Witches & Werewolves: A Sacred Oath (29 page)

I breathe a sigh of relief.

The beast keeps walking, then stops, raising its snout in the air. The werewolf sniffs, picking up on our scent. The monstrosity spins around, charging us. The tunnel echoes with rapid-fire gunshots. Muzzle flash, like a strobe light, illuminates the growling beast. Its body jerks and convulses, peppered with silver bullets.
 

Before I can even aim my weapon, the massive creature smacks the ground, exhaling it’s final breath. There is an eerie stillness in the air. Even with a silencer, the ring of the gunshot is not exactly quiet. We all look at each other, wondering if anyone else heard the commotion. It’s quiet. Too quiet.
 

Then, in the distance, rumbling snarls crescendo. It sounds like a horde of werewolves are racing toward us. The growls grow louder, echoing off the stone walls of the tunnel.
 

Harlan takes aim down the passageway, bracing himself against the wall. Jake positions himself against the wall opposite Harlan. I stand in the middle of the passageway, taking aim. I can barely hold the weapon steady. I fumble for the safety selector, switching it to the off position.
 

A solid wave of werewolves claw their way toward us, like a tsunami. Gunshot ring out. Strobing muzzle flashes and smoke. Spent shell casings spray to the ground. The air is thick with the smell of gunpowder.

I squeeze the trigger, and the fully automatic AR-15 rattles off thirty rounds within seconds.
 
The recoil almost knocks me down.
 

“It’s empty, what do I do,” I shout.

“Release the magazine. Button by your index finger,” Harlan yells.
 

I find the button and drop the magazine.

“Now what?” I scream.

“Reload,” Harlan yells.

 
I grab a full magazine and click it one into the mag well. The sound of gunfire is deafening. Werewolves topple to the ground, but more keep coming.
 

“Now what?”

“Depress the latch and pull the charging handle back,” Harlan shouts.

I watch Harlan reload his weapon and follow his actions. I pull the charging handle back and it snaps forward, chambering a round. Then I aim the weapon again and squeeze the trigger. Another thirty rounds. Another magazine.
 

Still more werewolves.

I hear Jake yell, “I’m out.”

He tosses his rifle to the ground, and slings the RPG launcher onto his shoulder. He aims down the tunnel.

“No, not in here!” Harlan yells.

But it’s too late. Jake fires off a rocket. The rocket propelled grenade screeches through the air, spitting fire and smoke.

KABOOM!

The concussion from the blast knocks all of us down. I can’t hear a thing, except for the ringing in my ears. The tunnel rumbles. The ceiling collapses, blocking the passageway. A plume of dirt and debris blasts over us. After a moment, I pull myself up from the ground, spitting dirt out of my mouth.

“So much for the element of surprise,” Harlan says.

“Sorry,” Jake says.

 
We backtrack through the tunnels to the entrance. With any luck, my cloaking spell has worked. Hopefully, right now, Cerise is panicking, thinking the rings have been stolen.

It takes about twenty minutes to find our way out. At the entrance, I climb up and out of the underground tunnel. A furry hand grabs me, snatching me up. The hand belongs to a werewolf. Dozens of them surround the hole in the ground. Olivia is in human form, and she leads the group. Jake and Harlan are right behind me. They surrender as soon as they realize that I’ll be torn to shreds if they don’t.

The pack marches us back to the APC. “Tell your little brother to come out,” Olivia says.

“Noah, just stay where you are. No matter what happens,” I shout, terrified.

Olivia punches me in the gut, and I crumple to my knees. She packs a hell of a punch. The wind is completely knocked out of me.

“Noah, I’m going to tear your sister limb from limb if you don’t come out,” Olivia says.

“Noah, you stay put,” I scream.

 
Olivia kicks me in the face. My nose fractures, and I taste my own blood. I can actually taste the werewolf venom coursing through my veins. It has a bitter twinge to it.

 
I have only been a vampire for a little over a day, but I was getting used to being invincible. This weakness from the werewolf venom really sucks.

“Noah, I’m going to count to three. Then really, really bad things are going to happen,” Olivia says.

CHAPTER 40

THE METAL HATCH clinks as the locking mechanism disengages. Noah can barely lift the weight of the heavy steel hatch. It creaks and groans as he finally flips it open, poking his head out.

 
I deflate. Devastated that he put himself in danger. Touched that he is willing to risk everything for me.

Olivia and the werewolves march us back through the woods toward Cerise's. Werewolves stomp through the leaves like a herd of elephants. I’m almost jogging just to keep up with their lengthy strides.
 

Every now and then, a werewolf grabs me and tosses me forward. Each step is harder and harder. I can feel my muscles tightening from the venom. Olivia, still in human form, walks in front of me.
 

“How can you do this?” I ask Olivia.

“It’s called loyalty, you should look into it,” Olivia says.

“You call this loyalty?” I say.

“Loyalty to my kind. Loyalty to my creator,” she says.

“But you betrayed your own brother,” I say.

“He betrayed his kind. He betrayed Cerise.” Her words are sharp. “His fate is his own doing,” she says, as if trying to absolve herself of guilt. I can see the fury in her eyes. The rage in her words. Angry at Ethan for putting her in this position. Forcing her to choose between her blood, and her obligations.
 

“You don’t care what happens to Ethan at all?” I ask.

“Did I give you permission to speak?” Olivia says.
 

“So, you’re just going to sit back and let him die?”

“I can’t be responsible for another person’s choices.”

We arrive at Cerise's. The wolves bring us down to the dungeon and line us up like prisoners awaiting a firing squad.
 

