The Immortal Warriors Boxed Set: Books 1-11

by H. T. Night

  “You cannot expect to beat a werewolf if you exhaust yourself before you actually fight.”

  “Who are you?” he repeated.

  I decided to mess with my dear young friend. “I’m Mister-fucking-Myagi.”

  He paused and then blurted, “Tommy!”

  I flicked on the switch to the light next to me. “In the flesh.”

  “Or should I call you Kyro?” I wasn’t sure if Josiah was kidding or joking.

  “Kyro is dead,” I proclaimed. “I will forever be Tommy.”

  “Are you alive?” Josiah asked.

  “You mean, am I some kind of Carni ghost that has come back to haunt you?” I laughed. “No. I’m alive. I’m as alive as you used to be.” I walked over to my dear friend and stood face to face. “What the hell happened to you?”

  Josiah looked his sweaty body over and said, “You must smell it. The Carni at the bar did.” He was referring to the vampire blood in his veins.

  “So, what happened? Did you go willingly or unwillingly?”

  “I didn’t choose it. That choice was definitely out of my hands.”

  I nodded.

  Then Josiah said, “That’s not the worst of it.”

  “What’s the worst of it?” I asked, surprised.

  Josiah grinned at me. “I don’t know what you know about Mani lore, but apparently—”

  “You’re the Chosen One. I know, Josiah,” I interjected, cutting him off.

  “How do you know?” he asked, extremely surprised.

  “Your hawk friend might have had something to do with it.” I gave Josiah a wink.

  “Yari? You’ve spoken to Yari? When?” Now, Josiah was confused as well as surprised.

  “It took me a while to recall what happened, but the last thing I remember was this beautiful redhead dropping me off in front of the emergency room. I had met her before, but I didn’t expect she would ever save my life.”

  “Did you know a Mani vampire was saving you?” Josiah asked.

  I looked at Josiah and shook my head. “I didn’t know much of anything. This ten-foot-tall motherfucker kicked the crap out of me not even an hour after we had our MMA match. The guy looked like a freaking scarecrow.”

  “Seven feet, not ten feet. And his name is Atticai,” Josiah responded.

  “I knew who he was,” I answered.

  “And you fought him anyway?” Josiah seemed perplexed.

  “Why not?” I answered, disgusted. “Who was he to tell me what the rules were?”

  “Apparently, he was the judge, jury, and executioner,” Josiah quipped.

  “He was only the judge and jury,” I said, referring to Atticai. “Goliath was the executioner.”

  “Goliath?” Josiah asked.

  “Yep, the seven-foot beast himself. He’s not a twig like Atticai. I hear you have a fight with him later.”

  “I have a fight with some bartender werewolf guy.”

  “Who is in Goliath’s crew. Even if you get past the bartender, Goliath will be waiting for you. He always is.”

  Josiah nodded. “He’s the huge guy. I saw him. His name is Goliath?”

  “Yep.”

  “Think his parents named him that?”

  “It’s the only name that fits.” I continued my tale. “After your friend, Atticai, was done with me—”

  “Trust me, he’s not my friend.”

  I was relieved to hear that. “Anyway, I had the pleasure of getting my ass kicked again by Goliath.”

  Josiah proceeded to judge the Carni people for how they treated their own. I agreed with him. Then, Josiah took a moment and didn’t say anything. Then, he said, “I’m sorry.”

  I told him he had nothing to be sorry about. In all actuality, Atticai was fighting for Josiah’s honor.

  “I didn’t ask him to,” Josiah said. “He just wanted an excuse to fight. All of this is crazy.” Josiah punched the punching bag with a flurry of punches. He stopped and looked at me. “The Triat used him as a pawn to get me. The more I think about it, it’s pretty fucked up how bad Atticai was mind-fucked by the whole thing. He thought he was the Chosen One and no one corrected him.”

  “Did you kill him?” I asked.

  “I had to. He was trying to kill two people I care deeply about.”

  I nodded my head. “So, you’re the freaking white eagle that’s in all the stories, the legends, the truth. That’s unbelievable.”

