by Alice Wade
Realization dawned on the attackers as one by one, they dropped to the ground, oozing dark blood from the charred cuts that had their torsos separated and sliced in two. He stepped over their remains and moved closer to Kailani. Around him littered the bodies he’d just killed without breaking a sweat. It was too easy.
“Obviously these were not your best, eh Kaen?” Talon called, taunting the next group of Dûr Falas to attack. They came from all sides, snarling and hissing. He counted another ten vampires, how predictable.
Equally predictable, the vampires attacked as a pack and circled Talon similar to the previous group. As Talon lunged to strike, a second vampire from behind kicked Talon’s leg out from beneath him crashing him violently to the ground. He watched in slow motion as the sword in his right hand skidded loudly beyond the circling pack on the other side of the room, almost at Kailani’s feet.
Talon flipped over and switched the sword in his left hand to his right. With the grace only elves were born with, he leapt to his feet and met the attacking force. In this mess, he was able to kick one vampire to disarm him, followed by a decapitation. He needed more space and he wanted his other sword. He also needed to free his mate so she could be safely away from this fight.
He never lost track of Kaen in all of this chaos. The man sulked off in the shadows, watching with a growing awareness that Talon was winning. Anger seethed in his veins as his best men were cut down like weeds.
Talon called up more elven magic and pushed outward, filling the room with a heavy magical haze. He set the spell in his wake as he jumped and caught the rafter, swinging until he let go to land exactly where he wanted. With a backward glance, he hoped this gave him enough time to free Kailani.
At one point, the attacking vampires looked around in confusion. Talon’s body was suddenly gone, disappearing from their midst only to reappear near Kailani. When they tried to follow, they found themselves unable to move against the spell he’d cast. Their eyes tracked him like caged animals. He’d frozen them in their tracks; including Kaen.
Talon collected his second sword when he landed, easily slicing through the iron chains as if they were butter. His other sword automatically protected his vulnerable side while he worked. She dropped into his outstretched arms, and he pulled her close, “I’ve got you,” he whispered. Talon cradled her close and walked through the frozen vampires, smiling as he went and carefully deposited her at Dace’s feet.
“Since you didn’t go find Lainey, I need you to guard her.”
Dace paled, “With what, this?” holding out the sword Talon had given him.
“Who is this?” Kailani wheezed.
“Dace Veridan. He’s Lainey’s betrothed.” His assumption she’d helped was confirmed when she smirked. “You did help her.”
“Of course I did. Now get to it, so we can go find her,” Kai said more urgently. Their reunion would have to wait.
Behind them, the Dûr Falas fought their holds as the spell Talon cast started to weaken. The leader of the Dûr Falas bellowed as he surmised that Talon would probably win this encounter and that was just unacceptable. He had orchestrated this meeting and it wasn’t going as planned. Not at all.
Turning, Talon faced Kaen from across the room. Kaen wasn’t quite free yet and this was his chance to kill him. A gentle hand on his calf halted him and he looked down. Kai clutched at his pant, giving him a desperate hug with her silver eyes. He paused. She was worth all the trouble he’d gone through to get here. He didn’t want to leave her unprotected. Seeing Kaen’s arm move he didn’t have much of a choice. He pinned Dace with chilling vampire eyes that burned blue and said, head slightly bowed, “Guard her well.”
“Aye.” There was absolutely no way he could do what Talon just did and live to tell about it. Dace wasn’t a warrior, never pretended to be, but if he needed to protect this woman, he would do his best.
“For the love of anything good. I don’t need protection!” she scrambled to her feet in order to shove her mate, “Go.” There was an amused twinkle in her eye and he smiled in reply.
“As my lady commands,” he said mockingly, even giving her a bow before he was gone.
“He’s impossible sometimes,” Kailani whispered to Dace. Her eyes traced her mate across the room. At that very moment, the spell broke. Like a tidal wave, ten truly pissed off vampires flowed at their target, all converging on him at the same time.
Except Kaen. He watched with a dark scowl which said exactly what was in his mind. Catching Kailani’s eye, he tilted his head slightly to the side with a dangerous curiosity.
Then his eyes drifted to the man at her side and his dark eyes widened in surprise for he caught his scent. It was all over Lainey that first night Kaen knew instantly. “I know who you are,” he spat. “Lainey belongs to me now and your claim is forfeit,” his voice carried across the turbulent fight, generating a reaction. “She really was rather good in bed and I’d hate to give that up.”
Dace flinched. Thinking that could be the outcome was one thing, Hearing it was something else entirely. What kept him from charging across the room to attack Kaen was a gentle hand on his arm stilling him instantly.
Kailani met his intensity, “She will need you. Let Talon deal with this, but you must survive.”
When he was about to reply, she added, “She needs you.” Kailani’s attention was suddenly captured by a tortured howl from the within the brawl. One of the Dûr Falas ran Talon through with his blade with a sickening wet sound. The sword currently extended at least two feet from Talon’s back and dripped with his dark red blood. The attacking vampire pushed again, forcing more of the blade through from the front. She clearly heard the grunt he released from that impact and screamed when she saw the blade appear. She was about to race to his side when Dace grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back.
