Corrigan Rage (8 page)

‘Don’t move, Mack,’ I instructed suddenly, my entire body tensing.

‘Corrigan?’ she asked doubtfully.

I roared. The wraith hovering a few metres away didn’t so much as flinch. ‘I mean it, Mack, stay behind me.’ I twisted my neck and gave her a warning glance before immediately shifting, my clothes exploding off as my werepanther form took shape.

‘Where isssssss it?’ the wraith spat.

I snarled and launched myself at it, my front paws outstretched for the most lethal swipe I could manage. Instead of causing any actual harm, however, I spun through its damn body as if it were nothing more than air. When I turned back round to face it again, I realised with a sickening lurch that Mack was preparing to attack it too. She wasn’t a shifter though. As strong as she was, the thing would make mincemeat out of her in a heartbeat.

I snapped forward, jaws wide, and attempted to bite the wraith’s leg. Again I failed completely, my teeth clacking together through the black shadow which streaked out into the air then twisted back again. Before I could react, it reached down and grabbed my neck. I felt myself being lifted up by a force I was powerless to stop. Then I was flying through the night and smashing painfully against the side of a parked car.

‘Giiiiiive me it,’ it rasped again.

I staggered to my feet, realising it was actually talking to Mack. I shook my head, my vision swimming. Mack, however, stood facing the wraith, her legs apart and her stance challenging.

‘You’re going to need to tell us what it is you’re after,’ she said with a casual tone that sent a thrill of admiration rippling through me, ‘otherwise how can I fetch it for you?’

The wraith quivered. ‘You. You haaaave touched it. Where issssss it?’

I took a step forward and half stumbled. I blinked, dimly registering the flicker of green fire licking at Mack’s fingertips. Distant shouts sounded from behind as people poured out from the vampires’ lair to help. Mack didn’t seem to need it. She jerked her wrists forward, flicking out a stream of green flame towards the dark wraith. The second her fire hit, it screamed. It was an unholy sound, renting the air. She didn’t stop though. She simply kept throwing out flame after flame after flame.

The wraith collapsed in a dark shadowy huddle. I was only just starting to regain all my senses and watch Mack finish the bloody thing off when, out of nowhere, a vampire collided with her. She stumbled to the side, her green fire losing its momentum. The wraith reached out for the running vamp, snatching up a hank of its hair. It yanked so hard, the vampire’s head broke clean away. I swallowed in dismay. I’d thought Mack had this under control. Now I wasn’t so sure.

With three large strides, I returned to her side. It was going to take a combined effort to defeat this thing.
You know what it wants,
I said grimly.

‘Yeah,’ she answered, without using her own Voice in return. ‘But before you say anything, I don’t have it. The vamps do.’

I had no idea how she knew this. It had to have something to do with her desperate desire to come to the gathering tonight – along with her fleeting disappearance when the wendigo had appeared. Just what in the hell had she gotten herself mixed up with this time?

The Arch-Mage strolled up, facing the wraith with us. ‘So, Initiate Smith, we find ourselves on the same side.’

‘That we do, Sir.’

I tried not to take offence at the polite note in Mack’s voice when she answered him. He sent out a jet of blue light which encircled the wraith and seemed to bind it into place. Mack found her own fire again, hitting the thing smack back on its cheek. It jerked backwards and screamed horribly once again. I had no idea whether I was capable of doing anything to hurt the thing. I had to try though. I couldn’t let Mack and the Arch-Mage do all the work.

Don’t.
Mack suddenly sent out, reading my mind.
You can’t win this one, my Lord.

I growled in response as Mack’s fire hit the wraith yet again. I didn’t want to do anything stupid like get in her way. But I hated standing back like this.

‘I’m starting to wonder whether it was such a good idea to host this party,’ Aubrey drawled behind us, seemingly unconcerned at the fight to the death taking place right outside his own goddamn house. ‘There seem to be far too many uninvited guests.’

Mack snapped. ‘Hey, this one’s all on you.’

The wraith shrieked again. ‘I waaaaaaaant it!’

‘It’s after the Palladium,’ she told the vampire.

I frowned in confusion. I wasn’t the only one. Aubrey gaped at her. ‘How do you...?’

‘It’s too strong,’ the Arch-Mage gasped before the vampire could finish his sentence.

I realised in alarm that whatever spell he’d used to keep the wraith in place was falling apart. It gave us a terrifying grin as the circle of blue wavered and vanished. Then its eyes turned to Mack and I knew exactly what it was planning to do.

I only just managed it in time, throwing myself at her and knocking her down to the ground and away from the wraith’s lethal attack. I kept my paws on either side of her body, doing whatever I could to protect her. Her eyes flicked past me, pure fury reflected out of them. There was only one thing that could make her so mad. I twisted my head round and glanced upwards. I was right. The bloody wraith had gone.

It was achingly tempting to wander over to a quiet corner of the street and groom myself in satisfaction that no-one I cared about had been hurt. Yes, the wraith had gotten away and, yes, there was a dead vampire to deal with, but Mack was safe and my shifters were unhurt. We lived to fight another day and – in the end – that was all that really mattered. Rather than give in to my more primal instincts, however, I shifted back. No doubt I’d have an explosion from Mack to deal with for knocking her down and preventing her from being unceremoniously killed.

‘What the fuck did you do that for?’

Sometimes my little kitten was so very predictable. I stood up, resisting the urge to flex my muscles and grinned. ‘For the same reason you told me not to attack.’

Mack cursed. She was keeping her eyes fixedly on my face, as if she were afraid to let them drop any lower. There was something about her skittishness that appealed to me. She would be more than used to nudity after growing up with her pack in Cornwall. It was just my nudity that she struggled with. Interesting.

She turned to the Arch-Mage and helped him up while I shot a warning look at Aubrey who seemed keen to grab Mack’s fallen dagger. No doubt he was wondering how on earth she’d gotten it past his security. Despite his blood-sucking nature, he obviously knew little about the power-sapping nature of tampons.

‘Are you alright?’ Mack inquired of the wizard.

‘I’m good,’ he gasped.

She nodded, apparently satisfied, and looked at the vampire. When he gave her a suspicious look, pulling his eyes away from the weapon, she beamed at him, her entire face lighting up. Well, I thought grumpily, that was one way to avoid antagonising him – dazzle him with her beauty instead. I’d have to ask her to try the same strategy with me. Then I considered it some more. A fight I could handle. Mack’s smile would disarm me completely. Maybe I’d just keep my mouth shut.

‘I hadn’t realised that werehamsters were so aggressive,’ Aubrey drawled. ‘Or that the pack was capable of using magic.’

That was quite enough of that. I stepped in front of Mack and confronted him. This was his goddamned street so I was going to blame him for what had happened here – I didn’t know what this Palladium thing was but I trusted Mack when she said that the vampires had it. My face twisted into a snarl. ‘Why don’t you tell us exactly what it was that thing was after?’

Aubrey gave me a look of mock outrage. His hand rose to his heart as if he were mortally wounded that I’d accused him. A second later, when he apparently realised that wasn’t going to wash with me, he dropped all semblance of pretense. ‘Ask your girlfriend,’ he spat. ‘Somehow she seems to know.’ He began stalking back off to the house.

Mack ducked out from behind me. ‘Hey! That was Tryyl, wasn’t it? You didn’t kill him, you just tortured him and then let him go. No wonder he’s pissed.’

The vampire spun round. ‘Idiot. You can’t kill wraiths, they’re already dead,’ he sneered. ‘And what do you know about it anyway, little girl?’ His eyes found the Arch-Mage, rage spluttering forth from amongst their blood red depths. ‘All contracts are meant to be confidential.’

The Arch-Mage coughed weakly. ‘Not all mages work alone, Aubrey, you know that.’

‘Yes, but since when did the wizards work with the beasts?’

I stiffened. Beasts? As far as I was concerned there was only one damn beast around here.

Aubrey thrust a finger in Mack’s direction. ‘There’s more to you than meets the eye, and I’m going to find out what it is.’ He turned again, stomping back towards the house.

‘Yeah,’ Mack shouted back. ‘And what about the Palladium? Obviously there’s more to that than meets the eye too!’

Her only answer was the loud thud of the vampires’ door as it slammed shut. I watched her carefully. It was disturbing to think I wasn’t the only one determined to discover the truth about her. She simply sighed loudly, however, her gaze fixing on a dark patch up ahead, exactly where the wraith – Tryyl apparently – had been hovering. She walked over.

I joined her, kneeling down and tentatively touching it. My fingers brushed against something sticky, like sap from a tree. I raised my fingers and sniffed. The stench was unbelievable. ‘Fucking hell! What is that?’

