Voodoo Priest (Blaire Thorne Book 2)

by N Gray

  “What?”

  “Are you sure this is what you want to do?”

  “I’ve been waiting long enough, Sebastian.”

  “No!” Anne yelled, and she stood between the two men. She placed a hand on each of their chests. “Not tonight,” she said, staring at me.

  “Well, shit! We got here just in time to see Phillip’s ass handed to him on a silver platter.”

  I turned to see who had spoken. Lee and Kai walked in and stood closer to me. The two were-leopards had helped us escape Roland’s goons during his betrayal two months ago. They managed one of Léon’s warehouses, where he kept all his priceless artifacts.

  “Hi, Blaire,” they said together, smiling at me. I said, ‘hi’ back.

  Both men had been in boxers the last time I saw them. Luckily, tonight, they were clothed: white sneakers, faded blue jeans, white t-shirts and jackets. Lee’s short blond-brown hair had curled over his ears, and his green eyes looked different from how I remembered them. Kai still reminded me of a Roman soldier, with his aquiline nose and square jaw. His brown hair had grown out as well, and his brown eyes were bleeding to green and yellow.

  Sebastian didn’t look at them when he said, “Boys.”

  Lee and Kai stood on either side of Sebastian; not exactly in a defensive stance, but they were there, waiting for further instructions.

  “Three against one. Now that’s not fair, Sebastian.” One side of Phillip's lips curled upward, and then he hissed.

  “They are just going to make sure you fight fair, Phillip.”

  After Sebastian said that, Phillip blinked, and Sebastian hit him in the jaw. His head rocked backward, and he crashed to the floor. I rose to see if he would get up, but he didn’t; it had been a knock-out shot. Were-animals could take a panel beating and still walk around, but the force of that one blow had been powerful enough to make him fall down and not get back up.

  “Not in my house, Sebastian,” Anne said through gritted teeth.

  “Sorry, Anne,” Sebastian said, turning to the other man who stood beside Phillip’s unconscious body. “When he wakes up, Grant, tell him to stop pulling these stunts. Next time, I won’t be gentle.”

  “Jesus! If that was you being gentle, then I don’t want to see you in a real fight.”

  “Exactly, Grant. Take him to Anne’s infirmary.”

  Grant didn’t argue; he did as he was asked. He picked Phillip up like he weighed nothing, threw him over his shoulder, and proceeded down the hallway.

  “Right, can we start now, please?” Anne said.

  A few more people entered the living room, most of whom I had never seen before. Some stood while others sat on the floor. Anne started the proceedings.

  Through the Were-Animal Alliance, the WAA, all were-animal groups knew when something happened to any of the other groups. For centuries, they had each lived in isolation, and many had died because of this. But through the WAA, they could work together and grow in strength and numbers. They blocked outsiders from taking over territories, and when were-animals went missing and the police couldn’t assist, the WAA sent out distress calls and everybody pitched in to help.

  From the sounds of it, in recent months, something had happened every month: a missing teenage were-wolf who was later found with his were-lion girlfriend; a rogue vampire group who had attacked a were-rat and had been sentenced by the Vampire Council. Everybody worked together for the sake of all, and to keep humans safe and everybody within the law.

  It was reassuring to know that the WAA was working so well.

  A woman commented that although there had been no attempts from outsiders to encroach on anyone’s territory during the last two months, they had heard that someone, a scientist, was busy developing a serum that had the potential to make a were-animal’s inner beast dormant. I glanced at Sebastian. He took my hand but didn’t look at me; he didn’t want anyone to know that we knew who this woman was.

  The scientist in question, Melinda Cromwell, was a were-lion like Marcus. She had been dating Marcus until she almost killed him and left him for dead, which was when we had found him in an alley with his two fingers missing.

  It was dangerous for any were-animal to try to kill off their inner beast. Their animal was part of who they were; if one side was dormant, what happened to the human side? What were the side effects? Death or deformities? Perhaps both?

