MIDNIGHT HUNT: Book 3 of the Bonded By Blood Vampire Chronicles (21 page)

The dark-haired man with ice-blue eyes and Van Dyke beard sauntered toward her and bowed. “Forgive me. I’m Herr Carr.” He glanced around the area. “Nice evening for a walk. I’m headed to Vollstadt. Would you mind if I accompanied you?”

“I’m afraid it won’t be for very long. I’m bringing supper to my husband and father-in-law, just up here at the dairy farm.” She waddled along and squinted, concentrating. “Carr…Carr. Why is your name familiar?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t believe we’ve met before.”

“Oh! You must know Fräulein Konrads. She said she’s been writing herbal remedies for your father these last few days.” Irma grinned, glad she’d solved that little mystery.

“You’re correct.”

“Well, here we are!” Irma stopped and nodded to her companion. “Thank you for the company. A good day to you, sir.” She turned to walk up the path, but winced when he gripped her arm, stopping her.

“I’m afraid you’ll be accompanying me on an errand of utmost importance, my dear.” He pulled her against his imposing frame and she gasped at the sharp point at her side. “Shall we?”

Irma shrank under his frosty gaze and nodded, holding her belly and praying.

* * * * *

Monika refilled their tea cups and a knock rattled the front door. She and Mina locked gazes and Monika swallowed the sudden fear that surfaced. She pulled some fire from the hearth again, a glove of dancing flames ready to do her bidding. “Who is it?”

“‘Tis I, Monika.”

Relief rushed through her body so quickly, her knees trembled. She shook off the fire and threw open the door, nearly jumping across the threshold and into Broderick’s arms. “Thank the Gods, it’s you.”

His chuckle rumbled against her breasts as he lifted her in his embrace. “Good evening, Blossom,” he whispered against her ear.

Monika mumbled the removal of the ward on the house and pulled Broderick inside by his hand. “Come! You must meet my grandmother.” She closed the door behind them and hugged his arm as she stood at his side. “Oma,
this
is Broderick MacDougal.”

Mina remained seated, her hands still clasped in her lap, a soft smile upon her lips…and her eyes glassy with tears. Broderick stepped forward and bent on one knee before her. Taking her wrinkled hand in his, he kissed it. “‘Tis a pleasure to meet you, madam.” His voice, a whisper.

She studied Broderick’s face before she patted his cheek. “You’re much more handsome in person than in the thoughts Malloren Rune shared with me so long ago.”

“Oma?” Monika maneuvered around Broderick to peer at his scowling face. “You met the prophetess Broderick told me about?”

“I knew that woman was somehow involved.” He stood and paced the room, raking his fingers through his hair. “That is how you learned the incantation to ward yourselves against Vamsyrians, is it not?”

Mina nodded. “She came to the old cottage the night Monika was born.”

Monika put her hands on her hips and repelled the sinking pressure in her stomach. “Oma. Why did you never tell me?”

“It wasn’t necessary, child. Malloren had said who and what she was and informed me she was gifted with the knowing. You were a special babe, she said, who must be guarded against Vamsyrians. Though there may be Vamsyrians who might try to hurt or take you from us, only one would come for you when you were of age and be your protector.”

“Did she feed from you?” Broderick crossed his arms, maintaining his black expression.

Mina shook her head. “She placed her palm on my brow and I saw your face in my mind’s eye. When I asked your name, she said a name didn’t matter, as many Vamsyrians used several names through the years.” Her grandmother regarded both Monika and Broderick, then cackled. “All has turned out exactly as Malloren predicted. Though she knew nothing of this Marcus or him returning with the book.” She pointed to Broderick. “Everything about you came to pass. I don’t understand why you are of such a foul disposition.”

Broderick harrumphed and leaned against the mantel. “She is known to be a bit of a manipulator, revealing only parts of the truth and leaving everything up for interpretation.”

“Malloren reveals just enough information to guide us, but not too much as to interfere with our free will and judgment.” Mina pointed a scolding finger at Broderick. “You, Vamsyrian, are one who doesn’t like to lose the reins and strives to control the journey every step of the way.” She cackled again. “Control is an illusion, young man. None of us are ever in control of our destiny, so you might as well relax and enjoy the scenery along the way. You are older than I am, so you should know this.”

Broderick cocked an eyebrow, then grumbled.

Monika gasped and grabbed Broderick’s hand. “Goodness, I completely forgot. I promised Brynner and Analise I’d return with you to discuss administering the cure.”

“I would like to accompany you.” Mina rose from the table and snatched her shawl from the back of the chair. “I want to see this cure and how Vamsyrian blood heals.”

Taking her mother’s book off the bookcase in the bedroom, Monika showed Mina the final recipe for the cure she’d scrawled on a separate piece of paper. Monika folded the scrap of parchment and placed it in the basket. Along with that were the ingredients she’d gathered this morning in preparation to force the cure on Marcus, including the vial with Broderick’s blood.

Broderick pulled his sword a few inches from the scabbard, then shoved it back into his the sheath. He nodded and escorted them out of the cottage. He scanned the surrounding fields and forest as soon as they arrived at the farmhouse.

Monika slipped her hand into his as her grandmother walked inside. “What is it, love?”

“I know he’s out there and I don’t want him interfering or learning about the cure.”

“I have a feeling he already knows about it.”

“All the same, I’d rather not risk it.” He frowned at Monika. “I may not be able to control my destiny,” he said referring to Mina’s previous comments…and the words were bitter on his tongue. “But I’m not going to keep us open to an attack. I’m going to erect some boundaries around the property to keep him away.”

