Immortal Dreams (27 page)

Blue balls of energy shoot free from Gage's hands, striking the snarling bloodsuckers.  I cringe when I see the dark blood shooting free, and I'm forced to turn my head when the gruesome sights become unbearable.

Then I hear Gage shouting, "Now!"

I look up in time to see one of the guys slamming down a stone to complete a circle.  A red, almost blinding light shoots into the sky from the circle, shedding light on all the curious forest creatures that instantly take cover.

I've only ever heard of trap nets such as this.  I've never actually seen one for myself.  It's incredible.

The night stalkers scramble around, but as soon as one of them tries to leap out, they're slammed back into the circle from the magic hidden inside the stones.

"Don't bother," Gage says as he runs a hand through his dark hair, pushing it away from his face after the ruffling fight.  He quickly pulls his hood back down, though now it seems pointless.

At least his face is still well hidden.

The night stalker who had me pinned doesn't seem very frazzled, or even worried about the situation.  That scares the shit out of me.  How can someone remain calm while facing imminent death?

"You have no idea who you're messing with," the night stalker snarls, his tone threatening.

"Don't I?" Gage taunts.  "You're Isolis, leader of this coven.  I admit we were just expecting two to be following your lead.  I didn't realize you could find four to follow you on a single kill."

Isolis's eyes cut toward me, and he gives me a dark grin that makes my skin prickle from head to toe.

"Is that a fact?" he asks while turning back to Gage.  "Do you always use live bait for your traps, or was I a special condition?"

Gage lets out a sardonic huff of a laugh, and then he shakes his head, his mask still covering his identity.

"You're not special in any way.  Let's talk about the sacrificial rituals you've been performing on the girls you've slaughtered and left for dead, leaving a few breaths in their lungs.  That's not very discreet or humane of you, both of which are required by your kind in order to keep peace.  Now, tell me why you've been performing the rituals."

Isolis just laughs - a deep, throaty, genuine laugh of amusement.  Though I can't see Gage's face, I'm sure he's not too thrilled by the reaction.

"Something funny, Isolis?  I don't think you quite realize how severe the consequences you're facing are.  Tell me what these rituals were intended to do, and you won't die by fire.  Deny me, and I'll make sure you feel the same pain those girls did before you left them gasping for their last breaths."

Isolis's laughter tapers off as his eyes grow darker with intent, his night stalker blues burning a glowing hue.  A small, secretive smirk plays on his lips as he pulls his hands behind his back.

"Boy, you have no idea what's coming.  There's more power at play than you can even fathom.  Just be warned, the Somage don't have a lot of friends.  Your faces may be hidden, your scents may be covered, but your voices remain the same.  We'll find you, and it won't be pretty when we do.  Remember this moment when I'm ripping your heart out through your throat."

If ever there was a scarier threat, I've never heard it.  Gage seems cool, unaffected, as though he's heard this all too many times.  I'm shaking like a leaf on a tree in the middle of a windstorm.

"I'm standing on the outside of this circle right now, while you're facing your last few breaths.  Don't think you scare me.  You're low on the food chain compared to what I've dealt with.  Just another snake in the grass waiting to get his head chopped off - that's all you are to me," Gage murmurs, his tone equally as terrifying.

With all the time we've spent together this past month, I've almost forgotten the dark roots he bears.  That's something I should remember before getting too close.

Isolis turns to face me, and my stomach slaps my throat when he gives me a devious wink, warning me something big is about to happen.

"Maybe you'd be right... if I hadn't been expecting a trap," he says, and as soon as those words release, the woods thunder with a sudden attack.

I scream as lycans and night stalkers crash through the trees.  At least ten have joined our party, and they're out for blood.  We set a trap alright - our own fucking trap.

The time for holding back is over.  With this many, I'll have to reveal my power.

Gage starts whirling blue orbs of energy while using his telekinesis to shove them away.  If they touch him, his fight is over.  They'll use their subduing power to restrain him, hold him... kill him.

The other members of his masked brigade fight off as many as they can, but one screams out as he's brought down.  His mask is ripped free by a night stalker who relishes the terror he's stricken before devouring him, forcing me to cut my eyes away.

