“That is the craziest thing I have ever heard. You mean to tell me that if I spilled some salt right now the two of you would have to count it? No matter what?”
“Yes.”
“That definitely is not in any books I have read.”
“We don’t like that fact to be known. It is the easiest way for our enemies to kill us. It’s the best way to distract us so they can then cut our heads off.”
“That’s horrible.”
“So, will you help us get home? Can we fight with you?”
“Sure. We could use all the help we can get.”
“Great,” Daveh said jumping up and down.
“So, tell me, what else lives in the Land of Lore.”
“Goblins, Gnomes, Elves and Leprechauns to name a few.”
“I am reminded every day that this world is not what I knew it was.”
“What do you mean?” Razi asked.
“When I was a child, fairies, goblins, elves and leprechauns were the monsters in fairy tales. And fairytales weren’t real. Gnomes are things you put in your yard for decoration. Vampires and witches were things in scary movies. Not in real life. And now, every day I live my very own horror show.”
“Not all things scary are bad.”
“Let me ask another question. In every book I’ve read and every movie I have seen, vampires and fairies can’t be around each other. Vampires can’t resist your blood. How have you been living here for months and are still alive?”
“It is true that fairy blood is more appealing to vampires, but we have been around for centuries. We have learned to control our cravings for them.” Odin answered this time.
“So then why haven’t I tried to feed from them? How come I can resist them too?”
“You did try, remember?” Tristan said. “I stopped you. Back then you wanted Daveh because she was fairy. But now we gave you so much blood in a feeding tube while you were in a coma that you shouldn’t need it for a while.”
“Once all the blood we gave you leaves your system, you will want to feed from Daveh and Razi more than you want to feed from a human,” Odin said.
“But it has been weeks since I came out of my coma.”
“We gave you a lot of blood.”
“Well, not to change the subject, but when does your father return?” I asked Odin.
“In a few days.”
“How much time do you think we have before we can take him down?”
“I’m not sure. Hopefully we can do it soon. The longer we wait, the more dangerous it becomes.”
“Well hopefully with eleven vampires, two fairies and a vampire-witch hybrid it will be easy to take him out. We just need a solid plan.”
“Have any ideas?”
“Not yet.”
“Then it looks like we are stuck at square one.”
“For now.” Tristan, Daveh and Razi left the dining room leaving me and Odin alone. “Can I ask you for a favor?”
“Depends on what it is you want,” he said with a smile.
“I want you to teach me how to fight. I need to be able to defend myself if I need to. I can’t always rely on a spell to just pop up.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
“Sure. Meet me in the back yard in ten minutes.”
“Wait. I can’t go outside. Someone will see me.”
“Oh yeah.” He thought for a minute. “I know a place we can go. Meet me at the front door in ten minutes instead. And be invisible.”
“Okay.”
I stood by the door waiting for Odin. After waiting fifteen minutes instead of ten he finally walked down the stairs. He had replaced his jeans for track pants. “Ready?” he asked.
“Yeah, five minutes ago.”
“Go invisible so we can go.” I did the same as last time. I went invisible and climbed in the car from his side. We drove in silence until we pulled onto a dirt road and pulled into a clearing. “I’m excited,” he said.
“About what?”
“I get to kick your ass.”
“You wish.” We got out of the car and walked into the middle of the clearing. “Don’t go all witchy on me while I’m trying to teach you.”
“I’ll try not to.”
“First I am going to teach you some basic self-defense moves.” He grabbed my wrist, “If your attacker grabs you by the wrist don’t try to pull away. Instead, rotate your wrist so your thumb lines up with where your attacker’s thumb meets his fingers. Jerk sharply by bending your arm at the elbow. Your wrist should slip right of his hand. Now try it,” he said gripping my wrist harder. I did as he showed me and broke free from him.
“That was good. Now this next one is good to buy you time to run away from your attacker. Thrust the sole of your foot toward your attacker’s knee. This will incapacitate them. This area works better than the groin or face because it is nearly impossible to block. Plus, the attacker will need both legs to chase you. Ready to try it?”
“What if I hurt you?”
“Just try it, I trust you.” Catching me off guard Odin lunged for me. I wasn’t expecting him to run into me and we both fell to the ground him landing on top of me. He stayed there looking at me longer than I liked. I could feel the old heat I used to feel for him try to resurface. Nope, I shut that shit down really quick.
I pushed him off me, “I wasn’t ready. Let’s try again.”
“You won’t know when your attacker will strike. You should always be ready.”
“Okay then let’s try something else.” He lunged at me again, but this time I was ready. I kicked at his knee and he fell to the ground.
“That was better, but you weren’t supposed to use all of your strength,” he said as he got up limping.
“I didn’t. Are you okay?”
“I’ll be fine.” He walked off his pain for a moment before walking back over to me. “Alright now we are going to try a nerve strike.”
“That sounds dangerous.”
“It could be.” He touched the space located slightly below my ear on my neck. “A weak blow to the vagus nerve will cause intense pain and involuntary muscle spasms. A strong blow will cause your attacker to black out or die. Ready to try it?”
