by May Sage
“What weapon do you use?” Mikar asked her.
He’d pocketed curved daggers and was holding an ax in one hand and a macuahuitl in the other. The wooden club was embedded with sharp blades.
Who would have thought she’d find barbaric weapons so very sexy?
She raised both hands and waved. “These,” she replied.
She could use swords and bows just fine, but Diana was better at hand-to-hand combat.
He grinned. “Come here.”
She didn’t even think, following him like a bee to honey.
Mikar led her in front of a display with several gloves, brass knuckles, and even short karambits.
“Levi caters to all tastes,” she mused, selecting a pair of comfortable gloves. Putting them on, she felt the reinforced knuckles. “Nice.”
“How about these, for your boots?” He pointed to another glass cabinet. She whistled, following him.
There were belts and sheaths she could tie around the boots to fit daggers at each side and pointed blades at the back. Greedily, she took several of the attachments, trying to work out how she could fit them all onto her leather boots. By chance, she was wearing Docs today. Docs with flowers painted along her ankles, but these were more suitable to combat than most of her footwear.
“Here, I’ll tie them for you.”
Mikar got to his knees, and focused his attention on her boots, securing the belts, knives, daggers, blades, and what looked like small shuriken.
But for once, Diana wasn’t paying attention to her shoes. She was watching him, at her feet.
“I can feel you staring.”
“So?” she challenged.
Mikar returned to his feet and shrugged. “So, nothing. I like it.”
Of course he did. Diana rolled her eyes. “When do you think they’ll arrive?”
It had perhaps been an hour since the attack.
Mikar’s face lost all humor. “Soon. The witches will tell us as soon as they sense the wards failing.”
She nodded. There was nothing else to say, really. Soon, they’d be fighting. For their lives. For their home.
“Is there any blood?” Diana asked, of no one in particular.
Levi had had a point. She was rather weak after the effort of holding an entire song for Thanatos.
Diana could hum in the shower, and even sing out of tune like everyone else. But when she called to the power of her voice, it tried her, like all core magic.
“You can have mine,” Mikar offered.
Would she stop getting shocked today?
“You don’t mean that.”
He shrugged. “Vampire blood is more potent. It’ll heal you better than human or synthetic.”
Drinking from a vampire was also, well, lewd. At least when it was from a willing participant. Drinking from an enemy was akin to eating his entrails raw, like a barbarian, but with a friend, a lover? That was just about the kinkiest thing vampires could do together. The Eirikrsons, who only drank vampire blood, were the brutes of their race.
Yet, she had to admit, she was curious.
“Do it, child.” Eirikr looked away from Chloe for long enough to glance her way. “He’s stronger than most. His blood will be the difference between life and death.”
“Well, you can’t have any,” Diana shot back.
It was meant to be a joke, but her delivery had been coated with layers of possessiveness.
And damn if Mikar didn’t notice it.
The room darkened, and at its center, a sphere of light materialized, then exploded with fracas.
Eirikr sheathed his sword and took another one in his hand. “They’re here.”
They moved as one, leaving the Institute at vampire speed.
Diana only stopped when a hand held her wrist back. Mikar. She looked up at him questioningly.
He was offering his wrist, pierced by his own fangs. His blood was dark, but not black like hers. Blue.
She didn’t have time to protest or go into a debate about it. War had come to Oldcrest, and she was tired.
So, she drank.
Till The End
They came from everywhere. The plains, the woods, the hills, and the valleys beyond the lake. By boats, running, transformed into their familiar shapes—bats, eagles, vultures. But at the wards, they waited, pacing and circling, standing by. The walls weren’t breached yet.
“What now?” Levi asked Eirikr, deferring to his expertise.
The ancient, still in his ridiculous sweatpants, rested in a crouch, eyes narrowed.
“We can’t let them take us on all fronts,” he replied. “So now, we burn Oldcrest.”
Mikar couldn’t have heard that right. “What?”
