Black Moon Rising (DarkLife Saga) (29 page)

“Who’s next,” she hissed as she twisted her head, taking in the collection of bodies that surrounded her.  Thade pushed his way through to the front of the pack and lowered his head with a growl.  Shit.  He was my best friend.  I almost forgot what I was supposed to be doing, and went to his side, but Ire’s voice blared inside my head, bringing me back to focus.

“
I’m right here, Val.  Let me in so Faze can make the connection
.”

I turned away from the fight trying to not imagine the worst, as I heard weres snarls turn to pained whines.  I stood in front of the glass and cleared my mind, hoping that it would make Irulan’s task easier.  There was a slight flutter at the edge of my conscience and she was in.  Just like before, the connection was so complete that I had a hard time separating her thoughts from my own.

My awareness flared away from me, jumping into the frightened minds of humans that had been evacuated.  I was a reporter standing on the edge of a police perimeter, speculating on what the latest tragedy was all about.  I was the officer cursing the day Extras were given equal rights.

“
Pull it back, Val.  Focus on me
,” Ire called out.  I latched onto her voice and pushed everyone away until it was just Ire and I.  Even still, it was a struggle not to drop my shields.

“
Don’t fight me, baby
,” she said.  “
Let my thoughts guide you.  We’ve got to do it together
.”   I felt her racing through my mind, searching for the right combination to unlock the abilities we needed to make our plan a success.  When she found what she was looking for, she pushed them to the front of my thoughts.

“
For this to work you’re going to have to make contact.  Press your hands to the metal beam and think ‘wood’
.”

“
Think, wood, that’s it?
”  I hated to come off as skeptical, but it sounded too easy.  The important stuff never is.

“
You can’t just think it, you have to believe it
,” Ire said.  “
Your total belief is what will allow you to control both forms of glamour.  Carrie is strong.  She’ll be able to feel the metal underneath ordinary fae glamour.  You’ve got to use vampire glamour to make her think otherwise
.”

No pressure at all.  I reached out, pressed my hand to the cool metal and thought ‘wood’, but how the hell was I supposed to know if it was working or not?

“
It’s not
,” Fazion said dryly, “
Irulan, try something different because Carrie is on her way.  If your leech can’t block her powers-
”

“
I’ve got this, fuck face.  Just be ready to raise your shields
.”  I closed my eyes and imagined the tall oak that Valerian and I climbed as children.  That tree was over fifty feet tall and we would race to the top, ignoring the danger it posed to a pair of four year olds.  My mother would soar up through the air and land on the last branch above us, chastising us for once again breaking her rules.  The next night we’d do it again.  To us, it was a game…a dangerous, thrilling game that we always won because we didn’t consider the possibility of defeat.

I felt the metal swell toward me, and shook my head. “Not today,” I grunted and pushed back.  “I can feel you, but your powers are useless against wood.”  I opened my eyes and saw her standing on the other side of the glass.  A deep scowl was plastered to her face.  She was definitely not happy. 

“Performance problems, Carrie, it happens to the best of us…so I’ve heard.  I’ve never experienced it personally, but-”

“You bitch,” she sneered.  “What have you done?”

“Not as much as I’m about to.”  I locked my gaze onto hers, and pushed my way inside her mind.  She tried to keep me out, but she didn’t have Irulan’s training.  Most Sidhe had no idea how to effectively lock their shields, and Carrie was no exception.  They fell like the walls of Jericho.

I pushed the image of that tree inside of her head, believing with all of my heart that the year was 1917 and I was back in New Orleans, climbing that tree with Valerian at my side.  I put so much into the notion, that I expected my mother to show up at any minute, but I didn’t get her.  Instead, I was rewarded with the sight of Carrie clutching her head as she stumbled away from the glass.  I did it.

“
Ire, its working!
” I screamed inside her head.

“
I knew you could do it. Duck!
” She yelled it reply.

