Chapter 2
SIMON
I’d found him! I’d found him at last! Giddy with joy, I let myself watch Reno—my mate!
—for a few seconds as he left the cover of the trees to duck behind the fence separating this property from the neighbor’s.
I’d almost given up hope of the Seer’s vision from all those years ago coming true, but here he was.
The thin but already strong and bright mate connection stretched between us.
I didn’t think he’d noticed, so I’d wait to tell him after we’d finished here today.
He was probably in his forties, with graying dark hair, stunning brown eyes, and a stocky, barrel-chested frame.
His ass was just as nice as the Seer had promised.
He had several strong connections, mostly friends and family, with a few others that were more like distant acquaintances.
I’d have to ask why he’d made those connections. I couldn’t wait to get to know him.
But before anything else I needed to heal myself so I could fight off whichever one of the remaining three luchd-òl fola was coming to find out what happened to Tormod. After that, Reno and I could take out the other two and rescue the captives.
I tore into Tormod’s thigh, and the magic of those he’d fed from sparkled on my tongue and eased the pain from the knife wound. At least I had my answer as to whether Prince Nicol was still alive. His magic was unmistakable for anyone else’s.
As to what decades of captivity had done to him mentally and physically, well, that could be dealt with after I’d rescued him.
I drained what was left of the blood in Tormod’s body, then I took my shirt off and dropped it on the ground.
It was drenched in blood, and I didn’t want to make it any easier for them to track me.
My wound wasn’t quite closed, but it was getting there.
I got to my feet and carefully leaned over to pick up the mek’leth and Tormod’s blade.
I left the small clearing and eased into the trees, trying not to make a sound. The birds and insects went silent, and I didn’t think they were reacting to me.
I chose a spot a few yards from the clearing before going still, listening for footsteps or clothing brushing against a leaf. Only luck had me looking in the right direction when Ciorsdan stepped out from behind a tree and fired her gun.
I misted just in time, but I wouldn’t have the energy to do it again. I reformed right in front of her, too close for her to shoot. Bullets wouldn’t kill us, but a head shot took too long to recover from.
She dropped the gun to block my mek’leth with her forearm. I was slow bringing Tormod’s knife up, and she punched me in the stomach, right over my still unhealed wound. Fuck. I gasped at the pain and dropped back, which gave her the space to draw her blade.
She appeared fit, but her hair was long and she hadn’t put it up to keep it out of her face.
She was wearing a threadbare t-shirt, cut off sweatpants, and some ancient Air Jordans.
For comfort or because they couldn’t afford anything new?
I’d never been able to find that they kept any bank accounts.
As expected, Ciorsdan only had two connections. Marcas and Roibeart. Time to deal with them after I killed her.
She moved to the side, looking for an opening, and I shook my head. “I can tell you haven’t been training regularly. Relying on a gun, and not having a backup weapon ready?” I tsked.
She bared her fangs. “You always were a sanctimonious asshole.” She stepped to her left, no doubt trying to get me to move with her, which would put the sun in my face.
I smirked. “We both know you can’t take me down.
” Which was a bit of an overstatement, if I was completely honest. I was tired from the fight with Tormod, shifting into mist twice within minutes, and healing.
Ciorsdan and I were probably evenly matched at the moment.
But that would only change my strategy, not the outcome.
I’d win this fight. I had Reno as well as Prince Nicol to motivate me now. I would not lose.
She mirrored my grin. “Oh, but I will. And I’ll celebrate by drinking from Nicol. I’ll tell him how close you got to rescuing him, but, so sad, you—”
A big tawny cat leaped from behind a large shrub and tackled her, knocking her to the ground.
They were huge, their body covering Ciorsdan’s full length and then some.
They had short fur over their undulating muscles and claws as long as my fingers.
The faint shimmering outline of their human form overlaying their cat form told me this was a shifter.