“No, it makes sense,” Chloe said, backing him up. “Vampires can be killed by fire. If we burn part of the territory, they won’t come that way. They’ll have to enter where we want them to.”
Right. Except for one thing. “But then, Oldcrest will be burned,” Mikar pointed out.
Eirikr was entirely unapologetic. “Oldcrest or some of us. You choose. Can’t save everything.”
This was madness.
“I’ll get started at the bottom of the hills.” Blair started to walk away.
“Wait!” Was Mikar the only one thinking things through? “Greer is somewhere there. Cosnoc, or maybe Ruby brought her to Night Hill. We have to…”
“The witch is on Night Hill; she will be safe.” There was no hesitation in Eirikr’s tone. “Safer than most of us. The houses are protected. She’ll live, unless we fail.”
And failure wasn’t an option. Not to him.
And not to Mikar.
“I’ll take you,” Seth said to Blair. “If we need other witches…”
“Dude, trust me, it’s not that hard to set stuff on fire.”
He took her hand and the next instant, they were gone.
“What about the lake? We can’t burn that. And the Wolvswoods…”
Shit, they should have reached out to the shifter pack in there. Although their relationship was currently shaky, given that most of the pack had attended a hunt, chasing and killing some humans several months ago, they should have had a chance to leave before they were surrounded like this.
Eirikr snorted. “The wolves aren’t helpless. Worry about yourself, and your pretty girlfriend.”
Diana looked uncomfortable, and Mikar could have killed him.
“I can take care of myself,” the woman retorted. “But thanks for saying I’m pretty.”
“Stop riling Mikar up,” Chloe told Eirikr.
The elder frowned. “Why? It’s entertaining.”
“Because there are thousands of vampires at the gates and we should concentrate on that.”
Eirikr rose from the ground. “Twelve thousand, seven hundred and thirteen, so far. More are coming. They’re waiting for reinforcements before breaking the wards.”
“How could you know that?” It made no sense that he’d be able to count them all out, not when they were stationed all around Oldcrest. In front of them, from the south roads, there couldn’t be more than a couple of thousand people.
“Because I can multitask,” he replied. That wasn’t much of an answer. After a beat, he added, “And scan what’s happening inside the weaker minds.”
Eirikr was a telepath?
None of what he’d heard about the ancient had suggested it.
“How?”
“Spend enough time in a cave, you’ll figure it out, too.” He tilted his head east. “The fire’s started. The easternmost group is moving south. I say we don’t give them a chance to reach the rest of their company. Let’s hunt.”
Then, he ran.
Mikar generally never needed to exert himself to catch up with anyone, but to follow Eirikr, he had to use all his strength. Yet Chloe’s steps hit the ground as hard, as fast, as his.
And so did Diana’s. There might just be something to the “drinking vampire blood” trick.
Chloe and Eirikr led t
heir group through Oldcrest till they’d reached the base of Cosnoc.
“Whoa. Blair’s skilled at pyrotechnics,” Alexius said.
The entire border was on fire, wild flames spreading fast across the plains and crawling uphill.
Eirikr smirked, like he was having fun, got to a shallow crouch, and leaped. The jump projected him high enough to clear the flames, and then some.
They heard screams on the other side of the flames.
Mikar and Diana exchanged a glance, before jumping. It wasn’t too high, come to think of it. Most vampires would have been able to clear a few yards. Eirikr had counted on their enemies’ instincts to move away from the fire, regardless of whether it posed a real threat to them, and he’d been right.
Outside the borders, the ancient was tearing through vampire after vampire, the blades in his hands moving like extensions of his deadly arms. Mikar took the macuahuitl strapped to his back and joined in, fighting close enough to Diana to ensure no one was taking her by surprise. He moved to swing the club of blades on a snarling young vamp reaching for her hair, and hit her right through the throat. A second swipe cut her head clean off. Mikar just had time to register movement from the corner of his eye, and Diana’s fist collided with a dark-haired man in a dustcoat. She kneed him where it hurt, and when he fell forward, planted the blade at the back of her heel through his heart from the back, breaking ribs along the way.
