Wolf's Soul (27 page)

“Got that right, kitten. You know us Seattleites. We enjoy skewering pussies.”

“Fuck you, Salazar.”

“Hmm…do I smell fear?”

Atos laughed maniacally. “From you, cocksucker? Go back to your den full of matted hair.”

“Not until your business with Callum is over.”

“You gave your word, Atos. When I win, Blood Robbers will leave Marisol alone.”

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“When?” Atos laughed. “Arrogant prick. I will leave your
puta
who killed my brother alone,
if
you win. When you lose, I"ll have your head.”

“You just try, son of a bitch.” Ty took a step forward. His Heckler & Koch MP5K at a ready.

“Ah, the runt in the family. I heard about your temper, runt. We"ll see if you are as bad as they say you are.”

“Oh, I am. By the way, your brother must be a pussy to get beat by a human.”

“You"ll die, motherfucker!”

Before Callum could react, bullets rained on them. He should have known.

Atos planted shooters up the trees. He heard Ty grunted before he returned fire.

All hell broke loose.

Marisol couldn"t believe it. Callum challenged Atos, placed his life in danger all because of her. His brothers including the Seattle leader Salazar supported his decision. All except for Ty.

Beautiful. Are you worth my brother’s life?

Ty"s question echoed in her head. Now she knew what was behind his question, his hostility toward her. My god. Callum gave her his ring and didn"t tell her that he loved her because he thought he might not come back alive. What a knuckle head!

287

“Marisol, are you okay?”

“Victor, okay is not the right word to define how I feel right now.”

“How do you feel?” Watt asked.

“I feel like choking Callum.”

“Marisol, he"s fighting Atos because he wants you to have a free, quiet, and peaceful life. You can go back to your house without Atos sniffing around you.”

“He is nuts if he believes that I can have the kind of life I want if he"s not around. Without him my life would be miserable, dull. Imprisoned inside my loneliness. Do you understand?”

The three men looked at each other then nodded.

“He could be hurt right now. Bleeding like a stuck pig. Like when he came to me.” She practically yelled the words. “Gad! Take me to him, Victor.”

Victor shook his head. “I promised Callum that I will keep you here.”

“You can"t keep me here. It"s either you come with me or I leave alone.”

“Marisol, my brothers are with Callum. They will protect him. Have faith in him. He can protect himself. But if Callum sees you, you will only distract him.”

“We will hide and intervene only if necessary. If he needs us. I just want to make sure he"s safe, Victor. Isn"t that what you want, too? To be there with him”

Watt, Bruce? Would you rather stay here patrolling or up there where you are needed?”

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“Fuck it. Callum will kill me if I let you leave.”

“Listen buddy, I will whip your ass with my sword until you"re raw if you stand my way.”

Victor"s deep blue sea eyes were as round as saucers. He looked incredulously surprised at her implied threat. “You would whip me.”

“Try me. Victor, I love your brother so much I will tear this whole place down if I have to just to get to him. Take me to Callum. Please.”

“She"s right, Victor. We could watch from afar and be at a ready.” Bruce nodded. “I want to decapitate at least a dozen of them and watch each one turn into dust.”

“Same here.” Watt agreed.

“What are we waiting for gentlemen? Let"s go up and watch our men kick Atos and his members" bloody asses.”

289

It was a horrible sight.

From the top of the hill where Victor instructed her to hide, she looked down at the old, grass-overgrown cemetery. Men and wolves were fighting. Blood permeated the air. The sound of clanging swords, powerful guns, and chilling growls cut the air mingling with the moans, grunts, and cries of pain.

Unaccustomed to seeing fights like this, to her, the scene seemed unreal, staged. So Hollywood. But nothing about the fight was fake. The screams were real, the blood fresh, and the smell of bodies turning into ashes—surreal.

Marisol spotted Callum. Her heart screamed at the sight of him swinging his sword. He was on the offense, but as soon as he felled his opponent, another would come charging. God, why did he have to be so big? Like his brothers he towered among the other fighters. And they were all bloody. She hope the blood covering his shirt and pants wasn"t his. Her heart sank when she saw gashes on his arms and chest.

290

Ty, Zambro and Rodolf weren"t too far away from Callum. The brothers were watching each other"s back. She glanced at Victor. His face was hard. For sure, he wanted to be in the thick of the fight to help protect his brothers too.

Marisol turned to look for Callum again. When she spotted him she screamed when a sword nearly missed Callum"s back but Victor"s hand clamped hard on her mouth muffled her voice.

“Marisol, screaming from here will not help Callum or any of the Midnight Howl. Got it?”

She nodded her answer before Victor removed his hand. “This is horrible, Victor. They all looked hurt. And…Oh god. I forgot to bring my backpack. I don"t have the poultice with me.”

“We"ll help if necessary. See the man in black boots and motorcycle chaps?”

“I see a lot of men in boots.”

“Well, that"s Salazar. Head of the Seattle"s Best. He"s as good as Zambro.

Right now, it looks like they"re handling the fight well.”

Victor spoke too soon. A man in black with shiny metal arm protector holding an equally shiny sword made his way toward Callum.

Atos.

“Oh my god,” she whispered.

