Burned: Wild Magic Book 2

by Danielle Grenier

  It was only 7:30pm, but Jesse and several other wolves had already claimed a large table in the restaurant. Angel snagged a seat across from Jesse and between two of the wolves she’d met at lunch. Serguei was a long-limbed wolf with a strong Russian accent from Alberta who had been impressed with her hand-to-hand combat skills against Matt. Martin was a smaller wolf from the Montreal pack who fancied himself something of a ladies’ man.

  “Angel!” Jesse greeted her brightly. “You decided to join us after all.”

  “Why not?” Angel shrugged. “Drunk wolves are pretty darn entertaining.”

  “What’s your poison?” Martin asked. “I think this place has a decent wine selection.”

  Angel resisted the urge to laugh in his face.

  “Wine? No, thanks.” She scoffed, then caught the waiter’s attention, ordering a steak dinner and whiskey.

  “Why does it not surprise me you’re a whiskey girl?” Jesse asked.

  “‘Cause you’re not as dumb as you look?” Angel suggested.

  The table erupted in laughter at her jab, which - of course - Jesse handled gracefully.

  “I can’t imagine how much of me you can actually see from down there,” he joked. “I mean, I suppose I could have a dumb looking belly button. I’ve never really checked.”

  “Oooh,” Angel said, “a short joke. How original.”

  They talked and joked together, eating and drinking, for several hours. Angel enjoyed herself immensely; Jesse and the others were very entertaining. She got to hear all sorts of stories - some of which were most certainly fictional - and even shared a few of her own. By 11pm, several wolves said goodnight and headed for bed. After that, the group grew smaller and smaller as other people called it a night. It was just about midnight, and only Angel and Jesse were left at the bar when Caleb came looking for her.

  “Here you are,” he said, coming to sit next to her. “I was a little surprised when I didn’t find you in bed already. It’s pretty late.”

  “What’re you, my mother?” Angel asked.

  “Are you drunk?”

  “Just a little buzzed,” Angel admitted, grinning widely.

  Hopping off her barstool, she pulled Caleb close and kissed him deeply. When she pulled back, he shot Jesse a harsh look.

  “Don’t blame me,” Jesse said defensively. “I suggested she slow down, but she wouldn’t listen.”

  “Just because I’m a witch, doesn’t mean I’m a lightweight,” Angel insisted.

  “I never said you were,” Caleb said, “but it’s probably about time to head to bed. We’ve got another early morning.”

  “And someone wants to get some tonight,” Jesse blurted out, slapping his hand against his mouth as soon as the words were out. Angel could see Caleb’s wolf in his eyes and quickly stepped between the two of them.

  “Hey now, Caleb,” she said softly, resting her palms in his chest, “it was just a joke. He didn’t–” She stopped suddenly, jolted by a thread of magic coming from the ward she’d set up around the hotel. Reaching out with her magic, Angel tried to get more information on what had triggered the ward.

  “What is it?” Caleb asked, noticing the change in her demeanor.

  “The ward’s been breached,” she replied. “At least three people without heartbeats, north of the hotel.”

  Caleb was in motion instantly. “Jesse, you get your father. I’ll go get Matt.” He turned to face her. “Wait for us at the back door.”

  He was gone a moment later, making use of his werewolf speed.

  “Not likely,” Angel mumbled under her breath, keenly aware he might still actually hear her if she spoke at a normal volume.

  “Uh, Angel,” Jesse began, but she held up a hand to stall him.

  “I'm perfectly fine,” Angel told him, “just go get Jonathan, and I'll meet you out there.” Jesse seemed to think for a moment before nodding and heading for the door.

  “You better not let Caleb tear me apart,” he told her, “‘cause you know he's going to try and blame me for ‘letting’ you go.”

  “I won't,” Angel assured him.

  She took a deep breath and downed a healing potion to help shake off the last of the alcohol. She then focused on the area of the ward that was breached and teleported to the field behind the hotel.

