The Van Wilden Chronicles Box Set Books 1-3

by Jessica Gleave

  Gareth pointed to the scene through the leaves and went to make a move again. Oscar shook his head, mouthing at Gareth to step away.

  He shook his head. Fuck that. His mate was right there. He needed to rescue her. Gareth moved to leap, but a hand covered his mouth, pulling him back. Gareth struggled to fight against Oscar. It was like steel had been wrapped around his body. Oscar dragged Gareth away from the clearing. They entered an area out of earshot to the Forest Clan. Oscar released Gareth.

  “What are you doing?” Gareth snapped. “He has Morgana back there.”

  “Patience, young man,” Batheras spoke to his left. Out of the shadows emerged the Council Elders. Batheras stepped forward where Oscar and Gareth were standing.

  “Remember the plan, young whelp,” Agnor said in her strong, commanding voice.

  “We all need to be careful,” Jelani commented. “Remember, Ragnorok has discovered the way to kill Primus.”

  “He’s an arrogant young fool,” Agnor scoffed. “There’s no way he can beat us all.”

  “True,” Batheras said. “But we have not survived for five-thousand years without knowing how to fight. We eradicate this so-called Ragnorok before he spreads through the country any further. Are we ready to battle, fellow Elders and agents?”

  “Yes,” came the reply in perfect chorus.

  “Then the battle shall begin.”

  “I suggest you duck, Gareth.” Oscar pulled him down, so he was squatting next to the Elder. Whistling noises rent through the air as flaming stakes sailed overhead, felling the guards and many Forest Clan vampires.

  Then the alarm sounded as their enemy began to discover they were under attack.

  “Time to move, everybody!” Jonas leaped up and headed toward the feeding area.

  Gareth felt another tug on his arm. He turned to see Vivienne standing there with Alastor next to her.

  Vivienne placed a hand on each of their cheeks. “Before you go in there, I just want to say… I’m so proud of both of you. Remember what I’ve trained you to do.” She looked at each of them. “Come, let’s go get our girls.”

  They crept quickly around the perimeter of the Forest Clan’s lair, heading in the direction of where the girls were being held.

  Gareth wasted no more time in getting to Morgana as his feet sloshed through the pool of blood at her feet. He grasped her face in his hands. “Morgana.” A sudden giddiness swept over him at being able to touch her again.

  “Gareth,” her voice was weak but hopeful.

  “Yes, I’m here.”

  Her eyes dropped. “No, you’re not here. My mind is just conjuring the image of you standing there.”

  “Morgana, of course, I’m here.”

  Her head shook slightly.

  “Does this feel real?” he gingerly lifted her face to look into his eyes, careful not to touch the bruised areas. He placed his lips onto hers, soft at first, his lips caressed hers, before his excitement at feeling and tasting her lips again overwhelmed him. He flicked his tongue against her lips, hoping she’d let him in. Her mouth parted, and he delved inside. Her tongue was dry from dehydration but all that mattered at this moment was proving he was here with her. He pulled back, searching her chocolate brown eyes for any recognition.

  She looked at him, her eyes widening. “Gareth?” she whispered, “It’s really you?”

  “Yes, my love, it’s me.”

  Joy and relief flooded through the bond.

  Gareth searched her body. “Did he touch you anywhere else?”

  “No. He said it would be like fucking a cow.”

  “You know, I’ve heard some humans do that.”

  Morgana laughed, but it turned into a gurgle as blood spilled from her mouth.

  “Morgana!” he panicked, “Are you all right?”

  She shook her head, and he wiped the blood away from her mouth, the excess dripped into the puddle at their feet.

  He looked down. “Such a fucking waste,” he muttered.

  “Are you jealous, Gareth Lloyd?” Morgana asked, her voice raspy.

  “Of course,” he growled, “All of this is mine. If anyone were to drink from you, it was to be me. And me only.”

  Morgana grimaced. “Please no more talk of drinking from me. I’ve had enough to last a lifetime.”

  “Fair enough.”

  “I’m so ready to be free of here.”

  “And you will be.”

  A throat cleared behind him and he turned around to be face to face with Ragnorok.

