Chapter 33
The vampires and Troy met Kevin, Ian, Bert and Drake outside the house Derrick had been renting, which was only twenty minutes away from the coven house. A moment later, Mathis and Gabe arrived.
“This place is massive,” Gabe commented.
It looked like a large rambling manor house.
Gabe saw Kevin and rushed to his side, pulling him into a hug. “If Creed is here, we’ll find him.”
Kevin hugged him back and pulled away, concern marring his face and apprehension showing in his eyes. “We will. I have some of my pack checking the area, seeing what they can find. We were just about to invade the house when you arrived.”
“Then let the invasion begin,” Gio said, walking to the front door and kicking it open. “Split up, be cautious.” Gio walked through the door, drawing his sword as he did.
Gabriel sent his magic out, looking for Creed, Bailey, and Derrick.
“Stop,” Gabe called out in the hallway.
Everyone stopped walking and turned to look at him.
“Little Witch?” Mathis queried.
“Creed and Bailey are in the basement. Derrick isn’t here. Apparently, Adrian is in the basement as well. The basement is this way.”
“What?” David and Seth exclaimed at the same time.
Kevin rushed in the way Gabe pointed. Gabe hurried after him, the rest following.
Bert found the entrance to the basement first and, opening the door, hurried down the steps. He saw Creed, Adrian and Bailey unconscious and chained to the wall.
“Creed!” Kevin exclaimed, rushing over to him. He touched his cheek. “Creed, sweetheart, wake up.” As he spoke, he tried pulling the chains off Creed's wrists, without much success.
“Shifter grade chains,” Ian commented, having no success either.
“Let me try,” Gabe said, moving to the chain and touching it. He whispered a spell, and the chain released Creed’s first wrist.
Kevin caught him before he could fall as Gabe moved to his second wrist and undid it.
“Thanks, Gabe,” Kevin said, gently sinking to the floor, Creed in his arms. Kevin gently patted his cheek. “Come on, sweetheart, open your eyes for me.”
Gabe knelt down next to them. “Can I do my thing?”
Kevin nodded. “Please. Do you need me to lay him down?”
Gabe shook his head. “No, just hold Creed and be amazed at my awesomeness.”
Kevin smiled, before it fell off his face, as he looked down at his mate. He watched Gabe place his hands on Creed’s chest, and then the healing light appeared. A moment later, the healing light faded and Gabe took his hands off Creed, just as his eyes slowly opened.
“Thanks,” Creed said, looking at him.
Gabe patted his arm and stood up to help one of the others.
“Sweetheart?” Kevin said.
Creed looked at Kevin, moved and then threw his arms around his mate.
“I have you,” Kevin said softly, kissing the side of his head. “You scared me.”
Creed pulled back. “Sorry, babe,” he said, leaning in and kissing him.
Kevin pulled back and touched his cheek. “What happened?”
Ian touched Creed’s back as Rickon came close.
“Derrick ambushed me just after I spoke to you yesterday morning. I couldn’t find Bailey and went looking for him. I know Derrick is human, but he was vampire strong.”
“When did Adrian get here?” Ian asked him.
Creed looked surprised. “I didn’t know he was.”
After healing Creed, Gabe rushed over to Adrian. The vampires were also not having any luck releasing the captives.
“I can help,” Gabe said, walking closer. “I just managed to release Creed.”
David and Seth moved out of the way, David moving so he could catch Adrian when his wrists were unchained.
Using the same spell as earlier, Gabe managed to release Adrian’s wrists, and like Kevin did, David gently knelt down, Adrian in his arms.
“Can you heal Adrian?” David asked him.
“Hopefully, we’ll know in a minute,” Gabe replied.
He wasn’t sure how his healing would work on a witch doctor, so he pulled his wand out, drew the healing rune on his palms, then laid his hands gently on Adrian’s chest. The healing light surrounded Adrian.
A while later, it vanished. Gabe took his hands off Adrian’s chest and waited for a few minutes for Adrian to wake up.