“No freaking way. Are you kidding me? I could kill you.”
“You won’t kill me. Come on and stop being a baby. Try it.”
“No.”
“Try it,” he said stepping closer to me.
“No way.”
“Lilith damn it. Stop being such a…” I cut him off when I punched him in the same spot, he just touched on me. He fell to the ground once more, but not in pain or in a spasm. I knocked him out.
“Fuck. Damn its Odin. I told you,” I said as if he could hear me. I sat down beside him and tried to wake him up. “Get up,” I yelled into his ear. He didn’t budge. I sat there and played with some blades of grass while waiting for him to come too. After fifteen minutes, he finally stirred. “Thank goodness. I was starting to worry.”
“You weren’t supposed to hit that hard.”
“I didn’t even hit you that hard.”
“Yeah, then why was I laid out on the ground?”
“Are we done for the day?”
“No, just give me a minute.”
I waited and when I thought he was done being butt hurt I said, “I thought you were going to kick my ass.”
“Shut up. Do not hit me on this one. Just act like you are going to hit me.”
“Okay.”
“This one is the palm strike. You want to position your attacker’s nose with your palm.” He placed his palm on my nostrils. “This will break your attacker’s nose. But if you hit hard enough it could also cause death. Remember, just act like you are going to hit me.”
I forced my palm up toward his nose just like he showed me only I didn’t stop in time. “Oh, my gosh. I’m so sorry,” I said instantly.
“Son of a bitch,
whore. Damn it.” He pulled his hand away from his nose, blood poured from it. “Mother fucker.”
“Odin I…” he cut me off by holding up his hand to me. He walked away from me leaving me to wallow in my guilt. He finally walked back over to me, “Odin I think this is enough for today.”
He took his shirt off and pressed it to his nose. My body reacted to the sight of his ripped abs in a way that I didn’t want it to. “You giving up already?”
“I keep hurting you,” I said forcing myself to look at his face and not at that sexy V thing leading right into his pants. His eyes were starting to turn black from the hit.
“Are you doing it on purpose?”
“No. I swear.”
“Then let’s keep going.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“I really am sorry about your nose and knee. And for knocking you out.”
“Don’t worry about it. At least I know you can take care of yourself.” He touched me in the area right below my breast in the middle of my stomach. “This is your solar plexus. A hit here will knock the wind out of your attacker. It will give you enough time to run or get the upper hand. Try it.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Just do it,” he said sounding frustrated.
“Fine,” I said as I punched toward his solar plexus. I hit him with a force I didn’t know I had. He leaned over trying to catch his breath and started coughing. “I’m done. I will not hurt you again. Once you’ve caught your breath, take me home.” He didn’t fight me this time. I think he was tired of getting his ass kicked as much as I was tired of doing the ass kicking.
Odin didn’t speak to me the rest of the way home. I felt bad for hurting him. I didn’t mean to do it. The worse his eyes looked the worse I felt. They were completely black now and starting to swell. “Are you okay to drive like that?” I asked.
“Yeah. We are almost home.”
“Why haven’t you healed yet?”
“I will. It will just take a couple of hours.”
“Want me to use a spell on you?”
“No thanks. I wear my battle scars proudly.”
“You know the guys are going to make fun of you.”
“I know. I don’t care. They will all know what a badass you are.”
“I’m not a bad ass. I hurt you.”
“This is nothing compared to what I did to you.”
“Odin.”
“I know. Can I just ask you one thing? If your answer is no, then I will never say anything about it again.”
“What?”
“You felt it, didn’t you?”
“Felt what?” I asked knowing exactly what he meant.
“The electricity between us. You felt it?”
“Odin. I…”
“Did you feel it? Yes or no?”
“Don’t do this.”
“Do what?”
“You know what. I am married to Tristan. I am your friend Odin. We can’t be together.”
“You were mine first.”
“Yes. Then you betrayed me in a way that was worse than what Cody did to me.”
“Lilith, I have told you I am sorry about that. I know sorry doesn’t begin to make it right, but I need you to know that I would never ever hurt you in any way ever again.”
“And I believe you, but I am still married.”
“Yeah well I know you felt it,” he said confidently.
“Thank you for teaching me a few moves today,” I said trying to change the subject.
“Any contact with you is worth getting my ass kicked for.”
“Stop that.”
“What?”
“Flirting.”
“Technically, I’m not wrong for it. You are my wife by the laws I follow.”
“You are so frustrating.”
“I know. But you love me,” he said wiggling his eyebrows.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but yes I do love you. But do not read too much into it. I’m still a married woman Odin.”
“Yes mam’ Mrs. Rose.” He said sarcastically as I went invisible and we pulled into the driveway.
Chapter Twenty-Three
As soon as we walked into the house Cal started laughing, “Damn dude. Lilith beat your ass.”
“Shut up she did not.”
“Tell that to your two black eyes,” Brant said.
“So how did the training go?” Tristan asked.
