To Wrangle A Witch (Southern Sanctuary Book 3) (9 page)

Locke
must think her the moodiest of creatures.  She wondered if he’d consider
adding some indoor plants, they’d help stave off the blues in the future. 
Huh?  What future idiot?  This wasn’t her home remember?  She
didn’t do attachments to places or people.
 
From the time she’d hit puberty she’d known that her future lay outside
of her mother’s small farm.
 
The winds
called to her, the tides beckoned, as she grew older some nights she literally
ached to be on the move.
 
So she’d left,
travelled, seen the world and loved every moment of it.
 
Still she had to admit it had been kind of a
relief to lay down shallow roots in Atlanta for a while with Maat’s
warriors.
 
She loved those guys but she
knew in her heart that she wouldn’t settle there forever... it just didn’t feel
right.

Huh,
since when had she been actively looking for a place to settle down?
 
No, that was ridiculous; she was too much
like her father.
 
Though come to think of
it, he’d transitioned into his retirement years at the farm with remarkable ease,
she’d never seen him more relaxed or happy.
 
No, what was she thinking?
 
She
wasn’t the settle down type, and even if she was, she certainly wouldn’t be
settling down here, yet why did the idea of leaving the Sanctuary make her feel
so hollow inside? 

Flinging
her arms wider still Serena raised her face to the full beauty of the
moon.  She had to trust that the Earth had a plan for her, the currents
and tides would take her where ever she needed to go, they always had in the
past.

Opening
her eyes she scanned the night, something on the edge of her consciousness was
trying to get her attention. Something was wrong, so faint she could barely
hear it… there… the moss on the roof was screaming a barely audible
warning.  Oh Earth and all the Stars.  Even as Locke called her name
in warning she saw the dark figure scuttle across the roof line and launch
itself in her direction.  Too late to run, too late to do anything but
meet the threat of the blood sucking vampire head on.

Chapter
Twelve

Locke’s
mobile had just begun to ring demanding his attention when a wave of what could
only be described as wrongness swept through him.  His home, his fortress
had been invaded.  Even as he called out a warning to Serena he knew it
was too late.  Watching in horror as a dark shadow with a gaunt pale face
soared from the roof like a damn flying squirrel, heading directly for where
she stood.  Fuck, not stopping to think he was already in motion. 

The
sucker hit Serena hard but she didn’t go down, instead crying out as its razor
sharp talons sank into her upper arms.  Still twenty feet away Locke
watched as the ground beneath the sucker’s feet turned into quicksand, pulling
him down into the wet earth up to his knees.  Surprised the sucker
released Serena, who scrabbled away but not quickly enough to stop the parasite
from grabbing one of her bare ankles, sending her slamming to the ground as it
slowly began to drag her back through the muck towards it. 

All
those years of training with his father came back in an instant.  Locke
didn’t stop to think, just converted the momentum of his run into the hardest kick
possible, snapping the sucker’s head back as his shoe connected with its nose,
sending its upper body slamming back and away from Serena. The sucker shrieked
in pain, nose broken, black blood streaming down its white face.

Locke
spun on a tight pivot to focus on Serena.  Ignoring the sloughs of mud
clinging to her and the blood seeping from multiple puncture wounds on her arms
and leg he reached down and yanked her to her feet unceremoniously.  Time
for clean-up and comfort later.

“We
need to get inside.”  He pushed her back towards the house.

“But…”

“Inside!” 
He all but roared the word, following it up with a none too gentle shove. 
Noting out the corner of his eye the sucker trapped in the mud was now
desperately trying to claw his way free of the earth’s hold.  If there’d
been a shovel, any sort of weapon available, he would have stayed to finish the
parasite off. The smarter option though was the safety of the house, and
putting a call in to the Chippendale cavalry. 

His
leather shoes provided little traction as he moved down the same path Serena
had run.  He was so busy concentrating on staying upright that he didn’t
see the second bloodsucker until its flying body temporarily blocked the
moonlight.  He tried to shift trajectory but the ground was too
slippery.  Goddess this was gonna hurt. 

