by D. Fischer
Upon approach, Kat makes a move to join me and Aiden. As soon as she does, Aiden turns on his heel and lumbers toward her, robotic, automatic, and threatening. His skin sparkles, prepared to attack.
“Shit,” Dyson mumbles behind me, almost thumping into my back when I come to a full stop.
“Aiden?” I call, my voice high-pitched.
Blinking twice, Kat thinks quickly and shoots fire from her palms in a dumbfounded sort of way. I yelp as the flames blast into Aiden’s chest, and he staggers back from the force, seemingly unharmed. He roars, filling the night with the rage and the declaration of revenge.
Poised and ready, Kat leans forward, hands flaming at the command of her fingers, and the sparkling embers brighten on his skin. “Aiden!” she barks, desperate to grab his attention before he does something he’ll regret.
When Dyson starts to approach Aiden from behind, she snaps her head to him, momentarily taking her eyes off the crazed demon. “Don’t! Don’t intervene. He’s not in his right mind.”
My hand cups my mouth, fear crippling me, but a blossoming hope attempts to dash it away. If anyone can understand the consuming darkness, the takeover of our instinct to survive at any cost, it’s Katriane DuPont. She can help him. I would only make it worse.
Wolves howl behind Kat, pacing the grass, unsure of how to help or even if they should.
He doesn’t respond. He doesn’t say anything at all. The only thing he does is allow a gathering growl to build in his chest.
“Kat,” Dyson draws out in warning, his fingers curling into fists. Hair sprouts along his arms, just for a moment, until he pushes the wolf back down inside him.
She ignores him, meeting Aiden’s stare and shaking her head. “Aiden, don’t do this. This isn’t you.”
The sparkles along his flesh flare brighter, and Kat, face pinched in regret, flings her flames once more, smoke curling from her nostrils. He staggers again, the glow dissipating as he’s thrown from concentration.
Anxiety wafts from me, from Dyson, and seeps quickly into Aiden’s spine. He drinks it in, uses it to fuel himself without a thought of who it comes from. He pulls more and more of it to him, like he’s reeling in a fish, and we’re helpless to fight against it. The feeling of it aches my joints, and together, Dyson and I fall to one knee.
“Dyson,” Kat grinds out. “Leave!” It’s monster against monster, and there’s no telling who will win.
The tug on our emotions seeping from our skin becomes too great, like a fiery itch. I gasp to it. I gasp at the pain, at the shock of it, and the idea that Aiden is doing this to me – the very person he works so hard to protect.
You can’t protect yourself, Dyson’s taunting reminder echoes again.
Pulling on the blades of grass to anchor himself, Dyson growls, “No.” The word took too much effort to say, almost too much effort for me to hear with the hollowed-out sound echoing in my ears. I fall to my other knee, barely feeling the stab of the stick it lands on.
This is it. This is my end, and the last thing I’ll see is the back of the man I love. I take in the grooves of his shoulders and spine, the muscles rippling like dark water swayed by a breeze. It’s not his fault. He was made to destroy, to become this weapon to use against Corbin’s enemies, and right now, still gripped by the need to protect . . . this isn’t Aiden. This isn’t the man I love. Something else replaced it, some pocket of his mind roaring to the surface to survive.
Darkness creeps into the edges of my vision. You can’t protect yourself.
Spinning, Kat uses the momentum to hurl quicker flames, then again, and again, giving Aiden no chance to release the embers which will surely be a death sentence for any they attach to. In doing so, it released Aiden’s hold on us. I groan as my head spins upon this release. Every muscle, every joint, barks in pain as I struggle back to my feet.
He staggers, narrowly dodging her flames. Thinking quickly, or not thinking at all, I take off at a stumbling dash and put myself between Aiden and Katriane, palms outstretched. If they keep this up, they’ll destroy each other. This halts him, and he looks to me, curiously, as though he recognizes me but can’t place who I am.
“Aiden,” I whisper quietly enough so only he can hear the words. “My heart, who is your reason for living?”
“Eliza,” Dyson warns, his voice hoarse but angry. I resist the urge to sneer at him, at his past words that tempt me to believe him.
