Souls to Heal

by Tilly Wallace

  “I’ll go give this to Ewan to ease his troubles and make sure Jimmy comes straight home to you, Daisy.” Alice wrapped her woollen shawl around her body and tied the ends tight. Then she dropped the flask into her apron pocket.

  “Thank you,” Daisy called out as she poured water into the large pots on the stove.

  Alice ran across to the stables and saddled her horse. Thankfully, the heavy rain had diminished to a steady drizzle by the time she climbed into the saddle and gave the horse a kick. They trotted along the dirt track, through the murky gloom.

  As she rode, Alice touched her gift and the air rippled around her. She knew the men would be somewhere along the stretch of coast, she just needed to pinpoint which cove was used by the smugglers.

  At a spot where the land rose to make a cliff overshadowing the beach, the ripples became closer together until they almost merged into a solid wave.

  “Found you,” Alice whispered as she pulled the horse to a halt.

  As she dropped to the ground and scanned the area, she heard a soft nicker. Horses were tied to trees just out of sight. She walked her horse over to the others and tied the reins to a branch.

  A chill washed over Alice’s skin. There were no lights out at sea and no movement on the beach below. The men had either already met the boat or there was no boat at all. The prickle at the back of her neck told her it was the latter.

  She walked the worn path slowly in the gathering dark. Down on the beach, sand shifted under her feet, but still there was no sign of men, boat, or contraband. Dragged up where the high tide couldn’t reach, the upturned hulls of two boats were just visible in the lee of an outcrop.

  Alice paused and heeded the warning whispered in her mind. She unlaced the knife and sheath from her calf and tied it around her waist. Then she tucked the weapon under the ends of her shawl in the small of her back. There it was hidden from sight but easily within reach.

  She carried on across the beach and up the narrow path on the other side. A dark, open mouth turned into a tunnel. Light flickered at the end and long shadows were cast along the rocky roof. The pound of surf against the beach became the pound of feet, as two shapes appeared holding aloft lanterns.

  “Jimmy,” Alice said on recognising the men. “I have come to fetch you.”

  His brow furrowed. “Fetch me? No, I am to fetch you.”

  Alice glanced to Crufts, who narrowed his eyes at her and wet his lips. That one was dangerous. Jimmy was simpler to handle for all his greater size. “I have saved you a trip then. Gaffie gave Daisy and me the evening off. Your lovely wife is even now having a bath and eagerly awaiting your return.”

  “But—” Jimmy screwed up his face, the dilemma clearly written on his face. Stay or go?

  Crufts nudged his friend. “Why don’t you head home, Jimmy? I’ll escort Alice to the boss.”

  Alice kept the smile on her face. Crufts’ words confirmed her worst fears. She laid a hand on Jimmy’s arm. “Go home, Jimmy and spend some time with Daisy. Crufts will take me to my husband.”

  The big man swallowed. “Reckon I will then.” He nodded at her and then took off down the tunnel and towards the beach.

  Alice took a step further into the dark when Crufts reached out and grabbed her arm. “There’s no need for us to hurry. The boss thinks we are riding to the Sow to fetch you. We can linger here awhile.”

  “There is no need to keep my husband waiting, thank you.” She turned and tried to tug herself free.

  Crufts dropped his lantern to the ground and shoved her to the side of the tunnel, where cold stone dug into Alice’s back. The tall man caged her with his arms by her head as he leaned his body against her, using his larger size to hold her captive. “You put on a fine display earlier. You liked showing me your body, didn’t you? Now I want a feel.”

  Alice drew a slow breath as he ground his pelvis against her stomach. “Let me go, or Mr Forge will hear of this.”

  He dropped one hand and squeezed her breast. His breath came faster as he mauled her flesh. “Mr Forge doesn’t care. We know your husband is a filthy traitor who will turn us over to the excise men.”

  Alice wrenched her body to one side and knocked away his hand. She struggled but he leaned more weight on her and wedged his knee between her legs. “Let me go or you will regret it. You have been warned.”

