Blood & Roses: Warriors of the Krieger (10 page)

“Why are the
Krieger
here?” Adam
whispered. “You promised.” His voice was filled with sadness and I
tried to calm him mentally, but he was too angry.

“I had to tell them, I had no other choice.
They want to help you. Please, Adam, they know more than I do. Let
them take you to the doctors,” I begged.

“No!” he shouted. Oh boy did he shout. The
sound bounced off every surface; the trees, the rocks, the
house.

Although my body was frozen in his grasp,
thankfully I could still move my eyes. There were fifteen pairs of
glowing yellow eyes emerging from the forest behind my home. Panic
rushed like ice water through my veins.

I knew that as soon as Dragus and the others
walked into my house they would know something was wrong. I was
banking on having them there for backup when Adam arrived, but just
out of view. I wanted to talk to him calmly and explain that we
would look for help. Obviously, Adam had been watching my house for
some time looking for trouble.

“You’re right,” he barked, reading my
thoughts. “I wasn’t sure I could trust you. Now I know that I
cannot!” I heard growling erupt all around me. The Lycans leaned
forward as if they were about to attack. The one sound that echoed
the loudest was from Dragus.

“Release her!” Dragus’ voice thundered from
behind me. In front, the Lycanthropes emerged slowly from the
shadows of the forest. The werewolves froze just as their muzzles
showed in the moonlight. A deep rumbling growl rolled down the line
of Lycans standing behind Adam. I couldn’t tell if they were sizing
up the
Krieger
or if they were being held back by him,
waiting for his order to attack.

“I can make them stay, or I can make them
attack,” he warned. “Back away
Krieger
or she will be ours.”
Oh crap! I wanted to run and run fast. Faster than I have ever run
in my existence, but my muscles were locked in place, held by
Adam’s mind. He imprisoned me where I stood. I couldn’t turn my
head to see where the warriors were. This scared me more because I
knew I was in the middle of a stand-off with no way to run.

Panic made my chest feel tight. Like a herd
of elephants had decided to stand on top of me. I felt my body
trembling where I stood. Clamping down on my mind, I tried to
disconnect from Adam, but there was no way to break the
connection.

Instead, I started to cry. My usual reaction
to stress was to get angry, but not tonight. Add stress to being
terrified and this is what happens. Thank God, that my eyes were
still my own. The blood stained tears spilled out over my cheeks
and rolled down my neck. I heard Dragus gasp.

“
Mi amado
? Are you okay?” His voice
cracked as he spoke. I heard movement behind me and wondered who it
was, but I assumed it was Dragus. The heavy footsteps coming up
behind me were like the sound of a jailer coming with the keys to
set the prisoner free. My freedom was only steps away but there was
no way to release me.

“Come any closer and I will release the
wolves,” Adam threatened.

“I…I’m okay Dragus. Just step back, let me
talk to him,” I continued to cry. “I’m not hurt, I just can’t move
and I’m…scared.” I didn’t say it, but I couldn’t break the
connection either.

Dragus released one hell of a warning growl,
“Let her go! You’re scaring her. Adam, please! We want to help you
find a cure, but you need to release Charity. Holding her, does not
help your case.”

“She is the only one who can help me.
You
want to stake me! Go away,
Krieger
.” Adam was
angry and it was getting worse by the second. His yellow eyes
filled with blood as his anger boiled. One side of his lip pulled
back, exposing a fang that was covered with what looked like foam.
I shivered thinking that he may be rabid. Adam sunk down into a
defensive pose as if he was about to attack. If I couldn’t get
through to him now, this might be the last chance I have.

“Dragus…Please let me talk to him,” I begged.
It was then I noticed the largest of the Lycanthropes had pushed
closer to Adam. The gray furred beast was easily twice the size of
the others. His wet muzzle tilted up in the air and took a deep
breath, obviously taking in the scent of the vampires standing in
front of him. My only thought was that he was taking our scent so
he could find us later. This gave me another reason to be scared.
That fear turned into more tears. I tried to slump down on my
knees. Because of Adam’s hold on me, only my knees buckled, but I
remained standing upright.

