New Beginnings (23 page)

Between trying to ignore her phone and
weaving a silencing spell, she didn’t see the dark creature streak
out of the woods. Not until it slammed into her Harley. She managed
to roll away, wrapping herself in a protective spell while her bike
skidded the opposite direction with sparks flying. Her back slammed
into a tree, but her shield absorbed most of the impact.

She picked herself up and looked at her
broken bike. Even in the dark, she could see how the frame and body
had twisted and bent. Shit, she loved her bike more than she ever
cared about Isaac. It didn't look like the best mechanic could put
her girl back together.

With a sigh, she glanced over at the big
heap of fur curled in on itself. It was too dark to see the
creature clearly, but he looked and sounded an awful lot like an
injured werewolf.

Perfect, more wereanimals
.

Fallon knew she shouldn’t get involved, but
she couldn’t leave the injured creature to fend for himself. This
was her fault. If she hadn’t silenced her bike and left the
headlight on, he could have avoided her. She pulled off her helmet
and tossed it and her backpack at her Harley before hurrying over
to him.

He was in a half-man form. Only the most
powerful wereanimals could do anything other than full beast. She
couldn’t help wondering what he was running from.

The werewolf rolled onto his back as she
approached.

Goddess, he was huge. Laid out, he was close
to eight feet tall. His fur was dark with lighter patches around
his massive feet and clawed hands. The hair at his chest and abs
was thinner, showing off layers on layers of muscle.

“You better not make me regret this,” she
warned as she knelt beside him to get a better look at his
injuries. His shoulder was a wreck. It looked like someone, or
something had tried to tear his throat out. His wrist was torn to
shreds the way only an overzealous vampire can manage.

Well, this is just getting better and
better
.

His big icy blue eyes went wide. “Go, run…,”
He let out a pained howl. “Not safe.” He tried to shoo her away,
raising his injured arm to hold her back, but then his arm fell to
the ground with a thud.

Shit. He was trying to send her away, which
meant the vampires would likely come back for him. That made him an
unwilling snack while making the vampires greedy assholes.

She couldn't walk away from anyone in need,
especially not in his condition regardless of what was coming after
him. Still, something stronger held her there, urging her to heal
him. The feeling was instinctual and not one she wanted to
fight.

“Please, just go,” he panted, feebly trying
to push her away.

Her eyes narrowed at him. “All you
werewolves think you’re the toughest shit out there. Just chill out
and give me a minute.”

He sucked in a breath as he stared at
her.

With a little effort, she focused her energy
and imagined a circle of protection, an invisible wall wrapped
around them. She gently covered each of the bites with her hands
and softly sang a healing spell.

Odd, his skin knit together way too fast
under her touch. The wolf let out a ragged sigh, and then his
breathing slowed as his body relaxed. “What are you?” he whispered
as his big clawed hand came up to caress her face.

Fallon fought the impulse to lean into his
touch, but couldn’t fight her smile. “We can worry about that
later. Now, this part is going to hurt like a bitch.” She almost
felt bad as she climbed onto his massive chest, and placed both
hands on his damaged shoulder and arm. With as much strength as she
could summon, she shoved. His arm snapped into place with a sound
like a baseball bat hitting a cement wall.

He howled into the night and rolled onto his
side as she scrambled out of his way.

“Shh, now. You’re okay,” she murmured as she
settled beside him. Fallon covered as much of the massive joint as
she could and sang a spell to ease some of the pain.

It must have worked, because his body went
lax, his breathing slowed, and his fur started to recede. Then he
started to snore softly which came as a surprise. There was no
doubt in her mind that he would still need medical attention. She
could close the wounds and dampen the pain, but she knew from
experience that her healing wasn’t much more than a bandage and
some mild painkiller.

Watching a wereanimal change just creeped
her out, so she stood and turned her back. Healing always chilled
her hands but now they were like ice. She had to rub them together
to get her circulation going.

