The Willow

by Stacey Kennedy

  Drake turned quickly. A wolf was only mere inches away from his face. He spun back to me with an undeniable expression—fear. I ran forward screaming, trying to get there to help him. He didn’t have time to pull his sword. The wolf was too close to him. He couldn’t defend himself. Then, his eyes went soft, his smile accepting.

  “No!” I cried as I ran faster. We’d only just met. How could I be losing him now? This couldn’t be happening.

  The wolf slammed into him, pushed him straight to the ground. My screams blasted through the city street as my stomach clenched with dread. How could fate bring my father back only to rip him away like this?

  In one quick move, he sank his teeth deep into Drake’s neck and ripped into his throat. Seconds later, I was there—swung my sword with all my might to slice right through the wolf lengthwise. His blood spread through the air soaking me entirely.

  Sinking to my knees, Drake was barely alive. I wrapped my hands around his throat trying to stop the bleeding. His blood was pouring through my fingers. It was coming so rapidly. “Don’t leave me,” I cried as I watched his eyes glaze over. He was gurgling. Tears filled my vision—everything went blurry. “Stay with me,” I begged. “Please don’t leave me too.”

  His blood continued to spill over my hands. I pressed harder into his neck trying to control the bleeding, but it only made the blood come out faster. There was nothing I could do for him. He was going to die. I was losing him.

  In acceptance, I forced the screams away. The last thing he would ever hear shouldn’t be the sound of my cries. He deserved more. Leaning down, I kissed his forehead. My lips quivered against his skin. “I’m so glad that I got to meet you. No matter how short our time together was. I do love you, Drake. I love you so much.”

  His gurgling got softer. His force to stay alive was weakening. Slowly, I raised my head as his eyes blinked twice more, then he was gone. Sitting back on my legs I sobbed a breath. My hands trembled as I looked down at them completely drenched in his blood. “No.” My stomach tightened as I searched for breath—any trace of movement that would confirm this wasn’t true.

  None existed.

  Grief sickened me, clenched every part of me with a pain that was unfathomable. My eyelids fluttered closed in an attempt to regain myself.

  As much as I could have given in, wept until my tears ran dry and my anguish emptied away to exhaustion, this wasn’t the time to mourn him. I needed to fulfill the reason we set out on this mission or Drake’s death would be for nothing.

  With shaky arms, I stood and looked down at his lifeless body—my father’s lifeless body. I grabbed my sword from the ground, raised it, and with a quick slash, he vanished. As did every speck of his blood. No trace of the wolf or Drake remained with me. No evidence that my father existed—nothing that proved he was here.

  After a deep gulp, I sheathed my sword and headed down the street. With each step, my sadness slipped away to pure unadulterated rage. Lazarus had succeeded in taking someone else from my life. It didn’t matter that Lazarus didn’t kill Drake directly—the blood was still on his hands. And how he would suffer for it.

  * * * *

  The street came to a t-junction, 42nd Street and Broadway. Looked as if the bum was right. The subway station was just a block down the street, which happened to look more like a futuristic movie theatre than a subway station.

  “Shit,” I blasted to myself. How was I going to ride the subway with no money? Quickly scanning the sidewalks, a guy in his early twenties was dawdling on his cell phone a block away. Being half-naked, he was probably my best bet.

  Once I reached him, I gingerly leaned up against the wall beside him. “Wanna help a girl out?” I asked, doing my best imitation of sexy.

  His gaze immediately snapped to mine. After a once over he asked, “What kinda help you lookin’ for?”

  Batting my eyelashes, I said, “I need money for the subway and what can I say, I’m flat broke.”

  He gave me a sinful smile after another thorough examination. “Sure. No problem.” He reached into his pocket, taking out a five dollar bill. Then, he reached back in digging for coins. “Where do you need to go?” he asked, handing me the money.

  I scrunched the money into my hand. “Lexington and 110th Street.”

  “Take the 7th Avenue express. Get off at Central Park North and head right. You’ll need to walk a bit, but you’ll hit Lexington and 110th Street.”

  “Thanks,” I said quickly and kissed his cheek. I needed to give him something to show my gratitude. Who knew, this five dollars and fifty cents could possibly save Kyden’s life.

  Running into the terminal, I hit my first obstacle. Having never ridden the subway in my life I had no clue what to do. But after a quick glance, everyone was using the machines—common sense told me to do the same.

  “Get a grip,” I said to myself and forced my hands to stop shaking as I placed the money into the machine. When the MetroCard popped out, I grabbed it and rushed past the hoards of people. For Christ’s sake, does no one sleep in this city?

  The turnstiles were just up ahead. After slamming it through the slot, it popped back up just as I pushed through. Blessedly, the 7th Avenue Express train was waiting in the terminal when I barreled through. Sliding past the door as it closed I plopped down in the first open seat available, dropped my head back and sighed deeply.

  Suddenly, the sense that someone was watching me tickled on my skin. I raised my head to find a little old lady staring at me intently. Great! Just what I need.

