by Unknown
“What happened to you?” It was a complete shock to see the man I had spent two years working with every day turn from cat to human like that.
Of course he looked on at me with the same shock as he had never seen me as a Vampire before. Though the pain still overwhelmed all other emotions.
“Neesa’s behn taken because of you!” He snarled, a low growl rumbled from his lips more feral than anything I had ever heard before. His shoulders tensed and hunched forward unnaturally. Feral like fangs had yet to shrink back completely. They were twice as long as my own still. That was why he was so difficult to understand.
In the same instant Damien, Phoenix and Hendrick all stood in front of me. Each one ready to rip him to shreds at the first sign of a real threat.
Horrified by what had happened to my friends, I staggered back. Lara and Jezabell came up behind me cautiously. They remained quiet but listened intently. Lara stood by my side. Her hand on my arm in concern.
“Tell me what happened, Ryce,” I begged helplessly from behind my wall of overzealous protectors.
“She saw eh vision of her mot’er being attacked. She begged me to go wit her. I wasn’t fast enuff.” His hands came up to his head, gripping his skull desperately. This was a man that had been terrorized by the pain of loss. It was the same understood emotion that made Damien and Phoenix so ready to protect me.
“Dhey were dead. Her mot’er and fat’ar both. I’d neva seen suh mhuch blood. I drug Neesa owtside to get her away, but it whas tu late. They were dere waitien fo us. I hadn’ even seen dhem before dhey attacked. Dhey took her!” He collapsed back to his knees. With his head in his hands he sobbed openly.
I pushed through Phoenix and Damien to get to Ryce. Carefully my hands placed to his battered shoulders. I was afraid to touch him for the extent of his wounds. I should have been afraid for a whole other reason. As soon as I touched him, Ryce’s hands shot up and threw me back, leaving deep claw marks across my stomach. The second I got close enough, he had begun changing that quickly.
I crashed into the ground with more force than expected. Hendrick tackled Ryce as he screamed repeatedly, “It’s yow fault! If yu would ‘ave stayed away from her she woulda bein safe! It’s yow fault! Yew faucking Vampires!”
They struggled on the ground, but Ryce was too battered to fight well. Phoenix was standing over me, pulling me to my feet just as Damien joined him. With a low snarl and a glare meant for Phoenix, Damien placed himself between Ryce and me once more.
“We have to help him, Damien. He’s right. This is our fault. I can’t let her suffer because of me.” My feet staggered slightly as I tried to push past Phoenix futilely. Wrapping his arms around my torso he locked me in place. He was extra careful of the deep gashes that had shredded my shirt as well as my flesh. I didn’t notice nor care about the pain. “Damien!”
Damien nodded at Phoenix for him to keep me there. Phoenix spoke low so that only Damien and I would be close enough to hear, “He’s too dangerous. We read his thoughts. He’ll kill you if we give him the chance. He’s certain she’ll die and he’s here for vengeance. Not help. He’ll gladly die if it means you die, too.”
“Hendrick has him now. Can he kill me if Hendrick’s holding him down?” I fought against Phoenix but he was unmovable. “Let me go!”
Phoenix rumbled in my ear, “I’m afraid I can’t do that, cupcake.”
Damien turned to me before looking back to Ryce, who still struggled even against his odds.
Hendrick maneuvered Ryce to be in front of him, holding his arms behind his back in a way that looked absolutely painful. Finally rolling him until Ryce was face down in the grass.
Hendrick held his arms still and placed a knee in the center of his back. “What should we do with him, Damien?” Hendrick yelled, jerking his arm back every time he struggled. “Quit fighting or I’ll break your arm!” He grunted as Ryce squirmed.
“Phoenix, please! She was my best friend. She was helping Damien, and that’s why this happened. I have to speak to him. I have to make this right. You know that I do.”
Damien looked back and forth between Hendrick, Ryce, Phoenix and me. Uncertainty in his eyes. Phoenix loosened his hold. “I’m going with you then. You will stay behind me, and you will do as I say.” He released me after I nodded to his conditions and placed his unmovable hand around my arm, walking past Damien with me to stand closer to Hendrick and Ryce.
