Target (31 page)

* * *

The Elemaiya were fighting while Tanner's Wolves attempted to escape. Winkler went after a grizzled gray wolf, only to leap back when a blast blew a huge hole in the sand around him. Tony Hancock had been knocked down by the same blast but was up again, fangs out and eyes red as he raced toward the one who'd created the explosion. The air was thick with smoke—anything that could burn was already on fire.

Winkler had lost track of Aedan and Nathan. He could hear Shirley's wolves, the rest of his guards and the Star Cove Pack howling and snapping from the other side. The battle had turned against them, however; the Elemaiya had opened a gap and now Tanner's wolves were escaping into the gulf. Some were swimming away. Winkler hoped they wouldn't get far—waves were higher and harder to swim through during the full moon. He went after another wolf that was wading into the waves.

"They're gone!" He heard someone shout. Winkler jerked around and stared in shock. Every Elemaiya they'd battled had suddenly disappeared.

"The wolves are swimming away!" Aedan shouted, racing forward. Winkler turned toward the gulf and the escaping werewolves, determined to reach them if he could.

* * *

Lavonna Anderson's lioness had one of the Elemaiya on the ground, mauling him. Another Elemaiya turned to help, prepared to level a fire blast at the attacking lioness. Ashe had to do something quickly. Casting about desperately, Ashe focused on the first thing—the nearest thing—to the impending murder. A boat lifted out of the water and slammed into the Elemaiya, even as he prepared to hurl a fiery blast of energy at Lavonna. The one she attacked screamed as she bit his throat.

Another Elemaiya rushed to help. Adele Evans' falcon shrieked and dived downward, flapping in the face of the attacker. He turned his attention to the peregrine falcon, preparing to eliminate her. Ashe lifted a second boat from the water and tossed it at his mother's foe, knocking the Elemaiya to the ground.

There were consequences, however, to Ashe's desperate actions; the four Bright Elemaiya had made themselves invisible to the community again. Ashe saw they were now walking toward him, still believing that they were invisible to him as well. Ashe stood, shocked, to see that one striding ahead of the others had eyes that shone brightly white in the moonlight—like
diamonds
. Ashe turned to mist immediately.

* * *

"Where is he?" Diamond turned to Ruby. Ruby stood, spellbound. The boy had disappeared and even his talent of seeing mist failed to detect him.

"I can't see him," he shouted at Diamond. Diamond cursed.

"Strengthen your shield," he commanded Sapphire. Sapphire did as requested.

* * *

Winkler knew if he swam any farther, he'd never make it back to shore. He turned and paddled toward St. Joseph Island. Trajan and Ace were already swimming ahead of him, after coming to the same conclusion. Three werewolves had escaped. Winkler hoped that Tanner wasn't one of them.

The vampires—all four of them—were piling up bodies of werewolves with help from Shirley Walker's Pack. Sadly, some of their own were among the pile to be buried. The rogues would be taken out and buried at sea. Winkler trotted onto the sand after coming out of the water and went to sniff among the dead. Gabe was gone. He'd lost both werewolf brothers. Gene, too, was among the dead. Winkler lifted his head and howled mournfully to the moon overhead.

* * *

Dori, stay back. Keep Cori and your mom back, too,
Ashe sent desperate mindspeech. Lavonna was sniffing the air, trying to locate the four who'd disappeared. They were enemies and she was determined to destroy them. She'd taken one down. Surely, she could take another. Now, she and both her daughters were perilously close to the four Elemaiya. Ashe knew that the one with bright eyes had to be the Diamond his grandfather warned him about in the message.

Dori's ocelot bumped against her mother's lioness, but Lavonna ignored her daughter, coming closer—so much closer, to the four. They'd killed Jackson Pruitt—his body lay empty of life on the street. Two other werewolves were also dead—they'd raced toward Jackson the moment he'd turned, thinking to protect the youth. They'd perished in the effort. Ashe could see the crumpled wolves from where he stood. Now, if he didn't act quickly, Lavonna, Cori and Dori would be just as dead. His mother's falcon, flapping overhead, was also a target. Ashe became corporeal and shouted.

* * *

"We need to take a boat back to the mainland—Marcus' wife is wounded," Aedan knelt next to Winkler's wolf—he knew Winkler by scent. "A few others need medical attention as well. I'll send them back with Shirley's nurse—they can be treated in Star Cove."