  “Is it?” Josiah asked.

  “You have no idea how huge that is. It sure beats a mixed martial arts title.”

  Then, Josiah challenged me for fighting him in a human sport when he was a mortal. I gave him my reasons that I felt were legit.

  “Josiah,” I said. “If you want me to say I’m sorry that I fought MMA, knowing that I had an edge, I will. But I think the Triat gave me the punishment that I deserved. I was pretty much left for dead.”

  “The hospital said you were dead.” Josiah began to get emotional. “Did you die?”

  “I’m not sure what happened. One moment, I was left at the door of the hospital and the next moment, I woke up on the side of a dirt mountain.”

  “So, then what happened when you turned back into a human?” Josiah asked. He had questions he needed answers for.

  I told Josiah what I had been doing the last couple weeks. I assured him the only reason I hadn’t approached him was because I didn’t want to freak the poor guy out. That I was waiting for the right time.

  “I did knock—a couple times—but you didn’t answer. I figured you were dealing with a lot of major shit and I would speak to you when you were ready.” I tried comforting Josiah. “I should have come to you sooner.” Then, I decided to lighten the mood and said, “Show me the white eagle.”

  “Seriously?” Josiah smiled. He thought about for a moment and said, “You better enjoy this, ‘cause this is the only time I’m going to do this just for the hell of it.” Josiah closed his eyes. I took a couple steps backward. I wasn’t sure how big this eagle was.

  All of a sudden, a blast of air entered the room and within a split second, Josiah changed into a glorious white eagle. I stared at him, dumbfounded. This couldn’t be. It seemed like yesterday he was just a boy. Now, look at him. The Chosen One? A white eagle? What the hell had happened to my best friend’s life?

  Then Josiah ran, jumped and flapped his mighty eagle wings around the gym, narrowly missing the ceiling and lights. He flew around the gym several times. Then the glorious bird landed right on top of me, knocking me down.

  I laughed and stood up. The eagle stood inches from me.

  “Holy shit,” I said, and I reached my hand out and petted his feathers. “You’re beautiful, Josiah! You have any idea what this means?”

  The white eagle took a step back and, within a millisecond, Josiah appeared right in front of me. “What does what mean?”

  “It means that you shouldn’t waste your time fighting Carni that you meet in a bar.”

  Josiah stared at me and was confused once more. “How did you know about that anyway?”

  I decided to lie for his own good. “Let’s just say I have been in the shadows.”

  “Seriously? You have been following me?”

  “Someone needed to make sure you didn’t do anything stupid.”

  “Well, you did a great job with that.”

  “You were bound to get challenged by a Carni out of the gate,” I said. “But Goliath? The man has never lost a fight. I guess consider it a rite of passage.”

  “I don’t need a rite of passage. I think defeating Atticai proved that I can take care of myself.”

  He did have a point. Atticai was considered a big deal in the Mani world. But my friend needed to see the bigger picture.

  I explained that Josiah needed to not get into it with anyone from Goliath’s crew for a variety of reasons. The main one was his health. But Josiah had other problems before he was to face Goliath. He was challenged by the owner of the Carni bar. That guy was old school and wouldn
’t mess around. Josiah would have some problems kicking that guy’s ass. He wasn’t exactly a pushover.

  “What time is the fight?” I asked.

  “It’s scheduled for 3:30,” he answered.

  “I’m going to meet up with Yari and we’ll meet up with you before. You don’t want to walk in there alone.”

  “Tommy, you can’t go. You have been banned by them.”

  “I just want to see their faces when I show up alive.”

  “You think that would be safe?” Josiah asked.

  “Who gives a shit about safety? Those assholes left me for dead.” This was my Clint Eastwood moment. I was going to show up in all my glory.

  Josiah stared at me and shook his head slightly. “I’m going to take off and get some fresh air.”

  Josiah transitioned again into his eagle form and flew into the office and out the open window. I still couldn’t believe what the hell I was looking at. It was my best friend flying away in a beautiful white eagle form.

  Chapter Three

  I watched Josiah as he flew out of sight.

