The Protectors

by April Hollingworth

  I can’t help the chuckle that escapes me at her declaration. After all, coming from a zombie, it is funny. Shaking my head in amusement, I slowly climb to my feet.

  “What are you finding so goddamn funny?” growls Nancy in apparent frustration.

  “Nothing, just a zombie calling me out on doing a zombie impression,” I reply, moving swiftly out of hitting range. At the couple of snickers I hear, the others at least find it amusing, even if they still seem to be worried.

  “Funny comments aside, what happened to you? Are you okay, or do we need to get a doctor?” Victor asked, while running his hands down my body and wagging my wrists as if to make sure they still work.

  “I’m fine, honest. I just had a…”

  “A what?” Victor pauses long enough in his testing my limbs to stare intently at me. I take that second to gently pull my wrists from his grasp and stroke the sides of his face in a soothing way. Well, at least I thought it was soothing until he captures my hands in his firm grasp and pulls them away from him, holding them between us.

  “An out-of-body experience…” I answer, sounding rather doubtful, even to me.

  “Are you asking us or telling us?” Selena demands, from where she’s now sitting on the sofa.

  “Umm, not sure,” I admit, before telling them what happened. Once I’ve told them everything, I suck in a deep breath and let it out, before looking at each stunned face in the room.

  “Holy cow, that’s not good, is it?” mutters Victor in shock.

  “Umm, no, definitely not good,” I reply, feeling slightly amused at his bewildered expression and question. “We’ll have to try and stop him from leaving tomorrow. Failing that, we’ll have to follow him back to Paradise Falls and try to gather more help.”

  “Well, at least we know where he is now.” Standing up, Kheda walks over to the window, staring at the closed curtains, as if he can see something the rest of us can’t. I glance from his back to Jasmine, who’s looking at him curiously. I’m guessing she feels my stare, as she turns to look at me and gives a small shrug before turning to look at Kheda once more.

  “Does anyone have any ideas on what to do next?” Jezebel asks, looking at each of us in turn.

  I shake my head in response, putting my hand over my mouth to cover a huge yawn. I’m feeling exhausted and drained and would love to sleep for at least a month.

  “How about we get some sleep, get up early, and meet for breakfast near the hotel where he’s staying,” Cedrix answers, while rubbing a large hand over his head and across the back of his neck, as if to ease tension. “Once we’ve slept and eaten, we should be able to come up with a plan to try and capture him.”

  We all readily agree to his plan. After all, we’re all knackered, and chasing after a demon while on no energy is just plain daft, let alone dangerous. Everyone who’s staying at Cedrix’s house follows him to his truck and piles in, while the rest of us clamber up the stairs to our rooms.

  I barely manage to prepare for bed and climb into it, before sleep claims me.

  Chapter 17

  Warm breath tickles the back of my neck, and a heavy arm is wrapped around my waist, anchoring me to a rock-solid body. A large hand cups my breast and squeezes it gently.

  “Are you awake?” My voice sounds husky to my own ears because I’m still half asleep.

  When I receive no answer, I wriggle around so I’m facing Victor and find him fast asleep, his mouth slightly open. I drink my fill of him and can’t help to brush my fingers lightly over his high cheekbones and trace the contours of his gorgeous face.

  For some reason while I stare at him, I remember the fortune teller on the street. Shaking my head slightly, I can’t figure out what has made me remember her, or why I feel I must go and see if she’s there.

  With a frustrated groan, I disentangle myself from my vampire’s embrace and crawl out of the depths of the blankets, dress, and hurry downstairs. Because I don’t have a key to Jezebel’s house, I transform into my wolf form, exit through the backdoor flap, and change back into my human form, before jogging off down the road in the hopes of finding her.

  Forty-five minutes later, I have a beignet in one hand and a coffee in the other, and I round the corner to find the fortune teller setting up her stall.

  “You’re just in time,” she informs me, without looking up from what she’s doing.

  “You were expecting me?”