  He laughed, but not too loud in case it echoed down the tunnel to Forge. “I’ll let you go once you’ve taken care of me. Flashing yourself made me hard, and now I’m going to give it to you, just like you want.”

  Crufts reached down, fisted her skirt, and yanked it up. Chill air swirled around Alice’s knees as he dragged her skirts higher. She placed her hands on his chest and tried to push him away, but he didn’t budge.

  “Give us a kiss.” Wet lips pressed against hers and a tongue tried to gain access to her mouth as Alice gritted her teeth. His hand continued to raise her skirts until they were bunched up between them.

  She edged one hand behind her back and her fingers grasped the hilt of the knife. There wasn’t room to move with him grinding her into the rock, and the first blow was important. Alice slowed her breathing to calm her thoughts and ignored his hands on her body.

  When she decided where to strike, she held it in her mind and mentally traced the line. She only had one chance and needed to get it right. Then in one fluid move she drew the knife from the sheath and her arm made an arc, driving the knife up and under his left armpit. A large artery ran under the arm to the heart, and she touched her gift to allow the blade to find the right spot.

  Crufts staggered backwards, swearing, and nearly tripped over the lantern. Alice had another decision to make. Run down the tunnel towards Ewan, or make sure Crufts didn’t try to rape another woman. She chose the latter.

  “Stupid bitch!” He roared and lifted his left arm.

  Alice ducked under his arm, pulled the knife free, and then plunged it into his chest.

  Crufts staggered backwards into the opposite wall. His eyes widened as a dark patch bloomed over the front of his jacket. His fingers grabbed at the hilt and tugged it free of his flesh.

  Alice didn’t wait to see what he did next. She snatched up the lantern and took off down the tunnel. The light shook back and forth as she ran. Up ahead, a soft yellow orb enlarged until it turned into the end of the tunnel. She slowed her pace and entered a large cavern.

  Ewan sat on a crate, his arms lashed to his torso. His head dropped on his chest as blood ruined his shirt.

  “Ewan!” she called his name and ran towards him. Alice set the lantern on a barrel and took Ewan’s face in her hands.

  A large bruise spread over one cheek, the eye on the same side was bloody and swelling shut, and his lip was cut. His blue eyes focused on her and a sad smile touched his lips. “You should have stayed away.”

  Forge coughed into his hand. “I sent my men to fetch you, Alice. What exactly have you done with them?”

  Alice wiped blood from the corner of Ewan’s mouth and then turned to face the vampyre. “Jimmy has returned to the Dancing Sow. Crufts thought he would rape me in the tunnel.”

  A low growl came from behind her that sounded distinctly lupine.

  “I assume he was unsuccessful since you are here and he is not.” Forge took a step closer towards her. He sniffed the air around her, like a hyena scenting its prey. “I smell blood, but it’s not yours.”

  “No. I left him bleeding in the tunnel.” Alice wished she had paused long enough to retrieve her knife. All she had now was the flask and its poisonous contents.

  Forge advanced another step. Cold black eyes fixed her to the spot as he reached out and wrapped his hand around her throat. “Oh, you are intriguing. Such a strong pulse you have.”

  Alice kept her panic locked away in the room in her mind. She had a plan. All she needed was the chance to implement it.

  “Let her go, Forge. Alice knows nothing.” Ewan looked up. He seemed stronger, as though raw energy pulsed aro
und him. His shoulders flexed against the ropes, but they held him in place.

  Forge leaned close to Alice, but not a whisper of breath escaped from between his dead lips. “Captain Shaw is playing coy, but I’m sure with your help we can make him very talkative.”

  Ewan’s head raised and he squinted at Alice. “Really Forge, use your brain. She knows nothing. Alice was a convenient cover and a pleasurable distraction at night.”

  “Oh, she’s far more than that, and we both know it. I can smell your wolf all over her.” The hand around her throat moved and his thumb stroked her jaw. “Besides, what she knows is irrelevant. What matters is what you will tell me to end her agony.”

  Ewan growled as he rocked and twisted in his seat. “You’ll not harm her.”

