by M. L. Briers
“Daniella’s right. Let’s just go kick furry butt and get the humans back…” Morgana said.
She wasn’t exactly excited to be there either, but Claudia was on the premises somewhere, she could just feel it in her bones.
“As good as done,” Nathaniel promised her and she nodded.
She was trusting him with her life – there couldn’t have been a more profound bond between them in that moment than that.
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It wasn’t brain surgery. It was a pretty basic idea of surround the area and move in from all directions taking out what or who they needed to on their way to getting into the warehouse.
Each witch had a vampire. Jessica was with Michael – Daniella was with Julian, and the Professor was tagging along for the ride with his trusted gun full of silver bullets – and Morgana and Nathaniel were together.
It had been agreed that until the witches had no choice but to use their magic that they did so as a last resort for fear that they would give away their approach if the dark witch picked up on it. Morgana didn’t much like that idea – it made her feel vulnerable – even with her magic right at her fingertips to call upon the second that she needed to.
Michael had already run the external perimeter all the way up to the fences around the disused plant, and he’d taken out any sentries that had been posted. Now they were methodically working their way forwards towards the entrances that Morgana knew would be guarded by wards…
Nathaniel reached out and snapped the guard’s neck, and Morgana was certain that she heard the bones break even from her hiding place a few feet away. She swallowed down that queasy feeling.
“Wait…” she hissed as Nathaniel reached for the door handle. She was at his side in a few short steps.
“Do your thing, little witch…” Nathaniel whispered, picking up on her fear that the door had been secured with magic.
“Or you could use that guys hand to open the door…” She pointed down to the dead body lying behind him. Nathaniel frowned…
If there were wards around the building then they weren’t designed to keep the werewolves out.
“Why did I bring you again?” He asked, turning and bending at the waste for the man’s arm.
He had a moment where he thought about ripping it off, but due to the witch’s sensibilities; he decided against it, and dragged the man the few feet towards the door, slapping his hand down over his on the handle and opening the door…
“Because I’m the brains…” she whispered with barely a sound.
“That’s a conversation for another time.”
“Let’s hope we get to have it.” She motioned for Nathaniel to go in first and the man was happy to oblige.
They’d got that far. Now they needed to deal with what came next.
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The moment that they were inside the warehouse all hell broke loose. Human mutts came from every direction attacking the individual groups.
The alpha had built himself an army, and it was bigger than Nathaniel could have imagined.
The mutts that they were facing were full blown, howl at the moon shifters that had already gone through the first change, and Nathaniel had no compassion for them – ending them as swiftly as he could, but not sparing a moment’s thought for whom they had once been.
Those lives were gone – their personalities changed forever – and once a month they would become mindless beasts intent on killing. He couldn’t let them live.
Morgana followed in his wake. She used her magic to seal the fate of those that attacked Nathaniel – keeping the fight an even one on one as he systematically took them out.
They made a good team.
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Joseph’s head came up at the sound of fighting. In the short time that he’d been there it hadn’t been unusual for his captives to fight among themselves, like rapid dogs fighting over territory, but he knew that sound was different – people were dying…
“What’s going on?” Claudia had been brought out of her stupor and now she looked panicked once more.
She’d gone from scared before the alpha’s attack to something close to accepting her fate as the venom went through her system and changed her DNA at a molecular level, but now she was fidgeting again. Her eyes taking in the dark area around them as the sounds grew louder and closer…
“Hopefully – a rescue…” Joseph could dare to hope, because he knew more than she did…
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
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Julian couldn’t say that he wasn’t enjoying the thrill of the fight – that would be an out and out lie. The more they came at him – the more he relished each and every kill.
It had been a while since he’d gone into battle and he’d missed the excitement – the sheer rush of the bloodlust that washed through him.
He was old enough to be able to control it when it mattered, but then and there; it didn’t matter. The only downside that he could see was the witch that was dispensing death as quickly as he was.
At the rate that they were putting them down – there wouldn’t be enough to go around for much longer, and he’d bet that Michael and Nathaniel were taking their fair share of the kill for themselves…
On the plus side; the professor hadn’t fired a single shot to date, but only because neither he nor the witch were letting any mutts through their ranks.
Julian turned in place and swiped his claws through the air. The feel of flesh, blood, and bone beneath the razor sharp talons was satisfying; as he cut across the man’s throat and dropped him to the floor at his feet.
The monster within him raised its head and he pushed it down. Then wasn’t the time to give himself over to the bloodlust completely.
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Michael wrapped his hand around Jessica’s wrist and yanked her behind his back, putting his body between her and the human mutt that came for her – fangs down and claws out – he reached out with his other hand and ripped the man’s throat clean out.
His annoyance level was high. He’d sworn to protect the witch from the beasts, and yet, he found that he was also protecting her from herself.