Oooff…
and it did, just not the way he’d imagined as a lean muscular body flew out of
the shadows, his cousin Declan – Hadleigh’s enforcer apprentice – had arrived
to join the fight, roughly shouldering Locke out of the way, sending him flying
to land on the wet grass.

The
second sucker was spitting out unintelligible words as he fought with Declan,
probably the vampire version of trash talk.  The fight should have been
one sided, Declan’s wickedly edged blade versus sharp nails and teeth but the
sucker appeared more than capable of holding his own.  Probably because of
the metal bands it had strapped along each forearm.  Whatever they were
made of they were capable of blocking the sword’s edge, allowing the sucker precious
opportunities to swipe at Declan’s upper body and face with those dagger like
claws. 

Of
course with the arrival of the second sucker Locke had stupidly forgotten about
Noseless, the first sucker, whose nose he’d jettisoned into oblivion. 
That was right up until the moment it plunged its nails into his lower legs,
crab crawling its way up his body, stopping only when it loomed directly over
him, nails deep in his gut, hot fetid breath fanning his face, sluggish drops
of blood still leaking from the broken hole where its nose used to be
splattering down onto his chest.

Locke’s
arms trembled as he attempted to hold the fucker off, Goddess these things were
freaky strong.   Locke tried to buck it off.  That just sent its
nails deeper into his gut.  Still that thing’s gaping maw of needle sharp
teeth inched closer and closer to his throat.  So much for dying in his
Italian villa when he was one hundred and sixty, his inconsolable twenty- four
year old former playboy bunny girlfriend at this bedside. 

Except
Noseless couldn’t chew down on his new toy.  Thanks to a few broken teeth
from the earlier face kick and the additional layers of his tie and shirt
collar Noseless was shit out of luck on draining him dry. 

Of
course that didn’t mean the sucker didn’t have a copious number of other ways
to off him in its repertoire, Locke arching up in agony as Noseless began
dragging one of his claws up through Locke’s body.  Those sharp nails
cutting through his flesh and muscle like five knives.  Goddess, were
those nails in deep enough to puncture his heart? 

It
felt like the damn things were scraping against his spine, he didn’t doubt if
Noseless got past his gut he’d been in a world of trouble.  He’d never
hear the end of it from his father for a start, and his grandfather would probably
chase him into Valhalla itself just so he could say ‘I told you so’. 

Letting
go of Noseless completely he started pounding on the sucker’s face with his
fists.  From the hissing and resulting blood bubbles rising from the black
gaping hole in the middle of his face Noseless didn’t appreciate Locke’s new
strategy, but nor did he seem to feel compelled to let up on the slicing and
dicing.  Goddess Locke only had one option open to him, and it was going
to hurt more than his flesh being ripped to shreds but here goes… no time for
pride.  “Dec… Declan.  A little help here.”

If
he’d had a say he would have preferred Declan slice Noseless in two, but
slamming into him with a body tackle hard enough to send Noseless sprawling a
few feet away was good enough.  Despite a strong personal need to just lie
still until the pain faded Locke found himself on his feet behind Declan. 

Goddess
everything hurt, he rested a light hand on Dec’s shoulder, not enough to
distract him but just for a little support as he yanked down his rucked up
waistcoat.  If he was lucky it would help keep his guts where they needed
to be for just a little bit longer. 

“I
really thought you had that thing.”  Declan noted, his attention on both
suckers now as they crouched before them, pale, slicked back blonde hair,
mouths gaping open revealing two rows of wicked sharp teeth, their eyes
glittering iridescent by the light of the moon. 

Noseless
was in better shape than his black clad assassin pal, Declan had managed to
amputate the second sucker’s left arm just above the elbow.  Not that it
seemed all that worried by the missing limb, just perhaps a little off balance. 

Locke
started to shuffle backwards, pulling Declan with him slowly.  “We need to
get inside.”  Locke growled out low, unsure if the suckers could
understand him.

“You
go, I’ll hold them off.”  Declan volunteered readily.

