by Cheree Alsop
I glanced at Aspen. Fear for me showed in her eyes. I didn’t want her to see what was about to happen.
“Go to your sister,” I told her quietly when I stopped a few feet from the vampire.
The werewolves who stood guard around her refused to back away; I fixed them with a glare. “Move,” I growled.
Eyes lowered from mine. I hadn’t become Third lightly. Years of defending myself and proving that I owned the position also meant that I had earned their obedience. The werewolves around the little girl backed away and she ran to Alia.
A look of disgust at his guardians’ obedience to me showed on the Master’s face. “Kneel,” he spat.
It took everything in my power to do as he commanded.
Whispers rushed through the werewolves. I wondered what they were thinking, but didn’t dare take my eyes away from the glowing yellow orbs above me. As far as I could remember, a Master, this Master, had never drank from the blood of a werewolf. It was an unspoken understanding that we brought them sustenance, not became it.
Would the werewolves rebel? I doubted it. Most of the werewolves there would be happy to see me unseated and slain. But the voice in the back of my mind questioned whether the vampire was making a mistake even more fatal than the one we planned for him.
I’m going to enjoy this, he growled in my mind as he bent his head. His lips pulled back to reveal the rows of hollow teeth that packed his mouth. Greed made the licorice scent of his breath nearly overpowering.
“You’ve always been jealous of us werewolves.”
The truth hit me as soon as I whispered it. The Master paused with his mouth inches from the place where my shoulder met my neck.
Brave words before death, he replied.
“True words,” I said, raising my voice. “That’s why you made it so hard for us to rise in the ranks, why you forbade us from forming packs, why you tried to have me killed instead of promoting me.”
My voice was quiet, but with a werewolf audience, every syllable met listening ears, and the Master knew it. Sharp teeth sunk into my neck. I gritted my teeth when he took his first drink and his fangs grazed my collarbone.
I growled out, “You were afraid they would follow me over you!”
The whispers from the werewolves increased. I couldn’t tell if anger or interest was the strongest emotion. But my words struck a chord. At least that was something.
Fear you?
He took another swallow and a ringing sound began in my ears.
A mutt zev who never knew to be grateful for the promise I tried to encourage in him? The Master continued, Ha! I look forward to your strength. Your friends will quickly follow, along with their families. Your strength is filling me. Why have I waited this long to drain my guardians? Energy surges through my veins. I will be invincible!
Anger thrummed through my limbs. “And your brother?” I said, my voice weakening. “What will you do about him?”
“With your blood running through me? He couldn’t stop me. Maybe I’ll drain all your brothers and sisters here. I could face Elioran myself!”
But he had made a mistake. In his enthusiasm, he had spoken the words aloud instead of just in my head. That the other werewolves heard him was obvious by the commotion in the room. But the vampire didn’t notice. He was too intent on draining every drop of my blood. I needed to stop him. I tried to lift a hand, but my ears rang and my arm was sluggish to respond. I was amazed at how quickly he drank.
There was a plan, I thought. Something was supposed to happen. I just wished I could remember what it was.
A shot rang out. The Master’s head jerked back so quickly he took a chunk of my skin with him. I fell to the floor of the cavern and looked up to see his glowing eyes widen in amazement. When he moved his head, the bullet fell to the ground next to me with a dull thud.
“I’ve got to give you credit for bravery, even though it’s combined with stupidity, girl,” the Master said. He flexed his shoulders. Muscles that hadn’t been there before rippled beneath his skin. “I’m stronger already. You’ll be my next meal,” he vowed.
He reached a clawed hand down to me. I rolled away and managed to push up to my knees just out of his reach. A toothy grin spread across his bat-like face.
“And here I thought you were nearly dead,” he said.
“Sorry to disappoint you,” I replied. I could feel the blood dripping down the side of my neck. The sting of his bite wasn’t pleasant.
“I plan to finish what I started,” the Master said.
He rose to his feet. A shudder ran down my spine. The werewolf blood had indeed had a powerful effect on the vampire. In place of the weak, frail old creature Virgo’s spell had revealed to me stood a beast I wouldn’t want to tangle with. His leathery skin no longer hung tattered and dull; instead, it gleamed with dark power and stretched over muscles that flexed with each movement. His claws glimmered in the light from Virgo’s orb, and his eyes shone with anticipation.
I crab-crawled backwards. With each step, his claws bit into the stone floor. I could imagine how painful they would be in my skin. With me gone, there would be nothing to hold the vampire to his word. Virgo, Alia, and Aspen would be as good as dead.
But there was a plan.
“So you enjoy the blood of werewolves?” I asked, taunting him.
He flexed his arms, stretching the skin that formed the flap of wings beneath them. “I should have drained you a long time ago.”
“You probably should have,” I agreed. “Before I figured out your lies and petty deception. Your life isn’t worth those that died to keep you fed. I’m ashamed to have had any part in that.”
“Now you’ll have the greatest part in it,” the Master growled.
He grabbed me by the throat and lifted me up with a terrifying ease. I struggled to pull his hand free as his claws sunk into the skin of my throat.
“You forgot something,” I managed to gasp.
