“You stay the hell away from her.”
He stopped advancing toward Joslyn and turned to stare at Kayla again. The smile he gave her was chilling.
“You have fight inside of you. I admire that. I think you’ll breed very good warriors to fill our ranks.”
Kayla stopped struggling at his words.
Breed?
“What?” That lone word came out broken and weak. That was his plan? To breed them like livestock?
He laughed and walked back toward her. He lifted his hand and ran his fingers down the side of her face. Kayla would have shrunk away if not for the shock she felt.
“You see, my plans are much grander than just wiping your kind out. You will breed me a new army, one that will be trained under my guidelines. They will be the future of all hunters, the future of humanity.”
“What are you saying?” Everything he said was too much to take in. How could this be happening? This was supposed to be a safe place for all of them, but instead, Kayla, and every other female in this compound, was at the mercy of a madman who wanted them to pop out babies solely for him to mold into evil creatures.
He tsked at her question. “Don’t be coy, my dear. You know exactly what I’m saying.” He leaned in, and she could smell his breath. It was like evil personified. “I’m going to fuck you until you give me a child, and then that child will be trained to kill your kind. It’s quite ingenious, if you ask me.” He leaned in further until their mouths were inches apart. “I can see why the vampire is fascinated with you. You are very beautiful, even if you stink of wolf.”
Just as he pressed his lips to hers, what sounded like an A-bomb shook the foundation of the compound. The man holding her loosened his hold as the floor shook underneath them violently. Another explosion crashed through the compound, and Kayla lurched forward. The sound of shattering glass, men shouting out orders, and of people dying filled the room.
She blindly searched for Joslyn in the wake of the debris. There was no sign of her anywhere. Explosion after explosion crumbled the building around her, and she screamed out as something large and sharp pierced her calf. She couldn’t see a foot in front of her from all the dust. Somebody grabbed her around the waist, and she screamed out as she kicked and clawed violently.
“Calm down. It’s me,” Adrik’s voice whispered right beside her ear, and she instantly stilled.
They stared at each other, and everything else seemed to vanish around them. “Oh God, Adrik.” He pulled her close, and she had to hold back her sob of happiness and fear.
“I’m never letting you go. It was a mistake the first time, but it won’t happen again.” He pulled her back and wiped the tears from her eyes. “I love you and always will.” He kissed her right then. Amidst the carnage that was happening around them, he kissed her as though they were the only two in the room. “I want you to stay right here. Do. Not. Move. No matter what. Do you understand me, Kayla?”
“Yes.”
He was gone a second later.
Chapter 38
Adrik ran into the massacre that was happening right in front of him. When he and Kaleb had encountered the hunters in the forest and were rendered immobile by the black smoke, all he wanted to do was rip their throats out for even attempting to threaten Kayla. The next thing he realized was blackness around him. He had been alone, surrounded by thick, oily darkness that choked him. He hadn’t been able to move, or hardly breathe for that matter. Whatever magic those humans had been using was far more powerful than anything he had ever come up against. That kind of magic threatened every Otherworld being.
It had seemed like he was covered in the blackness for years, but just as suddenly as he had been enveloped by it, he had come out of it. That was when explosions rang out around him, and the smell of blood was strong in the air. The only thing that made sense was the distraction of the explosions had broken whatever hold the hunters had on them.
When he had gotten his bearings back, he realized he was no longer encased in the tightening black smoke and that a war was happening all around him. His first thought had been to find Kayla.
He had smelled them before he had seen them. The Blood Breed had somehow been contacted and was here to help. Roars of outrage, fear, and pain were like a cacophony of music all around him. He took out one enemy after another, slicing their throats, breaking their necks, and rejoicing in their pain. It was because of them that so many innocent lives had been threatened, hurt, and even killed. They had put helpless females and children in jeopardy, and if that hadn’t been enough to cause his animal to raise its head, they had laid their hands on Kayla.
He had been able to smell them all over her. She was hurt and frightened. Every degraded life he took out was a reminder that his Chosen had almost been taken from him, again.
“You motherfucker.”
