Authors: Unknown
Chapter Thirty
“This is useless,” Zoricah cursed under her breath and leaned back against a tree.
They had searched for Remi the whole night long, and the morning. Around midday, Z and Naiah had spilt from Sam and Hikuro so that they could cover Tardieh’s property more thoroughly – all 60 acres of it. The afternoon sun shone brightly in the sky and they still hadn’t found any signs of the bastard who had killed Arthur, or any lead as to where he might have fled. Which meant that he was either smarter than Z had thought or was being backed up by someone with a lot of resources. Either way, they had been outsmarted in their own territory, and that really pissed her off.
“Are you feeling OK?” Naiah asked her.
She nodded in reply. “A bit tired, that’s all. It’s hard to stay on my feet for long when there’s a bowling ball inside me.” She lifted her eyes and met the girl’s gaze. “How are
you
?”
Naiah shrugged.
Over the past week, Z had learned how tough Naiah was. She looked fragile and delicate but on the inside, the girl had a will of iron. Nonetheless, witnessing a vampire die from decapitation and be consumed by the divine fire wasn’t easy to stomach, no matter how tough you were. “How about we call it a day, go back to the mansion and drown ourselves in a tub of ice cream?”
Naiah’s lips lifted in a soft smile. “I prefer beer, if you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind at all,” Zoricah consented. “I just hate the fact that I can’t join you.” She took a deep breath and pushed off the tree.
Out of nowhere, a flock of birds flew out from their resting place, screeching loudly. Z paused. She lifted her hand at Naiah, the international sign for caution. Soft swishing and rasping of leaves reached her ears. She scrutinized the area looking for the source of the noise. From the corner of her eyes she caught movement among the bed of ferns down the hill. Something or someone was crawling its way toward them.
She pulled out her 9mm Heckler & Koch pistol and pointed in that direction. “Come on out, Remi. There’s no point in hiding anymore. You’re done.” Even though it was daylight, Remi could have found shelter underneath the heavy bushes. It was a dangerous move for a vampire, but a clever hiding place away from the sun.
The ferns stirred at a steady yet fast pace. More birds flew out, alarmed by the unexpected prowler.
“Show your face, Remi, or I’ll shoot your sorry ass right now.” Z aimed at it, ready to fire.
“No! Wait!” Naiah cried out, jumping in front of Z.
Z pulled the gun up quickly.
What in Hiad?
She was about to ask what had gone through the young witch’s mind to jump in front of a loaded gun when she saw what had disquieted the local animals.
The black panther crept out of the bushes and tumbled across the dirt path.
“Yara!” Z cried out and ran to her friend.
Yara clambered down, taking a few more steps before collapsing on the ground. She carried several wounds, her fur was plastered with blood. But even after passing out, her sharp teeth never loosened around the black box she was carrying.
Chapter Thirty One
Yara pulled the towel off the rail and patted herself dry, careful not to go too hard on the tender spots. She was aching all over, inside and out. After the best day of her life turned into her worst nightmare, she ran for her life, with Phillip on her heels. In broad daylight. That had been the only thing that had given her advantage over a dragon. Phillip hadn’t been crazy enough to fling his leathery wings in front of the crowd, but that didn’t stop him from using his supernatural strength to stay on her tail. Because of that, a lot of people saw a black panther sprint through the streets of Syracuse, and when she reached Morgan Hill forest, the real race began.
Shielded from human eyes by the trees and woodland, Phillip had no trouble pulling his wings out. Yara had had to outrun and outsmart him, which had been almost an impossible mission considering he had the panoramic vantage point to his advantage. At one stage he’d gotten so close that she even saw her life flash before her eyes. But she pushed on; she had to get that box to Tardieh and Zoricah. If Balaur and Phillip managed to get their hands on those white bullets, Armageddon would follow. And she couldn’t allow that. Never in her life had she covered 250 miles in one go, but she had made it, and now she was safe and sound … and in pain.
