Graced (2 page)

~A Rash Decision~

“What is it?” Laura asked cautiously. She couldn’t see over his shoulder to the chest.

“The chest, it’s
empty
,” Logan said breathlessly, sounding shocked. “Everything’s been taken. There’s nothing left!”

A sinking feeling spread through Laura’s gut. That could only mean that someone had been there before them. And there was only one option to who it would be.

“The
Vassiz
,” Laura gasped.

Logan nodded. “It looks like they strip-searched the mil after they found one of their comrades down.”

“When?” Laura asked. She remembered being taken by one of the bounty hunters here, and having Logan chase him down and rescue her afterwards. But not before his own fight with the second bounty hunter – the one who he kil ed.

“I don’t know,” Logan said. “It could have been recent, or it could have been as long as weeks ago, just after we left. But we lost a critical advantage as soon as they found those letters.”

“But there are other ways we can find the elders, right?” Laura asked worriedly. He was the one who was the expert on these things.

“It’l be more difficult,” Logan replied slowly, “but yes, we’l stil be able to do it. But that’s not my biggest worry.”

“Then what is?”

“If they have the letters, it’l put them on their guard. More so than before, definitely. Especial y when they realize my connection to Maria…” he took a deep breath in. “But that’s not the worst part.”

“What is?”

“They kept the chest closed.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“I mean,” he said seriously, “that they anticipated us coming back. Or planned for it, at least. If they hadn’t, they would have just taken the chest, or kept it open once they got everything inside. But they didn’t. They closed it and kept it there, perhaps as a way to lure us in. And once they had us here—”

He cut off at exactly the same time Laura’s ears picked up noise outside. Footsteps. Coming
towards
them, into the mil .

“A trap!” Laura whispered, looking around her desperately. “They have us trapped!”

“Dammit!” Logan cursed so quietly Laura barely heard him. “Keep your voice down! If we’re lucky, whoever it is might not realize we’re here right away.”

Beneath them, Laura heard the door to the mil creak open. And then she heard more footsteps, clearer to her ears this time. She realized with a start that the footsteps were being echoed – which meant that there was more than one person down there.

“Keep absolutely stil ,” Logan whispered to her, again so quietly Laura could barely hear him. She didn’t need him to warn her, though. She had absolutely no inclination to being discovered. For a long, anxious moment, al that Laura could hear was the sound of her own heart beating. The footsteps had stopped. Who was down there? And what were they doing to have stopped making any noise?

Suddenly someone coughed, right below her, and she heard the voices.

“How long have we been here already, eh?” a gruff voice said. “Nobody’s coming. I don’t see why we’re stuck guarding this stupid mil .”

“Shut up.” Another voice, equal y gruff but harder. “When the elders give you orders, Algar, you do not question them. You simply obey.”

“Wel , we’ve been
obeying
their orders for the better part of a month!” Algar, whoever he was, sounded angry. “I’m tel ing you, no one in their right mind would come back here. They’d have to be absolutely witless to do it. They left the body here – why would they possibly backtrack?”

The other one – his companion – growled deeply. It was a frighteningly guttural sound. “We are
forbidden
to speak of it,” he said menacingly.

“To the others, maybe,” Algar replied. “But both of us know what happened here. Do you so simply fol ow orders, Kalvarin, that you wil act clueless to the murder?”

“It is not our place to question what the elders tel us,
Algar
.” There was a dangerous emphasis to the name. “We obey, and they keep their attention away from us. They keep us –
all
of us – safe.”

“They keep us safe?” Algar sneered. “And do tel , what happened to the bounty hunter who was found here? And to his friend?”

“That was the work of a
rogue
,” Kalvarin emphasized. “Nobody belonging to a pack would do such a thing.”

“I heard,” Algar started slowly, “that the hunters got arrogant. Cocky, even. And it was the elders who put them down like the rabid dogs they were.”

“That’s blasphemy,” Kalvarin said dangerously. “You overstep your boundaries, Algar.”

“Do not forget, dear brother,” Algar replied with just the hint of ease, “which of us has been left in charge here.”