  “Yes. Come, sit,” she instructs me, waving an elegant hand with five or six bangles clinking on her wrist, directing me to the seat in front of her.

  I quickly do as she instructs, while looking closely at her. She’s dressed herself up once again as you would expect a fortune teller to look. Her eyes are darkly kohled, a bright scarf covers her hair, and she’s wearing a colorful gypsy skirt and top, with a scarf tied around her waist. The style suits her, I decide; it’s elaborate, slightly mystical looking, and elegant.

  “Give me your hand,” she requests in a soothing voice, as if expecting me to bolt at any moment. I place a hand, with my witch magick brand, palm up in her waiting hand and receive a nod of satisfaction from the woman in front of me. “Good, good. Now let me see what lies ahead of you,” she mutters, while staring intently at my palm.

  “War. New life and death lie in wait for you. Though not for long.” Puzzlement flickers across her face, as if what she sees doesn’t make any sense.

  “What is confusing you?” I inquire, as a shiver slithers down my spine and a feeling of anticipation blossoms deep inside my stomach, uncurling like a flower’s petals.

  “A path you’re on that makes no sense.” She looks up from my hand to make eye contact with me. “I see so many changes, not just yours, though they are caused by you. Like a stone thrown in water, the ripples cross time and place. Changing everything.”

  “And this is bad?”

  “That’s what I find so strange, if this comes true…” Shaking her head, she opens and closes her mouth, before once more looking down at my palm. “It’s as if what was meant to be will come back into play. As if…”

  “As if what?” I ask, on barely a breath of a whisper.

  “You somehow heal and bring to life the missing magick in the world. Yet, the path is divided. One wrong step and everything will crumble. What I don’t understand is how it is possible? Who are you that your path holds such power over all?”

  I look into the fortuneteller’s face and see hope and disbelief battle in her eyes. With a slight smile flickering across my mouth, I bring up my other palm and turn it around so she can see my wolf brand tattoo.

  A startled gasp escapes her as she stares at my palms. “Double magick, you are the one? I always thought that was just a myth.”

  “All myths are based on truths; they’ve just been relegated into fables,” I reply, before standing. I pay for my reading and wish her farewell.

  Chapter 18

  I return to Jezebel’s house in time to wake Victor by nibbling his chin and tracing open-mouthed kisses along his torso. His hands delve into my long hair, wrapping around it and pulling me gently but firmly up until our mouths meet in a fiery kiss.

  Releasing his hands from my hair, he quickly undresses me, rolling me under him and throwing my clothes onto the floor. Using his powerful legs, he pushes mine open, hooking them under his arms, while trailing kisses from my lips to my breasts, before piercing first one nipple and then the other with his fangs.

  His tongue soothes my breasts and their happy points, causing sensation to tingle and pulse from my breasts down my body to my center, where a pulse of arousal hums through and gathers inside me.

  My eyelids feel heavy, as if the pleasure lapping through me makes keeping them open impossible. Staring into Victor’s beautiful silvery-green eyes with blue fire bleeding into them is the only thing keeping my eyes from closing. As if he silently demands, they stay open, and I can’t refuse.

  His large hands move over my body, squeezing and fondling me, while mine grapple h
is shoulders, hair, and the sheets beneath me, as his mouth moves down my torso until it reaches its destination.

  His tongue plunges into my core before retreating and teasing my hooded lady, his lips clamping over it, tormenting me in a most delicious way, before releasing once more. He thrusts his tongue inside me while his fingers tease my nub.

  Pleasure crashes through me as I buck beneath him, my hands gripping his hair and holding his head in place, until finally his talented tongue, teeth, lips, and fingers bring me to orgasm.

  Rising above me, Victor thrusts his erection deep inside me. His mouth comes down to claim mine, swallowing my moans. I drape my legs over his shoulders while my hands move down to his withdrawing ass, only to grab it and bring him flush against me once more.

