APOLLO RISING (The Apollo Saga, Book 1) (16 page)

A deafening howl echoed through the forest.

To the best of Allie’s knowledge, it was Becket; which raised concern for Tyler’s safety. She glanced quickly out the window, saw that Becket was no longer laying on the drive.

“If anything happens to Tyler…” Allie warned.

Vanessa paced around her, just out of reach. “You’ll what?” she snarled. “You’ve already lost him, Allie. He belongs to me.”

Standing several inches taller, Allie looked for the advantage over her opponent. She took a step back, claws out and growled, “You may control his body, but you’ll never control his heart.”

Allie’s words must’ve rung true somehow. Vanessa lashed out at her, shrieking with anger.

“Damn you, Allie, if you were going to leave, why couldn’t you stay gone?!?”
she growled. “Why is it always
you
?”

“Me?!” Allie barked. “I wanted nothing to do with this, Vanessa. I came here alone. He wouldn’t even be here if you were as powerful as you claim. Tell me,” she inquired, “how did he escape the first time?”

Vanessa bypassed a verbal response and swung irately, scoring a deep wound in Allie’s thigh. It hurt worse than it looked, though it managed to draw blood. Allie stepped back, favoring her other leg, and countered with a quick blow to Vanessa’s face.
The dark-haired wolf flinched back, the strike bringing tears to her eyes.

“You bitch!”
Vanessa
swung blindly, allowing Allie a chance to dodge behind her swings.

Finding herself near the front door, Allie turned and snarled at Deacon. He froze;
his dark eyes unblinking. Casually, he raised his hands in a display of neutral – if not peaceful – intentions.
She growled, returning her attention to Vanessa, who
leaped up and over Allie, gripped her around the neck and used her momentum to throw Allie across the cabin’s floor.

Vanessa followed, pouncing on the attack.

T
he two women struggled together into the kitchen, destroying everything that got in their way; until they neared the back door. Taken by surprise, Allie found herself sailing through the air, tearing the door from its hinges and rolling to a stop dozens of feet behind the cabin.

Her neck felt wrenched from Vanessa’s claws, though the cold helped to numb the wound on her leg. She blinked away the mud that clouded her vision. She could hear the footsteps ahead of her—she could smell the other wolf coming—and Allie rolled to the side as Vanessa leaped past her.

Allie’s vision cleared just in time to maneuver through another attack, as Vanessa pounced again, her teeth bared in a feral grin.

“I see you still have some fight left in you,” she grumbled.

Allie lunged forth, taking hold of Vanessa and throwing her down roughly onto the forest floor. “It’s been awhile,” Allie reminded her, “but you’re still no match against me.”

“We’ll see about that,” Vanessa threatened, narrowing her eyes.

Vanessa’s feet dug into Allie’s legs, clawing at her already wounded thigh. Allie swallowed the pain, but could not relent. Not yet. Swinging one leg over Vanessa, she crouched down and took Vanessa by the throat with her left hand. She drew back with her right hand, showing off her lethal claws while she delivered a fair warning.

“Yield!” she spat.

Vanessa growled, “Never!”

Allie waited a moment longer, then drove her right hand down with all the force she could muster. It struck the ground a hair’s breadth from Vanessa’s head – causing no harm, but eliciting a reflexive flinch from her subdued rival.

Vanessa gasped, seemingly surprised that she was still alive.

Allie waited several heartbeats more, letting the realization sink in. “I spare you,” she said softly, letting the words carry across the silence of the forest. “Now go. Leave me and Tyler in peace. Return to your city and carry on as you must, Vanessa, but let this be a warning to you.”

Vanessa growled but did not debate the statement. “You claim him, then?”

“I only know he is not yours,” she said. “Now leave, before I change my mind.”

Vanessa retained her form, and with a last, anguished growl, she turned and loped away, eventually vanishing into the forest.

Exhaustion filled the void left by Vanessa’s departure, leaving Allie to feel each cut and bruise. She’d been hurt more than she’d realized. She felt heavy, too weak to stand, and the air burned her lungs. The sky was bright, so very bright.

She clinched her fingers into fists, willing herself to remain awake.
Blood was everywhere – it covered her hands and legs, ran down her sides and dripped into the snow beneath her feet. The smell of it filled her nostrils and her own heartbeat pounded in her ears. Beyond the pain, she could feel the itching and tingling as her body struggled to heal itself.

A twig snapped ahead of her, and she jumped, startled by the sound.
Claws out, she growled. “Who’s there?”

“Allie?” a voice called out.

She looked up to see Tyler, walking towards her, slowly, and realized it must be difficult for him to recognize her this way. But she still needed a little more time to heal. She sighed, nodding.

He stepped closer to her, but she waved him back, leaning against a nearby tree while she caught her breath. The deepest cut along her thigh was almost healed over now - that wound had been the cause of her greatest concern, being so close to the femoral artery. She felt instinctively that the worst of it was done, and she let the wolf slip away. As she fell, two arms reached up and caught her.

She smiled up at Tyler. He had a good smile, she thought. And a strong will. But when her eyes began to close, her vision rested on the silver collar—still locked around his throat—and, above any other sting, she felt the breaking of her heart.

Tyler carried Allie back to the cabin.

The last remaining member of Vanessa’s entourage was waiting for them when they returned. Tyler stopped in the middle of the ruined back doorway, pausing long enough to get a feel for the unusual man’s motives.

The man was standing in front of the stove, placing a filled pot of water over one of the burners. He turned his head slightly towards them as they arrived, glancing at them from the corner of his eye.

“I hope you do not mind,” he said, a faint trace of an indistinct accent adding a layer of mystery to the man, “I decided to help myself to your kitchen. The lady requires some rest, I should think, and perhaps something to drink.”

