Moon Burned (Mirror Lake Wolves Book 4)

by Jennifer Snyder

  “After you,” Eli said as he motioned for me to take the lead.

  Once we reached the door, a sinking feeling centered in my gut. Regina should be freaking out. Shouldn’t she? She had to have noticed I wasn’t in the chair.

  “I don’t like how quiet she’s being. If you’re supposed to be strapped to a chair in there, shouldn’t she have already noticed you’re missing? How big is the room?” Eli asked.

  “It’s small. She would’ve noticed the second she walked in,” I said. “Maybe she’s grilling the doctor?”

  What were we supposed to do now? Go inside anyway? What if she came at us? Neither one of us had a damn weapon to use. Should we shift?

  Eli crept forward before I could suggest it and gripped the knob. He swung it open and stepped inside. I followed close behind him.

  “There you are,” Regina said. She sat in the chair I’d been strapped to with her eyes on me. Her long nails tapped against the armrest in a pissed off rhythm. “I’ve been waiting. Did you think I couldn’t feel your eyes on me out there?”

  My throat tightened. She’d known we were watching her.

  “Oh look. You brought me a new toy,” Regina said as she took in Eli. She licked her red painted lips. “A handsome new toy at that. I’m pleased.”

  Anger lapped at my insides. Eli was not her toy.

  Regina slid from the chair and strutted across the room. My body tensed, ready to beat her to a bloody pulp if she came at me, but she didn’t. Instead, she stopped in front of Eli and placed a hand on his chest as though he were hers.

  I completely lost it.

  “Get your hands off him!” I shouted as I lunged for her.

  My wolf raged inside me, fueling my movements. I thought about letting her out to shred Regina’s throat for touching Eli, but didn’t.

  Still Eli was mine, and no bitch—especially this one—was going to touch him.

  My fist connected with Regina’s jaw. It didn’t faze her. In fact it only caused her to smile. The sight of it pissed me off.

  “You shouldn’t have done that,” she said through gritted teeth. “I can assure you I am not someone you want to screw with, little girl.”

  Little girl? I hated when people called me a little girl.

  “Does this tell you how little I care?” I asked with venom dripping from my words as I extended my arm to connect with her jaw again. She blocked my fist and pushed against me.

  “I warned you. Don’t say I didn’t,” Regina insisted as her eyes flared with rage. “I really do hate to kill you; your blood was so tasty. I can have them drain you quickly after your death, though so it won’t be a total loss.”

  “That’s not going to happen,” I said as I kicked her in the stomach, forcing distance between us. Adrenaline had spiked through my system, muting the pain of my injuries. Thank goodness. “I’m not dying today. You are.”

  Her head tipped back as she laughed. “Oh, how sweet. You actually think you can take me on and win.”

  Ignoring her words, I sent another kick to her rib cage. I followed it with a blow straight to her nose. Blood spurred from it and satisfaction rippled through me. Her eyes grew dark as she touched her nose. Her hand pulled away covered in her black blood.

  “You little bitch,” she hissed. She was on me a second later. Her hands gripped my shoulders so tight her long fingernails dug into my flesh. She lifted me off the ground without showing any stress from the weight, and I knew I didn’t stand a chance against her. “No one makes me bleed,” she said before she tossed me across the room.

  My back cracked against the concrete wall before I fell to the floor. The ribs that had been bothering me from before were now blinding me with pain. Regina’s high heels clicked across the floor as she came at me again. Dark spots dotted my vision and nausea twisted my stomach as I took in her rage-filled expression. My gaze locked on hers in time to see Eli send a kick to the middle of her back. Her body arced forward, but she didn’t fall. Instead she spun around to face him in a move that was almost too quick for me to follow.

  “You have a lesson to learn,” Regina snapped at Eli. “Didn’t your mother teach you never to hit a woman?”

  Regina started toward him. I struggled to right myself, but pain sliced through the back of my head blurring my vision. I was positive the bitch had not only fractured more of my ribs but also given me a concussion.

