by Susan Illene
Knowledge reflected in his gaze. Like he knew exactly what I was thinking. “Perhaps it is time we both set aside our differences with him for now for the greater good. We can always pick them back up later when this is all over.”
“I’d already come to that conclusion,” I said, glancing at him. “There’s no way around it.”
Nikolas nodded and pointed up at the sky.
“The moon is out,” he noted.
I drew my gaze up to see part of it through an opening in the trees. “The wolves will be too.”
“Not to worry,” he squeezed my arm in reassurance, “I’ll keep the monsters away from you.”
For someone who’d almost killed me only a day before. He sure did have an obsession with keeping me safe now. My senses told me he meant what he said, too.
I laughed. “Are you flirting with me, Nik?”
He gave me an unabashed look. “What do you expect? It has been five long years and I have a beautiful woman sitting right beside me. What man in my position wouldn’t try?”
I rolled my eyes. “You were asleep that whole time. It wasn’t that bad.”
He stood and lifted me up, drawing me close. “You’re going to be a challenge.”
I turned out of his arms, meeting no resistance, and started to walk away. As a parting shot, I said over my shoulder, “It isn’t a challenge if you don’t have a chance.”
It was after I reached the cabin that it occurred to me my sadness about Matt’s death had gone away—at least temporarily. Nikolas had helped me forget for a little while.
Chapter Twenty-two
My sword rang out with a metallic clang as it struck against Nik’s. He parried it without effort and nodded for me to continue. My shoulders ached from hours of practice over the last two days, but he insisted on training me in the basics, saying they were necessary to use the weapon. The vampire had shown a strong resolve in making sure I survived the coming confrontation with Variola. This time tomorrow night, we would be in the fight for our lives as we attempted to wrest control from her. She’d called each evening to remind me of my duty to her. I was really sick of her speeches.
“Keep your arms in, don’t extend them so far.” Nik corrected my form.
I scowled, but bent my elbows and drew them in closer.
“Feet shoulder width apart. One of the most important elements of sword fighting is to keep your balance. If you can’t remain on your feet, you’ll lose the fight for sure.”
I sighed and let the sword fall to the ground. At this point, I trusted he had no intentions of killing me and didn’t care about relaxing my guard in front of him.
“Explain to me again why we are doing this. I have a gun—a nice one that makes big holes in people. My odds are greater of hurting someone with that than with a blade like this.” I gave my sword a disgusted look. Yeah, Wanda had said the thing about guns and vampires, but I still didn’t have to like it.
Fighting sups with old-fashioned weapons didn’t make sense. I’d suggested rocket launchers and grenades only to be shot down because they would create too loud of a disturbance. Far too many humans to compel if they drew attention. Lazy bastards.
Nikolas was sticking by his plan to use the old methods. I wasn’t so sure about taking the advice of someone who was born before William the Conqueror invaded England. Battle tactics had changed quite a lot in that time. I believed my experience and training were more modern and useful.
He shook his head. “Mel, guns are too unpredictable in a fight with supernaturals, especially a large group. For one, we all move too fast. You could end up shooting the wrong person. For two, there is a good chance the witches will have spells in place to block your bullets from hitting them or their cohorts. A blade will be far more effective.”
I put my hands on my hips. “But I’m immune to their magic, so that shouldn’t be a problem. Plus you’d be surprised how well I shoot.”
Nik gave a rueful smile and shook his head. “How many fights have you been in that are similar to the one we will engage in tomorrow?”
“None…like this.”
He gave me a pointed look. “Exactly. In comparison, I have been in hundreds, perhaps thousands. So who do you think knows more about which type of weapon will be effective?”
A mournful sigh escaped me. “My gun would still be better. We aren’t going to make an expert swordsman out of me by tomorrow.”
He took a step forward and put a hand on my shoulder. “Have faith in us. Lucas and I, along with the others, will handle all the more powerful opponents. We just need you to take care of Variola’s witches, who won’t be any stronger than you. I doubt they will be any better with a sword either, but there’s always a chance. You need to be prepared.”
I nodded my head and took a step back, pulling my sword into a fighting stance. At least it only weighed a few pounds, so it didn’t feel too unwieldy. Nik had told me heavy swords, at any point in history, were a myth and the best ones often weighed no more than my current one.
“Let’s get on with this,” I told him, locking my eyes with his.
He raised his own sword again and went on the attack. I parried each thrust, but knew if he moved at his full speed and strength it would be impossible. Even when I failed to block in time, his reflexes were fast enough that he could pull back at the last second to keep from hurting me. I felt like a bumbling fool compared to his grace and agility.
“Keep your body turned to the side so as to provide a smaller target,” he corrected when my tired limbs lost interest in our training.
I forced them back to work and strengthened my resolve. For once it would be nice to put him on his guard. His eyebrows rose when I went on the attack. He matched me thrust for thrust as we moved around the darkened yard, side-stepping the occasional tree. Dirt kicked up under my feet as I did my best to keep him on his toes. The man wouldn’t give me an opening, but I kept trying anyway.
“Hey Nik,” Emily called out from the sidelines. “You dropped your pocket.”