I didn’t question.  I slid to my knees, keeping one hand on the metal.  A second later the pony-sized body of a wolf, came sailing over my head.  It crashed into the shield, bounced off, and hit the ground next to me.  His thick fur brushed against my leg and I gasped.

“Thade!”  I reached with my free hand and ran my fingers across his muzzle.  When I pulled them away, they were covered in blood.  Fuck. This so was not happening.  I leaned toward him and Fazion’s voice exploded in my head.

“
Don’t you DARE move one more inch!”
He yelled.  “
This is bigger than one wolf!”

“He’s my best friend, asshole,” I spat aloud, fighting to hold back tears.  “He needs help.”

“
He won’t need anything if you allow your emotions to get the better of you, because he’ll be dead-frozen by your grandfather’s arrival
.”

“
Thade is tough, Val
,” Irulan chimed in.  “
His advanced healing will kick in and he’ll be alright.”

I watched him for a tense, few moments, blocking out the sounds of the battle behind me; waiting for a sigh that he would be
okay.  The steady up and down of his chest proved that he was alive, but aside from breathing, he wasn’t moving.

I shifted position, sitting down so that I could pull Thade closer.  His furry head covered my lap.  There was dried blood caked around his mouth and nostrils, but at least it had stopped.   I looked across miniature battlefield and saw Irulan staring at me.

“
Give it a minute, baby.  I’ve been on the receiving end of the Banshee’s stunner.  He’ll come around
.”

“
You, needed my blood
,” I reminded her.

“
But Marcus didn’t
.”

Someone yelled in pain, jarring my attention away from Thade.  I looked into the melee and saw Constantine standing before the Banshee.  She was doubled over as if she was in pain.  I dropped my eyes and saw that he was holding the hilt of his sword.  He’d driven it through her stomach.  The blood coated tip saw sticking out of her back.

“I hope it hurts!” He growled.

The Banshee snarled with a jerk, pulling herself free from her Tino’s blade.  Tamerlane was waiting in the wings.  The second she was clear, he opened fire, hitting her with round after round.  Gridlock and Ballistic shoved their way through the crowd and joined him, unleashing an automatic hell.  Vampires protected their ears and the weres whined as they backed away, leaving the Banshee in the center of the room, swarmed in a hail of gunfire.  Each slug hit home, rocking her body, but she refused to fall.  When the gunfire stopped, the fae was hunched over with an arm wrapped around her stomach.  Her body oozed blood from what looked like, hundreds of entrance wounds.  

For a few brief moments the room was silent, and then the walls began to shake.  The Banshee slowly lifted her head to look at me with an off-center sneer.  I frowned and saw that her body was vibrating in time with the tremors.  Crap on toast, this wasn’t going to be good.

She nodded her head, as if she could read my mind, and her sneer became an outright grin.  “My turn,” she exhaled.

The Banshee threw her head back and began to wail, but this wasn’t like the others.  Her entire body buzzed with the sound, her battered flesh quivering as the slugs that filled it, began to work their way out.

“Everybody get down!” Valerian yelled as he dove for the floor.  The rounds flew out of her body in multiple directions, pinging against Ire, and Fazion’s shield, to ricochet across the room.  I leaned over Thade, protecting him as best as I could.

I heard Gridlock grunt and knew that he’d been hit.  A second later a wolf yelped.  Tam ordered the vampires to form a wall around Marcus’s pack.  I lifted my head and watched my brothers place themselves in the line of fire.  Other vampires followed suit.  When the Banshee stopped her wail, the wounds on her body had already healed.  Every vampire was hit and for the moment, out of commission while their bodies healed.

That left about twelve wolves to face the Banshee.  Even Stryfe had disappeared.   Thade shifted against my lap and I looked down into human eyes.  “Did we win?” He croaked.

“No.  I think we just lost,” I whispered.

“Indeed you did,” the Banshee answered.  She turned and took a step in my direction.  “As I knew you would.”

