Chapter 15 #2
He skidded into the plaza, but the screeching sound continued even once he’d come to a complete stop.
The few people who still milled around the shops were covering their ears and looking around, trying to figure out what was happening.
Rick clamped his hands over his ears as he got out, but it didn’t seem to help.
“You might want to stay here,” Eric said as he drew his cutlass.
“The hell I will. This way.” Rick hurried toward The Biscuit Box.
If it was possible, the scream grew louder as they moved.
Rick burst through the door, horrified to see what was happening before him.
Carol was on the floor, her hair splayed out on the tiles.
A creature stood over her, blood dripping down its face from something stuck in its eye.
Carol struggled, but she was no match for the siren.
Two great wings extended from the monster’s back.
Barney had the tip of one of them in his mouth.
He yanked back hard, his feet scrabbling for grip on the tile floor as he fought to free Carol.
Good boy, but I’ve got it. Barney couldn’t hear him, Rick knew, but his wolf sent the message as it took over.
He hit the ground on all fours and charged forward.
He threw the full weight of his body into the siren’s torso, sending it sprawling backward.
Barney skidded out of the way, and Rick hit the wall.
Lorelei shrieked as she reeled, a piercing sound that filled his head and made it hard to regain his balance.
He swung his head around as Lorelei came after him, his fangs gaining purchase on her forearm.
His teeth pressed hard against the thick scales, which were like armor, even against a shifter’s strength.
Rick crushed his jaws together but couldn’t quite pop through the skin.
The siren swatted at him with her free hand, leaving massive gashes in his fur. Its powerful feet thrust and sliced, clawing at his underbelly. A well-placed slash across his face loosened his jaw.
“The head!” Hawkins cried as he pulled a grappling hook off his belt.
He swung it in the air and let it go, sending a long line of rope out after it.
The hook hit the wall behind the siren, seemingly useless until he gave it a hard tug.
The hook flew up into the air and buried itself in the beast’s back. “We have to get the head!”
Lorelei let out another earsplitting screech as the hook jerked her but she fought against it, threatening to drag even the beefy Hawkins across the floor. Her limbs were long and strong, not at all the same as they’d been the last time Rick had seen her.
“We’ve got to get the head!” Hawkins cried again. The rope was beginning to slip from his hands.
Eric hurried forward with his blade, but the hook had only done so much to stop her.
She lurched toward the kitchen, turning away from the hook.
It peeled a hunk of flesh from her back as it fell from her body, but that wasn’t enough to stop her.
It didn’t even slow her down as she shoved her way through the kitchen door.
If she got out the back and to the water, they’d never have a chance to catch her again.
Rick charged, saliva dripping from his teeth.
He wanted blood. He wanted her life. He would die if that were what it required.
This thing had come after his mate, and now it would pay the price.
With the power of all four limbs, he rushed into the kitchen.
He reached out and snapped his jaws shut, catching her leg just above the knee.
She was turned away from him, and the softer part of her inner thigh wasn’t as well armored as her forearm had been.
Rick crunched down, eliciting another scream from the creature.
Its wings beat against him as it continued to surge toward the back door.
The feathers slashed at him, much harder than they seemed.
His fur deflected many of the razor edges but not all.
He felt them nicking his ears and nose, but still, he held tight.
The siren could scream all it wanted to.
He was never going to let go, not this time.
A new cry split the air as Eric burst in behind him. The cutlass caught the lights in a flash before it came down on the back of Lorelei’s neck, slicing through the flesh in one blow. The creature’s head bounced to the floor, its call silenced forever.
The body in Rick’s grip slumped to the floor. He let go, spitting out the foul-tasting blood as he backed away. His cuts burned, but they were already healing thanks to the power of his shifter body. He ignored them as he pushed himself off the ground and resumed his other form.
Eric, cutlass still in hand, picked up the creature’s head by the hair and held it outstretched. “Ugly thing, isn’t it?”
Hawkins had joined them, rewinding the rope from his bloody grappling hook. He looked up at Rick. “A wolf, eh? Not the strangest thing I’ve seen. Obviously. Let’s go, Eric. We need to get this thing into the water.”
“The water?” Rick asked. “You’re just going to dump the body?”
“No, nothing like that. I heard that a dead one turns to seafoam when you put it back into its original home, and now we get to find out.” He grinned as he grabbed the sea creature’s body by the wings. “The back door goes straight out?”
“It does,” Rick confirmed. He was curious, but he didn’t follow them. His guts twisted as he hurried back into the front of the bakery. Defeating the siren had already taken so much time, time that he could’ve been helping his precious Carol.
She was still sprawled on the floor where she’d been when they’d first come in. Blood oozed through the torn shreds of her shirt. Scrapes and cuts hashed her arms and legs. Barney sat diligently next to her, worriedly licking her face.
Rick fell to his knees next to her. “Carol. Carol, can you speak to me?”
Her eyelids fluttered, and a bit of a smile tugged at one corner of her mouth. “Rick.”
His wolf cried out in pain and worry. How could this have happened? Why hadn’t he kept her safe? “I’m so sorry about all of this.”
“You tried to warn me.” She attempted to push herself up to her elbows. Rick moved to stop her, but she lay back down with a hand over her forehead, smearing the blood. “I’m dizzy. I think I hit my head.”
“I’ll get an ambulance. Everything is going to be fine.
” He pulled out his phone and quickly dialed, never letting his eyes stray from his love.
There was no way he could’ve known what Lorelei was, yet it still pained him that he’d failed to protect his mate.
He vowed never to leave her side again. “They’ll be here in a few minutes. ”
She squeezed his hand where he held hers. “Rick.”
“Yes?” He wanted to tell her there was no need to talk right now, that she should save her energy, but this was Carol. She would do what she wanted.
Carol took a few breaths. “Is she dead?”
“She is,” he confirmed. “Those sailors have been hunting her for a long time. They took care of her, and now they’re putting her in the ocean.”
“Good. That bitch made a mess of my bakery.”