by Idella Breen
Snow stepped between the two wolves and held up her hands. “Mr. Remus. I’d really appreciate it if Gwen could come over again tonight. We still need her help.”
Remus sighed. “Just be careful you two. I don’t want to see either of you get hurt. Despite what you may think Cait, I like you, and would hate to lose a wolf like yourself.”
Cait nodded and stuck her hands into her jean pockets. She was lucky Remus was so laid back about the dress code at the school for the teachers. She didn’t know what she would do without pockets. “We will.”
“Good. That’s all. Ms. Bennett, if you hurry you should still be able to catch your bus.”
The girl actually paled. “Yes, sir!” She yelped, ran to her desk, and scooped up her backpack. “See you at home, Cait!” She called out and was out the door in a second flat.
Remus raised an eyebrow. “At home?”
“Oh drop it.” The redhead grumbled and walked over to her desk to collect her things.
***
Cait paused, took a deep breath, then pushed her way into the boxing club. Two men were in the ring; the red boxer had the upper hand. Cait smiled as she recognized him as one of Nathan’s more experienced kickboxers. She gave a sweep of the room but didn’t see Nathan anywhere. She turned back in time to see the red kick-boxer deliver a swift kick to the blue boxers head. He won the match. There were cheers from the crowd that surrounded the ring, and the red boxer went to his corner to retrieve his water bottle, and towel. Cait met him there.
“I’m looking for Nathan. Do you know where he is?”
“Smoke break out back.” He said before taking a swig of water. She nodded and dodged a few sweaty teenagers making her way to the back door. She didn’t think Nathan was a smoker. He never smelt like burning tobacco. Her suspicions were confirmed when she opened the back door, and although the area smelt heavily of smoke, Nathan didn’t carry the burning smell. He looked up and met her gaze. A small smile broke out across his face.
“You came back.”
Cait returned the smile and walked out taking a seat next to him on the bench. She rested her elbows on her thighs and stared in front of her. They sat in silence a moment before Nathan broke it.
“Cait I’m-“
She cut him off. “Sorry, Nathan.” She turned to him. He looked surprised.
“I shouldn’t have yelled at you like I did. You didn’t know better. I never told you my circumstances so I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that. You were only trying to help.”
“I’m sorry as well. Sometimes my mouth gets away from me. I should have picked up on your subtle hints. I’m kind of an idiot sometimes, and my sister loves to call me thick skulled and dense.”
Cait chuckled. “You are that.”
Another silence fell between them, but it was comfortable. Nathan sighed and stood. “How about I go a round with you? I need to blow off some steam.”
“Something bothering you?”
“Let’s just say you aren’t the only one with girl problems.” Cait laughed.
“Then let’s go a few rounds.”
“I’ll warn you Inu youkai don’t like to lose.”
Cait stood as well. “Well, get used to it because you’re not going to win.”
“Big words for such a small woman.” He laughed and held the door open for her.
“I’m not small.”
“To me you are.”
“But, you’re a giant! You can’t use yourself as a comparison.”
“I just did.”
“That’s it. First shot's going to be to that thick skull of yours.”
“I’d like to see you try.” He laughed as the door swung shut behind him.
Chapter 10
A loud thumping startled Snow awake. At first, she was confused, but she quickly came to her senses and glanced at her alarm clock. It read seven in the evening. She smiled and jumped off the bed. She ran until she reached the door but caught her reflection in the hallway mirror. The brunette paused a moment to run her fingers through her hair and straighten her t-shirt, rubbing out some of the wrinkles. The knocking came again. She rushed to the door and threw it open without checking through the peep hole. The smile on her face contorted into an open scream at the boy standing before her. A cloth covered her nose and mouth; she fought her attacker, but he was too strong as he pulled her out into the hallway. A sharp smell filled her nose, and mouth, as her vision darkened.
“Cait.” She slurred as she lost consciousness.
Aiden threw the limp form of the girl over his shoulder. He needed to hurry. Her scream had alerted the curiosity of the neighbors. Quickly, he ran to the stairwell and pushed open the door. He really got her! Excitement bubbled up in his chest. It was so easy. He had thought he would have to take on that fleabag that was always with her, but he was so lucky! She had been alone, and now she was all his. A laugh bubbled up and out his mouth, as he hit the streets, and opened the back door to his black Sedan. He pulled out the rope, tied Snow’s hands together behind her back, then settled her into the trunk. The dark blood quickly closed the trunk and settled behind the wheel.
He really did it! He laughed again and started the engine. It was a long drive to where they were going. He had used enough of the drug to hopefully keep her unconscious until then. Aiden pulled out onto the main road and turned on the radio. Classical music filled the Sedan, and he felt the adrenaline subside. He didn’t have to rush. She was his until tomorrow afternoon. Only then would he hand her over to his king. Though, they wouldn’t recognize her once he’s through with her.
***
Unadulterated fear burst from Cait’s chest making her pause mid swing. Nathan took advantage of her distraction to sucker punch her. She stumbled back but caught herself on the rope. She held up her gloved hand, and Nathan stopped.
“Giving up already?” He panted and wiped a trickle of blood from under his nose.
She shook her head catching her breath. “Somethings wrong.”
“What?”
“I…I have to go.” She said and pulled the ropes apart so she could climb through them.
“Hey, wait up Cait.”
“I have to go!” Cait growled and jumped down to the floor. She threw the head gear and gloves at one of the students that had been watching the match. He fumbled with them before getting hold of them. Nathan walked over to the rope.
“Cait!” He called after her. But she was already out the door.
She made it to her car and started the engine. The numbers on the dashboard caught her attention, eight o’ clock. She was late, and the feeling of foreboding was like acid in her gut. The connection she had with Snow was faint and told her that the girl was either asleep or unconscious. The red head hopped the former was true. She needed to get to their apartment, and she needed to get there now. Cait pulled out onto the main road and floored the gas.
***
Cait charged out of the elevator and stopped in front of the apartment. The scent she caught as her hand reached for the doorknob, made her blood run cold, and her wolf bang against her mental cage. A dark blood had been there. A snarl ripped from her lips, and the front door flew open revealing Gwen.
“She’s gone.”
“I’ll kill them!” Cait yelled and turned to leave.
“Cait wait!” Gwen grabbed her shoulder spinning the werewolf around. The red head bared her teeth at her.
“Don’t give me that! You can’t go running in there fangs and claws bared.”
“Why the hell not!”
“You need to calm down and think logically about what we need to do.”
“I need to kill them all.” A slap rang out in the empty hallway. Cait’s head jerked to the side from the force of it. She shook her head to clear it and turned to face Gwen.
“Thanks, I needed that.” She mumbled.
“No problem. Now, here’s what we need to do. I know you can track Snow down by using your connection. I hear you’re also fast as hell in
your wolf form. So, this is what we will do. I’m going to call Remus and meet up with him first. We will meet up with you when we can.”
“I don’t need his help.”
“We need back up Cait. We might be outnumbered with just the two of us.”
“Fine, do what you want. I’m going.”
Gwen sighed and followed while pulling out her cellphone. She really hoped they could make it in time. Fear gripped in her chest at the thought of either Cait or Snow being hurt. They were like her sisters now, like clan mates, family. Remus’s voice on the other end of the line interrupted her thoughts as the elevator opened. Cait charged out to the street and burst into her wolf form. She really was majestic. Truly of strong blood. Gwen could feel the power in the air around Cait. Their eyes met briefly, then the white werewolf took off in the direction of the forest, dodging traffic. Luckily, there wasn’t much this time of the day in this area. Only a few people lined the sidewalks, and some were pointing, but it wasn’t like werewolves weren’t allowed to be in their beast forms in public. Most just preferred the privacy of the forest.
“Gwen? Something wrong?” Remus asked.
She snapped out of her thoughts. She had a job to do.
“Remus, I need your help.”
***
When Snow woke, it was with a foggy mind. Where was she? She wondered as she tried to process what she was seeing. The room was spacious, and the walls were made of logs. A cabin? How did she get here? She tried to raise her hand to her pounding head but wasn’t able to move it. She looked down only to realize she was tied to a wooden chair. Both her hands and legs were tied to it, and she tested the bonds. They were holding. Fear sent a shiver down her spine. The room was hot, but there was a chill growing in her chest.
Suddenly, the door opened, and Aiden came in, pushing a metal cart that was covered with a blanket. He paused and looked. A sneer spread across his lips.
“Ah, you’re awake. Good. I’m almost ready.” He said, and pushed the cart into the room closing the door and locking it. He made his way over to her, stopping in front of her, along with the cart.
“Who are you? Why are you doing this?”
“Oh, I never introduced myself. I apologize. My name is Aiden Grey, and I’m a dark blood.” He bowed with a sweep of his hand and stood back up grinning at her. “As to why I’m doing this? Well, it’s in my nature as a dark blood to torture, but you’re special Snow. You’re the ice child of prophecy. I’ll become infamous if I’m the one to turn you into one of us.”
She gasped. “Turn me?”
“That’s right. I have been thinking about what exactly I should do with you now that I have you, and I decided that by turning you into a dark blood, I would gain the favor of my king. He might even promote me from a knight to a rook. I would be the youngest rook in our history and one day I’ll kill the king to take my place at the throne. But I’m getting ahead of myself. First I have to turn you and prove to my king how silly this prophecy bullshit really is.”
“What prophecy? What exactly is it?”
He smirked. “You wouldn’t know, would you? Not after the Silence. No one really knows, only the older monsters, or the dark bloods.” He clapped his hands, and pulled over a chair from the table, setting it across from Snow and sitting down. “You know what? I’m going to tell it to you. Then I’m going to torture you to death and drink your blood. You’ll be a dark blood by tomorrow morning, and I’ll hand you over to my king by the afternoon.”
Snow paled at his words and struggled in her bonds.
“Enough of that. Listen, for I’ll only tell the story once.”
She stopped. The cold feeling in her chest grew.
“Good, now where should I begin? Ah, yes, it goes something like this. A seer wrote the Great Book, and within it, there was a passage that spoke of an ice child, and her protector. It said that a great king would rule for centuries through fear and pain. But one day the ice child would be born and her protector bound to her by blood. They would appear before this king and vanquish him in blood and ice. Then they would bring about a new era of peace between monsters and humans.”
“Don’t we already have peace?” Snow asked trying to keep him talking, but he was already standing up again. The cold feeling in her chest was becoming unbearable and spreading out to her fingertips.
“Not really. You’re young and easily tricked by the faux peace fed to you in the schools. Why do you think only monsters go to our school? It’s because the humans refuse to integrate with them. You can live on the same street as a human, and in their neighborhoods, but put human children in school with monsters, and all hell breaks loose. You could say we are responsible for that. The dark bloods I mean. We have been attacking both sides for a long time and keeping the tension building. Your grandmother may have managed to force peace once, but we all knew it was only temporary. As long as my king rules, he will ensure the peace is never absolute. But enough of that. I’d like to begin if you don’t mind.” He sneered and pulled the sheet off of the metal tray revealing some very scary looking devices. Snow knew what some of them were, but she had never seen most of them. There was a metal pole with a point at one end next to a small hammer, there was a cigar cutter, as well as metal pliers, but she didn’t recognize anything else. The sight of them made her pale further, and the cold icy feeling spreading from her chest reached a painful level.
He picked up the metal pliers. “How about I begin with your toenails?”
He moved closer to her. Suddenly, the cold feeling that had been building within Snow burned and burst from her body. She screamed.
Chapter 11
Cait heard a scream in the distance and knew it was Snow’s. It made her blood run cold. She pushed her paws into the dirt to make her go faster. Hold on Snow! I’m coming. She thought and pushed herself even harder.
***
The pain subsided, and Snow opened her eyes.
“You bitch! What have you done to me?” He yelled.
Aiden was a frozen statue all the way up to his neck. Actually, Snow realized, a thick coat of ice covered the whole cabin. Her breath fogged in front of her like smoke. She looked down at her hands and tested her bounds. The rope shattered at her command, and she was free.
“Where do you think you're going? I’m not through with you yet!”
Snow backtracked and stood in front of the boy. She slapped him hard enough to draw blood. Then she turned to the metal cart and picked up a roll of cotton. The brunette shoved it into his mouth.
“You’re lucky I don’t use the hammer on your head!” She yelled out as she ran for the door. Opening it, she made her way to the front door, only for it to open before her hand reached it. Her heart quickened in hope. The door opened. Standing before her were two dark bloods. Each one was armed with both a sword and a gun at their side. They were dressed all in black and sown into the fabric of their shits, over their hearts, was a badge with the black pawn chess piece. They advanced on her. She didn’t have much energy after that burst from earlier, but that didn’t stop her from struggling with everything she had. One of the men karate chopped her in the back of the neck, and she fell to the ground. He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. She felt so weak she could barely lift her arms. Wherever that burst of ice had come from, it had used up her reserves and left her limp as the men carried her to a black SUV. For the second time that night, her vision darkened, and she slipped into unconsciousness.
***
Cait came to a halt in front of a cabin only to sense that Snow wasn’t there. Once again, she was too late. She phased back and ran naked into the cabin. In a room at the back, she found a dark blood vampire boy spitting cotton out of his mouth. She turned on him.
“Where is she!” She growled.
“Fuck you!”
She grabbed his neck, squeezing, her nails biting into the soft skin of his neck hard enough to draw blood.
“I’ll kill you.”
He choked out. “Then you’ll never get to her in time.”
She sneered but let go. He coughed. It was only then that Cait realized why the boy hadn’t defended himself. His body was encased in a thick ice as well as the rest of the room. She could see her breath clouding around her.
“Where?”
“Xavier has her.” He muttered.
“What…” She felt like the breath had been knocked out of her. He had her? Again, she had failed. He was going to take her most precious person from her again. Her wolf answered her.
“The oath will be fulfilled.” It growled.
Cait nodded her head in agreement and turned to leave.
“You’re just going to leave me here?”
She ignored him and left the cabin. A howl broke in the distance. She hated to admit it, but she was going to need help this time. Cait took off to meet up with Remus’s pack. She just hoped they would be willing to go to battle with her.
***
When Cait reached Remus, and the wolves he had brought from his clan, she had phased back to her wolf form.
“Cait, what happened?” Gwen asked. In her wolf form, she was by far the smallest. Her cocoa colored fur, smooth and silky, glinted in the moonlight. Remus was next to her, his form massive and daunting. He was the largest wolf there, but only slightly larger than Cait. It was normal for alpha’s to be the largest wolves. His fur was a reddish brown with patches of white mixed in. He shifted, getting Cait’s full attention.
“Where is Snow?” He asked.
“The dark bloods have her,” Cait growled baring her teeth.
The other wolves shifted uncomfortably. Remus barked, and they settled.
“I take it you need our help?” He asked.
Cait had suspected he would try to rub the fact that she had failed in her face but his voice was even, and the question, was asked simply. She nodded.
“Will you go with me?”
“You mean will I battle alongside that last Fallon? To save your mate?” He asked. His voice staying level and calm.
“That is what I ask of you, yes.”