Like me, he was a gritty warrior and a broken jaw wouldn’t slow him down. He shook his head and resumed his fighting stance. He quickstepped back towards me and drove his knuckles into my liver. If you’ve never been punched in the liver, let me tell you pray you never do. The shot was well-placed and drove me down to a knee. I couldn’t stay down long to give him any advantage, so I pushed through the pain back to my feet and created some space between us.
“Vic,” he grunted through tremendous pain caused by the broken bone. “This doesn’t have to go down like this.”
“Of course it does.” Man, it was just as painful trying to talk over the throbbing happening in my side. “You took a bad job with those Silvers and it’s time to pay for it.”
“Those Silvers, what’s left of them, you mean?” He stopped stalking me, standing up. “Your little surprise attack wiped out most of that pack. The remnants are trying to lick their wounds and leave this area as quickly as possible.”
It was no longer about the Silvers and the wolves of Chernobyl. “Your boss, she killed Gregory.” He’s eyes went wide. “She’s the one who needs to be arrested – for murder.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Of course he was going to defend her. “Liz would never kill Gregory, even if he did flip sides on her.”
“She’ll just have to answer for that.”
I was done talking and moved in close while his hands were still down. He didn’t get back into his guard position in time and took another heavy blow to the jaw, this time in the form of a left uppercut. Reno was reeling and it was time to put him away. As he stumbled back, I pressed the action and jabbed him twice, once to the gut and once to the face. With blood pouring out of his nose too, I ended the fight with one more big shot to the back of the head. He fell down, out cold and out of the fight.
That was a satisfying outcome to me. I didn’t want to kill him, just get him out of the way. I took a step over him and hurried back over to the main event. Not too far from where Reno and I had finished our fight were Isa and Liz. Both looked a bit worse for wear. Isa had a nasty gash on the right side of her face and Liz was holding her stomach, blood seeping out of a deep cut.
They stopped when they saw me. “Victor, this doesn’t concern you,” Isa waved off.
“No, mother, it does.” Liz tried to rush attack me, but in her current state, I was able to defend myself. I grabbed her arm and swung her on to the ground. She looked up at me, shooting daggers. “Are you man enough to finish me off? Are you truly my mother’s little lackey pup now?”
I wanted to hurt her, to take revenge for Gregory. As I looked on, she went from being this scary, powerful vampire who I always feared just a little bit to this sad, broken person. “I should, for Gregory, but I won’t.”
“What does Gregory have to do with this?” she hissed.
“I know, Liz. I know you killed him during our sneak attack,” I fired back. “How does it feel to keep betraying those closest to you?”
“What?” She looked truly shocked. I’d forgotten what a great actress she was. “I would never kill Gregory! He was one of my closest friends.”
“Don’t listen to her, Vic.” Isa was with me. “My daughter has been twisting the truth for as long as I’ve known her.”
Liz scrambled back to a standing position. “It was you, was it not, mother? You killed Gregory and put the blame on me?”
“Why would I do that? Gregory knew exactly who I was and had grown to trust me, at least in this matter.” She was right; Gregory had told me as much. “It’s you who’s been so hell bent on revenge this time.”
Liz was at our mercy. With Reno down and out, she wasn’t in any shape to continue the fight now that I had joined in. She knew it, too. “If you do not kill me, I swear this will not be the end of it.” I wasn’t sure who that threat was directed at, me or Isa.
I brushed it off. “There won’t be any more death today.”
“Vic, we can’t –”
“No,” I said, holding my hand up. Whether it was my own personal code of conduct, what remaining good feelings I had towards her, or just seeing her in such a bad place, I wasn’t going to let anyone kill her. Addressing Liz, “Go, this territory is off-limits and the wolves who live here only wish for peace.”
It was clear she wanted to say something else, but thought better of it. Never taking her eyes off of us, she helped Reno to his feet, as he was starting to come to. As they began to retreat, she found the will to speak, one last time. “The two of you deserve each other and what is coming for you.”
Whatever she meant by that, she didn’t stick around to explain it to us. She and Reno disappeared into the woods, leaving us and the wolves. There was still a dark cloud over us, but at least it was over for Dmitri and his pack. “Do you want to go get them or should I?” I asked.
“You deserve to be the hero of the day, Vic” Isa responded. “I’ll wait right here.”
****
It took a few days to get everything back to normal. With the threat of the Silvers gone and the Chernybog dead, Dmitri’s pack could finally relax. You saw a pep in their steps that hadn’t been there when I first came here. The depressing, scared people were free. They could truly enjoy venturing out into the woods to complete their tasks, the fear that held them in place vanquished.
Dmitri and the rest of his pack insisted that we had an evening feast the night before we left. I was still wary of the food that was hunted and gathered from these parts, but Isa told me not to be disrespectful – especially when they gave us a place of distinct honor. “Our legend will survive these parts for a long time,” she told me.
Seeing how these wolves revered us, I didn’t question her. “It feels weird, knowing that this is all over.”
“This is, yes, but there are still a few things left unresolved.” For some reason she reached out and touched the spot where the two gems hung under my shirt. “What do you say? Why don’t we go unite all four artifacts?”
