Chapter 46
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
The sound of the door slamming shut echoed behind him. He glanced back for a second to see that he was the only one who’d made it through. His gaze immediately landed on the far corner of the room. Two witches smirked at him, crimson lips curling slowly to reveal their white teeth.
“You know what’s interesting about werewolves?” the first witch asked the other witch next to her. “It’s that deep down, they’re still just an animal.”
“Just a primitive species who think they are superior because they have physical strength,” The other witch scowled at Hunter.
Hunter lowered his head and growled at the witches, his ears forward and his gaze fixated on their every movement.
He stood straight up, preparing himself.
Sharp, searing pain shot into his side as a burst of light flew into him, a small whimper escaping his throat as he composed himself.
His feet were glued to the floor at that moment, as if he’d been sealed in that spot just then.
Then one of the witches threw some sort of ball toward him.
When it landed, a loud crack split the air, and shards of metal shattered around him.
Hunter yelped as the silver lashed against his skin, tearing into him, his blood trickling onto the floor.
His body burned with pain where some of the silver remained lodged inside him.
He looked up at the two witches and snarled lowly.
Who did these lowlifes think they were messing with?
A witch raised another ball, ready to throw it, but this time Hunter anticipated it.
The moment she threw the ball, he generated wind to push it back into the witches.
The ball shattered, and the dim light briefly reflected across silver shards as they went flying over the witches.
Crimson splattered over the wall and floor, pooling from their bodies.
“You MUTT!” one of the witches bellowed angrily, her menacing gaze set on Hunter.
Mutt? How dare she speak to us in such a manner! Blaze growled angrily.
You ready to do something about it? Hunter asked with a smirk.
Let me be the one in charge. I would have ended this already instead of playing the nice guy. There is no redemption for these hags.
Hunter chuckled. You’re too bloodthirsty, Blaze. I’ll handle it.
“Don’t think this is going to be easy for you, mutt.” The other witch wiped her face with her hands, clearing the blood dripping from it. A sinister smile crept over her face as she reached for something else behind her back.
“Jin, blow this smoke out of here and get rid of all that incense,” Freja yelled as she stopped in a large parlor.
She couldn’t pick out Hunter’s scent through the thick haze in the room.
The place was huge, and there were so many areas to search.
She didn’t have that kind of time. She needed to find Hunter.
“Adam! Sam!” Freja turned to look at them. “You guys check the hall to the left and I’ll go to the right. We’ll meet back here. Howl if you run into anyone.” She didn’t wait for their reply, blurring down the hall.
She entered a great communal room with doors on each side. The moment she reached the middle, all four doors slammed shut, the crash echoing through the space.
Freja froze as she looked around. Shit. She was so frantic looking for Hunter that she didn’t realize she’d run right into a trap. She dropped to one knee as her eyes landed on the crystals that connected around her in a square.
“Well, well, well … What do we have here?” a cruel voice hissed as someone walked out from the darkness.
Freja’s gaze landed on someone familiar. She knew her scent. She knew her voice.
“I can see you haven’t aged well. Meryl.” Freja’s eyes narrowed on the woman, who walked closer and folded her arms over her chest.
“Tch. Such a vile child. You really are a disgrace and need to be eliminated.” Meryl clicked her tongue and shook her head in disgust. There was no reason for her existence. It was an abomination. Her mother was stupid. How could she mate with a vampire?
Freja, Ember whimpered.
Shhh. Freja felt part of her weakening inside the crystal barrier.
“How did you know?” Freja asked in an airy voice.
Meryl’s lips curled upward viciously. She walked to the side as she studied the girl on the ground, the sound of her shoes clacking against the wooden floor echoing off the walls.
At the end of the room, a fire crackled in the fireplace.
The smell of wood burning wafted through the air. She sighed and looked down at Freja.
“Now, did you really think I wouldn’t find out what was going on with the other coven leaders?
You know the saying: ‘Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.’” Meryl shrugged.
“Well, in this case, I already knew those damn women thought I wasn’t good enough to lead the coven.
No one was. Who could fill your mothers’ shoes?
I was just the tolerable replacement. I knew from the beginning they would try to get me out of this position.
So I worked on finding reliable sources from within their covens.
Erica’s damn coven was sealed tight. Those snobs wouldn’t even look my way.
” She clicked her tongue and sneered at Freja.
“But Myra’s coven … that was different. Her advisor was someone I became close to.
She knew just enough to let me know when you would be attacking and that somehow you had broken the blood potion.
Impressive. You must tell me how you managed that before I kill you.
” Meryl tilted her head to the side and cocked her eyebrows up.
“Tell you?” Freja spat out. “The woman who sent the demons to kill me and my parents?”
“Oh? You knew? Well, oh, dear me. I guess that secret is out.” Meryl straightened up and raised her hand over her chest, feigning remorse.
“How deep are you in with the demons?” Freja’s other leg began to tremble as it weakened. She planted a hand on the floor to help support her body. Little by little, her energy was being drained from her.
“I’ve abandoned balance and have chosen the winning side, of course.
The Briar Coven will be aiding the demons when the time comes.
That is the agreement we’ve reached. So many questions from someone who is about to die.