  Trying to avoid eye contact with her, I looked above her head to read the stupid advertisements there, but she was so fixed on me I couldn’t help refusing her gaze.

  Once she caught my attention, her gaze moved from the top of my head to the bottom of my shoes. Clearly disapproving of my clothing, she leaned forward slightly. “You know dear, wearing clothing like that will only get you trouble.”

  I laughed loudly. “You’ve got that right.” If she only knew what kind of trouble came along with this clothing she’d probably keel over dead.

  She shook her head at me and went back to reading her book. What’s a granny doing out so late anyway? Must be a midnight bingo outing.

  “Can you tell me how far it is till we hit Central Park North?” I asked the guy next to me.

  “Next stop,” he told my breasts.

  Disregarding him completely, I glanced at the floor, keeping my focus.

  The subway stopped and the doors opened. Jetting out, I ran right, pushing past person after person swearing obscenities at me. Never did I stop running. Not even when my legs burned from exertion and my lungs cried out in agony.

  Many minutes later, I made it, 110th Street and Lexington. Circling around a few times, panting, I scanned the area. A convenience store completely littered with flyers sat in front of me with a Mexican bakery next to it.

  No warehouse.

  Spinning around, I ran in the other direction. I crossed over Lexington Avenue and hit a Deli. I glanced around quickly. Nothing. There was no warehouse here.

  Pressing forward, I passed the United States Post Office. The damn thing never seemed to end. It wasn’t until I reached the back parking lot did the warehouse appear—tucked back into the right side hidden from the busy street.

  “Found it,” I whispered, crouching down beside a parked car to examine the warehouse.

  The two men—wolves—sitting on milk crates made it pretty clear I’d discovered Lazarus’ location. My only hope was that once Valor and Briggs discovered the house was empty they’d come here quickly. Help would be good right about now.

  Shutting my eyes a moment, I drew in a deep breath. Doubtful that I was going to get us out of this alive, but just as Kyden said, I was sure as hell going to try. After a long exhale, I sucked the air back in, jumped to my feet and approached the men. I raised my hands up, calling them forward. “Come on, boys.”

  Both men looked at each othe
r, then back at me. “It is you,” one of them stated.

  “You know, I’m getting really sick of hearing that.”

  They immediately shifted and sprung forward. When the first wolf reached me, I plowed my thumbs deep into his eyes. He immediately dropped to the ground and howled loudly. Self Defense 101.

  The second wolf came at me with teeth snarling and spit flying. Just before he reached me, he shifted back and threw himself forward. We went soaring across the parking lot to land hard on my back. He immediately threw a punch, but I blocked his move and slammed my fist into his gut followed up by a hard knee to his groin.

  “F—fuck,” he exhaled as he instantly fell off me to seize the goods.

  Men—they’d always be at such a disadvantage.

  Immediately, I grabbed my sword and slammed it deep into his heart. With a quick twist, it was onto doggy heaven for this wolf. I twirled around to find the other wolf still howling as he rubbed his paws gently over his bleeding eyes.

  “You’ve been a very bad doggy,” I told him. After a deep plunge, I withdrew my sword and started toward the warehouse.

  As I opened the door, it creaked loudly. There was a long dark hallway ahead of me and it smelled horribly of mold and feces. I wrinkled my nose and returned my sword to my back. “Why does everything have to be so stinky?” I grumbled and took a few steps in as rats scattered in the hallway.

  Halfway down the hall was when suddenly I wasn’t alone. A ridiculously large man with a crow bar in his hands stood at the end of the hall. No need to take wolf form—this guy figured I was an easy takedown. He ran at me yelling like some beast out of the Amazon. I laughed a little, I couldn’t help it. “What’s this, the WWF?”

  When he tried to swing the bar at my head, I slipped under his arm and positioned myself behind him. Kyden was right. Letting someone get behind you does leave you vulnerable. Quickly drawing my sword, I shoved it straight through his back. He went down with a heavy thud. This was no pretend wrestling. He was dead as a doornail.

  Yanking my sword from his back I continued forward. A flickering light came at the end of the hallway and the closer I got the more it glowed.

  When I entered the room it explained why. At least a hundred candles sat along the windowsills, ceiling beams and floor. But light only filled half the room and I suspected something was hidden in that darkness. Not a very settling thought.

  My shoes slipped a little as I stepped in. When I looked down, blood soaked the floor. So much blood in fact my stomach heaved as I watched it fill the crevasses of the cement.

  A soft whimper drew my head back and my gaze shot across the room. Stepping forward, I approached the sound. A figure was hanging against the wall. My heart sank.

  Kyden.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Slowly, I made my way toward him. The farther I got the worse Kyden’s condition became. Sinking to my knees, I sobbed, not even wanting to touch him. I didn’t want to cause him more pain. Chained to the wall, beaten so badly it was a shock he was still alive. There were two large gashes in his stomach and hundreds of little cuts spread over his body. His skin wasn’t his normal bronze color. Dark red soaked his skin from his own blood.

