Mystical Mayhem (7 page)

Chapter Five

Xander woke to his body connecting with a very solid surface; a sudden, painful sensation. Opening his eyes, but blinking against the sun shining off the snow, his back slammed against the wall again as he heard Aiyanna cry out. Finding his animal silenced by a weight he couldn’t see, he shook his body violently only to find himself restrained by four men.

There were several others around his cave – standing room only really, with Aiyanna restrained, much the same way as he was, to the opposing wall. He struggled. Blinding rage at seeing other hands on her, strengthened him, but to no avail. He couldn’t shift, and he couldn’t get to her. His head throbbed from the stifled rage as blood tried to rush through his constricted veins, making it feel like his brain was hemorrhaging. Several sets of large male hands tainted her naked flesh, groping rather than merely restraining. The sight made him want to kill them all as bile rose in his throat.

“A surprise attack in the day worked quite well.” The man from the other night, the asshole who’d taken Aiyanna – Aiden if memory served, stood in the middle of them all, rubbing his hands together, a sick grin on his face. Xander knew him to be a disreputable shifter, his animal nature, a Hawk. Everything about the man was dark, demented. The stories he’d heard about this Hawk-man made him thrash against the hands holding him, not caring about the pain he caused himself, as the shifter walked closer to Aiyanna. Aiden’s gait was confident, one foot slowly stepping surely past the other, making Xander mad in the watching, the waiting. He was prepared to chew off his own limbs if he had to in order to save her from the Hawk-man.

“Well, well, what do we have here?” Aiden said, running his hand across Aiyanna’s shoulder where she was now marked. “A rescue
and
a Mating? Well, you can both thank me later. Or, maybe,” he laughed, a hideous, high-pitched, almost chirping sound countering Xander’s growls, “you should thank me now, because soon you will both be dead. A dual sacrifice might be just enough given we’re now in the last day to access the power of the full moon thanks to your man’s heroics. Well, heroes die sometimes, babe. So sorry to have to tell you.” He looked back over his shoulder at Xander as his ugly clawed hand stroked her cheek.

Aiden ran his hand over Aiyanna’s cheek, letting it casually fall over her breast as he went. With his fingers poised on her stomach, just above her sex, Aiden turned to smile at Xander.

Xander screamed, words unintelligible even to himself, he was so angry. He saw spots in front of his eyes, his lungs burning as he thrashed, until one of the men put both of his hands against Xander’s throat. Panic rose; he knew he couldn’t lose consciousness, so he let his body go, stopped fighting them, to focus on another way. There has to be another way to save her. The CIA team from last night. He would send a distress signal mentally and hope one of them heard it. Try as he might to send that silent message, thoughts ravaged his brain, seeing her, naked and restrained again. He struggled against his captors again and again, the superficial injuries to his skin only spurring him on; the near loss of consciousness making him mad, giving him a sense that he maybe could break free and save her still.

“Calm him, Selene!” Aiden screamed at the only woman in the room, a tiny, frail thing, who looked like someone had beaten her within an inch of her life. She too had a shady rep, full of stories of black magick, whoring, drugs, the list went on and on as to her wasted gifts. Seconds later his ability to control his body left him. With each swirl of the woman’s wrists, he became paralyzed.

“Tonight, Chimera, you can watch her die first,” the Hawk-man hissed, rubbing his hands together so hard Xander swore flames would soon burst from them if the flesh didn’t just fall off first.

Energy, raw, untamed, moved through his body on full power. Balls of powerful magick were crashing into each other inside him, as if unable to find a proper channel in the darkness that was the spell over his muscles. He couldn’t speak either, though everything in him pleaded, screamed for her safety, until even the voice inside his head was hoarse. She stood strong against them, head up, body stiff. Her only frailty seemed to be the tears welling in her eyes. Although, he could feel she shed them for him; each drop that fell from her lids might as well have been a knife into his heart.

He had to look away, his body shutting down from the turmoil raging inside of him. Several super sized Birds, which resembled pterodactyls, stood at the entrance to the cave, which must’ve been how the other shifters had made it up here. He knew what each man holding him was; he could sense each of their animals close to the surface of their beings. Xander sensed Aiyanna’s Dragon too, but it had also been stifled by magick.