  With a twist of his hips, he withdraws and thrusts into me, as if returning a sword to its sheath. Until finally with his fangs distended and his eyes shining blue fire from his passion, he roars his completion, biting into the side of my neck, as I bite into his, both of us drinking from the other, as our orgasms roll through us.

  “I love you, Candi.”

  “And I love you too,” I reply through our bite connection. As his blood slides down my throat, making me feel stronger, as my hands lazily trace the contours of his beautiful body. “Mmm, I could stay here forever, just like this,” I inform him before releasing his neck from my teeth and licking it clean.

  “One day, my beauty, I’ll keep you in bed and won’t let you out for at least a week,” Victor informs me, before retracting his fangs from my neck and giving the now-healed area a fleeting kiss. “Sadly though, we have to get up and capture a demon king.” A small laugh escapes him on these words, and amusement flashes in his eyes.

  “Who would ever have thought that those words would be uttered from anyone’s mouth, let alone being serious while saying them?” I groan, feeling slightly bewildered at how weird my life has become over the last few months. Not that it was all peaches and cream before…Looking at my vampire lover, I admit my life might have taken a trip down a weird and more unusual path than I’m used to, but I wouldn’t change it back for anything.

  I reach up and trace his features, marveling at his masculine beauty. “I am so in love with you. I never believed I’d ever meet someone I could love as much as I love you,” I admit, before bringing his face down to mine and kissing him fleetingly before pushing him back so I can get up.

  “I love you too, Candi. I don’t think I can ever tell you how much you mean to me, and how happy you make me feel, just by being near you, never mind your admitting you love me,” Victor informs me while climbing off the bed and reaching down to pick me up and letting my body slide down his until my feet are on the ground.

  “We’d best get ready. I can hear the others rising, and we have an interesting day ahead of us. Hopefully, it won’t be too difficult to capture the demon.” I shake my head, at the rather incredulous look Victor flashes at me. “I know, I know. I’m not expecting it to be easy, far from it, in fact. I’m just hoping it won’t be a complete catastrophe,” I grudgingly admit, as images of this beautiful city getting pulverized flash before my eyes.

  How the hell are we going to capture him without destroying everything?

  Chapter 19

  “So how are we going to do this?” Jasmine inquires forty-five minutes later, while we’re all sitting around drinking coffee and eating breakfast at a café opposite the hotel Adramelech is staying in.

  “No idea,” I admit, taking a large bite of my sausage sandwich while ignoring the frown Jasmine sends my way.

  “Oh, wonderful. I gather you’re in a truly helpful mood, as you’re giving out such wonderful ideas.” Jasmine all but growls at me, causing me to stop chewing for a second to raise my eyebrows in bewilderment.

  “What?” I ask, once I’ve swallowed my food.

  “This is important and—”

  “I know it’s important. I just don’t know how to deal with it,” I interrupt my friend. “Look, Selena has the dirt to summon Marie, once we have Adramelech. What we need to do is figure out how to safely get near enough to him to summon her, without putting either ourselves or anyone else in jeopardy. And that is where I have no idea.”

  “Do you reckon we shouldn’t do it here, in the hotel then?” Nancy asks me, while looking between me and an apprehensive-looking Jasmine.

  “I’m not sure. The thing is, I don’t think he’ll give a hoot about killing or even destroying everything around us to get away.” I nibble my thumbnail as I try to put my thoughts in order before continuing, “If we try apprehending him on the route to the airport, then there are the commuters to worry about. At the airport, you have the planes in flight, taking off and landing, and all the people to worry about.”

  “So how about we play it by ear?” Kheda advises, causing all of us to look at him. “I have to agree. I don’t want to put others’ lives in danger in the hopes of catching him. What we have on our side is the knowledge of where he’s going.”

  Silence greets his statement as we all think on what’s been said, until finally we all agree that playing it by ear is our best chance. Even if it’s a nonhelpful plan, at least it’s a plan, of sorts.

  Decision made, everyone except Victor and I head back to the cars, leaving us to watch the hotel. Five minutes later, the man from the room next to Adramelech’s exits the building, passing the man with the tattoo on his face I’d seen last night.