Before Ciorsdan could bring up her blade, the cat’s enormous fangs flashed as they sliced into her neck and ripped out her throat. They froze, blood dripping from their mouth and chin. They looked up at me, scrunched up their face, and gagged like they were trying to hack up a hairball.
“Yeah, that’s the magic from the people she’s drunk from. The captives.”
I moved forward cautiously, my mek’leth held out to the side and Tormod’s knife dangling loosely from my other hand. Ciorsdan wouldn’t die unless I cut off her head, but would the cat let me?
The cat, or I guessed I should say mountain lion, grimaced again and jumped away, leaving Ciorsdan to me as they frantically rubbed their chin and cheeks in the grass.
I made quick work of separating Ciorsdan’s head from her body, then I wiped the mek’leth and Tormod’s knife off on her t-shirt. The mountain lion licked their paw and swiped it over their face.
“Thank you for your help. I’m Simon. I need to go find my—Reno. There are two vampires left. I wouldn’t mind some company if you don’t have anything better to do?”
The cat nodded and stood, flexing their big claws into the grass and dirt and swishing their tail back and forth. Their ears pricked up and they moved swiftly through the trees toward the edge of the woods. I followed, mek’leth held ready.
It wasn’t the other vampires running toward us, but Reno.
My heart lifted to see him unharmed. His face relaxed with relief when he saw the mountain lion, but he didn’t stop running until he reached us, whirling around to see if he’d been followed.
No one was visible. “Everything okay?” He reached out a hand to rub the mountain lion’s ears, and they brushed their head along his hip.
I stifled my jealousy. The connection between them was a blend of familial and friend. The shifter was no threat to my mating. “Sure is. There are only two vampires left.” Merely saying those words was a dream come true, but I didn't have time to dwell on my elation.
“Yeah, I heard them in the house. The van isn’t going anywhere, by the way. How’s your injury?” He made a face at the barely healed wound in my stomach.
I shrugged one shoulder. “Good as new.” Of course I didn’t have a ton of energy left, but I wasn’t about to tell Reno that.
He raised a skeptical eyebrow at me. “Uh huh. Oh, this is Shirley.” He gestured at the mountain lion shifter. “She’s a friend of mine.”
I smiled at her. “Nice to meet you, Shirley.” She made a little chirrup sound I interpreted as agreement before turning around and vanishing into the trees. “Um, should we follow her?”
“No, she would’ve made that clear. She’ll be back. I asked her for her help when I knew I was coming here.” He waved a hand toward the house. “The two of them have been shouting, but I haven’t seen them outside.”
I nodded. “It’d be easier if we could ambush them when they’re packing the van, but they’ll probably be carrying at least one captive, and I don’t want to deal with a hostage situation.” I took a deep breath. “Not to mention they might kill the captives they can’t take with them.”
Shirley reappeared, holding Reno’s backpack in her teeth. “Shit. Thanks, Shirley.” He took it from her, then dug inside and handed me a bottle of water. He opened one for Shirley and took another for himself. “So we need to move fast. How many captives do you think they have?”
I frowned at the farmhouse. “Anywhere between four and eight. I vote we see if we can sneak in through the back door.”
Reno pointed at the fence. “Okay. We can use this for cover like I did before and climb over when we’re even with it.” He ran his hand through his hair. I couldn’t wait to find out how soft it was. “We’ll still be pretty exposed for a hundred feet or so as we run across the yard.”
I smiled approvingly. My mate was quite intelligent. He gave me an odd look, but I ignored it. “I agree. It’s the best plan we have.”
We put the empty water bottles in Reno’s backpack, then we crept as swiftly and carefully as we could across the open space to the neighbor’s fence. Reno and I ducked down as we ran along the fence toward the house.
When we were even with the back porch, we climbed over the fence. I pulled out the mek’leth and Tormod’s knife again, and Reno gripped a gun with both hands.
