“What’s happening?” she demanded.
“You will share your power with us.” The alpha reached into the bucket and pulled out several paintballs. He tossed one each to his companions, who began to paint their bodies as the rest of the pack had already done.
“What do you mean by share?” She was beginning to feel as if invisible hands were attempting to pry the skin from her body.
The alpha met her gaze, his eyes hard. “Ancient sorcerers shared their power with the wolves on a regular basis. You will do the same.”
But the ancient sorcerers’ power hadn’t been chained by a curse.
“They did so willingly!” She presumed so, anyway. “Free me and my companion, and I’ll give you what you want. Hurting me, perhaps even killing me, will buy you nothing.”
But the alpha ignored her as he and his four compatriots began to circle her, chanting words different from the others’. Discomfort turned to true pain until tears pooled in her eyes, and she was struggling to breathe.
“Stop this!” she cried.
Suddenly, the alpha was in her face, his visage ferocious as he pressed sweaty palms against her sweatier temples. “You hold back on us, sorceress,” he growled. “Give it up!”
“I’ll give you nothing if you’re going to hurt me!”
His hands turned to fire, burning through her skull, and she screamed from the pain. She fought to throw him back with her mind, struggled to pull away from his fiery hands . . .
And suddenly the light went out. The night went silent.
The alpha jerked back, his hands lifting from her sweat-soaked skin. “What did you do?”
“What happened?” She couldn’t see him, couldn’t see anything but the flames from the bonfire that felt permanently etched onto the backs of her eyelids. Good grief, if he weren’t standing here with her, she’d suspect she’d died.
But, no, she was still tied to the stake, her skin still burning, though the pain was becoming less and less with every passing second. Despite the lack of light, the heat and scent of the bonfires lingered as if they’d been here and were now gone. As if something or someone had sent them all away, wolves, fires, everything.
“What did you do?” the alpha growled again.
“I didn’t do anything!” Not intentionally, anyway. Could she have done this? And what was this?
She heard the alpha move away, heard him stumble back, swearing. “There are walls all around us. You’ve caught us in some kind of trap. Some kind of bubble.”
Quinn’s eyes went wide, a chill sliding down her spine. A bubble. Wasn’t that exactly what Vamp City was, only on a far grander scale? Was that what she’d done here, duplicated the small space around her? What if this was how Phineas Blackstone had discovered his own ability to create other worlds?
As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she began to see shimmers all around her, like black opals. The walls of the bubble, the walls of the magic. Good God Almighty, she had power.
Against that opalescent darkness, a shadow moved, and she felt a hand grip her jaw hard.
“Undo it!”
Not only did she have power, she had leverage. “Untie me.”
He growled. “Perhaps I’ll just kill you.”
“Killing Blackstone didn’t undo Vamp City. If killing me fails, you’ll be stuck here forever.”
Silence. The hand disappeared. “You’ve created an alternate world,” he breathed.
“Apparently so.”
“How?”
Ha. “Magic. Untie me.”
“If you created this place, you can escape it.”
“I can also take you with me. If I want to.” Probably. She’d pulled humans through sunbeams; there was no reason to think she couldn’t pull a werewolf out of a bubble she’d created assuming magic worked with any kind of logic whatsoever. “But first, we’re going to come to an agreement.”
She saw the dark shape of the male move against the black opal background and felt his breath on her cheek. His hard body suddenly pressed against hers, reminding her in a startlingly raw manner that they were both naked. His thick penis brushed her thigh. It was flaccid at the moment, but she suspected a determined male could change that.
A shiver of fear rippled through her, but she pushed it away. She’d waited too long to get the upper hand. She wasn’t about to let him steal it now.
“You’re in no position to negotiate,” the wolf alpha growled.
Quinn snorted. “Au contraire. I’m in a damn good position to negotiate. Now that I’ve created one of these things, there’s a good chance I can make more. The next one might just catch your entire pack.”
He pressed against her hard, his menace barely controlled. “You will release me now, sorceress.”