  Someone had to stop Melinda before she could hurt anyone else. Perhaps Sebastian wanted to handle her, or perhaps it was something Ulysses Assassins would have to take care of. I needed to raise the issue with Ralph; maybe it was something we could manage.

  After an hour of discussion, the same woman who had mentioned the serum stood up and pointed to me. “We’ve been quiet this whole time, Anne, but we think it’s only fair that you enlighten us. Who is she, and what is she doing here? She isn’t even a leopard.”

  I felt my eyes become smaller as I leered at her. My free hand went to my side, reaching for where my gun was nestled. I felt safer knowing that it was there. Luckily, I had listened to Sebastian and Ralph and had chosen to carry it tonight. I was only human, and I guessed that she could throw a small car at me and not break a nail, so I needed all the help I could get.

  “Greg…” Anne said, looking to her son to control the situation.

  Greg sighed. “Lauren, now isn’t the time.”

  Lauren crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. “We might be together, Greg, but I’m still allowed to ask relevant questions. And she”—she pointed at me again—“isn’t one of us.”

  Greg didn’t flinch. The look he gave her said that she needed to be careful.

  “Yeah, why is she here?” someone near the front added.

  “That is enough. All of you! Her name is Blaire, and she is with Sebastian,” Anne said, her voice loud enough to quieten all the murmurs.

  “So what? I don’t bring my buddy to our meetings,” said someone at the back.

  Someone stood and approached us, sniffing the surrounding air near my head. “She smells different. Not like a human should.”

  Another person did the same. “I can’t be sure, but she does smell a little like us…”

  I wasn’t sure what that meant but I leaned forward to prevent them from sniffing me and glanced at Sebastian, raising my eyebrows. Sebastian mouthed the words ‘I’m sorry’ and rose from the couch.

  What was he sorry for? How was he supposed to know how they would react to me?

  “I brought her here so she could see who we are and how we do things in our leap.”

  Why did he say it like that? Why didn’t he say he wanted to introduce me to Anne? I frowned up at him.

  “By now, I’m sure you have all heard about Blaire, who was attacked two months ago by a were-wolf and a were-lion. Mel used my blood to replace the blood she had lost, in effect cancelling out the other two strains. Or so we thought at the time.”

  What?

  My frown deepened. He looked down at me but was still talking loud enough for the others to hear. “When Mel took more blood, she had it tested, and it seems the strains didn’t cancel each other out as we’d hoped.”

  “What are you saying, Sebastian? And why didn’t you tell me this in private?” I sounded angry.

  How could he raise this now, in front of all these people? How could he raise something that affected me with people I didn’t know?

  Anne rose. “Okay, everybody—get out. Get out. Get out.” She moved around the couch toward the back window. “Come, you two,” she called to us.

  Sebastian reached for my hand. I ignored him and walked toward Anne. Sebastian and I followed her to a private room just off the main hall.

  “What is wrong with you, Sebastian? Why did you do that in front of everybody without talking to her first?” Anne said, chastising Sebastian, as she closed the door behind him.

  He leaned against the wall with one foot against it and crossed his arms over his chest.

  “You left before Mel coul
d give you the results, Blaire. I called you every week for two months, and you didn’t bother to return any of them. It amazed me you even bothered to show up to the concert last night. I wanted to tell you after the concert, I tried to tell you, but you wouldn’t hear of it—” He didn’t finish his sentence. His voice was strained like he was controlling his emotions.

  “You should have tried harder, Sebastian. Telling people I don’t know my life story and that I may be infected with not one, but three, different lycanthropy strains.” I felt my neck burning, which happened sometimes when I was really mad.

  “You’re right. I should have tried harder. I should have told you last night, but the look on your face…” His shoulders dropped, and his expression softened. Power trickled in the air like falling pins and then receded as quickly as it had appeared. "I know it’s a lot to take in right now and you’re scared, but I was thinking that maybe you could visit the various animal groups and try to understand what all this might mean for you. I’ve arranged with Marcus for you to go to the Lion’s Den on Saturday night, and then you’re going with Mel to the Wolf Pack on Sunday.”

