Uniquely Unwelcome (The Shadow World, #1)

by Brandy Nacole

  Jared’s back in Ethan’s face before I can even blink.

  “Why should it matter to you? Lycans don’t like Witches.” Then a sly smile plays on Jared’s face. “Unless you’re going against your Alpha for her. Are you willing to be banished and possibly put to death for a ‘wickedly’ good time with her?”

  Ethan punches Jared hard, sending the vamp stumbling back. Jared comes right back at him and the fight is on. They match each other, blow for blow. Coy and I jump up at the same time, but I place my hand on his shoulder and shove him back down. “Don’t.” He may not realize this but coming between a Vampire and Lycan while they’re fighting is dangerous for anyone, but especially dangerous for a human.

  I slowly walk over to Ethan and Jared, letting them get in a few more punches before tearing them apart. I grab Ethan by the shirt, yanking him back and tossing his butt to the ground. Then I shove Jared back into a tree. “If you honestly want to help, then you wouldn’t be starting fights within our group. Whether you are here to help or not, you’re not welcomed.”

  “Why? Because of some love-sick puppy with an anger management problem?” Jared spits some blood on the ground. Yuck.

  “No! It’s because I don’t need people I don’t trust saying they have my back. Plus, I don’t need your taunting Ethan when we have more important things to worry about.”

  I release Jared and motion for him to leave. Ethan gets off the ground, blood streams down from his nose. His body is still shaking with rage.

  Jared throws his hands up in surrender. “Fine, I’ll go.” He walks past me, shouldering Ethan as he goes. He looks back over at the table, smiling. “Bye Danika. I’ll see you around.” He gives Ethan one last smug look before disappearing into the darkness.

  I turn on Ethan. “And you. You need to keep yourself in check. You shouldn’t have let him get to you like that.”

  Ethan wipes dirt and debris off his clothes, looking dejected. “Sorry. But you know how it is between Lycans and leeches.”

  “That’s you’re excuse? Lycans and Vampires don’t like each other so I’m going to throw a punch at every one I see. Tell me this then, when are you going to attack me? I have Vampire blood in me.”

  Ethan looks at me in surprise. “That’s different.”

  “No, it’s not.” I spread out my arms. “Come on Ethan. I’m part Vampire. If it’s all because they’re just Vampires, then attack me.”

  Ethan shakes his head, rolling his eyes. “You’re different. You’re not a complete Vampire.”

  “Well that shouldn’t matter,” I say, lowering my arms back down to my side. “There’s more to it than that, Ethan. You went to school with Vampires. Sure, there weren’t many, but there were a few. And I know there weren’t any attacks just because someone was a Vampire or Lycan. So what is it, then?”

  Ethan shrugs his shoulders. “I don’t know. There was just something about him that I didn’t like.”

  “Could it have been the fact that he was talking with Danika? Could it have something to do with what Jobe said about Witches and Lycans?”

  Ethan looks down at the ground, kicking around a few rocks. He seems to have a habit of doing that. I realize it’s his way of handling awkward situations.

  “Just leave it alone, Racquel,” he says with a low warning.

  I’m about to ignore his request when Danika walks over. She grabs Ethan’s hands, bringing them up to her face. He looks up from the ground, meeting her eyes with longing. Danika goes in for the kill, kissing Ethan with no resolve for the consequences. The kiss looks passionate and deep, with Ethan drawing in Danika as tight as he can. I look away from this very private moment.

  As I make my way back to the table Coy looks up at me and smiles. I avert my gaze from him too. Instead I stare into the darkness. Finally, Ethan and Danika part, big smiles playing across their faces.

  They hold hands as they join Coy and me back at the table, no one acknowledging what just happened. I know it took a lot of guts for Danika to do what she did. I don’t want to ruin it for them, although a few choice remarks come to mind. Holding my tongue, I dig through my pockets, find the lists with the missing Shadows locations on them, and place them on the table. Danika pulls out the list of the humans’ locations.

  I sit down beside Coy, leaving some space between us. We still haven’t talked since earlier, and I don’t want to even think about addressing what his friendship had started meaning to me.