“Well, here’s the thing, dude. The only way you’re getting out of here is if I take your hand and lead you out. Which means you’re going to release me. Now. My arms are tired.”
He growled low, but a moment later, he was gone and she felt his fingers pulling the ropes from her wrists. The moment she was free, he grabbed her and jerked her toward the nearest wall.
Quinn felt the magic pulling to suck her through, but she pushed against it and felt the male at her side stumble back even as he kept tight hold on her.
“We’re not leaving until I say we are,” she told him smoothly, stifling a smile. She rather enjoyed having the werewolf under her control. For the moment.
The alpha’s fingers dug into her arms, and he jerked her around, pulling her hard against him, letting her feel the erection that now protruded from his body.
“I will hurt you, sorceress.” But he was holding the losing hand, now, and they both knew it.
“See, that’s where your threat goes awry, wolf man. I know what your ultimate plan is, to hand me over to Cristoff. And there is nothing you can threaten me with . . . nothing . . . that is worse than what he’ll do to me if he gets his hands on me again. Besides, we both know you can’t kill me, or even hurt me badly enough to risk it. Because if I don’t renew the magic, if Vamp City fails, you and your pack are toast.”
She felt the rhythm of his breathing change, the menace easing down, the frustration skyrocketing. But the hard grip on her arms didn’t change.
If he were another male, she might try a more diplomatic approach, a bit of stroking his male ego, perhaps, or injecting a bit of friendliness into the exchange. But real wolves responded to authority and power above all, and she suspected werewolves did, too. Any show of niceness would only be construed as weakness, and that was a thing she couldn’t afford.
“We both want the same thing, wolf—to get Vamp City’s magic renewed. You’ve seen what I can do. And I can assure you, my power is growing by the day. I’ve barely tapped into it. I could become a powerful ally. Or I will become a dangerous enemy. Your choice.”
His grip on her tightened, fractionally, revealing his frustration. “What do you mean you’ve barely tapped into your power?”
She briefly considered how much to tell him, then decided she didn’t have a lot to lose by holding back. She had far more to gain by making an ally of this male.
“Apparently, I’ve got more power than I know what to do with, but it’s being hampered by a curse. I need to free my magic before I can save Vamp City, but the only two who can help me are the vampire in your feeding trough and an aging fae who is dying as we speak. I’m running out of time, wolf. And we’re all going to suffer if I fail. You could help me. And I’ll help you and your pack in return.”
“Cristoff is the only one who can renew the magic.”
“Cristoff has Phineas Blackstone’s sons under his control. I’ll probably need their help, but they can’t renew the magic, or they’d have done it already. Cristoff wants me because he likes power, but I don’t need him. I can absolutely renew the magic without him.” God help her if she couldn’t.
Silence fell as the werewolf released her. He looked up as if admiring her handiwork, as if contemplating her offer. “You h
ave power, sorceress, there’s no doubt of that.”
“I can also get you food, wolf. I can arrange a shipment of meat from one of the local grocery stores.”
He was quiet for several more minutes before he apparently came to a decision. “Free me from this bubble, and I will free you and your vampire companion. You will send the food at once. And when you come into your power, you will return and share it with us.”
“And not tied to your stake.”
“As an honored guest. I give you my word.”
“I hope your word means more than a vampire’s.”
“My word is granite. Solid and unbreakable.” His voice told her she’d offended him by questioning that. But he added in a less harsh voice. “I’m beginning to think you will make a better ally than dinner.”
Quinn made a sound of amusement. “I appreciate that. Are you ready to get out of here?”
“Most ready.”
“Me, too.”
She reached for his hand and felt his fingers curl tightly around hers as if he feared she’d try to escape and leave him behind. Leading him, she started for the black opal wall. But when, by all rights, the magic should have embraced her, it threw her back, taking the wolf with her.
“Sorceress,” he snarled, grabbing her again.
“I didn’t do that on purpose! I’m still figuring out how all this works.”
