by M L Briers
Both wolves growled in unison but turned and disappeared from his sight. His hand reached for the nearest tree trunk and he took a long moment to steady himself as the fire grew within his veins. Never had he felt anything like it, as if he was being barbecued from the inside out.
“Crap.”
Wendy could feel the magic in the air. It crackled and danced like a flame in the wind around her as she moved away from the house and followed its path. The darkness lapped at her shields and she reinforced them with the light that burned brightly inside her.
With Eloise to her left and Annabeth to her right they walked with purpose. Their magic was interconnected once more in the hope that they could fend off the dark magic that the Warlock possessed. No one Witch could have held up to the darkest of magic that could be gained from the underworld, and she pondered the question of just how strong their combined magic was in the face of such an enemy.
If they had been a full coven of a minimum of six witches it would have been better. Nine would have a pretty good chance of annihilating most enemies and going up against the strongest of magic from whatever side it was drawn, but thirteen witches with the kind of powers that the three of them possessed would have seen them do anything, take on anyone, and she wondered briefly if that was what the spirits intended. Right now they didn’t even have Deborah’s powers…
Her eyes locked onto the shadowy figure in the trees. Her body hummed with the recognition of who he was, and just as Annabeth raised her hands to summon the winds, so she stilled the woman’s work. Her heart leapt in her chest as Caleb stepped out on shaky legs and dropped to his knees in the dirt.
“Caleb…” She moved swiftly towards him. Eloise and Annabeth following on her heels as they kept watch for the Warlock. She dropped to her knees on the ground in front of him just as he keeled forwards under his own weight, catching him and wrapping an arm around his body.
“What is it?” She nudged him backwards at the feel of the warm wet blood over her hand as she palmed his chest. The grunt of pain from his lips sent her mind reeling and then her eyes caught sight of the wound in his chest.
“Get the hell out of here, woman.” He ground out between clenched teeth. She was exposing herself to too much danger and he couldn’t risk her being sidetracked with his problems when there was still a Warlock on the loose.
“Do you think that’s going to happen?” She responded the only way she knew how, deflecting his anger and worry with a response aimed to annoy him and it did. The sound of his groan reached her ears as she placed her palm against the wound of his chest and summoned the spirits to help her.
“Pig headed, stubborn damn woman…” Caleb groaned out…
“And this is pure dark magic running through your veins.” She bit down on the anger inside her. It wouldn’t do her any good in dealing with what ailed him, if anything it would dilute her own white magic.
“Tell me something I don’t know…” He grunted again. Trying to get to his feet was like trying to drag two buildings up with him, impossible, but still he tried. He needed for the witches to be back in the house that afforded them the slightest of protection, or at least he hoped it did.
“It’s going to burn you up from the inside out until you burst into flames and die…” She bit out. His eyes came up to meet hers and there was a slow draw of a smile that reached his lips.
“I don’t like your beside manner but it’s good to know, thanks.” He offered with a level of sarcasm that annoyed her.
“Even now you’re flippant and…” She shook her head as she berated him.
“Not about everything.” He ground out as the fire raged through him once more. “You never did become my mate…” He offered as both of the Coven witches heads snapped around to look down at them on the ground. Shock registered on Eloise’s face as she turned her eyes up towards Annabeth and found that the woman’s jaw had slacked open.
“Shut up and…” Wendy berated him again.
“I’m a patient man, Wendy. I told you I would wait for you and I have.” His eyes narrowed on her and he winced. She didn’t think that wince was from any physical pain. “Now it looks like times run out.” He offered and she felt the flash of guilt that ran through her.
“Don’t be so sure, Vampire…” She offered him her wrist and he frowned down at it. A small shake of his head as he considered what that meant for them. “You need the light of a white witch’s blood in your veins to stand a chance of beating the darkness.” She pushed her arm towards him.
“I can’t do that…” He ground out.
“Stop being an arse…” Wendy berated him as she thrust her wrist towards his lips and his hand shot out as his fingers wrapped around her warm skin. His eyes met hers.
“One taste of your blood and…” He warned and she raised just one eyebrow.
“I know, Caleb…” The unspoken look that passed between them told Eloise that this had something to do with the mating process.
“I’ll do it.” Eloise offered without considering what she was saying.
“No.” Wendy didn’t take her eyes from her mate. “A mate’s blood will work twice as fast and twice as well. Bite, Caleb…” She demanded and watched as he winced once more.
“Not if you’re not ready to accept me as…” Caleb started and Wendy hissed at him. She lifted her other hand and clawed down her wrist with her fingernails, tearing down her skin as the scent of her blood filled the air.
“Bite or so help me Goddess there won’t be a place you can hide from my wrath when you’re healed.” She demanded. Caleb bit down on the pain within him. His eyes had darkened to jet black at the scent of her blood and he brought her arm towards his mouth and licked over her wound, sealing it. “Damn it…bite.” She hissed at him.