He searched the ground in confusion. “What?”
“You dropped your pocket.” She giggled.
I took advantage of the distraction and laid my sword flat on his neck. “Gotcha.”
He looked between Emily and me.
“She helped you,” he accused.
I shrugged. “You’re the fool who’s looking for your pocket on the ground. One would think after almost twelve centuries you’d have heard them all.”
Nik pointed at Emily. “You’ll pay for that.”
She flounced up to him and stuck a finger on his chest. “Shouldn’t have let a girl like me distract you. Seems you needed the lesson.”
He gently removed her hand. “Don’t you have homework you should be doing?”
Emily scowled at him. “Nothing that can’t wait until morning.”
“That’s a lie, young lady.” I put a guiding hand on her shoulder. “Go to the bedroom to finish it.”
“Fine,” she groused.
We watched her shuffle a path to the door at an impressively slow rate, muttering the whole way before disappearing inside. Mine and Nik’s eyes met. We smiled.
“Back to practice,” Nik announced.
My smile dropped.
We picked up the previous rhythm we’d had before Emily’s interruption and circled the yard in a dance I was sure he’d performed many times. A few minutes later our swords struck together with neither of us willing to give ground. He allowed his to slide along mine until they met at the hilt, drawing us close. My breath came out in short pants from the exercise.
“You’re wearing me out,” I said. “Not all of us have limitless energy.”
He stepped back and gave me a sexy grin. “That’s what all the ladies tell me.”
I tried for a thrust at his neck, but he moved out of the way before it made contact.
“They’re probably referencing your constant bragging, rather than anything else.”
“I think not. T
hey usually say such terms when they are every bit as sweaty as you are right now.” His heated eyes perused my body with slow intent. “Minus the clothes, of course.”
I cocked my head to the side, exposing my neck to his view. It drew his eyes right away, seeing my strong pulse beating there.
“Oh yeah? Do they do this as well?” came my own whispered voice.
I gave him my sweetest smile, sidled up closer, and kneed him in the groin as hard as I could before dancing back a few steps. Yeah, I was resorting to my usual tactics when overpowered, but it worked so well. He fell to his knees and clutched himself in pain.
A deep, full throated laugh came from behind me. Lucas had been watching us for the last few minutes.
“Well done, sensor. The man needs a good blow to his ego every now and then or it will grow overly large.”
My brows arched up at Lucas. “I think it’s already there.”
Nik pulled himself back to his feet.
“Overly large? Are you really just speaking of my ego?” His eyes shot down to the appendage in question before looking back up at me with a grin.
I rolled my eyes. “Why did the witches do a sleeping spell on you instead of a death spell? Seems to me if they had enough power to do one, they had enough to do the other. And at this point, I’m thinking you drove them to it.”
The amusement fled from his face. Nikolas didn’t look too happy at the reminder of not being infallible. I had sensed some of the mechanics of the spell on him before breaking it. The magical signatures revealed five witches were involved. In my mind, that would have been enough to take him out if they’d wanted to.
“They could have,” he admitted, “but the price for a death spell is rather high and all of them would have had to pay.”
I furrowed my brows. “What price?”
Wanda had taught me a lot, but my knowledge of witchcraft still had its limits. She was only able to teach me so much about the supernatural world in three years.
Nik motioned for us to sit on the porch. We moved over to it and I gladly set my sword aside.
“Most of the time, the price of spells can be transferred to something else. Animals, plants, precious stones, and metals are all favored types of sacrifices. In the case of death spells, though, the witch must pay the price herself.”
“What is the price?”
He gave me an amused look. “Their beauty, however much they have of it anyway. It ages them at least ten years just to eliminate a human and it twists their features. The more powerful the target, the more of a toll it will take.”
I rubbed my chin. “More for a vamp, I assume. Not many people would be willing to make that big of a sacrifice in order to kill someone.”
Nik nodded. “Exactly.”
“Well, that explains what happened to the witch I killed a couple weeks ago.”
His right brow lifted. “You’re sure it was death magic?”
I described what I’d seen that night and how she used glamour to cover it up.
Lucas, who had moved over to the porch with us, spoke up. “I believe the sensor is correct. The woman must have used death magic at some point before.”
Nikolas shook his head. “I’m glad there aren’t more witches like her.”
“So they put the sleep spell on you in order to kill you the normal way?”
“That is my guess. Variola didn’t bother to explain, as you might imagine. One minute we were sitting around having a good time, partying the night away. In the next, bitch-vamp and her temptresses were working their spell. They distracted me so well I didn’t even see it coming.”
Why he was surprised at being tricked by a bunch of women seducing him was beyond me. I managed to refrain from voicing that thought out loud.
“Couldn’t you have stopped them, rather than running?”
A hard look came over his eyes. “No, they were well prepared with protection spells I didn’t have time to break past them. Unlike you, I can’t sense them. The rest of us have to discover these things the hard way.”
I studied my hands, which were growing rough and cracked from our sword practice.
“At least you have the strength and speed to fight. I have the luxury of knowing what I’m up against, but don’t have your advantages to do anything about it.”
