Wolfen Secrets (The Western Werewolf Legend #3) (18 page)

Thinking he’d won, the fight, Robert stood,
feet braced, hands on hips. “You worthless dogs, can’t even stay
alive. I still have you, Loflin. You’ll do nicely. I’ll even find
you a new bitch to sire more of your filthy breed. You should thank
me for my generosity!” His laugh echoed in the tunnel.

The timing was perfect. A quick roundhouse
kick to Robert’s kidney before taking his feet from under him and
ramming her fist into his gut, Sonja sent the bloodsucker flat of
his back.

Robert doubled over.

Sonja turned, sneering in contempt of the
vampire. “Come on you son-of-a-bitch. Mess with us and get what’s
coming to you.”

“You can’t hurt me.” Robert snarled as he
crawled forward on all fours, “I’ll be around after all of you are
gone.” Wheezing a breath, he stumbled to his feet.

Storm clouds chased the sun across a volatile
sky. Sonja’s taunt to lure him into the sun was working. The
sunlight still prevailed, catching on his shoulder.

Smoke rose off his Union uniform. “Ah!” he
cried out as fire engulfed his frame.

Unable to control the pleasure in seeing him
ablaze, Sonja’s wolf howled out in fierce pleasure.

Thinking they had him, Sonja and Ty shifted
quickly. Their celebration was short lived, though.

As quickly as he’d ignited, Robert regained
his composure. Thrusting out his arms, he raised his eyes to the
sky. The vampire started chanting. Soon, the vampire turned into
the warlock Sonja had seen in the cave.

“What the hell...” Ty yelled. His talisman
began to glow with a beautiful blue light. “Sonja, here!” He tossed
her the necklace. The light grew until even the warlock couldn’t
look at her.

In the intensity of the blinding light, the
body of the Guardian appeared. His seven-foot frame dwarfing even
Draco’s presence. “Draco, you’ll find my patience with you at an
end. Your evil magic is finished. You’ve driven the last werewolf
from their home. You’ll have no powers form this day forth. I
condemn you to the other world!” Raising his long hairy arms,
Guardian summoned a great wind, one so powerful it tore trees from
the ground.

Ty lunged for Sonja, gathering her close.
“Did you see that? The talisman brought the Guardian back.”

Sonja clutched at his shoulders, holding on
with all her strength. “Draco possessed Robert’s body?”

Ty shook his head as the first of the
dynamite exploded in one of the tunnels. The explosion threw them
forward, directly into the path of Draco.

Snatching Ty up, Draco raised him over his
head with one hand. Jerking Sonja around to his side, he hissed,
“Be careful, my old friend. Be very, very careful…” White pupils
bulged as the warlock taunted the Guardian with his prisoners. He
shook Ty like a puppet and squeezed Sonja’s neck in his vice-like
grip.

Another of the explosions erupted. Unsettled,
Draco fell to one knee, losing his hold on Sonja.

The ground reverberated with the aftershock.
Sonja lurched forward, stumbling into the waiting arms of the
Guardian.

“You came.” Her voice echoed with wonder.

Gazing at her, the wolf god managed a craggy
smile before shoving her behind him to dress in the gown she found
there.

Draco clutched Ty in his strength and ran a
razor-sharp talon down his neck. “I’ve only to thrust my finger
thus and your warrior will bleed out. You are already in my
grasp.”

“No!” Sonja’s voice rose above the rumble.
“You’ve seen with your own eyes the power we hold over you. Drain
the lieutenant and you diminish your supply of blood in half.”

“You must consider me a fool, Sonja.” Draco’s
voice rose in disgust. “You carry the next generation of the
Western Werewolf in your belly. Are you not pregnant?” His smile
grew smug.

The blood drained from her face. How did the
warlock know of her child? Dread clawed its way up her backbone.
Ty’s face went blank. The cold, steeling eyes of her lover pierced
her like a blade to the heart. Wanting desperately to explain,
Sonja found her voice gone, like the trust she saw slipping away in
Ty’s eyes. Groping for strength, she still had werewolves to save,
Sonja shot back, “You would destroy the man who sired the next
generation? You would waste his lineage?”