Dragus gasped from behind me, “Charity!” His
voice strained and his words were broken. Suddenly, I could not
respond to him. Adam had taken my voice away from me, so that I
couldn’t communicate with Dragus. I opened my mouth to scream, but
no sound escaped. My hand automatically tried to reach for my
throat, but then I remembered I couldn’t move.

The only noise coming from me was a strange
gasping sound out of my chest. What little breathing I did make,
had turned into a gurgling pant. The tears turned into a waterfall
down my cheeks. I felt the wetness where the tears had soaked into
the collar of my shirt. I tasted my bloody tears on my lips.

A shot of pain attacked Adam’s changing body
and because our minds were connected, I got a large dose of the
burning, crushing pain. His control on my body broke when we both
collapsed to our knees, grasping the sides of our heads. Our minds
remained connected through the telepathy. The pain was worse than
burning, worse than breaking bones, worse than…

I didn’t have time to think before I was
snatched up off the ground, then I was flying. My body landed on my
back porch, which was made of wood. I was thankful that the metal
table broke my fall...or, more like I broke the metal table when I
fell; doesn’t matter really, because I was laying there like a big
ass shish kabob.

You know how the saying goes; you don’t know
you’re hurt until you look at your wounds? Well, yeah, that’s me! I
hurt badly, but I didn’t start screaming until I looked down at my
mangled body. One table leg pierced through my thigh, straight up
through the bone. The other was sticking out of my chest, about
three inches below my heart, through the bottom of my lung. Again,
I was thankful that the table had broken my fall.

No one came to my rescue, because my screams
were drowned out by the sound of gunshots. Where was everyone? I
glanced to my left and watched as the
Krieger
went hand to
hand with the Lycans. Three
Krieger
against fifteen
Lycanthropes did not look promising.

Adam stood amongst the werewolves, directing
them to attack. A few Lycans had made a circle around him,
protecting him. Powle immediately shot two Lycans in the heart with
silver bullets and they dropped to his feet. Dragus looked like he
was stalking the largest one, in sort of a dance; slow and precise.
His eyes were trained on it, like a hunter on his prey. The huge
Lycan lunged just as Dragus unsheathed a half-sword that I never
knew he carried, and sliced into its throat. Black blood spout from
its neck and the mongrel dropped to his death.

To my right, I saw reinforcements and sighed.
Things were evened up now. Twelve warriors ran up from the side of
my house and jumped into the brawl without hesitation. Rowland
roared as he grabbed one of them and using his brute strength
ripped the things head off like it was nothing. Gross!

A caught a glimpse of Adam slinking back into
the shadows of the forest. I tried to reach out to him with my
mind, but I was too weak. Our eyes met for an instant and he
smiled.

Don’t worry, Charity. I’ll be back,
he
promised.

The fight raged on out by the forest, and I
was still stuck through the table like last night’s dinner. I
struggled to free myself and gasped from the pain. With one hand on
the deck floor and the other on a nearby chair, I tried to raise
myself up to slide one of the metal rods out of my leg. I couldn’t
get enough leverage to release myself. Instead, I planted both
hands behind me, like I was about to attempt a back flip. My arms
burned from the exertion I used to slide my chest off of the metal
rod.

My strength gave out too soon and I screamed
when my body slid further down on the table legs. I risked a glance
toward the woods. Dragus had just dispatched a werewolf and our
eyes met. He stepped forward to come to my aid, but was stopped by
a werewolf lunging for his neck. I gasped just as he side stepped
and the Lycan rolled over to his left.

Dragus unsheathed his knife and lunged for
the hound. The werewolf yelped as Dragus stabbed him in the chest.
It was not a direct hit. Powle came from behind and drew his own
knife across the Lycan’s throat, causing more black blood to spout
from the wound.

The pain flared in my leg and chest. I tried
again to pull myself free of the table, but my strength had
diminished. I was frustrated and weak. All I could do is to wait
for Dragus to come to me. Until then I could only wait and assess
the damage to my body.