  Alice might have imagined it, but Ewan’s features seem to blur and shift as he spoke, as though his wolf tried to emerge. She scanned the cavern as her mind whirled. The brazier held a fire too small to be of any use against the creature holding her. Embedded in a barrel was a familiar knife belonging to Ewan. Would she be strong enough to summon the weapon to her hand?

  “I don’t think so.” The vampyre saw what caught her attention and dragged her two strides further away from it.

  “You must realise this is futile. Too many people will ask questions if Ewan and I disappear. You cannot drain the entire village to cover your crimes.” Alice stood taller and twisted in his grasp to meet his dead eyes.

  Forge huffed a soft laugh. “Only one person will disappear tonight, and we’ll tell the others he drowned bringing the shipment ashore.”

  Inside her safe room she screamed NO! and slammed her fists into the walls. She and Ewan would escape and thwart this creature; there had to be a way.

  “I will not be complicit in your evil plans.” She would keep him talking while waiting for her moment to snatch the flask from her pocket.

  Forge placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face the rows of neatly stacked barrels. “Look here and imagine each keg full of gold. My mission will make me a wealthy man for all of my long life. But I have realised I might grow bored. As much as I dislike people, I find the idea appealing of a fine form to listen to me narrate my victories. Once I have you in my thrall, you will be complicit in whatever I ask of you.”

  “I would rather die than spend a moment alone with you,” she said between clenched teeth.

  Ewan fell silent and still. He didn’t rage or scream, but it washed off him as though he bathed the air around him in cold fury.

  “You might yet get your wish.” Forge circled behind Alice. He placed one hand under her chin and tilted her head to one side, exposing her neck. Then he addressed Ewan. “Do you know how to make a new vampyre? First you drain your victim to the point of death. You need to stop just before their heart gives the final beat. I’ve tried a few times, but I’m rather greedy and always end up killing them.”

  “Let Alice go, and I will say no more of your operation here. You can do what you please with me, just let her walk away,” Ewan said.

  “Oh I will do what I please with you. Once I have pleased myself with her.” Forge rubbed his thumb over the vein in Alice’s neck. “Once they are almost dead, you open a vein and feed them your blood. With no pulse, our blood is thick and sluggish, and they have to suck quite hard to draw enough to effect the change. I was fed from the wrist, but with a creature like this, I think I’d rather have her hungry mouth fastened somewhere else.”

  “I will erase you from this earth for touching her.” Ewan’s blue eyes blazed.

  “Why don’t you say goodbye to the captain, and then we’ll start. All this talking is making me quite parched, and you don’t want me drinking too deeply of you.” Forge pushed her towards Ewan.

  Alice stumbled forward and placed both hands on his thighs. She looked up into his battered face and whispered, “I love you, and I’m sorry.”

  A frown pulled at his brow. “None of this is your fault, only mine.”

  “No, I’m sorry for this. It’s going to hurt.” Her fingers curled into his flesh.

  Her time with Hoth taught Alice one valuable lesson. In moments of the greatest need, desperation and necessity can combine to give a person strength they never knew they possessed. Alice needed to find those resources within her now. She couldn’t try and fail because that simply wasn’t an option. She let her gift find the silver bullet buried deep in Ewan’s femur.

  Then she summoned it to her hand.

  26

  Ewan

  * * *

  Rage already burned through Ewan like cold fire, but now he became a pyre as the bullet reversed its long ago journey. He gritted his teeth as pain scorched his flesh and nerves. Then, as rain soothes dry summer earth, behind the wash of agony came cool relief as Alice drew the ensorcelled bullet from his body.

  In the last few hours, Ewan hadn’t physically moved, but he had come a long way. He acknowledged how deeply he loved Alice and saw that his wolf had been right all along. She was his mate, the one woman who understood and loved him as no other ever could. The one person who made his life infinitely better and for whom he would risk everything, even death.

  For years he thought he had locked away a demon, but he had instead shut away a pivotal piece of himself. He thought he became a cold statue to protect others, but he was deceived. He did it to protect himself.

  It had torn his young heart to shreds to lose the mother he had loved so dearly. To shield himself from ever experiencing such pain again, he locked away his heart, his passion, and all those emotions that added colour and texture to life.

