Tales of Aradia The Last Witch Volume (30 page)

He slowly reached towards her, his
other hand now holding the switchblade.

"You know?" Tavis finally said, "I
have been told that a witch's blood is not only capable of giving
whoever drinks it the strength and power of the witches themselves,
but it is also one hell of a damn good tasty drink!"

"So," he said with his voice
dropping more softly as he stood and swiftly made his way toward
her. "How about letting me see for myself if I can separate the
fact from the fiction eh?"

"Eat me!" Aradia cried kicking him
in his knees, and dashing as fast as she could.

Tavis stumbled but still managed to
shout, "Oh I intend to!"

In spite of her own super-human
speed, Aradia did not get far. Dunc headed her off, and as she
doubled back, Korrigan suddenly appeared. She looked back from
Korrigan, to Dunc, and to Tavis who had now shown up. All three of
them circled her, and stared at her with intense hunger in their
eyes.

A few tense filled moments passed
until Dunc asked her sarcastically, "Well aren't you going to
run?"

Aradia snorted scornfully. "And
give you the guys the satisfaction! No way."

"Well then," said Tavis smiling, "I
guess you are pretty screwed. Aren't you?"

Aradia, however, laughed and held
out her hand.

"Still got my powers you know," she
said smiling as she made a ball of fire appear in her
hand.

Suddenly, Korrigan grabbed her from
behind, gripped her wrist, and just like before he made the
fireball disappear. Aradia struggled in Henry's iron grip, but also
like before she could barely move. Tavis then put his switchblade
back in his pocket, flexed his hands until Aradia could hear his
finger bones crack. He then began to move in such a way that Aradia
felt sure he was going to pounce on her. Aradia still struggled as
hard as she could, trying to sabotage Henry's efforts to hold her
down.

Tavis began to move towards her
until Dunc called out at the top of his lungs. "Stop!"

Aradia looked at him, relieved, but
only to become frightened again when he said, "You might want to
take off your coat. No sense in getting some of her precious blood
on your clothes."

"Oh right thanks man," said
Maurice.

He then shed off his black jacket,
and began once again to move towards Aradia. Finally, he leapt at
her like a predator would on to its wounded prey. Aradia braced
herself, but just as Maurice's fangs barely brushed her neck, he
was thrown back into a tree.

Aradia looked at what had just
saved her neck, literally. It was Dax with his fangs bared, claws
drawn, and looking mad as hell!

"Why you..." Dunc sputtered as he
moved towards him, but was knocked down with one swipe from a
werewolf's paw that suddenly emerged from the forest.

Aradia seized the opportunity to
pry herself from Henry's arms. Turning, she grabbed both his arms,
drove her knee into his shins, and threw him into the center where
Dax and Roy now stood. The three of them then circled him,
dangerously.

"Is this the one who tried to hurt
you?" Roy asked Aradia while growling menacingly.

Aradia nodded.

Dax then hissed like a cobra ready
to strike. He and Roy both began to move towards Korrigan, eager to
punish him for Aradia's distress. When Dunc and Tavis appeared once
again, and grabbed a hold of them from behind. Roy dug his claws
into Jaxon's arm, and tossed him away. Dax jabbed Tavis hard in the
stomach with his elbow. He took advantage of him stumbling in pain,
and crouched on to one foot. He then tripped him, straightened up
again in a mere second, and kicked him into another
tree.

However, as impressive as they were
in their fighting the defense Roy and Dax mounted was not that
effective. Soon all of the McAlester brothers were back together,
on their feet, and growling menacingly at Dax and Roy who stood
protectively in front of Aradia.

"Who the hell are you and what do
you want?" Roy snarled.

"Take a wild guess mutt!" Korrigan
snapped with a nod in Aradia's direction.

Dax looked at Aradia, and then back
to them.

"What do you want with her?" he
demanded.

Tavis laughed. "Ever heard of the
witch rule? Whoever has the witch ends up making the
rules!"

"Yeah," Dunc said cackling, "So why
don't you do yourselves a favor and get the hell out of here while
we collect our prize!"

"We are not leaving here without
Aradia!" Dax snapped.

Tavis stared past him and at
Aradia.

As soon as he did so, he looked
back at Dax and said sneeringly, "Well then I guess you are not
leaving are you? At least not alive!"

Chapter
Twenty-Three

Korrigan hurled himself at Dax who
stepped out of the way, grabbed Henry's arm, and threw him into a
nearby tree.

Dunc extended his claws longer,
larger, and growled fiercely. "This is for the scratch you gave
me!"

He then dashed towards
Roy.

As Dunc got merely inches away from
him, Roy curled his paw into a fist, and socked him from below his
chin. Roy then dug his claws into Jaxon's right shoulder, and threw
him over his own! Only Tavis was left and he nervously looked from
Dax to Roy. Although his brothers were now injured and unable to
help him, Tavis still made his move. When he finally did, Dax and
Roy were ready. At the same time, they raised both their fists, and
punched Tavis hard in the face! So hard that he flew back over a
hundred feet, landed on the dirt, and skidded to a halt. He then
scrambled up, and ran away with his brothers following him
limply.

"What do you suppose that was all
about?" Roy asked as he shifted back into his human
form.

Dax shrugged and shook his head and
then turned to look at Roy.

As he sized him up from head to
toe, Dax decided to ask. "Out of curiosity sake mate, how many
clothes do you actually own?"

Roy looked down, and noticed his
torn clothes. He then began to advance toward Dax, extremely
irritated.

Aradia stepped in between them and
said, "Look guys thanks for the save! I really appreciate
it."