“With your blood, I’ll create all the willing
warriors I want. Your child will be my insurance of a continuation
for eternity, my dear. You don’t need to worry. Your name will be
immortal among my army. With your blood, the world will be mine.
With my powers, all you desire will be yours for the taking. Come…”
He reached out a knarled hand. “Take my offer! Live, Sonja. Live
the life you were meant to live.” Glancing at the Guardian, Draco
grinned wickedly. “If you come willingly, I’ll spare these pathetic
mortals. We will rule in grand splendor. You will be my queen for
all time, my dear.”

Swallowing the bile rising in her throat,
Sonja spoke telepathically to the Guardian. “Don’t let him harm Ty,
please.” With the words, she stepped from behind the Guardian.

“No!” The guardian’s rage only increased as
she walked toward the warlock. “Don’t do this, Sonja. Take the baby
and live!”

Ty’s voice rang out. “Stop her, Guardian! For
the love of all the gods, stop her!” His voice broke as he
struggled yet again with the power the warlock had over him, his
inability to shift apparently controlled by Draco.

“Were you planning on stopping me, Guardian?”
Draco called out incredulously. “You with your pathetic magic.
You’re no match for me, wolf god.” Draco’s caustic laugh ran out
filling the wind around them.

“Did you forget about me, Draco?” The wind
whipped up a dust devil and sent it dancing toward them. Out of the
dusky twilight, Hortence materialized. Standing in the rubble, she
cocked her head at Draco. “I’m slightly miffed you’d dismiss me so
easily. Since, it was I who banished you in the first place.” Her
lips creased in a sardonic smile. Reaching out, Hortence took
Sonja’s hand in hers. “She remains where she is, Draco. Sonja will
never be your slave queen, nor will you hurt any of those she
loves.”

Draco snarled at Hortence before hurling Ty
into the fallen rock of the cave entrance. “What will you do about
it, you witch? You accept great responsibility for my existence.
Besides, you know the rules. Your powers are the sacrifice for my
demise. I know you’re not willing to give up the only talent you
possess, now are you, old hag?”

Hortence straightened her spine stiffening
with his taunt. “Be considerate of your words, Draco, for you may
rue them in time.”

Speaking to Sonja telepathically, Hortence
held fast to her wrist. “Easy, my child. Your mate is all right. Be
leery of the taunts this warlock makes.” Gazing into her eyes,
Hortence smiled as a mother would to her child. “You know only what
you see, my pet. I have not explained all there is to your gift.
Foretold for centuries, your power, considered by many, only a
tale, merely an imaginary story for children’s entertainment,
rivals the gods. Perhaps, I’ve doubted your strength myself from
time to time.” She reached out, brushing a curl from Sonja’s
forehead. “Today, I am the prophet and you are the prophesied.”

The Guardian moved swiftly, reaching for
Hortence. “Woman, be careful…!”

Hortence threw up a warning palm. “Silence,
beast. The time has come.”

“Enough of this nonsense!” Draco’s
deep-throated command shook the ground once more. “I grow weary of
your pathetic ploy, Witch. The she-wolf will do as I say, or the
wolf dies. Now come!” A spear of fire shot out from his palm,
hitting Ty in the shoulder. The smell of searing flesh permeated
the air as Ty drew up in agony. His howl of pain broke the witch’s
hold on Sonja as she surged forward. Mortified when she found a
shield in place, preventing her from reaching Ty, she spun back to
Hortence with panicked tears in her eyes. “Please, stop this! Stop
it now!”

Hortence only stood silently watching.

Sonja blinked at the old woman. “You can’t
stop it, can you?” She shook her head slowly, gazing into the
witch’s benevolent face. “Only I can stop this madness,” she
whispered under her breath and glanced back at the warlock holding
Ty, blocked from her protection by a force field. Only she could
save Ty. It was up to her alone. “I’ll go with you!” Her strangled
tone echoed in the growing darkness. Soon the rest of the coven
would wake. She had to make her move. Dropping her head, she
ignored at the Guardian’s growl of warning. “I have to, old friend.
Remember, you told me yourself, I’m the only one who can.” Her
piteous admittance sent the tears rolling unheeded down her face.
Before turning back, she reached out to Hortence. “I love you, old
woman. Keep Briann and the boys safe, will you?”

Hortence wrapped her arms around Sonja. The
warmth of her embrace threaded through Sonja. Close to her ear, the
old woman’s breath brushed like a butterfly’s wing.

“Hold fast to your faith in what’s right, my
darling. You power is a gift from the one you love with all your
heart. When the time comes, use the power of your love to set you
both free.”