  Chapter 27

  Angel remained perfectly still, giving her eyes time to adjust to the darkness and – hopefully – not giving away her position to any of the trespassers. Making use of her other senses, she took a deep breath, catching the smell of pine trees and death. She didn't smell too much decay, which suggested the trespassers were vampires; zombies tended to rot pretty quickly after being created. She saw them now, three dark figures emerging from the tree line, moving slowly and quietly. They were headed towards the hotel, and they didn't seem to have noticed her yet. Moving quickly, she teleported behind them, waiting until they were right out in the open before catching their attention.

  “Not sure if you got the memo,” she said, startling them, “but this is a werewolf conference.”

  They turned to watch her, eyes darting around, looking around for more people. They looked young, both in body and spirit, and nervous. The one in the middle – she decided to call him Curly on account of his hair – inhaled deeply, scenting her, and his face scrunched up in confusion.

  “A witch!?” he remarked. “They've got a witch guarding them?”

  “Yep,” Angel said brightly. “Now, if you don't mind, you're going to have to come with me. My employer is gonna want to ask you some questions.”

  “Yeah right,” the one on the right – Blondie – scoffed. “You really think you scare us?”

  Angel pulled her swords from behind her back.

  “Probably not,” she replied, “but I'm sure I can fix that.”

  They charged her all at once, and it was quickly apparent none of them had any experience in hand-to-hand combat. Unfortunately, they were still vampires, and vampires are faster and stronger than any other creature. She managed to duck punches from Curly and Blondie, but the third – Sideburns – caught her on the shoulder. Angel turned quickly, shaking off the blow and striking out with her blade, catching Sideburns on the forearm. He jumped back, cursing her as blood stained his shirt. Curly came at her next, wielding a sloppy right hook. Angel ducked, then swept out her leg, knocking his feet out from under him. He fell flat on his face, and she took the opening, jumping forward and jamming a sword through his stomach. It wouldn't kill him, but it would slow him down significantly.

  Before she could pull the blade free, Blondie grabbed her from behind, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. Angel reacted on instinct, slamming her head back forcefully. He released her, and she turned to see he was clutching his broken nose. She reached for the blade embedded in Curly’s stomach, but Sideburns landed a solid kick to her ribs before she could grab the handle. Angel fell to the ground, certain she had at least one cracked rib, but she couldn't stay down. Rolling, she came to her feet quickly, if painfully. Sideburns was charging her, and Blondie wasn't too far behind him. Hoping to keep them at bay until the wolves caught up, she made use of her teleportation abilities. Sideburns reached for her, and suddenly she was ten feet to his right. He snarled angrily and changed direction. Angel moved again, ending up behind both of them. Blondie – proving he wasn't nearly as dumb as he looked – motioned to Sideburns, and they moved to approach her from either side.

  Angel mentally cursed – they might not be very skilled in fighting, but they did seem to have some amount of common sense. Crossing her fingers that the wolves would hurry their asses up and get there soon, she kept up her little game of cat-and-mouse. Each time, the vampires got closer, and Angel had to start teleporting near-blind to keep ahead of them.

  She heard the wolves before she saw them. Howls rang out in the night, and Angel's wolf pushed to get to the surface, aching to fight the vampires with tooth and claw. She took a moment to regain control, but it was a moment too
long. Sideburns slammed into her, and they both went down in a tangle of limbs. She ended up on her back, with the vampire on top of her. Her sword had slipped from her hand, leaving her weaponless. Sideburns pinned her arms to the ground, bared his fangs, and was pulled off her when a giant brown wolf collided with him. Moving quickly, Angel snatched up her sword and jumped to her feet. The brown wolf – Jesse, judging by the eyes – had Sideburns’s right arm between his jaws, and the vampire was using his left to try and pry him off. A moment later, Caleb was at her side, still in human form.

  “What the hell did I tell you!?” he shouted.

  “Since when do I do what you tell me to do?” Angel shouted back.