  “She did,” Eli insisted. “But you’re not a woman. You’re a sick monster. She never said anything about keeping my hands to myself when I went up against a monster.”

  Regina let out a cackle that had my ears ringing and my brain vibrating inside my skull. “A monster? That’s the best you have? Honey, I’ve been called far worse.”

  “I’m sure you have.” Eli smirked.

  She lunged for his throat. He sidestepped her and landed a blow to her temple.

  I forced myself into a sitting position. While Eli had Regina distracted, I needed to make my way into the next room and snag a couple syringes of Abstraction from the good doctor. Then, I could follow through with my plan to end her, and we could blow the place up. I was ready to go home. I wanted to hug Gran and let her mend my wounds.

  My feet dragged as I made my way to the lab. The floor spun beneath me, and saliva pooled in my mouth. I was seconds away from vomiting, but I pushed through by taking deep breaths.

  The doctor didn’t notice me. He continued mixing blood with ginseng, making tiny portions of Abstraction inside glass tubes. I grabbed five without him even noticing.

  With the vials of the drug clasp in my hand, I scoured the room, searching for something to inject Regina with it. I needed a pack of syringes. There had to be one somewhere.

  The sound of Eli and Regina going head-to-head in the next room made its way to my ears. Stuff fell to the floor as they thrashed around in the second half of the room. I tried to ignore them, trusting Eli could handle himself against her but it was difficult.

  When I spotted a box filled with empty syringes, I nearly cried. Never again would I doubt the watchful eye of the moon goddess. Hell, I might even participate in the next dance Gran did for her.

  I grabbed five syringes and filled them as fast as I could with shaky hands while battling nausea. Once I was finished, I glanced at Eli and Regina. They were still locked in an epic battle inside the next room. Eli had her pinned against a wall, his arm pressed to her throat. His other arm dangled at his side. It was either broken, or his shoulder had been dislocated. He wouldn’t be able to hold her for long. He needed my help.

  Now.

  I entered the room in time to hear Regina moan in a sexual way as she ground herself against him. “Ooooh, I like a guy who can get a little rough,” she teased.

  “For the last time, he’s mine, bitch,” I seethed before I plunged three of the syringes into her neck.

  The effects of the drug were almost instantaneous. Regina’s body grew slack as her eyes rolled back into her head. I sank the other two syringes into her neck and took a step back.

  “Just in case,” I said when my gaze locked with Eli’s.

  I’d learned you could never be too careful when it came to taking out an enemy—especially one as powerful as Regina. It was smart to make sure you double tapped whenever possible to be sure they stayed dead.

  Eli let go of Regina. She slid to the floor as foam oozed from her mouth, and her body did a little convulsion.

  Eli stepped to one of the machines I’d been hooked up to and ripped all the wires and machinery off until it was just a pole. He positioned it over Regina and then shoved it into her chest, piercing her heart.

  “Just in case,” he said before releasing the pole and pulling me into him. He pressed his lips against my forehead. “We did it. We took out the wicked witch of the city.”

  “We did.” I buried my face into the crook of his neck. It felt good to be in his arms.

  Adrenaline leaked from my veins, sending exhaustion and pain pulsating through every inch of me.
I couldn’t give in fully to what I was feeling though because we still had one last thing to do.

  “We need to burn this place down now,” I said.

  “You know,” Eli said as he placed distance between us so he could look me in the eye. “I’m not sure which is more badass, the way you shoved those syringes in her neck after you said I was yours and called her a bitch, or the way you just said we needed to burn the place down. You, Mina Ryan, are not someone to fuck with. I love that about you.”

  I wrapped my arms around him tighter, ignoring the pain it caused my ribs, and lifted to the tips of my toes so I could brush my lips against his. “You got that right. Now let’s do this.”

  “Wait,” he insisted. “How are you? Are you hurt? That was a nasty hit.”

  “I’ll be okay. Werewolf healing.” I smiled.