  Finally, he embraced his wolf and absorbed it as part of him instead of viewing it as a weapon to wield and control. Just as Alice stitched back her soul, so Ewan pulled together all his pieces and become one. He drew a deep breath as the wolf flowed through every part of him and made him something better. Fiercer. A creature that would love and protect its mate without limits.

  And now it was free.

  Alice curled her hand around the bloody bullet as Forge hauled her backwards. The vampyre exposed his sharp canines as he fisted his hand in Alice’s short hair and pulled her head back to bare her throat.

  I love you, Ewan mouthed to Alice. Then he surrendered to the beast.

  Ewan the man shimmered and dissolved as the other creature emerged. The ropes binding him were cut with the swipe of a claw as bones broke and reformed. Skin erupted with silken ebony fur and fangs dropped into his mouth. His body morphed into a different shape in a matter of just a few seconds.

  As Forge’s prepared to plunge his teeth into Alice’s skin, Ewan’s wolf burst free. It didn’t want to hurt Alice, and protecting her was the creature’s overriding instinct. As it jumped, the wolf angled its body so that its shoulder hit Forge’s with the brunt of its attack. The vampyre spun backwards as Alice was knocked clear and to the ground.

  The wolf hit the dirt, spun, and leapt again, this time with a clear path to its enemy. Paws hit the vampyre direct in the chest, and the force carried both Unnaturals to the ground. The wolf had the advantage of bulk, but Forge was strong and the two predators were equally matched.

  They rolled in the dirt, first one and then the other on top as they fought for dominance. Forge roared and wrapped his hands around the wolf’s neck, squeezing so hard that his eyes bulged with the exertion. But the wolf was free after such a long time. It revelled in having a solid form and finally being able to exact revenge.

  For nearly a year, French magic had tortured its every breath, and it would repay pain with pain. Massive jaws snapped at the vampyre. It used all four paws to scrabble at clothing and rake Forge’s cold flesh underneath.

  “Hold him down!” Alice yelled as she rushed forward with a flask in her hands.

  The wolf snarled and bit into Forge’s neck. Canines sank into stringy flesh either side of the vampyre’s neck as the beast closed its jaws. It ignored the nails raking its muzzle and trying to gouge its eyes from the so
ckets. It would endure and hold the foul tasting demon still for its mate.

  Alice poured the contents of the flask into Forge’s open mouth as he tried to thrash his head from side to side. Thick golden syrup trickled over his tongue and down his throat as he gurgled and spat.

  “That will slow him down.” She disappeared from the wolf’s line of sight as it growled and increased the pressure on the demon under its paws.

  The traitor laughed and his voice rasped from a constricted throat. “Stupid woman. You cannot kill me, and the beast will tire eventually. Then all I need do is drain you and I will be restored.”

  Then Forge began to cough. His chest heaved as spasms racked his frame. A thin trickle of golden syrup dribbled from the corner of his mouth. The pungent odour made the wolf wrinkle its nose and try to turn away. The hands clawing at the wolf’s body slowed and long fingers twitched.

  The vampyre coughed and wheezed, even though no breath was within him. “What did you pour into me?”

  “My own brew. The most potent poisons I could acquire, yew and nightshade, mixed with vervain and distilled to increase the effect. Then I cast a simple spell telling it to find your muscles. I thought that would be the quickest way to incapacitate you.” Alice scanned the cavern and then pointed to the wall. “Ewan, the boat hook.”

  A long pole with a hook on one end was wedged into a fissure in the stone. The men used it to hang a lantern, but Crufts had taken the lantern earlier when he went in search of Alice.

  The wolf rolled off Forge, grabbed a mouthful of jacket, and hauled him up.

  The vampyre stood on unsteady legs. He sneered down at the lupine and lashed out with sharpened nails. “I will shake this off. Already I feel the vervain diminishing within me.”

  Forge lunged to one side towards Alice, but the wolf blocked him with its large body. Then it saw its opportunity and shifted its weight to its large hind legs before leaping. It hit Forge in the chest and thrust him backwards to the cavern wall and the waiting boat hook.