As I looked to Ryce, tears ran down his face. He was sobbing like a child and had completely given up on the fight with Hendrick. “She loved yu, and now she’hll dai because of yu. And tha’s only if she’s lucky!”
Damien came to stand on my other side. Phoenix never released me, holding me so I was half way behind him.
“Ryce, listen to me. I know it was our fault. But you’ll have to agree to stop trying to kill me if you want to get up any time soon. Will you talk to me peacefully? Please? Let us help bring her back to you.”
Shoulders slumped, he nodded weakly. “Let him up, Hendrick.” Ignoring me, Hendrick looked to Damien and then Phoenix who both nodded together.
Hendrick first removed the knee from his back. Holding his hands as if he were arresting Ryce, he kept them locked in one grip. His other held Ryce’s arm to pull him up from the dirt. “Hendrick! Let him go!” I growled, pressing to push past Phoenix though he wouldn’t let me.
Hendrick eyed Phoenix and Damien who stood still as statues. Reluctantly he released Ryce’s hands.
Ryce snarled low, rubbing one shoulder that had a large piece of flesh and muscle missing as if something had bitten it off. There was more truth to that than I wanted to admit. Something had.
Shuddering involuntarily, Phoenix pulled me closer to him, though not forcefully. I got this strange feeling he had wanted to sooth me somehow. Strangely knowing that, it did.
“All right, Ryce, I think you know now that any act of aggression here is not going to be a smart one. Did they say anything that would help us find her?” We all knew who it was already. This was Nekayla’s way of dealing with things.
Not only could she not share. When she was done with something she’d rather kill it than anyone else get a chance to take it.
Ryce shook his head in grief. “If I woulda ‘ad any inklin of ‘ow to find her, I would ‘ave gone after her mahself. But I knew she whas helping yew. An I knew da Vampias took her.
“Not full Vampias. They were Crossbreeds. It just made sense if eh Vampire asked her for help, an anoter one attacked her dhen mah answe’ would lai wit da filty blood sucka dhat had pushed dheir problems inta her life in da first place.” Hendrick snarled in a low menacing warning. Ryce didn’t care. His lips curled back from his now human teeth. It still carried the same threat. My stomach still burned, and drizzled from the last time he’d instantly shifted.
Sighing, I looked down. My gaze was pulled to the intricate blue ink marking Phoenix’s back and arms down to his elbows. As fresh as it looked, it seemed ancient as well. I’d never asked him about them before. Weird time to note such a thing probably. But in my defense he was still standing in front of me.
Finally I looked to Damien for help. His eyes went past me to Ryce, and then back to me. Though he didn’t miss a beat in sending Phoenix a glare of disdain in the process.
It was clear to me no one else knew what to do. This was my mess ultimately. It wasn’t just Damien’s fault. I drug Neesa into this crap long before I had turned. Time to clean it all up. I shook my head, shaking out the feeling of panic and took in a deep breath.
It took a few moments of absorbing the chaos before the strangest feeling stirred inside of me. It was like a switch inside of me just finally flipped, turning off the raging emotions and chaotic thoughts. It’s okay Phoenix you can let go of my arm now. I never said it out loud, but instantly he released me.
Damien tensed. Not now, Damien, I don’t have time for this. His eyes went wide. What? Just because I can’t hear you doesn’t mean you both can’t hear me just fin
e. I may as well use it to my advantage if you’re going to be in my head anyway. We used to do it all the time, remember?
Phoenix smirked as he stepped back by my side rather than in front of me now.
“Hendrick, Lara, Jezabell. Get Ryce inside. Get him cleaned up and see what you can do about the injuries. If nothing else, send Jezabell for some medical supplies. And get the man some clothes.” Uhg I could seriously go without seeing my old friend in the nude ever again. As a human I’d been attracted to him, I was only human after all. Now, something seemed almost repulsive to me about him physically.
“Damien, Phoenix. Come with me. Don’t worry, Ryce. We’ll get her back if it kills me.”
Again. Hardee har har.
To my surprise they all instantly responded to my instruction. Knowing they had nothing for his injuries, Jezabell went straight to the garage and went about retrieving her pearl white Ferrari.
