Wolves are fast runners, but vampires are just as quick. We had no trouble keeping up with the pack as they zigzagged through the forest and bounded over large boulders.
For a moment, I let myself enjoy the feel of the crisp winter air against my face and the thick pungent aroma of the damp forest. There was a certain feeling of freedom in running with the wolves. I made a mental note to join in on their next full moon revelry. At the very least, I owed it to Fallon to be there for her.
In no time, the light from a bonfire told me we were nearing the main building of the Wildlife preserve. The wolves had been smart when they set up their territory, placing it within the boundaries of protected lands. This ensured that the pack was always able to have a safe and secluded place to come to.
The large rectangle building came into view as we approached, and I could see Fallon, bundled up in her large winter coat, warming her hands by the fire.
She turned as we broke free of the tree line and the look on her face went from excited to frightened in the space of a heartbeat. “What happened? Alyssa, Ian, what’s going on? Why is Santino here?”
There was no time to sit and explain. “We need to get him inside, quick,” I shouted, not stopping on my way to the main building.
The preserve didn’t really have what most people would consider an infirmary, but it did carry a large supply of bandages and first aid equipment, and a lot of open space to lay someone out. Wolves were a somewhat aggressive breed of supernatural creature and fighting was a way of life for them, which meant lots of injuries to heal.
The building was empty. Most of the wolves were still out on the hunt, and I was glad for that. I didn’t want to have to defend myself or Santino to any other people at that moment.
“Put him in here,” Fallon said as she followed us inside and pointed toward an empty meeting room off of the main lobby. “I’ll grab some bandages.”
Santino set Ian on a large oak conference table.
If possible, Ian looked worse than before. His pale skin had become gray. His eyes seemed to have sunk into their sockets. The wounds dotting the exposed portions of his chest were still open and oozing blood.
Vampires heal quickly, or at least we usually do. Something was definitely wrong, and the smell emanating from his body was turning my stomach. It was a sharp, metallic scent that caught in the back of my throat. It reminded me of the dead cow’s blood I had once attempted to drink to avoid killing and stave off hunger.
Dead blood was not a good thing to a vampire. Since we cannot make any of our own, we must consume it. Live blood was what kept our bodies functioning. If Ian smelled of and was oozing dead blood, then something was severely wrong with him.
“Why isn’t he healing?” I couldn’t hide the panic in my voice.
“This is most unusual.” Santino’s voice remained calm. “There must have been something else in that shrapnel besides silver.”
“But what?”
“I don’t know,” Santino said in frustration. “The Acta Sanctorum is constantly looking for new ways to fight back. It could be anything, blood thinners, anti-coagulants, mercury….”
“You know everything else about what has happened tonight, except this.”
“Lots of things affect blood. How am I supposed to know exactly what was used? It is not my weapon.”
I threw my hands up in frustration. “Then what can we do?”
“I told you, it was best to put him out of his misery.”
“That’s not an option.” I growled the words. I was sick to death of him wanting me to let Ian die. “Now, either tell me what we can use to try and save him, or I’ll rescind my word to the pack and let them have their way with you. “
Santino’s face blanked of all emotion. If I didn’t know better, I’d say I shocked him with my threat, but he was not one to be bullied.
I put my hands on my hips and glared at him. “Well, what’s it going to be? Because I am done playing around. We either save him, or I watch two people die tonight. Your choice.”
Santino sighed. “We will need to remove as much of the shrapnel as possible. Check every inch of his body. Then, he will need blood, lots of blood. Even then, he may not completely heal.”
“Well, at least that’s a start.”
Fallon returned moments later. “Aiden is informing Connor of what happened. I’ve brought a few bandages, but I really don’t know anything about vampire first aid. What else do you need?”
“Something to dig out the bits of metal in the wounds,” Santino replied. “And something to muffle the screams.”
“What about pain relief?” she asked in shock. “Or antiseptic?”
“That doesn’t work on our kind,” he grunted, then bent down and ripped Ian’s shirt in half. “We just have to stabilize the damage and see if his body will repair itself.”
Ian moaned as his body was jostled left and right while Santino went to work stripping him naked.
The marks and holes were everywhere, many of them still bleeding.