Caleb had already tasted her blood on his tongue. The time when he could have controlled his urge to mate with her had now gone. Standing his ground now would have been pointless and they both knew it. He reached up his other hand to her neck and guided her towards him…
“If I take from your wrist there will be pain. If I take from your neck…” He whispered against her ear a moment before he struck. His fangs cut through the soft skin of her neck and found the jugular vein. He heard her gasp in a breath a moment before he tasted her blood on his tongue and drew deeply.
He felt her body relax against his. He knew what she was feeling in that moment and it wasn’t pain. Her body exploded with the sheer pleasure that his feeding caused her because he made it so.
He could feel her blood working through his veins. It was like ice dampening the flames of the fire. Every inch of him tightened with a need for her. He released his fangs and ran his tongue over the wounds.
Caleb felt his strength returning. He took a long moment to enjoy the feel of his mate in his arms and then he brushed his lips up her neck towards her ear. He could hear her heart hammering in her chest.
“Easy, I have you…” He knew that she was lost in the moment that had taken place between them. Having her mate feed from her vein was one thing, but the way that he had done it had been with pure erotic pleasure and it had opened the door within her that could never be closed again.
“That really wasn’t fair…” Her voice sounded husky even to her own ears. She heard his sinful laughter and drew back to look at him.
“In truth I couldn’t have done it any other way. I could never cause you pain.” He offered and she nodded as she palmed his chest and pushed further away from him.
“We have a Warlock to kill.” She changed the subject. She knew that this wasn’t the end of it, only the beginning, but she needed to retreat from where she found herself and concentrate on something more solid in the present.
Devlin had sent his magic out around him and found not only the three witches and the vampire, but wolves. Now he knew what he was looking for. The pack wouldn’t come out for just any old new witch in town, they were there for a reason and that reason was mates.
If Deborah wasn’t with
the witches then she would be with the pack. It was simply a matter of tracing the wolves supernatural element back to where they had come. Pack land, and now that he was standing on it he could feel his woman’s magic calling his own.
He made his way across the rugged land. With a mind to reach out and feel for any supernatural beings that might be in his path; he travelled on fast legs towards the source of the magic beckoning him. If Deborah had found herself a wolf mate then she was all but lost to him and he would deal with her treachery accordingly.
The closer he got to her the sweeter her magic tasted. It was a shame that she had been so duplicitous in her actions. He’d enjoyed her body in the same way that he’d enjoyed having her magic within him, but once he’d killed her he could retain her magic within his own, and having any woman offer their body to him to take at will was easy enough to achieve.
His legs ached from the walk and he cursed the Lycans for their need for so much damn land. He could have driven up to the front door and spared himself the trek across country, but this gave him the element of surprise, and when dealing with a pack that was always a bonus. The wolves he’d encountered so far were oblivious to his presence thanks to his cloak and he had only needed to detour once in his journey to claim what was rightfully his… Magic.
He skirted the clearing at the back of the main house and eyed the lay of the land. He could sense her inside and closed his eyes as he savoured the feel of her magic, so potent, so his. He took that first step out into the darkness of the night as it blanketed the grounds around him and heard the snarl of a beast to his left.
Devlin snapped his head towards the beast and started to react when the sound of another beast to his right greeted his ears and made his heart lurch with knowing. A trap. His woman had drawn him into a trap and her treachery wouldn’t go unpunished. He’d been prepared to offer her a fast death, now he would make it long and as painful as possible.
Four figures came towards him from the house, but only one held his attention. Deborah stood to the far right of the procession as they made their way across the grounds to where he was standing. Devlin’s lips pulled back into a sneer of contempt and he snorted his amusement at the sight of them.
“If you think your magic could stand up to mine…” He started but the sound of the wind whipping the trees up all around them drew his attention towards the treetops for a long second. “Parlour trick.” He raised a hand and sent a fiery orb towards them. Disbelief filled his mind and fear gripped his heart as it was batted aside as if it was nothing.
He took a long step back, but kept his eyes on Wendy. The woman raised her hands and sliced through the air. Lightening struck the ground in front of his feet and he jumped backwards.
The shock of coming up against such potent magic had caused him to question his worth. Now he knew he was fighting for survival. He called on the dark powers to run through his veins, lifting his arms and summoning the spirits to act with him.
“Not a chance…” Wendy bit out as she sent another lightning strike right at him. Blinding light filled her vision and for a moment he was lost to her. As the flash of electricity died out she found him again, propped up against a large oak tree, his body smouldering from the impact of Mother Nature’s wrath.
His lips pulled back as he screamed out in pain. Normally she might have felt a jolt inside her for his suffering, and yet Caleb’s pain was the only thing that registered within her mind. She lifted just one hand and let the fire of revenge grow into a shimmering orb above the palm of her outstretched hand, and then she thrust it towards her target.
The impact or the orb shattered his ribcage and sent splinters of bone through his organs. A tortured scream was torn from his lips until his lung started to deflate and a gargled sound rattled in his throat. Then the fire burst to life, engulfing his body as he slumped to the ground.
