by Richard Amos
“You’re not coming up here!”
“I’m helping you sort this shit out. Naomi needs my help.”
“What?”
“She needs a spell-caster, and your blind leader isn’t about to come to the rescue, is she?”
“Her name’s Karla.”
“And?”
Bloody hell, I wanted to pull him through the phone for being a dick head and for being right. The universe had a twisted sense of humor throwing him into the mix all the time. I so needed to discuss this on my next visit to the unopened flower because it wasn’t right. What happened to the clear old times when enemy meant enemy? Okay, he still was with his own secret plans for me.
I don’t like murky water.
Speaking of which, my feet were getting cold. Dean and I were the only two still in the silver pool.
I stepped out. “Do what you got to do,” I told the white eye guy.
“I intend to, Jacob.” He hung up.
I thrust the phone back into my jean’s pocket. “Guess who’s coming to play?”
“Seriously?” Greg said.
Nay relayed the info back to Karla. “Yes, I know.”
“Who was that?” Sally asked. “How does he know about me?”
“He knows everything,” I replied. “But don’t worry, he’ll be dead soon.”
“He will?”
“Yes.”
Dean put a hand on my back. “Don’t let him get to you.”
“That’s like keeping a dog away from bacon.”
“You’re better than him, Jake.”
Sally was watching us. She smirked and shrugged her shoulders. “Never mind.”
I blushed. Argh!
“We need to get back up there,” I said. “People are dying.” What else had the dragon and giants done?
“They’re still up there,” Sally responded. She licked her spoon. “Death to all beasts.” She winked at me. “You’re a handy bloke to have around.”
“He is,” Dean said.
“I bet.” She scooped up some more jam, taking the spoon into her mouth like she was working it for a porn film about silver spoon fetishes.
“I prefer apricot jam,” I said. It came out really bitchy. “On crumpets. Really nice.” I tried making my voice perky to patch over the guilt at being snarky. She’d helped us out big time, and I had no right to be a twat about things.
“Is that what you call it?”
What did she mean by that?
She winked at me again.
I was done with the jam-related innuendo that I didn’t understand. “What’s the plan?”
“We wait until Sally senses the wolves, goblins and the white eye guy approach,” Nay offered.
“So, sensing is a skill of yours?” I addressed the vampire.
“Of course. That’s what makes me a fabulous hunter.” She licked her lips. “Jam can’t compare to blood, but it’s a close second.”
“Great.” I’d save the vampire-related questions for another time.
“Did Rose say what she had to stop the dragon fire?” Greg asked.
“No. I’m worried they’re gonna get themselves killed coming up here.”
“Come here.” Greg spread his arms.
I went to him, falling into his embrace and resting my head against his chest. He was my brother from another mother. And really good at giving hugs.
“And you, Nay,” he said.
Naomi came over and snuggled against my back.
“Erm, okay,” Sally drawled. “Just have a group hug when all that shite is going on up there, eh?”
“You wouldn’t understand,” Nay responded.
“This is what we do,” Greg added. “We like a power cuddle in the crappiest moments. Dean?”
“Yeah?”
“Wanna get in on some of this? You’re part of the sacred circle too.”
I wanted to lift my head to see him, but I was the unmovable filling in a lovely sandwich. Yeah, stuff was going on up there, some really awful things. This group hug was a reassurance in a wild raging storm that we had this no matter how dire. We couldn’t fall apart. The forces of evil needed to be stopped, and the people who still had their lives needed to be saved from deaths they didn’t deserve.
“All right,” Dean answered.
What the hell?
“Nice one, mate!” Greg scooped him in with an arm.
Dean’s face was inches from mine. “Hi,” I whispered.
He smiled and said nothing.
“Okay,” Greg said. “Hug time is over.”
Sally was tapping a stiletto on the ground, her arms folded. “You’re a bunch of weirdos.”
“Jealous you’re not in on the action?” Nay retorted.