Adrik grinned when he heard Kaleb’s curse right before a body hit the floor. The Lyken was just as pissed as he was and was taking it out on the threat. Adrik could sense his brethren all around him, and although smoke and debris filtered through the room, he could see everything around him in startling clarity. With his body fully changed into fighting mode, his vision and sense of smell were a hundred times sharper than any human’s. His body was bigger, and the adrenaline that pumped through him was like liquid power. He was ready for anything.
He took down another human and pictured Kayla’s face right before he did it. That image alone gave him the strength he needed to accomplish anything. She was safe for the time being, and until each and every one of these bastards was dead, he wouldn’t rest.
With the last one down, Adrik stood still and scanned his surroundings. He could sense other Blood Breeds near, as well as a few Lykens, but there didn’t seem to be any more humans. The dust was starting to settle, and he spotted Aleksei and Aedan speaking off to the side. So the alpha Lyken must have contacted the Breed for some backup.
Several bodies lay scattered around the floor. The majority was the black-magic-wielding hunters, but he couldn’t help the despair he felt when he saw a few Lykens and Blood Breeds amongst them. Back in the day it was unheard of for a human to defeat an Otherworld, but with black magic being used from the weaker species, they were starting to see defeat.
Adrik rushed over to Kayla and lifted her into his arms. She had a nasty cut on her leg, but the bleeding had stopped, and she seemed all right other than that.
“Where’s Joslyn?” Her voice was weak.
Adrik shook his head. He had seen Kayla with the little Lyken female on more than one occasion when he had been watching her, but she was nowhere to be seen right now.
“Kayla.” Kaleb rushed over to his sister, but Adrik refused to let her go. Kaleb growled in response, but didn’t press it.
“I’m all right, just sore. Are they all dead?”
“Yeah. They won’t be hurting you, or anyone, anymore.” Adrik wasn’t about to tell her that, although they might have taken care of the initial problem, he knew they would be back. It was only a matter of time.
“I need to make sure Joslyn’s okay. Where is she?”
The three of them searched the room, but she was still nowhere to be found.
“We have to find her. She was hurt badly.” Kayla struggled out of his arms, and he reluctantly let her go. Adrik looked over at Kaleb and noticed that he seemed almost frantic. Kaleb continued to scan the room, and his breathing increased.
“Isn’t this a happy reunion?”
Everyone in the room turned toward the voice. Adrik snarled at who he saw. Evant stood in the far corner of the room, with Joslyn in front of him like a shield. She appeared on the verge of death, but Adrik could sense her heart beating strong. Whatever was wrong with her was the same magic that had rendered him and Kaleb immobile. She looked drugged.
A low but fierce growl came from beside him. Kaleb looked like a madman. His body seemed far bigger than it had earlier, and the scent of possession and rage came off him in waves. His anger wasn’t strictly aimed toward Evant. It seemed Joslyn meant something to Kaleb, because his reaction was frightening.
Kaleb took a step forward, and Evant held his hand up to Joslyn’s throat. The blade he held to her neck was lethal. One slice to her delicate skin and she would bleed out before anyone could reach her.
“I could have slipped out without anyone knowing, but what fun would that have been?” Evant ran his other hand down her shoulder and across her chest. Kaleb roared out in response. “I’d stay put, Lyken, if you want her to survive. One flick of my wrist and she is as good as dead.”
Kaleb instantly stilled. “I’m going to tear you limb from limb.”
Evant laughed. “I have no doubt you would, if you had the chance, but I assure you there won’t be one.” He held his hand out, palm forward, and the ground in front of him started to glow. “You may have fucked things up, but she isn’t the only one that will increase my ranks. I promise you we will return for what is rightly ours.”
Adrik didn’t know what he was talking about. Just then, the ground in front of Evant opened up like a gaping, toothless mouth. Evant smiled widely before he took a step forward. Kaleb screamed out and lurched forward but was too late. Once Evant and Joslyn had disappeared into the black hole, it closed up. Kaleb’s body hit the ground hard, and he desperately clawed at the now closed hole.