  I unfold the map, laying it across the table so we all can see it. The only locations marked on it are the Witches. Danika pulls out a pen and marks where the Vampires and humans were taken. Then I take the pen and mark where the Lycans were taken.

  “This all seems to be too scattered out. Look at this,” I say, gesturing to the map. “You know the world is a big place. Although we’ve marked twenty three different locations, there seems to be no pattern.”

  I look over the lists again, hoping to see something we missed.

  Witches: Cate-Portland, Oregon; Addie-New York; Quentin-Sweden; Imia-Chile; Caden-Libya.

  Vampires: Oria-Central Russia; Aiden-Finland; Patia-Guatamala; Isla-Indonesia; Lawrence-Bulgaria.

  Humans: Cuba, Australia, Egypt, Indonesia, Bulgaria, Chile, Brazil, Finland.

  Lycans: Immie-Turkey; Noel-Nigeria; Damara-England, Keb-Brazil, Rufus-Argentina.

  Other than the fact that there are no human names, there’s nothing. Cate had said she was in a cell and the others were in their own cells. That doesn’t leave us any landmarks to go by. There are abandoned warehouses and jail cells all over the world.

  Garron had no information except what the creatures that took his mate looked like, which from experience we already know. I shove the papers away in frustration, placing my head in my hands.

  I had my hopes up way too high. I thought after all this searching, we would have something. We have nothing.

  “Hey don’t give up,” Coy says softly. I glance over just in time to see him raise his hand before lowering it again.

  I run my hands over my face. “I’m not giving up. I’m just frustrated. We’ve been doing nothing but walking and talking. I’m ready to find them.”

  Ethan looks over the map again, while Danika rummages through her bag and pulls out her cell phone. “I’m going to call the Elders to see if they have anything new.”

  As she walks off to make her call, I place my head back in my hands, trying to piece together some type of answer.

  “Look at this,” Ethan says, passing over the map. “All these people have been taken in different places, right? Well except the humans, which were mostly taken around Vampire clans. But all the others were taken in different location all over the world.”

  Wow, he’s a smart one. “Thanks for pointing that out, Sherlock.”

  Ethan rolls his eyes. “Just listen. If we talk to the Shape-shifters and possibly the Fairies, we could add to the map, and see where there haven’t been any kidnappings. I mean this person is obviously trying to make sure his tracks are covered.”

  I look up now, getting a little more hope again.

  “But how would knowing where there haven’t been any kidnappings help us?”

  Ethan taps the map several times. “With someone doing this much traveling to keep their tracks covered, no way would they kidnap someone close to their hiding place. It should look like a hole on the map.”

  “So I guess we need to go on another plane ride.” I sigh with frustration. “Do you even know where the Shape-shifters are?” I have no clue.

  Ethan shakes his head. “Not exactly, I know the general area but not the exact spot.”

  “What about calling them,” Coy suggests, “just like Jobe said. We would save a lot of time.”

  Hopes getting higher! I pull out my cell phone ready to start dialing numbers. But when I look at Ethan, who’s shaking his head, I put my phone back in my bag. “There’s no phone service where the shifters are and I know the fairies don’t even have phones,” he says
bleakly.

  “I thought you said you didn’t know where the shifters are located,” I snap.

  “I don’t know the exact location but I do know they’re in secluded wilderness,” he says defensively.

  Danika comes out of the shadows and joins us back at the table. “They don’t know anything new, but they did give me a warning. They said they feared tremendous danger was close to us.”

  Ethan raises his eyebrows with concern. Coy looks around us paranoid. I just roll my eyes. “We already know that. If I remember right, we’ve already been attacked once.”

  Everyone still looks paranoid, so I try bringing the conversation back on track. “Danika, do you know where the Shape-shifters are?”

  Before she can answer, Coy interrupts. “Did you hear that?” Everyone’s back on alert. I groan, scanning the dark park around us, thinking we’re not going to get anywhere now.