  I rubbed my arms and blinked back tears. “You didn’t have to do it in front of everyone.”

  “You were ready to bolt when we first arrived here. If I had told you this earlier, you wouldn’t have come at all.”

  I opened my mouth to say something but closed it again. I looked around the room: two of the walls were covered from floor to ceiling in bookshelves, and there was a desk with a laptop and two chairs. I sat in one chair, crossed my arms over my chest, and slouched. The look I was giving him wasn’t a friendly one. Sebastian was dead right: if he’d told me beforehand, I wouldn’t have come. I would’ve freaked out knowing I had three strains of lycanthropy inside of me. I would have gone home.

  In the last two months, I had made plans to meet with Mel so she could help me manage my anger, and both times I had called to cancel. If I had kept those appointments, she could have told me about the strains. I now understood why she had specifically asked to see me face-to-face—this wasn’t something you could tell someone over the phone—but I didn’t want to see her. I didn’t want to be reminded of that night and how everything in my life had changed. I also didn’t want her telling Sebastian or Léon how I was doing. Which was stupid, I know.

  Sebastian pushed away from the wall and knelt in front of me, placing a hand on each armrest. The look in his eyes was intense. I glared at him.

  “I’m sorry it came out the way it did. I didn’t mean for it to be this way.” Then his expression changed, and sadness spread to the rest of his face as he glanced at Anne and then back to me. “I told Anne, and she suggested that I bring you here to tell you, but in private. But when everyone started asking those questions…” He swallowed hard. “I had to tell them. They would have found out eventually.”

  I tightened my fists until the knuckles whitened and clenched my jaw. Exhaling, I said, “You could have told me in the car ride here, Sebastian. If we are to have any kind of relationship, you need to be honest with me.” I leaned forward. “You need to talk to me first. Always. You can’t go around doing stuff like this and making decisions that affect me on your own.”

  “I’m sorry. Would you have stayed if I had told you beforehand?”

  “Probably not. To find out I’m carrying three strains of monster isn’t exactly great news, no offense. I don’t even know what it all means.” I sat back against the chair.

  “I’m sorry,” Sebastian said, smiling. He closed the distance between us, his kitty-cat green eyes leering mischievously at me, and I couldn’t be angry at him for long. He leaned in and kissed me gently.

  It was unfair how he could look at me like that and I would just melt in his embrace.

  A loud sigh escaped my lips. “So, do you know what this means, having three strains? Will I shift into one of them?”

  “Honestly, we don’t know. Best guess is that if you could, it would have happened already. We think it has something to do with how you can absorb power and then use it when you need it. This may be an extension of that power.” He stood and sat in the chair across from me.

  “So how do I use this now?”

  “I have no idea. How has your training with Seraphine been going?”

  “How do you know about that?” I narrowed my eyes at him.

  “We keep in contact.”

  “Does she know about the strains?”

  “No. Only Léon, Mel and I know the truth. I wanted to tell you in person, but not like this.” Those words were filled with regret.

  “It’s okay, Sebastian.” I went to him and straddled his lap. “Is that why you want me to go to the other animal groups? To meet them in case I shift into one of them?”

  “Yes.”

  I put my arm around his neck and rested my head against his shoulder, but the holster dug into my ribs, so I sat up again.

  Suddenly, we heard the sound of glass shattering, and something heavy crashed into the wall. Footsteps ran toward the room we were in, and then there was frantic knocking on the door.

  “Anne, Sebastian, you have to come quickly.”

  Anne opened the door to find Kai and Lee standing there.

  “It’s Phillip,” Lee said. “He’s awake, and he’s pissed.”

  We ran to the living room, and everyone was scattered against the walls as Phillip and Greg fought in the middle of the room. Lauren was lying on her side on the floor, bleeding, with Ivy beside her. The loveseat I had sat on earlier was in pieces against the fireplace, and the glass table was shattered on the floor.

  Greg had bloody scratch marks down his arms and blood coming from his nose. Phillip had partially shifted, and his hands ended in sharp black claws. He looked up at me, and his eyes glowed yellow.

