I smile. “As usual, nothing gets past you. You hear and know everything somehow. Yes, I’m looking for Embry. I thought she would be with Rupert, but I can’t find that miserable bird anywhere.”
His eyes crinkle with amusement. “Follow me but try to stay low. The witches have ghouls staked out high in the trees. They’re used to me, but they’ll be on the lookout for you.”
He’s not wrong about that at all. I follow at a safe distance, flying in between the trees, staying downwind of the slight breeze as we weave in and among the larger trees providing us with lower branches that extend over and cover the forest floor. When we get closer to the mountains, he gestures ahead. “They’ll be watching if I head that way. They’ll know something is amiss and report back to the witches. See the exact middle of that mountain range?”
I chuckle. “The very spot we all avoid?”
“Exactly. If you want to find Embry and Rupert, you’ll find them there. There’s a long crevice in the mountainside, and you’ll be able to fit through with no problem if Rupert could. Be careful my friend. Once the witches know you’ve encroached on this land, there will be almighty hell to pay.”
“Thanks again, Sheba. Best of luck to you and yours.” I fly low, staying well beneath the canopy of the trees above, watching with keen eyes but nothing is going to get in the way of finding Embry, and as soon as the breeze shifts, I can smell her scent.
I’ve barely gotten through the crevices, letting her scent guide the way, weaving through the darkness of the night. But a shadow on the wall in front of me stops me in my tracks. I wait, my heart pounding as Embry draws her sword. My fearless love knows the danger, she sees exactly what I’m seeing pressed against the wall. It takes every ounce of willpower to stand still, not to charge or to annihilate anyone here to do Embry any harm. And to let her handle what it’s so important for her to do alone.
Still, every muscle in my body is on ready for flight, just in case she needs my assistance because like it or not I’m not about to let anything happen to her. I watch her gauging the situation, her steady stance, the toes of her back foot positioned for flight or attack. When everyone else would run forward, call them out,and be too quick to jump, she waits with patience, forcing her opponent from the shadows and finally to come into her sight.
Jealousy and fear hit my chest as though they were daggers. Lucas stands tall, looking royal in his long black gown and slicked back hair. His lips are bright red and dripping with blood. He’s not here to woo Embry back to his lair, he’s here to instill deep-seated fear.
I turn my attention to her, gauging her reaction, but my love shows not one ounce of fear. When others would run, she dares him to come near, but not with her voice or even a leer. Instead, she waits, drawing him out even more until he’s standing in the center of the room, in front of her.
The waiting is painful but necessary, knowing she wouldn’t want it any other way. Embry must face her demons and the courage she displays in doing this is amazing to see. Lucas takes another step toward her and my hand is on my weapon. “You should have kept your nose out of our business. You and your grandma, and her grandma, you’re all the same. It’s time that we end this little game.”
Embry draws her elbow back, bringing her sword to the ready. “I’m not scared of you. Do your best, try and fight me if you will.” She rocks on her foot, ready to pounce, putting me on the fucking ready at the very same time. But still, she remains calm under pressure, never moving an inch, making him come to her. Good girl…
Her eyebrows raise, but she never takes her eyes off of him to even glance to me. But she feels me, senses me, and knows I’m here.You stay out of this, vampire.
I don’t respond, because I can’t make her that promise, at least not now, not until I know that she’s completely safe and out of harm’s way.
Chapter 9
Embry
Iwatch and wait, using every inch of my willpower when what I really want to do is fly across the room and slam the fucker into the wall. But that’s not going to help win this battle, it’s just going to make him mad. No, I want him to think he’s got the edge, and that I’m going to go down like he thinks a female should. “You shouldn’t have come back, Lucas. There’s nothing here for you anymore. You had it all, including me, but threw it all away.”
The loud whizzing noise draws my attention to the green ghouls with no faces. The guards of the witches, paid for protecting them from anyone in sight. Little do the witches know that the vampires use ghouls to protect us from vampires who don’t truly belong in our world, to keep them from transitioning.
They determine through battle skill who should and shouldn’t be allowed to transition from human to vampire. They battled hard to keep me out a long time ago, but I was triumphant, and I will be again. I watch as a small army of ghouls fly into the cavern, at first single file and then spanning out and around the cave.
Do not intercede, vampire.
I hold steady waiting for them, knowing the secret to ending them for good. A secret no one wants us to know. One the witches tried and still want to use to end the vampires for good. My chest pounds with unprecedented rage. I let it be fueled by the thought of my great, great, great grammas and everyone down the line being killed at their hands and the witches’. But now their turn will come.
I float toward the center of the room and Lucas immediately flies to the wall on the other side of the cave, safely out of the way. It’s nothing I didn’t expect though.
They’ll surround you, Embry!
That’s the point, vampire. Stand down.
The ghouls close in, effectively surrounding me just as I knew they would. Closing in because they think they’ve won. But in doing so, they’ve put themselves right where I want them. I swing the heft of my longsword far above my head, spinning around and around as the stone from the end of my sword turns bright red, something I would have never known without studying the shadow books.
It turns brighter and brighter and flames ignite, surrounding them in two circles of fire, one in front and one behind them. Two rings of fire that will burn them up and send them to the very depths of hell. I watch as the two bands of fire engulf them and join in the middle, and the screeching sounds of the deadly ghouls disappear into the night.
“They weren’t strong enough to end me, and neither are you, Lucas.”
Lucas laughs, but it’s not the laugh I once knew. The real Lucas is gone, and in his place is an illusion crafted by a witch with a vendetta of centuries.
Just like I thought, those dark eyes I once knew, they are no longer the same. They don’t even come close to looking one bit remorseful or sad for things that could have been. “I had hopedyour spirit would have died with the rest of you, now you’re back.”
His eyes don’t even blink, he’s there but he’s not really there. And that’s exactly what I was looking for, what I needed to know for certain before I closed the door on Lucas for good. “It seems the witches are good at playing these little games, but they’re not fooling me a bit. If they thought conjuring you back from the dead could make me sentimental, less than an adversary, they were more than wrong.”
