Moonlight Calls (Demon's Call Series Book 1) (19 page)

The alpha was
beginning to lose patience.  “As your alpha, all you own is mine.  Bring her
here.”

Argenou
scoffed.  “What, can’t even control your own son, old man?  Henry, you really
are losing your touch.”

I tensed under
Christian’s hands.  Son? 
Shit.
  Neither of the people protecting me
were in possession of their own free will.  Christian was apparently tied to
the Father Alpha just as much as Ailis was tied to the master vampire.  Henry
glared at the vampire, his aura building to threatening levels. 

I held up my
hands.  “Look guys.  Flattering as this is, this whole discussion is
pointless.  I am just a human.  Vanilla.  Switzerland.”

They ignored
me.  Henry’s burgeoning aura belied his soft voice.  “You said you had no
interest in this girl,” he said softly.  “And yet one of your children keeps
her as a pet.”

Argenou
scoffed.  “And you?  You deny encroaching on my territory, and yet your spawn
claims her as his own?”

Henry’s voice was
soft and compelling.  He took a step closer and his aura lapped about me, warm
and red, and carnal.  “Say what you like, the sensitive won’t be obedient to
you.  Not when she learns that you killed her parents.”

I was having
trouble breathing, half caught up in Henry’s power.  Christian growled a
warning, jerking me out of my trance.  Henry knew he had lost his hold on me. 
He shot his son a murderous glare, willing him to be obedient, something that
Christian obviously had problems with.

Argenou flung out
a hand at the wolf.  “You have to resort to lies to win favor?”  He turned that
gaze on me and I felt my feet shift automatically.  “Come here Mya, I will
protect you.”

I
wanted
 to
go to him.  And it pissed me off.  I took a step forward, but Christian stopped
me.  Using my anger as leverage, I dug in my heels and refused to move.  “You
killed my parents?”  My voice was a whisper.

Argenou blinked
at me, surprised.  Henry burst into rich guffaws.  “Who’s losing their touch?”
he needled the vampire.

They were both
closing in on me, flanked by their minions.  “The vampires killed your parents,
Mya,” Henry was saying.  “You can’t trust them; they only want to use you for
whatever power you might have.”

My head was
starting to ache, the dull throb promising a migraine.  “And you don’t?”

Argenou shook
his head, radiating dark power.  “It was the wolves.”

“They killed my
parents?”  I was ignored again, while the leaders of the vampires and wolves
began to argue in earnest.

The Father Alpha
pointed at Argenou in accusation.  “You found out that her blood was
different.  You suspected what she was, so you eliminated her parents in order
to possess the child.”

I shook my head,
anger and fear growing in the pit of my stomach. 
What I was?
 I vaguely
remembered the summer my Dad had ditched me.  I had been ill.  They had done
blood tests at the hospital.  Though I had gotten better in no time, they had
no idea why I was sick.  I had gotten well and returned home, only to have my
father abandon me.  Apparently, that timing had not been coincidence.  What the
hell was wrong with me?  What was in my blood?

Henry had moved
closer.  His voice was growing deeper and softer, a sure sign of his anger.  “I
hear that a human magic worker is hard to turn.  Sometimes the process goes
horribly wrong.  Did you try to turn her, Argenou?  Or was that the work of one
of your little pets?”

Something inside
me snapped. 
My parents?
 My hands started to tingle, probably from
shock.  The wolves were prowling restlessly behind their leader.  I could feel
the power around me rising, prickling over my skin.  The waves of it were
beating in time with the jabs of pain in my head and there was a sluggish
stirring in my stomach.

I felt numb and
unreal on the surface, but deeper down was a roiling pit of anger and
hopelessness, and utter rage.  They had killed my family.  And they spoke of it
as if it meant nothing.  It was just a game to them.  I was just a pawn to
them, a chess piece to be moved around as they saw fit. 

