Everlasting Embrace (Embrace Series) (21 page)

“
Calm down a minute
. W
hat do you mean?
”
I place my hand on the young shape shifters shoulder.
“
Now slow down
,
and tell us who it is that
’
s back
? W
ho is here?
”

With a deep breath
,
Shilah looks at us with his dark brown eyes
.
“
T
he Cerberus are back, and it
’
s not just their fighters. Cyrus and Drake are with them this time.
”

“
Thank you
. G
o get the other shifters
,
and we will meet in the conference room
,
”
I order with a sense of urgency.


  

  


Alexander alerts the others
,
and now we are all gathering around
,
ready to plan our attack yet again. I can
’
t help but wonder if we will ever be rid of them.

“
So
,
we had a slight warning
. W
e just didn
’
t realize it would be so soon. Student Mackenzie tracked them
; she
knew evil was coming. A short time later
,
Shilah saw the Cerberus while on patrol. We don
’
t have time to set up
. T
hey are too close already
,
”
Ebony attempts to explain.

“
When I was out doing my rounds, I saw them. The Cerberus
have
set up a perimeter around the forest
,
surrounding the house. It is going to happen tonight
—
a
nd
here
.
”

“
Well it appears we don
’
t have much time, so let
’
s get what we can. Tonight
,
our student
s
will fight in their first battle. Before we get our supplies, Caspian
,
are
there any students you do not feel are ready to assist in the fight?
”
As always Elijah takes the lead, his fatherly instinct taking over as he feels protective of those in his care.

Caspian looks around the room
.
“
W
e
’
ve been preparing these students since the day they arrived. Although it has only been a few months
,
they have worked very hard. Yes
,
some are more prepared than others, but we have to face what is forthcoming
. A
nd to defeat Cyrus and Drake, we
’
ll need everyone. Don
’
t get me wrong
;
there will be some injuries
. W
e may even loose a few
.
B
ut we have to give it our all, once and for all.
”

We agree
,
and begin to gather supplies. Ebony and Eliza go to collect spells, potions and crystals to aid in the fight. Thankfully
,
Eliza and Luke are still here
. T
hey are scheduled to return to Boston tomorrow. Luke has been able to miss more classes than most
,
due to a specialized learning plan he managed to set up with the
dean
. Everyone wants to
help
to keep him in school
since
the baby was born, and self
-
learning and email assignment hand-ins has been very helpful.

Isaac, Nathanial, and Alexander retreat to the storage room to gather weapons, and
silver boxes for the ashes. When killing a vampire
,
all precautions must be taken. Silver doesn
’
t
bode
well with vampires
; it
hinders the healing process
, usually killing the victim
. Not only do we decapitate the vampire, we then burn it and place its ashes in the silver box before burying it deep beneath the surface. Staking can kill, but the vampire can always be brought back if the stake is removed
and the vampire is fed. Blood allows for healing
,
so
we take no chances, even separating the ashes into various boxes, leaving nothing to chance. When handling these boxes
,
the boys wear neoprene gloves for protection. Without the gloves
,
the silver could burn the boys
,
and I
’
ve heard it can be deadly if the silver seeps into the blood system. We don
’
t want to take any chances
with our own, either
.

As the supplies begin to make it into the front corridor, we begin to separate them into groups
,
trying to ensure each group has similar supplies. Everyone
’
s been alerted to
the
situation,
and
we
’
ll explain it more to them as a group. They prepare, changing into fight clothes, and the girls
are
all t
y
ing
up
their hair. I fear for the young students we have, but we all know this is what we
’
ve been training for. I suppose we can look at this as more of a test.

“
Okay
,
students
,
this is it
.
I know your training is nowhere near complete, but we have a dangerous fight ahead of us
,
and everyone needs to be alert
,
”
Caspian begins his pep talk.

As Caspian explains the situation at hand, Florence hands out blood rations to all the vampires to ensure full strength. Luke and the babies take cover in Ben
’
s room; we still have a protection spell on it, so they should be safe there.

We have seventeen experienced fighters, and twenty-four inexperienced fighters, which includes Nathanial and Ben. We need to organize groups strategically
.
The shifters need to stay together and be in form,
which
will make it difficult for them to take on any students, except for Xander the werewolf. Our only problem is that tonight is only a crescent moon
; he
needs the full moon to change. Eliza
suggests
using a plant called
wolfsbane
, a pretty yellow flower
,
and one of the most poisonous plants in the world. Wolfsbane can be found
in
the Himalayas, through Europe to Great
Britain
.
There are
two different kinds of
wolfsbane
,
one
just as powerful as the other. Eliza explains that
there are
many magickal uses for this plant, but in this case
,
we`ll be using it to transform Xander into his werewolf form
,
without the power of the moon.

Eliza continues,
“
L
ore
says
wolfsbane was the invention of Hercate (a powerful demon)
,
from the fo
r
m of the three-headed dog that guards the gates of the
underworld
. I found this interesting. Wolfsbane has historically been used to help cure werewolves
. I
t was also used to protect one from werewolves and vampires. Of course
,
it all depends on how it is magickally blessed. We have some in stock
,
and Ebony and I already blessed it. When ready
,
Xander needs to place a drop on his tongue
,
and within ten minutes
,
he should be transformed.
”

“
How long will it last
,
and how does he turn back?
”
I question.

“
I
’
m not sure how long it will last, since we haven
’
t had a chance to test it. That
’
s why we
’
ll have the vial strapped to him. He will be able to feel the change happening either way
,
and can administer another drop. Then to turn him back
,
we have a vial blessed in reverse
,
and he takes a drop of that.
”

“
Perfect
;
you really did think of everything.
”

“
Yay
.
I only wish we
could
have tested it all before hand
. W
hat if it doesn
’
t work?
”

“
Your magick always works
;
but if for some reason it doesn
’
t, well
,
he knows hand
-
to
-
hand combat well enough to escape and retreat back to the house
,
”
I try to comfort the others.

“
Okay girls
,
we don
’
t have time for all this chit
-
chat
. Le
t
’
s get our teams organized and get out there. Xander is with the shifters
.
I think the youngest students should be split between us elders
:
myself and Florence, Isaac, Constance, and Caspian. The rest of you can take some of the older students
,
”
Elijah begins to organize the teams.

Because
there are
so many of us involved
,
I make a list of all the teams, to ensure everyone is accounted for.

Team Shifter:

Tamo, fourty-five,
wolf

Dakota, eighteen,
wolf

Makaya, thirteen,
hawk

Shilah, nineteen,
cougar

Mika, seventeen,
cougar

Skah, twenty-two,
mountain lion

Xander, twenty-one,
l
ycan

Team Elijah:

Enrique, thirteen,
demigod

Samantha, fifteen,
changling

Team Florence:

Carlina, sixteen,
fairy

Shawnee, fourteen,
vampire

Team Isaac:

Keyna, fourteen,
pixie

Russell, fourteen,
drac

Team Constance:

Anissa, sixteen,
vampire

Vaughn, fifteen,
half
-
demon

Team Caspian:

Renelle, eighteen,
skin walker

Janae, thirteen,
skin walker

Team Alexander:

Jorden, twenty,
vampire

Yaneek, nineteen,
fairy

Team Matilda:

Siobhan, twenty-three,
vampire

Logan, twenty-two,
dalaketnon

Team Sophia:

Nathanial, eighteen,
vampire

Zachary, twenty-three,
wendigo

Team Danika:

Kaylee, twenty,
fairy

Tanner, twenty-two,
vampire

Team Ebony: