The Blood Talisman (24 page)

Selene stood and said, “There’s one
more you forgot to mention. He is sitting right there.” She pointed
to Alex. He sat silently, unable to add to the argument. “Remember?
He is the one who had to be a creature of magic for the circle to
be complete. You forced me to watch over him so that he wouldn’t
become one. You forced me to stand beside him, unaware of what
spending that much time with one person would lead to. It led to
feelings that I’ve had to repress for years, and now I have to
watch him being used by my brother and by Ram to gain immortality.
Now they want him dead. You dead. Me dead. That’s how all of this
will end. Sol will be in power and they will all be immortal.
Nobody wins here.”

Alex stood at her admission of
betrayal and said, “Wait, you became friends with me and Amalia
just so you could watch and make sure I didn’t become a werewolf or
a vampire. And now that I have? You’ve been lying to me for years!
You’ve been lying to me since this all started? How could
you?”

“
Not now,” she snapped at
him and waved her hand. He was forced to sit and be quiet. She
looked at her hand curiously, ignorant of the exact power of her
magical forces.

“
Nobody said Alex had to
die,” said Hyperion. “We don’t have to die. I don’t want anyone
dead. These are the words of your brother and that heathen vampire
he has working for him. I ordered you to watch Alex so he would
live a productive life and avoid this madness. He could have had
kids and passed the bloodline down to another generation, but Sol
figured the spell out first. He knew that you and your sister would
need to be sacrificed, but I hid Alex from him and I knew the only
one strong enough to protect him would be you.”

“
And what of that?”
retorted Selene. Nobody can tell me of these
great
powers I have. I can move
nature and burn vampires but Sol can move objects with his mind. I
would think that to be a stronger power than my own.”

“
You do not know your own
strength. It comes from within,” Hyperion told her.

“
Now you are back to
riddles? I don’t even know why I try.”

“
A life for immortality is
a powerful spell. It can go horribly awry if not handled correctly,
and your brother will destroy this world if it means he gains the
power of life and death. For the power to be properly transferred,
it must be you. You must kill me. It can’t be any other
way.”

Selene ran over to her father and
hugged him tightly. He responded with equal love. Selene’s power
over Alex released and he stood up and asked, “What can I
do?”

He had forgiven her quickly for her
betrayal. The emotional roller coaster the werewolf had put upon
him had struck again. He knew her well enough to know she had only
lied for the love of her father, whom now must die by her
hand.

They both stopped hugging and looked
at him. Selene smiled and took his hand and brought him closer to
them both.

“
There’s a balance that
must be kept. Where there are good things that can come from
killing me and saving people that we care about, there are also bad
things that can come from it if the talisman gets into the wrong
hands,” Hyperion told them both.

A ruckus sounded from the stairwell
and they all turned to look and see what the noises were. The head
of one of the doorway’s suit of armor guards came rolling onto the
stoned floor in the foyer. Behind it was a shirtless man walking
with his hands pointed upward. Ram was behind him with a gun
pointed at his head. John and the two vampires followed closely
behind them.

Hyperion strode over to the knight’s
head and picked it up. He examined it closely and looked to Ram for
unspoken answers.

“
Sol told me that you were
quite resourceful,” Hyperion said calmly. “Let my wolf
go.”

“
No. I’m tired of waiting.
Do it, Selene. Kill him and take the talisman,” Ram
ordered.

“
This is a peaceful resting
place for me and my ancestors. You cannot order a witch of the
trinity to kill anyone. This is her choice. She has a free will
that can’t be forced.”

“
Really?” Ram
said.

He pulled the trigger and a bullet
went speeding through the head of the wolf that he was holding
hostage. He stepped over his body casually and pointed the gun at
Alex’s head. Ram’s cronies followed him confidently. John kicked
the dead man lying on the floor as he walked past him.

Alex knocked the gun out of Ram’s hand
with one swift backhand. John and the two vampires pulled their
weapons on him from behind Ram. He grabbed Alex up by the throat,
leaving his feet dangling above the ground.

“
We had a deal Selene. Kill
Hyperion and take the talisman or Alex will die,” Ram yelled out at
her.

Hyperion raised his hand at them and
they all froze in time. He walked over to Selene and took her face
his hands. “This is your choice.”

“
I don’t want to do this,
Father,” Selene said.

“
Then you do not have
to.”

“
But I do. I can’t let them
kill Alex and allow Amalia to die. Sol will kill you and take the
talisman for himself.”

“
I think he will soon find
that his wife is no longer the person he once knew. I have seen the
future with me still here, my child. It is not all bad. The
immortal future that vampires crave is ruled by death. Your lover
will suffer greatly. As far as Sol goes, I can handle
him.”

“
Save him then,” she said,
pointing at Alex dangling from Ram’s hands.

“
I cannot interfere,” he
said gently.

His body turned to grey and he was
gone again.

Alex was unfrozen and struggling.
Selene grabbed Ram’s hand and boiled it. He dropped Alex like a hot
potato. Alex fell to the ground, clutching his throat.

“
He’s gone again,” Ram
growled, as he looked around the room. He slapped Selene across the
face and said, “You should have killed him while you had the
chance.”

Alex kicked Ram in the shin and the
vampire fell to his knees. John and the two vampires cocked their
guns at Alex.

“
You should be as angry at
her as I am. She is preventing your wife from living,” Ram yelled
at Alex.

Alex didn’t want to admit it, but Ram
was right.

“
This is difficult for her.
How do you not see that?” Alex asked.

“
How can you feel more
sorry for her than got your own wife? She’s dying. Amalia’s dying.
Do you not care?”