  Something moved to the side, and I turned toward it. It was someone in leopard form. A very fluffy leopard. The snow leopard before me was the size of a small pony, and I immediately knew it to be a male because I could see what was between his legs as he stalked toward me. With each step he took, he moved like he had liquid muscles; he made it look effortless yet careful. It reminded me of how leopards stalk their prey before they pounce.

  I stepped backward, and the wall stopped me. Anne came to stand beside me, and suddenly Rory was there as well. I hadn’t seen him move from where he had originally been standing near the front door, but he was there; he moved in front of me and lifted his right arm to keep me back, protecting me like Sebastian had asked him to.

  “Phillip,” Sebastian said, loud enough to make the other man look at him and not at me. “Are you challenging Greg?”

  “He isn’t strong enough to change his claws. How can he be third?” Phillip said, before leaping onto Greg with one claw in the air and swiping down across Greg’s face.

  Greg crashed to the floor, and blood splattered around him. He cried out in pain and then a low deep growl escaped his mouth. Phillip jumped on top of him and tried to go for his face again, but Greg held onto Phillip’s claws to stop him.

  “It’s not that I can’t, Phillip. It’s because I choose not to,” Greg said.

  Two things happened at once; Greg partially shifted, and his hands changed into orange-yellow-brown claws with black spots. He drove his sharp claws into Phillip’s sides, splitting flesh. The leopard on my left jumped in the air toward me, but Rory was there to take the full impact. But as the leopard collided with Rory, both of them fell into me, toppling the three of us into the wall behind me. We crashed to the floor, and as the two men fought, they pinned me between the wall, the floor, and their bodies.

  Rory half-shifted; his face and claws were that of a grey wolf, and he used those large teeth to bite into the leopard’s neck. The leopard kept pushing forward in an attempt to get to me, and that’s when I saw that it was missing a left eye. It was Grant in leopard form that was trying to hurt me.

  That one eye fixed on me no matter how Rory tried to move him away, but leopard cla
ws were held back by those of a grey wolf. Grant moved quickly, knocking Rory into me and slamming my head against the wall. Stars swam before my eyes for a second, and I felt someone grab my hands and drag me away.

  When I came to, I was sitting against the wall in the hallway with Anne beside me. Rory, in half-wolf, half-man form, was still fighting Grant and trying to keep him in the living room.

  “I’m okay,” I said to Anne. “Help me stand.”

  Anne pulled me to my feet. I opened my winter jacket and pulled my Glock from its holster. With it gripped tightly in my hand until it hurt, I walked toward Rory and Grant. Greg was on the floor with his claws still in Phillip, whose claws were now in Greg’s sides—it was a draw of sorts.

  Greg said through gritted teeth, “Stop this now, Phillip.”

  “You first,” Phillip growled.

  Sebastian moved closer to the fight, put his arm around Phillip’s neck, and put him in a chokehold. “Take your claws out of him now, Phillip.”

  Sebastian must have removed his jacket while I was in the hallway, and the muscles in his arm flexed around Phillip’s neck as it cut off his air supply. Phillip’s head lulled to one side, and his arms went limp. Lauren pulled Phillip’s claws out of Greg’s sides, while Greg removed his own from Phillip and slid out from under him.

  Rory had his back to me, trading punches with my would-be attacker. Both he and Grant could fight well, even though Grant was bigger in his leopard form than Rory was in his partially-shifted wolf form. Grant saw me walk toward them, and his one yellow eye glared at me.

  I lifted my gun, aiming for that one yellow orb, and said, “Let him go, Grant. I have silver in the chamber, and I will fire.”

  Grant knocked Rory’s head against the wall and lunged at me. I lifted my hand in the general direction of his body as he was in midair and fired the gun. Grant fell to the floor and stayed there.

  The room went quiet and people moved away from me. My ears were ringing from firing the gun indoors. Rory pulled himself up from the floor and stood beside me.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, placing one hand on the gun and lowering it to the floor.