“Who are you?” Tyler asked, not moving, not sure yet what to think of him.

“You may call me Deacon,” he replied, inclining his head slightly. He gestured into the house, towards the old couch. “You are both injured, please, rest. I intend you no harm.”

Tyler wasn’t sure what other options they had. He shuffled over to the couch and carefully laid Allie down.

A breeze blew in from the shattered window and he noticed all the warmth from the cabin was gone. And the fireplace was dark; the fire long-since burned to ash. Though he had already wrapped Allie in the jacket after she had passed out, he unfolded a blanket that was draped over the back of the couch and covered her the rest of the way.

He sat beside her, slowly stroking the hair back from her face. A few faint bruises remained on one side, and a set of scratches were still pink but had nearly vanished from her cheek. He could see the image of her as the werewolf, in his mind, superimposed over her sleeping face. Compared to the others, she had been…beautiful. She still was. There had been something in the past, between her and Vanessa. He wanted answers, but he knew that they would have to wait.

Deacon approached, drying his hands on an old flowery hand towel.

Tyler took a moment to get his first good look at him. He was dressed head to toe in dark, rather monochromatic clothing, with a tailored jacket over a pin-striped vest. His black hair descended from a central part, hanging down to nearly his collar; he tucked the long bangs back over his ears in a smooth habitual motion of his hands and smiled politely.

“I’ve taken the liberty of preparing some tea, sir” he said. “Would you care for some as well?”

Tyler nodded.

Allie stirred, a soft moan of discomfort drifting through the silence. Her eyes fluttered open as she watched Deacon return to the kitchen.

Seeing the concern on her face, Tyler placed a hand on hers. “It’s okay,” he soothed her. “I think he wants to help.”

From across the room, the man spoke. “You know, Ms. Allison, of all the times I’ve been here, I never realized that this was your grandmother’s place – God rest her.”

Allie raised her head. “You knew Moll?”

He bowed. “It was my honor to have known her, yes.”

Allie’s response was almost automatic. “But you work for Vanessa? I don’t understand.”

Tyler’s head was spinning too. How were all these people connected?

Deacon walked back across the room, carrying a small cutting board with three cups. “My service to her was merely a matter of duty, a requisition from a wretched man, if you will. But worry no more, Ms. Allison, my debt has been paid.”
He held out the tray to them, and Tyler moved aside as Allie sat slowly upright. “I’m here to serve you now.”

Tyler sipped the tea – it was strong, but felt good going down. His body still ached from the accident, but as bad as he felt, Allie looked to be feeling even worse.

“Are you okay?” he asked, needing reassurance that she was at ease.

She nodded, her eyes moving to the strange man who made himself comfortable beside them.
Tyler kept an eye on him as well; though he seemed sincere, there was no telling if Deacon was as trustworthy as he led on.

Deacon set aside the plank of wood and sipped his tea, too.

“You’ve made an enemy of her,” he finally said. “Vanessa, I mean. I would not take her desire for revenge lightly – regardless of your past, she will not bear this failure lightly.”

Allie
sipped her tea for a long moment.

“So now what?” Tyler asked, breaking the silence.

Surveying the damage to the cabin, Deacon suggested, “I shall make a few calls when I return to Apollo City and see to having the window and door replaced. I’ll see to it that this place is restored properly, out of respect for your family. Meanwhile, the two of you ought to lay low and head on home.”

“To Apollo?” Allie’s voice cracked, drawing Tyler’s concern. “Isn’t that dangerous? Vanessa will be there and I—”

Deacon raised one hand to cease her worry, “Do stay calm, Ms. Allie. You’ll be protected.” His eyes moved to Tyler. “Vanessa
will
seek vengeance against you, I’ll pledge you that, but she will need time to consult with the others and grow her power. Allie has proven stronger than she anticipated.”

“I never wanted this,” Allie confessed.

“I know,” Deacon said, “but it is time. The Old Blood must rise again.”

Tyler didn’t know what that meant, but he took the opportunity to ask about another growing concern. “And what about this?”
he added, curling a finger between the collar and his skin. A sharp pain surged through his fingers again and he relented, grudgingly.

Deacon grimaced. “I don’t know what to say about the collar, my friend.
She will return for you. Eventually.”

Tyler sighed in frustration and looked to his new love. Would he ever be free of Vanessa? He wasn’t so sure, but he vowed to Allie that he’d stay with her, against all odds and no matter the cost.

The gaunt man stood, turning his attention to them both. “Well, it’s getting late, you two should get ready and make your way back before it gets dark. My people will be awaiting your return and will watch over you from there.”

Deacon retrieved their mugs, setting them one by one on the cutting board and returned to the kitchen.

Tyler slipped closer to Allie on the sofa, wrapped his arm around her shoulders and held her tightly. “We’ll get through this,” he told her. “I promise.”

“I know,” she mused, half smiling.

Tyler could see the worry behind her eyes, and the guilt for having caused her this much chaos began to overwhelm him. Just yesterday she was so content, enjoying a weekend holiday at her family’s cabin. And though she seemed to still have been battling a few demons from her grandmother’s death, her haunted past now paled in comparison to the impending evil of which Deacon warned them.

“I’m so sorry,” Tyler offered.

Allie snubbed him, politely; she seemed to be contemplating other things. “It’s fine,” she said dryly. “We’ll pack up the jeep and head back like he said. It’s not safe here anymore, anyway.” She peered forlornly around the room and pulled her feet up underneath the blanket still wrapped around her body.

Tyler had an admission to make. “About that,” he stammered. “I kinda totaled the jeep.”

A jingling of keys interrupted the conversation before it had an opportunity to escalate. Tyler and Allie looked up to see Deacon, dangling a key ring from his outstretched hand.