  “Unfortunately, for you, none of you will be leaving here alive.”

  ***

  As soon as they had approached the girls, Alastor ran toward Ava despite Vivienne’s hand reaching out to slow him.

  He didn’t care if he were rushing into a trap. He needed to see if his girlfriend was all right.

  “Ava.” He cupped her face in his palms, his heart beating at the joy of seeing her.

  “Alastor?” her voice was weak and raspy.

  “Aye, lass.”

  A tear slid down her cheek. “Oh, thank God.”

  Alastor smiled.

  Ava’s hazel eyes gazed into his. “I’m so grateful now that you never bit me. Losing blood sucks.”

  Alastor, despite the situation, found himself chuckling. “Aye, lass, that’s what us vampires do. We suck.” He pressed his forehead to hers before pulling back.

  “Look out!” Ava shouted.

  Alastor looked up in time to see a vampire dropping from the trees toward him.

  Chapter Forty-One

  “You bastard,” Gareth hollered, crash tackling into Ragnorok, slamming him into the dirt. His fists pummeled down on the clan leader’s face. Ragnorok may have consumed Morgana’s blood, but anger fueled his strength. “I’ll fucking kill you for what you did to her.”

  He kept hitting until Ragnorok’s face was a bloodied mess. He hadn’t killed him, not by a long shot, but it still felt good.

  His fists were a blur as he kept going. He groaned as he felt a stake impaling in his back, breaking his bloodlust. Shit, where had that come from? It wasn’t in his heart, thank goodness, but it was piercing his spine. He angled his arms around his back to try to pull it out, his body contorting into different angles. Ragnorok groaned underneath him. He finally managed to grasp and yank the weapon out, throwing it to the ground.

  Gareth lifted himself off Ragnorok, spinning around to face the stake thrower.

  All around him a battle was ensuing, not just where the Primus were fighting but here in the feeding grounds—his teammates fighting against the Forest Clan vampires.

  Hector and Jonas worked as a synchronized pair. Hector punched a vampire with such force it propelled him backward. Jonas caught the flying vampire with one hand and, with the other, staked the vampire’s heart through his back with such force the tip protruded through his ribs. Then, still holding the vampire up, he lit the end of the stake dropping the flaming vampire to the ground before turning to attack the next.

  Gareth turned back around to see Ragnorok had gone. From the blood trail and the drag marks in the dirt, someone else had taken him away. He gritted his teeth and followed the vampire’s scent to a hut, ducking and weaving through the chaos of fighting vampires. Gareth reached the hut only to hit an invisible wall when he couldn’t go in. Of course, the fucker would have a human living in there with him. He slammed the invisible wall in frustration, seeing Ragnorok laid out on a crude-looking cot, vulnerable and ready to be killed. A gangly vampire appeared in the doorway grinning at him.

  “Assholes,” Gareth hissed before turning back to the fight. Ragnorok would heal soon enough and would likely join in. That was when Gareth would strike him again.

  Irritation spiked through the bond, and he could feel Morgana’s eyes on him. Shit, Morgana. He rubbed the back of his neck—what kind of mate was he, charging off and leaving her strapped to the pole? Yeah, he was definitely not going to win any boyfriend-of-the-year award.

  He tried
to duck and weave his way through, but with the huge battles raging on between him and her, it was clear he was going to have to fight his way back to her.

  ***

  Alastor felt the vampire behind him even before Ava screamed out, and he twisted his torso in time, away from the vampire’s arm swinging toward him, stake in hand. Alastor grabbed the offending arm and twisted it back against its owner, the vampire’s blue-gray eyes widened as Alastor forced the stake into its owner’s chest. He dropped the dead vampire to the ground, pulling his lighter free from his pocket to set the weapon alight.

  He had no time to check if the body caught on fire as he was descended upon by more Forest Clan vampires.

  “Feckin’ bastards.” He stood, rolling his neck. His hands moved to his stake holster before he stopped. Nay, he was going to fuck these bastards up using his bare hands. Then stake the assholes.