Through his shock and pain, Talon heard Kai’s frantic cries as she repeatedly screamed his name. He met her eye and moaned, “Hold,” as he hunched over and pulled the attacking vampire to the ground. Once down he twisted and rolled, grabbing a hold of the hilt and pulled the blade free. He punched it into the bellow of an attacking vampire. At the same time, he brought his own blade around and up in an arc, decapitating the creature who had stabbed him in one smooth motion. By the time the head hit the floor, Talon dropped the sword from his gut and looked down at the blood flowing from the wound, “Shite.”
“Talon!”
He wasn’t done. He couldn’t stop just yet. Kailani wasn’t safe yet. Twirling, he kicked out and collided with one of the remaining vampires still alive. The force sent him flying across the chamber to slam into spiked sconce. It pierced him through the heart. Only two to go.
Talon advanced on the two protecting Kaen with a certain level of predatory animosity. He snarled back the cramp of pain from his wound, but he wasn’t ready to give up yet. He wanted this finished. This vampire had haunted him for years and it was time it ended.
“I can see you are not easily disposed of,” Kaen’s voice shook. “I honestly thought this would be simple. How wrong was I?”
“Very wrong.” Talon panted and stalked closer. One arm wrapped around his midsection, the other holding his sword before him in a strike formation which aimed right at Kaen’s heart.
Behind the elf, the bloody stone floor was littered with his charred men. He wasn’t a fool to think he had a chance. “You’ve won this one, Talon,” In a flash all three men blinked out of existence and the space that held their forms now stood empty.
“No!” Talon snarled and whirled around, finding his mate’s worried eyes and shared a moment of frustration that his quarry was gone. Then he bolted from the room and down the hall to a closed side door.
His anger fueled him as he muttered a spell that dissolved the door into dust. The unobstructed view presented Kaen leaning over the bed of a sleeping fema
le vampire. Lainey.
“She is not yours,” Talon growled.
“Think again.” Kaen was in the act of reaching for Lainey when Talon flung the vampire across the room with another spell. While he writhed with pain from contact with Talon’s magic, Talon pointed at him with the tip of his sword and light snaked out, aimed straight at Kaen.
He hollered in agony as the spell took effect, shooting electrical pain through every nerve in his body. Talon repeated the spell and fired again, this time he put more energy into the command, and watched as the drake covered vampire fell to the floor in a writhing heap. “You will not claim her.”
“You’re…too late! I’ve already have!” Kaen rolled onto his side and gloated, “You can’t undo what I’ve done,” Kaen said through clenched teeth. Talon released a third spell that had Kaen screaming wildly on the floor.
“Actually, I can. And I’ll—” Talon winced violently as his stomached seized. The effort of casting this spell was taking its toll. He staggered slightly before regaining his balance.
Kaen regretfully made up his mind. He couldn’t withstand this for much longer so he sacrificed his obsession, knowing he’d somehow get her back. With a thought, he blinked out of the room and teleported to a far corner of the castle to recover.
* * * *
As Kaen stood up in his location he shattered the first piece of furniture that he encountered. The chair didn’t stand a chance against the burning, out of control rage that flowed through his mind. He was murderous and would kill anyone who attempted to talk to him at the moment. Luckily, no one was about in the study so all lives were spared at the moment.
Damn it! He abandoned Lainey to those fiends and he walked away! Damn it!
Whirling in the direction of his quarters, he called to Faelwen and was relieved to find him still alive. He too had blinked out of there before Talon killed them all. Kaen stalked with an aggressive pace and sulked in his quarters until he could regain his composure. He needed to feed. He needed to ease some of the anger consuming his ability to think. Snarling, Kaen turned towards the window and looked down on the castle proper at all the people bustling around dong their daily chores. He needed to hurt something and would fulfill that desire. Oh yes, someone would pay the price.
* * * *
Dace tentatively entered the room where Talon had fought with Kaen. He slowly approached the bed where Kailani currently cradled a sleeping woman who looked very much like Lainey. He refused to believe it was her. It couldn’t be her because she looked different, changed…enhanced. Her hair was longer and fuller, with her curls in tight ringlets framing her narrow face. The Lainey he loved had been stunningly beautiful before this, but the woman curled in Kailani’s arms was painfully beautiful to look at. She shifted in Kailani’s arms so her face turned towards Dace. He thought his heart would stop beating. Pouting lips were partially open to reveal four wickedly sharp fangs. That in combination with how her cheekbones had shifted made her features more angular. It looked like her but it couldn’t be her. It couldn’t.
Dace stepped back running his hand through is hair. She was like a beacon to him. As much as he wanted to not look, his eyes jumped back to the bed and to the woman who slept there. The heaving of her chest caught his attention. Full breasts rose and fell with her steady breaths. Being familiar with Lainey’s body and how narrow her waist was, this enhancement was somewhat dramatic.
However, this wasn’t Lainey, he said to himself again.
Talon watched him closely. “She is still your woman,” Talon said as he leaned against the wall holding his stomach tightly.
“That is not her,” Dace argued, looking back at the sleeping woman. “What’s wrong with her?”
