by Kristie Cook
"Stop!" I bellowed over the ruckus as I drew out my weapon.
To my amazement, everyone actually stopped. And stared at me. My eyes scanned the crowd. Wolves panted, but otherwise remained still. Vampires looked as though they'd turned to stone, their red eyes watching me.
"It's me you want, right? Us? Leave them out of this!"
"Damn it, Alexis," Tristan muttered after he and Owen popped in right next to me.
"I stopped them," I whispered.
"Fine! Have it your way," one of the vamps yelled, and they slowly closed in on us.
"They're not exactly stopped," Owen said. He, Tristan and I stood shoulder-to-shoulder, facing the vampires encircling us. Owen held his hands out, ready to fight with magic. Tristan, always strategic, seemed to just stand there, but I knew he was calculating, planning his attack and how he would defend both of us at the same time.
"Well … at least they're distracted," I said.
"Use your mind," Tristan told me as the vamps came closer.
Of course. I made the thought sound confident for his benefit, but I didn't feel it. I didn't know if I could use my one major advantage in this large group of people. Especially without alerting anyone I even had the power.
"Let's do this," Tristan growled, and faster than a blur, he'd pulled a razor-sharp disc from his belt and sent it flying at a random bloodsucker, severing its ear before even the vampires could react.
That did it. The vamps put on their speed and charged us. Tristan hit the closest ones with his power, and they dropped to the ground. He continued hitting more, and Owen and I helped with our own powers until they swarmed on top of us, and it became mano-a-mano. Well, sort of. They vastly outnumbered us.
I swung my dagger in an arc at the two leeches rushing at me, and they jumped out of reach, afraid of the silver. They separated enough to take me from both sides. I used my left hand to shoot lightning at the male vamp and used my right to wield the knife at the female. She dodged my swipes, and he tried to out-move me, but the electric current zapped him until his skin turned purple and smoke rose. He disappeared with a pop.
The female, with black hair that made her skin look whiter than white, moved fast–faster than the human eye could see–but so did I. Just one-on-one, I could focus on her mind and knew her plan before she charged me. I jumped out of her way and swung my dagger in a perfect, smooth move that sliced across her stomach. The slash wasn't deep–not deep enough to kill her–but she screeched with pain from the enchanted metal.
"You bitch," she shrieked, flying at me again.
I jumped and cartwheeled in the air, getting another swipe across her back before I landed on my feet. Another male blurred toward my left as the female, weaker now, charged me again. Remembering everything Charlotte and Tristan taught me, I did a roundhouse on the woman, kicking her in the jaw and sending her backwards several yards. At the same time, I jabbed my dagger at the male, and it sunk three inches into his ribs. Hearing his thought about flashing, I jerked it out before he disappeared with it still in him. The female took advantage of this moment and jumped on my back. Her height and my lack of it made her feet drag, bringing us down. My dagger flew out of my hand and skidded across the ground, out of reach, as I sprawled on my stomach, the vampire on top of me.
I wiggled under her, trying to reach for my other knife on my left side. She pinned my hips down with her full weight. Her hand pushed between my shoulder blades, pressing me into the ground with all of her vampire strength. Then she grabbed my hair and yanked my head backwards so hard, I was surprised my neck didn't snap. Tristan and Owen both caught sight of my struggle, but neither could do anything, occupied with their own fights. I writhed again, but it was no use. The vampire weighed me down like a boulder on a sheet of paper.
"Vanessa and Lucas will be pissed," she said, her voice hoarse and gravelly, "but … oh, well. Your blood in my veins will be worth it."
She leaned down for my throat. I reached back, grabbed her thigh with my right hand, and forced my Amadis power into her. She wailed a toe-curling scream. I gathered the power in my body and, as I had once done with Tristan, I pushed the bubble outward. She exploded off of me. I rolled, grabbed my back-up knife and sprang to my feet in time to see a silver werewolf jump at the vamp flying in the air. He knocked her to the ground and tore into her limbs. His actions signaled the other wolves to rejoin the fight.