I screech as one nears the circle, but while I'm busy hesitating, he has time to rip a stone up and free the other five.  Now we're all the more outnumbered, and I have no choice.

Before I can release the first bit of magic, death's grip is at my throat.

"Pretty girl, you've been a bad, bad girl," Isolis murmurs with malice lighting up in his eyes.  "Mortal dolls such as yourself should never agree to help those weaker than me."

I can't see the fight raging on.  I don't know who's hurt, dead, or dying.  All I can see are the glowing blue eyes in front of me, dulling down to a deep brown color.  Golden flecks sprinkle along the rims of his chocolates, and his strong, chiseled jaw clenches as he breathes me in.

He's a beast, seeming even taller than he did the first time he held my life in his hands.  I can still feel my power inside me, stirring.  Gage was right, he has no clue I'm a witch, so he doesn't know he has to fight against me.

I hear a strangled release, and I know it's Gage.  He's hurt, and I can't see how bad.  It's now or never.

Just as Isolis starts to go for the kill, I put my hands on his arms that are holding my shoulders.  Forcing enough volts out to kill a herd of elephants, I shock the fuck out of him and send him flying backwards.

The look on his face is pretty frigging priceless as the high fills me.  My father's power is toxic, inebriating.  I shouldn't have used it, but desperate times call for incredibly stupid measures.

Isolis stands as several more men surround me, their attention drawn to the mortal witch whose blood they're now desperate to taste.

With a devilishly wry grin, I pull the power forth, my silver orbs circling my hands as I step toward them without fear.

"Holy... shit," one of them releases in disbelief.

Little Red Riding Hood has a dark little secret. 
Oops.

My silver orbs glow brighter, swelling to be much larger as they continue to swirl around my hands.  With one gloriously cathartic release, I sling them forth.  The two orbs split, turning into four and striking a lycan and three night stalkers in the chest.

Their screaming yelps ring like music to my ears, proving the intoxicating dark power is starting to take me deeper into its clutches.  I can't pull back though.  We'll never survive if I do.

The fire blazes from the earth to join the next set of silver streaking beauties, and the screams heard are delighting my sadistic side as my roaring inferno grabs more lives of the dark.

Gage is suddenly beside me, slinging me to the ground before a night stalker's surprise attack can succeed, and then he jumps up to resume his attacks.  Just as the high takes me over, a scream surges through my lips.

I feel the fangs bared, crunching against the curve of my neck, as the fire of the bite brings me to tears.  Gage flings his blue orbs, but a lycan sideswipes him and sends him barreling across the forest.

More glowing blue eyes and new lycans join the party, making death a reality.  Then something happens that I wasn't prepared to see.

The new deadly beauties leap into the fight, but they're not attacking us, they're attacking Isolis's men.

I look up just as Isolis is about to take another bite out of me, but he's thrown back as one of the newest night stalkers grabs him up and launches him back.  I cry out in pain when my dark hero lifts me up, but relief isn't anywhere inside me.

The red hair I'm wearing stains with an even darker red as my blood flows freely.  The face of my newest captor is hidden beneath a black mask just like Gage's.  His gray hoodie covers his head, and his glowing blues check me over.

I'm starting to worry we've just stepped into a turf war, but then I realize the other numbers dwindling.  The night stalker holding me feels so familiar to the touch, as if I know him.  His scent is gone, just like mine.  Apparently, everyone decided to be incognito tonight.  Not that a scent really matters to me.  I can't identify a scent or track it.

The night stalker holding me nods to the lycans of his group, and then one of his other night stalker friends whistles twice to signal some sort of attack formation.  With grace and effortless poise, the two lycans jump into the circle, and they shred several of the night stalkers attacking our few men.

Isolis is gone - nowhere at all to be seen.  Now one Devil has left, handing the keys to the gates of hell to another.

Gage runs over, but he stops as he stares eye-to-eye with the night stalker holding me.  He pulls free a blue orb, poised to strike, but the night stalker gently places me on the ground at his feet.