Kailani answered, “He’s got her mind locked down right now. I can break it later; first, we must get Talon and Lainey out of here,” Kailani grunted as she struggled to move the woman. “Help me.”
He sank down, collecting the tiny woman into his arms. She felt like Lainey and that added to his conflicted feelings. He wanted this to be her and yet he didn’t.
Kailani placed a compassionate hand on his shoulder in gratitude and smiled. “You will see,” she tipped her head. “Thank you for coming.” Kailani then rose and approached her mate. “Now for you.”
Talon groaned and pushed off the wall, “I don’t need your help. If I recall, you were the one who needed rescuing.”
“I would have gotten free. You just got here first,” she teased, slipping her arm around his waist to allow him to lean his weight on her shoulders. She wasn’t fooled by his bravado.
“Right. Sorry to spoil your fun, love.”
“You did. It was just getting interesting when you materialized out of the stone,” she continued her taunting while they slowly moved towards the door, “I’m glad you came when you did, though. It saved me from having to unleash my uncanny abilities.”
His laugh sent shooting pains to his stomach, causing him to wince. Once he recovered, he leveled her with a friendly stare, “Because you have so many. Admit it, you were out of options.”
Talon took inventory of all gathered and found Dace held Lainey tucked in his arms, waiting and Kai was attached to his side. It was time to go. Talon winced again when he tried to push away from Kai. He didn’t want her assistance, but wasn’t sure he could walk without her help. It appeared he was out of options. “Ready?”
“Yes,” they said in unison.
“Well then, shall we?” Talon laid his hand on the wall and the solid stone parted. This generated a violent quake that unbalanced them all for a moment, but announced the new fissure in the stone. All three of them coughed when a cloud of dust appeared, forcing them to have to wait while it settled. When their tearing eyes took in the rip, Talon accepted it was suitable. This tear was wider to allow them to walk through the twenty foot wall comfortably.
Dace was too preoccupied with holding the tiny woman to feel any effects of his claustrophobia. He followed without question and kept his eyes fixed on the sleeping woman as her head bobbed with each step.
Talon carved a path to the same location where they entered hours before and all four emerged into the bright sunlight, blinking back the immediate blindness. Kailani was the first to react. She laughed loudly and sank to her knees sinking her fingers into the cold soil. She was outside once more. Looking up, she squinted through tears, but she wanted to see the sun. She wanted to feel the sun.
Talon gave her a moment to rejoice and then announced, “Now, to finish this.” Below, Talon felt the pull of hundreds of newborn vampires—all crazed and rabid. None worth saving. None worth his time. With a quick glance at the woman in Dace’s arms and felt an immediate kinship. Well, almost none.
“What are you going to do?” Dace asked, curious about the concentration on Talon’s face.
“Watch,” Talon replied quietly.
He mumbled words in a foreign tongue and closed his eyes, head slightly tilted back. Kailani stood at his side and placed the palms of her hands on his back, lending him all she had to give. He took it and this plundering of her remaining strength forced a whimper to escape from her shuddering form. All his hate, rage, and disgust poured into the stone supporting this section of the dungeon.
With the first shattering sound, Dace turned towards the wall, where plumes of dust were visible through from the cracks in the mortar. The snapping sound grew louder, until a ear splitting crack shattered their ears. Slowly, as if teetering on the edge of a cliff, a large portion of the wall tilted forward, and came crashing down to the ground. The collision not only shook the very ground, it also sent a massive dust cloud which obscured their sight.
The thunderous crash caused Lainey to stir in his arms but not waken. His attention momentarily turned to her perfect face as he caressed the smooth skin. At the touch of his fingers against her face, she relaxed in
his embrace. Dace felt his heart clench. Lainey.
“You might want to stand back,” Talon cautioned wearily. He wasn’t done.
Talon grunted as he shoved more power into the stone. The effort to channel this much magic was almost too much. His knees buckled and gave out. He felt the ever steady presence of Kai at his back, so he opened himself to the magic and set it free to raze this building to the ground.
He whispered to the cracks to widen; he convinced the mortar to release its hold. Ultimately, he orchestrated that block by block, the dungeon collapsed. He asked for the walls to fall inward, and the floors collapsed down. The goal was to make this a tomb that could never be reopened.
He felt the death of the younglings as their psychotic life force blinked out. That made this all worth the effort. To rid the world of their terror was worth this risk. The effort had him listing to the side just before the ground shook more violently, announcing the main walls had caved in. Kai caught him before he fell completely over and together they waited for the magic to run its course.
The sound was deafening. Dace sank to the ground and shielded Lainey with his body while the world around them disappeared under a rolling dark cloud of dust which blanketed out the sun. Leaning over her, he tried to shield her as much as possible, but it was impossible. The dust was thick and it made the air hard to breathe. Through the gloom, he heard Kailani cough followed by softly spoken words he couldn’t make out their meaning. He assumed she was speaking to Talon.
“Dace?” Kailani finally called out and coughed again.
“Over here. We’re fine,” he called back and struggled to a sitting position with Lainey still cradled in his arms.