  I take a glance around, seeing nothing but darkness. Then a movement catches my eye. At first I think I’m imagining things. Then the shadow moves again. Standing in the shadows under a tree is the cloaked man who’s been haunting my dreams.

  I shake my head and look again. He’s still standing there. I stare at him, trying to see his face. But no matter how hard I try, I can’t. I even try to move the cloak from around his face, but it doesn’t budge.

  I’m baffled for a minute, wondering if he has some protection on him to prevent attack and revelations. Then he nods his head and several creatures step out all around us.

  When we were attacked before, we had space to defend ourselves. Now we’re completely surrounded with no escape. I look back over at where the man was standing. Like a magic trick, he’s vanished. I look around past the creatures, hoping to see him again. He’s nowhere in sight.

  Looking from the trees, I immediately start trying to devise a plan for escape. The creatures are all around, circling in on us, closing in fast to make sure there’s no room for escape.

  Chapter Fourteen

  We all take defensive stances, preparing to take action. The creatures around us are growling, enclosing us in a tight circle. They look similar to the ones that attacked us in Sofia, but now there are more. One has skin that is actually dripping off its body.

  I look over at Ethan, who nods toward Coy. We both know that with Coy being so vulnerable, the creatures are liable to grab him and use him as leverage.

  I nod at Ethan, letting him know I understand. Then everyone moves at once. Ethan shifts into his wolf form while lunging at the creature closes to him. Danika throws energy from her hands, hurling two of the creatures into a tree. I grab Coy around the waist while turning and kicking a creature that was lunging for him. I shove him under the table and tell him to stay put, then turn back to the action. I don’t want to move too far away from Coy. After my dreams and knowing how easily Coy can be ripped apart, I can’t leave him defenseless.

  There are three creatures closing in on me. A part of me feels sorry for these creatures because I know they have been experimented on and turned into weapons. One has a wolf head with a human body, and claws for hands. One has webbed feet and hands, a huge bulging body mass, and gills for ears. The third one looks almost normal except for his sharp fangs and long, talon-claw-like fingers.

  Wolf man lunges at me first, but I kick him back. The one with webbed feet starts throwing punches at me, but I’m able to block each blow. He’s throwing punches up and down, side to side, but he never makes contact. Fang Boy grabs me by my hair, yanking my head back, giving Webby the chance to sucker punch me in the stomach.

  I gasp and try to pry Fang Boys’ hands out of my hair while kicking at Webby. Webby grabs my right foot as I kick, but I use my left foot to propel myself up, tagging him in the face. Then I shove him off with my right foot. My hands are on Fang Boy’s shoulders, so I use the momentum from my kick to flip over his head, ripping out some of my hair. Ouch!

  I land behind Fang Boy, and shove him down on the ground, then I jump up on his back, pinning him to the ground. He makes the wrong move by lifting his head and shoulders, trying to get up. That gives me enough room to smash his head back into the ground, snapping his neck.

  Now that I have one down, I go for the other two. My head throbs from my hair being yanked out. I see Wolf-man coming at me from the right and Webby coming from the left. I use all my body strength to kick out at Wolf-man again, pushing myself up once again to land on Webby’s shoulders. He tries throwing me off, but I wrap my legs more firmly around his throat. He rips his webbed claws into my legs. I ignore the pain and see Wolf-man getting up.

  Before I lose my advantage, I grab Webby by the head and start twisting. He fights for a minute, but then I hear the unmistakable pop and down we go. I don’t want to be pinned under his corpse, so I roll off his shoulders as he hits the ground.

  I try bounding to my feet, but am once again yanked around by my hair. For a split second I lose focus. After this, I’m seriously going to think about whacking it all off. I try to ignore the pain that is ripping through my head, and think about what leverage I could possibly have.

  Wolf-man yanks on my head again, dragging me toward the darkened area of the park. I lose my footing and go down on my knees. Wolfie doesn’t stop to let me regain my footing. Instead he keeps pulling. No matter how much it hurts, I relax my body, going limp so he’s pulling me completely by my hair, in order to free my hands. Then I reach back, grabbing his knee caps and yanking as hard as I can. Instantly his knees snap, dropping him to the ground.

