But the damndest thing happened.
As the two blasts of power flew at the Reds, the fucking ice sculpture on the table behind them exploded, and a thousand-piece cloud of shrapnel erupted between the Reds and Castor’s spell. A massive crystal dragon chock full of awesomeness and protective outrage slammed into the earth directly in front of them, roaring out at Castor, hurling spears of glass at him before folding his wings into a defensive shield.
Yahn had disguised himself as an ice sculpture?
The tri-colored bar of light lost much of its momentum in the explosion of shrapnel, but a very strong bit still struck Yahn’s wings right as my force of air did the same – and rang out with a twin chime like a struck bell followed by the sound of crunching glass. A heartbeat later, Yahn’s spears grazed Castor’s shoulders, because he was too stunned to try and dodge them.
Poor luck that one hadn’t killed him.
I was running as his face contorted in rage, and a ball of utter darkness roared to life before him. I could tell that his injury bothered him, because the spell was messily made, and looked to almost fall apart as I ran on tired legs, unleashing my whips to trail behind me as I prepared to slice something he valued off his body.
But I wasn’t fast enough. The orb of power rippled like a ball of oil, seeming to suck the light into it, eating it, and then it flew at the three dragons in utter silence.
Then, I shit you not, a fourth motherfucker ninja-flipped out from another of the banquet tables, landing directly before Yahn.
This was just getting ri-god-damned-diculous!
I really needed to brush up with a management skills book, because my failure at issuing simple orders was going to get my friends killed.
Alucard stood to his full height, and then erupted into a pillar of golden, flaming light, bright enough to make me wince. I struggled to stare off to the side so that I could use my peripheral vision, since staring directly at the Fae-touched, flaming vampire was out of the question.
I saw a vision beautiful enough to make me weep.
Alucard stared down at Castor Queen, gold-bladed wings spread wide and pointed into the air. His golden face was merciless and emotionless, a blank slate, and his stained robes hung below his feet, which I suddenly realized were a good pace off the ground, since he was hovering. The crimson on the bottom of his robes dripped blood to the earth, catching fire as it struck the grass. The incoming orb of darkness puffed to nothingness in response to his explosion of light.
Castor gaped. “Who the hell are you?”
In a voice like a struck bell, Alucard replied as cold as ice. “I’m the monster they let out of the cage. And you aren’t harming them. Any of them,” he said, mercilessly.
But what hit me in the feels was the fact that Alucard hadn’t stepped out to protect the Reds. He might have intended to, but Yahn had interrupted that, risking his life to keep the Reds safe.
And in return…
Alucard had manned the fuck up.
Stepping in front of Yahn to keep him safe.
I still didn’t want to be anywhere nearby when Yahn came a-knocking to take one – or both – of the Reds on a first date, but it was touching to see Alucard defending Yahn, convinced of the glass dragon’s feelings by the sudden decision to potentially sacrifice his life to save theirs.
But what the hell were they all doing here? Was anyone else sneaking around, disobeying my orders? I didn’t have time for distractions. Matthias could show up any minut—
Without speaking, Castor pointed his nub, and three cords of midnight nothingness shot out from his hands, each as thick as my torso. Right at my Glampire.
Alucard screamed, flaring brighter as the world around us seemed to suddenly dim.
And then brighter as the light from the moon seemed to pale.
And he grew still brighter, seeming to become the only source of light in the world. I couldn’t even see Castor or anything around us, other than Yahn’s glittering skin, and thousands of rainbows reflecting off his scaled, glass wings, which were still folded up into a wall behind Alucard, cracked and dented in places, but still looking functional.
The cords of power hammered into Alucard, striking him in the chest with a resounding metallic sound. His body folded inward at the force of the blow, but I gasped as I saw the cords of power ignite like fuses on a firework, racing back towards Castor faster than they had flown at Alucard. The Maker tried to release the cords, but it happened too fast for him to react.
The fire washed over him in a great whoomp of napalm flame, erupting in a ten-foot circle around him, and the darkness evaporated as Alucard fell – Castor’s pillar of flame replacing Alucard’s glowing form. All I heard were screams from within the fire, but they abruptly cut off.