The deep furrow, Aiden’s predatorial expression, softens a little at my voice. My heart thuds once in victory. I flick my gaze to Dyson still kneeling, just enough to get my point across. I am not weak. I can protect myself. This isn’t Aiden, but he is in there, and together, we’re stronger. I need him, and he needs me. Our lives are so intertwined that everything we do, everything we say, every move we make, is to protect and save the other.
I. Am. Not. Weak.
And neither is Aiden.
Even now I can feel the electricity waiting under my skin, ready to use at my command. If I have to, I’ll use it against Aiden and the danger he’s become, but deep down, my instincts tell me I won’t need to. Aiden is in there. He’s in there. I know it.
I try again. “Who is the keeper of your soul?”
He tilts his head to the side, blinks once, and for a moment, just one precious moment, his normal human-like eyes suck the molten lava back inside. I inhale a sharp breath, barely noticeable. He hasn’t done that since the Guardian Realm. Not since he and I first spoke there.
“Eliza,” he says, but he’s not calling my name. Instead, he’s plucking the name from a buried conscience held prisoner by his need to protect.
“That’s right,” I whisper to Aiden, and then bravely take a step forward. My electricity crackles along my skin, and he watches it interestedly. I am not a weak fool, nor a damsel in distress.
I bring my hand to my face and touch my cheek to redirect his attention. The skinny blue bolts tickle my skin delightfully, fully shutting Dyson’s mouth which is open and ready to warn me again.
“Do you see me, Aiden?”
Several seconds tick by, the lava in his eyes swirling as he meets my gaze. I take a chance and move closer. Kat cautions me, but I wave a hand behind my back, hushing her.
“Who am I?” I ask.
His face scrunches as he searches deeper in his memory. Something flickers across his face – a recognition – and he visibly relaxes. “Eliza,” he whispers, drawing out my name with a slithering breath.
I cross the rest of the distance slowly and grant him a small, reassuring smile as the sparkles dissipate from glowing embers. “That’s right.”
“Eliza,” Kat cautions again, unsure if I’m being wise.
“He’s fine,” I grunt without facing her. I reach and grasp his hand, curling my fingers around his. Brows furrowed, he looks to our joined skin. Shock crosses his face, and he staggers and stiffens, dumbfounded as his previous actions hit him as effectively as Kat’s flames had.
Before I can reassure him that I’m fine – that it’s not me he almost hurt - his arms circle around my waist, and he scoops me up. He cradles my head to his chest, tangling his fingers in my hair.
I sag against him, the breath whooshing from my lungs.
DYSON COLEMAN
EARTH REALM
I keep my scrutiny trained on Aiden, my jaw muscles marking the seconds. My nostrils flare. Cracking my knuckles, I watch his every move. He’s still so close to the edge of primal instinct. I understand the instinct to protect, but in his haze to do so, he almost killed my mate. Or tried to anyway. Kat was prepared to do what she must, to ensure her survival and all those around us, and for that, it brings me some comfort. But the attempt still pisses me off.
Together, he and Eliza sit on the couch in the living room while the shifters talk furiously over one another. The topic of discussion dances around Aiden and Kat’s spat, but by the flicks of curious expressions, it’s still on everyone’s mind.
“This is what happens whe
n you harbor the Queen of Death,” Victoria snarls, directing a shooting glance at Eliza. Eliza only returns the gaze, smooth and sure of herself. Her display of independence is still a sore subject in my mind. She could have just as easily died coaxing Aiden back from whatever hell he buried himself under.
“Watch yourself,” Kenna mutters.
“I absolutely will not,” Victoria spits and points to Eliza. “She’s the main reason for this. Those minions are Kheelan’s. He sent them here for what? Hmm? For tea? To destroy this group of pathetic warriors? No, I doubt so. He sent them here for his beloved wife.”
I lean against a wall, Kat’s back pressed to my chest while I keep my arms around her waist in a comforting, possessive sort of way. I know she isn’t fond of my instincts to keep her close, but I also know she’s allowing it to ease my shook nerves.