Instead of irritation, rippling along her
backbone as it usually did when Hortence spoke in riddles, Sonja
sensed a surge of strength as well as an undeniable sense of peace
wash over her. A slow burning tingle shot up her back, making her
gasp. Easing back, she gazed into Hortence’s face. The old hag’s
weepy eyes swam with unshed tears and pride. The lines of her
craggy face, held experience and a knowledge as old as time. In her
own way, Hortence had always spoken only the truth. Her lips
creased in the warmth of her familiar smile.

“I…I’m grateful for all you’ve done. I’ll
never forget you.”

A tear slid down Hortence’s face. “Nor I you,
my dear, nor I you. Sonja of the Western Werewolves, stay strong
and vigilant. Always seek the truth, my child.” With that, Hortence
dissolved into thin air. In her place lay the talisman of Ty’s. The
pendant’s shape had changed to that of a cross, its intricately
woven pattern laced the shape with silver that gleamed in her hand.
In the center lay the blue light glowing back at her.

“Sonja!” Draco broke the silence. “Come
now!”

Slowly turning, she slipped the talisman in
her pocket and stepped forward. The portal to the otherworld swam
with static and lightning. Through the misery, Ty called her name.
She didn’t dare look in his direction, she couldn’t. If she did,
the wolf would take over. That would spell their ruination. Careful
to keep Draco’s eyes on her instead of him focusing on her lover’s
injured body, she waited as the force field lifted. Afraid the
Guardian might try to rush the opening, she glanced back, reaching
out to him telepathically. “Watch after my sister and the boys,
Guardian. I’m depending on you.”

The gleam in his dark eyes told her he
understood.

Balancing her courage on a shaky foundation
of right and wrong, Sonja stepped through the force field and into
Draco’s control.

Chapter 8 - Rescue

Her wolf
ears picked up voices in other cave tunnels. The place must
resemble a spider web. There were at least a dozen tunnels fanning
out around the central core of the demon’s hole.

Draco led her back into the chamber where the
transfusions would take place. Vampires followed them, each hauling
Ty, tied and blindfolded. Shoving him into a corner, they secured
him to the wall with shackles. There was no time to lose. “So
Draco, you have me and my baby, why do you need the male? He’ll
cause you nothing except trouble. Release him and I’ll do your
bidding. That’s fair, don’t you think?”

Ty snarled, his words coming out slurred
behind his blindfold. “Your damn right I’ll cause trouble. You’re
dead, Draco, do you hear me you bastard? Dead!”

Huffing out a laugh, Draco drew himself up to
his impressive height, before staring blankly at her. “What? Do you
take me for a fool? He’s my assurance you’ll behave and do
everything I tell you, because if you don’t, I promise you, I’ll
destroy him slowly.”

“Fine, have it your way! I simply thought
since he wasn’t necessary, you’d be better off without the trouble
he’d cause, that’s all.” She flipped her hair, paying little
attention to Draco’s tone. Ty’s wounds needed tending. More of
Draco’s magic. Unable to do more than aggravate the situation,
Sonja shot out, “Concerned with the poison in our blood? I would
be, if I were you. With the way you smoldered out there in the
light in Robert’s body, you’ve got a long way to go before any of
your vampire minions are able to walk in the sunlight,
warlock.”

Draco stopped mixing the liquid. A sardonic
grin curled one corner of his mouth. “Don’t underestimate me, my
darling girl. I plan on securing the best possible analysis of your
blood as well as your lover’s to see exactly how much antidote I’ll
have to create to stop your little plan. Right now, however, I must
be about more pressing matters. Your evening meal is on the way.
After all, you have to keep up your strength. Don’t go
anywhere.”

When his footsteps receded down the corridor,
Sonja struggled heartily with the ropes the vampires had used to
secure her. She managed to wiggle one hand free, then the
other.

“Ty can you hear me?” Calling out to him,
Sonja managed to get free. Reaching the unconscious lieutenant, she
brushed his hair from a head wound. “Oh, darling, what have they
done to you?” Her hands skimmed the bloody side of his forehead
where a wound went through the healing process even as she spoke.
Doing her best to revive him, she wished for Hortence or the
Guardian. “Wake up, Lieutenant, I need you!” She’d watched Draco
materialize in Robert’s shoes. Was he a vampire as well? His power
was strong. His magic was dark. So much time had passed since Ty
fell from the cave entrance unconscious. Had Draco used magic keep
Ty unconscious?