  His fist slammed into the first vampire’s face to approach him. The vampire stepped back before another stepped in. Alastor ducked the offending arm, ramming his shoulder into his attacker’s stomach and pushed him back. He was trying to keep them away from Ava. A third was on him before he could recover. Alastor swung his fist into the vampire’s stomach and staked him through the back as he was doubled over.

  “Are ye all right, love?” He hopped from one foot to another watching the two vampires approach. He grasped two stakes in his hands. May as well end them. They hurtled toward him. As they neared, he swung to the side, tossing a stake at the left vampire, felling him in his tracks. The second vampire only had a second to look astonished at his clan member before he too was struck with a flying stake.

  Alastor glanced at Ava.

  “I’m fine. Just keep fighting.”

  “I’ll free ye in a second.”

  “It’s fine. I’m probably safer tied up here than being out there.”

  “Aye. True.”

  More vampires kept dropping from the trees, landing around them, eyes blazing with fury.

  “They must be hungry,” Ava commented.

  Alastor nodded, though his lips twitched. They were, after all, freeing their food supply. Though, who knew what the other agents were doing to the other humans in the feeding area? The order was given not to let them live.

  Alastor ducked as a vampire leaped toward him, fangs bared. The vampire sailed over his head, tumbling into the edge of Ava’s kiddie pool.

  Alastor swung around on his heel while still crouched, staking the vampire in his back before he could recover from his misplaced landing.

  “Incoming!” someone yelled as another wave of Forest Clan vampires dropped from the trees.

  Bloody hell. Where the feck did he recruit all of them from?

  The loud, splintering noises of the huts being destroyed to his right drew his attention.

  Oscar’s team was shredding the wooden buildings and flinging the pieces of wood at the falling vampires. Grunts were heard as they hit their marks.

  One of the Primus—he was pretty sure was Gregorus’ grandson, Nardo—was swinging one of the wooden poles with frayed pieces of rope still hanging from it. He didn’t want to know what happened to the human. Nardo swung the pole, hitting the vampires into the path of his sister who was catching and staking them like some sort of team sport. He shook his head in amazement. The last he counted before he was set upon again, the brother and sister team were up to four.

  “Jaysus.”

  “Just keep fighting,” Vivienne yelled.

  Vivienne was holding her own. The blonde vampire swung her fists at one vampire, then turned to the attacking vampire behind her. She simultaneously staked both vampires in the chest.

  He smiled. It never ceased to amaze him seeing how badass Mrs. V was.

  ***

  Ragnorok stepped out of the hut, fully recovered from the Daywalker’s beating. The half-breed’s blood was amazing. The scene that met him was chaos and bedlam. The Primus were out for blood leaving none of his Forest Clan vampires alive in their path.

  This was not how he had hoped this would go. His Forest Clan vampires appeared to be uncoordinated, unskilled, and undisciplined fighters. He growled, grabbing Cedric by his t-shirt collar. “Why aren’t we using the hawthorn stakes against them?”

  “Uh…” Cedric stammered, “They took us by surprise.”

  “How?” Ragnorok growled. “We’ve been planning this for years!” He pushed Cedric aside. Angelique had been planning this even before he and Svetlana had taken her place. “Get the hawthorn stakes.” He turned to Cedric, glaring when his second-in-command stood still. “Now!” he thundered.

  Cedric scrambled off to retrieve the weapons.

  His eyes cast to Morgana. Now that the huts were being torn down around the feeding area, he had a direct line of sight.

  She glanced his way. Her one eye full of venom.

  Ragnorok smiled. She was still chained to the pole. Good. He touched the hawthorn stake at his hip. There was still a way to get his vengeance.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Oscar watched his family members creep away from him before joining in the fray, a stake in each hand.

  While Ragnorok had amassed a huge army outnumbering them ten to one, most of them were newly-turned and no match for the power and speed of the Primus. They tore through the Forest Clan ranks, wrenching limbs from torsos and staking hearts. The agents followed them lighting the embedded stakes, leaving piles of ashes in their wake.

  He had not been in a good brawl for years. This mission had certainly turned out to be an interesting yet bittersweet one.

  So far, the Primus were winning the battle against the Forest Clan. Ragnorok’s mistake had been to turn humans who were too young for maximum physical strength, and nowhere near old enough in their vampire existence. Compared to the strength and might of the Primus, Ragnorok was sending goats to the slaughter.

  Oscar turned around to come face to face with one such youth. A young female vampire, her appearance and attire completely modern with her straight chestnut hair down to her white-tipped fingernails. He tilted his head, there was a familiarity about her like he’d seen this girl somewhere before.

  Her soft brown eyes widened, and she fell to her knees. “I’m sorry.”

  They were in the middle of a battlefield, but Oscar placed a hand on her shoulder. “For what, child?”

  She looked up, her eyes rimmed with red from tearless sobs. “I thought I wanted this. This type of existence. Because, you know, my boyfriend, Cedric, he became one.” Her voice grew ragged. “But what they made me do, to him, to Brutus, it wasn’t worth it.”

  Oscar’s grip tightened on the girl’s shoulders at the mention of his dead pet.

  The girl squirmed and grunted, “You didn’t kill my dog, though. I felt Ragnorok’s presence all around him.”

  “No, but I may as well have.” Her eyes captured his full attention. “I lured him outside.”

  Oscar’s roar rang all around them, and he lifted the girl still grasping her shoulder. His left hand shot out and grabbed her by the throat.

  Her frightened cries were cut off by his hand constricting her throat. This girl had been part of the group who killed Brutus. She should die.

  But as he stared at the girl dangling before him, her face turning purple, he realized if he killed her, any semblance of humanity he may have possessed would be shredded altogether. Her vampireness had barely begun. She’d done wicked things as a human, but he’d only be punishing the vampire. At the same time, she was a Forest Clan vampire and needed to be eradicated.

  The girl gurgled. His contemplation had lasted far too long on a battlefield. Suddenly, a stake tip protruded from the front of her chest. He watched as the already dim light in her eyes flickered briefly, then disappeared. Dropping her limp body, he saw his wife standing before him with a cocky smile—a lighter in her hand.

  “Darling, I thought you were fighting near the children?”

  Vivienne raised an eyebrow. “A lady can run,
dear.”

  “Thank you.” He nodded toward the girl’s crumpled body between them.

  “I felt your rage and then your hesitancy.” She stepped over the body, leaning close to him. “Don’t worry about hesitating. She had to die. Brutus was my baby, too.”

  Oscar furrowed his brow as they crouched over the body. Vivienne lit the end of the stake. “How did you know it was her?”

  Vivienne stared down at the burning vampire corpse. “Her scent…” she waved her hand over the flaming body, “… was all over the meat on our porch.”

  Oscar smiled. “You really are the cleverest of us all.”

  Vivienne shook her head, chuckling as they rose. It was a bloody miracle that neither of them had been stabbed or attacked by now. He offered her his arm. “Well, my dear, shall we go kill more vampires?”

  Vivienne smiled and looped her arm through his, leaning up to kiss him on the cheek. “Of course, my dear.”

  ***

  After a few more scuffles, Oscar found himself separated from Vivienne and fighting alongside a few of his fellow Elders. The battle seemed to be heading in their favor until he realized they weren’t the only ones fighting with stakes.

  “Bollocks, they’ve started using hawthorn,” Agnor muttered. “I thought the blighters had forgotten about it.”

  “Watch yourselves, then,” Oscar roared, ducking a flying stake.

  Elder Wellchide wasn’t as lucky as she was stopped in her tracks before falling face down, a stake protruding from her back.

  “Eleanor!” he cried.

  “No time to fuss now, Oscar!” Jelani shouted. “Incoming!”

  The whistling sounds of a flying stake, the ends alight, sounded as Oscar turned to see it flying toward him. He twisted his torso.

  “Oscar!” Agnor cried, pushing him out of the way and herself into the stake’s trajectory.

  “Agnor, no!” Jelani shoved Agnor behind her, her body jerking as the stake hit its final mark. Jelani’s heart. She grunted as she fell back, Agnor catching her. Oscar scrambled to his knees, leaning over them.