“The bloody ones are where we need to concentrate.” He bent to whisper in Ian’s ear, but spoke loudly enough for even Fallon to hear, “This is going to hurt.”
CHAPTER 9
“He didn’t deserve this!” I paced the lobby of the wildlife preserve, awaiting news and the arrival of the rest of my clan. Fallon kept in step with me as I attempted to wear a track into the slate floor.
Ian’s agonizing screams, though muffled by walls, assaulted my ears. I wanted to be there, holding his hand, helping him through the pain, but I couldn’t bear it. And for that, I felt terrible. At least he had Aiden by his side to keep watch while Santino worked to remove all of the poisonous pieces of shrapnel.
“I feel so terrible that I wasn’t with you,” Fallon said.
“No!” I turned on my heel and came face to face with her. Fallon’s mournful, deep brown eyes told me exactly how sorry she was, but there was no need for apologies. “If you’d been there, you’d be dead. I’m so glad you weren’t, and I feel ashamed for acting like a bitch to you earlier.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself, Lyssa. I get it—you were trying to save your man. If not for the promise I had made to be here with Aiden, I’d have never left your side.”
I pulled her into a tight hug. “You’re a true friend.”
She groaned. “And you’re squeezing me to death.”
“Sorry.” I let go and stepped back.
Before either of us could say another word, the front glass doors flung open. Crystal limped in. Her thick winter coat was in tatters and her pants were shredded and bloody.
I rushed to Crystal’s side to help her. “Are you okay?”
She nodded weakly. “The others are coming.”
Zuri and Nicholas followed right behind her, carrying Lysander’s coffin. They too looked battered and caked in dirt, but thankfully, not bloody. That was a huge relief.
Drew entered last, carrying an unconscious Ariana in his arms.
“Were there any other survivors?” I asked.
“None that we saw.” Crystal’s voice was strained. She was suffering but attempting to put on a brave face. I could see wounds like the ones Ian had suffered on her legs. Her jeans were completely shredded below the knee and fresh blood trickled down her leg, dripping on the stone floor below. Just as with Ian, the wounds were not healing as they should. That had me worried.
What kind of chemicals were the Acta Sanctorum using that could have this effect on my kind?
Another of Ian’s ear-splitting screams rang through the lobby, reverberating off the walls.
“Is he any better?” Drew set Ariana down on a cushioned seat in the center of the room. The concern in his voice was palpable. No doubt he knew his mate shared the same type of wounds and would soon be making those sounds.
Not wanting to worry Crystal, I tried to sound as positive as I could. “Santino said these wounds will heal once the shrapnel has been removed, but his missing limbs will never regenerate.”
Nicholas and Zuri set the coffin down on the ground.
“Just how bad were his injuries?” Zuri asked.
“He lost a leg and an arm,” I answered.
“Oh hell, that’s bad!” Zuri gasped and her hand shot up to cover her mouth.
“How is he?” I asked, inclining my head toward Lysander’s coffin.
“No harm came to the box,” Nicholas responded and patted the lid. “However, the crystal has gone missing.”
“Not missing.” I said angrily, remembering what I’d heard in the forest. “Stolen. That was what the Acta Sanctorum was after.” I pointed a finger toward the sleeping form of Ariana. “Her coven made a deal with them.”
Zuri quickly placed herself between me and Ariana, as if expecting a fight. “No! Ariana’s cool. She’d never do something like that.”
“Well, she and her witchy friends just did,” I shot back at Zuri.
“Easy… easy. No need to jump to conclusions yet.” Nicholas held up his hands in peace. “That’s a serious accusation you’re making, Alyssa. Not that I don’t trust you, but how do you know this?”
It aggravated me that Nicholas thought to question me instead of taking me at my word. “When the first flash went off. I was blinded, but I managed to hide and heard one of them mention a deal.”
“Who?” Nicholas’s eyes widened.
“I don’t know.” I reached back into my memory to try and remember the name. “I think it was … Mysti. Yes, it had to be her. She was trying to stop a soldier from advancing on her. At least, that’s what it sounded like. She said plainly, ‘We made a deal.’ That was right before he shot her.”