Calming himself, knowing it was their last chance, he tried to put out a distress signal through the atmosphere, imagining it melting the snowflakes falling outside as it went, in the hope that anyone who could help them would pick it up. He wasn’t sure exactly what time of day it was, if the special ops team had left the area or not. Some of them were gifted like him to sense danger; well actually, others’ fears.

With the witch’s spells in place over them, Xander and Aiyanna sat helpless against their opposing walls, still naked, the cold air from the outside overwhelming the dying fire in the hearth. He knew each time she shivered, felt it match his own, but neither of their bodies moved. Covered in a cold sweat, even swallowing seemed difficult with every tense muscle unable to move. Through the legs of the shifters inside his cave, he could barely catch a glimpse of her. Wishing he could move his neck to see around the commotion, his breathing increased, made his head throb in time with his accelerated heartbeat. At least his lungs and heart still were able to move. There was that.

As time ticked by in slow motion, the rogue shifters ironed out their plans for their ritual tonight. Xander was still trying to feel his fears, let them wash over him, drown him with their harsh waves, to get some attention, someone to come fight this battle for him. Ego be damned now. She was all that mattered. It was a hell of a position to find himself in so soon after claiming Aiyanna. Yet, if he wasn’t careful, his fevered anger would override any angst he could find. He focused on his Mate, and let the sensations of his very real terror, come for her.

When he moved his eyes, thankful he still could, trying to see her face, the ancient Bird-like creatures outside started to screech, their wings creating a blizzard of the snow that had collected at their feet. Soon, they came rushing into the cave like a great gust of wind had blown them. They sought purchase with the ground, nearly trampling him as they fought, a few stepping on his legs as they tumbled into the others. From what he could make out, his DC guys had come. The initial commotion seemed to end with leaps into fighting stances and all manner of animal noises, each threatening. The cave was literally wall-to-wall, floor to ceiling, fur and claws and teeth. He couldn’t hear or see Aiyanna now with the havoc going on around them.

A were fell onto his lap, struggling then limp as a vampire ripped its neck out. Luckily, the vamp he knew. It was Brandon. He smiled coyly as he threw the now dead man from Xander’s lap. Xander marveled that the sun, brighter with the fallen snow, sparkled off the vamp’s skin. When they had come last night it had been still dark. How the hell was this vamp out in the sun now? How this was possible, he had no idea, and no time to give it further thought at the moment. The man was not a ball of flames, so who was he to question it? How the hell would he, anyway, now that he couldn’t speak?

Brandon yelled over the turmoil, of course, probably realizing Xander’s predicament since he hadn’t moved, spoken or shifted. Brandon’s own lover, Alexx, appeared. Being a hereditary witch, she was able to manipulate energies.

“He’s spelled, I can feel it. Can you help him?” Brandon asked Alexx.

“I’ll try. The magick is old, but also tainted with something else. I’m not sure I can fully discern it or break it.”

Xander waited. Being unable to even ask about Aiyanna was driving him mad. The noise, the total disorder and obvious destruction, blood and howls of pain, were making him even more tense. His shoulders were hunched up by his ears – he guessed out of instinct, because he had no way to raise or lower them intentionally. His arms and legs cramped from the internal struggle to move. The invisible weight that prevented his movements twisted, curled around him like a vice as Alexx spoke in a different language and moved her hands. A dark, blackish cloud, as thick as dense smog, surrounded him; became a visible, living entity, a monster in and of itself. He sensed the smoke threatening his life and Alexx’s as her body began to have spasms or seizures. Brandon was at her side, his hands clenched, jaw tight, obviously trying not to intervene. He had to give the guy props for this, but he and Alexx had been together a lot longer than himself and Aiyanna. Brandon had to know Alexx’s limits by now.

The commotion in the cave was starting to thin as each shifter was wounded and had turned back into a man. The DC team was relentless, piling their victims’ bodies up at the mouth of the cave. It was no longer cold in there; that was for damn sure. What he could now see through a clearing in the smog around him, was the tiny witch who had spelled him in some kind of battle with the CIA’s sorcerer. Different colored balls and streams of light moved between them, cutting through the air with a sizzle like lightning. The words of their chants clashed as well as their magick.

“Ardescat Lux.”

“Deflexio.”