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, yeah. I wanna be part of your freaky sex cult.”
“What?” Nay asked.
“I thought you were into women.”
“Big time,” Nay said.
“Frig.” Sally flipped her hair. “I never could wind you up.”
“True that.”
“I’m happy for you bonded lot.” She wiggled her eyebrows at me. “Jealous too.” Her eyes flicked to Dean, and she did the eyebrow dance again.
Man, she was kind of annoying—even if she was our savior. She saw the things, that’s why. It shouldn’t bother me, but … I just didn’t like it when people were so much more aware of stuff in my life than me. I mean, let me figure this out, vampy!
“So we wait,” Greg said.
I nodded.
“Anyone for jam?” Sally asked.
Twenty minutes later, which dragged so friggin’ bad that all my nails had been chewed down, Sally was up off the chaise longue.
“They’re here.”
“All of them?” I asked.
“Yes.” She shuddered. “I don’t like that magic man.”
“What is he?” I asked. Maybe she could finally solve the riddle of the white eye guy!
“I don’t know. Witch? Something … something else?” She grabbed her forehead. “Can’t answer that. Sorry. He’s bad news, though. You probably shouldn’t hang around with him.”
“Yeah, well.” I didn’t say anything more on it. There was a job to do.
“You’d better be getting up there,” the vampire said quickly. “They’ve been spotted.”
“We’re ready,” Nay said. “Thanks again.”
Sally nodded and there was a flash of silver light.
Chapter Fourteen
The world above snapped back and the roar of the dragon beast shook my bones.
Smoke rolled across the sky. Fire raged in the rubble of the collapsed overpass. The giants were still there, eyes on the bridge where I now stood with my guardians.
The dragon was in the field, growling.
“Jake!” Rose called.
Rose and Randy, the goblins, were in their reindeer-drawn sleighs, completely free of Christmas festivities, over in the road. It was kind of disappointing. They were brown and non-descript, shadows of their former selves from the last time I’d seen them. The nervous reindeer were focused on the dragon.
Bliss, the werewolf, Eric and five other wolves (three men and two women) were standing outside a truck. Bliss was holding an enormous rocket launcher.
And there, standing a little to the side of that truck, was the white eye guy. His long black coat billowed in the wind, his single white eye glowing in his face.
Hyena beasts and piggies appeared, marching together down the road and coming to a stop in a line. An army had gathered.
The world held its breath.
So now what?
The dragon beat its massive wings and took flight, roaring at the heavens. As if it were a signal, the giants moved, smashing down more of the overpass as they turned their huge bodies.
Tremors rumbled beneath me, the surface of the river rippling with every boom of their footsteps.
Randy lifted a glowing crossbow. It was white, tinged with blue—sparkling ice. Bloody hell
!
The dragon was getting ready to burn.
“I got the giants!” Bliss roared.
The other wolves shifted and charged immediately, tearing toward the line of hyenas and piggies. I felt like a friggin’ spectator.
I was tossed over Greg’s shoulder, the golem charging forward as Nay and Dean flanked him.
“Shield!” he boomed
Crap! The dragon fire! I put up my defense, saving our skins from crispiness.
“That was close,” Greg said.
“I’m sorry! I was … distracted! I’m okay.” I dropped my shield. Greg put me on my feet. “I’m good to roll.”
The bridge had been spared a burning.
Randy cried out something I couldn’t quite make out, and the crossbow released an arrow straight at the dragon as it hovered.
A trail of icy light soared up to meet the beast. My heart skipped a beat. It struck the dragon right in the mouth, arrow jutting out of that flaming maw. Yes! A direct hit to the fucker!
Orange scales cooled to icy white, any trace of flame dying away. Its attempt at a roar failed as the goblin magic worked to chill it down. That Randy was a clever bloke!
The beast wasn’t frozen. Its wings still beat; it was still of its flesh. But there were no flames, no roar. The bastard flew off in the direction of the industrial quarter.