“What’s that?” he demanded.
“Werewolves have weaknesses, too,” I replied.
I shoved the amulet into his open mouth. His grip weakened at the contact with the cloth bag and I fell to the floor. More shots rang out. Silver bullets hit the vampire in the chest. This time, instead of bouncing off without impact, huge holes appeared. The vampire staggered backwards.
I followed his startled gaze to Alia. Her jaw was clenched and her hand steady as she took careful aim.
“You threatened my family,” she said.
She squeezed the trigger and another bullet hit the vampire. He stumbled back several steps.
“You scared my sister,” she said and fired again.
The vampire gasped when the bullet tore through his sternum.
“And you hurt my friend,” she said. Her eyes flickered to me and then back to the vampire. She pulled the trigger and the sound of the gunshot echoed around the cavern.
I looked behind me in time to see the vampire fall to the ground. A gurgle escaped the fresh hole in his throat. He grabbed at it with clawed hands that were still damp with my blood, but there was no stopping the damage. Silver and werewolf blood didn’t mix.
His back arched and his muscles writhed as though worms battled beneath his skin. An unearthly scream tore from his lips and into our minds. All around me, werewolves and humans doubled over and grabbed their skulls in pain. I felt as though my brain was being shredded into tiny pieces. The taste of blood filled my mouth and it was all I could do to keep from screaming. Yells of agony sounded from the lips of several other werewolves.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Virgo stagger to his feet and grab the gun from Alia. He aimed a shaky hand at the vampire and pulled the trigger. The bullet hit the Master in the head. The screaming stopped.
A sigh escaped my lips when the pain ended as abruptly as it had started. The realization that it meant the Master was dead struck me with mixed emotions. The vampire had controlled my entire life with lies I had readily believed. The fact that he was gone fe
lt like a dream and a nightmare. Had everything I lived for really been a sham? What good was a werewolf guardian without anything to protect?
The voice in the back of my mind suggested that now probably wasn’t the time to reevaluate my lifepath. I rose shakily to my feet. The vampire’s body twitched, but one look at his face confirmed that he was indeed dead.
A growl sounded behind me.
Chapter Thirteen
I spun to find the werewolves advancing.
“You killed one of our Masters,” one on my left said with a mixture of anger and disbelief.
“I killed the only Master,” I replied.
“What are you talking about, Third?” another demanded. “Where are the other Masters? They were here!”
“Virgo?” I said.
The warlock repeated the same foreign words and waved his hand. The werewolves around us blinked and shook their heads. They stared at the wrinkled, worn body of the fallen vampire behind me as if it didn’t make sense. In the face of their confusion, I could sense the werewolves getting angrier.
“What tricks are you playing, Third?” a werewolf asked. “Where are the Masters?”
“They’re gone! He destroyed them!”
“Their voices aren’t in my head any longer. It’s too quiet!”
“He’s to blame. He should die!”
“He’s betrayed us all!”
The chill of their rage-filled stares sent adrenaline rushing through my limbs, but it couldn’t break the hold of the amulet. Virgo’s plan had worked so well until this moment. Wounded and lightheaded at the loss of blood, I knew I wouldn’t hold up long in the face of their anger.
At my motion, Virgo drew Alia and Aspen behind me. The humans huddled closer as the werewolves advanced. Some had already phased. The wolves snarled, their ears back and teeth bared. It was clear they were beyond reasoning. The pack mentality the Master had feared so greatly showed its strength as well as weakness. They were strong together, but also headstrong. We were in serious trouble.
“He controlled me just like you,” I told them.
I backed up, forcing the humans behind me to do the same. I didn’t stop until their backs were against the cave wall and we couldn’t go any further. I held up my hands. “He was in our heads. He made us see the other Masters. He lied to us from the very beginning.”
“But we had a purpose!” someone yelled from the back of the advancing crowd.
I shook my head. “We had a Master,” I said. I put a hand to the side of my neck and the held it up to show the blood that dripped from my palm. “Do you want a Master who was ready to use you for your blood?”
Arguing ran through them, but those closest to me continued to draw forward. I held out a hand in supplication, then jerked it back when the nearest wolf snapped at my fingers.
“I don’t know what just happened,” a werewolf I had fought many times said, “But you’re at the bottom of all of this. Someone needs to pay, and I feel like it should be you.”
“I agree!” another shouted.
“He betrayed us,” someone else said.
I snarled, catching the closest of them by surprise with the vehemence of it. “I betrayed no one,” I said. I crouched, my hands ready despite my weakened state. “I fight for the lives behind me, not for my own. I understand if you want to take your vengeance out on my hide, but let the humans go in peace.”
Silence met my words, then one of the closest werewolves said, “The humans are beneath us. They’re not fit to walk the same ground as us.”
I glared at him. “Do you have more to say than just regurgitating the lies fed to us by that?” I pointed at the body on the ground. “You’re free of him. So act like it!”
“What if we don’t want to be free?” someone asked.
I scanned the crowd for the speaker. “Then you’re not fit to be werewolves.”