“
I do care… for both of
them… equally.”

Three shirtless guys interrupted their
conversation. They stood at one of the doorways looking at all of
them. They changed over to wolves simultaneously and charged
towards Ram and his crew. Bullets began to fly and Alex pounced
over onto Selene to protect her from being hit.

She patted him on the shoulder and
said, “I’m okay. I’ll live. Immortal, remember?”

He let her go and started turning into
wolf. He could feel his strength beginning to wane because he
hadn’t fed since the beach in Mexico. The hunger was starting to
irritate him but he pushed onward nonetheless. He didn’t understand
how those other wolves could turn so quickly. He would give
anything to not prolong changing and feeling every bone break and
the fire-like blood running through every vein. He decided they
must feed almost constantly to be able to change so
effortlessly.

One of the wolves had been shot down
and was dead. He lay there in a pool of his own blood while one of
the others had Ram down to the ground and was attempting to rip his
throat out. Ram was too strong for him to make it that far. He
pushed the wolf off of him and John hit it over the head with the
butt of his gun. The wolf fell to the ground and changed back to
human form before being shot dead.

The other two vampires were battling
another wolf. One vamp had been scratched and bitten badly. His
blood was giving the white bear rug a nice coating of red. The
furniture in the room had been smashed to bits. Alex jumped on the
wolf and they wrestled around like dogs on the floor while everyone
watched. Ram focused his gun back and forth on them as they
scratched and bit each other. He couldn’t get a clear shot, and
after moments of them fighting he closed one eye and took a chance,
thinking he might even be able to kill two wolves with one
bullet.

The gun sounded loudly and made Selene
just about jump out of her skin. She clasped her hands over her
mouth in horror. She was afraid for Alex’s life. She couldn’t tell
which wolf had been shot. They both laid there and silence befell
the room.

One of them started to move and rise
up from the fight. It was Alex. Selene felt immediate relief. She
sighed and patted her chest to calm her heart from racing. Alex, in
wolf form, stood straight up and faced them all. He sniffed the air
and then pounced onto the bleeding vampire.

The unsuspecting vamp attempted to
push him off but couldn’t manage.

“
Help!” he screamed out to
Ram and the other vampire.

John pulled his gun and pointed it at
the wolf. Ram grabbed his arm and pulled it back, stopping him from
shooting Alex.

The vampire being attacked screamed
and gurgled as he gasped for every last breath. The blood covered
the ground beneath him as Alex ripped the flesh from his bones. He
finished his meal and all that remained was a hollowed-out vampire
carcass. The wolf quickly changed back to Alex’s human form. He
stayed knelling beside the vampire’s body. Being able to view his
leftovers that closely definitely wasn’t appetizing. Blood stained
his chin, chest, and arms. Everyone was looking down at him, except
Selene. She faced one of the many doorways with her hands over her
ears. She peeked back at him to see him sitting there.

She ran over to him as he sat there in
a shocked state. She squatted down, holding her breath, and said,
“C’mon let’s get you cleaned up.”

“
What did I do? What have I
become?” he asked her.

She pulled on him to get up off the
floor. He reluctantly did so. They both almost tripped over Ram,
who stood there with a smart-ass grin on his face. John watched in
silence and backed away from the situation. He kept walking
backwards towards one of the many doorways that led out of the main
room. He stopped suddenly, feeling a presence from
behind.

Hyperion and two more wolves stood
there in silence.

Chapter
2
9

“
Would one of you please
kill that vampire and that human? It should not be that difficult,”
Hyperion said to the two wolves that accompanied him in the
doorway.

They immediately changed over from
human to wolf. Ram and John prepared for battle once
again.

“
Don’t do this father. They
have nothing to do with my decision,” Selene pleaded.

“
They have everything to do
with your decision. They are the reason that you are here willing
to murder your own father.”

The two wolves charged at Ram and
John. John shot one in the chest and it immediately fell dead to
the floor. The other wolf slashed Ram across the face and arm with
his claws, knocking the gun out of his hand before he could fire
off a bullet.

John stood there with his gun in hand
as he watched the wolf slash and gnaw his way through Ram’s arms.
He was fighting for a neck bite but Ram somehow kept him at bay.
Alex ran over and grabbed the gun out of John’s hand. He shot the
wolf that was ripping Ram’s arms up. The wolf fell dead onto the
floor beside Ram, who lay there bleeding out.

“
Do it, Selene,” Alex
ordered. He walked over to her and handed her the gun. She
reluctantly took it. She looked down at the gun then back up to
Alex. She had an ‘I can’t do it’ look on her face. “Let this be
over. No more death. Your father is the last one who has to die
tonight.”

Hyperion wrapped his arm around Alex’s
throat. “What an ungrateful wolf. You are this creature because I
created all supernatural creatures. Now you force my own daughter
to take my life?” He threw Alex across the room. He landed hard
against the wall.

Selene pointed the gun at her father.
He looked curiously at her. He questioned in his mind if she would
really do it. He settled on her not being able to make the
decision. She was the youngest of the trinity of children he had
fathered. He knew that she had many powers but her weak mind kept
her from ever realizing her true greatness. He knew she’d been
constantly bullied by her older siblings. Even her peers could
never respect her because of her weak mind. He did not feel scared
of her.

“
Do you really expect to be
able to pull that trigger, my daughter?” he taunted her as he paced
slowly in circles around her. She followed his every move with the
gun in her hand.

“
Alex?” she hollered out.
“Alex!”

“
He can’t help you. This is
a decision that you must make for yourself. I have already warned
you of this. You and your brother never listen.”