I follow his gaze. Rune just shrugs.
Wait. Rune gave me food and drink. It tasted delicious, and I didn’t smell any trace of magic or poison. None of it affected me. Granted, I didn’t have most of the blue milk, but still, if it was meant to hinder me in any way, it isn’t.
Does that mean that Rune isn’t entirely working for the living vampire after all?
But Constantine seems so very pleased, and he makes a show of cracking his knuckles and tilting his head from side to side to stretch his neck muscles.
“You want this to be a fair, even fight?” I ask. “Let’s take this outside. Vampire versus werewolf. Let’s do this right.”
“I don’t think so,” Constantine says slowly. “You see, it’s a full moon tonight, isn’t it? And that means you’ll be even more powerful than normal as your wolf. I vote that we stay in here, and…”
He drones on and on, but the blood in my veins turns cold, and I shiver. Is it that late already? Mercy. Too much time has passed. I need to end this fight, and I need it ended now!
Without even thinking about how crammed this will make things, I shift into my werewolf right there in the middle of Rune’s treehouse. Constantine gapes at me, so shocked by my transformation that he’s a bit too slow, and my fangs dig deep into his lower leg.
His claws grip my fur and flesh, and the vampire lifts me up and slams me straight down onto the ground. My legs take the brunt of the force of impact, but at least I land standing instead of having my stomach thudded to the ground. No doubt, he would’ve climbed onto my back and tried to stomp me all the way down into Hell.
But I have more fight in me than that, and I try to back away, to shake his hold on me, but that only makes the vampire’s claws dig in deeper.
"If you really want," Constantine murmurs, "I can just rip out your heart. How about that? I can give it to Romelia as a present. Bake it in a meat pie. How does that sound? She'll love it, don't you think? Of course I won't tell her what she's eaten until after she's swallowed the last bite. The perfect dinner for our wedding night, don't you think?"
I growl and lunge at him, not caring that his claws rip my back. My jaw comes so very close to chomping on his throat, but he ducks down as he brings his hand up. He grabs my throat instead of mine biting his. He squeezes, drawing me closer to him, and my claws rake down his arms.
With a hiss, Constantine flings me against the back wall. I collapse to the ground hard. As I struggle to climb to my paws, I realize the vampire has fled. One step toward the door is all I manage before my legs give out, and I fall back down again. I’m wounded even worse than before, but I suppose there is a bright side. Constantine didn’t kill me.
But there's no doubting it. He's a vicious fighter, and if we fight again, I'm going to have to be smarter and faster, or else the outcome will be similar to this experience or even worse.
Chapter 9
Julian
My eyelids feel so very heavy, and it’s a struggle to stay awake. I have to stay awake. There’s a reason why I can’t sleep. If only I could remember what it is. There’s something I have to do, something important, but I can’t remember what.
My body aches, my eyes, my head… My stomach’s all right, though, but that’s about it. The stench of blood—my blood—is all I smell. I’m not even sure where I am.
A deep breath to try to smell something other than my wounds causes me to gasp from a sharp pang of pain. It even hurts to breathe.
“You’re a bit of a fool, aren’t you? Heh,” a familiar voice sounds in my ear.
I jerk away. Opening my eyes proves too difficult a challenge, but when I smell the person's breath—onions and garlic galore—my eyes fly open.
Rune Darkmore stares at me, his face inches from mine.
“Definitely a fool,” the witch declares with satisfaction as he draws back.
With a groan, I sit up. Wasn’t I in my wolf form before? Why am I—
Constantine. The battle. He fled.
Mercy. She needs to be healed. She’s the reason why I came here in the first place.
“Antagonizing that vampire isn’t a smart idea,” Rune says. “You’re a wolf, right? Doesn’t mean you have to be stupid. You can be smart. A smart wolf. Heh.”
“Thanks for that, but right now, I’m not smart or foolish. I’m just wounded.”
“If you would’ve drunk the blue milk.” Rune shakes his head.
“It was a potion?”
“No. Heh. What do you take me for? I’m not a fool. I’ll tell you that much.” He wags a long, boney finger at me. “It’s just milk, but it does have some properties. It’s supposed to help with speed and endurance, that kind of thing.”
“You’re supposed to… You honestly think I’m going to believe you? That you want to help me? After what you pulled?”
Rune holds out his hands and shrugs, acting all defenseless. “What can I do? Living vampires are powerful. I’m a witch. I have magic, yes, but some of what they’re capable of…”
“He frightens you.”
“Doesn’t he frighten you?” he counters. “Now, let me get you some more milk. It will help you to heal entirely and maybe give you a slight edge when you next cross his path. You will cross his path again, don’t you think? He hates you so very much, and when demons hate someone… it usually doesn’t end well for that person.”
“I’m not just any old person,” I grumble as I make my way to his kitchen.
The witch hands me another cup. This time, I drain the milk. If he means me harm, I’ll die from the poison, but I have a feeling the witch is trying to cater to both sides to live as long as he can. Honestly, it probably won’t end well for him either.
Either. Won’t end well for him either. Am I that paranoid and worried that I won’t survive this?