” Meryl looked around the room, a bit bored.
“Maybe we should speed this process up some?” Her lips pulled up over her teeth as she flicked her wrist at Freja, shooting an electric bolt into her body.
She laughed as a loud scream of pain ripped through Freja’s throat.
She had been waiting for this moment for a long time, and she relished the sight of Freja’s blood pooling onto the floor.
“Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to have those boards replaced. ”
A jar broke in front of Hunter, filling the room with a scarlet cloud of dust. The two witches smirked in triumph.
But through the crimson cloud, they saw a set of eyes coming closer to them, and they both gasped.
“How are you moving? Why didn’t the werewolf potion affect you? ” one witch breathed out shakily.
Hunter lunged forward, attacking the first witch while the other slashed at him with a knife. He yipped and snarled, turning his attention to the second witch. A deafening bang came from behind him. He turned his head to see the door lying on the floor and a gigantic bear standing on top of it.
Chasen heard Hunter’s yelp earlier as his group was exploring the manor.
He knew it came from above him, so he frantically ran around, looking for the stairs.
He finally found them and charged toward the sounds of commotion, only to find out it was Hunter’s group of wolves but no Hunter.
He saw how they were frantically trying to get inside, and pure rage built up inside him.
Hunter was on the other side of those doors and had been injured.
He charged toward the door, raising the power inside him to fight against the fortified magic.
Nothing was going to keep him away from his brother, especially not witch magic.
He barreled through the door and looked up to see Hunter standing over two bleeding witches.
Are you alright? Chasen asked Hunter as he took a few steps toward him. He looked the large silver wolf over. He could see the crimson liquid dripping from his body. The wounds that had the silver shards wedged in them weren’t healing.
Hunter nodded and looked back at the two bodies. One of the witches was still struggling for air. Just then, a loud scream echoed through the manor. She smiled as the blood dripped from her mouth. “You’re too late,” she breathed out. “Sounds like we got the real target.”
Hunter’s eyes widened in fear. He knew the sound of that voice.
Turning quickly, he ran out of the room.
Fear gripped his insides for the first time since they’d entered the building.
This whole thing was a setup to get to Freja.
She was the target here, and he’d allowed her to fall right into the trap.
Freja spit blood and raised her eyes to Meryl in defiance.
She slowly lifted her head off the ground, pushing herself up with her hands.
Her arms trembled, as did her legs, but she fought against it.
Meryl had calculated everything well. But she missed one important detail.
Something her spy wasn’t able to pick up.
Loud pounding rattled the doors and Meryl looked over in annoyance.
“Stupid animals. They can’t break through the magic I have in place here.
After all … I had to make it strong enough for a dhampir.
” She looked at the blood that was pouring from Freja’s side.
“Tsk Tsk Tsk. You don’t look too well. I really should just put you out of your misery, but I love torturing my prey. ”
Freja scoffed. “Your prey?” She winced as she stood up fully. “I’ll have to say. I wasn’t expecting this hit. And luckily for me, it isn’t life threatening. It will heal in time, though a bit slower, thanks to whatever the hell you laced it with.”
Meryl cackled. “You act like you’ll be leaving this place! Oh, no no dear, that isn’t the plan. This is your coffin. I plan to have you stuffed and mounted on the wall or something. Like a hunter would do with a trophy animal.”
She’s revolting. Can we kill her now? Ember growled.
Freja smirked and then used the back of her hand to wipe the blood from the corner of her mouth. “You’ve told me everything I need to know. This coven was working with demons, and you let me know who the mole is so they can be punished. Anything else useful that I should know before I kill YOU?”
Meryl looked at Freja in disgust. “Impertinent child. Even now you dare to defy me? You can’t escape those crystals and you know it.”
Freja smiled. “There’s just one problem … you’ve miscalculated.” She took a few steps forward, her eyes changing color. She was a tribrid, and a powerful one at that. The crystals to hold someone like her in place had not been created in this lifetime.
Lightning exploded from the crystals as she leaped through the magical barrier surrounding her.
It ripped through her and incinerated her insides but couldn’t stop her from escaping.
She landed on her feet and leaped forward.
She had to act fast, because she was weakened and injured.
She wasn’t sure how long she could hold her own in a battle of magic.
A flash of silver flew upward and out, sinking into flesh. Freja shrieked in pain as she felt the blade dig into her shoulder. She winced and raised her gaze upward. Her own dagger had landed in Meryl’s chest, blood running down the hilt and onto Freja’s arm.
She held onto her dagger as Meryl fell to her knees. “You damn bastard child. You are an abomination. How in the hell is this even possible? How did you become a werewolf as well? You must be destroyed.”
Freja’s legs shook as she looked down at Meryl, whose body had collapsed the rest of the way onto the floor.
Her eye contact was deliberate—she needed to watch the life fade from those eyes.
Darkness crept at the edges of her vision, but a sharp shake of her head forced it back.
Staying awake was nonnegotiable. This had to be witnessed.
The woman responsible for so much pain and suffering needed to be seen in her final moments … needed to be watched as she died.
Meryl looked at Freja with hatred as her life slipped from her body. Darkness threatened to overtake her, but one last thought entered her mind. This isn’t over.