Her light voice was my only clue she was joking. “No thank you,” I said earnestly. “I’m not the treasure hunting type. Besides,” something about these two felt a bit off to me, something I hadn’t noticed while being caught up with everything else. “I don’t think they were ever meant to be brought together by people like us.”
She watched in shock as I took the chain off from around my neck. I slid the Heart of the Daemon off and handed it to her. “Why don’t you keep this one, Isa? As a memento of me, since I know you’ll be heading off to your next big adventure after this.”
The yellow jewel dropped in her hand. “You make it sound as if this is going to be goodbye?”
“Is it?”
She wrapped her hand around the Heart. “No, no this won’t be good bye.” She leaned over and kissed me. “I promise that when I’m done stretching my legs in the world, I’ll come back to Full Moon and settle down, just like you asked me before Elizabeth showed up the other day.”
I could tell the party was dying down, at least the part where the wolves were still in human form. “Why don’t we take this conversation back to our accommodations?” She got a great big smile on her face. “We can end our stay here on a high note.”
And with that, the two of us crept off to celebrate in our own way while the wolves rushed out into the forest, free to run even in the dead of night.
Chapter 27
I couldn’t tell you how happy I was to be back in New Mexico. The heat, the sandy soil, the non-lethal air, yes it was good to be home. Isa flew with me into Phoenix, but she took another plane to destinations unknown. When I asked her one more time to stay, “I want to, you know I do,” she responded.
“It’s not that hard to.”
She sighed. “Don’t make this harder than it has to be.” She gripped my hands. “Stay safe until I get back, Vic. And watch your back, okay?”
There was no reason to. “They’re not going to do anything, not when I’m back in wolf country.” Even
the boldest of vampires would be hard pressed to do anything the moment I stepped back on to my pack’s territory. My dad’s Reds were supported by two of the most established packs in North America; Chaz’s Black wolves and Mayor Argent’s Silvers.
She hadn’t let go, just yet. “I know, but still. My daughter, her pride is wounded because of us. She will eventually try something to one of us.”
“Are you calling me the weak link?” I laughed as I asked the question.
“No, you’re much stronger than I am, if you believe it.” Oh I didn’t believe that for a minute. “Just be careful. I will be back once I see a bit more of the world that I’ve missed out on.” Then, with a slight smile, she asked me the question. “Unless you want to come with me?”
Just like her and settling down in New Mexico, adventure seeking to new places just wasn’t my thing. “I’ve seen more of this world than I ever cared to. You go, explore. I’ll be here when you decide you’ve seen enough.”
With one last kiss, we went our separate ways; hers to whatever exotic location grabbed hold of her and me to my home. It felt like centuries since the last time I saw my house, but the moment I pulled up in the taxi, I was ready for a more normal life yet again.
I hadn’t called ahead to anyone, I wanted to come home to little fanfare. So imagine my surprise when I knocked on my door and the man I was expecting, Pastor Michael, didn’t answer. Nope, it was my brother Bernard. “Victor?” he asked, perplexed. “Is it really you?”
The giant lug didn’t even give me a chance to answer before he wrapped me up. He then pulled me into my house where my dad was also hanging out. “Victor, my boy?” He shot up and joined Bernard in crushing me. “My word, son, when did you get home?”
“A few hours ago,” I squeaked out. Seeing me in a bit of duress, they let go, freeing me to finally breathe. “What’s everyone doing here?”
Bernard and dad looked at each other darkly. “We’ve been here every night for the past week. We need to talk, Vic,” dad explained.
Michael walked in off the back porch; with the plate of hamburgers I’d smelled cooking. “Food’s ready –” he started. “Victor?”
“In the flesh, Pastor.”
After Michael got a chance to welcome me home, the four of us found ourselves sitting around eating and drinking. It was only then that dad really got into the meat of it. “About five days ago, Mayor Argent got a call from the vampires, asking for all three Alphas to be present.”
“What did they want?” I asked.
“It was Liz.” Oh crap. “She said she was under the authority to arrest you for helping a terrorist and for murder.” Wow, she was really stringing it out. “Argent flatly refused her and said when you returned from your trip, that we’d handle everything ourselves.”
“I don’t imagine that went over well.”
“No Vic, tensions are high but we stand with you.” He sat his beer down and leveled with me. “Is what she is saying true?”
Looking at my dad, I remembered what Isa told me, ‘They knew about your curse.’ If it had been okay all those years ago for him to omit facts, then it was just fine for me to do the same thing. Especially when it came to who Isa was. “No dad,” I started. “I went over there to help wolves in need and that’s exactly what I did.”
Bernard smiled. “See, I told you Vic was innocent. This is all about a woman scorned.”
“What about the terrorist accusation?” he asked, ignoring Bernard.
“Isa is no more a terrorist than me or you.” Dad knew that she helped me off Neverland and kept me alive in the events after. “She’s a vampire that refuses to play by their rules and wants to be left alone. Just like we wolves do,” I went on.
That seemed to satisfy the sitting sheriff of Full Moon. “Argent will probably want you to come down in a few days to make some official statements that we can keep on record, but that’s all I needed to hear.”