Nik put an arm around my shoulder. I stiffened but didn’t push him away. The weaker side of me wanted the comfort, even if it came from a vampire. All my life I’d avoided getting into this exact type of situation and now I was right in the middle of it. Going up against humans was one thing, facing powerful sups was quite another. I didn’t even begin to know how to prepare for what we were about to do. The rules were all different.
“You’ll be fine, Melena. We won’t let anything happen to you,” he reassured me.
I glanced at Lucas, who had his usual expressionless mask in place. My gaze fell back on the vampire still holding me close. “Why do you accept me without a problem? Lucas here has wanted to kill me since the day we met.”
Nik chuckled. “If he wanted you dead, Mel, you’d be dead. Believe it or not, he tolerated your kind well enough before the war. More than likely, it’s your humanity that bothers him so much. Lucas has never been a fan of the human race.”
The man in question spoke up. “That’s enough, Nikolas. The only thing she needs to know about me is that I’ll make sure she lives through tomorrow. Nothing else is any concern of hers.”
Nik shook his head at the nephilim. “You haven’t changed at all, Luc. Always one to keep everything to himself. I’ll keep your secrets, but only because I need you tomorrow.”
Lucas dipped his chin in an almost imperceptible nod of acknowledgment.
“Fair enough,” he answered before stepping away from us.
“Lucas, wait.”
He turned back to me, his blond brow raised.
“Some of Nik’s people are coming now for the meeting. They should be here in a minute.” My senses had picked them up a moment before as they entered the area.
Nik and I stood, dusting ourselves off as the vehicles drew closer. With Felisha’s help, many of Nik’s previous followers had returned after they’d been told he’d come back. In the past couple of days, those who were able traveled here to offer their support. I discovered most of them had relocated to remote areas of the state in the hopes Nikolas would come back. They were all that was left after Variola’s take-over five years before. Despite the short notice, almost thirty of them had answered the call.
I braced myself for the influx of vampires and werewolves. Up to this point, I hadn’t had to deal with so many at once. Not even at Variola’s house. Nik put a hand on my shoulder—sympathy reflected in his gaze.
“Go inside and take a shower,” he suggested. “The meeting won’t start right away and it will give you time to adjust.”
I let out a short laugh. “Oh sure, that’s a great idea. Getting totally naked and sluicing myself with water while dozens of men stand around outside my cabin. Sounds like the perfect plan to make me feel more relaxed.”
Lucas shook his head. The light glinting in his eyes should have warned me.
Nik put a hand on my shoulder and said in a solemn tone. “If you need protection in there, I’ll be happy to offer my services.”
Should have known he would say something like that.
“Never mind,” I waved him away. “I’ll go get cleaned up and be back out soon. At least the vamps don’t have an invitation to come in, but I swear if you disturb me in the shower I’ll revoke yours.”
Nik put his hands up in conciliation. “Not to worry, I don’t go where I’m not wanted.”
The statement didn’t ring as complete truth. I gave him a warning look before marching inside.
Chapter Twenty-three
Thirty minutes later I returned outside, wearing jeans and a long sleeve shirt with a warm jacket over it. A crowd of sups stood milling around the yard, conversing amongst themselves. Their numerous vehicles
lined either side of the gravel road leading up to the cabin. Good thing it was late at night or some of my neighbors might have questioned all the activity. The cabin was about two hundred yards from the highway.
The overall mood felt tense, causing my head to start throbbing. I’d gotten used to having a handful of sups around, but this gathering was much larger. Nik left a vampire he was speaking with at the edge of the porch and took my hand to pull me to his side. My attempts to get free failed, forcing me to give up after a few tugs. He ignored my perturbed look and cleared his throat to draw attention.
It didn’t need to be loud. Several dozen pairs of eyes stared up at us where we stood. Charlie, Yvonne, and Felisha had come, though they stood away from the others toward the back. Yvonne wasn’t wearing her fortune teller robe. Instead she wore a long orange skirt with a loose sweater. I supposed the robe was part of her act for her day job.
Lucas positioned himself on the porch, off to the side of us, with Derrick next to him. While the nephilim reclined against the wall studying the crowd, the alpha stood with his arms crossed and head down. I knew he wanted no part of this. Everyone else looked expectant at what Nikolas would say. I even caught Emily poking her head through the curtains of the bedroom window.
“As all of you know,” Nik began in a formal voice. “I’ve been gone these past five years. The vampire-witch, Variola, and her following used treacherous means to take over our territory and kill many of our friends. They put me under a spell which left me incapacitated until it was recently broken. I would like to thank Melena, who at considerable risk to herself woke me from the deep sleep so that we can take back what is ours.”
He raised the hand he held in his and kissed my knuckles with moist lips, looking deep into my eyes. I blushed, feeling stupid with so many people watching. I couldn’t toss out a sarcastic remark at Nik this time to alleviate my embarrassment. The amusement in his eyes told me he knew that. He lowered my hand, but kept it in his as he returned his attention to the crowd. I forced my features to appear calm and composed, relying on my well-honed military bearing to get me through this.