Nicholas turned to Zuri. “It does sound like they double-crossed us.”
“Not Ariana, no!” She turned and looked with horror on the unconscious witch. “I can’t believe it. She’d never betray us. We’ve known her for years. She and her coven have always been there to help us out.”
Drew spoke up before I had a chance. “Santino told us that the Acta Sanctorum knew about the crystal. That was the reason he’d come to help us. He knew they would be after it. It stands to reason that they might strike up a deal… offer the witches something of great value… whether they meant to hold true to their word or not. Perhaps they enticed the witches to get us to a vulnerable place. Just look at how well orchestrated that attack was. They had traps set up all over the forest.”
“Would they really pretend to work with witches?” Nicholas asked. “Or could they have spied on the witches and learned where to attack?”
“Does the Acta Sanctorum really ever work with anyone?” I scoffed.
“You see?” Zuri jumped into the debate. “They weren’t really working with anyone. The Acta Sanctorum must have followed the witches’ movements. They learned of their circle and set the trap.”
“I’m inclined to agree with Alyssa here,” Nicholas said. “Think about it. They knew exactly when and where to attack. We were late arriving, and still the attack was carried out flawlessly. Not to mention, you said it yourself.” He pointed directly at me. “One of them said, ‘We made a deal.’ ‘Deal’ implies prior knowledge. You can’t deny that.”
“No.” Zuri huffed. “I just can’t believe she would betray us. There has to be a better explanation.”
“Maybe there was a reason for it,” Crystal said. “I’ll play Devil’s advocate here for the sake of argument. Let’s say they were afraid of the Acta Sanctorum. Maybe the Saints were coming after their coven, and that was the deal they made. Save their coven instead of our clan.”
“Witches couldn’t possibly fear the Acta Sanctorum in the same way that you do,” Fallon said.
“Witches have plenty of reason to fear religious organizations. Need I remind you about the Salem witch trials? They weren’t that long ago,” Crystal said.
Confusion wrinkled Fallon’s face. “But witches today are more accepted. They’re out in the open now. Hell, they have their own religion—Wicca.”
“True.” Crystal nodded. “Practitioners are common. Real, powerful witches are not. Those like Ariana’s coven would have reason to fear discovery.”
“Then they’re stupid to charge for their services,” Fallon scoffed.
“And greedy,” I added with a dirty look toward the unconscious Ariana.
“Not all are out for personal gain. And magic supplies cost money too, you know,” Crystal said, and I could hear the pain in her voice. She was getting weaker. We needed to get that poison shrapnel out of her leg, fast.
“Good point,” Drew said. “Everyone has their price, and protection of their coven might have been enough, at least in their eyes, to turn our clan in.”
Nicholas nodded. “It would make sense.”
“I just can’t believe that anyone would be that stupid,” I said. “Even the greatest treasure in the world is not worth trusting the Acta Sanctorum over. They destroy anything unnatural. And since witches are just as unnatural as we are, they had to expect that they’d be next on the hit list.”
“The Acta Sanctorum works under the pretense of maintaining the greater good,” Santino said, startling me as he entered the lobby. “Their methods may be called into question, but ultimately they work for the side of good, and that may sway the vote of trust their way.”
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions,” Crystal snarled at Santino. “Claiming to work for the greater good is not actually working toward it.” She tried to stand and fell back onto her seat.
Drew was up in an instant and at her side. “Don’t try to walk yet. We have to work on your leg.”
Santino held up his hands in surrender. “I wanted to let you know Ian is resting now.” He looked to Crystal. “I know you do not want me here. Please understand I’m here to help, but only if you accept it. If you all wish to proceed without me, I’ll leave.”
“See that you do,” Crystal’s voice was full of venom.
Santino nodded, turned, and walked back into the room with Ian.
“We might need his help,” I said. “He knows the Acta Sanctorum better than anyone else.”
“I don’t trust him,” Crystal spat the words. “I’ll never trust him.”
“We’ve worked with him before.”
She sneered at me. “Yes, and I wasn’t happy about it then either.”
“Save the bickering for later,” Nicholas said in his most commanding voice. “We need to stay on point here. Why did the witches betray us? What was there to gain?”