291

“Son of a bitch. Victor, Atos is swinging Valdo"s sword like death itself. ”

Bruce spat the words as if they were vile.

Atos was the same height as Callum. The moon provided Marisol a glimpsed of his profile. He was a handsome man no one would suspect he had an evil soul.

The way he chopped and sliced the men on his path, one would think he possessed none at all.

One man blocked Atos. The man lasted a few seconds before his head landed on the blood soggy ground. He turned into ashes a minute later.

Marisol noticed a woman carrying a high-powered gun kept close to Atos.

The way she looked at Atos told Marisol that she wasn"t just another member of Atos"s clan.

“Victor, is Atos married?”

“No, but that woman is his lover. Why?”

Marisol shook her head. She found a weapon against Atos. In time, she"d used it. Right now, she would have to remain hidden.

It didn"t take long for Atos to reach Callum. Both men, panting and covered in blood faced each other. Marisol kept her gaze on Callum.

Please, please be careful.

Marisol held her breath when Atos lunge his sword at Callum in three quick thrusts. Callum blocked him. Atos laughed. Bastard. Atos knew the power of his 292

sword. Marisol heard Victor cursed beside her when two more men swaggered toward Callum. Heart thudding against her chest, she scan the area for Ty or Zambro or Rodolf. She saw them, but all were engaged in battles. Callum"s back was unprotected.

“Victor, Callum should at least use a gun to keep the others away from him.”

“This is a battle, Marisol. If your opponent drops his sword, you give him a chance to pick it up. That"s just how it goes.”

“That"s insane. A fight is a fight. Use whatever to win.”

One man built like Gym rat, took a swing at Callum. He nearly hit Callum straight in the back if Callum hadn"t turned around in time to block the sword. It didn"t take long before Callum killed the man. He was still panting when Atos rounded Him. He was about to charge Callum when the woman protecting his back screamed. Atos changed direction. He immediately killed the man that hurt the woman then shoved her away from harm"s way.

It didn"t take long before Atos was back to facing Callum. The two circled each other. It was a sight Marisol would never forget. She was overwhelmed and astonished. Both men were equal in strength and skill. The only advantage Atos had against Callum was his sword.

She could clearly see Callum, his brother"s and Atos now that most fighters were on the ground. Some were still alive, in pain, unable to move, and waiting for 293

their bodies to heal. The others quickly turned into wolf form and continued fighting.

Somewhere near where Atos"s woman stood, Marisol noticed movements.

Judging by the sound of Victor"s curse, he saw it too.

“Atos brought more men.”

They were right. Armed men swarmed the cemetery again.

“We need to help.”

“We? You stay here, Marisol. We have more than one lives. You can"t—”

“Callum is not the only one who could give his life for love. I will die for Callum, Victor. And I am sure you"ll give everything for your brothers as well.”

“You are one crazy woman.”

Marisol wrapped an arm around Victor and gave him a kiss on his temple.

“Follow my plan and we might live to face Callum"s wrath later.”

“What"s the plan?”

“Cover me.”

“That"s the plan?”

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Through his peripheral view, Callum saw more Blood Robbers coming.

Fuck! His brothers were all standing, still fighting for him, with him. But for how long. They were outnumbered.

“You"re one fucking dead wolf, Callum.”

“Don"t start counting your chicks before they hatch, pighead.”

“Oh, believe me. I"ve already counted you when you killed my sister.”

“You"re a fucking lunatic to believe I killed her. If you only ceased to believe in your ancestors" crooked ways of killing humans, Alisha might still be alive today. Your stupidity was what drove her out of your den. So don"t you fucking blame me or others for her death.”

“Alisha knew and understood what we stood for.”

“Wrong, bastard. She knew all right, but did not understand at all. You, Atos are the only sole responsible for her death. You killed you sister.”

“No!” Atos charged. The force of Atos"s sword meeting Callum"s made his knee buckle.

295

Callum"s own blade cut his forehead when he blocked Atos"s blow. Sparks from the metal flew forcing him to look away. It was what Atos had been waiting for. He kicked Callum sending him sprawling on the wet grass. He tried to regroup, but the slippery ground made it impossible. Atos"s took advantage.

Callum couldn"t do anything but defend himself. Warm blood trickle down his face.

“Die you fucking bastard!” Atos"s screamed sounded maniacal.

Callum saw Atos"s sword come down. He rolled a couple times then quickly stood up. He didn"t have to block Atos"s attacks. His brother Ty did.

“The runt wants to fight me.”

“Fuck you.” Ty held his double straight sword in front of him in a crisscrossed position.

Atos laughed.

Callum gnashed his teeth. His brother still had three lives, but it wouldn"t matter when Atos"s sword cut him. He wiped the blood off his face. From where he stood, he watched for sneaky attackers. He didn"t dare take Ty"s attention from Atos. One false move and it could cost his brother his precious life.

“Ready to die, Runt?”

“Of course. I"m always ready to die for what I believe in, which is getting rid of dirty asses like you.”

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Callum intercepted one Blood Robber running toward Ty.

Ty and Atos measured each other. Atos, a couple inches taller than Ty had the advantage. Ty surprised him with his skill in using the double sword. His brother attacked, twirling the swords like a baton. When he stopped, Atos found his chest bleeding.