  “Dear God,” I exhaled.

  He lifted his face. He couldn’t open his eyes. They were completely swollen shut. His face almost unrecognizable. “N…e…xi.”

  “Yes. Oh God, Kyden. Yes, I’m here.” Hesitantly, I reached out and rubbed a toe. The only place on him that didn’t looked injured.

  Suddenly, a deep chuckle came beside me. My head snapped to the left to see the dark smooth vampire that was Lazarus step out of the shadows.

  “Well, this is convenient.” His voice high with amusement. “I was going to draw you out, but look, here you are.”

  Hate and rage consumed me. I began to shake, my nerves raw over everything he’d taken from me. Everyone I loved—gone. For what! For his selfish need for control, his sick obsession for power. Anger burned deep inside me as I stood just as he began to approach me. “You have taken more from me than my mind is even capable of dealing with. Of course I would come,” I snarled and backed away from Kyden.

  Lazarus slithered by and kicked Kyden as he passed. “I was planning on making Talon an offer he couldn’t refuse. Now, it looks as if that is no longer needed.”

  “Don’t fucking touch him.”

  He grinned wickedly. “You going to do something about it?”

  “Damn right,” I burst out, quickly closed the distance between us. With as much strength as I could muster, I landed a right hook to his jaw. His head whipped to the side quickly. Being a vampire, he recovered instantly and reciprocated with a blow to my shoulder that sent me flying across the room. I crashed against the wall. “What are you after?”

  “What I’ve been after all along. The Otherworld is being led by those who wish for us to kneel at the feet of humans. To stay hidden from them. It is time for that to end. It is time for us to rule.”

  “You’ll never get it. The council will never allow it,” I snapped. “You didn’t succeed before and they will stop you again.”

  “Well, my beauty, that was then, this is now. With what your blood will give me they will be left with little choice than to comply with my demands.”

  I let out a sharp laugh, releasing my inner bitch. “Prepare yourself. I’m about to disappoint you.” He gave me a long examining look. My smile turned wicked. “You didn’t wait long enough. I haven’t discovered my magic yet.”

  One second, he was a few feet away and the next, his hand was wrapped around my neck. “Are you lying to me?”

  “No.” The world started to fade around me—blackness swept across my vision.

  Then, I fell to the ground. My body throbbed from the force of it. I struggled to my feet only to have him grab my throat again and lift me inches off the ground. He was furious. “How do you not have your magic? You are a witch.”

  “I don’t know why. I just don’t.”

  Suddenly, he whipped me across the room. I smashed against the wall feeling blood pour from the back of my head. With every breath I took pain shattered my lungs. It concentrated in one spot and then blasted up my body. I’d broken a rib. Quickly, I ignored the pain. He wouldn’t get the satisfaction that I was hurt. I started to rise to my feet again and breathed shallowly so the pain didn’t hinder me.

  Abruptly, Lazarus was there grabbing my arm. “This is quite the dilemma, isn’t it? Your mother was much easier to kill. She was useless against me in using all her power to send you away. Stupid move if you ask me.”

  “It’s because you don’t know love. You wouldn’t know what it’s like to care for anything or anyone but yourself. You’re not capable of understanding such a thing.”

  “Of course I’m not. I am a vampire.”

  “No, you’re an asshole.”

  He winked, amusement lit his dark evil eyes. “Some might see it that way.”

  “What’s your plan now?” I spat. “Looks like you’re fucked to me.”

  He flew us against the wall and pulled me tight against his body. I gasped aloud as my rib screamed out in pain. He ran his hands along the side of my face. “I will have to keep you until this power comes out then, won’t I?”

  The pain in my chest was sucked away instantly when he began grinding his erection against me. I met his desire-filled gaze and in a flash, a wave of sickness washed over me. He ran his gaze over my face, then, licked up the side of my cheek. “You will be useful to me in more ways than—”

  He didn’t get the chance to finish that statement since my head hit him square in the nose. Hell would freeze over before I’d let him come anywhere near my body.

  He groaned with annoyance and grabbed me by the hair to drag me over to Kyden. “You will pay for that. You will learn quickly. If you do not behave I will make you suffer greatly.” He slammed me to the ground, turned his attention to Kyden. “You are no longer needed
and I am hungry.” He twisted Kyden’s head, and sank his fangs deep into Kyden’s neck causing him to groan out in pain.

  My eyes widened as he devoured big gulps of blood. In an instant, I went ballistic and lunged straight for him. I slammed into him with such strength that it forced him to detach from Kyden’s neck.

  Lazarus met my gaze with blazing eyes. “You interrupted my meal.” Suddenly, he was there with a punch to the side of my head, which sent me flying backwards.

  Lord, I was in serious trouble. His strength plus his speed outdid me. He could pulverize me in two seconds flat. Tyrianna’s blood didn’t only give him the ability to vanish it also made him stronger.