Others bristled at my words. It was perhaps not my finest decision to call out the stupidity of an already enraged crowd. To be fair, I had never attempted to talk down a mob hungry for my death. Maybe hungry wasn’t the right word. I had already been food for one outraged carnivore.
I glanced over my shoulder at Virgo.
“Get ready to run for it,” I told him.
“What are you going to do?” he asked.
I respected the way he shielded Alia and Aspen with his body. The warlock truly did have the warrior’s way figured out.
“I’m going to fight them,” I replied. “Run when it starts and don’t look back.”
“We’re not leaving,” Alia said. “We’ll fight.”
“You used up all your bullets,” I told her.
She was enough of a gunner to know I was right without checking.
“Leave while you can, little girl,” a werewolf taunted.
I glared at him. “Don’t talk to her.”
The werewolf scowled at me. “You’re dead, and you know it. Tell your little human pets to get out of the way or join you in the afterlife.” He looked at the werewolves crowded behind him. “Tear Third apart!”
They surged forward in a snarling, fanged mass. I pressed back against Virgo, Alia, and Aspen, shielding them with my body. A squeak of fear escaped from Aspen. Alia held her sister close. Virgo’s hands were raised and his runes glowed, but we both knew there was little he could do against such an onslaught. I growled, determined to take as many as I could with me. I wished the power of the amulet would let go so I’d as least die in the same form I had entered this world. But even that form of justice would be denied to me.
A yelp sounded, then another. I wasn’t sure when I had closed my eyes, then I realized I hadn’t. I blinked and tried to focus on the unexplainable darkness that surrounded us. The werewolves who tried to force their way through the strange shadow jerked back with cries of pain.
“Nobody messes with my friend.”
The voice snaked around the chamber with a hiss that shook me to my core. Warnings of danger and impending death sounded in my mind. My muscles locked. There was no one of substance to fight and no way to protect my friends against a threat I couldn’t even see.
“If you try to hurt my friend, I will hurt you like you have never been hurt before,” the voice threatened in a rush. It sounded like the winds of autumn that cut through any layer of clothing and shook those it touched with fingers of death.
I could see the werewolves backing up through the black mist. Fearful glances and looks of confusion were exchanged. I peered back and saw the same expressions shared by Virgo and Alia. But when I looked down, Aspen was smiling.
“Are you alright, Aspie?” the hissing voice asked.
Virgo and Alia looked at her in surprise.
She nodded. “I’m fine. Thanks Borig.”
“Is that…is that Aspie’s demon?” Virgo asked in a shaky whisper.
“Yes, he is,” Aspen replied with a pleased smile.
“Yes, I am,” the demon echoed.
I fought back the urge to bare my teeth at the whisper that made my fangs tingle. I told myself that the demon was protecting us, well, at least it was protecting Aspen, but my wolf side didn’t want to listen.
I forced myself to talk to it. “I, uh, appreciate you stepping in, Borig,” I said.
A face appeared in the smog that surrounded us. Narrowed red eyes and yellowed teeth became visible.
“Call me Mister Borig,” the demon hissed.
The tiny hairs on my arms and the back of my neck stood up at being addressed directly.
“Mr. Borig,” I corrected hastily.
The face nodded. “You are welcome.” His eyes narrowed further and he said, “Werewolf.”
The hatred of his tone made my throat tighten. I cleared it with some effort and said, “If you don’t mind, Mr. Borig, I would like to talk to the other werewolves.”
“With pleasure,” the demon replied.
“What are you doing?” Alia whispered.
“I’ve got to try,” I replied.
I surveyed the cavern. The werewolves looked as though their want to fight had been deflated like a pin to a balloon. Those who dared to meet my gaze did so furtively. Cowed expressions showed on most faces. Others glanced toward the entrance as though wondering if they could make a break for it. They had completed the same research as I; we all knew how perilous our situation was.
“The demon’s hungry,” I told them. “I can feel it.”
It was true. The energy that swirled through the darkness was ravenous. I could smell the clove and apple odor of hunger clinging to the dark mist.
“Your anger makes it more so. Demons feed on hatred and rage, on violence and guile. Trust me when I say he wants to be here. He wants you to fight me and tear me apart.” I lowered my voice and said, “He’ll destroy all of you if you push him.”
“And gladly,” the demon’s voice hissed through the cavern.
The werewolves looked around uneasily. Several shuffled from foot to foot as if anxious to be out of there, but we stood close to the entrance. They would have to pass the demon to get out. The realization that none of us might be leaving hit me. Aspen may have some sort of understanding with the demon, but it was still a demon. The fact that the little girl was the sweetest and kindest I had ever met definitely balanced the demon out, but I was under no assumption that she could control it.
The demon was awake and hungry. Those two things made it the deadliest creature in the Lair.
I turned to face it. “I would like to propose a deal, Mr. Borig.”
“I’m listening,” its voice breathed around me in a raspy eddy.
“I know you’re hungry. I know you want to eat all of us in here.”
The mist swirled with dark currents. “I do.”
Hushed, fearful whispers followed the demon’s words.
“What if we bring you a vampire?” I pointed to the one we had slain. “What if he is just as evil as that one and bent on even more destruction and death? It would be a feast.”