The two figures
of power were so involved in taunting each other that they let their control
slip from their subordinates.  There was a warning growl off to the side and
then suddenly there was a wolf flying at me with his teeth bared.  Christian
knocked him aside with a viscous swipe of his hand.  The wolf hit the ground
and didn’t get up.  So much for family loyalty.  Vampires swarmed at us from
the other side, falling on Christian while the wolves attacked Ailis as she
moved to join us.

Henry and Argenou
flew at each other, grappling and trying to rip each other’s throats out.  The
place had disintegrated into total chaos in three seconds flat.  A vampire
broke free of Christian while he dealt with the others, and he blurred as he
rushed to my side.  He whipped my head to the side and sank his teeth into my
neck.  I fought weakly as a rush of pleasure followed the pain, trying to get a
grip on reality.  I was losing my will to struggle.  It felt so good.  If I
just gave in, all the pain would go away.

 Then Ailis was
there, ripping the vampire off me as a wolf crashed into us from the other
side.  It knocked me off my feet and out of the vampire induced stupor as is
sank its teeth into my side, its long, sharp teeth tearing through my skin.  I
screamed, and Christian stopped the wolf with one powerful kick to its head. 
Its teeth were ripped from my flesh with the force of the blow.

I rolled and
pushed myself to my hands and knees, then paused for a second while I waited
for the world to stop spinning.  My hand slipped in a puddle of my own blood
and I almost went down again, but I regained my balance.  I glanced up in time
to see Argenou leap onto Christian from behind and sink his teeth into
Christian’s neck.

I called out for
Ailis, finding her already on the ground a few feet away, grappling with
Henry.  He had half changed to wolf, his once beautiful face now nightmarish
and distorted.  His teeth closed on Ailis’s arm and there was a sickening
crunch as her bones snapped.

More wolves and
vamps had appeared from the forest and I knew that there was no way Ailis and
Christian would survive.  Apparently, both sides had decided to just fight it
out.  They hated each other long before I came into the picture.  This was just
an excuse.  I pushed myself upright, swaying, as two vampires sped toward me in
an inhuman blur.  My head was pounding and there were little lights dancing at
the edge of my vision.  I could do little more than stand there, waiting to
die.

Suddenly
something snapped.  The rage that was simmering just below the surface exploded
into my mind.  All the hurt, the anger, the frustration and pain took over. 
They had killed my parents.  And now they were going to kill Ailis and
Christian, the only people I had left in the world.  The only ones who could
help me make sense of the mess my life had become.

Despair rose up,
black and choking, but it wasn’t nearly as strong as my anger.  The rage felt
like a red haze filling my head.  Glancing down at my shaking hands, I imagined
that they too were glowing red.

The first
vampire reached me and I lashed out at him with all the anger and hurt inside
me.  I knew that I would never land a punch on a vampire, but I didn’t care, I
was going to go down fighting.  My fist hit him square in the center of the chest-
and kept on going, tearing right through him with a sick crunch.

 I pulled my arm
free with a wet, sucking sound and turned to face the next vampire, not even
registering what I had done.  I couldn’t feel their power lapping about me
anymore, all I could feel was the hot, pulsating rage.  I aimed at the second
vampire’s head.  It exploded on contact, spattering chunks of gore on the
pavement.

I felt a hand on
my shoulder and spun, stopping myself short when I saw Christian’s handsome,
blood-splattered face.  He took my arm when I staggered, and his gaze slipped
from my face to the path.  The red haze slipped from my vision, and I realized
that all the fighting had stopped.  Argenou and Henry stood at either end of
the path, eyes glowing, gazes locked on me.

Ailis crossed in
front of me, cradling her shattered arm.  She stopped at my side and Christian
gestured for me to lead us back toward the parking lot.  Elvis was leaving the
building.  I fought to hold myself upright as I marched across the paved area,
wondering what the hell had just happened.  The adrenaline was starting to fade
and I felt distant and unfocused.  The rage was gone.  The numbness was coming
back.

I squared my
shoulders with what little strength I had left and willed myself to make it to
Ailis’ car, cozied up to mine in the little parking lot.  I tried to
concentrate on my goal as we made our way across the breezy lot, but I couldn’t
make my eyes focus.  I was so tired.  Christian spoke from behind me at one
point, taking care not to be heard.  Apparently, I had an image to uphold.