‘It doesn’t matter,’ Mack said, shaking her head. ‘It’s the vamps’ problem now. They created this situation in the first place anyway.’

I didn’t enjoy being left out of the loop. Clearly the Arch-Mage knew what was going on, as did Aubrey. ‘How?’ I asked, gritting my teeth.

Gaining silent permission from the Arch-Mage to speak, Mack took a deep breath. ‘The bloodsuckers signed a contract with the Ministry, hiring them to find an object. A wooden sculpture of Athena called the Palladium. It used to belong to the vamps but the wraith you just met, Tryyl, broke in and stole it.’

I frowned. ‘When exactly did this happen?’

‘Years and years ago. I’m guessing long before you were a twinkle in your furry father’s eye.’ She gave me a slight grin to indicate she meant no offence. I matched it. ‘Anyway, one of the vamps recently decided they wanted it back so the mages tracked it down to an abandoned cottage, retrieved it and gave it to them. Tryyl was supposed to be dead.’

‘I guess he’s not,’ I said drily. I eyed her. There was more to this than she was saying.

‘No,’ she agreed. ‘I guess not. He must want the Palladium. Goodness knows why. It doesn’t do anything. The vampires have it inside that house. So it’s really nothing to do with us.’

She wasn’t lying exactly. But she wasn’t telling me everything. She still hadn’t made it clear why she’d been so keen to come along as my’date’. I was betting it had something to do with this bloody Palladium thing. With the Arch-Mage’s canny eyes following our little exchange, I didn’t want to inquire further right now though.

Mack ran a hand over her head and glanced at the mage lord. ‘Have I missed anything out? Did I get all the details?’

‘Yes,’ he answered. ‘Although Aubrey is right that all contracts are confidential. I assume that it was Mage Floride who told you about it. I will have words with him.’

A tight ball of anger formed in my stomach. Floride again. Just what was going on between the pair of them? Between this Thomas fellow that the Arch-Mage had mentioned, and the hippy wizard, Mack was apparently doing a brisk trade in swooning hearts. I didn’t want to include myself in that list.

‘I can give you a lift back to the Ministry,’ the Arch-Mage addressed Mack, ‘so you can transport back to the academy. Don’t you have shoes?’

She looked down at her bare feet and shrugged, unconcerned. ‘Not any more.’ Then she gave me a quick glance while the Arch-Mage turned and headed to his waiting car. ‘Is that okay with you?’ Her voice was polite but I was still pissed off at the implication that she was entangled with the ridiculous surfer mage.

‘What, you’re asking me for permission now?’

‘We are on a date,’ she said blithely. ‘It seems appropriate.’

‘I thought you said that it wasn’t a date.’ As much as I’d wanted it to be. ‘And the bloodsucker is right. There is more to you than meets the eye, and somehow I can’t help thinking that you had more to do with the events of this evening and that thing than you are letting on.’

‘You always think the worst of me.’ Mack batted her eyelashes.

I thought about Leah’s advice. ‘Perhaps I’m just following your lead. You don’t tend to think much of me either.’

She gave me an odd little smile, more sad and vulnerable than anything else. Before she could turn to go, I reached out and curled my hand round her arm, pulling her towards me. Even through the fabric of her dress, I could feel the strange heat of her skin burning against mine. I’d make sure it was me she thought about when she went to sleep tonight – not Aubrey, not the wraith, not Jeffrey Thomas and definitely not sodding Alex Floride.

‘You really did look lovely tonight, kitten,’ I told her. Then, to provide fair warning, ‘And after all you put me through this evening, I think the least I deserve is a good-night kiss.’

I leaned my head down. She could have escaped if she wanted to but instead she let out a little squeak, almost of excitement. Then her soft lips touched mine. Her curves pressed against me and my senses swam. I reached down and cupped her face, deepening the kiss further. I could feel her squirm. When her arms snaked up and hooked around my neck, I had the dim thought that I might forget to breathe.

The Arch-Mage was apparently unimpressed. A car horn blared into the street, causing Mack to jerk back. It didn’t matter. I’d felt her desire and I could still taste her on my lips. She wanted me. For now that was enough.

Savouring my racing pulse, I looked straight into her eyes. ‘Are you feeling entertained now, kitten?’

She glared at me, but I could still see smoky lust flickering across her expression. ‘Why the fuck can’t you just call me Mack?’