Damn
enforcers, so fucking heroic.  But Locke had seen the pain etched across
Declan’s face and his torn t-shirt soaked with blood.  His cousin was
hurt, how badly he didn’t know.  If - and it was a big if - he was able to
make it inside under his own steam how could he live with himself leaving
Declan out here to face two blood suckers by himself?  He might not be a
trained warrior but he still had their blood in his veins.  Never stop
fighting until the last breath. Never leave a fellow warrior behind. 

Suddenly
the two suckers like dogs scenting new prey shifted their attention left;
focusing on something over Locke’s left shoulder.  Shit not something…
someone.  Serena!  She stood under a shaft of moonlight, her hair
blazing almost white, her skin a soft velvety sheen and her eyes glowing purple
fire.  Goddess darn it, didn’t anyone know what the word ‘inside’ meant
anymore?

“Serena!
Get back inside.” 

“Goddess
that’s cool.”  Declan muttered in awe as Armless suddenly sank into the
earth up to his hips.  Noseless wasn’t falling for that trick again,
already leaping high, right into the waiting arms of the nearest bougainvillea
climber, its rambling vines entwining around Noseless’s struggling form,
sinking its sharp thorns into pale flesh where it could. 

“Inside. 
Now!”  Locke thumped Declan on the back to get his attention. 

“Right.” 
Declan turned from the captivating sight of the trapped vampires, his eyes
flicking quickly to Locke’s stomach, flinching ever so slightly.  “Shit
Locke, look at you.  Come on.”  He placed a sturdy shoulder under
Locke’s arm flashing him a dimpled grin.  “I’ve got you.”  Declan
laughed heartily.  “And the rookie pulls the big bad lawyer’s butt out of
the fire… again.”

Locke
struggled to breathe through the pain.  “Don’t worry about me.  Get
Serena.”

Declan
sheathed his sword in the scabbard he had strapped to his back.  “Got it
covered,” as he effortlessly fire-lifted Serena up onto his left shoulder
as they shuffled past her.  She made a protesting grunt but nothing else,
her concentration on her magic and keeping the suckers trapped in their dirt
and plant prisons.  Declan laughed again. “Goddess I’m good.”

“Shut
up and hurry will you.”  Locke hissed between gritted teeth.

“You
know the Council will be sending you an evaluation form following up on this
incident right?” 

“Declan
this is not the time to be asking me how I’ll be filling out your performance…
appraisal form.”

Declan
grunted slightly as they hit a slippery spot and he took on more of Locke’s
weight. 

“Earth
he’s getting loose Locke… I can’t hold him.”  Serena’s strained words
seemed to light the fire under Declan that Locke had been demanding. 

By
the time they hit the sandstone of the veranda they’d managed a fast
shuffle.  As they stepped into the living room it was hard to know whether
Declan’s foot caught or whether Serena’s weight shifted.  Either way the
two of them went sprawling to the polished floorboards, leaving Locke the only
one standing to face the threat. 

Noseless
had fought his way free of the bougainvillea and was coming at him like a
locomotive.    Goddess darn parasite didn’t know when to give
up.  Locke braced his feet, managing to catch both of Noseless’s wrists,
those talons only inches away from his eyes.  Trapped for the moment,
Noseless snapped his jaws in the same direction, perhaps thinking a nose for a
nose.  Locke jerked him forward, giving Noseless a hard shake to get his
attention.
“
Vampires… are… not allowed over the threshold… without an invitation
.” 
The words resounded out there for a split second, gathering momentum from every
scared child, comic book geek and Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan in the world,
before snapping into reality for the Southern Sanctuary. 

Noseless
had one split hundredth of a second to compute what had gone wrong before his
whole body exploded in a cloud of dust. 

Fuck,
Locke slid to the floor all his strength suddenly gone.  Not only had he
shredded his suit, lost a favourite tie to vampire gnaw marks and ruined a pair
of leather John Lobb shoes thanks to bone shard scrapes and vampire vitreous
fluids, now he’d swallowed actual bits of vampire.  Groaning he lay back
closing his eyes.  Someone was going to pay, and he wasn’t talking about
the bill he intended to send his brother-in-law Vaughn.