“How much longer?” Edger, the grumpy one, asked.
Brendan grinned, already feeling as if a weight had been lifted. “Just until I’m sure someone got it.”Then, his grin faded. He inhaled deeply and a familiar, unwelcome warning washed over him. Even though he hadn’t yet smelled the shifters, he sensed they were there.
He sniffed again. “Guys, we’ve got trouble.”
They instantly snapped to attention, their hands curled into fists.
“What is it?” Soren asked, his eyes searching the woods.
“Alien shifters. I can smell them.”
Edger’s fists dropped and he twisted around to glare up at Brendan. “Really funny. Have you ever heard of the boy who cried wolf, because—”
One of the shifters leaped out of the darkness, latching onto his throat and pulling him to the ground. The sounds of his gurgling filled the darkness, and the stench of blood hit his nostrils.
The other vampire jumped on the back of the wolf, twisting his head until it snapped. The alien slumped to the ground.
Placing his hands over his friend’s throat, the vampire stared up at Brendan, his eyes wide. “We need to get him help! Now!” He hesitated. “Should I try to feed him now or wait to get him somewhere safer?”
They won’t make it to safety, but if the shifters surround us here, we’re all dead.
“Let me think.” Brendan glanced down at the communications device. Scrawled in an unusual font across the front it said Communication Received.
“Hopefully I reached the right person,” he muttered angrily.
Knowing that it was too dangerous to leave the item when the alien shifters were closing in on him, he snapped the device in his hand. Then, cracked it in pieces a few more times for good measure. Now, they have no chance of ever reaching their boss.
Dropping the pieces, he reached for his clothes, shedding his shirt, pants, and shoes.
“What are you doing?”
Brendan looked at the young vampire. So much life ahead of him. “I’m going to shift and lead them away from you. And you, you’re going to try your best to keep yourself and your friend alive.”
The vampire nodded, unspoken gratitude in his eyes.
Brendan usually hated to shift—it represented everything those alien criminals had done to him. But in that moment, he embraced it. His spine cracked, and he felt the horrific pain that accompanied the changing of his body structure. His thoughts went dark, and then, the world around him looked different. Muted in grays.
In his wolf form, he could smell the aliens even better. They were too damn close for his liking. Picking the path that lead away from town, he started running, careful to brush every damn tree and bush along the way. He needed to lead them straight to him, to give the young vampires a chance to get away.
And then, then he needed to run like hell.
Only a few minutes had passed when he sensed them closing in on him, gaining on him as they spread out on all sides. He ran harder, pushing himself even as his wolf protested. Being cautious, he slowly switched his angle, heading for the town of Mist. With all the creatures that lived there, he was sure to find help somewhere.
When he saw the first lights of the city, a form crashed into him. He rolled, taking the wolf with him. It latched onto his back, sinking sharp teeth into his shoulder.
Brendan shook the wolf free, then turned to face him. The wolf leaped again, and at the last minute Brendan twisted, latching onto the wolf’s throat with his sharp fangs.
With a howl of pain, it slumped onto the ground.
Brendan bit harder, crushing its windpipe, not stopping until the beast took its final breath. Then he rose. Five steps later, two wolves crowded in front of him.
He snarled, showing his teeth. Together, they rushed him. Teeth and claws slashed at him, but he was bigger, stronger, faster. One limped away, his paw badly mangled, while the other one lay in the darkness of the forest floor, struggling for breath.
Brendan pressed on. Have to get back to Alexa.
When he stepped out into a clearing, he made it halfway through before sensing movement behind him. He spun, but then caught movement on one side, then the other, then behind him. His heart raced as he slowly realized what had happened.
They had surrounded him. This cannot happen. I’m her champion.
Aghader approached him but paused a distance away. He shifted and stood, a naked man with long dark hair and a white eye that glowed. “Tell me where to find the device, and we’ll let you live.”
I’ll have a better chance in my human form.
He shifted back, swallowing his scream of pain as he rose unsteadily to his feet. “By the stream.”
Aghader’s good eye narrowed. “All we found were broken pieces of what looked like a communications device.”
Shit.
“But we assumed that no creature would be so stupid as to destroy his only hope of survival.”
Brendan put a hand over a wound on his arm and realized it was dripping too quickly. He blinked when his head began to feel light.
“Say something!” the alien demanded.
He looked around himself at the pack of angry alien shifters. There are too many of them. I’m too badly wounded. Damn it. I’m going to die this time.
Swallowing, he met the eyes of the man he hated. “You destroyed my life. It was only fitting that I destroyed yours.”
Raw hatred twisted the alien’s face. “Kill him! Tear him to—”
A bright blue light suddenly surrounded Aghader. His mouth pulled into a scream, and then, he was gone.
Brendan looked up to see light reflect off the surface of a large white spaceship. They’re here!
A second later, the blue light slid over another alien, and he too disappeared. Which is when chaos was unleashed.
The wolves scattered, running every which way, and the ship seemed to follow the groups without urgency. Brendan’s satisfaction faded as he watched another wolf get beamed up.
What’s to keep them from taking me, too?
