Unstoppable Force (Force of Nature Series) (20 page)

William reached for the magic that
surrounded the lab, the mountain as well as the earth even beyond that. There
was more there than he’d ever be able to use. Certainly more than he’d need to
kill off a pack of wolves and take his prize. As he pulled it to him, he felt
it build. Looking at her, he could see no fear, but knew that soon that would
change as well. “No. I have no last words other than to tell you that you are
going to regret this a great deal more than any of them.” William released a
bit of the magic hiding his true self from her. “They will be dead momentarily,
and you? You will be mine.”

The magic slid from his hand and toward
the girl. She was smiling again, but he knew what it was—a sham. She was going
to pay for this. Pay for all of this. He threw back his head and laughed when
it hit his target.

~~~

Terror made her stiffen, but she didn’t
move. She couldn’t move without harming the others. She only hoped that this
worked. If it didn’t then she was going to kill that fucking man who had talked
her into this. If she lived.

The power drifted around her just as he
said it would. She stood still, waiting for the signal to move. When none came,
she nearly moved forward to take out the bastard who had hurt so many. But the
small voice beside her made her still again.

“I think if you move, I will personally
kick your ass. What part of ‘don’t move no matter what goes on around you’ did
you not understand?”

She wanted to hit him.

“If you do then you’ll be moving and,
again, that’s what you’re not supposed to do.”

“He thinks he’s won.”
She could see
William even as the dark magic dissipated around her.
“The next time he
tries this, you might not be able to protect us all.”

“You doubt me?”
Phil snorted.
“I
am the…what did you call yourself? Ah yes, the all-powerful Oz. Well, kiddo, I
am him and a little bit more. Stand still before I have to sic Connor on you.”

She wanted to look at Connor, but just
refrained from doing so. He was near her, she could feel him. When he moved
slightly against her leg, she felt a great deal better. He licked along her
hand and she curled her fingers around the contact.

“Better?”

She nodded, knowing he could see her.

“Good. Remember what I told you. Keep
talking to him until the rest of the council has a chance to see what he is. With
that information, it will make taking him out easier. Just a little more time
is all they need.”

She’d agreed to this plan hours ago. She
had been told that without that vital information, they wouldn’t be able to
subdue him, much less kill him. Lou had thought that by now, someone would have
been able to tell them that he was an evil prick and would have him dead. Phil
laughed. She knew he was reading her thoughts and while she wasn’t happy about
it, she knew that right now it was the only thing keeping her alive.

“Nancy is healed and is waiting with my
mate. You should also know that there are a number of men working on yours and
Connor’s home to get it finished. I’m
thinking that as soon as we leave
here, you’ll be picking carpet swatches and curtain patterns.”

“I don’t care about that shit.”
She glanced
over at Connor when she was sure he’d laughed.
“I don’t even care that we
have a house.”

He was trying to distract her. She knew
this, and allowed him to do it. By now William was looking at all of them as if
he couldn’t understand what the fuck had just happened.

“You’re not dead.”

She wanted to laugh at his tone, but
didn’t move.

“You should be…all of them should be
dead and you should be laying there writhing in pain and begging me to make you
better.”

“I heal quickly. Do you?” She didn’t
expect an answer so wasn’t surprised that none was forthcoming. The small move
again made her take two steps forward before she was told to stop. “Do you heal
quickly like a vamp or like a wolf? Like me.”

“Wolf?” He seemed to spit out the word. “Useless
animals that I plan to kill right along with every human in this world. Do you
have any idea how long I’ve been putting up with Dublin? Decades. And the dog
wasn’t even house trained.”

When he didn’t continue, she asked again,
“So you’re vampire? Figures. All the blood-sucking things do is order you about
and expect you to bow—”

“Vampire? Not all of me. I do have a bit
of them running though my veins, but not entirely.” He raised his hands again
and she knew he was gathering more magic to try and hurt them. “What other
creatures do you know? Surely there is something you can think of that is more
powerful than a vampire or a dog?”

She didn’t have any idea and reached
gently into his mind. There was information there. A great deal of it, but what
he was seemed to be elusive.

He might have blocked her, but she was
quicker. Every time he tried to push her out of his mind she simply went around
him. She had been doing this a long time, mostly to protect herself from
monsters like him, but also to see what harm the person could cause her.

“You won’t find it with your silly
attempts at mind raping me.” He laughed and she could see a dark ball of
something building in his hands. He was going to throw that at her, she just
knew it. “You should really give up. If you don’t, then I may have to hurt you
in ways that will make my need for you simply out of the question.”

She was nearly ready to pull out when
she touched something that made him cringe. She moved around the object he put
in front of her, memories of something he’d done, a child that he’d thought was
her and who he’d killed. She tried to ignore the pain he was making her feel
when she found the string. Then another. Then another as she got closer to what
he didn’t want anyone to know about him. As soon as she touched it, she turned
to Phil and smiled. “He’s a dragon.”

The room seemed to explode with beings. There
were nearly fifty wolves in the room with her, all of them pack and a dozen
vampires, all of them on the council or a part of it somehow. But as soon as
she said dragon, thirty more or so came into the room, all of them bent on
taking the being down in front of her. She stopped them with a single word.

“I would very much like to speak to him
once more before you sentence him.”

Hope Campbell looked at her then nodded
to the men who right now were wrapping William in some sort of netting. She
supposed it was something made especially to hold him.

