September Moon (28 page)

I expected one of them to act as ringleader, maybe toss out some lame movie bad guy lines. Jenner didn’t give them a chance. He immediately went on the offensive, hurling shot after shot at the ring surrounding us. His aim was true and deadly. Two of the vamps he hit exploded in a cloud of dust.

That was all it took. The fight was on. Those with power of any kind were quick to use it while others came forward ready to rip us limb from limb.

Having no other choice, I followed Jenner’s lead. The nearest vamp baring fangs at me took a blast to the face. It maimed but did not kill.

“Focus your intent,” Jenner hissed as he fended off three at a time. “Kill them in your mind. No mercy.”

My concentration was scattered as I sought to watch all of them at once. It was impossible. They came too fast. I was overwhelmed. The pain shooting through my ankle didn’t help.

The Dragon Claw felt good in my hand as I plunged it into the guts of one vampire who mistakenly lunged at the wrong time. A second one met the same ending. The victory was short-lived. Half a dozen descended on me using both fists and power. I went down beneath them, holding the dagger above me to protect my head.

‘Arys,’ I cried out in my thoughts, reaching for him in desperate need. Unable to form a coherent thought while fangs slashed at my arms and fists pummeled my head, I let him see and feel what I was experiencing.

‘I’m on my way. Willow’s coming now. Throw everything you have at them. No mercy.’

I would have found his words funny, as they echoed Jenner’s perfectly, if I hadn’t just taken a knee to the stomach. I rolled onto my side, clutching the Dragon Claw uselessly. The blows never stopped coming as both my back and my front received a flurry of hits.

Jenner was fighting hard, doing a far better job than I was. Still, he too fell victim to the sheer number of them. On his knees beside me, he groped for my hand.

The connection sent a surge of strength through me. I envisioned every vampire surrounding us flying backwards as if a bomb of power had gone off amid them, and then it happened. The power followed my intent, sending vampires sailing in several directions.

The simple act gave me a greater appreciation for Arys’s bloodline. Together we rose. Pain shot through my ankle, and I whimpered.

“Give it everything you’ve got,” Jenner ordered. “Don’t hold back.”

I struggled to fill my lungs with air. I ached in places I didn’t know could ache. Our reprieve was brief. For every vampire we killed or beat down, three more took its place.

The air moved unnaturally, and Willow appeared beside us. I breathed a sigh of relief. His silver wings flared wide, and he drove back the opposing vampires. I thought it was over, that he had saved me again. I thought wrong.

No sooner had Willow appeared than the air rippled once again, and Brook stood there smirking with black wings spread like shadows behind him.

“Sorry, Willow,” Brook said, his voice oily and his black eyes gleaming. “Can’t let you interfere this time.”

“That’s not your call to make.” Willow faced off with the demon. “Why concern yourself with the activity of vampires? What’s it to you?”

The remaining vampires still outnumbered us. They all seemed a little too pleased to see Brook, like they’d been expecting him.

“A shared interest.” Brook’s hateful gaze flicked to me and back to Willow. “They seek to keep her from rising to greater power as I seek to keep Shya from the same. Therefore, a partnership.”

Willow scoffed. “You’re all idiots. The only one that can keep Shya from rising to greater power is Alexa. You all need her. You should be backing her, not trying to kill her.”

Only one vampire dared to speak up. “We won’t be ruled by a hybrid. She isn’t worthy of being called one of us.”

“That’s because she’s not,” Willow snapped. “She’s better than every one of you. That’s why none of you will survive this night.”

Slow, even breaths. I had to make a conscious effort to keep breathing. Every intake of air was agony. I suspected that more than one of my ribs was broken.

Brook wasn’t interested in playful banter. He rushed Willow with a war cry. The impact as they collided produced an earth shattering boom.

It was all the vampires needed. Inspired by the demon’s actions, they came at us again. With Willow preoccupied, Jenner and I were left to defend ourselves.

We stuck together. I was careful to keep Jenner at my back so he wouldn’t accidentally come too close to the dagger. As I swung the deadly blade, I drew hard on the power I shared with Arys. It spilled into me like the breaking of a dam. Opening myself up to it, I felt that familiar rush and heard that white noise in my ears. It felt right, like it was me and I was it. I became one with the inhuman metaphysical entity as it thrummed through my mortal form.