Turning, he limped toward the town. I survived, and Alexa is safe. That’s all that matters.
And then, he heard a scream.
Chapter Fourteen
Alexa’s car skidded to the stop in the middle of the town. “What happened?” she called from the back seat. “Why did we stop?”
She frowned, glancing out her window, searching for her security detail in the shadows. A vampire stepped out into the light, the mist moving through the streets seemed to gather more thickly around him. She felt a wave of relief, and then, a blade sliced his throat from behind.
His body fell to the ground.
“Halloway! Pierce!” she screamed, rolling down the screen between them.
In the front seat, both men were dead, their throats slit, and their doors thrown open.
Yet all was quiet.
How did this happen in an instant? Without me hearing or seeing anything?
It wasn’t the work of just one vampire.
Clenching her hands into fists, she opened her door and stepped out. From every corner and every shadow, Draven’s men seemed to melt into existence. Her own men were nowhere to be found. Please don’t be dead. Just be imprisoned somewhere. But she had a feeling if Draven was involved, they didn’t show her men any mercy.
The night was deadly silent, as if every bird, bug, and beast knew not to make a sound. That the vampires were on the loose.
This can’t be happening.
“You’re making a mistake,” she shouted. “Whatever he promised you, it isn’t enough. The people in Mist are your people now. You can’t just flip a switch and start seeing them as food again.”
Not a single vampire reacted to her words. They simply stared. Overhead, lightning split the night sky, followed by an ominous rumble of thunder.
She spun slowly taking in the sheer number of vampires who surrounded her. There must be fifty of them. At least. A chill raced down her spine. My death won’t b
e a quick one.
“There’s still time.” She tried to keep the desperation out of her voice. “Think about what my family has done for you. Is this really how you think this should end?”
No one answered, but she could feel the tension in the air. What are they waiting for?
Then, as if in answer, a slow clapping split the air.
Her eyes jerked toward the sound.
Draven stepped into the street in front of her car. A dozen vampires formed a tight line behind him. Even some that she had once called allies. Is this what we’ve been reduced to? Turning on one another…for what? To return to the days where vampires ruled with terror.
She glanced back and saw that another line of vampires was closing in behind her car. And on each side of her.
“Are you serious? All of you?” Her voice rose with incredulity. “My brother cared for you, kept the peace. Even I’ve helped most of you with something over the years.” Her eyes met Jana’s. “I looked up to you as a sister when we were in school. Do you really believe we—those of us who care for all creatures, magical or human—deserve to die?”
Jana looked away, unable to meet her gaze. But she didn’t back away.
Alexa planted her feet firmly on the ground, prepared to fight. The odds don’t look good, she had to admit.
Draven’s clapping stopped as he froze, not twenty feet in front of her. “Congratulations on making it here in one piece, but that my dear, was too easy. Luring you out of your little fortress, killing every single one of the people who were mistakenly protecting you…and all for the sake of one pathetic freak.”
She felt sick for a moment. All those people. They didn’t deserve to die. Her anger rose. “Our challenge was set for tomorrow. My champion would have met you fairly on the battlefield.”
He laughed and, with a small jump, landed on the hood of her car. “Well, with your challenger dead, I thought why bother waiting?”
She narrowed her eyes. “Brendan isn’t dead. You’re lying.” She held her hand up in the strong moonlight and examined her nails. “You must be pretty afraid to disobey the ancient rules of a challenge. To ambush and kill my people,” she said, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. “Was it performance anxiety? Afraid you couldn’t do it in a fair fight?” Again, she took in the other vampires, but she saw no friends among them. They condone Draven’s actions because they don’t want to obey any laws.
You thought you could control them, Bryant, make them civilized, she thought helplessly. Obviously, there was a side to them you didn’t know. We didn’t know.
His expression twisted with fury. “We’ll see who is scared now, won’t we? One last chance, Alexa. Marry me. A vampire as beautiful as you needn’t die for a pathetic notion of love. Be my bride and we will rule the houses through our might and power!” He finished with one fist raised toward the sky. A manic expression on his face.
How wrong you are, Draven. Might and power bring fear, not loyalty. Instead, she smiled. “How it must bother you—to know I’d rather die than be your wife.” Her teeth lengthened, her legs tensing as she prepared to fight.
A commotion came from behind the line of vampires, and she heard someone cry out, “It’s the shifter!”
She caught a glimpse of Brendan behind them. Limping. Bleeding. He’s alive! Her heart rose.
Draven smiled. “Kill him. I’ll deal with her myself.”
The vampires, obviously so fueled with violence and bloodlust that they were beyond reason, headed straight for Brendan. She knew the moment he realized it, but he could do nothing to stop the dozens of vampires who swarmed him.
They’re going to kill him in minutes.
She turned her gaze to Draven.
He smiled. “Killing him will be as easy as killing your weak brother.”
Ice slid down her spine. “Y-you didn’t. He was murdered by dark magic. Some evil creature, not of this world.”
“Perhaps, like aliens who can shift into any form? A being that one minute looks like an innocent creature in need, and when they were alone, tore him to pieces?”