“That does not matter,” Kalvarin replied. “Blasphemy is blasphemy. And what you are suggesting supersedes the governing rules that keep us here.”

“Hah!” Laura heard the sound of laughter, but it was quickly cut off. “Look at yourself. Were you not just berating me for questioning the elder’s orders?”

“Drop it,” Kalvarin warned.

“Not unless…”

Laura let the words drown out and turned her attention to Logan as he pinched her shoulder. He motioned with his hands for her to fol ow him. Stepping lightly, he shifted his weight to a plank not far away, and gently eased his entire body onto it. Laura did the same, holding her breath and straining her ears for any sounds that might give them away. She was glad the river was just outside, which helped mute any inadvertent noise they might make.

“They’re so busy arguing,” Logan said under his breath, “they wouldn’t notice if a jet flew overhead.”

Stil , he was very careful to speak just loudly enough for the sound to reach Laura’s ears, and no more. He made his way across the wooden plank, and Laura kept up behind him. Every motion either of them made was very slow, and very deliberate. Logan would put one foot forward to test the strength of the wood there, and only after he was satisfied it wouldn’t creak under his weight did he move forward. Laura took his cue, and did exactly the same thing.

They were moving slowly back towards the attic entrance they had come through. It was the only way out, unless either of them wanted to break through the plywood sides of the attic. No matter how much the vampires below them were arguing, Laura doubted they would miss that.

Suddenly she found herself walking right into Logan’s back. He had stopped in front of her, and she had been so preoccupied with making sure she didn’t make any noise, she hadn’t noticed.

“A bad spot,” he pointed ahead. “The plank’s weak there. We have to go around.”

“Around?” Laura scanned the floor of the attic. The next closest plank was six, maybe eight feet away from them. And as much as she trusted herself to jump across and land right on it, she didn’t want to think about how loud a sound the impact might make. Or, even worse, what would happen if the plank couldn’t support the abrupt weight increase.

“Back up,” Logan whispered. “We’l go through the roof.”

“Through the
roof
?” Laura said incredulously. “How are we supposed to do
that
? As much as I would love to test just how observant the two
Vassiz
below us are, I don’t think risking our lives in the process is worth it!”

Logan shot her a dry look. “Do you have any better ideas?”

Laura looked around her… and realized that no, she did not. “Could we do it quietly?” she whispered to him.

“Of course,” he answered back. “But a part of me is starting to think it might be too much of a hassle.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Wel , there’s two of them, and two of us…” he trailed off and grinned at her mischievously. And Laura saw a wild sparkle in his eye that she didn’t quite recognize. He motioned down beneath him, and rose his eyebrows suggestively.

Laura gasped when she realized what he meant. But – no. Could he be suggesting…? No. That was crazy, wasn’t it? He wouldn’t do it, would he?

“So it’s agreed,” he smiled before she could even get a word in. “Ready? In three, two…”

And before the countdown even finished, Logan leapt off the plank he was on and hurtled down through the ceiling. Laura winced at the crashing noise that sounded. She wished it hadn’t come to this, but it’s not like she had any choice. She never remembered Logan being this rash before. With a sigh, she jumped off and fol owed him down.

~Unexpected Help~

Laura landed in a thick cloud of dust. She saw Logan at her side, who smiled at her before turning his attention forward. Forward, where the two vampires they had overheard were running straight at them. Laura didn’t even have time to think. She knew that if she stood stil , by the time the dust settled, she would be in a very vulnerable position. She rol ed expertly to her right, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Logan move to the left.

The two vampires who were coming at them snarled and split. One was heading for Laura; the other, for Logan. Both were significantly larger than Laura or Logan were themselves, but Laura knew he and she shared one precious advantage: they had both taken vampire blood, and were thus that much more dangerous.

The vampire who had chosen to move at her smiled viciously as he closed the gap. He did not think she stood a chance. In her mind, Laura pitied his ignorance. But that was just before he came close enough to strike her.

He jabbed forward with one fist, and Laura smoothly moved aside. Her mind went blank, and she let instinct take over. She caught his hand in her own, and used his momentum to send him flying forward. He stumbled over his feet, blinking unsurely. In that brief instant of a second, Laura used his momentary confusion to clock him over the head with her own fist. The punch was one smooth motion, and she surprised even herself with how much force she used.