Fallon stepped free from her shield and
prepared herself. She could feel the dark menace of at least two
Shadowstalkers, which were the most feared of the vampire breeds.
They could manipulate shadows and were more adept at mind control
than other vampires. Their thirst for Other blood was like an
addiction and they ignored the rules most vampires lived by.

She had to wonder why the hell they were
after the werewolf.

* * * *

A breeze stirred Brody out of his slumber.
The pain was gone, the burning gone, and he was buck-ass naked on
the pavement.
What the hell?
Then he remembered crashing
into
her
bike, the angel who healed his wounds and gave him
peace he hadn’t felt in years.

The vampires. Shit
. Brody slammed
back into awareness and bolted upright as he searched for her. He
had been outside the bar getting ready to run when he was attacked
by a male and female. He hoped he killed them because he didn't
want them going after his savior.

His gaze locked on her. Angel? Make that
fallen angel because her motorcycle leathers fit her like a second
skin. Her long red hair blew in the wind and she looked wicked
pissed as she glared into the tree line. He couldn’t hear or smell
anything out of place, but she sure as hell sensed something coming
and she looked determined to tear whatever it was apart.

A raven haired vampire streaked out of the
woods and ran straight for the woman with a blood curdling screech.
Brody had twisted her head completely around. He couldn’t figure
out how the hell she was up and moving.

He roared and ran for the vampire, but
slammed into a wall of nothing as he promptly slid to his knees.
Desperate to stop the vampire, he threw all of his strength into
beating his way through the barrier, and got nowhere.

The redhead didn’t even spare him a glance.
She just dropped to her knees and brought her hands up over head as
a wall of earth rose around her to form a dome. The vampire ran
straight into the earthen wall and fell back in convulsions as if
struck by lightning.

Brody saw the crack in the wall the same
time the vampire rolled to her hands and knees. She must have seen
the weakness because she shot up from the ground and blurred
straight for the crack.

Feeling useless, Brody shouted. “Watch out,
she’s going to bust through.”

The dome shattered, but his angel was
incredibly fast with a glowing blade, slicing straight through the
vampire’s neck, sending the head rolling his way. He couldn’t
figure out where the dagger had come from. There was no room to fit
the blade under her leathers.

The severed head hit the invisible barrier
with a wet thunk, and he glanced down to see smoke rising from the
smoldering neck. When he looked up, the rest of the body
disintegrated into ash, blowing away on the wind as the empty
clothes fell to the ground.

Then he really looked at the redhead and his
heart slammed against his ribs. Even covered in blood and ash, she
was breathtaking. The light of the moon caught in her brilliant red
hair when she tossed it over her shoulder. Her pale skin glowed and
her vibrant green eyes sparked as her gaze locked with his.

She walked back to him and dragged her foot
through her barrier, breaking the spell. “Sorry.” Her voice was
like honey and smoke. “Wasn’t sure how long you’d be out, and I
wanted to make sure you were safe.” She glanced away, the corner of
her mouth twitching up. Damn, he found her attractive
.

“Are you all right?” he asked as he took a
step toward her. Brody wasn’t sure he would be, not after a
motorcycle crash, and all the magic she threw around.

Before she could answer, her eyes darted
back to the trees.

“You killed my Isabelle,” a second vampire
screeched, the sound getting closer. Then Brody caught a glimpse of
the shadow streak out the woods, heading straight for her before
Brody could move.

That was the same male from before. Brody
had ripped the bastard’s arms off, but now the limbs were
reattached. His shirt sleeves were missing and blood covered his
arms. The muscles jumped and twitched and his fingers spasmed. His
head was still misshapen, but not as bad as Brody left him.

“You’re next.” The redhead smiled coldly as
she spun out of reach. The vampire sailed straight through where
she stood just a second before. He slammed into a tree with enough
force to crack the trunk in half, and landed on his ass.

Brody’s mouth fell open—the damned tree was
a redwood in training.

She held her dagger to her thigh with one
hand and brought her other up in a swirling flourish. A spark
flashed to life in her palm, whirling and spiraling into a ball of
dancing blue energy as the vampire sprang to his feet and charged
at her.