She was too gung-ho to get into the fight, and that could be dangerous for the both of them.
“Stay behind me…” he bit out.
“Stop getting in my way…” she bit back, miffed that the man seemed to think he had to protect her when she had the magic at her fingertips that could do the job for her.
“Do as you are told…”
If they hadn’t of been in the middle of a pitched battle then she would have given him a piece of her mind right there and then, but while the mutts kept coming; his male chauvinist ways would have to be put on the backburner for her to shove down his throat at another time…
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Morgana felt the arms of steel wrap around her from behind and she let out a jolt of her magic that sprung those arms free. She was quick to step away from the danger, and she turned in place to see black eyes staring back at her from the man mountain that had attempted to take her out of the game.
She lifted her palms and sent her magic through her hands, blasting the man backwards against the brick wall, and she watched with satisfaction as he slid downwards to the floor…
Nathaniel spotted the alpha – Tom Deaton dropped his chin towards his chest – his eyes locked on the vampire as he flicked out his claws and his fangs elongated.
It appeared that he wanted a shot at Nathaniel as much as the vampire wanted to end him.
He was the key to saving any humans that had not already gone through the change under the full moon. He was the key that would stop the abductions, because only an alpha’s bite could change a human into a werewolf…
Both men pushed off – running across the room towards each other as Deaton roared his intent…
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br /> Morgana turned in place. Her eyes took in the alpha as the men met in the middle … and then there was a split second of pain that shot through her head before she was falling towards the ground and the lights went out.
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Nathaniel hadn’t exactly met his match. A werewolf, even an alpha, was no match for a vampire, and the man had to know that, and yet, there were always the times when a lucky strike could even up the odds…
That wasn’t going to happen that day…
Nathaniel’s claws were buried deep within the flesh of the man’s chest, and he tore downwards. The pain that seared through Deaton’s body was right there within his eyes, etched into his face.
Nathaniel drew his arm back and punched forwards once more, embedding his hand in through the man’s chest and closing his fist around the alpha’s heart … a moment later; Nathaniel was pulling it free from his body, and the light took a long moment to die in Deaton’s eyes as he dropped to the floor…
Nathaniel turned in place and scanned the room … no more bad guys to be had … and no Morgana either.
His heart lurched into his throat and he strained to hear some sign of her. All he could hear was the fighting that continued in other areas of the compound.
Gone.
Missing.
He fisted his claws into the palms of his hands and held onto the rage that tore through him.
He would find her, and whoever had taken her would die.
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Nathaniel had searched the whole compound gleefully killing off any stranglers that he found along the way. The one thing that he couldn’t find was Morgana. Even her scent had been cloaked from him.
The others had gathered the humans – the ones that had been bitten and had not gone through the change yet. He paid them little mind, except to note that Morgana’s friend was among them.
Julian moved closer to him and Nathaniel turned his rage filled eyes towards the man.
“Hold onto that feeling, Nathaniel…” Julian cautioned him, but he needed no such words. He knew what he needed to do…
“Find her…” Nathaniel bit out.
The fever in his blood was turning to bloodlust, but there was no one left to kill – not unless he included the people on his side.
“We will…” Julian assured him, but it fell on deaf ears.
The man – the monster – was fast becoming one.
Nathaniel knew that he needed to hold onto that rage or he’d see red. He’d either slaughter everyone on site or they’d take him down, and he couldn’t let that happen until Morgana was safe.
He needed her to be safe.
He’d done this.
He’d dragged her into this mess when he should have been sending her off in the other direction, especially once he knew who the alpha was…
If she died then so would he, but not until he had his vengeance…
CHAPTER THIRTY
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Morgana could taste the blood on her tongue and she’d bet a pound to a penny that it wasn’t Nathaniel’s. She’d tasted vampire blood when Michael had forced her to take his, and what she was tasting then didn’t have that same sweet – healing goodness to it.
If she was a betting girl; then she’d have said that she was tasting her own blood.
Her head felt heavy like someone had pumped it full of lead, and when she tried to pry open her eyelids; all that she saw was blurred objects and fuzziness. There was also pain – like someone had embedded a pickaxe inside of her skull, and that was without what her body was telling her in no uncertain terms – she’d guess that if she made it to the end of the day then she’d be black and blue over most of her body.
Funnily enough; she didn’t really expect to make it that far.
There was a smell that hung in the air. She couldn’t quite place it, but she didn’t like it either.
Her body had been dumped on uneven ground with hard wood or rocks poking into her flesh. Night still clung on around her and the chill in the air, along with the breeze on her face, told her that she was outside.