Thade pushed to his feet and hobbled the few inches to stand in front of me.  He growled and forced his hands to shift.  “You’re not going to touch her.”

“You aren’t strong enough to stop me,” she warned him.  Behind her Marcus’s hackles raised as he lowered his head and began growling.

“Maybe not by myself, but a wolf is never alone,” Thade said.  The remainder of the wolves joined Marcus.  Together they began to circle the Banshee, cocooning her in a wall of fur.

“Enough!” She yelled and the fight began.  She darted forward, swinging her sword with incredible speed.  One gray haired wolf yelped as it bit into his side.  Another leapt into the air, its deadly claws aimed at her chest, but she leaned out of the way, hitting the wolf with a quick wail as it sailed by.

Thade jumped into the air and caught his flailing pack-mate before it hit.  They landed with a soft thud and the wolf shook its shaggy head then jumped back into the fray.  Thade rolled his shoulder and followed.

“
Spirited creatures, werewolves
,” Fazion said.  “
They’re putting up quite a fight
.”

The wolves began charging her two and three at a time, moving fast enough to avoid getting struck by her blade, but not enough to outmaneuver her wails.  She dipped, and twisted, avoiding one wolf after another.  Keeping herself from getting hit by using their momentum and wail against them.

“
They are
,” I agreed, “
But they can’t keep this up for long.  Where are your Manticores?
”  I threw my aura ahead of me, searching for the now familiar signatures of the fae guards.  They were nowhere to be found.  “
They were supposed to be here, but I feel nothing
.”

“
In due time, Princess, when the moment is right
.” Fazion replied.  Another wolf flew over my head and crashed into the shield.  When its body hit the ground, its head was at an impossible angle.  Tears gathered as I watched the large body begin to shrink, and shift back to human.  Only death and an alpha could force a wolf back.  This wasn’t Marcus’s doing.

I climbed to my feet and shook the tears away.  “Leave them alone!  It’s me you want, not them!”  I slapped a hand against my chest, leaned toward her.  “I’m right here!”

Another wolf jumped at her, only to be kicked out of the air.  “If you insist,” The Banshee smiled and began to close the distance between us.  She managed to make it a few feet before Constantine tackled her from behind.

“Did you really think we would let you get anywhere near our little sister?” he barked.  Tino used his weight to slam her face first into the ground.  He began driving his fist into her side, over and over again.  I heard something snap and knew he’s broken a rib or two, but his advantage ended there.

The Banshee bucked, flipping him off of her, sending him sliding across the floor.  She pushed to her knees and snarled at the vampires that were beginning to stand.  “Stay down or-”

She didn’t finish her statement because Valerian dropped out of a flash and promptly kicked her in the jaw.  The fae’s head snapped back, but she caught herself before she fell and answered Vedo’s kick with a blazing fist to his knee.

His leg was forced back.  I screamed in agony, experiencing my twin’s pain as it broke.  Valerian gasped and fell hard.  I saw the jagged end of a bone poking through skin and lost it.  “Vedo!  You leave his the fuck alone!”  I forgot all about keeping Carrie out and pulled my hand away from the wall, intent on going to my brother.  Or, I tried to.

My hand was stuck.  I looked back and gave a desperate tug, fighting to get to Valerian.  I couldn’t move.  I screamed and looked across the room at Fazion and Ire.  Both had hands extended toward me, locking me in place with shields.

“Let me go, now!” I yelled, “He needs me!”  I saw swirling blue lights zip by my head and knew that my control was shot.

“
Val, you need to get a grip!”
Irulan yelled to only me.  “
Focus!  Tamerlane has Valerian out of harm’s way.  His leg will heal!  Damn it, you’ll kill us all!”

Tamerlane bumped into me as he pulled Valerian to my side.  “I’m here, Val,” my twin huffed, “A little worse for wear, but I’m in one piece.  You can kill the light show.”