I raced over to Alucard. He lay on his back, breathing shallowly, and his chest smoking where two of the cords had struck him. I skidded to my knees, grabbing his golden wrists eagerly.
The crystalline dragon leaned over him, snarling as tiny beads of glass rolled from his eyes to land on the Glampire’s chest. The Reds were suddenly leaning over Alucard, sobbing, crying, and begging him to wake up.
Yahn dipped his head lower, nudging the vampire’s cheek with his massive glass snout.
Alucard’s eyes flickered open and he groaned, throat raw from screaming.
The Reds folded into Yahn’s side, sobbing and hugging each other. Yahn let out a big snort, sounding relieved as he nudged the vampire again, this time affectionately, a gesture of thanks.
“What the hell are you guys all doing here?” I whispered, wrapping the Reds up in a tight hug, and kissing their heads. “You could have been killed!”
Sonya met my eyes, unflinching. “We wanted to help. We didn’t care what you said or how mad you would be. We wanted to be close in case you needed friends. In case he brought goons or something.”
Aria nodded forcefully. “I wasn’t going to let you walk into a trap. You… showed us how to live, Nate. You’re family. And no one fucks with my family. Not anymore.”
I smiled, squeezing them tighter, their words squeezing my heart like a vise. Then I shot Yahn a look. I was both angry and happy at the same time, which I think showed on my face, because no one seemed to take it personally. He grunted dismissively. “The Reds left, so I followed them. I wanted to make sure they were safe.”
Not knowing what else to do, since he was too large to hug, I patted his snout. “Thank you.” I shot a quick look at the flames behind us, making sure Castor wasn’t about to swoop in for the kill. I didn’t hear him screaming anymore, and the fire was far too bright for me to see anything through the flames.
I knelt beside Alucard, smiling as I shook my head at him. “You stupid, stupid bastard,” I muttered, gripping his shoulder. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“The Reds and Yahn disappeared, and Tory was frantic. I knew they would come here, so I followed the chaos.” He smiled at Yahn, giving him a nod of respect. “You saved my girls…”
Yahn snorted, as if to say, Yah. Toe-tah-lee.
Alucard smiled faintly, wincing as he shifted. I glanced down, but other than the charred circles, I didn’t see anything fatal. It didn’t look to have pierced his skin. Sure, it had caused some serious damage, but it hadn’t stabbed through him or anything.
Which I simply couldn’t explain. I scanned our surroundings, muttering. “Where the hell is Matthias?” I growled, frustrated.
Alucard grunted as he gripped my wrist forcefully. I met his eyes, and saw they were panicked, as if I had reminded him of something. “He isn’t here, Nate. Van called me. Or, Matthias let him call. The bastard tracked them to England and took them. Van sounded like seven days of hell, and told me under no circumstances were you to come after him. I heard Matthias shout at him angrily before the line went dead.”
I slowly climbed to my feet, feeling Wylde ignite with rage. I had kept him muted during my encounter with Castor, not wanting the Maker to suspect my backup source of power. But I n
o longer cared about that since he was dead or dying. And Wylde roared up out of me, furious.
But it was different this time. It didn’t feel so much as another being inside of me, but as if I had broken down a wall – a part of myself I had long ago locked away.
Kind of like when someone does something out of anger, and then promises themselves they will never again let that happen, and they wall it away deep down, becoming the nicest pushover in the world.
But at hearing that Matthias had taken two of my friends, and that he was coincidentally in England brought back memories of my parents, and that instant spark of anger was enough for the wall to crumble to ashes.
I didn’t have an instant influx of memories as Wylde, but I suddenly felt of one mind with him. No longer two halves, but one single whole. And I decided I was about ready to see what he had learned in Fae over the past few decades.
“Go home. Now,” I said in a distant voice. “Not to Chateau Falco. Anywhere but there…” I said, walking away from them and towards Castor. I flung out a hand, and the fires instantly winked out. I heard my four friends speaking urgently together, and after a loud sweep of wings, I glanced up to see Yahn carrying the three on his back – Alucard propped up between the two Reds. Then they vanished from sight as Yahn activated his stealth-mode.