“Did the healing not work?” David asked, concerned.
“It should have worked, but there was something weird inside of him. I didn’t know what it was, so I left it. Maybe that’s why he’s not waking up,” Gabe replied.
The next moment, Adrian let out a sigh and opened his eyes. He smiled at Gabe. “Thank you.”
Gabe patted his chest and stood up to help Bailey.
David helped Adrian sit up. “What happened?”
Adrian shook his head. “I’m not sure. I was travelling back to the coven and stopped when I saw a body at the side of the road. I got out to help, but it wasn’t a human; it was a demon with the same energy as the asylum demon. Next thing I know, I felt Gabe’s healing and woke up here.”
“I thought that demon had given Derrick his soul and mortality back. Why then would he still be helping Derrick?” Seth asked generally.
“Demons are masters at not keeping their word,” Bert told him, walking over to join them.
“We might have to contact Thiago and ask for his help,” Mathis said.
“We should get out of here,” David said, standing up and holding his hand out to Adrian.
“Drake, Ivan, Olly, Cairo, Troy, as well as some other wolves are searching the whole house to see what they can find,” Bert informed them. “We can all meet up outside.”
“How is Bailey?” David asked, looking at the final vampire. Gabe’s healing light still surrounding him.
They walked over and stood close. A moment later, Gabe removed his hands and the light faded.
Jessamy was on the ground holding Bailey. “Come on, Bailey, stop pretending,” Jessamy said, poking his shoulder.
“Stop with the poking,” Bailey grumbled as he opened his eyes, looking surprised to see everyone. His eyes caught Gabe. “Thanks for the healing.”
Gabe smiled. “None of you had serious physical injuries, but you were drugged with something.”
Gio held his hand out to help Bailey up as Seth held his out to Jessamy.
“Let’s get out of here, and we can talk about everything away from here,” Bert said.
“Did you find Derrick?” Creed asked.
“Not yet,” Kevin growled out. “I’m just putting it out there, if I come across him, I’m ripping his throat out.”
“Help yourself,” David replied.
“Gabe, did you sense Jamie’s dad anywhere around here?” Seth asked.
Gabe shook his head. “Not inside the house. Are there buildings out the back?”
“There are,” Ivan said from the doorway. “His body is in one of the outbuildings. I can say that Derrick is just as mad, if not more so, than before.”
“We’re gonna have to move the body and get rid of it before the owners of this place find it and call the police,” Bert suggested. “I’ll go and sort that.”
“Thanks, Bert,” Ivan said. “Drake, Troy and Cairo have found stuff, you should see.”
“I’ll see Drake first, then,” Bert replied.
“David, Seth, Gabe, Adrian, you should see this as well,” Ivan told them.
“You guys do that. The rest of us will go outside and keep watch. With any luck, Derrick will turn up,” Gio said, and everyone started leaving the basement.
Ivan led them into a room at the back of the house. It looked like an old witch’s workroom. There were herbs hung up drying, pots and cans dotted around, and shelves filled with glass jars. Gabriel and Adrian had a look at the shelves and pulled open cupboards and draws.
“I would happily live in here,” Adrian commented.
“Me too. My workroom is nowhere near this impressive. I need to up my workroom game.”
“We found these,” Troy said, holding up a few green bottles.
Gabe and Adrian walked over to take them and had a look.
“This is a strength serum,” Adrian said, reading the label.
“It could be the super witch serum,” Mathis mentioned.
“Derrick could have taken it as well. Creed said Derrick was vampire strong,” Kevin told them.
“This one is a shifter suppressant,” Gabe said. “It’s probably the same one that was used on the children.” He looked at Adrian. “We should be able to break this down and find an antidote.”
“We can indeed,” Adrian agreed.
“What is the last one?” Bert asked Troy
“The label isn’t complete, but as it was in the same kind of bottle as the other two, we thought it might be important. It seems to be a powder, though not a serum,” Troy said.