He plowed into her suddenly, knocking her to the ground and landing heavily on top of her.
“Wolf,” she gasped.
He was off her a moment later, then slamming into her again, knocking her down when she tried to get up.
“What are you doing?” she cried.
He curved his arm around her shoulder, pressing close. “The walls of your bubble . . . they’re shrinking.”
Oh, shit. Quinn reached out her hand, feeling the rubbery surface against her fingertips. Reaching in the other direction, she found it again. Too quickly. Like the wolf said, the walls were shrinking. And her hand wasn’t going through.
Her heart began to pound. She’d made this world. She had to be able to get out.
The rubbery feel crowded them from every direction, knocking them one way, then the other until they had nowhere left to move. Slowly it pressed them together, Quinn’s back to the alpha’s chest, growing tighter and tighter.
As the bubble compressed, as Quinn felt it brushing her face, she threw her hands up, trying to make space for her mouth and nose. With a bolt of pure terror she realized that soon she wouldn’t even be able to breathe. It was as if they were being wrapped in cellophane, the air being slowly sucked away.
“Sorceress!”
Her own freaking magic was going to kill her, and no one would ever know. Zack would never know.
I won’t die here.
The power began to dance beneath her skin, sparking, tripping, burning her flesh as badly as the lack of air was beginning to burn her lungs. Recognizing that this was her chance, she embraced the terror, embraced the fear that her death would mean Zack’s death, too.
And suddenly her magic tore loose.
Heat, light, and sound blasted her, sweet sweaty air tore into her lungs as the bubble burst, as she and the wolf collapsed, together, onto the ground, light-headed and gasping.
Wolves circled her, snarling, snapping inches from her face. But as she threw up her hands to ward them off, the alpha leaped to his feet, shouting.
“Halt! Down. Now!” The wolves backed off, and the alpha helped her to her feet. “Just as Blackstone created Vamp City, the sorceress created a small bubble of a world, a place for us to talk, and negotiate, in private.” That was one way to spin it. “Once the sorceress has renewed the magic of Vamp City, she will return and share her power with us. Bring the vampire in the trough to me. He’s her protector and henceforth will not be harmed.”
Releasing Quinn, he lifted both hands. “Douse the flames.”
As the wolves began scooping up dirt to put out the fires, the alphas’ three friends gathered close around them.
“You trust her, then, Savin?” the woman asked.
“She holds no love for Cristoff. He’s tortured her.”
The woman nodded as if that answered her question. The enemy of my enemy and all that?
A couple of minutes later, Arturo was led forward, naked and stumbling. Quinn gasped at the sight of him, her stomach roiling until she thought she might be sick. His bloody legs were more bone than flesh. His skin was paler than she’d ever seen it, his eyes gleamed white-centered with hunger, though he kept his fangs behind his lips.
Quinn’s heart twisted to see the powerful vampire brought so low. “Have you fed him?” she demanded.
The werewolf who held him shook his head.
Quinn gave the alpha a look of disgust.
He lifted his hands. “I thought he was dinner.”
Quinn strode forward, pushing the werewolf male away, taking Arturo’s ice-cold arm. “You need to feed. Drink from me.”
Arturo shook his head, his eyes glassy, but focused on her. “No. Not you. You are unharmed?” His voice was hoarse from screaming. Lines of strain bracketed his mouth.
“I’m fine. You need to feed.”
“No, tesoro mio. Your blood is too sweet.” He sounded exhausted. “I will not be able to stop.”
How many hours had he suffered? She went light-headed at the thought of the pain he must have endured.
The alpha stepped forward. “The sorceress has negotiated your release, vampire. Both of yours. I hope you will honor the terms of that release.”
Quinn eyed him with a question. “What terms? The food shipment?”
“That, and the vampire shall never attempt retribution for what was done to him here.”
Those terms. “The second is up to him, though I suspect that allowing him to feed on one of you might alleviate his need for retribution.”
