lightning witch 02 - lightning legacy (27 page)

This clearing was about fifty yards in diameter. I just prayed to whatever benevolent being was watching that I could do this. I prayed Troy and Monique were ready for this, because time was up.

“Tyler, was she alone?” Mitch yelled across the shrinking expanse of space that separated us.

"Yes, they will be here soon. We need to make this short." Don't play poker with Tyler, because the guy could lie. Or at least I hoped he was lying to him and not us. That thought doused me in another cold bucket of fear.

Mitch shook his head. That was ... well, odd. I looked at Tyler, who looked at me. He looked as confused as I felt. I heard a loud bang and then Tyler dropped beside me. Like a sack of fucking potatoes. I felt something warm spray across my face.
What the hell just happened?
I blinked, trying to understand what was going on. The images in front of me were not registering.

"Tyler." I reached up to wipe my face free of the smattering of mud. Wait, mud wasn't warm, was it? I glanced at my hand. It was dark, but I knew it was blood. I couldn't hear him breathing. A shot, even with a silver bullet, couldn't kill him, but holy shit. I took a step back; it was instinctive, but it showed weakness. I wanted to kick myself for doing it.

Only fifty feet separated me from them. This was not the plan. Something had changed, but I didn't know what.

“Awe, did the little traitor get a boo boo?” Mitch called. The blood in my veins turned cold. One of the wolves told him. That had to be it.
Shit. Shit. Shit!

Play dumb? Or go on the defensive? “What the hell is going on, Mitch?” Dumb it was.

"Delaney, is every word that comes out of your mouth a lie?" His words were laced with venom. "I can't scent them, but I know they are here." I took advice from Mark and bleached everyone's clothes and they each had a spray bottle to help. I had no idea if the wolves that surrounded us were on our side or not.

A few yards back, I saw a number of his pack coming into the clearing. My heart was pounding as though it had a drum solo at a rock concert. Maybe it would land a music deal and make me a shit ton of money. I shook my head. Damn inappropriate humor. There were six. None were behind me. Well, none that I could scent. Less than we thought, but ten was a lot more than four.

"Is that all the loyalty you could scare up?" Apparently, I had a death wish. You know what, fuck him. I was so done with rolling over with fear of this dickweed. I squared my shoulders and narrowed my eyes.

“Did your lap dogs see that nice hard-on you had going on while you were beating Mark?” He jerked at my words and took a step forward. I didn’t even react. Point to me.

“Delaney, what do you hope to accomplish by taunting me? I know they are hiding out there with some plan that will fail. Come to me and I’ll spare them.” I saw the lie in his posture before I heard it in his words.

“Mark, Tyler, probably Mark’s wife. All because they didn’t want to be under a sick and demented monster. You know the moment you disagree with him you or someone you care about will be next,” I spoke my words as I looked at each of the wolves in turn.

Mitch started laughing. The sound made my skin crawl. It reminded me of that feeling of running into a spider web that covered my whole body.

“Delaney, I see what you’re trying to do, but my love, they know all of these things. That’s why they won’t go against me. They are under my boot and will heel to me alone.” His words seemed to agitate five of the six men. My attention was torn from the men to a loud gasp I heard from Tyler. He had to have been coming back to himself. Not fully healed, but coming back.

Mitch’s fists clenched and his mouth turned into a hard white line. I couldn’t see his eyes before, but now they were glowing green. I didn’t need to look behind me to know it was Reid. This was not the plan.
What the hell is he doing?
I felt his warm hand grasp the back of my neck. There was no mistaking the possession of the gesture.

“I hadn’t known for sure if Tyler betrayed me, but now, I do.”

“So, you had him shot just for the hell of it?” I was incredulous. What the actual crap?

He ran a hand through his hair. The movement looked so innocent that I nearly forgot what a monster he really was. Even at this distance, I was reminded of what it felt like to have that same hand run over my skin. I shivered at the memory. Reid felt it and glanced down at me. He winked, then returned his attention to the men. He winked? The hell was that about? I didn’t really see this as a winking moment.