Feeling eyes on me, I look to Flint. His expression is dark but thoughtful, and I watch as he inhales deeply. Irene is between his legs, propping her head on her elbow rested against Flint’s knee. I nod to him, letting him know I’m under control of my instincts and have no plans of retaliation. He blinks his confirmation and reaches forward, absentmindedly stroking Irene’s hair.
Aiden’s large hand is in Eliza’s, and she rubs her fingers against his while they both watch the movement. It’s almost a silent communication, one which doesn’t need words to portray what they can’t say.
Frustrated at the noise and the growing headache as a result, I take a deep breath and yell for the pack to be quiet. All this chatter has my nerves on end, and I can barely focus anymore, especially when the same question is continuously asked.
“They’re here because of Eliza,” I say once their attention is on me. “We all know it. There’s no reason to shout about it. There’s no point in placing blame.”
Eliza turns her head over her shoulder and peeks at me. Several seconds tick by as we assess one another.
“She’s Kheelan’s wife,” I continue, justifying my reasoning. “It’s the only explanation. He sent them to find and retrieve her. If they were coming for the pack, they would have attacked in the woods. Instead, they allowed you to usher them in.”
“It’s true,” Aiden rumbles, eyes still downcast while his expression shifts to that of shame. “Before I left the Demon Realm, Kheelan was weak. He’d seek her out for his own protection.”
“They’ve been everywhere,” Jeremy answers, rubbing his wounded leg. “In the city, in the woods, in plain sight. It’s a miracle they haven’t been on the evening news yet.”
Victoria snarls. “We could just hand her over and be done with it.”
Eliza slowly looks to her. “We could just hand you over as a snack.”
Starting forward, Victoria’s eyes glow with promised physical retaliation, but Kenna barks an order to her. “Enough! Eliza is under my protection – our protection - and you will not harm her!”
“They’ve been draining the humans,” Kelsey adds, defusing the tension. Her eyes on the newborn baby propped in her arms. Sarah squirms a bit, peeping open one eye to glare at her mother and the bothersome chatter, before falling fast back asleep.
Fling and I share a knowing, wordless conversation of our own. “Flint told me about it. The hospitals are beginning to notice, but so far, they think it’s a strain of the flu.”
“The strain of flu . . .” Eliza repeats, then tilts her head back to look at me. “I remember them talking about it before I died.” She frowns. “I don’t think they were looking for me then though. I think they were looking for …” she pauses and then flicks her gaze to Kat.
“And then you came along and Kheelan no longer needed me,” Kat whispers.
Evo shifts his weight and the floor groans in protest. He’s not an obese man, but he’s weighted by ropes of muscle fit for an Alpha. “It won’t be long until they all come for our band of misfits, no matter which way you look at it. Dyson, I think it’s time we catch the rest of the group up on the situation at hand. Don’t leave anything out.”
For the next twenty minutes, all the shifters, including the new wolves I haven’t formally met, listen carefully. Like true shifters, they give nothing away to their inner concerns, and when I’m finished, the only sound inside the living room is the hum of air coming through the vent.
“In other words,” a new shifter, Romaine I’ve learned, shifts as he turns to Eliza, “She’s our weakness.” His shock of dark brown hair and caramel-colored skin is telling to his ancestry. He looks like he came directly from Egypt, as though he were an Egyptian prince from another lifetime.
“I believe so, Romaine,” I conclude. “But she’s one of us, and I’ll protect her as though she were one of you.”
Eliza leans into the back of the couch and exhales a soft sigh equal to the air rushing from the vent. “If I would have known Kheelan’s vampires would be looking for me, I would have never come here. I didn’t mean to trouble you all.”
With grace, Brenna leaves the back of Ben’s chair she had stood behind, travels the short distance to Eliza, and bends to the floor. She places a hand on her knee. “If I would have known he was sending them for you, to find you, I would have demanded you come here anyway. Dyson’s right. You are one of us.” Eliza lifts blue eyes to Bre. “You’re not going anywhere. The pack will help protect you. We were built for this.”
“How do you know that?” Kenna asks sharply, bouncing her toddler against her hip.