The vampire fel to the floor, and Laura launched herself at him. But he was quick, too – and deftly rol ed to one side to just avoid Laura’s force of impact. Laura’s foot came down hard on the spot where his head had just been. Too hard, in fact, as she broke through the wood panels of the floor to jam her foot in the spot.

“Dammit, Logan,” she cursed out loud. And the next thing she knew she was flying through the air, propel ed by an angry shoulder to her side.

She flew towards the far wal . Before her feeding, she was sure she would have slammed right into it, and fal en down unceremoniously to be vulnerable to the next attack. But her senses were much better than back then, and so was her coordination. She righted her body midway through flight, and absorbed the impact of the wal with her legs. And the next thing she knew, she had launched herself directly at her assailant, using the force of her legs to propel her forward.

A momentary look of surprise graced the vampire’s face right before Laura slammed into his body –

hard. The two of them flew a dozen feet back before hitting the floor. Laura heard him grunt in pain as his back hit against the hard wood, softening Laura’s own impact. And with him on the floor right below her, Laura had al the advantage. With a few quick jabs, she bloodied his entire face, breaking his nose, cutting his lip, bruising his eyes. She did not want to kil – despite everything, some part of her human side stil shone through even if instinct took over – but she stil wanted to be sure he would be too weakened to move anytime soon. Slowly, his attempts to shield her blows weakened, until eventual y his arms simply fel limp at his sides.

Seeing that, Laura stopped. Stopped, and gingerly looked around her. She could stil hear the sounds of fighting come from the adjacent room, but they were slowly dying out. And the cries she heard from there were definitely not Logan’s. It seemed like he had been – or was going to be – just as successful as her. Laura got up, and turned away. And despite herself, she brushed her hands together victoriously. This had turned out to be a much easier – and faster – fight that she anticipated. That was when something struck her hard from behind.

For a split second, she lost al coordination as pain radiated from the back of her head. She staggered forward, feeling dizzy and vulnerable al at once. Before she even had a chance to turn around and see what happened, another blow connected – this one right into her kidney. She col apsed forward in a heap, the pain from her head and her side overwhelming her senses.

Weakly, she turned over. And saw the vampire she thought she had beaten senseless smile over her, his face a bloody mess yet stil intimidating.

“You are easily fooled, girl,” he said in a deep, hard voice. She recognized that voice as belonging to Kalvarin. “A smart combatant never reveals his al to an opponent, before seeing her own strengths, first.”

He smiled a vicious smile, made worse by the blood streaming down his face. “Let that be a lesson for you, for next time. Oh, wait. For you, there is no
next time
.” And with that, Laura felt a jolt of pain as his boot found the side of her stomach. She doubled over, clutching the part he had struck.

“The elders have placed quite a premium on your skin,” he continued, looming over her. “And while they say they’d prefer you
alive
, I’m sure they would forgive a little… mishap… should it occur.” He struck her again in the same side, the hard toe of his boot wedging itself right under her ribs. Al breath escaped her lungs. Weakly, she tried to rol away, but he just laughed and put his foot down hard on her back, pressing her to the floor.

She was not prepared at al for what happened next.

As she lay there on her stomach, stil dizzy from the first blow she had taken to the head, she saw the wal in front of her break in. And Gray roared in, looking every bit the intimidating kil ing machine he was. The vampire standing above Laura jerked around at the noise. “What the…?” he started to say, seeing the hole in the wal for the first time. But Laura knew he could not have said what had caused it. If he was like most vampires – which he was – his eyes would have glazed right over Gray’s intimidating shape, not seeing the bear until it was too late.

And that was exactly what happened.

As the vampire turned back down to Laura, Gray raced over, and with a deadly slash of his great paw, tore an excruciating laceration across the vampire’s back. Kalvarin howled in pain, twisting around to see what had maimed him. But it was too late. With his other paw, Gray took another swipe at the vampire, this time ripping a sickening gnash across his torso. Blood flew across the room, and Kalvarin col apsed to his knees. Gray roared once more, a deep, booming sound, and Kalvarin fel forward, clutching his body. An unnatural amount of blood pooled under him. He was dead.