The first inkling that she had that she wasn’t alone was when the magic hit her, and hit her hard. Her body convulsed with pain from head to toe and she bit down, trying hard not to scream out and give whomever was wielding that magic the satisfaction of hearing her cries, but it was no use. They dialled up the pain until she couldn’t keep silent a moment longer.
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Julian paced near Nathaniel. He knew that the vampire wasn’t in a good way, and he knew why.
The man had linked himself to Morgana – had become tethered the way that some vampires could with humans, and now that she was missing … well, he knew that it was only a matter of time before the bloodlust within him took over.
While it was true that he didn’t owe the other’s in the room his loyalty and wouldn’t give it freely – he also knew that Nathaniel wouldn’t have wanted to kill them – not when he was within his right mind.
He hated to do it, but if push came to shove and Nathaniel lost it – then he’d have to put the man down for good.
Daniella and Jessica were trying to use their combined magic to locate Morgana, but it didn’t appear to be going well. They hadn’t found the dark witch that was protecting the alpha werewolf, and it was a good bet that it had been her that had taken Morgana from right under their noses.
Nathaniel paced back and forth. His hands were fisted as he fought to keep his temperament on a slow boil and not create carnage within the library of the university, but with every minute that ticked by – and he could hear the damn ticking of the clock on the wall like it was his heartbeat – he knew he was getting closer to losing his mind.
The sound of footsteps in the hallway outside the room snatched his attention and gave him something to concentrate on. When Michael came through the double doors with Claudia on one side and Joseph on the other – Nathaniel had to hold onto his need to kill them … if it wasn’t for them then Morgana would still be with him…
“This one is Morgana’s friend, and this one can’t be wiped…” Michael nodded towards Joseph, and a heartbeat later the human was dangling against the nearest wall with Nathaniel’s hand wrapped around his throat and his eyes bulging in his head as the vampire cut off his oxygen supply.
Joseph’s hands clawed at the Nathaniel’s, trying to break free of the hold – trying to garner a breath into his lungs…
“I know you…” Nathaniel bit out – his fangs had elongated and his blood was boiling within his veins…
“He can’t talk to you if you’re choking him…” The Professor said, taking a step towards them, but Julian was at Nathaniel’s side before anyone even blinked.
“Put the weak little puppy down – there’s a good vampire…” Julian was ready to intervene if he needed to, but he hoped that he could talk Nathaniel down rather than kicking off his bloodlust by fighting with him…
“Why can’t he be wiped…?” Nathaniel demanded.
“Well, we could ask him, but he can’t really tell us, now can he?”
“He’s one of mine…” The professor said quickly…
Nathaniel tried to dial back his anger … then he dropped Joseph to his feet and the man gasped in breath after breath and choked them back out again…
Nathaniel turned to eye Harold…
“I’d spit it out now before I get annoyed…” Nathaniel warned him, and he noted the way that Daniella moved a step closer to the professor – guarding him and readying herself for an attack.
“We watch – we observe – we catalogue the supernatural, and we don’t normally get involved.” Harold reluctantly admitted.
The professor stalked over to the tablet on the table and lifted it. A few swipes of his finger later and he turned the display towards Nathaniel…
“Pretty – what is it?” Nathaniel bit out –he could feel the hea
t rising within him once more…
“A database of everyone that we’ve encountered or watched…” Harold admitted.
“Am I in there?” Julian asked – his interest piqued.
“You all are,” Harold said, holding it out towards Nathaniel as he stalked towards them. Nathaniel snatched the tablet and stalked back towards Joseph – thrusting the tablet down into the man’s hands…
“Find the witch…” he demanded…
“No need…” Maxi announced as she sailed through the open doors like she was a spectre floating on air…
Nathaniel eyed her, and as her eyes locked with his; there was an involuntary twitch of her top lip with the anger that rushed through her at having to be that close to the vampire that had killed her brother.
“You know who it is?” Nathaniel demanded.
“I got behind the magic wards the moment that you stormed the compound and got the witch to drop her guard – it’s Amber…” Maxi said.
She watched as Nathaniel’s chin drop towards his chest at recognition of the name…
“I should have…” he berated himself.
“Who’s Amber?” Daniella asked.
Joseph was already swiping madly at the tablet. His head came up and his mouth dropped open…
“She’s the warlock’s girlfriend…” Joseph said.
“My brother’s girlfriend…” Maxi agreed.
“Payback…” Julian announced.
“Not just against me, but against Morgana…” Nathaniel bit out.
He didn’t like that scenario. If the whole plan had been to get to him then Morgana stood a chance of being used as a pawn, but if Amber wanted her dead as well …
“That’s bad…” Jessica stated the obvious.
“Ya think?” Julian swiped back and the witch snapped her jaws together and scowled back at him.
“If Morgana’s still alive…” Daniella offered that unappealing scenario and Nathaniel bit down on the flash of rage within him…