Dax smiled down at Aradia. "No
problem love."

Roy nodded in agreement.

"However," Dax added, "Do you mind
telling me what the hell that was about?"

Aradia shrugged. "The one who
attacked me called himself Korrigan McAlester so I can only assume
that the other two are his 'brothers' so to speak. All three of
them are vampires. What is worse is that one who tried tried to
rape me says he's part witch!"

Dax and Roy both gawked at
her.

"Are you sure?" Dax asked
Aradia.

Aradia nodded and then turned in
Roy's direction. "Remember the night where he first tried to attack
me?"

Roy nodded. Upon realizing what
Aradia was trying to say, he started opening and closing his mouth
in shock.

"But...how…” he finally managed to
sputter, "Your people were supposed to have been killed off years
ago."

Aradia shrugged. "According to him,
he was turned before the genocide and since he is now technically a
vampire I guess the law of the genocide did not apply to
him."

"I guess they thought why bother
with him because the only way he can reproduce or make more witches
is with a pureblood witch and they definitely killed off all of
those," Dax muttered.

"Except for me," Aradia
murmured.

Dax just stared.

Roy, however, shook his head and
threaded his fingers through his hair. "But why would they want to
come after you?"

"Because," Aradia stated, "You
heard what Tavis said 'whoever has the witch ends up making the
rules' apparently Tristan was right about people seeing me as a
political tool and those guys," Aradia added while pointing in the
direction where the McAlester brothers had taken off. "Are no
exception."

Dax inhaled deeply. "And I will bet
what you did to Lupe helped to not only give them proof about how
powerful you are but also strengthen their resolve to have
you!"

Aradia exhaled a weary
breath.

Dax then said, "You do realize what
this means don't you?"

Aradia looked up at him
confused.

"It means," Dax began solemnly,
"That you have to cancel the club events, the promoting
amelioration thing, and from now on keep a low profile."

"But why?" Aradia
demanded.

"Because Aradia don't you see?" Dax
argued, "If you keep using your powers you will also be proving to
them not just how powerful you are but how invaluable you are as
well. In other words unless you stop drawing attention to yourself
more people will keep coming after you!"

Chapter
Twenty-Four

"What do you mean the McAlester
brothers failed to capture her!" Keon screeched.

The scrawny vampire that was
kneeling before him just trembled in response. Keon did not wait,
he merely turned away from his messenger, and began to pace. Saul
leaned against the wall, and watched him. He watched as Keon's face
grew taut, and his expression more twisted.

"How hard?" Keon snarled under his
breath, "Can it be for three battle-hardened warrior vampires to
capture one scrawny, little, inexperienced witch?! Huh? How hard?
Answer me that!"

He turned to Saul as if demanding
an explanation, but Saul merely shrugged. Amazingly, it seemed like
Keon's question had intended to be a rhetorical one because he did
not even bother to notice Saul's bodily response. He also dismissed
the messenger vampire with a swift backhand that sent the poor kid
flying into the door of the lair! Stomping straight to the window,
Keon threw open its panes with a loud boom of annoyance.

"I guess if you truly want someone
to be dealt with" Keon growled, "Find a much more efficient way to
do it!"

He then took a few steps back from
the window, and paused. After a few tense seconds, he raced
straight to the window, and jumped out like a swan diver above a
pool! His entire form then transformed into that of a giant black
bat, and began to fly into the night sky. Saul followed his lead,
guessing where they were heading, and already feeling guilty about
it.

"Are you sure of this?" the
Sovereign cried out.

Keon nodded, and then looked to
Saul for confirmation.

Saul's eyes were still on the
ground as he nodded. The Sovereign then turned away from both Keon
and Saul.

"So if both yours and Rome's
reports are true?" the Sovereign started in a slow highly irritable
voice. "About her courting several men from all types of the hidden
and the human race, this thing about promoting 'amelioration'
amongst the hiddens, and now three vampires moving all the way to
Salem trying to acquire her for the sake of power
then..."

The Sovereign clasped his hand to
his forehead still hidden in his black hood, and shook it in
frustration.

"This is getting way out of hand,"
he finally said after a moment of pondering. "I mean its bad enough
she survived when the rest of her people were killed, but to now
view herself as a political figure capable of wielding power..." He
shook his head yet again.

"What shall we do Sovereign?" Keon
inquired eagerly.

The Sovereign sighed. "How many
times have these McAlester brothers attempted to capture
her?"

Keon was stunned by the question,
but answered it nevertheless. "I believe three times Sovereign. The
first two times were by Korrigan all on his own, and the third time
was by all of them together."

"Did they fail?" the Sovereign
inquired.

Keon nodded.

This caused the Sovereign to pause,
and try to formulate a plan.

It only took a few minutes for him
to do so.

A cruel smile then appeared on his
lips right before he issued his orders to Keon and Saul. "Allow the
McAlester brothers at least three more chances to try to acquire
Aradia. We all have heard legends and stories about the power of a
witch's blood, but in truth no one knows for sure. If the
McAlester’s kidnap her they will probably attempt to drink her
blood, and then we can see if the legends are indeed true. Most
especially, if it has negative effects then we will deal with
them."

"What if the McAlester brothers
become too powerful to deal with?" Keon dared to ask the
Sovereign.

The Sovereign, however, merely
chuckled. "Even if they drain the witch dry in seconds it will take
them god knows how long to figure out the powers they have acquired
from her and by that time..." he trailed off grinning.

Keon grinned as well but then
asked, "What if the McAlester’s fail?"

The Sovereign shrugged. "If they
fail then we shall deal with her ourselves!"