Winkler dipped his head to indicate he'd understood. Trajan was back to human again, though he still hadn't found clothing. He was following Trace toward the boats—a trip would have to be taken and bodies weighted to keep them at the bottom of the ocean. Shirley and Winkler's wolves would be carried to Shirley's groves and buried come daybreak. Winkler, using scent, was sorting out the ones for burial and Tony, Nathan and the Corpus Christi vampire were helping.

"I wish I knew why they all disappeared like that," Aedan added, meaning the Elemaiya. "Doesn't make any sense at all."

* * *

If Ashe thought he'd have problems dealing with the four, his worries were only beginning. Twelve more Elemaiya appeared right behind them. Lavonna growled low, as did Cori. "Hey!" He shouted again. "I'm the one you want. Over here!" Diamond turned his bright eyes back to Ashe. He'd been about to attack the lioness, but she was of no consequence. The boy was right in front of them.

"Get him," he shouted, pointing at Ashe. Three thought to hop to Ashe's side. Ashe was faster, hopping to one of the two remaining boats moored in the canal.

"Here I am!" he shouted and waved, causing all sixteen Elemaiya to turn in his direction.

"On my command," Diamond hissed, "we relocate. To that boat." He jerked his head toward Ashe. "There are enough of us—he's relocated at least twice. That should have exhausted him. He won't be able to do it again. Go."

* * *

Randy had finally found his way out of the O'Neill's attic, gone through the house and made his way outside. He arrived on the street just in time to see Ashe standing on a boat tied to a dock in the canal, waving at more than a dozen of the pointed-eared enemy. Randy opened his mouth to warn Ashe, when all of the enemy disappeared from one spot and reappeared upon the boat where Ashe stood. "No!" he shouted instead, as all of them scrambled to get their hands on Ashe. That's when the entire canal burst into fire.

It wasn't an ordinary fire, either; the flames reached twenty feet or higher, burning with an intensity that pushed the Star Cove residents backward. Randy had never thought to see water burn, but he did that morning. Gaping at the worst sort of miracle imaginable, Randy listened to the screams of the enemy. Fortunately, they didn't last long.

* * *

Honored One,
the email message read
, we arrived at the prison to take the one indicated, only to learn he escaped an hour before we arrived. I know you will have retired before receiving this message, but we will remain in the area and search for clues in case you wish us to track him. It is most unfortunate, I feel, that he is now loose. We laid compulsion on two of the guards, and what they tell us is frightening. Let us know how you wish for us to proceed—Gavin
.

* * *

When Aedan arrived in Star Cove an hour before dawn, it was to find Adele, wrapped in a robe and waiting for him inside her kitchen. Randy and Dawn Smith, Lavonna, Cori, Dori, Wynn, Sharon and Jonas all waited with her. Adele had been crying; Aedan saw that right away. Dori and Cori, too, were sniffling.

"What happened?" Aedan was weary—he and Nathan were exhausted and that was most unusual for vampires. They seldom wearied except under the most extreme and stressful of circumstances. The werewolf nurse was next door, tending to Denise DeLuca; Sali had been waiting for Marcus and the others when they arrived.

"Aedan, I don't know how he did it, but Ashe lured sixteen Elemaiya onto a boat in the canal and then he set the water on fire. Now, everything in the canal is gone, burnt so completely there's nothing left. Including our son." Adele burst in tears again.

* * *

Ezekiel Tanner cursed at Jack Howard when Howard failed to lower the boat's ladder fast enough. And then cursed again when he almost didn't have the strength to climb up the narrow aluminum steps. "What happened?" Jack Howard demanded when Zeke climbed over the railing and began to limp toward his quarters.

Zeke Tanner called the Elemaiya many unkind names. Described them in the worst possible terms. They'd failed him miserably. Now, he was the only one left. Several of his wolves had swam away with him, but they'd tired before reaching the freighter. Zeke hadn't stopped to help, watching them sink as he paddled past them. He'd returned to human form upon reaching the boat, so he could call out for the ladder to be lowered. Jack Howard happened to be the one there to perform that task.

"So, we have nothing," Jack Howard muttered. Zeke used up the last of his strength to knock the former congressman unconscious.

The end

The Legend of the Ir'Indicti will continue in Vendetta (Legend of the Ir'Indicti #4)

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About the Author:

Connie Suttle lives in Oklahoma with her patient, long-suffering husband and three cats.

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For information on upcoming titles, please visit Connie's website at www.subtledemon.com, her blog at subtledemon.blogspot.com or find her on her Facebook page—Connie Suttle Author. She is also on twitter: @subtledemon.