Hendrick and Lara escorted Ryce inside. It was a slow effort for a horrible limp on his right side. “Blood doesn’t heal Shifters like it does us, does it?”
Phoenix shook his head. “No, they heal quickly. But they heal much more like humans do.” I sighed, that was sad to hear. He didn’t deserve any of this. Neither did Neesa. “We were to follow you?” Phoenix questioned with a raised brow.
“Yes.” I turned away from watching the others and quickly moved into the woods. Damien and Phoenix both followed quietly. We stopped deep in the woods, plenty far away from the others. I needed to feel the distance between us.
“You’re both fighters. I’ve seen that.” I didn’t need to say how. “What can we do?” I turned to them. Arms folded against my chest tightly. Of course I wasn’t cold. I was determined.
Damien spoke first, “We can’t let them pull innocent people into this any further. We need to bring them down. The sooner the better in my opinion. However it will be dangerous. We don’t want the fight to come here so we need to bring it to them.”
Just like that I knew what we needed to do. “Then we’ll go back to Vermont. Your house in Vermont to be more precise. They’ll think Jezie asked us to leave to take the fight away from them. They tried to use me as bait then. Well now you can use me as bait instead. This time we’ll be ready, and they won’t get away.” I shrugged as if it made perfect sense.
Damien’s eyes narrowed. “Nekayla could be there. That’s not a good idea I don’t want you anywhere near her.”
Phoenix shook his head. “No. She won’t. She doesn’t deal with the confrontations like this. She even said she would send her people. As I blacked out, Nekayla yelled for Demetrius. He’s in charge of things for her now that Liahm is dead.”
It all sounded so perfectly clear to me. This was what to do. He knew that house. He knew it was Damien’s. It was a safe place to take this. It was safe away from here and everyone else.
“I don’t like it,” Damien grumbled.
Men are so frustrating! “It will work, Damien, I know it. I will go first. I’ll run. I’ll go back to the house on foot, leave a good trail for him. You can follow me in the baby hummer.” The Rubicon’s nickname. “It will work.”
Damien grumbled, staring at me like I was covered in worms or something. “When did you get so hungry to fight?” His eyes flickered back to Phoenix, narrowing accusatorily again.
“She’s right. It’s logical,” Phoenix said quietly as he looked to me with slight smirk. He seemed almost proud. Phoenix had trained me with many different types of combat. “I think it’s our best chance to obtain the outcome we want. We already know he’s been back to that house at least four times since you both left. It’s likely he’ll follow her. Or someone will for him.”
“I don’t like the idea of you being alone,” Damien finally said. Not completely arguing.
“I know you want to protect me but isn’t Demetrius dead the best way to do that? This will work. You have to trust me. I can handle myself pretty well. Don’t you think so, Phoenix?” My eyes turned to Phoenix almost desperately. Damien’s glare followed mine. His jaw dropped, but before Phoenix said anything he rethought it, stiffening his lips to a straight line. He finally nodded. “Good. Then it’s agreed.”
Phoenix nodded in agreement. Damien stood unmoving. “Fair enough. Let’s map out a plan then.” Phoenix was getting geared up now. “Do you think they’ll have the girl with them?”
Damien nodded. “Yes, I’m sure they will. Wouldn’t it make sense? She’s a perfect distraction, and I’m sure that’s why they kept her instead of killing her immediately.” It felt wrong to discuss Neesa like that.
“Sooner the better then. Tonight perhaps?” Phoenix’s brow rose as he looked to Damien for confirmation. “Would the others go for it that soon?”
“Hendrick will. Ryce of course, too. He will want to go even if he’s walking dead. Lara and Jez? Well, they’re not really necessary.” Damien sighed.
I’d have felt positively excited if I hadn’t felt so funny. Phoenix glanced at me, his brow furrowing. “I have to feed first.” I looked down, my hand rubbing the back of my neck uncomfortably.
“You just got back though.” Damien’s eyes narrowed as the realization hit, and he turned to Phoenix with a snarl. “How much blood did you take from her?” Damien was standing in Phoenix’s face now.
The feeling of vertigo hit again. I stumbled back but they didn’t notice. Eyes blurring, I blinked a few times to clear my vision. Distantly I heard Phoenix argue his defense as my world came crashing down on me.