My femur was shattered. I knew this because I
could feel the bone splinters trying to regenerate themselves back
into place, but could not find purchase around the metal pole in my
leg. A few ribs were broken and my lung was punctured. I could hear
the rasping in my lungs as my breath whooshed in and out; like the
gurgle of a drowning man. My strength was fading and so was my
sight.

Another round of pain shot through my body
and I screamed. The tears flowed down my face like a waterfall; I
had no idea that I was crying that hard. The pain in my body
distracted me from any other body function I was having at the
moment. I tried to look toward the forest to see if the
Krieger
were winning or not. My vision was blurry; either
from the tears or the impending death I felt was coming. The last
thing I remember was another round of pain; the last thing I heard
was my ear shattering screams.

Chapter 6

Dragus

I was torn between helping my brothers and
rescuing Charity. Looking over at the porch, I made eye contact
with her. Charity’s eyes were filled with bloody tears and pain.
There was a trail of blood coming from her mouth, indicating some
internal injuries. My heart ached knowing she would have to wait to
be rescued. Thankfully, she was a vampire and her injuries wouldn’t
kill her, but she would be in massive pain.

“Dragus!”
Krieger
Palo yelled from my
right. “Duck!” I complied immediately. I actually felt the breeze
of the dagger that flew over my head. It struck a werewolf directly
in the chest, dropping him only feet from me.

“
Gracias
, Palo,” I sighed heavily.

“Go to her, Dragus. We have it covered,” he
demanded.

The moment I turned toward her, Charity’s
eyes glazed over and then rolled back into her head. I was next to
her in seconds. The table leg was buried in her thigh and the other
one was protruding at an odd angle through her chest.

How was I going to get her free? I could
slide her leg back through the metal rod, but the one in her chest
was bent and would not come free.

Taking a deep breath, I used my strength to
straighten the rod through her chest as best I could. Then with one
quick snap, I broke it off about an inch away from her chest. The
other rod through her thigh broke away with ease.

All I had to do was to get a good grip on her
and lift her free, then I would have to get her to the emergency
room at the hospital. I mentally counted to three and lifted. She
gasped and screamed as the table released from her body.

My feet carried me to the awaiting Hummer.
Ashby was in the driver’s seat. I was in the back seat with Charity
perched across my lap. I immediately released my fangs and tore
into my own wrist, holding it up to her precious lips.

“Please,
mi amado
,” I begged. “Drink,
baby, drink,” I urged her while carefully putting my wrist inside
her lips. They had turned white and her skin was starting to
shrivel. Like the life was being sucked out of her. She had lost a
lot of blood.

My heart leapt when I felt the faint brush of
her tongue against the blood I was trying to force into her mouth.
“That’s my girl,” I said.

“How’s she doing, brother,” Ashby asked from
the front seat.

“I don’t know,” I whispered.

We drove for what seemed like hours but were
probably only minutes. A few blocks from the hospital, Charity
began to stir. And then she started to scream. Her eyes were
glassed over and the holes in her body began to bleed more. The
seat was covered in blood. It dripped off the seats and onto the
carpeted floor.

I was out of the vehicle before it even
stopped at the emergency entrance.

Her blood curling screams echoed through the
corridors as we rushed into the lobby of the hospital. Our eyes met
momentarily before she blacked out again. There was no sign of life
inside her eyes; they were glazed over as if she were blind. I
wanted to scream, because there was nothing I could do for her.

Nurses and doctors burst out of the double
doors looking for the cause of the ruckus. I stood there in tears,
holding her while her blood rolled down my forearms and dripped
onto the linoleum floors.

I was pushed through the doors and found a
gurney awaiting me. The nurse grabbed my arm and tried to guide me
to another room. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of Charity laying
there limp on the table. She shouldn’t die from her wounds and for
that I was thankful, but her recovery would be long and
painful.

A soft cold hand tugged on the sleeve of my
shirt and I turned to see a petite nurse standing there trying to
check me out. “Master Dragus,” she paused. “Are you hurt?”