  I nudge Victor’s foot with my own and nod toward the man with the peacock tattoo on his face while picking up my coffee and drinking from it. Out of the corner of my eye, I watch Victor retrieve his phone from his pocket and press some buttons. I presume that means he’s sending the others a text letting them know things are beginning to move. Kind of.

  “Blimey, I’m knackered,” I mutter after letting loose a huge yawn. “I badly need some sleep,” I admit, rubbing a hand over my eyes before slapping my cheeks gently in an attempt to wake up.

  A few minutes later, I spot Jezebel’s car turning into the street. Getting up, Victor and I stroll toward it while I check windows for any sign of movement coming from the hotel across the street.

  Ten minutes after buckling into our seats, we watch as a taxi pulls up in front of the building, and a scrawny teenager exits the hotel with the man who had entered earlier.

  The teenager pauses by the taxi to turn his head in our direction. For just a split second, his face changes, becoming older. His eyes change into slits, and a smile breaks out across his face, flashing teeth sharp and pointy looking, in a mouth too wide for his face.

  I can’t help the shudder that shivers through me or the gasp that escapes me. A second later, his face changes back, and they both climb into the waiting taxi.

  “Did you see that?” Jezebel demands in a shaky voice, while her hands grip the steering wheel so tightly I can hear it groaning.

  “Yes,” I answer, glad I’m not the only one who did.

  “Fucking hell,” mutters Victor, staring intently at the taxi that’s about to turn the corner at the end of the street.

  “Jezebel, you need to drive. We can’t lose them now in case they go somewhere else before the airport,” Janna informs her in a soothing voice, while looking worriedly at her daughter sitting between her and Vincent.

  Next thing I know, we’re speeding off after a demon in a taxi, almost knocking down a pedestrian who was unfortunate enough to try and cross the road. It doesn’t take us long to catch up. It does, though, take us a couple of minutes to get Jezebel to stop speeding. After all, we want to follow them, not get arrested.

  We quickly realize we’re not heading toward the airport. That we are instead going in the opposite direction. Pulling out my phone, I call Selena. This could be our chance in stopping him before he leaves New Orleans, let alone the country.

  “We’re heading toward the bayou,” Jezebel informs me. “Tell Cedrix to drive where we were yesterday on the boat trip.”

  Qui
ckly, I relay what I’ve been told, wondering how he’ll know where to go. After all, we were on the water yesterday, not exactly near any road.

  Apparently, I had nothing to worry about, as soon enough I see Cedrix turning onto the road ahead of us. The road we’re on is narrow and windy, more of a track than anything else. Trees surround us, and the smell of the bayou wafts through the open windows.

  Looking out the window, I see the water between the trees and what looks like a large log floating past. Soon enough, we’re pulling onto the side of the road and climbing out to proceed on foot.

  It’s only when the sound of manic cackling reaches us, I know we’re near our destination. A split second later, the screaming starts, and the laughter gets louder. Peering through the trees, I’m just in time to see the demon teen rip apart an old man with his bare hands.

  In an instant, Selene drops to the ground, dragging out the dirt she’d collected from Marie Laveau’s tomb and starts chanting. Nancy places her hand on her shoulders, and the power around them intensifies.

  T.T., Felicity, and I step in front of them, join hands and start chanting our own spell, one to protect us from being noticed, especially from the demon currently ripping through the people of the bayou while calling out for the Voodoo Prince to show himself.

  Violet power rolls and crackles up my arms, expanding outward, while a pale yellow ripples over T.T. and Felicity, before joining mine and expanding outward. In the distance, I sense the untrained power from yesterday on the bayou coming closer, and soon blue sparks flash and writhe ahead of us, before reaching out and joining our power and connecting.

  Sparks fly, before our magicks link, surrounding everyone inside in a powerful band of protection and energy, forcing the woman that Adramelech has just grasped hold of out of his hands and pushes her gently away, before looping around the demon, just in time for Marie Laveau to step into the circle.