As my chest tightened it felt as if I was being sucked down. It was happening again. Head pounding violently, my ears seemed to scream with a strange ringing noise. Phoenix pushed past Damien and grabbed at my arm as I lost consciousness and collapsed.
There was nothing but blackness. As if I truly had been sucked into a black hole. I heard screaming, agonized screaming and the sounds of fighting. Not normal fighting. The fighting of vicious animals trying to rip each other to shreds.
Their teeth clashed against one another. Flesh ripped and the sounds of boulders crashing into each other was horrifying. The screaming never stopped. It was coming from Neesa.
In a haze I saw it all. Mangy blood covered Vampires with fangs longer than their mouths could hold. They were attacking a massive black panther. He was twice the size of a normal panther. Ryce.
A beast of a man with midnight flesh stood over Neesa as she lay on the ground. I recognized him at once with his scale like flesh, his gleaming black fangs and blood red eyes.
Demetrius was attacking Neesa. She couldn’t fight back physically, all she had was magic. She threw everything she could at him but it wasn’t enough.
He quickly knocked her unconscious and in one swift move threw her over his shoulder, carrying her to a large black vehicle hidden in the trees surrounding her mother’s house.
I could still hear the fight going on. Hissing from the large panther as it was being ripped apart. And then all at once it ended. The panther lay unmoving.
Demetrius climbed into the back of the vehicle with Neesa. A driver that I couldn’t see clearly started the engine as three more bloody men jumped into the passenger doors as they took off.
As if I were a ghost, I watched from above. Watching but unable to react in any way. Neesa was gravely injured, but I could see her still breathing. No one spoke that I could hear.
They drove for a long time before slowing down, pulling into a large darkened warehouse. The doors opened and lights began to flip on inside the warehouse.
As Demetrius climbed out I realized he had morphed out of the familiar monster I knew him to be. Instead he stood as a man. His skin was still dark as midnight.
A ragged looking burly man handed him a cell phone before pulling Neesa out and letting her drop to the concrete floor with a thud.
Demetrius held the phone to his ear and listened. Amazingly I could hear it all. “Remember, no one touches the girl. I need her alive. Soon they will be bringing you another one. That one is
just bait. You can have her when it’s over. Use these gifts wisely, Demetrius. Keep your men on watch. They’ll make a move soon.”
Demetrius grunted wordlessly. “I want someone watching their property at all times. If any of them leave, follow them. Make sure this is done thoroughly, Demetrius. I want them dead.” Each word was over enunciated. I. Want. Them. Dead.
“Bring Phoenix, D’Tera and the New Blood to me. The rest are yours for the slaughter. Enjoy it my pet.” Demetrius grunted a wordless agreement again as the phone disconnected.
Just then another car pulled into the garage. Demetrius just watched. The black car came to a stop in front of him. A man in a torn up business suit stepped out and went to the truck, unlocking it with a key.
Another man came to join Demetrius. I could tell immediately he was a full blooded Vampire. Demetrius yelled for him, “Roman. You’ve got the girl?”
A sickening grin spread his lips as he nodded. “Yeah, I got the little bitch.” Walking around to the trunk as it opened, he pulled a girl out of the trunk and tossed her over his shoulder.
Carrying her over to where Neesa lay unconscious he dropped the limp one down next to her. As her head hit the concrete it made a sickening thud. It was Melody.
All other sounds faded out and her voice overwhelmed me. Neesa was begging me, “Anna. You have to help me, Lianna. They’ll turn me soon. I can’t be one of them. Please help me. You’re the only one that can.”
The image was fading as I was heaving, sliding into blackness. As it was fading I realized I was screaming. Loud, ear bleeding screams painfully ripped from my throat. Surrounded by total blackness, my eyes were burning and too blurred for me to see.
My mind felt like it was clouded. It was a strange sensation. Not unlike a time I experienced excruciation first hand.
Ice cold hands held against my face firmly. “Anna, look at me, Anna. Focus. Listen to me. Come on, wake up and look at me. Come back to me, Anna,” the voice kept repeating. It kept calling to me. It sounded so far away.