro?"

  Ash winked at me. "Traction spell."

  I giggled before sobering. "Sam, I'm sorry you got caught up in all this."

  She shrugged. "None of this was your fault, Sofia. The people who caused it are, uh, missing. Right?"

  I nodded.

  "Hopefully we'll never see them again."

  "Yeah."

  I glanced at Ash and he nodded. I wasn't sure what he would do, but whatever it was, he would reinforce to Sam that she could never speak of any of this.

  They went out into the storm, leaving me alone with the sleeping werewolf and my parents.

  "So, I think I'm safe now." I forced a smile.

  Dad rubbed his hands together and hunched his shoulders before nodding.

  "You okay?"

  "Never killed anyone before, but yes, I'm fine."

  That was probably as close to admitting he wasn't fine as Dad would come. Mom put her arm around him. "One of those shots was mine, Dan. And she was going to kill our little girl. We did what we had to."

  Dad nodded before his gaze strayed to the bedroom. "You're dating a vampire."

  "Um, yeah. Half vampire anyway."

  "That can do magic?" He crossed his arms.

  "Well, uh, he has these reservoir bracelets that store magic. That's how."

  "You could have told me." He furrowed his brow.

  "Honey," Mom said. "You would have flipped out."

  He opened his mouth, probably to protest, before clicking his teeth shut. "Maybe."

  "I can't figure out why George lied to me, though."

  "Doc threatened him. There's a reason everyone is afraid of vampires," I admitted. George, Dad's werewolf friend, hadn't been able to figure out exactly what Doc was for a while. When he had figured it out it was because Doc had threatened him into silence.

  "You're safe here?" Worry made him sound almost sad.