All four witches stopped in their tracks. Their eyes took in the downed enemy. Defeated by the joint potency of four powerful witches as the wolves tossed their heads back on their necks and howled in victory.
“So this whole vampire is your mate thing?” Annabeth offered across the kitchen table before she reached for a grape and popped it into her mouth. Her lips were drawn upwards in a smirk that wasn’t lost on the others. Jethro chuckled to himself.
“Someone found their sense of humour I see.” Wendy offered the alpha. His eyes flicked towards his mate and he nodded his head.
“Something like that.” He informed her.
“That’s deflecting, fess up.” Eloise demanded and Wendy took a long breath and released it slowly to buy her some time.
“What about it?” She offered back to Annabeth and the woman rolled her eyes.
“Really? A question with a question?” She berated her and saw the older woman grin.
“She does that a lot.” Caleb announced as he strolled in through the kitchen door and rested his backside against the kitchen counter. He folded his arms across his chest and regarded his mate with a lopsided smile.
“Don’t I have reason to?” Wendy offered and watched as he narrowed his eyes on her, amusement resided on his lips.
“No.” They all answered as one and she opened her mouth to speak and then thought better of it.
“No more cryptic clues…” Eloise demanded.
“No more answering a question with a question…” Annabeth added.
“And nowhere left to hide from me.” Caleb offered and saw her think that one through.
“You’ve been very… Patient.” Wendy offered him returning his smirk.
“And now that I’ve properly tasted your blood…” Caleb offered back.
“Excuse me if I don’t fall at your feet.” Wendy offered back.
“We still have time.” Caleb shrugged just one shoulder. “Just not a lot of it.” He warned her and watched as she mulled that over.
Wendy had kept him at arm’s length for long enough. The wonder of it all was that he’d allowed her that time to come to terms with them being together. She’d always known that the spirits would bring them together at some point in her journey, and she accepted that this was that time.
She had hoped that the Coven would be fully formed before she had to deal with sharing her attention with her mate, but there was nothing that she could do about that now. Caleb was right; she still had a little time, but not much of it before his need to mate with her consumed him to the point that could be dangerous for the both of them. She just needed a little more time…
The End.
The Coven
Safe House
Book Four
By
M L Briers
And
A B Lee
Copyright © 2015 by M L Briers. A B Lee.
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever
without the express written permission of the publisher
except for the use of brief quotations in a book.
CHAPTER ONE
Samantha had trusted her old pack completely. How wrong could one girl be? Working with any supernatural being wasn’t without its pitfalls, but this was different. She’d been the packs go-to witch for so long that she thought she knew them well enough for them to be on her side when things went wrong.
Now she was hightailing it across the country with a few meagre belongings and her trusty case of all things magic. She could only hope that she’d left her troubles behind her, but the one thing that she’d learned to count on in life was that no matter how fast and far you ran- things had a habit of catching up to you. She just hoped that this wouldn’t be one of those times.
She needed a haven from her troubles, somewhere safe in case things went wrong, and something just felt right about the path that she was taking. It was a feeling of being guided towards somewhere; only she didn’t have a clue where that somewhere was. She was sure that when she encountered it then she would know.
&n
bsp; Her stomach rumbled on cue when her eyes took in the sign that informed her that she was entering another backwater town in the middle of nowhere on her journey, and she eyed the small offerings as she drove through the high street, or what she guessed resembled one around these parts. Her eyes flicked towards what appeared to be the local café and she snorted. Perhaps pushing on to somewhere larger would be a better option, she reasoned.
The loud bang that came from somewhere on or around her car startled her and she gripped the steering wheel as it yanked to the left. She tried to pull the vehicle back into a straight line, but the sound of screeching metal on metal and the kangaroo style lurching of the car told her that she hadn’t quite managed it. She hit the brakes as something of an afterthought and came to a grinding halt in the roadway.
“Well that could have been a lot worse.” She blew a curl out of her eyes and slumped back in her seat with relief, only for her body to tense even tighter than it had before at the sound and depth of his voice as it bellowed out and rattled the windows around her.
“Are you kidding me?” Her head snapped to the left and her eyes followed. The sight of the large Lycan staring in disbelief, mixed with a lot of anger at what she presumed was his truck, made her wince.
Should have kept going! That’s the last thing I need, another damn wolf with attitude. Why did I take the off route from the main road? Oh yeah, stupidity. She scowled.
Dexter took in the sight of his brand new truck and the damage that the female had caused all down the one side of it. He would dearly have loved to growl like a maniac, but he was more than aware of where he was. His eyes snapped to the woman behind the wheel and he noted the way that she eyed him back. Guilt mixed with apprehension as she sunk lower in her seat.
His mind spun with all the reasons a woman should not be allowed behind the wheel of a car, listing them in a detailed order, when he spotted the burst tyre with its rubber tread hanging loose and felt his beast start to calm within him. He guessed a blown tyre was nobody’s fault, but his heart still ached for his new truck. He loved that thing like it was a pup.