The dagger fell from my grip as the force commanded me. With both hands outstretched before me, I unleashed a torrent of power. It cascaded over each vampire in turn, and like dominoes they all fell before me. Blood gushed from their eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. On their knees, some of them clawed desperately at the ground while others attempted to plead for forgiveness of their error. One by one they burst into ash and dust.

As great as my power was, it was only at half-mast without Arys. Drawing on him enabled me greater strength, but it was limited by my weakened mortal frame. Though most of the two dozen or so remaining vampires fell under my assault, not all of them were destroyed.

Jenner fought hard at my side. Many died at his hand, and as crazy as it seemed, he appeared to enjoy the fight. Brook and Willow were still engaged in a battle of wills, throwing one another around with ease. It was nothing more than a distraction meant to keep Willow from coming to my aid. It worked.

I saw Owen on the ground several yards away. He was bloodied and incoherent but alive. If I could get to him and make a circle, I could keep him safe.

That was easier said than done. I couldn’t stop the flow of energy that was coursing through me. When I tried to, I realized with great concern that it was running wild on its own accord. It was beyond my control.

It didn’t take long for my physical strength to fade. My body was not meant for a force this strong to last this long. With every vampire I took down I found it harder to focus, harder even to breathe. The wolf inside rebelled, seeking to break out. I fought back the beast, knowing I had no power in that form.

“Alexa, get up.” Jenner’s hand on my arm brought me back to myself. I hadn’t been aware I was on the ground. “It’s not over yet. I need you. Get up.”

He jerked me to my feet where I swayed, fighting to regain a sense of balance. Blood ran from my nose and a blinding pain smashed my skull behind my eyes. This was it. The moment Shya had feared. The power was going to kill me, and he was going to miss it.

A laugh sounded especially loud in my ears. I was vaguely aware that it was me. Jenner’s face swam into focus. He was bleeding from a gash on his forehead but otherwise looked pretty good.

A dizzy spell shook me and suddenly the ground was rushing up to meet me. Jenner kept me from hitting. Shaking me and shouting, he slapped my face. My eyes rolled back in my head, and I struggled to speak.

“Let go of me,” I gasped. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

Before I could be sure he’d heard me, a vampire grabbed him from behind, and he was gone, fighting with an impressive command of both body and power. Never had I envied that until now, when my own mortal limitations threatened to kill me.

Arys’s voice echoed in my head. It hurt to have him there, breaking into my already tortured thoughts. His concern was heavy, but I couldn’t form a clear reply. It would take him a good thirty minutes to reach us. I would likely be dead by then.

The next few vampires that dared to come close enough to deliver a blow of any kind met a dusty end. The power went out from me, needing no direction. It was wild and erratic, targeting anyone who sought to harm me.

Unfortunately, for every vampire I destroyed, a piece of myself died too. As the power grew stronger, I grew weaker. The force needed me as a channel, and I was succumbing to the toll it was taking on me. My vision blurred, and my lungs burned. I collapsed heavily on the ground and prayed death would be swift. Anything to free me from this agony. The stabbing pain in my skull was too much.

Despite having kicked some serious ass, I wasn’t going to win this battle. The rebel vampires in their misguided quest had the advantage by having numbers and bodies that were beyond human mortality. Though there were very few of them left, the damage had been done.

I saw him coming. A dark haired, bearded vampire made his way toward me. Picking up my dagger, he smiled. I could only watch as he raised it high above my head. Cringing, I waited for the blow to land, hoping it would be fast.

A dark shape flew past me, hitting the vampire solidly in the chest. He hit the ground hard. A black wolf sat atop him, fangs tearing viciously through skin and tissue.

Raoul?
My exhausted and wounded brain was momentarily confused. It was Owen, tearing my attacker’s throat out.

Using the last of my strength, I grabbed the dagger and swung, decapitating the vampire beneath Owen. He whirled to take on the next, but there was no one left standing. It had all happened so fast, and yet it felt like it had taken hours.

Owen came to me, his muzzle going crazy as he sniffed me, seeking out my various injuries. I clutched a handful of his thick, black fur and whimpered as my wolf sought to communicate with him.