“It probably is. Hopefully, there is some paperwork detailing all of these,” David said.
“We can hope,” Bert agreed.
Gabe looked at him. “Should you not be going home and getting spruced up for your date tonight?”
Bert glanced at the time. “I really should, but I said I’d deal with the body.”
“The kitty and I can do that,” Cairo offered.
“Sure, offer our services for the crap jobs,” Troy grumbled.
“What’s up, kitty? The sight of a dead body too upsetting for you?” David taunted.
“Not in the least, fang boy, I wanted to take my mate on a date as well, without the stench of blood and dead bodies clinging to us.”
“You’re so cute,” Mathis teased.
“At least I take my mate on dates, old bean, unlike the rest of you,” he countered.
“We’ve been busy,” David muttered.
“Whatever you say, fang boy,” he said, looking at Cairo. “Let’s go deal with the body and then go home to change.”
“Leave the body,” Kevin said. “My guys can deal with it. Go and enjoy your date.”
“Thanks, old bean,” Troy held his hand out to Cairo, who took it with a grin.
“See you all tomorrow,” Cairo said, walking out of the workroom.
“I’m a bad mate,” David muttered.
“Stop, you’re not, none of us are. We’re just focused on this organisation. But now we can remember to make time for our mates,” Seth said.
“Little Witch, is there anything else in here you want to look at?”
“No vampy. Let’s just go.”
Mathis held his hand out, and Gabe took it, and they left the workroom, the others leaving as well.
Ivan walked outside and to the outbuilding where Jamie’s dad’s body had been found. The state the body was in was disturbing. He watched two wolves find something to cover him up with, then one of them slung him over his shoulder, and then they left.
The wolves looked at Ivan. “We’re burying him in a cemetery and sending you the details. We’ll put him in an unmarked grave.”
Ivan nodded. “Thanks, Jeff.” He left them to it and started walking back towards the front of the house when he heard a noise from behind the outbuildings. He turned towards the noise and walked around the side to the back.
Standing there was Derrick, smirking at him.
Ivan stood there, stunned for a moment. From the Derrick he had seen the other day on the camera to today, Derrick had begun to age a lot.
“Derrick,” Ivan said in greeting.
“Ivan, did you miss me?” He asked, smiling.
Ivan shook his head. “Not really, no,” he paused. “I should thank you for helping my Jamie.”
Derrick smirked again. “I couldn’t let someone else kill Jamie when that’s my job.”
Ivan took a step forward. “Stay away from Jamie.”
“Or what?” Derrick asked. “You can’t hurt me. I’m immortal. I told you one day I would be.”
Ivan snorted. “No, you were immortal, but your soul was returned to you days ago. Why do you think you’re beginning to look old?”
Derrick took a step back in shock. “What do you mean, I’m beginning to look old?”
“I mean, you’re looking old, your face is wrinkled, your hair is thinning. Surely, you’ve noticed how much you’ve changed over the last few days?”
As Ivan was talking, Derrick started touching his face. “No, that’s not possible. I’m immortal.”
Ivan snorted. “The demon you sold your soul to at the asylum returned it back to you; your immortality is long gone.”
“I don’t believe you. You just don’t like the fact I became immortal, that I am now a vampire, strong and quick.”
“Magical potions will do that. Where did you get them? Plus, you’re still not a vampire.”
“A friend gave them to me. Jealous?” Derrick taunted.
“No, because my gifts are natural, yours come from a bottle, like some superhero wannabe.”
Derrick put his hand in his pocket. “Let me remind you that my gifts, however I came by them, helped save Jamie. I’ve decided that I’m going to let Jamie live. You can watch as I make him mine, while you, my dear Ivan, will have to watch the man you love become tied to me for eternity.”
“That will never happen,” Ivan said, rushing towards him.
Derrick quickly pulled his hand out of his pocket and threw something at Ivan.
Powder hit Ivan in the face just as he reached Derrick; straightaway, he fell to the ground unconscious.