Arturo nodded slowly. “It might.” He turned to her, his eyes going hard even as they flickered with pain. “I felt your terror soon after you awoke. Were you harmed?”
“No. One of the wolves tried to reach me, but the alpha here stopped him.”
“Let me seek vengeance on the wolf who tried to hurt her,” Arturo said to the alpha. “Then I will give my word to this treaty.”
“You cannot kill him.”
“Agreed.”
Savin yelled, “Gunroth!”
A moment later, a large gray wolf slunk slowly toward them.
“Shed your fur.”
The wolf’s eyes gleamed, hard and belligerent. But a deep growl from the human throat of his alpha had the wolf hanging his head in submission. And a moment later, Gunroth the man was standing before them, his mouth hard, his eyes shining with fear.
“This is the wolf who tried to reach your sorceress. He disobeyed my direct order and picked the lock of her cage intending to eat her, Vampire. You will not kill him or the treaty is forfeit. Short of that, you may feed from him thoroughly and with my blessing. Seek your vengeance on him for what was done to you and for what he intended to do to your companion.” Savin’s gaze turned to the wolf. “And he will submit, fully, or be banished from this pack.”
The bearded werewolf began to visibly shake, the whites of his eyes gleaming with light from the dying fire, but he nodded.
Savin stepped forward and removed the silver chain from around Arturo’s neck. Arturo turned to Quinn. “I do not wish for you to see this, cara. Turn away. Please.”
With a deep sigh, she did as he asked, not only turning away, but walking away.
She heard the snarl, the rip of flesh, the scream of pain, and felt no pity. Gunroth would have torn into her with the same level of viciousness, knowing she’d never heal, knowing he was killing her. And while it might not have been personal, she’d have been dead all the same.
The female friend of Savin’s stepped beside her. “I’ll fetch your clothes and the vampire’s.”
Quinn looked at her. “And my weapons.”
The woman glanced at Savin, who nodded. By the time the woman returned, the noise had died down to mere groans. Then, finally, to nothing.
Quinn quickly dressed and armed herself. Arturo joined her, looking almost normal again if still a bit pale. As he dressed, she watched him. “Feel better?”
He gave her a brusque nod. If he had more to say, he wasn’t saying it within wolf hearing.
To her surprise, another of the werewolves led their horses to them. “I figured they’d eaten them,” she muttered to Arturo.
“No one kills a horse,” he said. “They are far too valuable.”
“Unlike humans,” she added darkly.
Savin joined them, and Arturo met the alpha’s gaze, a powerful vampire once more. “I will abide by the terms of the sorceress’s treaty; however, I would add one more condition.”
Savin lifted a brow.
“Cristoff searches for her. He would hurt her, and I would not have it.”
“I have no use for Cristoff. No one will know you were here.”
Arturo gave a nod, then turned to Quinn. But before he could usher her to the horses, she turned to the wolf. “Good-bye, Savin.”
“I look forward to the shipment, sorceress. And to your return. In the meantime, I will provide you a wolf escort—” The alpha jerked back, staring at her. Gasps peppered the air around them.
Quinn cocked her head warily, but Arturo cleared up the mystery. “Your glamour has worn off.”
Quinn glanced at her hand, now gleaming pale in the firelight. She met Savin’s shocked gaze with a rueful shrug. “Now you know what I really look like.”
The alpha stared at her a moment more, then began to laugh. “Working with a sorceress will take some getting used to.” To her surprise, he took her hand in a move that was distinctly friendly. “Anytime you are in the Crux, shout my name, and if my wolves are within hearing distance, they will provide you safe escort.”
“I will. Thank you.”
Arturo helped her onto her horse, then mounted his own. As promised, several wolves escorted them for quite a way before falling back. Arturo lifted a hand in thanks as the two of them continued on, alone.
“I’m sorry you went through that, Arturo,” she said quietly. He looked a thousand times better than he had when they’d first pulled him from the trough, but he still didn’t look well. “Will you heal completely?”
Pamela Palmer - [Vamp City 02] Page 15