Laura looked to Gray, feeling a momentary, unnerving bit of fear at his capabilities. She knew he was strong, yes, but she had no idea just
how
strong that real y was yet. She did not realize how deadly he real y was, either. But with Kalvarin out of the way, only concern touched those shimmering black eyes. He pushed the body aside with one paw as if it were simply a ragdol , and lay down beside Laura, nudging her with his nose.

She smiled. He had run in here only to protect her. Somehow, he had known that she was in trouble, and saved her right when she needed it. She reached out to rub his massive head, and felt the connection with him form. There was only the utmost
concern
that she felt radiate from him. She sent him back a message that she was alright – a mixture of
wellbeing
tinged slightly with
felicity
. She pushed herself up. The pain from the blows she took had subsided to become barely noticeable. Somewhat chagrined, she realized that the pain had never real y been that bad – it was just the shock of it coming completely out of the blue that caught her off-guard.

She heard the floor squeak behind her, and whipped around quickly. Logan was standing there, looking none the worse for wear. And he had a big, stupid grin on his face.

“Are you
crazy
?” Laura began. “You could have gotten us kil ed! What on earth possessed you to do something like that?” She rounded on him. “It was the stupidest, most rash thing you’ve ever done! You could have—wait. What are you doing? Are you
laughing
?”

It was true – Logan was holding onto his sides, shaking with mirth as laughter overtook him. Laura glared at him angrily, but he just kept going.

“Did you see what happened to me?” she demanded. She stalked up to him, and pushed him gruffly in the chest. “If Gray hadn’t come in to stop Kalvarin, I might have been the one on the floor, not him!”

Logan, stil holding back some chuckles, met Laura’s eye. “I wouldn’t have let that happen,” he told her. “I was right here the whole time, watching to make sure you were safe. I didn’t think you’d like it much if I interfered in your battle.”

“You were…” Laura cut off with a strangled noise. “If you were
right here
, why didn’t you help me when I was down?”

“I knew you could do it yourself,” Logan said, a proud undercurrent entering his voice. “Besides, I thought the best use for me would be as a type of insurance policy. If things got too bad, I would have jumped in and helped, but otherwise…”

“But otherwise you waited for Gray to come help me?” Laura demanded.

Logan smiled at her. “Gray broke in just as I was about to make my move. I didn’t want to take away from
his
hunt, either. Besides,” he said, looking Laura up and down slyly, “aside from your disheveled hair, you look just as good as I remember.”

“Ahh…” Laura couldn’t stay mad at him. The rush of the fight, and the thril of feeling adrenaline pump through her veins as she battled against Kalvarin
was
a distinctively
good
feeling. And from what she knew, it was good to let the vampire instincts within her loose every once in a while.

“Fine,” she told him faux-coldly, crossing her arms under her chest, “as long as both of us are fine, I guess I can find it in my heart to forgive you.”

Logan smiled at her widely, as if he never thought it would come to anything less. “Thank you, my dear,” he said, with only the hint of mockery. “And I can find it in
my
heart to forgive you, for the deplorable manner in which you greeted your—hey!”

He cut off as she slapped the side of his arm, pretending to cower against the blow. Then Laura started to laugh, at the insanity of the entire situation.

“So how’d you handle Algar, then?” she asked once she calmed down.

“Is that who I fought?” Logan answered, raising an eyebrow. Then he shrugged. “He was arrogant, and thought highly of himself. It was his own downfal . In the end, it was a quick battle. Although I must say, he did meet a kinder end than did his brother.”

Laura swung her head back to look at Kalvarin’s bloody corpse. No matter who he was, she didn’t think that was a very pleasant way to die.

“So what do we do with the bodies, then?” she asked. “We can’t just leave them here to be found…?”

Logan nodded, seriously for once. “You’re right, as always. We’l get rid of them.”

“How?”

“Don’t you worry,” he winked at her. “Being a vampire, I’ve had lots of experience hiding bodies over the years.”