Monika stood on her tiptoes and pulled him down for a kiss. “I’m in agreement with you. Be careful, though.”

“Always.” He tasted her lips once more and waited until she was inside before he ran around the farm, searching for any sign of the werewolf. When he found none, he held his palms in front of him and recited the incantation, imagining an invisible wall at least thirty feet wide and just as tall. Encircling the entire property, he repeated the ward until the farm was surrounded by protection. This allowed him to enclose the area without having to perform a cleanse from the center outward, which permitted both Broderick and Brynner to remain within.

“The protection is up,” he informed them all when he walked through the door. “If Sparenland is out there, he won’t get near enough to see what we’re doing.” While Monika and Mina were busy at the hearth, preparing the herbs for the cure, Broderick explained to Analise, Brynner and Johanna what a Vamsyrian was.

“So what does a Vamsyrian have to do with the cure?” Brynner crossed his arms.

“‘Tis my blood that’s the final ingredient to the cure.” Broderick borrowed a knife from the chopping block and asked Monika for one of the cups they were using in their preparations. Taking these to the table, he made an incision across his forearm, allowing his blood to drip into the cup. The cut healed almost instantly, much to the amazement of everyone present. Broderick inclined his head toward Johanna. “I see that cut on your forehead is still healing.”

The older woman touched the gash she’d received when she fell, running from Marcus…the night Brynner was bit. She nodded.

Broderick dipped his finger into the blood. “May I?”

Johanna darted her eyes around the room. Mina shuffled up beside her and took her hand. “Go ahead, Johanna. I’m sure all is well.”

When Johanna nodded, Broderick dabbed his blood onto the scabbed laceration and she gasped. Brynner, Analise and Mina each murmured in fascination and Johanna touched her now-healed forehead. “It’s gone!”

“The wolfsbane you’ll be ingesting will be fatal to you,” Broderick explained to Brynner. “But it’s a necessary ingredient to finish purging the curse from your body. Once you’re purged of the curse, you’ll take the Vamsyrian blood as an antidote to the poison.”

Fear warbled off Brynner and his heartbeat galloped in Broderick’s ears from across the room.

“We won’t let you die, Brynner.”

The young man sighed and nodded. “I’d rather be dead than be a werewolf, so I don’t have anything to lose.”

The hearth crackled in the silence. Broderick placed his hand on Brynner’s shoulder. “You’re not going to die.”

Brynner nodded, but still didn’t look convinced.

Monika asked the men to move the table and chairs to the side of the room, giving them space. She and Mina came to the table, each carrying two pottery cups with liquid. “These are strong infusions of each herb.” Monika pointed to each cup as she explained. “Agrimony, to break the hex. Fumitory, to exorcise the curse. Wood betony, to purify your body. And wolfsbane, to protect you from the curse. All of these work together to purge the werewolf curse from your body and cure you. You must drink everything in each cup, in the order I just explained, and wait a few moments between drinking each infusion. Once you have consumed each cup, we wait until the curse has been completely broken and the balance has been restored.”

“How long will that take?” Brynner asked.

Monika shook her head. “I don’t know, but I know the experience won’t be pleasant.”

Brynner groaned. “Let’s get this over with.”

Analise hugged and kissed her husband, smiling through her tears.
God, please let this work!
Her thoughts drifted across the room to Broderick.

Monika waved everyone but Brynner back toward the hearth. “Please stand to this side of the room.”

Broderick mumbled the incantation and erected an invisible wall between them.

“Did you just put up that ward?” Brynner paled. “Why?”

Monika drew a deep breath. “According to my mother’s notes, you will have a rather…violent reaction to the wolfsbane.”

“The ward is just a precaution,” Broderick said.

Brynner nodded and paced the empty space a few times before he nodded again and stepped up to the table. He picked up the first cup and downed the contents.

“Wait just a few moments,” Monika tutored.

He fixed his eyes on Monika, anticipation in his eyes. When she nodded, he picked up the second cup, drinking down the infusion. On her next cue, he drank the third cup.

“Now the wolfsbane,” Monika whispered. “And do it quickly, Brynner. All of it.”

He grabbed the cup, looked at his wife and a weak grin twitched across his mouth. “I love you.”

She responded in kind, choking with tears. Her mother hugged her close.

Brynner threw his head back, downing the wolfsbane infusion. Just as quickly, he bent forward and dropped to his knees, coughing and crying out. “
God!
” Blood dripped from his mouth as his face contorted with a grimace and turned scarlet, veins pulsing against his neck and forehead.

Analise screamed and ran forward, but Broderick caught her around the waist. “Nay!”

Monika pulled Analise into her arms and shielded her from witnessing Brynner’s agony. She and Mina held Analise back while her husband continued to wail and grunt. Johanna covered her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut.

With a roar, he lunged toward them, but bounced off the ward, cursing. “Give me the blood!” He pounded his fist against the barrier. “God, I can’t stand this!” he choked.

Broderick winced as the young man threw himself repeatedly into the invisible wall.

“Please help him!” Analise begged.

Eventually, Brynner slid to the floor, still leaning against the ward, convulsing and clutching his stomach. Monika ran forward and Broderick grabbed her hand. “Wait!”

She clutched the vial of Broderick’s blood in her hand and hugged her midsection, tears streaming down her face. “Take the ward down.”

“He still has the werewolf curse, Blossom. Look how the ward is still holding him up.”

She whimpered. “But what if he dies before the curse is purged?” Monika knelt just behind Brynner’s shivering and moaning form and laid her palm on his head.