  Caleb opened his mouth to answer but closed it, clearly flummoxed. Before he had a chance to figure out a response, Blondie slammed into him. Caleb kept his feet, shoving away the vampire and lashing out with a strong left hook. A gray wolf dashed by them – Angel recognized Matt from the night before – and helped Jesse with Sideburns. Seeing the wolves had things well in hand, Angel went to retrieve her second sword and make sure Curly didn't go anywhere.

  The injured vampire was lying on his side, clutching his belly and whimpering. Stomach wounds were supposed to be particularly unpleasant, and Angel was glad she hadn't had the pleasure of experiencing one herself. Watching Curly closely, just in case he was really good at faking it, Angel reached down and scooped up her sword. She took a few steps back so she could watch Curly and everyone else at the same time. Jesse and Matt had pretty much ripped Sideburns apart; apparently, he had decided to keep fighting, even though the smart thing to do would have been lying still and giving up. Caleb was still sparring with Blondie, though the vampire was looking a little worse for wear, with a new black eye and broken wrist.

  Suddenly, Angel was on her back. Acting purely on instinct, she rolled and just managed to avoid the kick Curly was directing at her head. Jumping to her feet, she braced herself and held up her blades. Curly faced her, blood covering his front, fangs bared, and pissed.

  “Stupid witch!” he spat.

  “Bring it,” Angel taunted, knowing she had a pretty decent chance at taking him down.

  Curly snarled and charged her, ducking her blades and landing a solid punch to her stomach. Angel raised her knee, striking him in the groin; he stumbled back a step. Seeing an opening, Angel drove her sword through his left shoulder. The blade got stuck, so she left it, dancing back and circling behind him. He barely reacted to the new wound, turning so he could still watch her. Angel watched him, trying to gauge his next move. He was already moving slowly from the stomach injury, and while he was trying to appear unaffected by the sword in his shoulder, it was hurting him. He was angry, and unskilled, which meant he was projecting his next move. His right arm pulled back slightly, his shoulders pushed forward a few inches, he shifted his weight to his right foot. He was going to charge her and try for a right hook.

  Angel braced herself, watching him closely, ready for him to make his move. With a shout, he launched himself forward, fisted his right hand, and pulled back his arm. She shifted her weight to her right foot, ready to dodge the blow and land a solid strike to his back that would definitely put him down for the night. Just before he reached her, Caleb slammed into Curly from the side, knocking him to the ground. The impact caused the blade in his shoulder to move, and the vampire screamed in pain.

  “Okay, okay,” Curly cried out. “I surrender. I surrender!”

  Caleb handed him off to one of the wolves who'd just arrived, then moved quickly to stand in front of Angel. His hands skimmed over her gently, checking for injuries. Angel tolerated it briefly before pushing away his hands.

  “Are you alright? Did he hurt you?” Caleb asked, continuing to touch her all over.

  “Stop that,” Angel told him, annoyed. “I'm fine.”

  “Are you sure?” Caleb insisted. “It looked like he hit you.”

  “In case you haven't noticed,” Angel said angrily, “I can take a punch or two.”

  “Are you…mad at me?” Caleb asked, confused.

  “Yes, I am!”

  “Why?”

  “I didn't need your help with that last vampire,” she explained, gesturing to Curly. “I had everything under control.”

  “He hit you,” Caleb said.

  “Really?! I hadn't noticed,” Angel replied sarcastically, retrieving the sword they'd pulled out of Curly and heading towards the hotel.

  “What is your problem?” Caleb demanded.

  Angel froze on the spot. He hadn't just asked her a question, he'd used his Alpha voice and demanded an answer. She could feel the weight of the command, and if she wasn't supposed to be his Mate, she'd be compelled to answer. Instead, it just made her angrier. She turned on her heel, walked forward until she was standing before him, and slapped him across the face.

  “Don't you ever use that tone with me, ever again,” she said, raising her voice enough that the other wolves paused to watch. “I am not one of your wolves. You cannot, and will not, order me around. As for my problem, it's with you, and your ridiculous mindset when it comes to females. You've seen me fight, you know what I’m capable of, and yet you still insist on interfering.”