Survive. Survival.
My survival is nothing compared to Mercy’s. She’s the one whose life is on the line right this very second.
With Constantine showing up, I completely forgot the reason why I came here in the first place.
“Rune, you know about vampires, living ones, demons, all of that?”
The witch eyes me curiously. “I know some, yes. What is it you want to know?”
“A friend of mine was attacked by a living vampire. Vampire blood won’t heal her. She’s vomiting it, and she’s having seizures.”
“Hmm.”
“Can you think of anything that can cause it? More importantly, can you create a potion that will help to save her? She’s dying, and she can’t die.”
“Hmm. Is she the Romelia that you and Constantine were talking about?”
“No.”
“Who is this Romelia?”
I gape at him. “Someone’s life is at stake, and all you’re worried about is being in the know? I’ll give you all of the gossip after you cured her! How about that?”
The witch shrugs. “I’m not sure I can help her.”
I gape at him. “Why not?” I growl, the words hardly audible.
“Why not? Because I’m not the best at healing. I’m decent at tracking and—”
“Tracking? Why would werewolves bother to come to a witch for help for tracking purposes when we are capable trackers ourselves?” I spit out.
“Well, you can track well, yes, when you have a trail to follow, but if the person isn’t near you, if there is no trail… if the person is across state lines or in another country… There are times when even werewolves need help tracking. Oh, and I am good with animals. They trust me—”
I let out a howl. “You are not good with animals!”
"Heh. You consider yourself an animal, then, hmm? I thought shifters tended to hate that, which always struck me as odd. You are part animal. Heh. I'm part animal. All humans are."
“We aren’t humans. Humans lack magic.”
“Yes, yes, fine. People are animals. You happy now?”
"No! I need the name of a witch who can help to heal my friend, and I need the name now!"
“Touchy, touchy,” Rune murmurs. “The way you talk to me is quite appalling, and after I was so kind to you too. Maybe I don’t feel like getting you a name.”
"Then, her blood will be on your hands."
The witch shrugs. “I can’t help everyone. I can’t even help myself.” A faraway look crosses his eyes. Then he sighs and shakes his head. “Fine. I will see if I can come up with a name.”
“You don’t know a name off the top of your head.”
He hesitates. “I do, but some witches have… questionable allegiances.”
I snort. “You mean like you?”
"I am trying to survive," he argues. "You can't blame me for that. Unfortunately, Constantine learned that I helped your pack in the past. He thought you might come to me, and you did. He seems to know you very well. Vampires do like to be fifteen steps ahead of everyone else. A part of their vampiric speed, I think. I would advise you to not do what you normally would if you want to try to stay away from him."
“That won’t be possible,” I say. “Now, please, stop talking, and start finding a witch who can help me. Please. I’m begging you.”
Rune slowly nods. “I cannot promise that anyone will be able to help, but I’ll go over my list of contacts. There are some witches who you should mention my name, and some you would be better not to, and—”
I glower him into silence.
He holds up his hand and walks off toward the back of the treehouse, disappearing from view.
There’s more than a good chance that he won’t be able to help me. Frustration has my wolf begging to be released, and I ignore him and grab my phone. No texts, no missed phone calls, no update on Mercy.
I call Romelia. No answer. I call Bermon. Same thing. I text and call them both again and again, blowing up their phones, but they don’t respond.
On a whim, on a hope and a prayer, I call Mercy, but of course, she doesn't answer.
There are other werewolves I know who are attending summer courses, and I call the two whose numbers I have, but even they don't answer. In complete and total desperation, I call the front office. There has to be someone working there, right? But all I get is a voicemail message about calling back in the morning during their limited business hours.
Unable to take this, I begin to pace. There are puddles of blood here and there, and I’m debating trying to clean up the mess when Rune renters the room.
“Do you have good news for me?” I ask.
“Do you want the long answer or the short answer?”
“Short.”
“No.”
“No good news. Of course.” I grit my teeth and head toward the door.
“I can’t help you with your werewolf friend, no, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t help you with something else.”
“I don’t have time—”
“Constantine almost killed you,” he says. “Next time, he will unless…”
“Right now, I don’t care about my own life!”
"Then, you will die. It's that simple. Heh. When you live to be as old as me—"
“As I am,” I correct.
Lines crease his forehead as he frowns at me. “You aren’t that old,” he says.
I slap my palm to my forehead. “I need to get going.”
“You came all of this way to have me help you, and—”
“And you failed me.”
“Ah, but I didn’t!” The witch lifts a finger into the air. His smile is all-knowing, but I am tired, so very tired of all of the games he’s playing.
“I’m done,” I tell him.
"Then, not only will your friend die, but so will you and, I wager, so will that Romelia as well."
I swallow hard. “How can I trust you when Constantine came here because he knew I was here? You sold me out?”
“You’re doing what you can to help your friend survive, but what you should be more concerned about is how you can survive.” Rune points at me. “What you need is protection, and I have just the thing for you.”
“A talisman?” I ask, thinking about Romelia.