I should’ve felt guilty lying to my dad. I just didn’t, not anymore. He knew what he needed to know and that was fine by me. “No more talk about women and their issues,” Bernard broke in. He held his beer high in the air. “Here’s to my little brother going to freaking Chernobyl and settling an international incident!”
“Here here!” Michael and my dad cheered.
****
After leaving the Mayor’s office and giving my official statement in regards to Liz’s trumped up charges against me, I headed out to my restaurant. Bernard and dad promised me that it was still standing and, sure enough, it was. They even managed to paint the exterior and install the new front door. “Huh, that’s a nice surprise.”
When I entered, I fired up the lights and brought the thermostat down to a reasonable seventy-five degrees. The interior still needed love; paint, new tables, etc. I went back out to my Mustang and grabbed the gallons of paint and my tools – it was going to be a long evening.
I seriously lost track of time, but I was pleased with my progress. Looking outside, I saw the moon was high in the sky on this clear desert evening. I was sweating pretty good, so I grabbed my water and headed out. The night air was refreshing on my skin.
Not quite ready to go home, I turned the radio on the Mustang and pulled out a folding chair to relax. “Maybe I’ll remove a few more tables,” I said to no one in particular.
As I relaxed, I never smelled or heard the person sneaking up on me. I didn’t realize I was in trouble until the needle went into my neck and by then it was too late. The world was already fading fast.
****
When I came to, I swayed a bit forward only to be held in place by ropes. My mind was seriously foggy and I felt like vomiting. I fell back against the wooden chair that my captors used to support me. It took some time, but as the fog lifted, I noticed I was in a dungeon of sorts. The chill in the air and the smell of seawater didn’t add up. There were no places in New Mexico that fit this description.
I knew better than to yell; I focused on remaining calm. My captors must’ve been interested in seeing how long they could hold me before I broke; I just wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction. I sat there, quietly for a good long time, hours I assumed. My patience won out as eventually the door on the far end opened and two people walked in; a tall, muscular male and a slender, attractive female.
“Cristof, Liz, ain’t this a fun reunion.”
Neither seemed amused – no, Cristof looked very uncomfortable while Liz wore an expression of vindication. She walked right up to me, roughly sticking her finger into my chest. “Where is the terrorist, Izabella? We know you two are in cahoots.”
“Cahoots?” I tried not to laugh at the funny word. “No Liz, the only thing we were in together was stopping you sick vampires from wiping out an innocent pack of defenseless werewolves.”
“Liz, we need to –”
“Don’t be swayed by his words, Cristof,” she interrupted him. “He knows exactly where she is.”
Even if I did, I wouldn’t have told her. As it was, I could answer her honestly. “We went our separate ways, you nut job. I haven’t seen or spoken to her since we split in Phoenix.”
She slapped me hard across the face. “We will see how tough you are after spending some quality alone time down here.”
“Cristof, who’s running the show?” I asked him.
“I am sorry, Victor, but she is right. You are a threat and we need to neutralize you.”
“The wolves won’t stand for this,” I reminded him.
Liz grabbed him and the two of them headed back towards the exit. “The wolves will only hear what they need to.” She opened the door and pushed Cristof out. “Enjoy your stay in Alcatraz, traitor.”
Interlude III
**Isa**
Rachel Swertfeger was dead, leaving only her mortally wounded husband to finish off. “The vampire council’s reign of stupidity is finally coming to an end.”
Even with death so close, he still found way to try and fight. He missed terribly with his wil
d punch, falling back down. “Killing us won’t accomplish what you think it will.”
“No, but killing the Rainbow Serpent and taking this surely will.” I held out the purple star-like gem for him to see. “My trip to Australia wasn’t just to pay my final respects to the two of you.”
It was nice that, even in death, I could still surprise people. He reached out, trying pathetically to grab the star from my hand, but it was no use. He knew he was outmatched and I was just toying with him. “Where did you get the Outback’s Star from? How did you get past the one’s guarding it?” The Outback’s Star – how quaint, they didn’t even know what they properly had.
With my other hand, I dangled the Heart of the Daemon out in front of him. “This little trinket allows me to go undetected by, let’s say, a certain kind of being. And the Aborigines were all too helpful in showing me how to find it once I killed the serpent for them. Kindness, they say, does pay.”
My time talking to him was over and with the silver tanto that Vic had given me in Chernobyl, I sliced Christopher’s head clean off, leaving the council very much in peril. The moment he died, I got this awful feeling like I could vomit. I practically fell down and had to breathe slowly to make it go away.
Then my phone rang. The phone that hadn’t been used since the days of communicating with Jonathan. Why I still carried it was beyond me, but that it was ringing was very strange. The caller ID was blocked, so I did the only logical thing. “Hello,” I answered into it.
“Your boyfriend’s been kidnapped by Elizabeth. She’s got him holed up in Alcatraz,” a very familiar voice told me.
That bitch! I knew deep down she was more like me than people gave her credit. Then there was the operative on the other end of the phone, still very much with us. “So you’re still alive?”
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