“Why?”

He didn’t answer her, but continued to
struggle. When he did, she could see the madness in his face.

“Why did you create me? What did you
hope to gain?”

“Gain? Why, do you have any idea what
people would pay to see a real dragon? Not one like me. I’m not what they want,
but one that I was planning to make with your eggs? One that would not only do
my bidding, but would make me more than rich, more than well known; it would
make me everything.”

She stepped back when he moved toward
her, even with the netting. “You could have been so much without all this
magic. A wonder to the world. Why didn’t you just let things be?”

He lunged at her this time and had
dislodged the men holding him. As he was making good his escape, she ran after
him. They were nearly to the door when she leapt at him, hoping that she could
knock him away enough that the others, the ones that had the netting, could get
a grasp on him again. She knew that if he were able to gather more magic that
this time, there would be no saving any of them. Lou knew then without a doubt
that this one was big enough to take them all out. Her wolf clawed along her
skin and Lou let her come out.

She cried out and felt the wolf, her
wolf, cry out as well. Then before she could get away or stop him, she heard a
scream that would haunt her for the rest of her life. It sounded like someone
was dying. And she was afraid it was her.

Chapter 17

The spoon lay beside him on the chair. The
funeral was set to start in ten minutes, but he couldn’t seem to stop staring
at it. He looked up at his brother Austin as well as CJ when they sat in the
chair on the opposite side of the wooden spoon. Both of them looked back at it
before they spoke.

“There are more people here than I
thought there would be. I mean, I wasn’t sure that anyone would come at all.” Austin
nodded to the small and large groups of people standing around talking as he
continued. “Do you think any of them are here for the service, or is it
something else?”

“They’re here for us. They like us.” Connor
watched a smaller group turn into a much larger one when some of the pack
joined. “They all seem genuinely moved by this.”

When they had made these plans a few
days ago they thought it would be mostly family and some pack. Some of the pack
that had been there with them when it happened, but it seemed that the entire
town had shown up, as well as members from other packs. Connor shifted on his
seat again and reached for his mate. Still nothing.

He wanted to be with her. She hadn’t
woke much since they’d all left the mountain four days ago. She had been
sleeping, thanks mostly to the drugs that Clint kept in her. But her injuries
were massive and none of them had expected her to live, especially not him.

“She’ll be fine. I know you want to be
with her, but Mom wanted us all together.” Connor looked at Austin as he spoke.
“And you know how she gets when thing don’t go her…”

They looked up when the woman they loved
more than anything was brought in. Their mom was wheeled close to him and
reached over him to pick up her spoon. She’d been holding onto it like a
talisman since they left the mountain. She kissed his hand and spoke to him as
she held it. “I talked to her when she was awake this morning and she said to
keep you here even if I had to beat you on the head.”

Connor nodded. He’d been told by Louise
to come to this as well. He smiled when he thought of the argument they’d had
before he’d left today…

“You’re driving me insane. Go out, go
somewhere.” She was very weak and her voice was as well. When she reached for
her water, he nearly fell over the chair to get it to her. “You see? Damn it, I
can’t get better if you keep watching over me like I’m some invalid. Go away.”

“No. And you are an invalid. You were
nearly killed a few days ago and I don’t want anything else to happen to you.”
She growled and he had to fight the smile. He loved it when she got all feisty
with him. “Why don’t you just let me have my way with this and no one will get
hurt?”

“Because as soon as I’m able, I’m going
to hurt you.” She closed her eyes and he watched as she drifted off again. He
stood up, pulled her hand to his, and kissed it…

She’d saved them all. And had been
nearly killed because of it. Phil had told him that had that ball of magic hit
him, he would have been unable to prevent it from tearing through everyone in
that room. As it was, the few wolves that it hit were all dead.

When she’d lunged at William, Connor
thought his heart had stopped beating. She had been the most beautiful and
frightening thing he’d ever seen. When she’d shifted in mid air like she had,
he had been so shocked that he nearly didn’t move himself out of harm’s way. As
it was, he had sustained minor injuries.

“Are you going to sit there all day or
are you going to get up and say anything?” Austin nudged him hard in the ribs
as he grinned at him. “Well?”

Connor looked around and realized that
the service had begun.

“They want to know how your mate is,”
his mom told him softly. “Go up and tell them she’s planning to kick your
butt.”

Connor nodded and went to the front of
the large room. The casket, closed due to the fact that Timothy had done too
much damage to himself to have it open, was covered in roses and greenery. The
man had saved their mom and she had wanted this for him.

“I want first to thank you all for
coming today. I know that none of you knew the man beside me, but he did save
one of our own. If truth be known, he probably saved a great many more people
that day as well by helping my mom contact us and have the man responsible
taken out.” Connor thought of his mate. “Louise is doing much better. She’s
very…stubborn and will more than likely fuss at you all for making such a big
deal about her injuries.”

“Sort of like she’s been fussing at
you?”

He laughed at the man’s comment from the
back of the room. It seemed to ease him somewhat. “Yes. She seems to think that
she’ll heal much faster if I leave her alone.” The room seemed to relax a bit
as he continued. “The man that was killed had murdered a great many people.
More than the council had first thought. When she had figured out what he was
they were able to subdue him for several minutes, but he got away from them. Had
she not been there to waylay him there is no telling how much longer the
council would have had to work on finding him.”