Alexa’s hand clutched at her chest. She couldn’t breathe.
Of course Draven was behind it. She’d been so busy trying to survive that she hadn’t considered how her brother and this traitor could be connected. I’m a fool.
“I’m going to kill you,” she promised.
The snarls of the vampires surrounding Brendan came to her, and she turned to look in their direction. He was fighting like a madman, but he couldn’t keep them at bay much longer. I have to reach him, before it’s too late.
Instinct made her duck just as a ball of fire flew through the air and landed an inch away from her. Flames exploded on the hood of her car and she realized he’d jumped off. She scanned the area, finding him behind her.
Breathing hard, she crouched, staring at the man who had turned her world upside down. Who killed her brother, Halloway, and the others. Who had almost caused the downfall of the Darkmore Legacy.
Her throat closed. Who had ordered his people to kill Brendan.
He deserves to die.
Three fireballs barreled toward her, but she avoided each one with ease, slowly making her way closer to him. In his arrogance, he only laughed, unaware that she was doing more than surviving. She was going to kill him.
If I don’t kill him, he’s going to do this to countless others. Drawing the vampires into bloodlust, feeding and killing at his leisure.
As her anger grew, something within her swelled. Heating. Changing. She felt it radiating through her blood, through her bones, through her heart.
When she was a foot from Draven, her hand began to glow a bold red. She hid it behind her until she was inches from him.
Then moving with deadly intent, she reached out and grabbed him.
He noticed it too late, his eyes widening as death closed in on him. “But you…”
She felt the life flee his body as she touched him, and then he slumped to the ground. That’s right. The Lady of Death has returned.
Certain he was dead, she whirled and flew to the vampires who snarled and growled, feeding on Brendan.
Without hesitation, she reached out, carving a path of death through them. “Brendan,” she cried feverishly, “hold on!” She touched one after another, dropping them where they stood. But no matter how fast I kill them, I can’t get through them fast enough.
Once they began to notice, her presence cut through their bloodlust, sending the living vampires fleeing, taking off into the shadows.
Until she at last reached Brendan.
He was still, covered in blood. Unmoving.
Collapsing to her knees, her throat tight with unshed tears, she reached for his blood-soaked neck. There was no pulse. How could there be? The pool of blood around him went for several feet
“No!” she screamed into the night. It’s not possible. She began to sob, clutching his lifeless body to her chest. Staring down at the man she loved. The man she had always loved.
High above her, a shadow blocked out the moonlight. Staring up through eyes filled with tears, she saw the white spaceship. The same shape as the one they’d found in the desert. A blue light fell over her and Brendan, blinding her.
For one horrible instant she wondered what else they would do, but the light disappeared and the ship shot away.
They wanted to take him too, she thought numbly. But I guess they have no use for a body.
She sobbed harder, pressing her face into Brendan’s hair. I don’t want to be the touch of death! All I want is to save him!
And even though she hadn’t touched him, she had killed him just as surely as she killed her parents. She had pulled him into her world. She was responsible for his death.
Death was her only companion. It always had been. Bryant was the light twin—I am the dark. The vampire cursed.
Crying harder, she imagined a world without him in it. A dark world full of emptiness.“I need you,” she sobbed brokenly.
“I don’t want to do this without you.”
She looked into his sightless eyes, and an anger she had never felt came from deep within her core. I don’t want to be the dark twin anymore!
She clenched her fists in rage. I want to bring life!
“You’re going to live, damn it!” she cried, pressing her hands against his chest. With all of her heart, she willed him to live. No matter the cost. No matter the consequence. She willed for him to come back to her.
A tingle spread through her body, a coldness that froze her blood. Her breath puffed out, a cloud of white. The hands that touched his chest began to glow. Not red, but gold.
And then the impossible happened.
His wounds began to heal. His skin stitched up before her eyes, the blood pooling and running back into his body. The dirt washing clean from his flesh. His whole chest shuddered, then expanded with a great intake of air. The breath that exploded from his lips was noisy. And the most wonderful sound in the world.
Rain began to tumble down, as if a curtain had fallen around them. They were drenched in an instant, but Alexa didn’t care. Her gaze was trained on him as his dark-lashed eyes opened, and then came to focus on her.
“Wh-what happened?” His voice was groggy.
She was crying too hard to speak. Instead, she watched as the glowing in her hands faded. Wrapping her arms around him, holding him to her, the sobs that racked her were silent.
Staring out at the night, she was overcome. How had this happened? She was supposed to bring death, not life.
The rain in front of them swirled together and took form. The goddess of the rain. She was young, with skin the iridescent white-blue of rain, and a dress that shone like the dew on a flower’s petal.
The goddess knelt down, brushing a wet hand against her cheek. “The earth has sensed in you more than death since the very beginning.”
Alexa’s eyes filled with tears once more. “Did all of you know? Did you always know?”
She smiled, her face kind. “Always. You, our daughter, who has had a lifetime of pain. Now, you will have a lifetime of happiness. It won’t be easy, nothing worth having ever is, but it will be happy.”
Magic, New Mexico_A Touch of Death Page 12