Ethan hangs from the wall, suspended by the same skeletal arms that held Jen and I earlier. Ethan has been beaten and bruised. Shades of red, purple, and black cover his skin. His body is slashed and clawed, coated in dried blood.
 

“Ethan,” I shout. I lurch toward him, but the werewolves hold me back. He looks up at me with battered eyes. He struggles against the bones.
 

Cerise enters furious and frazzled. My eyes glance over her neckline, to her collarbone. The rings are no longer visible around her neck. My spell worked. This illusion has unnerved her.

“Where is it?” Cerise asks.

“Where is what?” I say.

“If you want to play games, then we can play games. We could play
how many fingers do I have to break before you talk
? We could play
how many limbs do I have to rip off before you speak
? We could play
how many eyes do I have to gouge out
? That’s my personal favorite,” Cerise says.

“Do you have any friends?” I ask.

Cerise looks at me puzzled.

“I mean does anyone like you at all? Anyone that’s not bound by a blood oath?” I say.

Cerise's eyes blaze into me. “Careful little one. There are even more painful games that we can play.”

I swallow hard as she stares me down.

“You thought you could sneak in here and steal my rings. Escape through my tunnels. Fools,” Cerise says. It’s clear that Cerise thinks we were caught on the way out, not the way in.

I can’t see the rings, but I know they are there, around her neck. Invisible. Hidden from her perception, just like she had hidden Jen’s mouth. I want to snatch them, but she’s too close, and the dagger she holds would find my heart too quick.
 

Cerise steps to Noah. She kneels down to eye level with him. “Such a cute little boy. And very brave.” She grabs his arm and pulls him close, putting a dagger to his throat.

“It’s amazing what siblings will do for one another,” Cerise says. “You can bicker and fight all day long, but the minute someone threatens the family, you’ll stand up for each other.”

Olivia stands next to her, looking embarrassed. Her eyes flick to Ethan, then away. Her face tenses.

“Tell me where the rings are, or I slit his throat,” Cerise says. She presses the blade harder against Noah’s neck. A trickle of blood rolls down to his collarbone. The scent fills my nostrils. My eyes fix on the crimson dribble.

“It must be difficult to resist your cravings. Especially for such a new vampire,” Cerise says. “Imagine when I open his vein, and all of his blood pours out. Will you be able to resist?”

“I don’t have the rings,” I say.
 

Cerise's fiery eyes narrow.

“But I can tell you where they are,” I say.

“Speak now, or the boy dies,” Cerise says.

“What was hidden, now it sight. Deceive the eyes with visions of fright.” I chant the phrase over and over.
 

Cerise becomes enraged that I’m using magic. Her jaw clenches, gritting her teeth.
 

The invisible necklace transforms and becomes visible. Two hissing snakes encircle Cerise's neck. She grabs the snakes and tosses them to the floor, terrified. Once on the stone floor, the snakes transform into the necklace holding the two silver rings.
 

Cerise's eyes blaze with fury at the deception. She lunges toward the rings. But Olivia does something I do not expect. She bites into Cerise's neck, transforming into a werewolf.
 

The room turns to chaos.

The werewolves that were holding me race to help Cerise.

I dash for the rings, scooping them up.

Cerise's blood sprays across the room as Olivia wrenches a chunk of flesh from the nape of Cerise's neck.
 

The werewolves rip them apart, tossing Olivia across the room. She slams into the stone wall. Debris scatters and the wall cracks. Several of the werewolves pounce on Olivia, devouring her. Razor sharp fangs rip apart her flesh. Ethan struggles against his bonds, screaming at the werewolves to stop.

Two werewolves tend to Cerise as she clutches her wound. Blood pulses through her fingers.

Jake grabs Noah, whisking him away from the fray.

I hold the rings in my palm, chanting the mantra, “Forged and cast by wicked verse, unmake these rings that bind the curse.”
 

The rings begin to glow. I feel their warmth radiate through my hands and up my arms. I keep chanting. Streams of glowing energy flow around my hands, forming a ball of plasma.
 

Cerise sees this. “Stop her!”

Snarling fangs race toward me.
 

I keep chanting.

Harlan jumps in front of the werewolves, tripping them. It only slows them momentarily. They scurry to their feet, only steps away from me.
 

I keep chanting. The ball of energy grows, finally exploding. The blast bolts a shockwave of energy through the room, knocking everyone to the ground. It’s a blinding flash of light. Time and space seem to bulge and distort for a moment.

Then everything is quiet. The rings are no more.

Bodies are strewn about the chamber. No werewolves. I gaze at my shoulder—the black decaying flesh turns a smooth creamy porcelain. The burning pain subsides. I feel like your normal, average, healthy vampire.

Olivia is dead. Her body shredded.
 

What were once werewolves are now just regular people. They begin to stir, recovering from the blast. They look about the room, and at each other, bewildered.
 

Noah sprints into my arms, hugging me so tight I can barely breathe. I see Harlan dusting himself off. Cerise gasps for breath. Blood still oozes from between her fingers as she clutches the gaping wound.
 

“Destroy her,” Cerise's weak and raspy voice commands.

The former werewolves rise to their feet, glaring at me.
 

Cerise is pale.
 
The wickedness that once burned in her eyes now fades.

“Destroy her,” she mutters again, then collapses. Her lifeless body withers on the floor. A shriveled sack of skin and bones. I feel a sudden rush of energy. A tingling wave of power enters my body. It feels exhilarating. All of Cerise's power transfers to me. An unexpected consequence of her demise. I am her only living heir.
 

The former wolves watch this transfer of power with a curious fascination. Cerise is dead, and the wolves are no longer slaves to the blood oath that bound them to her.