Rowena's Revenge (Broadus Supernatural Society) (5 page)

I also revealed that I am an Elf, but said nothing more, and
she hasn’t asked. She can probably sense the reservations I have about telling
her my dark and blood stained past. It will have to come out eventually, but
right now we have to focus on getting out of here safely.

“I think we need to go out and look for him.” Her voice is
on the edge of crying, I can hear the waver and feel the tension rise as I look
to her, her eyes watering as her fingers tap on the glass slowly, almost as if
she is already mourning.

I want to hold her and chase away the fear that I know is
gripping her heart, but I settle to cup her cheek, running my thumb over her
warm skin and smiling when she leans into my touch. “Please,” she whimpers, her
eyes meeting mine as her free hand rests on my chest.

“I’ll go again. Stay here.” I start to reach for the door
handle, but her fingers grip into my shirt. I give her a serious look, leaning
in just a whisper from her lips. “You will stay here. You will not get out of
the car for anyone or anything. If I am not back in twenty minutes, no matter
what, drive away and head for Montana.” She nods in agreement, her body
betraying her to what remains of my magic as the tears finally slip out, and I
feel her heart breaking, causing mine to skip a beat.

I turn on her and grip both of her shoulders, squeezing them
hard but without causing pain. I just need to get my point across. “Listen to
me, Rowena. Promise me.” A flash of fear rolls through her, followed quickly by
one of longing. It’s the same feeling resonating deep within me. I want her; I
need her, but I will wait until she is ready to claim me as her mate to have
her.

“I….I promise,” she stutters, nodding her head up and down
blankly again, and I smile down at her, knowing she will listen. The Elf blood
that still flows through my veins gives me power over her weaker Were, and I
kiss her forehead somewhat apologetically. I know she will be angry the second
I get out of the car for using what power I have left over her, but it’s
necessary.

I give her lips a quick, chaste kiss and step from the
Landrover
, slamming the door behind me to try and drive my
point home, as I know she will be snapping from the haze right about now. I
hear her screaming in frustration and see her kicking at the dashboard as I
step around the front of the vehicle, zipping my jacket up to my neck and
taking a deep breath of the freezing wind blowing from the north.

A sharp howl echoes off the trees just in front of me and I
freeze, trying to zone in on the original direction as I squint and try to see
something through the snow and pines. Looking back one more time into the
passenger window, I see the worry and fear displayed all over Rowena’s
beautiful face, and it makes my steps falter. Her hands are up against the
glass, cutting out the shapes of her fingers and palms through the steam and
her lips move, mouthing a
‘Be safe’,
and I nod.

The snow pelts my face as I sprint into the woods, dodging the
large pines and birch trees. Another earth shattering howl fills the air, and I
stop, getting my bearings and searching the wind for Blaine’s scent. The strong
earthy scent hits me like a freight train and I turn south in the direction,
leaping over a group of left behind logs and coming to a thick patch of pines
as I hear shouting.

“Where is she, pretty boy?” A harsh, deep rumble flows over
the tree branches I’m hidden behind, and I can see Blaine just in front of
them, cornered by four half shifted Berserkers. They are all ready to fight;
their hands and feet morphed into claws and their snouts elongated, baring
sharp teeth.
Mongrels,
I can’t help but think, shaking my head, trying
to toss the wet dog smell from my nose. I reach into my jacket and grasp the
grip of my sword, pulling it from its sheath just a tad when I hear Blaine
reply.

“She’s probably three quarters of the way south. You
assholes will never find her.” The cocky smirk on his face makes me want to
laugh, but I tense as one of the Berserkers attacks. Blaine easily tosses him
aside, throwing him into one of the large pines as the
Were
yips and the others growl. My hand twitches on the sword handle, itching for a
fight, and I can’t wait any longer.

I push through the pine needles to be shoulder to shoulder
with Blaine, the hate and anger rolling like waves all over the small clearing.
The Berserkers all give me a nasty grin, a few of them snapping and snarling as
another laughs. They think I’m weak; how perfect. They hate me in an instant, and
I can feel the greed and hunger for power driving them, fueling their anger
toward Blaine and
I
.