Tristan, Owen and I had already taken out several of the Daemoni, evening our numbers. I fought with just the knife until Owen finally had a chance to toss my dagger to me. No one could beat me one-on-one. A weapon in each hand, I read my enemies' minds and danced out of their way, taking my own swipes as I spun, twirled and flipped around them. My silver blades dug mercilessly into their skin until they could stand no more and disappeared. As soon as Tristan had the chance, he swung his arm around and hit the remaining vamps with his power. They all disappeared with a resonance of pops.
Tristan and Owen instantly stood by my side, and we quickly assessed each other for injuries. Owen had a cut over his eyebrow, but that was all.
"Let's get out of here," Tristan said, taking my hand. We headed for the bikes.
"Wait," snarled the pack leader from behind us, his voice not quite human.
We turned and waited for him to finish transforming. Avoiding his nakedness, I averted my eyes, but all the wolves were shifting, as well. So I stared at the ground.
"Come with me," he said, and he started for his RV.
We hesitated and then, without a word, followed the pack leader.
"The name's Trevor," he said once we were inside. He went into the back room and came out with fresh clothes on. "I do have somethin' for ya."
Tristan crossed his arms over his chest.
"'I don't know nothin'," Owen quoted, his voice perfectly mocking Trevor's. The Were narrowed his eyes at Owen for a moment, but then he looked at me, and they softened.
"I was ordered not to talk to ya," Trevor said. "Told we couldn't trust ya for nothin'. Didn't know what was goin' on, but like I said, I don't want to get in the middle of your poly-tics. But when Ms. Alexis here came out to protect us, willin' to give her life for us, I knew they was wrong. You can be trusted."
"So you do know something?" I asked. "About a little girl?"
"I got a message just yesterday, from another Were. He's ain't a wolf, but not from 'round here neither, and I was closest. Location-wise, you know? He said you was lookin' for a girl, and he thinks he found her. He wanted me to get the message to ya." He knelt on a knee in front of me and dropped his head. "I'm sorry I didn't trust ya, Ms. Alexis."
I barely heard the apology as I tried to squelch the excitement pulsing like lightning through my veins. How did we know he was telling the truth? Or that this other Were was?
"Who is it?" Tristan demanded, also skeptical. "How do you know you can trust this stranger?"
"I got curious and sent a couple of my wolves out. He's aw-right. Amadis, for sure."
"And you said he's close?"
"In the Everglades. I'd go with ya, even bring some of my pack after what ya just did, but I don't need no shit from no one."
"We understand," I said. "Can you tell us where, exactly, in the Everglades?"
I latched onto his thoughts and saw the location in his mind.
He pulled a paper towel off the roll sitting on the counter that separated the living room and little kitchen, and fished a pen out of a drawer. "I'll draw ya a map."
I almost stopped him, saying we'd figure it out ourselves because I didn't want to delay one second longer. But then I realized it could be a test–if the map he drew was the same as what I saw in his mind, we could trust him and his story. We took his map, and once again headed for the bikes. We didn't need to bring them anymore trouble.
"He's telling the truth," I said, keeping my voice low as Tristan and Owen mounted the motorcycles. "We're going right away, right? Now?"
Tristan shook his head. "We need to go home
first."
"What? Why?"
"Many reasons, which I'll tell you later. Right now, we need to get out of here." He fired up the loud engine, then stood so I could get on.
I stuffed the map into my pocket, swiped my dagger's hilt to make it disappear and swung myself onto the bike. Owen cloaked and shielded us before we took off into the darkening evening. By the time we whipped onto I-75, full night had come on, and the highway was much less crowded than it had been earlier. I didn't feel the fear at all now, so my mind kept drifting, wanting to search for the girl right away, and Owen had to keep mentally yelling at me to stay focused so he could see through my thoughts.
"Why couldn't we go right away?" I asked Tristan as soon as we stood in our own garage. After removing our cloaks, Owen had gone on home. "We were halfway there already."
"Because we don't know what we're going up against," he said. "If it's Amadis, they must have had help over the years, so it's probably more than one person, and we have to be careful how we handle it. If it is, by chance, Daemoni, then you're looking at a battle much bigger than what we just finished. I need a chance to regroup and make a plan."
I crossed my arms and stared at him. He stared back at me.
"Are you making a plan?" I asked impatiently.
The corners of his mouth twitched and eventually tugged up into a smile.
"You've certainly become all full of yourself today." He pulled me into his embrace and held me tightly against him. "Please give me a moment to feel you safely in my arms before we throw ourselves into the pits again."
I wrapped my arms around his waist and leaned my head against his chest. "I suppose we can spare a moment."
"How about a night?"
"The whole night?"
"You really don't want to be out there in the middle of the night."
I snorted. "After what we just went through, you think I'm afraid of the dark?"
"Not the dark. The swamps. The homes of gators, anacondas …"
"As in big snakes?"
"As in ginormous snakes."
I shuddered, but said, "I can handle it."
He heard the hesitation in my voice and knew he almost had me convinced. "A few hours sleep will give our bodies time to completely heal, and Owen especially needs it."
Ugh. He knew how to get to me.
"Okay, fine. We leave first thing in the morning."
"Perfect." He took my hand and we headed into the house. To find Dorian in bed and Mom and Charlotte at the kitchen table. And they weren't alone.
Chapter 19
Wearing a charcoal gray pants suit and her dark hair pulled into a twist at the nape of her neck, Julia looked almost like a Norman visiting friends during a business trip. But the vampire's only business here would be to take Tristan. My hackles rose. I stepped in front of Tristan.
"What the hell are you doing in my house?" I demanded, though I already knew the answer.
"Rina was worried. I told her I'd check on you and Sophia," Julia answered smoothly.
"And we're supposed to believe that? Believe you?"
"Alexis!" Mom thought. "Calm down. She's not here for Tristan. Rina seems to think we need a babysitter."
She followed you? I asked. Mom barely moved her head in a nod.
"That's my official business," Julia said. "But while I'm here, it's only prudent of me to tell you that your actions are making your situation worse."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Tristan asked.
"Today's events mean nothing to you? The Amadis who fought for you–their lives mean nothing?" So she had already received word of the battle at the Were encampment.
"Of course they do! And if you knew as much as you think you do, you'd know that we protected them," I seethed through clenched teeth.
"Which is no better. You risk their lives by going there in the first place. Then you risk your own–their only hope for a future–because of the danger you brought down on them. Either way you look at it, your actions can't be trusted."
"Well, our actions," I said, "led us to what we're looking for. A girl who everyone says doesn't exist. Don't talk to me about trust!"
Mom, Charlotte and Julia stared at us for a long moment. Then the questions started flying, and Tristan and I shared what little information we gleaned, before discussing our plans for tomorrow. I absolutely insisted on going, and everyone except Tristan protested, but I shut them down by pointing out what I had done today. Mom couldn't risk going, and Char was sworn to protect her. They would stay with Dorian. So it came down to only Tristan, Owen and me again. Perfect.
As the three of us prepared to leave the next morning, Julia popped into our living room, dressed in leathers like us.
"I'm going with you," she announced.
"What?" I demanded. The hell she is!
"I did a little of my own investigating last night and confirmed what I suspected. Nobody knows anything about this witch or this girl," Julia said. "We have no idea what kind of danger you're headed for. You're risking your lives again, and since I can't stop you, I can protect you."
I had all kinds of things to say about that, but Tristan squeezed my hand, keeping them from flying out of my mouth.
I don't trust her, Tristan.
"Me neither. But she won't leave and it's the best solution. Do you want her here with your mother and Dorian? At least she'll be with us, where we can watch her."
"Charlotte is here," Julia continued. "Your mother and son have a warlock and a Lykora, and they'll be safe in this house. Rina said you need me more. I can't break her orders, regardless of what you think or want."
Regardless of the fact Rina's out of her mind and has no clue what orders she's giving. I wanted to say it aloud, but didn't. Tristan made a good point. I'd rather Julia be with us than here. Who knew what she could pull while we were gone? Who knew what we might come back to if we left her here?
"Fine," I muttered. "Let's just go."
Tristan had explained to me that if you had a place on a map to concentrate on, you could flash there, even if you'd never been there before. However, without street names or landmarks, such as in the wilderness, and no coordinates, you might not appear in the exact spot you wanted, possibly as much as a few miles off. So flashing into the middle of the Everglades? Risky, even without considering that we could appear in a snake or alligator pit.