“I love the boot knives!” she yelled over the racket of blades and screams.
Bodies piled up on the ground, falling one after the other. These were all poorly-trained weaklings, and they had no chance against them.
“Back inside,” Eirikr yelled, his voice carrying in the blood-clogged air.
He took Chloe’s hand and leaped over the fire with her.
Rather than question his judgement again, Mikar followed, Diana by his side.
Once they were safe inside of Oldcrest, Eirikr said, “Someone called for reinforcements. They’re coming this way.”
“We could have taken them,” Chloe stated, matter-of-fact.
Eirikr grinned proudly at her. “Yes, daughter. Or we could take whoever’s left on the south border now.”
He wasn’t just good at strategy; Eirikr was good at keeping people alive. They attacked their enemies in small isolated groups, thinning the herd without using up too much strength. Mikar wasn’t sneaky enough to have thought of any of these moves: the fire, the territory hopping games. He wasn’t keeping count, but they must have dispatched hundreds, if not thousands of enemies in just a few minutes.
The last time they jumped over the flames, everyone turned to Eirikr, but he remained where he stood, wiping his blade on his stained sweats.
“What now?”
He tilted his chin toward the main road—the only road—leading out of Oldcrest. “They’re done waiting. They’ll come at us from here, and through the woods.” Probably because the rest of the territory was on fire. “The wolves will slow them down.”
Mikar looked into Diana’s dark eyes. He remembered foolishly thinking he’d lock his mate up somewhere, like Rapunzel’s witch. This was so much better. Someone who could be here with him. Even if this was the end.
He extended his hand, and silently, she took it.
The wall crumbled in shimmery specks of golden magic that faded in the wind. With a battle cry, thousands and thousands of vampires raced toward their small gathering.
In the distance, thunder growled. Magic wrapped all around them, electrifying the air.
Then, the first wave hit.
Mikar’s blows were mindless, aimless. He hacked up flesh, anything in front of him, acting on pure instinct. He could hardly see anything. All around, there was chaos.
The one thing he remained conscious of was Diana. She never got too far, still protecting his blind spots, like he guarded hers.
Mikar’s first wound hurt, but after a while, he stopped feeling them. Cuts on his arms, legs, stabbings, and teeth grazing his limbs were just proof he was still alive. Wave after wave of vampires came at them, their sheer numbers making it impossible to take the slightest moment of rest. He heard a tormenting cry and saw Chloe’s attacker shove a serrated blade inside her flank. The man was dead before he hit the ground, cut in two. In the blur, Mikar didn’t know whether it had been Levi or Eirikr eliminating the threat. Maybe both. He didn’t have the time to pay attention. The hit wasn’t fatal, that was all that mattered.
“We’re disposing of the rabble!” Eirikr yelled over the ring of blades and screams. “We need to find Aveka!”
But there was no leaving this place, no escaping the incessant stream of vampires charging at them from all fronts. The largest bolt of lightning Mikar had ever seen parted the sky and struck the mass of bodies rushing at them, allowing for a split second of respite as charred vampires flew back and hit the ground. Though he was nowhere to be seen, that was clearly Seth's doing.
Eirikr bit down on his arm and handed it to Chloe, who drank from him without hesitation. "The hill," he said. “There are spells brewing. I feel it. She’ll be there. Go."
She looked at the line of enemies, stepping over their dead brethren to reach them.
Eirikr repeated, "Go. Now." She nodded and ran north, fast as a shadow.
Mikar inspected Diana's wounds, most shallow, save for a nasty bite to the shoulder. "Can you move your arm?"
She rolled her shoulder. "Hurts like a bitch, but it's healing. I'm good. You?"
He couldn't even feel pain, his adrenaline clouding anything that would impede his chances of survival. Mikar just had time to nod before the battle resumed.
The Queen’s Spell
Chloe had never questioned Eirikr, and since the very beginning, he’d never led her astray. For all that, each step propelling her further and further from her mate, her friends, her family, felt wrong. But if he was right, if his daughter was on the hill, she could end this, once and for all.
There was no wondering why he hadn’t gone himself. He couldn’t—wouldn’t—bring himself to kill Aveka. Nor should he have to. That was Chloe’s job.
“Bill!”
The troll was lying on the ground, immobile. Several arrows poked out of his chest, and thick green blood trailed down the open wounds.
Chloe didn’t have time to stop, not for anyone. She did anyway. She moved to the gentle giant, who’d been so very kind and welcoming to her, tears in her eyes. Her fingers brushed his wrinkled forehead.
She sighed, relief flooding through her like a drug. She could feel a breath, shallow and slow. He wasn’t dead, just drugged and out for the count, by the looks of it.
Like a flash, she was gone, rushing uphill. On her flight, she noticed figures standing around almost each of the houses—the Stormhales’, the Helsings’, Levi’s. Eirikr had been spot on again: they were up to something. She would have liked to drag Bill to safety first, but every moment she dwelled was a moment during which her friends could die.
As she reached the open gates of Skyhall, her race slowed to a stop.
In the marble entry hall, between both of the grand staircases, Aveka stood.
And she wasn’t alone.
Diana took a punch to the nose with a wince, to grab the dickhead’s arm and rip it off. She was beyond niceties, beyond civilization. Covered in blood, sweat, grime, and by the smell of it, piss, she’d given control over to her beast. The beast each vampire, each supernatural creature, had buried deep inside them. A creature made of simple wants and needs. Survival. Food.
And him.
Her beast was aware of each of her friends, seeing them as part of her clan. That awareness extended into a protective streak. She’d help them if she could; her own safety was a priority. Not the first priority, though.
No, that was Mikar. Not her brother, not her friends. Him. Her beast was entirely consumed by a simple need: Mikar’s safety. Because if he was gone, then she would be too.
Oh, hell.
She’d deal wit
h the implications later. She had bodies to dismember.
A kick at the back of her head made her vision blur, and her fangs bite through her lower lips, piercing them. For a split second, she lost balance, lost control. A loss that meant death, during a battle. Feeling a threat close in on her, ready to claim her life, she closed her eyes.
Maybe there wouldn’t be a later.
A howl rang in the distance, followed by a deep, low growl. She felt a motion above her as she fell forward.
Rolling onto her back, Diana saw a blur of fur and fangs rush above her, colliding with the approaching redheaded vampire and taking her down. The wolf’s massive mouth closed in around the redhead’s throat and ripped it out. She knew Avani and Alexius in their wolf forms. The large black beast with yellow eyes was neither of them.
As she got to her feet, dozens of wolves rushed from the woods into the open plain, joining the fight.
She breathed out.
This unexpected help was far from evening the numbers out, but they were just as fast and as ruthless as any of their people. The outsiders could only enter through a small gap at the border; the rest of the territory’s fire had extended for miles, engulfing most of Oldcrest. Which was a problem for another time. The wolves divided their attention. Diana was stunned as her analytic mind took over.
They had a chance. They could truly hope to win—or at least, survive until dawn. The shadows were growing shorter, the light of the moon decreasing over the lake.
They just had to survive a little longer.
She resumed her position at Mikar’s back.
They had this.
Chloe wanted to scream. She wanted to kneel over and beg. She wanted to lunge at the monster standing in her home, but she did none of that.
Aveka stool, lovely as always, surrounded by four vampires. She only knew one: treacherous Anika Beaufort, beautiful as always, in fighting gear. Two, a man and a woman, felt like ancients, but there was a boy seated at her feet, who looked like he couldn’t be much older than fifteen. While he didn’t have the presence of an old powerful vampire, he felt wilder, and his silver eyes were hollow, empty, dead.