Pulling my sword from its sheath, an audible intake of
breath goes through the group of hostile wolves, making me smile wider. They
can no doubt smell the silver laden folded steel, the sun reflecting off of the
blade, making a few of them squint in its magnificent beauty. It’s a death
dealer, a life taker, and it is mine for the wielding.

Blaine and I share a look, his smile filled with wicked
promise, and his laugh fills the now silent air. What looks to be the leader of
the Berserkers lowers his head, issuing an angry growl right before leaping in
the air, coming right for us, and I crouch down, preparing for the others to
join in.

Back to back, Blaine tosses the attacking wolves away just
as the leader lands before me, yipping and howling as my blade bites into his
shoulder and leg faster than he can defend. I swipe smoothly, the feeling of
the razor sharp blade cutting through the
Were’s
flesh like a warm knife through butter, making the ever present evil side to my
blood rear its ugly head, and I can feel my teeth sharpen and elongate, giving
those who may really pay attention a glimpse at my true physical appearance.
The green hue to my skin, my long, bony fingers, the sharp point to my ears,
and the long, dagger sharp teeth that fill my mouth, but as soon as I can feel
the dark power I reel it in, pulling the façade the Fae have granted me with
over my features and focusing in on my enemy once more.

My blade is dripping red with the
Were’s
blood as he turns to run back into the woods, feeling the bite of my blade once
more in the back of his calf, and the blow sends him to one knee. His loud
groans of pain are joined with those of his brethren, and my heart races with
the adrenaline filling my veins. There is really only one thing better than a
good fight; great sex, but I’ll have to wait for that until my mate is ready.

“Come on, let’s get out of here!” Blaine yells at my back,
and I spin to see that the other three Berserkers are joining their friend,
slinking off into the woods, but they won’t lick their wounds for long. Wolves
are tenacious creatures; chasing a kill until they win or they are dead.

I sheath my sword and take off after Blaine’s running form,
catching him in a blink of the eye just as a heart shattering scream fills the
air. A familiar scream that makes my blood freeze, and we both pick up speed.
Blaine looks back to me with a fear filled, anger laced face as we leap the
group of fallen trees, the snow and wind picking up and whipping us in the
face.

I can feel the dark magic lingering in the wind, trying to
seep into my blood and spark its evil nature to life as the fight had, but I
shake it off and the road comes into view. The black haze rolling over the
bright white snow lets me know it’s a Warlock we’re dealing with and Blaine
growls, swinging his arms around in the air to try and dissipate the annoying
clouds.

A black cloak wearing man has my Rowena by the throat,
holding her off the ground in front of the
Landrover
I had specifically told her to stay inside of. I lose all sight of myself and I
can feel my real nature, my denied Elvin Prince, spring to life at the thought
of losing my mate a second time around and I snap, racing right for the form
choking the life from her. I can hear her struggling for breath, her legs
kicking at the man’s chest as his laughs fill the air, and I aim for his waist,
my shoulder connecting with his hip and forcing him down.

He grunts against my hold and filters through my arms as I
fall to the ice covered pavement, his feet reappearing right before my face and
I look up, the rage and anger still fresh in my veins.
I know this
face,
I think to myself as I see his orange, glowing eyes and the black scrolling tattoo
covering the left cheek up into the forehead. His dark hair is disheveled
beneath the heavy hood, and I see the blue flames sparking from his fingers as
he brushes the strands from his vision.

“Penton,” he smiles at me, brushing his hands together and
over his shirt to get rid of the snow. “Well, isn’t it nice to see you after,
what, three hundred years?”

“Who?”
I start to say, and then I
remember his face, especially the glowing orange of his eyes and I jump to my
feet.
“
Cearbhall
?”

“Ah, so you do remember me? Good. Now you’ll know who to
curse when you mourn you’re missing mate.” I go to lunge at him, but stop when
I hear a car engine roaring to life and heading my way. I jump back, spotting
the smug smirk on
Cearbhall’s
lips right before the
front end of the
Landrover
rams into him, sending him
to the pavement as the front tires roll over him.