We eased onto the porch as silently as we could, but the boards still creaked and groaned. I held up a finger. I could hear Roibeart saying, “We don’t have time for that. Let’s go!” He sounded like he was on the ground floor.
I barely used any breath to whisper, “They’re both still inside but they’re getting ready to leave.”
Shirley crouched down, and Reno gave me a sharp nod. I tested the door handle, but it didn’t turn, dammit.
The time for stealth was over. I stood up and kicked the door right next to the handle, putting all of my strength into it. It crashed inward, taking some of the doorframe with it. I rushed through.
Roibeart was directly across from us, shouting as he ran for the front door. I dodged around the kitchen table and jumped over the tattered couch in the living room to get to him. Shirley broke off and ran for the stairs.
“Go with Shirley!” I pointed Tormod’s knife in her direction, hoping Reno would comply. I was used to fighting luchd-òl fola, but the other two were not.
Roibeart opened the front door and ran to the left, toward the van. I was only seconds behind him when I got outside.
Multiple voices shouted from upstairs, and there was a banging sound, like Reno and Shirley were trying to break down a door. Roibeart hesitated near the van, looking up as a person fell out of the open window above him and landed with a thump, unmoving and with their limbs splayed out.
This was not someone who had jumped under their own power. They hadn’t tried to land on their feet or even hold their arms out for balance.
Marcas followed, though he leaped through the window intentionally, landing gracefully beside the unconscious person.
I forced myself to keep my attention on the luchd-òl fola instead of checking to see whether it was Prince Nicol on the ground as I suspected.
He’d be the one they took with them over any Wonder or magic carrier. Please let him have survived the fall.
Roibeart and Marcas stood next to the van, claws out, with several feet between them. Of course it was just my luck to face the only luchd-òl fola who remembered their training when I wasn’t in any shape to win against two of them.
I waved my mek’leth in their direction. “It’s over. You might as well surrender.” Hey, it could work.
Marcas scoffed. “You can’t take both of us.” Shit.
Roibeart moved another step away from Marcas, probably positioning for a dual assault.
I held up Tormod’s knife. “Tormod and Ciorsdan would tell you differently.”
“We can see your injury. You’re weak.” Roibeart watched me carefully. He’d put on weight, and I was betting he wasn’t as fast or nimble as he’d once been.
I snorted. “Tormod’s blood gave me back everything I lost and more.” I was pleased to see Roibeart’s uneasy expression.
A louder bang came from above, and the voices who’d been shouting earlier now chorused in variations of, “Save Nicky!” or “Get Nicky!”.
I heard Reno cursing but Shirley leaned out of the window first, growling when she saw us below.
I smirked at Marcas and Roibeart. “Think you can take me plus a mountain lion shifter? Oh, and Reno up there has a gun. At this distance, he can’t miss.”
“Hey, FYI, the cops are here,” Reno called out.
I didn’t take my eyes off the two luchd-òl fola, but it was hard to miss the SUV pulling into the driveway, a flashing red light on the dashboard. Fuck, this was a complication we didn’t need.
The driver’s door opened, and a male voice called out, “What’s goin’ on here?”
Roibeart and Marcas glanced at each other, then turned and ran down the driveway, passing the SUV at a speed the officer or whoever he was would have no hope of matching. They crossed the road and hit the trees, changing to mist form just before I lost sight of them.
Ignoring the cop, I fell to my knees next to Prince Nicol, who was indeed the person who’d been thrown from the window.
He wasn’t moving, and blood was seeping from the back of his head where it had hit the ground.
“Nicol!” I couldn’t use his title here, in front of so many who didn’t know.
He was older, of course, fully adult. But he was small, shorter than any Elf I’d ever met, and frail and malnourished.
The scrubs he wore gaped at his neck and arms. His skin was covered in bite scars and marks from restraints.
Even worse, his magical core was dull and barely moving. When I pressed my fingers to his throat, his pulse was hardly detectable. My entire chest constricted. “No, no, no. You can’t die on me. You can’t.”