  I wasn’t okay. It would take a while before my werewolf healing kicked in, but I could push through. I had to. I wanted to see this thing to the end.

  “Good. I need you to pop my shoulder back into place first. I don’t think I’ll be much help one-handed.”

  I took a step back and glanced at his arm. It still dangled at an awkward angle. “I was wondering what was wrong with it.”

  Without giving him any warning, I reached out and jerked his shoulder until it popped back into place. Eli didn’t yell like I thought he would. He only bit down on his bottom lip.

  “Whew, okay. I think I’m good. Let’s go,” he said as he shook his arm out and rolled his shoulder. I knew it had to hurt like hell, but he’d rather die than show weakness.

  Such a typical guy.

  “I have to say, I’ve never had a woman fight for me the way you just did,” Eli said as we headed to the door.

  “Don’t let your ego get too big,” I teased. “Let’s hope I never have to do it again.”

  We paused at the door and glanced out. The coast was clear with the exception of a couple of doctors walking around like zombies.

  “What are we going to do with them? They’re innocent. We have to get them out of here before we do anything,” I insisted.

  Sickness sloshed through my stomach. The last thing I wanted was to kill innocent people.

  “Their compulsion should wear off any minute now that Regina is gone.”

  “Should we wait until that happens, and then tell them they need to get out?” I asked.

  “Do you think we have time?” Eli asked. “I don’t want the others to think something has happened to us and come back.”

  “If they did, at least they’d be able to help us get everyone else out.”

  “Oh my God!” someone said from behind us.

  Eli and I spun around to face the doctor from the other room. He stared at Regina with an immense level of disgust. In fact he looked as though he might throw up any second.

  “What happened to her? Why does she look burned?” the guy asked in a shaky voice as he took in Regina’s ashy body. He ran his fingers through his hair. “And, where the hell am I?”

  I didn’t know what to say to him. How do you tell someone they’d been held captive by a vampire for who knew how long? How do you tell someone he’s been compelled?

  Thank goodness I didn’t have to say anything because Eli stepped forward.

  “It’s going to be okay,” he insisted in a soothing voice. “You need to go tell the others about the gas leak and make sure they get out safely.”

  “Gas leak?” He rubbed his forehead as though he was trying to remember anything about a gas leak.

  “Yeah. That’s probably why you’re having difficulty remembering what happened. There’s been a gas leak in this building. We need you to help make sure everyone gets out.”

  I was shocked when the guy left the room to do as Eli said, completely forgetting about Regina on the floor with her body looking as though she’d been torched and a pole sticking out of her chest.

  “How did you do that?” I asked.

  “Do what?” Eli reached for his cell in his pocket.

  “Get him to believe your lie. He didn’t even remember Regina for crying out loud.”

  “The mind is a tricky thing, especially when it’s under stress. He’s disorientated and overwhelmed. He was looking for something logical to latch onto. He’s probably already blocked out the sight of Regina. It’s something he most likely won’t ever remember having seen.”

  It made sense. Sort of.

  “While he gets everyone out, we need to take down the vampire gamer in the corner,” Eli said as he punched a few numbers on his cell and placed it to his ear.

  “Who are you calling? Do you even get service here?” I asked, remembering Alec hadn’t.

  “One bar and my dad. We’re going to need someone to either compel these people to forget they were here or for them to be spelled to forget.”

  “Oh, good idea.” I didn’t question if Eli’s dad knew people who could do such a thing. I just believed it.

  I moved to the door and glanced out. The doctor was helping disoriented people to the exit like Eli had asked. My gaze drifted to the vampire gamer in the corner of the warehouse. His eyes were glued to his cell. He was so engrossed in the video game he was playing he had no clue what was going on around him. This boded well for us. He was another dumb vampire who wouldn’t see it coming.

  My favorite kind.

  “Coast all clear?” Eli asked once he was finished with his call.

  “Yeah. The vampire playing games seems oblivious.”

  “Perfect,” Eli said. “Let’s go.”