She rested her hands on the bathroom sink and looked at herself in the mirror. She had blue patches all over her arms and legs from the acrobatic moves she’d had to pull in order to escape from Phillip’s murderous attempts. But they were mere scratches compared to the ache she felt in her chest. Images of Rafe handing over the black box to Balaur flooded her mind. She let her head fall forth as hot tears rolled down her cheeks. By Apa Dobrý, she had done it again. She had fallen for the bad boy and for that, she got burnt. Badly. Since the beginning, her gut had warned her. Deep inside she’d known he was bad news. But did she listen? Did she accept Z’s offer to come and get her out? No, she didn’t. She was lust-struck and wanted more. Her eyesight went blurry as more tears poured out and a heavy lump in her throat threatened to choke her. Her knees buckled, and her limbs turned weak as the wave of sadness washed through her. She leaned back against the wall and let her body slide down until she met cold tiles. Yara wasn’t one to dwell in heartache. To be frank, after Pedro, she had kept romantic prospects at bay. It hadn’t been cowardice, but self-preservation. That’s why she went to sex parties, swinger’s clubs and other pick up places with questionable reputation. There was little chance one would get smitten by a nameless dick. But Rafe had been one of those, a nameless, faceless pack of muscles that had barged into her life and swept her off her feet.
A soft knock resounded on her door. She sniffed her tears away quickly.
“Yara?” Sam’s voice came from the other side. “Are you alright, hon? Do you need any pain killers?”
Do you have any drugs for aching souls?
“No, thanks, Sam,” she managed to reply without sounding too weepy. “I’ll be right out.”
After reaching the first gate of Tardieh’s mansion, Yara had been overwhelmed by grief and exhaustion, but she insisted in going straight to Tardieh and giving them a full report on what happened, how she got hold of the bullets, everything. That is, not
everything
– the king didn’t need to know that she had fallen in love with a scumbag. After that, she had wanted to have some time alone, she felt too raw, but her friends wouldn’t have it. She knew they meant well, and it would be even more torturous if Yara closed herself away from them. She knew it well. She had suffered that fate on her own skin twice before – first when Z fell for Tardieh, then when Sam got all mooshy-mooshy with Hikuro. She knew how much a friend’s shun hurt, and she didn’t want to impose that on them. So she agreed to let them help her tend to her wounds, but asked to have a quick bath first. Alone.
She took a deep breath, put the bathrobe on and stepped out. Three pairs of concerned eyes met hers. Z was standing by the window, her baby bump clearly showing now. Sam was by the desk holding a glass of water, and Naiah was sitting on the bed.
Sam was the first to break the silence. “Here, hon, I got you some aspirin.” She handed over the water and two small white tablets.
“Thanks,” Yara whispered in reply and tried to take what her friend was offering but her arms wouldn’t obey the command.
Another wave of grief overwhelmed her. She had meant to stay strong, to be the tough fighter she was, but it had been too much. Rafe’s blow had cut her in ways she didn’t know possible. Her eyes went blurry and her shoulders started shaking as uncontrollable sobs from the depths of her inmã came forth. She hid her face behind her hands, but by then it was too late. It was too late to pretend she was fine and dandy.
Six arms enveloped around her. Yara let them guide her to the bed. Z and Sam sat by her side, Naiah crouched on the floor in front of her.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbled between sobs.
“What for?” Sam asked.
“I didn’t want to cry,” Yara replied.
“Well, that’s living, hon,” Z replied, then wrapped her arms around Yara’s shoulder.
She was so grateful and so ashamed at the same time. Her muddled-up mind couldn’t forms words, just tears. She rested her head on her leader’s shoulder and let the tears roll.
“But,” Z said softly. “I do need to know what happened.”
Yara inhaled deeply and forced her mind to work. “Rafe, the Dungeon’s fighting champion, is the one who took the last box of white bullets in London. He’s been working for Balaur and Phillip the entire time.”
Bit by bit, she told them her entire ordeal – how the bomb in the Dungeon had almost killed her, how Rafe had tended to her wounds, misled her, pretended he cared, the fight with his uncle, the butter sculpture, all the way to the encounter at the fair. “Looking back I can see that he never really intended to introduce me to his family, it was all circumstantial. He must have been tailing me since London. I was just another target. He was the one who stopped me from going after Phillip at Balaur’s party. Ai, Apa Dobrý, it was all a big setup, and I fell for it like a rookie. I was feeling so lonely, so left out that I let myself be fooled. I saw how you two were so happy with your boyfriends that for the first time I wanted it, too. I wanted it so much.”
Z exhaled and hugged her again. “I’m so sorry we made you feel left out, Yara.”
“Don’t be,” Yara replied. “That’s life, right? When we finished the mission in London, Sam, you said it yourself – life is a sequence of cycles. We can’t avoid that, and it was foolish of me to think we’d always be the Three Female Musketeers forever. Of course things would change. I just didn’t know how to deal with it when they did.”