“It was good for me. Not so much for him. I ended up taking out his knee, busted his nose which led to the black eyes, I knocked him out for fifteen minutes and knocked the air out of him when I hit him in the solar plexus.” Everyone immediately started laughing. I looked over at Odin, he looked embarrassed. “I’m sorry Odin, I didn’t realize they were listening.”
“It’s alright.”
“I told you my girl is a badass,” Tristan said.
My eyes were still locked on Odin and he was still looking at me. I still felt really bad for hurting him then I go and embarrass him in front of everyone. “That she is,” he said never breaking the eye contact. “She is definitely badass.” I had to break the eye contact. His glowing green eyes were starting to get to me. His eyes were the first thing about him that I fell in love with. And they were starting to have the same effect on me as they used to.
Oh, my God, what is wrong with me? I can’t be having these feelings about him again. He betrayed me, he hurt me. I am married. But those eyes. Those beautiful glowing green eyes. That body, that hair that is dying for me to run my fingers through it. Jesus, Lilith, snap out of it.
I had to walk away. My body was not listening to my mind. It was heating up in ways it should only heat for Tristan. I was getting feelings in places that only Tristan had access to. I went upstairs and took myself a cold shower needing to remove the heat that was building up inside my body.
When the feelings washed away, I got out, wrapped myself in a towel and checked on Ava and Elijah. They were still sound asleep in their cribs, so I decided to lay down and watch a movie. I didn’t make it past the credits before falling asleep.
I was taken back to that bridge in Maine. Slaaneth was standing there waiting for me. “Welcome Lilith. It is nice to see you again.”
“Can’t say the same.”
“How are my babies?”
“My babies are just fine. What do you want?”
“Do you always have to ask me that? You know what I want.”
“Yeah, you want me dead and to steal my babies. Why am I here?”
“That’s a better question,” he said through laughter. “I called you here to warn you.”
“Warn me about what?”
“The witches are coming. They have planned an attack.”
“When?”
“Now.” Just as the word left his mouth, I was woken up by glass shattering. I jumped out of bed, grabbed the babies and ran out of the room. “Gunner,” I yelled. “Gunner,” I yelled for him again and he ran out of his room.
“What’s wrong?”
“Take the babies down to the cells. Keep them safe. When it is safe, we will come get you. Do not leave them Gunner. I’m trusting you with my baby’s life.”
“I will take care of them. I promise.”
“Good. Now go. Hurry.” I ran down the hall. “Odin, Tristan.” I ran down the stairs as they were running up them. “The witches are here. They’ve planned an attack.” Everyone came running downstairs when they heard the commotion.
Suddenly the front door flew open and three witches stood in the doorway. Odin and Tristan stood in front of me protectively, but I pushed them out of my way. I walked closer to the witches, “What do you want?”
“We wanted you to join us, but since you drained me of my powers now, we just want you dead,” The leader said with so much hate in her voice.
“I see. And how exactly did you think this would play
out when you come to my home that is full of vampires that are willing to risk their lives for me? How successful do you think you will be?”
“Oh, Lilith, you underestimate us. Rosita, freeze,” she said to the girl on her left. Rosita lifted her hands and everyone in the room except me, froze. They could still hear and see everything going on. They were just frozen in place. “Nissa, strike.” The leader said to the girl on her right. Nissa lifted her hands ready to strike me. I flicked my wrist and she went flying across the room. Rosita tried to strike me next, but again I was too fast. When I threw her across the room her concentration was broken, and everyone unfroze. It didn’t take her long to recover. Everyone only got to take a couple of steps before freezing again.
I lunged for the leader. She jumped out of the way just in time for me to miss her. While I was distracted, Nissa attacked. I was hit with a bolt of electricity that she shot from her hand. I fell to the floor in pain. Nissa struck me again and again. Her hits were causing anger now instead of pain. The leader knelt down in front of my face. She was smiling. “You should never underestimate the power of a witch.”
“You’re not a witch. I stole your power remember?”
She back handed me then leaned in closer, “How could I forget?”
“Wrong move bitch.” She looked at me confused right before I sunk my teeth into her neck. I used her body to block Nissa’s attacks draining her of her blood at the same time. Once every ounce of her blood was drained, I felt a power flow through my body and out through my fingertips. The power was so strong; I couldn’t hold it in.
I pointed at Nissa and Rosita, suddenly they were screaming in pain. I walked closer to them. Nissa tried to attack me again, but her hits didn’t faze me. “Look at her eyes. What’s wrong with them?” Rosita asked Nissa.
“I don’t know but help me. My strikes aren’t hurting her.”
“Fear,” I said to Nissa. She fell to the floor screaming. I had projected her worst fear onto her. She thought she was burning in a fire. I looked at Rosita, she was next.
“Please no,” she begged.
“You come into my house and attack me then expect me to have mercy on you.”
“Please. I am sorry we attacked you.”
“Unfreeze my family now.” She did as she was told. Everyone started to run toward me, but they didn’t get far. I had put up an invisible barrier between us and them. They wouldn’t get to us until I was done. I pointed my two fingers at Rosita and brought her to stand in front of me. “Tell me something Rosita.”
Beautiful Corruption (The Corruption Series Book 2) Page 15