To avoid the chance of us appearing several miles apart, one of us would have to take the lead for the others to follow. I should have been the lead, since I'd seen the place more specifically in Trevor's mind than a map provided, but none of us, especially me, felt confident in my abilities to lead a flash. So we all lay a hand on Tristan, and without Julia knowing, I shared Trevor's image with Tristan, and we flashed.
We appeared hip-deep in the middle of a swamp. Well, I was hip-deep. Everyone else was more like thigh-deep. The muck at the bottom sucked at my boots as we waded through the reeds to the bank, watching for gators and snakes. As I neared the grassy bank, I saw something out of the corner of my eye. Something big and white disappearing into the water about forty yards away. I shivered as my imagination ran wild with visions of enormous anacondas and alligators. Standing on solid ground, I lamented the desecration of my new leather gear, but, to my amazement, it had already dried and returned to perfect condition.
"I've been waiting for you, princess," said a familiar voice with an Australian accent coming through the brush. A bulky figure topped by a bald head emerged from a clump of trees.
"Jax?" I asked, though the answer was obvious. That must have been him, in crocodile form, I'd seen slithering off a few moments ago. He apparently had clothes nearby this time, because now, thank God, he was dressed. "What are you doing here?"
"I think I found the girl you're looking for."
"You? Here? But how–?" I paused. "Oh, wait. Let me guess. A little birdie told you?"
He grinned, and the scar over his eye crinkled. "She'd spent some time here, and when she flew home, she
told me all about it. Including a witch and a little girl she'd met hiding in the middle of the bloody bush–or whatever you call this place."
"So you came here? I thought you never leave–"
"I couldn't help it. You struck something in me, princess, and I had to do what I could to help." He shrugged. "It's been a ripper of a trip, actually. This place is a lot like Oz, but … different. An all right change. Especially these gators. They're nothing like the crocs at home."
"Glad you've been enjoying your vacay," Owen said, "but let's get back to this witch and girl."
"Sure, mate," Jax said, and he told us about how he'd been here for a couple of months, learning his way around the Everglades and searching for what his were-bird friend had told him about–the girl and the witch. He hadn't found them until his friend arrived and led him to their hideout, then he had her fly to the nearest Amadis Were to deliver a message to us. The visit from Trevor's wolves surprised him when they came to check him out and make sure the message was real. He didn't like them much, but he was friendly enough to build their trust in him.
"Well … where are they?" I demanded when he finished his story. My patience ran thin. After months of searching, we were So. Close. The girl hid somewhere in the vicinity. The girl who could be our daughter.
Jax led us through the woods, swamps and brush, Tristan and I behind him, and Owen and Julia covering our backs. Although our summer had seen less rainfall than normal, much of the ground was mushy under our feet. We waded through water and reeds, squelched and squished through mucky marshes, avoiding the sharp edges of waist-high saw grass, and crossed broad areas of solid ground with forests of cypress, pine and palm trees. Birds floated lazily overhead when we were out in the open, their shadows often making me duck after yesterday's attack. The noises of the subtropical wild–birds' squawks, the plop of something dropping into the water, whispers of waving grass–filled me with both awe and anxiety. After all, those movements were made by wild animals, including panthers, snakes and alligators.
I tried to suppress the excitement I felt by staying alert and focusing on my surroundings, but the butterflies in my stomach wouldn't go away. I'd been thinking of this day for months, visualizing what this girl would look like–a lot like Mom, Rina and me, I assumed. Imagining how it would feel to be certain I had a daughter, a daughter I hadn't been able to raise myself, a daughter who might know nothing about us. And envisioning the consequences–how it would release the pressure off Tristan and me to produce a daughter, how the council would settle down and the Amadis unity could be restored, how everyone's trust in us and each other could be regained so we could do what we're meant to do: fight the Daemoni, not each other. Of course, there was still a traitor trying to take things over, but this girl seemed to be tied to her in some way, and when everything came out, surely we'd be able to identify the traitor, too.