We were unknown to one another and yet he had come to my aid. After having the vampires renounce me as an unworthy hybrid, this meant a lot. If I survived to cry in relief about it later, I would.

Owen himself was fine for the most part. I slumped against him, thankful that Dayne could not hold the death of his enforcer against me. That would have blown my entire alliance plan to hell and back.

“Alexa?” Jenner knelt beside me. He took hold of my battered face and forced me to meet his gaze. A shiner outlined his left eye now. “Are you still with me? You’re not looking too hot, girl.”

I tried to speak, but the barest whisper came out. It hurt. I pressed my face into Owen’s fur and focused on his wolfish scent. He wasn’t my wolf, but it was a comfort just the same.

My eyes closed, and I waited for death to come. I was ready now.

‘Don’t you dare give up now.’ Arys’s demand broke through the fog in my head. ‘This isn’t how it ends. Remember?’

I smiled, and my face ached. ‘I remember.’

‘I’m coming for you, my wolf. You are not dying tonight.’

I believed him. Though I was ready for the crushing pain to be over, I knew he was right.

Jenner pulled me into his arms. “Take whatever you need. Blood, energy. Anything.”

Weakened as I was, just the mention of blood stirred my hunger. It wasn’t Jenner I wanted. It was mortal blood. Owen. The scent of heady shifter blood brought forth the bloodlust with a vengeance. I was too deteriorated to act as my hunger demanded.

It didn’t matter. The scent of sulfur brought with it Shya, standing over me in all of his unholy glory. I knew then that being dead was preferable to whatever he had planned for me.

“Enough,” Shya barked at Willow and Brook. With barely a gesture he separated them, violently flinging them apart.

His red gaze landed on Brook. Without a visible motion, he suddenly stood in front of the demon. Brook cowered before him.

“Shya, I can explain. It isn’t what it looks like.” With his hands raised in surrender, Brook fell to his knees. Genuine fear shook him as he begged for mercy.

He should be afraid. I’d seen him be tortured because he’d pissed Shya off. Evidently demons didn’t learn from that.

Shya uttered something that I guessed to be Latin. Brook’s pleading grew to an irritating level. Pathetic. Shya pressed a hand to the other demon’s forehead and repeated the Latin phrase. Smoke rose up between them and a shadow appeared. It moved as if it were a person though it took no shape. Creeping closer to Brook it pulsed with a heavy, dark essence.

Brook’s wide eyes shone with terror. All of his shrieking and flailing did nothing to help him. Shya stepped back and watched as the shadow devoured Brook right in front of us. Wherever it took him, I knew I never wanted to see that place.

Both Brook and the shadow disappeared, and Shya turned his attention to me.
Great.

“This is exactly what I’d hoped would not happen,” he said, shaking his head as if scolding a child caught disobeying yet again. “Look at you, Alexa. At death’s door, and I still have yet to find my scroll. I simply can’t have you up and die on me.”

“Sorry to disappoint you,” I gasped out through the pain that shook me. “I guess you can’t always get what you want. Life’s not fair. All that crap.”

Shya gazed down at me with anger burning in his crimson orbs. “Oh, you’re not dying on me. I won’t allow it.”

Something in the way he said that struck a nerve. I looked to Willow for help, but he stood uncertainly aside. Being in between the way he was, neither angel nor demon, he didn’t have the power Shya had.

Shya followed my gaze and chuckled, but it lacked his usual amusement. “Don’t expect your guardian to step in now. He has no power here. Let’s not turn this into something it doesn’t have to be.”

He extended a hand to help me up. Suspiciously, I glared at him. “Don’t touch me.”

Owen and Jenner stood on either side of me. They too seemed to know they were no match for the demon. I turned to them and whispered, “Go.”

I couldn’t blame Owen when he listened. Turning tail, he fled into the night. Good. Having him leave here alive was important.

Jenner stood his ground, and in that act I knew he really did love Arys since he certainly didn’t love me. And yet, he stayed.

“Come now, Alexa. Don’t make this difficult. I’d hate to have to torture your vampire in order to gain your compliance.” A hateful smile tugged at Shya’s lips. It was so typical of him to threaten harm against others in order to control me. The conniving monster knew what worked.