“Get the fuck in!” Blaine shouts, leaning from the driver’s
seat and swinging the passenger door open. I don’t hesitate, and leap into the
vehicle, pulling the door shut as he speeds away and the back tires thump over
the fallen Warlock.

“Who the hell was that?” he asks, his fear filling the cab
as fast as the cooled air from the still warming heater.

“That was really,
really
bad news,” is all I say,
looking into the back seat and spotting my shivering mate. She needs me, and I
need her. I need to hold her to make sure she is still here. To make sure he
hadn’t gotten to her in the split second he was with her, and I crawl between
the front seats, pulling Rowena onto my lap as I settle in the middle of the
bench seat.

I can sense his eyes on me, the hazel color reflecting the
sunlight in his stare from the rearview mirror, but I’m not in the mood to
talk. I pull Row’s face close to mine and kiss her cheek, brushing the hair
from her eyes and tucking her legs up close to her body to try and warm her. I
can’t let anything happen to her. I’ve waited hundreds of years for her, and
I’m not letting anyone take her away.

Not again.

~~~~

Cearbhall

As I hear the roaring of the engine as the blasted vehicle
that ran me over speeds off, I can’t help but groan at how sore I am going to
be after this. Damn Penton and his mutt of a companion.

“Sir?”
The familiar, pathetic,
whine of a voice comes from my right and I sit up, still in the middle of the
cursed road in this hellish little corner of the wilderness known as Maine.

“I am okay,
Gandion
.” I slowly
stand, brushing the snow from my cloak and hair. I look to my servant and see
his lazy eye wandering off toward the direction Penton took off with my prize,
and I snap my fingers in his face, gaining his attention.

“Why don’t we just go after them like we do anyone else you
want, Sir? Use our magic to track them and capture them?”

I sigh and roll my eyes, waving my arms toward the woods,
summoning the Berserkers under my control to come back to me. I don’t care if
they’ve been injured; I need their speed and tracking skills. Plus, they have
people skills where I am lacking.

Well, not really lacking; it’s just that I could care less
what these pathetic excuses of life think of me. They are beneath me. I am
Cearbhall
, centuries old Warlock, and I am on the brink of
completing my destiny. I just need that pretty little snow leopard and her
fire, and then I will be able to change the world into what it should be; a
dark, magic filled realm where
supernaturals
are the
overlords and humans are the slaves.

Looking back to my slave, I have to sigh heavily again at
his anticipation filled look, staring at me and waiting for my reply to his
question. “
Gandion
, did I forget to put in some of
the brain matter when I reanimated you back in the Revolutionary War?”

“I’m not sure, Sir, I can’t remember anything after being
shot and before the lightning,” he replies like he always does when I ask him
the same, mockingly rhetorical question.

Throwing my head back and rubbing the space between my eyes,
I relate the plan to him again, for the hundredth time as we make our way back
into the woods. I really do need to find, or make, some servants worthy of my
presence.

“We cannot just go after her because of a few things,
Gandion
. First, she is part Fae and Kade watches over all
of his blood line. If I fall under his radar, I am as sure as dead. Second, she
is part of my destiny; she must come to me willingly and sacrifice her fire.
Then, and only then, will the circle be complete and I will own her body, mind,
and soul.” The thought of having that little minx as my own, to do with what I
want and when I want, strikes a chord that I haven’t been bothered to notice in
over a hundred years.

“You won’t kill her, Sir?” He asks with a child-like wonder,
and I smile down at him as he limps beside me, trying to keep up. He is dumb,
but he’s loyal to a fault and I have to hand it to him; he’s helped me defeat
more of my enemies than I’d like to admit.

“No, I won’t kill her. After she gives me her fire, her mind
will be mine to occupy and she will be my willing slave. The men she is with on
the other
hand,
will suffer every kind of torture I
can think of. Especially my dear friend Penton; we have some history to hash
out.”