Brenna whips her head to her Alpha female and glares. “Honestly, Kenna. Mother Nature was in conversation distance the entire time we were on the Guardian Realm and you didn’t think to ask her a single question?” Pursed lips are the only answer she receives. “Unlike you, I did.”
“She practically stalked her,” Flint whispers to Irene, but with our sharp senses, we all hear it.
“If Kheelan knew she was on the Guardian Realm because of her magic, how did he know to send them here?” Aiden asks, breaking his silence between the bickering shifters.
“I don’t think he knew,” Kat suggests. She presses against me when the unwanted focus turns to her. I’m getting the feeling she doesn’t like being the center of attention. “At the beginning, I don’t think he knew where we fled to. Even before that, he had many stationed here to find me. From the sounds of it, he doubled the population of vampires after the colosseum, and redirected their purpose.” She looks to Aiden and crosses her arms overtop mine. “You did say he was weak, right?”
“Yes,” Aiden draws. His fingers visibly tighten around Eliza’s hand, and I briefly wonder why he seeks her comfort before he adds to his sentence, answering my unasked question. “He wants her to help boost his weakened state. If he doesn’t, I believe on some level, he knows Corbin will destroy him.”
Corbin will most likely destroy him anyway, I think to myself. I know I don’t need to voice it aloud. Between the shared glances, everyone is already thinking the same thing too.
“Corbin thinks himself a king.” Kat grimaces. “What better move to make than to destroy your equals.”
“You know him well, I see,” Aiden comments dryly.
Kat says nothing in return, and I frown, desiring the answer. I know she went to the past, traveled into Myla’s life. Did she meet Corbin then? I shudder at the thought. If only we knew what a pain he’d be in the end. She would have destroyed him then.
“So, what do we do?” Ben asks, raising his brows to his Alpha. I bristle. He should be seeking out Kat for the answers, or even Aiden who has direct intel from the two fee. I know its habit for them to refer to their leader, but their answers do not lie with Evo. Their answers lie with the leaders of the war, with the five.
I run a hand through my hair and close my eyes for a moment. I don’t like any of this.
Knowing he’s outranked, Evo gazes at me, then at Kat, and then at Aiden and Eliza. He returns it to me, and nods, giving me the floor.
I lick my bottom lip. “We have to protect the humans, or he’ll bring the fight here. I
f war breaks out on this realm, we’re screwed. If the humans learn of everything else that exists, we’re screwed. We have no choice. We’ll be fighting to survive from two fronts.”
Irene clears her throat. “You want to send out teams to do so? Sweep the city?”
My eyebrows raise, stretching the skin around my cheeks. “Yes,” I answer simply.
“We can’t shift,” Jeremy says, pointing out my flaw. “Not in the middle of town. A normal sized wolf may go unnoticed but . . .” He takes Sarah from Kelsey’s arms and cradles the baby to his chest, as though to protect her from the world crawling with evil.
“No,” I admit, drawing out the word. “We can’t. Not close to town, anyway, which will hinder success and further endanger the pack.” I sigh and raise a hand from Kat’s middle to scrub my face. “We’ll have to think of something else then.”
Kat shifts against my chest and peers up at me. Her scent swirls around me and I greedily drink it in. “We can ask the Coven to help.”
“Work with witches?” Kelsey shrieks, and then her shocked face relaxes. “No offense, Kat.”
Kat chuckles. “None taken. I’m not a giant fan of the witches, either. But we can ask them. They worship Erline. They’ll do anything she requests, including working with shifters.”
I shrug. “Then I suppose we have some persuading to do.”
“In the meantime,” Evo adds. “We can start sweeping the outer city at night in our wolf form. We won’t be detected that way. Not if we stick to the shadows.”
Nodding her agreement, Brenna says, “People will think a pack has wandered in from the nearby woods. A big pack perhaps, but if we’re careful, they won’t be able to detect how large or abnormal.”
The city is surrounded by forests on three sides, the other side the ocean. This could work, and I vibrate with possibility, stifling the urge to bounce from foot to foot. Inside me, my wolf perks at the idea, bored of the discussion and desiring the action instead.
First, we diminish the army Kheelan has here, then we go after the one he and his friends have built.