It was then he saw Aiyanna again, her body crushed up against the cave wall, but protected by the Hawk-man, the damnable ringleader of all of this chaos in his cave. The sick bastard was keeping her safe only so he could later kill her himself. Whatever the reason, Xander’s emotions tore through him, causing pain where his body responded to it physically and then it was stifled completely by the impure magick restraining him. His body became a magnet for the residual magick in the room. He was being shocked repeatedly, his heart and lungs barely functioning. The ominous language floated around him, luring him into a trance despite the violent nature he could sense in the words. He became a barely conscious observer, the fight surreal, the madness over his Mate’s plight making everything feel a dream; like he was no longer in touch with any sort of reality.

“Dispelsatio.”

“Hexagramma et Pentagramma, Malos Spiritus Sigilent!”

All who were left gathered ’round the witch and sorcerer. All fighting stopped as their magickal battle started to affect everyone. Enemies suddenly took cover beside each other, knowing they would not live to fight another minute if zapped by the mystical lightshow. As consciousness started to elude him, Xander pondered how the mayhem was no longer just in the town, but at his front door, inside his own cave. Messes such as these were his responsibility to stifle, and he was failing miserably. Yet, he couldn’t welcome death with Aiyanna still alive and suffering.

"Numerus spiritus elementis."

"Ex Somno Exsistat Exurens Salamandra Inimicum Involvat Igne! Captus Flammeus!"

"Coèuntes, sagittent inimicum meam. Sagitta Magicka, Convergentia Series elementis. Vinculum facti inimicum capient. Sagitta Magicka, Aer capturae.”

The wind picked up as ropes of flames blew in the breeze around the sorcerer. There were several more successive sizzles and a cry from the old sorcerer who fell at the tiny witch’s feet. Whatever she’d gotten herself into, the magick was strong, dark, almost oily feeling, coating the old man’s skin. He wanted to tell Alexx to stop trying to save him as she was looking bad, sweat covering her now pale face, her body contorted into an obscene position, down on the ground, curled over her stomach, arms and legs pulled in tight to her body, but rigid and bent. Yet, she continued to fight what held him. He remembered her telling Aiyanna just last night that each of them would lay down their life for the other.

Aiden, got up, going to his witch, a sneer of triumph making his eyes squinty; more sinister. Aiyanna was on her side. He’d covered her in a blanket, from head to toe, but Xander could still see her form. Aiden went quickly to the witch, grabbing her arm and pulling her aside as he spoke to her. His voice was drowned out by the others, from both sides of this battle, emerging from where they’d hidden from the sinister light and fire show. The enemies circled each other, a primitive dance like a game of truth or dare, each showing the truth of their strength in their stance while daring the other to take them on.

The lead asshole, Aiden, along with the witch, uncovered Aiyanna’s face and spoke quickly. But, he was interrupted by the tiny woman’s cry. Everything was. All he could do was hold his breath and watch, as the witch took hold of Aiyanna’s hair with one hand, flicking her wrist toward Aiden with the other. The Hawk-man cowered to the side like the witch had hit him with something. Xander knew only too well the force of her power, as he watched Aiden scream and squirm on the ground. He didn’t seem so tough now. Maybe that had been the witch’s intent, something strong and painful. He couldn’t say he felt bad for the guy.

“Your father was a great man. He once did me a great kindness, one I never thought I’d get the chance to repay,” was all the witch said. Then she turned in the cave, scanning its occupants. Her boss, clenching his stomach, gurgling noises coming from his throat, the fact that he had no air stopping his terror filled cries of anguish. Aiden stood enough to stumble backwards. His eyes first on Selene, then on Aiyanna, he grasped at his throat. As his face turned red then bluish, his body morphed into his Hawk. For whatever reason, and who the hell cared at this point, Xander found it harder to watch the large Bird suffer.

With cries like that of a strangled woman, the tiny witch shot white light from her fingertips, zapping and killing the man who’d been giving the orders. The same man he had seen her ritually fucking less than forty-eight hours ago, she was currently burning to a crisp in front of everyone. Then finally the Hawk died, its wings stopping their fluttering fight. People started to run again, but with deft precision, the witch shot at many who’d come to this cave to kill him and Aiyanna. One shifter he was sure perished on his way out of the cave in such a hurry. The drop from the cliff no one without wings could survive.