Damn!
Hopefully that was permanent.
“Impressive,” Nay said.
A battle was underway and we were still on the sidelines watching the show. Time for action.
“Into the fray!” Greg yelled before I could.
Together, we charged toward the fight.
Wolves tore at beasts; beasts tore at wolves. It was a dance of fur, fangs, claws, and pig snouts.
An almighty whoosh went over my head. A rocket roared toward the approaching giants. It hit the first one in the face as I crashed into a piggy. The explosion was awesome, ripping that massive head in half.
“Reload!” Bliss yelled. “Hold tight!”
The piggy kicked me in the shin and sliced at my arm with its slicer knuckles. It went right through my coat and gouged my muscle. I punched it in the face and grabbed its head, delivering a kill shot.
Back from the place of fog, the first giant was on its knees, brains and goo spilling down its chest. It fell forward, landing hard on a group of three hyenas. They howled as they were crushed.
I burst into a run, weaving through the brawl. A piggy leapt into my path and went for a swing. I dove into a roll to the left, a flawless tumble back onto my feet. Before I could run on, it punched me in the kidney with its slicer.
Fuck! There was nothing quite like a friggin’ kidney punch with an added deep cut to make it all the more fun.
And there was nothing quite like adrenaline and fury.
I leapt onto the piggy. We crashed to the ground. It shrieked, and I smacked the shit out of its face, ignoring the pain of my injury. Amber ribbons flickered all over is foul body.
“Nice fear,” I taunted and killed the piece of shit.
Dean was bedside me when I returned from destroying the beast essence.
“I’m with you,” he said.
I made a quick glance at Greg and Nay. They had things covered with the werewolves.
A copper wolf came up to me. It was Eric. He howled and charged toward the fallen giant.
I was run-limping. Dean went to help me but my healing magic sorted me out. Then I was full force again, making a beeline for the giant. The other one wasn’t moving, watching with a vacant expression on its face.
The grounded one suddenly got up, skull knitting back together almost as quickly as the werewolves shifted from human to furry.
Crap!
“Bastard!” I heard Bliss roar.
The beasts it’d crushed twitched on the ground—broken but not dead. Yet.
Eric leapt at it, teeth and claws tearing at its right leg. It kicked out to fling him off, but Eric’s hold was tough.
“Keep back,” Dean ordered and charged.
What the fuck? Like I was gonna do any more of this spectator bollocks!
I ran for the giant’s other leg. My sparks could burn the hell out of its flesh, maybe do enough damage to make it come more down to my level.
Anything had to be worth a try.
Another rocket fired and hit the giant’s belly. Steaming guts tumbled out and rained down on me. The slimy tubes knocked me off my feet. Jesus! They weighed some! I scrambled to my feet, dizzy but not incapacitated. Me, Dean and Eric all got out of the way before we were pancakes.
The giant fell again, flat on its face. It groaned into the asphalt. I sprang into action and went in for the kill.
“Reloading!” Bliss yelled as I touched the beast giant’s temple.
I ran at the golden light of it essence and destroyed it. No pissing around.
But holy flippin’ hell! The euphoria that came was far greater than it’d ever been before. I was soaring into a blissful sky of light and strength, of sexual desire, of power. Every inch of me sang with pleasure, my dick hard as fucking marble.
“Jake?”
Dean was right there before me.
“Fuck me, Dean. Right now. Take me! I need to feel you inside me.”
“Snap out of it, Jake!”
I was rolling and rolling and rolling, flying and flying and flying. Didn’t want to come down from this. My power was being fed so wonderfully, this beast giant an amazing meal.
More to kill … The voice of the goddess was the blast of cold water I needed.
I came straight back to reality, landing hard. My groin ached from the boner straining to be free. But I was buzzing with energy.
“You good?” Dean asked.
My face blazed with heat, and I was frowning. “I’m good.” I’d just said … that stuff to him. Ground, swallow me now! Well, after I killed this friggin’ giant.
