Into Death's Arms (43 page)

      Still I waited. My shoulder was in agony. He didn’t move. He didn’t breath. It was over.
I turned and stumbled away from the body. Dayton was there within moments.

     The other
Shifters
gathered around their King
’
s fallen form. Donovan
re
joined us in our small group. H
e was covered in blood but very little
of it seemed to be his own. He
moved next to Dayton.
  The
Shifters
were discussing something rather animatedly.
Finally,
Lowell stepped forward
, “Macyn you have won the right to rule us.” The other
Shifters
didn’t look to terribly happy about that.

      I laughed aloud I mean really an AoD ruling the
Shifters
. I crooked my finger at Lowell he followed me a
s I walked away from the crowd. “Tell me what to do?” I asked.

    
He smiled and suddenly I was liking him.
“Abdicate in Laith’s favor. He is one of us. He can appoint a council to help him or rule
on his own. That’s up to him,
” I nodded.

     “That’ll be okay with the others?” God my shoulder hurt I wanted this done with so I could fall into Dayton’s waiting arms.

     He nodded. “They have expected him to take his father’s place for some time. He could have done it
too;
he needs to work on his confidence.”

     I raised an eyebrow at him, “and why are you helping us?” I was suspicious of the man.

    
He smiled a very wolf like grin. “I’ve got a daughter your brother’s age. I want her to be his primo-amator.”

      
I spoke
Latin so I could understand mass? Primo being first and amator being lover, umm, “You’ll have to ask him about that. I’m not making any promises when it comes to my
brother’s
love lif
e.” He
nodded;
h
e was okay with that too.

     “I just want him to remember me when he’s ready to pick a new harem. I want the very best for my little girl.” He held up his hands and walked away. Well I understood that
and
I would discuss it with my brother when he was feeling better.
  

       I walked back over to my family. “I abdicate in favor of my brother.” I said loudly, “but right now we’re going home.”

       Dayton scooped me into his arms. “I refuse to allow you to wander around in that shape any longer.” I smiled up at him.  

       Laith looked at me like I’d grown a second head. He shook his head frantically. I shrugged at him. Laith and Lowell spoke at length while Dayton healed my dad. I wouldn’t let him heal me
first;
honestly,
I was afraid he wouldn’t have anything left for the others. He didn’t bother to heal Donovan because though he’d fought Kinsley
he was barely injured.

     While Dayton
healed me
,
my father went to Laith’s side. Lowell seemed to be arguing
with Laith about something. Suddenly my father bellowed, “Enough! I am taking MY children home.” He emphasized the word my and slid his arm around Laith. Laith’s head snapped up as he looked at him with such surprise in his eyes.

    My father leaned in. “She should have told me boy. I would never have let her leave you behind. She was my AoLi she promised that all that was hers was mine
and I promised the same
. That includes you.” Lowell opened his mouth to speak again but was quelled with a look from my father.

     My father turned and
led
Laith away from the group of
Shifters
. Laith followed like a child with that same childlike look of wonder on his face. I was so happy at that moment
tears formed in my eyes
. We walked back to the car. I leaned heavily in Dayton’s arms.

  
The
Vamp
ires
had brought a B
ronco that belonged to
Donovan;
Dayton shoved me into the back seat. I tried to climb out he wasn’t going to let me.
I tried to tell him I wanted to ride with my fam
ily. He refused to let me out. My father
helped Laith into the car. Laith’s pack mates got into the back. We all rode home.

     
When we
arrived at the house and Dayton helped me out of the car. He helped us get everyone into the house. The sky was just starting to turn pink when we’d all gathered inside. “Macyn I’ve got to go home for bit I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He said as he kissed and stepped into a shadow in the hallway.

    
I wanted to learn how to do that
,
but the truth was very few lightborn could walk through light like
Shadow-born
could walk through shadows. My father couldn’t even do it.

     I helped get my brother into bed and cleaned all his wounds. They had really worked him over. There was only about an inch or two of flesh that wasn’t bruised. He’d been burned repeatedly in some pretty horrific places. His friends weren’t so bad off. The dark haired one who it turned out was named Revelin helped me.

  
While the blond, Rollin stitched up my dad’s leg.
He
had his MD who would have guessed were-doctors. It sounded like a B movie title. Dayton had healed his leg
enough he could walk but it was still nasty. Every once and awhile Revelin would murmur, “
Bastards
,” under his breath and I knew he’d found another wound I wasn’t going to like.

     Rollin went into the bathroom to shower and take care of his own wounds. I took Revelin’s hand. “I owe you guys fo
r this. For standing up for him,
” he smiled a crooked smile at me.

      “He’s our pack. You don’t owe us
anything;
we owe you for coming for us,” he stated firmly.  He chuckled,
“Who would have thought we’d have two AoD come in and save our asses? I thought for sure we were toast.
Now Laith is King. Go figure.
”

     Laith had finally drifted off to sleep a
nd my father was starting to doz
e in the chair he’d sat in. I gave him my hand and dragged him up. “Come on old man you need some sleep.” He put his arms around me and we stumble
d
down the hall.