“Reid, are you enjoying my sloppy seconds? Her taste is so sweet, isn’t it?” he taunted, while he licked his lips.

Reid’s grip tightened around the back of my neck, but he didn’t say anything. I hadn’t told him about the worst of the abuse by Mitch. I didn’t know if I ever could. He didn’t break me though, not fully. The bone had been broken and now it was set and healing.

"Shoot them and get it over with." Mitch waved a hand in our direction. I only had a heartbeat. I pulled my power from my core in a rush. Lightning flooded my entire body. The world seemed to slow down. I could feel the sparks covering my whole body. My vision changed from its normal dark shadows to a kind of inverted black and white. Everything that had been dark was now blazing white. In the time it took me to call my lightning forward, Reid dropped to the ground. Good thing too, because he would have resembled a charcoal briquette right about now. I knew I could block a magical attack and even a physical one, but a bullet? I threw my hands out and pushed all of my power out into a wall. My lightning acted more like a net, but right now I needed it to be a wall. I felt the impact, small and distant. I heard a scream. Not just a scream though, a blood-curdling scream of pain. Shit, had the bullet slipped through? I thought I stopped it, damn it. I dropped the wall. The men behind Mitch and his lapdogs were on fire, completely engulfed in flames. It was magical fire so the whole stop, drop, and roll thing wouldn't work, not if Troy didn't want it to. They tried to run off, but something held them in place. Then, in a rush, heat that stole every bit of moisture from my eyes hit the edge of the clearing, erupting in blinding flames. My eyes squinted at the bright intrusion.

Troy was nowhere to be seen. Reid ripped his clothes off and began his change. I had a choice, I could stand guard or rush the other wolves. I glanced to them. Mitch was nearly finished with his change, but the other men were standing over him. I made a decision and stayed put. I did pull my power into my hand and threw several lightning balls in their direction. None hit
. Where the hell is Monique?

Mitch charged me. Shit, Reid wasn't done. I had only a moment. I reached into my pocket and felt the cool metal of a coin. I threw it down near Reid and ran at Mitch. Pulling hard on my power, I tried to throw everything I had at him, but he was fast and dodged everything. This wasn't going to work. Not like this. I was acting and thinking like a witch.

I ran full force at him, narrowing my eyes and focusing on his throat. I shifted as he lunged at me. He went flying over me. I turned as fast as I could and rushed him. I connected with my teeth sinking into his left hind leg. I pulled my power so that every time I contacted him it sent jolts surging through him. He ripped his leg from my jaw with a surprising amount of strength. White-hot pain hit my right side. The force of whatever hit me sent me flying several yards away from Mitch. I heard, more than felt, the snap of a rib breaking. I tried to take in a deep gulp of air, but the sharp pain in my side prevented anything. The world was spinning. I blinked up, trying to stop the world from caving in. Finally, after a few more blinks, I remembered where I was and flipped from my side to my feet. I winced at the pain that was now radiating throughout my whole right side.

The scene in front of me was surreal. Monique stood at the side of the circle of blazing fire trying to catch wolves, keeping them away from engaging in the fight. Tyler was moving now, but much like the six wolf-jerky assholes, he was in no condition to do anything. I could see Troy’s faint silhouette through the fading fire wall. And surrounding him were figures that I couldn’t quite make out. I blinked and stepped toward them. Fear. Fear that struck me as intense as a lightning bolt struck me at the sight of nearly ten wolves surrounding Troy.
Oh, God, no!
I glanced around, trying to find Reid. I spotted him near where I last saw Mitch. He was trying to fight off four wolves at once.

This was the hardest decision I ever had to make. I shifted to my human form and ran to Troy.

"Delaney!" I heard Monique's voice a fraction before I felt the teeth sink into my calf. I screamed. This couldn't be happening. There were too damned many of them and they were all changing so damned fast. I pushed my power out through my whole body. I only distantly heard the yelping of pain.
Fuck me, that hurt.
I couldn't think about that right now, I had to get to Troy. My vision flickered from its normal color to black and white and back again.