I stared down at the circle of charred earth and saw a mess of greasy ashes. Castor’s hand was just beyond the charred circle. I decided to leave it there as I closed my eyes, focusing on the rings I had given Baba and Van.
I found them, and in my mind’s eye, I knew exactly where they were.
Because I had been there before. Stonehenge. I glanced down at Castor’s remains with a disgusted sniff. At least I would only have to fight Matthias one-on-one.
The Colonial heathen, Nate Temple, flung out his hand to open a Gateway back to his homeland, to put an end to his ancestor once and for all.
Yankee-Fuckle-Dandy.
Chapter 49
I didn’t bother with trying to plan a cool, stealthy entrance. Instead, I cast a barrage of lightning through the portal, ripping up the earth for dozens of feet.
And then I stepped through. “Honey, I’m home!” I called out.
Matthias stepped out from behind one of the stones, smiling. “I’m so glad you disregarded his warning, my boy. We have unfinished business. Shall I put the kettle on?” he asked in a dry tone.
I shrugged. “If you prefer a cuppa before I rip your asshole out through your mouth.”
My eyes tracked to see Van, Baba, and her Familiar each tied to a separate stone with silver, glowing cords. They had gags in their mouths, and their faces were bloody as hell, but they were thankfully alive, shaking their heads for me to run while I still could.
I tried to reach out to Chateau Falco, but the distance was too great, and to be honest, I wasn’t sure if using her was a good idea. Because she had once served Matthias, and he knew a whole helluva lot more about her Beast than I did. Maybe there was a loophole that he could take advantage of if I tried. And I didn’t want to risk that.
The same could be said about my Mask. Because Matthias had freaking gifted it to me.
Which pretty much left me my wizard’s power against his Maker’s power. Which was no contest. My only other option was Wylde or the strange golden power in my veins. The power I had seen after killing Athena.
Or I could use my new war hammer, but it had knocked me out when I used it against the Queens, and I couldn’t risk that. I didn’t let anything show on my face.
I turned back to Matthias, enjoying his angry snarl.
Then I frowned at Stonehenge. The moonlight pierced the cloudy sky in places, illuminating the area clearly, but the blue runes weren’t glowing.
“They’re clever, I’ll give them that,” Matthias said. “They found one, much to my surprise. At first, I tracked them to use them as leverage to get you to crawl out of my home,” he growled, implying Chateau Falco. “Imagine my surprise to find them looking into my old research. Of course, things are much easier these days, what with your… internet,” he said the word strangely, as if reciting an ancient incantation. “They had piles of printouts from numerous websites. Information I had never found nor heard of in my day,” he said, shaking his head in wonder. “Why your kind hasn’t taken over the world is beyond me. It would be so easy…” he said, chuckling. “But you’re too stupid to know what to look for. But now that I’m back, I’ll rectify that. After I punish you for killing my son,” he said in a low snarl.
I turned to look at him, wondering what to address first. He had been researching the Round Table in his day? I had been doing it more out of curiosity than anything. Because I wanted to know if it really was the Round Table that King Arthur and his bros sat at with Papa Merlin.
Why would Matthias care about any of that?
And did it have anything to do with what my parents had found over there? The reason they had gone to the Fae? The text about the All War and the Catalyst?
“I don’t know what proof you require, but I swear that I didn’t harm your son. I even swear it on my power.” I frowned, then let out a brief chuckle. “Well, powers, I guess,” I admitted.
Matthias snarled. “You think I’ll fall for that? Even swearing on your powers is a trick I learned to break. As a child,” he added, shaking his head dismissively.
I blinked at him. Well, that could have been useful fucking knowledge to have about a dozen times over in the past few years. I wanted to kill him just for that. To so nonchalantly mention that breaking oaths sworn on your power was no big deal.
It also explained how Castor had slipped around the oath to obey me when he had been disguised as a lowly Syndicate wizard during the war. I had never learned how he had done that.