Gage kneels, his eyes never leaving the foe playing friend, until suddenly they're all gone as quickly as they came.

"What the fuck just happened?" one of Gage's friends asks.

"Your guess is as good as mine.  Don't question good fortune.  Let's get the hell out of here for now.  Grab Jesse.  He'll need a proper burial."

I cringe as I glance in the direction of their fallen comrade.  His dark hair shades his lifeless eyes.  I didn't know him, but I'm sure Gage and he were close enough for his death to sting the dark user.

"Are you okay?" I ask softly.

"Me?  I'm immortal.  You... Alyssa, I'm so sorry.  I swear to you nothing like this has ever happened before."

He had no idea I meant emotionally okay.  He just lost a member of his group.

"You-"

"Shit.  You're losing a lot of blood.  I need to get you back to my place and get you cleaned up."

Before I can argue, I feel the wind against me.  Either he forgot he drove, or the fanged demon left one hell of a mark behind which has prompted a hasty retreat.

Though the pain is excruciating, I grit through it.  It's not like I haven't felt it before.  Within a few deep breaths, we're back at his house.  I look down to see the blood has covered my arm.

Damn it.

Dizziness is always a reminder as to why I shouldn't let him vaporize me, but right now I've got to focus on the more important things.

"My blood, it'll leave a trail."

"Every drop that fell was soaked up by the earth.  Care to explain how that happened?  While you're at it, how about telling me how a mortal holds energy in the palm of her hand, when some century-old beings can't even do such a thing."

I was
really
hoping to avoid this conversation.

"Are you saying you're over a century old?  You used energy as well."

He smirks as he places me on his bed, and then he tugs his mask off to reveal the face I'm getting far too used to seeing.  I take a moment to drink in my surroundings.  It's a neutral colored scheme.  Given the fact he's a dark user, I was expecting something a little more... gothic?

There's nothing dark at all about his room.  In fact, it's actually a light, cozy sort of atmosphere.  The taupe walls mingle with the splashes of red art.  No personal pictures adorn the space, but there are plenty of wild, enthralling sculptures and paintings.

He takes interest in my bemused facial expression just before he rips my sleeve off my shoulder to reveal the severity of the wound I refuse to look at.  He flinches, and guilt shades his eyes as he pulls out medical supplies.

"Let me guess, you were expecting dark crosses, voodoo dolls, pentagrams... that sort of thing," he says in a forced mocking tone, his attention more focused on my shoulder.

The living room had been simple, nice, even elegant, but I thought that was just for the sake of appearances.

"Maybe a skull and cross sort of theme."

He lets a laugh out as he smears something over my shoulder.  His perfectly crisp blue eyes find mine as I take a deep breath.  The concern I see is genuine, which makes me genuinely confused.

"Be glad Isolis doesn't come from a strong sire.  His venom is weak," he says to break the awkward silence.

His eyes fall back down to my wound, and I flinch as he starts pressing harder against the open bites I still refuse to view.

"He sure as hell felt pretty strong to me."

He laughs at my candor, and then shakes his head as he eases off the bed.  His soft, satin bedspread is almost slippery.  The vibrant red goes well with the trickle of blood still falling off me.  It's a good thing he has magic, otherwise getting the blood stains out would be a bitch.

"He is strong.  I guess I should elaborate.  Just because his venom is weak, that doesn't mean he's weak.  It means he comes from a lesser bloodline.  The stronger bloodlines have much more painful venom.  Once, I spent days on my back screaming in agony."

I shiver as my mind falls back to the second, almost fatal bite I received.  I too spent days on my back, screaming out my torture.

"What did he mean by something big is coming?  And what rituals were you talking about?"

He shrugs, as if he's not dwelling on the fanged beast's spewed threat.

"They always say something big is coming.  As for the rituals, we don't know what they were for.  That's kind of why I asked him."

His playfully poking tone makes me roll my eyes, and then he kneels before me to start bandaging my newest set of bite marks.

"How am I going to explain this to Kane?" I huff out.

"It'll heal within twenty minutes.  That medicine is some of my aunt's best work."

It's obvious he's a little closer to his aunt than his mother.  Should I pry?