  “Interfering?” Caleb repeated, scrunching up his face in confusion. “You were fighting a vampire! Of course I'm going to interfere. He could have killed you.”

  “But he wasn't going to. As I've already said, I had everything under control.”

  “I still don't see why you're so upset,” Caleb told her.

  Angel resisted the urge to slap him again for being so dense. She took a deep breath before replying.

  “I am upset because despite having concrete proof that I can fight just as well – if not better than – you, and despite the fact that you recommended me for this job, you still don't really trust my abilities. I'm also upset because instead of asking me what was wrong, you ordered me to tell you.”

  “But I–” Caleb began, but she cut him off.

  “Just please don't say anything else,” Angel pleaded. “I can't promise I won't throw something at you if you say one more stupid thing.” She took a deep breath, counted to five, and exhaled slowly. “I'm going back to the hotel, and I'm going to bed. You should find somewhere else to sleep tonight.”

  Caleb watched Angel walk away, completely at a loss for words. He'd interfered with her fight, yes, but he still didn't completely understand why it had upset her so much. The other part – him ordering her to tell her what was wrong – he could understand. Angel had an Alpha personality, and Alphas didn't like being ordered around. He stood there for a minute, processing what had just happened, until Jesse came up and patted him on the shoulder.

  “For a minute there, I really thought she was gonna start using that sword on you,” Jesse said. “She was really pissed off.”

  “I noticed,” Caleb replied, absently rubbing the cheek she'd slapped.

  “We're gonna bring these two somewhere a little more private,” Jesse told him, indicating the two surviving vampires, “and see if we can't figure out why they decided to crash our party. Wanna come? Or do you need to work some damage control?”

  Caleb considered going after her but eventually decided against it. Angry females were difficult to deal with at the best of times, and he wasn't used to dealing with non-wolf females. He needed more time to process what had happened and figure out how to fix things with Angel.

  “I'll come with you,” Caleb replied, “I think it might be best to give her time to cool down.”

  “Smart man,” Jesse said. “Don't worry about it, you'll work things out; in the meantime, you can sleep on the couch in my room.”

  “Thanks.”

  Chapter 28

  She watched closely from her vantage point, perched on top of a warehouse that was closed for the night. From here, she had an excellent view of the back of the hotel. She’d spotted movement in the forest only a few moments ago, so she knew it was only a matter of minu
tes before the show started. She sat silently, unmoving, waiting. She felt the surprising tingle of magic on her skin a few moments before three figures appeared on the hotel’s back lawn. Another figure then appeared before them, almost instantly. From this distance, she could see it was a female. And she could feel her magic, even at this distance.

  “A witch,” she murmured to himself. “Interesting.”

  She watched, intrigued, as the vampires attacked. The witch pulled two short swords from beneath her jacket and met them head on. She fought well, using her magic to counter their speed. One went down quickly, but the other two managed to put her on the defensive. Just when things were getting interesting, several wolves arrived. Working together, they managed to take down the other vampires in only a few minutes. She watched as the wolves shifted and moved to take away the surviving vampires, likely to question them. She wasn’t concerned. They didn’t know anything.

  She stood to leave, glad her little test had proved so informative. A witch working with the wolves was unexpected, but not a problem.

  Chapter 29

  The interrogation was less than helpful. The trespassing vampires weren't particularly brave, and within half an hour they’d told the wolves everything. Turns out, some random vampire had sent out an ad to some sort of vampire Craigslist, offering a decent amount of money for them just to walk up to the hotel. Of course, this generous soul had promised payment after they returned and hadn't told them they might encounter werewolves. Matt, Caleb, and Jesse tossed around the idea of letting them go and sending a few wolves to follow them when they tried to collect their payment, but in the end they decided it was highly unlikely whoever hired them would actually show up. Still, they weren't about to risk their captives revealing any information to outside sources, so they killed the vampires quickly and burned their bodies in the forest. A little brutal, maybe, but according to vampire laws, an unprovoked attack against the wolves meant their lives were forfeit.