"Yes. You see, even if Constantine hadn't been the one to hurt your friend, he might be able to do the same thing to you. It depends on his abilities and powers as part-demon, but it is far better to be prepared than not, especially since you know he's gunning for you."
“Do you have the talisman on hand?”
“I do, actually.” Rune smiles for half a second before grimacing. “I feel out of favor with your pack. I’ve made some decisions in the past that I wish I hadn’t, but you can’t dwell on the past. All you can do is affect the future, try to be better, do better. That’s why I gave you the milk. I had no choice in helping Constantine, but it’s you I want to truly help. So I half-ass with him, but you…”
The witch tosses something at me. A small pouch. Inside is a chain with twin labradorite stones, both in the shape of shields. It reminds me of the talisman necklace Romelia has.
“This will protect me from Constantine and other demons?” I ask.
"Constantine is only half-demon," Rune corrects.
I bare my canines at him.
The witch holes up his hands. “Yes, yes, this should protect you against dark magic. Constantine told you the truth. Demons have been mating with vampires more and more often to try to create more and more living vampires. The living vampires seem to be growing more powerful, stronger, faster. It’s frightening, truly frightening.”
“I’m not frightened, but thank you for this.” I hold up the talisman and then tie it on. I’m just shoving it underneath my shirt when my phone buzzes.
With a grimace, I realize it’s not Romelia or Bermon. It’s some kind of alert.
Attention, all students of Moonstone and Blood Haven Academies. Both schools are shut down for the foreseeable future. As a result of the on-going brawl to the death between students—
I don’t bother to read the rest of the message, and I don’t bother to say goodbye or thank Rune. Like a lightning bolt, I’m dashing out of the house and heading toward the academies.
The students are engaged in a brawl to the death. Just when I think things can’t get any worse, they do. They really do.
Chapter 10
Julian
The miles fade away beneath my paws, and it's so very hard to approach Moonstone with the knowledge that I won't be stepping paw on campus. There's no doubt in my mind that the students aren't fighting at either academy, considering the guards at either location wouldn't abide by that. No, the students are fighting elsewhere. Now, that isn't to say that the guards might not have left their posts in order to try to get the students to stop fighting, but for a notice to go out to every student… that's huge.
A brawl to the death.
I cannot even wrap my mind around that.
My heart aches, though. I’ve done nothing to help Mercy, and I don’t even know if she’s all right, but at this point, all I can do is to try and hope for the best, hope that the healers will be able to save her, or that Romelia is having some success.
A failure, that's what I feel like, but if I can get the students to stop fighting, then maybe my efforts won't entirely be for naught. There's nothing I can do for Mercy right now. I have to assume that the talisman is not an option for her because she's already suffering the effects of demonic influence. The point of a talisman is to prevent or, worst-case scenario, to lessen the effects. Rune would've said if the talisman could help her in any way. His silence speaks volumes.
It's terrifying to think that the living vampires are evolving and becoming more demonic. At least Blood Haven Academy is teaching them how to use their vampire powers to their fullest extent and not their demonic powers, but if they ever gain living vampires as their professors, will that change? There are all kinds of academies throughout the world—Magical Hunters Academy, other vampire and werewolf academies, especially overseas… I think there might even be a ghost academy to help ghosts transition into their new way of life.
Do the professors attempt to help the ghosts cross over? I don't know.
I also don’t know if there is a demon academy. A part of me thinks there has to be, and I can only hope that its location is Hell.
The sky is darkening. Or is it lightening? I don’t know how much time has passed, if the day is starting or ending. My chest aches, my breathing coming in ragged. Stupid blue milk. I thought it was supposed to help me, but it’s not giving me much of a boost at all.
And then, I’m there, on the outer ridges of the fighting. All around me, vampires and werewolves are fighting. The vast majority of the werewolves are in their wolf forms. We’re natural hunters, predators, and although we’re much larger than the animal wolves, we’re smaller as our wolves than as our humans, making us smaller targets for the vampires. Also, there’s all of that fur in the way to help prevent the vampires from being able to bite us.
As much as it physically pains me to be here instead of beside Mercy or trying to find some way to save her, I can be active here. I can help save lives. Just because these vampires and werewolves aren’t my closest friends doesn’t mean I should leave them to their hatred and the high likelihood of death.
There’s so much needless death, so many dead bodies already littering the floor, but they aren’t the ones I’m here for. I’m here for the ones who live yet so that they can continue to live.
One vampire is whizzing about, attacking as many werewolves as he can, just going around, slashing them. I watch his movements for a moment. He can’t quite reach his full vampiric speed because of all of the bodies in the way, and he’s only sneak-attacking the werewolves who are distracted and engaged in battle with other vampires.
He’s also working in a slightly counter-clockwise pattern, and I realize who his next two targets are. I can’t reach the first, but the second? I barrel my way over, the vampire moving too quickly to stop, and I leap. My paws connect with the vampire’s side. He tumbles to the ground, and I place all four paws on him, pinning his body down with my heavy weight.
Blood Haven: Year Three: A Mayhem of Magic World Story Page 6