  I want to cause him extreme pain, but knowing we’re still in this battle with no end in sight, I make a quick move. Since broken necks stop most creatures, I give it a try. It works.

  I look back to check on Coy and panic. A green scaly woman is clawing at him. He’s still under the table fighting her off, but if she gets a good hold on him, he’s done. The woman is bending over in-between the bench and table. I slam her head into the wooden bench. It doesn’t knock her out but it stuns her for a second. While she’s still bent over, I punch her in the back, breaking it, then roll her off the bench.

  She screams an agonizingly inhuman screech as she claws at the ground. The high-pitched scream sends agonizing waves of pain through my ears. I crumple over, grabbing my head and try to get a bearing on things, but all I see is red. Then the screaming and the pain stop. I look up and see Jared standing over the woman. Her head is completely severed. The large machete in Jared’s hand drips with her blood.

  “What are you doing here?”

  Not that I’m not grateful for the help, I just didn’t expect to see him.

  His smug smile widens. “Having some fun.” Slashing his machete in the air, Jared turns and leaps at the next creature coming at us.

  I turn back to Coy, who is still under the table. “You okay?” There’s blood running down the side of his face and on his arms.

  “Yeah, you?” He starts to come out from underneath the table, but I stop him.

  “You need to stay there. Look in my bag and see if there are any weapons you can use. But whatever you do, stay under the table. Got it?” He nods and I turn from him, hoping he sticks to his word.

  Shock hits me when I turn around. There are a dozen or so creatures dead on the ground. Danika stands over a creature lying on the ground, with blood running out its eyes, ears, and mouth. Another one is pinned to a tree with a large branch stuck through its torso. Ethan has blood all over his fur. He has one creature on his back and another one pinned underneath him. He quickly rips out the one’s throat and then throws the other one off him. They both seem to be holding their own. I see Jared wielding his machete, chopping limbs off of every creature in his path. There still must be fifteen or twenty creatures remaining.

  One of the creatures starts moving towards me, but then stops and starts walking back. I start to take the advantage and move on him, when I’m grabbed from behind. Even though I can’t see my attacker, I know it’s the cloaked man. The sleeve of his black cloa
k covers my mouth, as his hand clamps tightly on my cheeks. He pulls me back from the fight and into the shadows. I try fighting him, but it’s to no avail. He has my arms pinned and I can’t get any leverage with my feet.

  Once we are out of view from the others, he releases me. I turn ready to rip into him. I go to punch him in the face, but am repelled by an invisible shield.

  “You cannot harm me, Racquel.” His voice is muffled by his cloak, but it still sends a shiver through me. “I’m very well protected.” He has his hand on a pendant that is hanging from a thick cord on his neck. I wonder if he would be so well protected if I yanked that necklace off him.

  “What do you want?” I give up the fight, knowing it’s useless.

  He chuckles. The sound of his laugh twists my stomach.

  “You.”

  “Why me?”

  “You are so valuable my dear.” He steps toward me and I take two steps back. “Don’t be afraid, I’m not going to hurt you. Well not yet anyway.” Just the threat of his words knocks the wind out of me.

  “You can keep me from having to harm you. All you have to do is stop this nonsense. You will not find the answers you are looking for, nor will you find your friends.”

  Enraged by his threat, not only to me, but to his captured victims, I take a step toward him. “What do you want with them?”

  “You will find out in due time, my dear.” He continues stroking his pendant. I try once again to remove the cloak that is shielding his face, but it doesn’t move.

  “Silly girl, your powers do not work on me. Now listen very closely. I want you to take your friends back home and forget all about this. If you don’t, I will kill them, and you. As much as it would pain me to do so, I will if I must.”

  He moves toward me again. I try to step back but I can’t. It’s like my body is stuck in place and no matter how hard I try, I can’t move. He touches my face, running his thumb over my cheek. “Such an extraordinary creature you are. Very soon you will see just how extraordinary you truly are.”