Apparently, I was a total noob in the magic department. Maybe Matthias was onto something. My generation had a lot to learn from our past.
But I’d rather just kill him. Because he had hurt Van and Baba.
“I’d rather not kill you, Matthias. But I will if you make me. Is there anything I can say that will make you believe me? Some third party? A Horseman? Maybe I can wrangle up a God or two to give me an alibi. But, of course, I already killed the best alibi. Athena—”
“Enough!” he snapped, breathing heavily. “I won’t believe a thing you, or any of your friends, say. You told me time and time again that my son, Ichabod, was your enemy. That you intended to kill him unless he relented. Then, in his moment of tribulation, when he had decided to give up his cause, you killed him in cold blood. Right as I was reaching for him.” His bloodshot eyes met mine, and I involuntarily took a step back at the madness dancing there. The madness that had brewed for hundreds of years, at one point convincing himself that he was actually the Mad Hatter, in fact. “You will die horribly,” he whispered.
“Well, that sounds miserable.” I indicated Stonehenge and my tied-up friends. “Mind telling me what this is all about, first? I literally have no idea, and I feel kind of stupid pretending.”
He shook his head. “Fucking kids. You saw the Round Table in the Sanctorum, and you sent these babies to look into it without knowing why?” he asked incredulously.
“I guess that about sums it up,” I admitted.
He stared at me in disbelief. “My, how far the apple falls…”
Which pissed me off. “You’re kind of being a condescending dick right now,” I warned, my pulse increasing dangerously. “Plus, if it’s anyone’s fault how far the Temple family has fallen, you might just take a gander in the mirror,” I said, and tossed him the compact mirror from his old desk – which I had kept in my pocket for some reason.
I think the shock of seeing the familiar item again was what prevented him from lashing out in a wave of death at my words. He caught it with a sharp intake of breath, staring down at it.
“Because it was your excellent parenting skills that brought us to this,” I added with a snarl, and I reached out with Wylde just as Matthias’ fa
ce contorted in rage.
I grasped the moonbeams piercing the clouds, corded them together with a flick of my wrist, and then flung a net of lunar fire at Matthias. The web wrapped around him and began to constrict. His eyes shot wide in disbelief, but I didn’t waste any time. I Shadow Walked over to the captives and freed them with surgical slashes of fire, luckily eating through whatever power Matthias had used. Then I opened a Gateway behind them, glancing over my shoulder urgently. “Go, go GO!” I shouted, keeping my eyes on the Maker.
They scrambled to obey, not even caring where I was sending them. “You need to kill him, Nate. The bastard took him right from under our noses,” Van wheezed.
“What?” I asked, still staring as Matthias struggled to break free of the slowly tightening web. I urged it on, not wanting to cast any more magic at him unless it counteracted whatever the hell I had done in the first place.
“The Knight. He’s still where we found him, but he’s restrained. You can’t let Matthias get his hands on him,” he pleaded, voice rough.
“I’ll, uh, do my best. Make your way back to the Knight, since I have no idea where that is. I’ll take care of the Hatter.”
“Nate, this is big. Really big—”
“I got it!” I snapped. “It’s a big fucking deal. Now get the hell out of here!” I shoved him through the opening just as Matthias broke free from the net, shaking his head.
The Gateway winked out of existence before Matthias could see where I had sent them. I had only sent them a mile away, but I doubted he would consider that. He would either think I had sent them back to this Knight that everyone seemed so concerned about, or…
“I’ll leave the porch light on for you,” I cackled as he turned to glare at me. And I made a Gateway back to Chateau Falco, making sure our ancestral home was visible through the opening. I jumped through and let it wink shut behind me.
Rope-a-dope time.
Chapter 50
As planned, Dean had moved the furniture to the exact spot I had requested. With a heavy sigh of relief, I sat down in my favorite Chesterfield leather chair, and lit up a new cigar I had been meaning to try. An Absinthe Infused monster made by Alpha Cigar.
War Hammer: A Nate Temple Supernatural Thriller Book 8 (The Temple Chronicles) Page 27