  “You really care about him,” a female voice echoed behind me. It was Yari. She had figured out a way to get in. This place wasn’t Fort Knox by a long shot. Sure enough, as I had the thought, two more of Yari’s vampire friends walked up behind her.

  “Are those your spies?” I asked, referring to the two vampire men. Both looked familiar. I was sure they were there the night Atticai had tried to put me six feet under.

  “Nope, this is Hector and Wyatt, two of my best friends in the world. My spies are my poor vampire puppies who long for me so much they do odd jobs for me. These days, it has been hard to follow your friend. He’s a crafty one. Ever since he was given his wings, he’s harder to track down than a family of fleas at a dog show.”

  “Sounds like Josiah. Couldn’t ever stand still.”

  “So, this is your gym?” Yari asked me.

  “One of them. But yeah, it’s the one I most identify with.”

  “What are you going to do? Are you still going to fight professionally?” Yari asked.

  I took a deep breath and then exhaled. “No,” I said. “I’m dead and I’m a werewolf. I’m done with MMA.”

  “So, what about you two?” I said to the other two vampires. “Are you sizing me up, so you can take a snag at my neck when I’m not looking?” A little paranoia never hurt anybody.

  “I haven’t attacked a werewolf in two decades,” one of the vampires said. “And this one here doesn’t prefer to attack any immortals. We both will do it when it is needed. We are more vampire-on-vampire offenders. My name is Wyatt and this quiet lug is Hector.”

  “So, Wyatt and Hector,” I asked, “why are you here?”

  “Are we not welcome?” Hector, the bigger one, finally spoke.

  “Yes,” I said. “I welcome you with open arms. I just need to know who I’m standing next to. No harm in that.”

  “No harm taken,” Wyatt said. “Tommy, we see something in Josiah. All my life, I told myself I would serve whoever the Chosen One turned out to be.”

  “And you believe my friend, Josiah, is the Chosen One to your vampire sect.”

  “I wouldn’t call us a sect, but yes.”

  I nodded my head at the two vampires and then gave my focus back to Yari. “Well, we are all trespassing at the moment. There is an all-night diner across the street. Let’s head over there.”

  “Diners aren’t our thing,” Yari said. “We are more of a bar crowd. But we are hungry and our local blood supplier is near here.”

  My stomach turned. “Blood supplier?” I asked. “Do you have some poor schmuck who just allows you guys to drain them weekly or whatever is the way you folks do it?”

  “You’ve seen too many movies. It’s not like that at all, Tommy.” Yari smiled. “We know someone who works at a blood bank. He pulls out supposed tainted blood labeled for destruction and keeps a stack of blood for us. Hector has his van. Josiah has ridden in it before. The whole thing is very safe. It’s parked across town. He will head over there and come pick us up.”

  It was interesting seeing how vampires juggle flying and having cars. I wished I could fly. If I could, I would never drive a car or motorcycle again.

  We all exited out of the loose door and pushed it closed behind us. Hector and Wyatt transitioned into birds and flew across town to get Hector’s van.

  Yari and I waited for Hector and Wyatt to come back in the gym’s parking lot.

  “Goliath is a big motherfucker. He’s brutal. Josiah can’t take him by himself.”

  “I think he can.” Yari answered me the way Maya used to about her brother’s skills. But this was different. This wasn’t a street fight or even an MMA fight—this was a fight with a beast that had werewolf strength while he was still in his human body. I had never fought someone stronger. Josiah would get killed. It was that simple. We needed to be there. I already died once. So, I had nothing to lose.

  I looked over at Yari. She had a hard time not looking beautiful in any situation. Not the way that Maya was beautiful. Maya was beautiful in a way that radiated from her heart outward. Yari was the opposite. I couldn’t deny her beauty. But as I saw inward to her soul, she let less and less people in, so she was one layer of beauty. Don’t get me wrong. That one layer of beautiful was a knockout redhead.

  Before I knew it, a large black van came squealing into the parking lot. Wyatt was driving the creepy van. He pulled right in front of us and said he heard the fight had already started and we needed to get down there.

