AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Okay.” Xander looked up from his phone. “I just texted Jax. He hasn’t responded but I’m sure he’ll bring our beloved back here. Don’t fret, uh… prince.” Xander seemed unsure how to address me at the moment and also, how to calm me down. “The wolf may be belligerent at times but he’s as capable as they come.”
“Then we should go. The two of us are enough to do this, right?” I stopped my pacing and motioned toward the penthouse’s front door.
I’d just gotten home from one hell of an afternoon. I’d been following up on one of the photos I’d taken at the central temple: an advertisement for Fell’s Butcher Shop downtown. I hadn’t initially prioritized that lead, because so many of the others had seemed more promising.
All week, I’d spent every spare hour identifying active temple followers, scoping them out at night, discreetly tailing them to their homes to see if I could detect Jack 2’s aura.
Unfortunately, none of those late-night visits had resulted in anything useful. I’d certainly read plenty of hateful, frustrated, petty little people. Tormented by loneliness, inferiority complexes and failed ambition. But none of them had been Jack 2.
Fell’s though had been distinctly more interesting, but only on my second visit.
My first visit, a few days ago, I went in and bought some cold cuts, but detected nothing. I’d popped in again earlier this afternoon, just to double check the place, and before I’d even stepped in the shop, the aura whacked my nose like I’d walked into a lamppost. Jack 2 was in there, his ghastly essence lingering like vapors rising from a rotten corpse.
But as I was about to summon Juniper, march in there and skewer the bastard, I sensed something else. A presence even more powerful, fouler than Jack 2 himself. And the source both sickened and shocked me.
It was Fae. A very powerful one. At least equal in strength to me, and quite possibly—though it angered me to admit it—stronger.
It explained at least two things. First, how Jack 2 was able to perform abilities far greater than he was actually capable of; because this mystery Fae was supplying him with magic. And second, why Jack 2’s energy had always felt so strange. With their auras side by side, easier to compare, I now realized Jack 2 was an elemental and most likely, a half breed. Seemed strange he was killing other half breeds. But if he was unhappy in his own skin, and using this Fae’s abilities to help carry out his atrocious string of crimes, everything made sense.
I’d sent off a frantic text to Aaron and Jax to meet at the closest intersection downtown. In Aaron’s text, I’d told him to leave Ceci on campus with Reccared and Timon. But after getting responses from neither, I sent another text to them both to just meet at the penthouse instead. I was worried that Jack 2 and the Fae would disappear on me again, but I couldn’t take them down—not both of them together—on my own. It had made my throat dry and hands tremble even to think it, but I considered that Aaron’s beast might be a necessary last resort.
Anyway, I returned home to find nobody but Xander. Then Aaron finally replied, sending a quick text mid-class, saying he’d be home soon and letting me know Ceci wasn’t sitting in on his class this afternoon as planned, she was with Jax.
So here we were now, waiting for Aaron, Jax and Ceci to get home. We could leave Ceci here with Reccared and Timon, and the four of us should be able to take down Jack 2 and the Fae. But I didn’t want to wait. I wanted to finish this, danger be damned. Even if it was just with Xander. The vamp was well aware of the risks and I was confident a coven leader would have a solid level of skill in a fight. At the very least, I knew he’d fed from Ceci last night—before we all went to Pascal’s for dinner—and should be able to blur behind an enemy and open their throat in the blink of an eye.
“So, Xander, this piece of shit tried to carry off and mutilate your beloved orchid. Are you ready to put him under the knife, or what?” I turned to him, trying to rile him up and convince him the two of us should go handle this.
Xander’s usual cocky, jovial manner melted. His face stoney, he reached into his jean pocket and produced a knife handle. A quick button press saw a vicious-looking blade flick from its top. It was no Juniper, but it would work. Besides, guns were strictly banned in New Nebraska—humans were already afraid of paranormals and didn’t want them having guns too—and somehow, they’d been able to enforce that.
Nodding, Xander retracted the blade, slid it back into his pocket, and simply said, “Let’s do this.”
I placed a firm hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “Today, we remove a nasty chunk of evil from this world.”
He placed his hand on top of mine and smiled. “And we keep Ceci safe in the process. It means a lot to me, how much you care about her, Osric.”
It sounded strange, my name spoken alongside such words of appreciation, by a vampire. But it meant a lot to me all the same. “I do care for her, very much.” Much more than I could bear at times. Seeing her in ecstasy two nights ago, having to watch and not touch, had been agony. But I’d take anything of Ceci I could get. And I’d do anything for her. I patted his shoulder and nodded at the door. “Let’s go kill those bastards.”
We strode to the door, this would be bloody, this would be—
Xander’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He took it out quickly, tapped the screen and I read over his shoulder. A reply from Jax.
I really hope you get this fucking message! Ceci isn’t with me! She left with Reccared and your guy for that street corner Osric mentioned downtown. I’m heading there now. If you’re not there already, get there NOW!
Xander’s face expressing every bit of agony I felt inside, we raced out the door.
Cecilia
Istood at the corner of Hayes and First, scouring the street for Osric. Reccared and Timon were on either side of me, doing the same.
Something tingled in the back of my mind, like I shouldn’t have raced off so quickly from the gym and I’d even been influenced to leave Jax, after Mandy had shown me Osric’s text. Had Mandy done something unnatural to get me to leave? Did she have some alpha ability, like Jax?
Either way, I was worried about the grumpy Fae prince. And I felt very glad to have Reccared and Timon close to me, as the street was far from bustling and the sidewalks were shadowy, only patched in late afternoon light.
The stores lining the street were mostly boutique, gingerbread brick and pastel paint, their window displays well-arranged and welcoming. There was a florist boasting vibrant bouquets of lilies, roses and orchids—I smiled inside, thinking of Xander’s pet name for me—and an upscale bakery boasting a fine array of artisanal breads and pastries. Then, further down, beside a ladies’ dress boutique, was Fell’s Butcher Shop.
With a super fancy car parked outside. Not a stretch limo, but still imposing. A British model car like a Bentley or Rolls Royce, the luxurious kind that were both bulky and sleek, and had those broad shiny front grills and winged centerpieces sticking up from the end of the hood. The fancy car was midnight black with tinted windows.
Reccared whistled at the sight of it, nodding in appreciation. “That’s a beauty. British classic. Fell’s has some fancy clientele.”