“None of us knew, hon,” Sam whispered and rubbed her hand on Yara’s back.
“I’m
still
struggling,” Z snorted and motioned to her protruded belly. “But you know what makes me sleep well at night?”
Yara met Z’s golden eyes and shook her head.
“The absolute certainty that no matter what happens next, I will always have my friends by my side, helping me, supporting me, and even slapping me on the wrist when I deserve it.”
Z’s comment warmed Yara’s inmã a bit.
“And the same goes to you, hon,” Sam added. “We will probably fail to include each other in every aspect of our day, we will most definitely need some time out with our husbands once in a while, but that doesn’t mean we are growing apart or stepping away.” She leaned forward and hugged Yara tightly. “We love you no matter what, you silly cat.”
“I love you too,” she whispered back.
She relaxed in her best friends’ arms and gave up on trying to make the tears stop. She knew they loved her no matter what, but hearing it out loud filled her broken heart with hope – hope that one day their love would fill the hollow Rafe had left behind.
They stayed there, in silence, hugging each other, for a while. Her friends didn’t press her to go on, didn’t ask for more details, or tried to paint a silver lining on the ugly reality.
And because the world doesn’t stop just because you need time out, reality came knocking on Yara’s door again. It wasn’t a knock
per se
; it was more like a jackhammer.
“What was that?” Naiah asked when the ground trembled.
Z frowned. “No sure.”
“Is it an earthquake?” Sam pondered.
They paused, waiting, not clear for what.
The ground shook once again, stronger this time. The heavy walls wobbled and dust fell from the tall ceiling. The fire alarm went off at the same time all lights were automatically turned on and doors were unlocked.
“This is no earthquake,” Z growled. “We’re being attacked.”
Part 3
“All that is important is this one moment.
Make the moment important, vital, and worth living. Do not let it slip away unnoticed and unused.”
(Martha Graham)
Chapter One
“Phillip, get your gristly ass up here!” Balaur bellowed from the sky, after he breathed out another blast of fire on Tardieh’s roof. The blond prick had tagged along, whining all the way to the vampire’s compound and now he had apparently decided that watching the whole operation go down from a distance was enough support. In his dreams.
“My lord,” the whining scumbag replied, flapping his wings next to Balaur. “I’m still not sure this is the best approach. We are attacking the vampire king, he may report you to the Draconian Senate and you’ll be …”
“I’ll be what, Phillip? What will that bunch of lethargic lizards do? Tell me off? They don’t move their asses for nothing, they don’t care what happens in this world, as long as no one touches their mountains,” Balaur retorted. “Besides, we witnessed the black panther steal the box from the wolf, she brought the atomic bullets here. All we’re doing is ensuring that the future of the supernatural creatures is safe by stopping the leeches from using them against the innocent. I’m sure the Draconian Senate will support me on this.”
Phillip mumbled something that sounded like “I’m not so sure” but Balaur had had enough of that chat, he had a castle to invade. He flew up and around Tardieh’s mansion. Damned Soartas, that blood sucker must have magic protecting it. Balaur’s attacks hadn’t even dented the observatory tower.
He lifted his long tail then released it heavily on the tower. In any other occasion, the roof would have been swept away completely, with just a brush of his scales over it, but it didn’t. Balaur was thrust backwards instead, as if a mighty thunder had struck him.
“What in Hiad?” he cursed and flew around his target.
His acute lizard-like eyes finally spotted the reason why Tardieh’s castle had the reputation of being impenetrable. An electric net covered the entire perimeter, repelling anyone and anything that touched it. It was invisible to the naked eye. Balaur had only spotted it because he knew what to look for. It seemed to be similar to the electric spider web protecting the acres around the castle – the one keeping his razbian guards at bay.
“Phillip, go break the electric net on the ground,” Balaur ordered. “You must find and destroy the central router that feeds energy to the net, not the net itself.”
Phillip grumbled in reply but obeyed.
Balaur flapped his wings harder and circumnavigated around the seemingly impenetrable mansion. The vampires were smart but not as cunning as a dragon lord. He knew it was just a matter of time before he found the generator powering the protective grid, then, they’d fry under his dragon fire. And just to make a point, he took in a deep breath and released another scalding ball at the mansion.