She threw the spell which hit the vampire
square in the chest like a fastball and knocked him to the ground.
She gracefully ran to him and leapt onto his chest as she brought
the blade toward the creature’s heart like she assassinated
vampires on a regular basis.

Stronger and faster still, the vampire
screamed and caught her wrists, flipping her over so fast he
couldn’t be sure if the blade hit its mark.

Brody damn near blacked out from rage when
he heard her slam into the pavement. The bastard had pinned her to
the ground, and closed his mouth over her throat. Brody burst into
motion without a single thought. A roar rumbled from deep in his
chest as he barreled toward the vampire. He wrapped his hands
around the creature’s massive shoulders and ripped him off of
her.

The vampire’s body crumbled, blowing away on
the wind as his coat and shirt deflated and his pants fell to the
ground. He dropped the clothes and heard the blade clatter on the
pavement. Stumbling back, Brody choked on the thick cloud of ash.
He couldn't see a damned thing.

* * * *

Sheriff Hayden Hunter sat at the bar and
took the last drink from his beer. Jess was at the end of the
counter talking with one of the customers. The pint-sized werewolf
tucked a loose lock of blond hair behind her ear and nodded to his
empty bottle.

Before he could respond, she froze as her
eyes drifted toward the hall behind Hayden. He looked back to find
Clint rushing toward them.

Clint brushed a hand over his short brown
hair and swung his green eyes back and forth between Hayden and
Jess.

“What is it?” Hayden asked.

“I need to show you both something,” he
said, and motioned toward the door. Hayden’s eyes narrowed as his
brow cranked down. It had to be urgent if a werewolf enforcer was
coming directly to the sheriff and the alpha’s mate, instead of
calling the alpha himself.

Jess came around the counter. “I think I
know what’s up,” she whispered.

Hayden stood and gave Jess a sideways
glance. They followed Clint as he started for the back door. The
smell hit him the second they stepped outside. Copper and death. As
an Earth Fae, his sense of smell was about as strong as the
weres.

Jess paused and her nose wrinkled before she
looked up at him with wide eyes.

Clint turned toward them. He rubbed his
hands down his thighs and started talking a hundred miles an hour.
“So, I was on my way home when I came out the door. I smelled this
stench and followed it back to Adam’s truck where Brody’s clothes
are. I don’t know what the fuck happened but it looks like a
slasher movie back there.” He turned on his heel and hurried to the
back corner of the parking lot

There was a lake of blood next to Adam’s
truck.

Hayden looked to Jess, who was ghostly pale.
She blinked up at him with wide eyes. “I need to call Slater.” Then
she rushed back to the bar.

He was curious what she knew, but he turned
back to the scene to look for clues. That much blood had to be
vampire, but he scented two, not one. Brody had definitely been
back there. His clothes were in the truck just like Clint said. It
looked like Brody had planned to shift and run, which Brody did
often enough.

Walking around the mess, Hayden took a
closer look at where the parking lot gave way to the trees. There
were traces of Brody’s blood on some of the leaves, and his tracks
were new, but not fresh. They disappeared into the woods like he
tore out of there at a dead run. The vampire blood was still warm
and couldn’t be more than a few minutes old.

“Clint.” Hayden turned toward the werewolf
enforcer. He hoped the little shit would keep his mouth shut long
enough for them to figure out what in the abyss was going on. “I
need you to clean this mess up. I’m sure Slater will appreciate the
help. No one wants to scare anyone in the bar. Especially not
Brody’s brother.”

He hesitated. “Is Brody okay? What
happened?”

With the way Brody ran off, Hayden assumed
so. “I think he is, but I need to find him.”

Brody was a good friend and Hayden wanted to
find him before the vampires did. From what he could see, Brody
incapacitated the vampires and ran, maybe to lure them away from
the bar. He was probably heading for the alpha’s and had a head
start on the vampires.

Clint nodded. “Sure, cleaning up isn’t a
problem.”