~ Back at the house, Zigor and Ichiro had a sit down with Marx and the others. They looked like their heads were going to explode. Helick had taken all their weapons to prevent any more—accidents from occurring if something else were to startle the men.
“He shot me,” Shea bit between her teeth. Her eyes were still all wolf, her anger causing heat to ripple from her skin. All she wanted to do was change. Her wolf fought her for dominance, slamming itself wildly against her self-control. There was more than anger burning in the pits of her stomach, but she focused on the anger alone. The implications of her other emotions she would ignore.
Ichiro approached Shea as he would a wild animal. He bent at the waist. “My apologies for earlier.”
She was opening her mouth to say something caustic when she jumped hissin
~The mountain was alive with activity. The werewolves and their human allies were moving about, preparing all they needed to take with them. In this fight, they had a slight disadvantage, but things were looking up. Word had come back that the three vampire families—Vescovi, Ungaro, and De Rege—were also preparing their own men. They would meet in Hedgewood and do what they could to stop Sven from opening the portal. Martha walked over to Zigor, Garrick, and Ichiro as they loaded their guns with silver nitrate bullets. “It’s always the quiet ones,” Zigor commented as he ran a finger lightly over the blade Martha had made from pure silver. She blushed as she handed the two humans a small glass bottle each. “What’s this?”
~Vescovi, Anabella and Phillipe led the convoy to Hedgewood. Upon word of the attack on the werewolves, they had set out ahead of time. In armor-plated SUVs, they made their way through the streets. Hedgewood was a rural county northwest and six hours drive from Palvia. Over their earpiece, Vescovi spoke to the others. “The plan is to cut that madman off from the portal. We shall bring the entire mountain down on it.” “Agreed,” Phillipe said over the earpiece. “The explosives are ready.” “My people already have a cover in place,” Anabella said. Vescovi’s vehicle came to an abrupt halt. Sitting at the back of the SUV, he leaned forward to ask the driver what the problem was, but he saw for himself through the windshield. Standing in the middle of the road was a
~With a vicious twist and the cracking sound of bone, the last of the vampires went down, leaving only one. Anabella stood with the head in her hand, blood pooling around the body on the ground. She threw the head aside as if it was of no consequence. Cormac, the head of Salvay’s security team, was kneeling in front of De Rege and Vescovi; arm twisted at a severe angle. Amid their fighting, a station wagon had pulled up. Mother, father, and children were all shocked out of their minds at the scene before them. Vescovi compelled them to forget and sent them on their way. “Have the cleaners take care of this,” Anabella said to one of her men. “And find out when the others will be here.” The man nodded, walking off as he took a cellular phone from his pocket. In their society, Anabella handled the P.R. in a manner of speaking. And for the cleaning up of messes that would expose their existence. She was
~Salvay stood facing Sven. The two men sized each other up, both alphas in their own right. “A vampire,” Sven said. “A werewolf,” Salvay replied. Sven gave him a smile that did not reach his eyes. “To what do I owe this visit?” Salvay, without an invitation, took a seat. “I must apologize for the absence of my associate. He is busy handling—other matters.” Sven raised a brow, looking down at the man, but said nothing. Having a vampire in his camp was an interesting development for him. Vampires and werewolves, though not enemies, kept their socialization limited. To find one suddenly appearing and one from one of the five families, no less, piqued Sven’s interest.
~The four had led the charge to the bloodbath. From above, Ava floated over them—a dark blanket made of mist. She absorbed the twisted souls of Sven’s men, making more magic for Marx and the others. She gave the men and women on her side each the strength of a hundred men to fight the hundreds of gnashing teeth and razor-sharp claws that came at them in a haze of fur and fury. They had never seen these werewolves before. Made of the darkest souls she was yet to encounter in this world, their creation should have been impossible. Yet here they were—hundreds of them with one singular purpose to kill all those who opposed their alpha. As she absorbed the souls into herself, she felt the dark stain of them spreading, setting roots inside her very being. A soul defined its host and taking the souls of murderers and other unsavories was having its effects. She could feel her mind clouding, bloodlust stirr
~All he could hear was ringing. Sven rolled onto his side, coughing the dust out of his lungs; dust also temporarily blinding him. Once he had oriented himself somewhat, he looked around. A cloud of dust obscured his surroundings, the ringing in his ears blocking out every other sound. As the dust clouds cleared, he saw what was happening around him. Fighting. He looked towards the entrance of the cave and all he could make out were mounds of rocks and debris. The hill was flat, a few feet more, and it would have been on top of him. Sven got to his feet, anger seething. Two men came rushing towards him, and he took out his anger at them. Salvay. Had the man set him up? Sven intended to rip the vampire’s tongue from his mouth. No one played Sven for a foo
~The surrounding air changed. Marx stopped, and so did the others. Before them, the air swirled, getting wider and wider, growing into a vortex of glowing lights. Apprehensive, the group kept back. “It’s Ava,” Daniel said. “We need to move now.” He was the first through the portal, Marx and the others following behind him. They came out in the middle of the melee. There were vampires, and there were werewolves already locked in battle. Immediately, the fight came to them, a link already established between them and their allied vampires. They all filed through the portal, closing behind them. Vescovi found Marx. “Finally, we meet.” The men gripped each other by the forearm.
~The allies gathered when they were the only ones left. The hill lied in rubbles, Anabella’s cleaners taking care of the bodies. Marx had expected a more cordial meeting, but the three vampires stood some distance from him. All their gazes and loathing aimed at Ava. He was missing a big part of the story, as the three seemed to know her. Their collective hate was so strong he could almost taste it. As the werewolves took their human forms, clothes fashioned around them. Courtesy of a runic symbol that Ava had imprinted on their skin during the fight. Along with that rune was another that helped the werewolves to communicate when in their wolf form. “What is the meaning of this?” Marx asked. “There will be no alliance with that murderer,” Philippe pointed towards Ava.