  I was coming out of my skin, knowing the fight started sooner than Josiah had told me. He was so stubborn, he had given me the wrong time.

  Yari and I jumped into the back of the van and slammed the door shut. Wyatt barely waited for me to shut the door before peeling out of the gym’s parking lot. The acrid stench of burnt rubber from our tires barely had time to reach my nose. He hung a wide right, nearly driving up over the curb and raced the van down side streets. We avoided the freeway altogether.

  “Put on your seatbelt,” Wyatt said to me over his shoulder. “I think you’ve had enough near-death experiences this month.”

  “What do you mean, near death?” I quipped.

  Then he proved my need to put on my seat belt by flying through a four-way stop sign intersection where we just barely missed slamming into a white Camaro. The guy slammed on his horn, but the sound faded away quickly behind us.

  I sat forward and glanced at the speedometer I was shocked to find Wyatt was going 95 mph. Beside me, Yari was clicking her seat belt. She put her arm across my chest and pulled me back into the seat. I scrambled to lock myself into my own seat belt. Just as I locked myself safely into the seat, Wyatt hung a sharp left. The back of the van fishtailed, but Wyatt straightened it out like a pro. Yari’s head whipped close to mine by the force of the van’s motion.

  I looked into her eyes. “Is he a race car driver or something?” I whispered.

  Yari grinned widely, but it was Hector who answered from the front seat. “Or something.”

  We raced through neighborhoods and past businesses I had never seen before, though I had lived here my entire life. Wyatt was taking some seriously back-back roads. The view outside the windows was a blur, except while Wyatt made sharp turns. Wyatt floored it all the way to the ranch. I was glad he knew where he was going because I sure didn’t.

  Wyatt slammed on the brakes just outside of the ranch. We all jumped out and rushed toward the large gathering of people. Hiding behind trees and massive rocks, we sneaked up just in time to watch Josiah’s white eagle fly up into the night sky. His white wings were illuminated by moonlight. I looked down and Goliath’s men were just standing around, looking shocked. No one moved to follow Josiah.

  “He seems to be okay,” I whispered. “He can fly, so he must be okay, right?” He had lied to me. He’d thought he did it for my own good. What Josiah needed to understand from here on out was that I was dead to the w
orld, and I was the best person to have by his side in all this madness. I had nothing left to lose.

  Chapter Four

  “Yeah, he is fine,” Yari answered. She walked back to the van and we all followed.

  Wyatt shrugged. “Well, while we are up here, let’s drop by and grab some groceries.”

  Hector and Yari nodded.

  “Groceries?” I asked, suddenly feeling nervous. “Are you guys going to go hunt humans for their blood now?” I was down for helping my buddy fight, but I was not going to help these bloodsuckers hunt down humans for a midnight snack.

  My disgust must have shown on my face because Yari laughed and said, “Calm down, wolf-boy. Remember, I told you, I have a connection at the local blood bank. We pay cash for ‘tainted’ blood.” She held up her fingers and made air quotation marks when she said, tainted.

  “So, it isn’t tainted?” I asked, climbing into the back of the van. “I mean, does that kind of thing even matter to you guys?”

  Yari climbed in behind me, “Nope, human diseases don’t affect us. So, my connection sells us the blood that has been tested and has any number of blood-borne diseases.” She pulled out her cell phone and shot a text to someone. Her fingers were a blur on the little buttons.

  Wyatt slammed the door, started the motor and started driving down the darkened road without turning on the lights. “So, we buy the blood rather than it being destroyed. It makes life more convenient and keeps us hidden.”

  “And lines the pockets of certain people,” Yari said, snorting in derision. “It’s a go; he said he will only be there for another half an hour.”

  “It is worth every dime not to be hunting humans on the streets. Especially in this modern world where cameras record everything,” Wyatt said from the front seat.

  “No doubt about that,” Hector said.

  I was relieved that Wyatt was now driving at a much more reasonable speed. Once we were far enough from the ranch, he turned on the van’s headlights.

  “So, you don’t hunt humans at all?” I asked, feeling more than a little skeptical.

  Yari smirked. “Depends on the individual.”