“You are doing
great,” he whispered urgently.  “Just keep it together for a little while
longer.”  The creatures we had left behind were shocked and cowed by what I had
just done.  That wouldn’t last if I fainted.  I had to look strong- not show
any weakness.  I was among predators.

I nodded my head
slightly and he let out a sigh.  Ailis’s hand on my shoulder was all that was
keeping me upright.  They followed me all the way to the car, keeping up the
appearance of dutiful servants.  I wanted to laugh at the impression of power I
was giving off right now.  Yeah, I was a badass.  Now, if only I could just get
the damned car door open.

 I gave up and
stood by the car, shaking.  My vision began to go black around the edges and I
wondered dimly what was wrong with me.  I felt something warm trickle down my
side and onto my hip and shivered at the sensation.  It was getting hard to
think straight.  Why was I all wet?  There was a pulse of pain from my neck and
my world went completely black as my knees crumpled.

I felt a swaying
sensation and I opened my eyes a crack to find that Christian was lowering me
into the back of Ailis’s car.  His warm arms withdrew and I shivered.  I was so
cold.  Why did it have to be so cold?  He closed the door and climbed into the
driver’s seat.  My legs were all askew and I thought I should do something
about that, but I couldn’t seem to move my body.

The back door on
the opposite side opened and Ailis slid into the backseat with me, letting in a
draft of air that made me shiver.  She scooted close and effortlessly pulled me
across her lap.  Her arm was back to normal, I noted with drowsy detachment.

“Your arm got
better,” I slurred.  I was so tired.  So cold and so tired.

She cradled me
close as she spoke in a low, comforting voice.  “It’s going to be okay, Mya. 
You’re okay.  I won’t let anything happen to you.”  I sighed and closed my
eyes, giving in to the blackness that hazed my vision.

I woke to the
feeling of something warm drizzling on my face.  I turned my head weakly,
trying to avoid the sensation, and my eyes fluttered.  Ailis said something in
an anxious voice and, with a tremendous effort, I pushed myself toward the
surface of awareness again.

“Please, Mya,”
She urged, “Swallow.  You have to swallow it.”

 I opened one
eye and tried to focus on her in the dim light.  She paused and brought her
wrist to her mouth, before holding it over me again.  Blood flowed from the
self-inflicted wounds.  I turned my head again in disgust, but she continued to
plead with me.

My head lolled
against her other arm as we hit a bump and I managed another glance at her. 
Her eyes were filled with tears and her voice sounded so desperate.  I didn’t
want her to cry anymore.  Maybe if I did this she would just let me sleep.  I
had just enough sense left to turn my head again.  I couldn’t remember why, but
I knew I shouldn’t drink her blood.  She managed to feed me some anyway,
forcing my mouth open with her other hand.  It was either swallow or choke.

 I let the
thick, hot blood flow over my lips and run down my throat as I clung to
consciousness.  Finally, I refused to drink any more, despite her urging.  I
felt sick and I let the thick stuff dribble out of my mouth.  Ailis bit her arm
again, and I thought she was going to force me to drink it, but instead she
drizzled the hot blood over my aching neck and the wet spot on my side.

“Your car is
going to be a mess,” I mumbled, giggling at my slurred speech.  Then I lost
consciousness again.

I woke some time
later on the chaise lounge in my living room.  I was wrapped in a cocoon of
blankets.  The room was lit with a soft ambiance that reminded me of
candlelight.  I stretched cautiously.  My muscles bunched and relaxed, and I
sighed in satisfaction, thinking it silly that I had expected to feel pain.

The night’s
events flooded into my sleepy brain like a rush of cold water.  I remembered
feeling light-headed and cold and I froze.  I had been attacked.  I had been
wounded.  Thinking back on it, I remembered the symptoms of severe blood loss
and shock clearly.  I reached up tentatively to touch my neck, my questing
fingers finding nothing but smooth, soft skin.