  As we crept toward the vampire, I tried to think of the last video game that had engrossed me as much as the one this guy was playing seemed to him. I couldn’t think of one. I didn’t have time to play games. Not that they had ever interested me anyway.

  Three feet. That was how much distance was between the video gamer vampire and us when Eli and I ducked behind a stack of boxes. My eyes remained glued to the vampire, waiting to see if he was psyching us out. He wasn’t. His damn game had truly sucked him in that hard. I opened my mouth to ask Eli in a whisper how he wanted to take this one out, but Tate appeared from out of nowhere and shoved a large piece of wood through the vampire’s chest. His skin turned to papery ashes like all the others did.

  “What are you doing here?” Eli asked as he lurched to his feet and started toward his younger brother. Rage rippled off him in waves.

  “Oh, come on,” Tate said with a wicked grin. He rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. “You didn’t think I was going to let you and Mina have all the fun, did you?”

  “Where is everyone else?” I asked, worried they were inside.

  We needed to clear the place out not fill it up again.

  “Don’t worry, they all crammed into Dorian’s SUV like a bunch of circus clowns and headed home. Well, except for your mom,” Tate said. “She refused to leave. It honestly took everything in my power to convince her not to come back in here for you. She’s sitting in the truck with the engine running. Also, she’s timing me. I have about five more minutes before she comes in after us. So I suggest we don’t stand around any longer. Aren’t we supposed to take this place down?” He reached into his pocket and grabbed out a zippo lighter. With a flick of his wrist, he opened it and ran his thumb along the rigid circle to create a spark until a flame formed.

  Eli reached out and jerked the lighter from his hand. “Don’t screw around with that in here. There’s a tank of hydraulic fluid right behind you.”

  “So let’s blow this place up,” Tate insisted with the grin of a true pyromaniac twisting his features.

  I glanced around, making sure all the humans were still making their way to the exit. The place was nearly cleared out now. It looked as though there were only a handful of stragglers the doctor was trying to round up.

  We needed to do this now, if we were going to.

  I crossed over to the drum of hydraulic fluid behind Tate and used my body weight in an attempt to tip it over. The thing was hea
vier than it looked. Eli and Tate jumped in to help me. It took them but one good nudge before the thing toppled over and all of its smelly fluid spilled onto the concrete floor. I moved for the nearest stack of boxes and toppled them over so they were touching the fluid. Eli and Tate did the same. Seeing the entire floor of the warehouse covered in boxes made me feel satisfied. I made sure the bulk of them were touching so the flames would have a chance of reaching them all in a short span of time.

  Eli stepped to me.

  “Do you want to do the honors?” he asked as he held Tate’s lighter out to me.

  I took it from his fingers. “Absolutely.”

  I flipped open the lid and ran my thumb along the striker, creating a flame on the first try. My wrist flung out as I tossed the lighter into the liquid. Immediately, the place ignited into an inferno.

  “That was the most badass thing I’ve ever seen you do, Mina,” Tate insisted.

  “You should’ve seen what she did to Regina, the lady vampire running the show,” Eli insisted as we started toward the exit.

  “What’d she do?” Tate asked.

  I tuned them out. Exhaustion trickled through my system, but it wasn’t the strongest sensation I was feeling. Exhilaration was. Strength, too, even though my ribs and head were killing me.

  Everything I’d set out to do had been done. Regina was no more. There would be no more Abstraction made here. My pack members had been rescued and were on their way home.

  All was well. Finally.

  17

  Black smoke from the fire choked me as I made my way out the exit. While I was struggling to catch my breath, skinny arms wrapped around me, squeezing me tight.

  “Oh my! I was so worried I’d lost you,” Mom said. Her voice was tight and tinged with familiar layers of panic I hadn’t heard in way too long. She released me enough so she could look at me. Exhaustion puckered the edges of her eyes, causing her wrinkles there to deepen. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah. I’m fine.” I nodded as she smoothed a few stray hairs away from my face.