Adrik held Kayla tighter and felt his heart stop when she leaned into him. He smelled her tears before he heard her softly weeping.
“She’s gone, Adrik, and it’s my fault.”
He wrapped both of his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. “It isn’t your fault, love. We will find her, I promise you.”
“I should have never let go of her hand.” She buried her head into his chest and cried harder.
He would find Joslyn, because he knew how suffocating the guilt would be on Kayla. It wasn’t her fault, no matter what she thought, but he wouldn’t stop until Joslyn was found.
He sensed Kaleb behind him and looked over his shoulder. Kayla’s brother looked like a broken man.
“She’s gone.” Kaleb’s words were almost murmured absentmindedly. “She’s gone, and I didn’t tell her.”
Before Adrik could ask what Kaleb meant, the Lyken turned and disappeared into the next room.
A long moment passed before a Lyken solider came to him, his expression even more bleak than everyone else’s. “They took them.”
Aedan stepped forward, and the whole room seemed to go still. “They took who?”
Adrik already knew what the solider was going to say.
“The females. They took the females.”
Adrik held Kayla tight and closed his eyes. It had been only a few weeks since the hunters had ambushed the Lyken compound. Adrik still couldn’t get out of his mind what that solider had said about the females. It had come to light that not all the females had been taken, just the ones of childbearing age. It was then that Kayla had confirmed everyone’s worst nightmare. She told them what Evant had revealed about the females being breeding stock.
Kayla stirred beside him but didn’t wake. Since her second time of almost dying, Adrik hadn’t let her out of his sight. Maybe he was smothering her, but right now, this is what he needed. He would take as much time as he could with her, because he would be joining the hunt for the other females. The Blood Breed and Lykens had banded together after that news. They were working together now, as one team. It was imperative that they find the females. Not just because the fate of all Otherworld creatures depended on it, but because their species needed to be a whole again.
Kaleb wasn’t the same since that night. He was ruthless and determined to find Joslyn. That determination was praised, but it was as though he had no feelings for anything else. His quest consumed him to the point he was going mad. Adrik needed to help him not only to help ease Kayla’s mind, but also to ease her brother’s. He was family now, like it or not.
Adrik lifted her small hand and ran his finger around her engagement ring. He had gotten this ring for her years ago but just now given it to her. He shouldn’t have waited so long to ask her, and although it wasn’t a tradition with Blood Breeds to have a wedding, he knew that it was important to her. She did grow up thinking she was a human, after all.
This was his life, right in his arms, and he would do everything in his power to ensure it never disappeared.
Epilogue
Three months later
He rose from his chair and walked to the window that overlooked the grounds. The construction had been happening for months now, and the place was looking almost like its old self once again. The sun was starting to set over the horizon. It was a glorious day, one that would soon turn into a serene fall night. As he watched day turn into dusk, the need to hold it waged war inside of him. A glance at the picture that hung directly across from his desk called to him.
He made his way over to it and ran his fingers over the wooden frame. It was smooth and cold against the pad of his finger, but the power that lay right behind it burned him to the very core. What lay right behind that picture was something that any creature would kill to get their hands on. It held power so immense, so destructive that it took hold of the one holding it, urging him to complete the final blow that would either bring death or bring life.
The frame pulled away from the wall effortlessly, and the shining silver safe was revealed. He placed his hand on the palm scanner, waited for the affirmation, and entered the five-digit code. The prize behind all that steel was far more precious than any diamond or jewel. What lay encased in a simple swatch of burlap was the key to anyone’s deepest and darkest desire.
When the safe was finally opened, he stared at the contents. The security wasn’t anything that couldn’t be broken, but that was the beauty of it. No one would think something so priceless would be hidden in plain sight. He reached for it and felt the power radiate even with cloth covering it. Piece after piece of burlap was removed until the shining Dagger of Life and Death was revealed. There were no gems adorning it, or any gold or silver. It was made simply of forged metal and a simple wooden handle. It looked like nothing to anyone who didn’t know the power it held. This is what they had been searching for all those months ago, and thankfully, its location hadn’t been found.