    
“I don’t feel safe with all those
Shifters
in the house.” My father groused. I nodded comfortingly as I rolled him into bed.

     “If they had wanted us dead, killing us out in the park would have been easier and less likely to raise any questions.” I pulled up his comforter.

 
    “You sure about Dayton baby,
” he asked softly. “He is horrifically powerful. Did you see
him out there tonight?”
I hadn’t
much
but I knew how powerful he was I could feel it not to mention he tended to share his power with me.

        I sighed and curled up next to him on the outside of his blankets. “Okay out with it. I know you don’t like
Vamp
ires
. I know you don’t like Dayton but the dislike seems different. He told me you were once very close but he won’t tell me anymore he says it’s your right to tell me or not.” My dad ran his fingers through my hair. He sighed heavily.

       “You know that Dayton and I were raised together. That until his ascension we all assumed he was just like us. His mother was an AoLi so he was an Ao
right.
Back then we didn’t know an AoLi can breed with just about anything she wants to.”

        “She or he,” I interrupted the Ao society seemed to be sexist to me.
Then
again,
I was one of only five AoD ever born female.

      He smiled at
“He or s
he
,” he relented,
“anyway
so we all thought he was one of us. We were friends, best friends honestly. Inseparable really, anything Dayton did
,
I did and vice versa. Then he ascended first. He knew right away that something was wrong. He wanted blood but fought the
urge;
thought if he was strong enough it would go away. Two nights after his ascension he left the church. I followed him. I was curious about what he could possibly be doing out at night so shortly after his
ascension
.
He went toward the village there were a lot of sheep farms in those days and there was this pretty little shepherdess we had often joked about visiting. Well I thought we were joking. At some point, he’d stopped joking and started going to see her. That night she welcomed him with open arms.” Okay maybe I didn’t want to hear this. I was getting mad. My father chuckled, “Look at you glow.
You are
jealous aren’t you,
” I frowned.

     “Yes, and yes I understand that the shepherdess has probably been dead for like four hundred years but still…”

      “She died that night.” He interrupted softly. “Dayton had no control; he tore into her throat, and then went for mine when I pulled him off her.
When he realized what he’d
done,
he took me back to the church. It was too late for the girl. He knew
the others would find out.
But he took me back anyway.” He sighed heavily. “They tortured him for days. They used his body to disco
ver as much as they could about the
Vamp
ires
. When I saw him next he was
a broken man. I set him free.
” He ran his big hands through his hair, “What was I supposed to do h
e was my best friend but he became something horrifying.
The next time I saw him I went for his throat but he’d been living among the
Vamp
ires
for decades by then and had learned that nifty little
shadow-walking
trick.
I’ve
tried to kill him he has never reciprocated. I think,” he looked embarrassed. “I think he’s even saved my ass a time or two.”  Kno
wing Dayton as I now knew him, my dad
was probably right.
“So which of us is truly the monster? “

     “The
AoLi in him detests destruction,
” I said
softly
.

     “I just keep seeing that girls face in my mind. I worry about how many others he has killed. Would he have killed you that first night be
fore he discovered who, what you were,
” he asked into the darkness.

     I shook my head. “He never actually hurt me. Remember my throat wasn’t even bruised where he held me. He was as careful as possible while maintaining that big bad I’m a tough
Vamp
ire
so stay away from my people thing.”
I had, had a lot of time to think about it. I didn’t think he was out to hurt me that first day and I knew for a fact Donovan could have killed me that day and hadn’t. “You know I was locked alone in a room with Donovan that night. He offered me tea. He let Laurna go, and even when I beat the tar out of him
,
he didn’t try to hurt me. After seeing him in action tonight I know he could have made mince meat out of me if he had wanted to.”

     He sighed again, “You’re sure about this?”

     I nodded, “He’s a good man, which leads to the question, if he is a good man are there others? Dayton is a good man. Two good
Vamp
ires
I’m sure of
it
and I’ve met a couple of others. Laith is a good
man;
his two friends seem to be good men. If three
Shifters
are good how can they all be bad?” Okay here was the crux of what I was trying t
o say. “I think we might be the
bad guys dad. We kill
them
indiscriminately. We don’t wait to see if they are good
Shifters
or bad
Shifters
or
Vamp
s or whatever we just destroy. What if we’re wrong?”

    I waited expecting him to be angry, expecting anything but what he said. “I’ve been wondering the same thing for awhile.” He ran his hands through his hair. “When we go into a
Shifter
community we are expected to wipe it out. That includes the women and children. I couldn’t do it. The last time I went into a
Shifter
den I…I let the kids go. I just couldn’t look down at their little faces knowing they were completely defenseless against me and
… there was a girl…woman…I’m not sure what she was
, but she was
so brave she stood up to me
fought to protect her infant brother, finally begged me to just kill her and let him be. How could I? So
… so yeah, I turned around and left.” I heard shame in his voice but I had never been more proud.