I ran. With every step, agony radiated from my calf up my whole goddamn leg. I was so close. I jumped through the fire, praying I had enough lightning around me to protect me from the flames. I staggered at the sight. The ten, wait nine, I didn't know how many, but they weren't attacking him, they were protecting him. I was astonished. Nearly the whole pack was here, and a good deal of them were on our side.

“D! I can’t hold this wall much longer. Go get your man!” Troy’s tone was frantic, but his words hit me.
Shit, Reid
. I ran back through the now painfully thin wall of fire.

"Monique! We need to help Reid!" I called to the Earth Witch. She pulled her power at the barbequed men and I saw roots begin to pin them in place.
Why hadn't she done that in the first place?
I didn’t have time to think about that right now. I ran full force at the five wolves. It was hard to tell where one started and one began. I pulled my lightning out, and hurled a ball at one wolf. My guess was that it was Anderson. It hit him square in the side. He was ejected from the fray. One down, three to go.

“I’m here, love,” I said mentally to Reid. He had Mitch at his front and who I thought was Matthew at his side. Where was Dillon? I glanced around, but didn't see him.

“Monique, take out Mitch!” I yelled. Maybe, if we all focused on him at once we could be more effective.

“My pleasure.”

I shifted back to my wolf self and closed the distance between Mitch and me. Once again, I pulled my power from my core. I’d never used so much power, yet it was there for the taking. I launched myself at him, and never made it. I was stupid. I thought for just that moment that we had this. I was so wrong. Dillon had been sitting, waiting. He grabbed me in midair. When we landed, my throat was in his mouth. I felt his teeth sink into my neck. Warm blood spilled down my front, soaking my fur. I couldn't scream. The pain, my God, it was electric. My heart rate was frantic and with each beat I felt the trickle of blood pulse more. Shit. I was losing blood, and fast. I tried to get out of this. I really did. I fought, but with each moment I fought, Dillon's jaws only tightened. This wouldn't kill me. I was losing consciousness. I could feel myself passing out. I kicked again and again, but it did no good. Fuck me.

I looked to Reid. He was fighting both of the wolves off, but only just. Monique was helping him. Reid could do this. He could kill Mitch for me. I wasn't giving up; I was just so tired. If I just closed my eyes for one second, I could …

THIS FIGHT WAS
more like a to-do list. Snap jaws. Protect my flank. Dodge teeth. At some point, the three wolves turned to two and then two turned to one. I tried to survey what was being done around me, but the constant engagement with Mitch made that nearly impossible. I saw flashes of Delaney’s power and then of white fur. I caught glimpses of Monique’s hands glowing green. I heard the snarls, growls and yelps of wolves fighting.

Tyler’s wolves came through in the end. There were about nine or so of them. I didn’t get a good count. They showed up just before I joined Delaney in the clearing. We knew Mitch would never really believe that she would be here without us. What we banked on was the amount of support he would get on short notice. The moon was waxing, but it was not at its apex; we were on equal footing. It was a now or never situation. This was a Hail Mary and every last person here knew it.

Mitch lunged at me. He caught the meat just above my shoulder with a tooth. But he didn’t have the angle needed for a full-force bite. I tried to spare a glance to find Delaney, but Mitch was there at every turn. I needed to get rid of him. He attacked and this time I ducked my head. My jaws clamped down on his forepaw. My teeth bounced off bone and his momentum sent me staggering back a few steps. He thrashed wildly and, despite my best effort, he broke the grip I had on him. I snarled at the taste of his blood in my mouth.

“Love?”

No response.

“Delaney!” I called again to her mentally. Again, no response. I spotted a gray wolf with Delaney’s limp fur-covered form seemingly dangling from his clenched jaws. She wasn’t moving. My heart stopped. The world stopped turning.
Shit
. Her throat was in Dillon's jaws. I had so many of my own aches and pains I couldn’t differentiate between what was mine and what I was feeling through our bond. All I knew was I had to get to her; there was no other choice. I refused to fail her again.