The other giant stomped forward, voice a booming mass of indecipherable noise. It swung a fist at Eric, barely missing him.
A hyena came at Dean, the two of them tumbling across the asphalt. Another was on Eric, leaving me in the direct path of the giant. Its blank expression was gone, replaced with rage.
“Come on, bastard!” I roared up at it. “Come on!”
My sparks went wild.
A force grabbed me and yanked me out of the way. Shit! I was ready to have the big fucker get a fist of it, maybe make it fall on its arse. I’d had the moment under control.
I was now safely away from it. For now. Man, was I pissed!
The familiar holding force let me go, and the white eye guy shoved me. “You idiot! What was that?”
I grabbed him and head-butted him. My forehead protested and it felt so damned good. The arsehole stumbled back, clutching his nose.
I jutted a finger at him. “You can cut that shit out.”
Blood poured down his chin, but he grinned. Fuck! That wasn’t the result I was going for. “I love how I can push every single button of yours, Jacob.”
“You want some more?”
“You’re too easily distracted.” He wiped the blood with the sleeve of his coat. “Never mind getting in hits at me. You need to focus on this fight.”
“Fuck you.”
“Is that what you have to say to the man who’s come to help you?”
“What have you done so far? Nothing but piss me off! I knew what I was doing!”
“There’ll be a moment shortly where you’re going to feel really bad for cracking me on the nose. I guarantee it.”
“Eat this!” Bliss roared.
The rocket blew a hole in the giant’s chest, blood spraying everywhere. It came down hard. My heart was in my throat as Dean dove out of the way, the hyena beasts being crushed under the big bastard. Thank God he was quick on his feet!
“Go do your job, then,” the white eye guy sniped.
I didn’t react, just jogged over and killed the giant.
The wonder of
the kill carried me away again. Two hits of the same incredible rush, so close to one another. Blimey! Blissful breathlessness, horniness and bloodlust—a concoction like no other.
Blimey!
More …
Again, the goddess was my sobering pill. It wasn’t safe to be lost in this. There were more beasts to kill.
“So you can smile,” the white eye guy said. “Ups your prettiness, Jacob.”
I flipped him the bird and dashed over to kill the crushed beasts.
With Dean and Eric by my side, I jumped into the fight along with Greg, Nay and the werewolves.
My body was alive with so much power from the giant kills. It blazed hotter than any dragon fire—adrenaline and then some driving my fists and feet, laced in every kill. I took hits and cuts, and I didn’t care. My shield pinged beasts all over the place, and I was on them in a flash. Kill after kill, every single beast felt the true death that only I could bring.
When it was done, I slumped to the ground. Not exhausted, but ringing with exquisite pleasure. It was too much and not enough. I needed more, and I needed to catch my breath.
“All right, Jakey?” Greg asked, lifting me up.
“Yeah, I-I’m good.” His face was cut, his coat ripped open and exposing skin. “You injured?”
“No, mate.”
Nay was good, Dean was good. One of the werewolves, a man, was being bundled into the truck. He was the only serious injury. But no casualties—lucky considering what we’d been up against.
This wasn’t over, the very tip of the iceberg. I could feel it in my bones so fully. Lilisian was simply testing the waters. She was a Supreme beast. The big guns were only just warming up.
I have to stop her …
Eric shifted into a dark-skinned man once more and gave me the thumbs up without a word. Him being naked didn’t bother me. That was werewolves, and there was too much going through my head to care. The horror of what the beasts had done, the smell of smoke, the desire that would not die. My brain was swimming through a soup of too many ingredients.
Bliss came charging over. “Well done, people.”
“Well done to you,” I said. “Bloody hell! That rocket launcher was inspired.”
“How else you gonna take down a giant?”
Rose and Randy were coming over. “Amazing, Randy,” I addressed him. He squirmed under my praise. “Seriously, mate. That was excellent work. You cooled down the dragon and saved us all.”