Havermouth, Present Time“Shit,” Dan tugged Sigrid back behind him as a glass bottle was hurled out of Leighton’s torture chamber accompanied by a scream of outrage. The bottle smashed against the wall, and a thick black liquid slid down to bubble ominously in a puddle on the floor.“You were going to LOCK ME UP AGAIN!”It was Mercy screaming, Sigrid realized. “It’s alright,” she told her mates who had taken up a defensive stance around her. “I think Mercy just discovered Leighton’s plans for her if he’d followed through on following Jules Edison to Trayrock.”“This is precisely why, Mercy,” Leighton’s voice was patiently patronizing. “You are behaving entirely irrationally. This was a practical solution to an urgently required absence. You would have been perfectly safe and had a food supply sufficient for the duration of your mother and my absence.”Sigrid gestured for silence when Dan moved slightly, wanting to finish the errand now that the danger was passed, however, she wanted t
Trayrock, Present Time“Fuck,” Heath said immediately upon closing the door.“Should we be abandoning those patients?” Aislen was distracted by the drama unfolding in the car park as people’s attention moved from the collapsing building to the injured patients. “I feel like we should be helping those people.”“I think we are best to leave those people to be cared for by the medical staff,” Talen said grimly as he reversed the car out of the car park and made his way toward the main road. “It is too risky for us to stay here, Morgana. And Heath is right, we have other problems at the moment.”“We do?” Aislen leaned forward between the two chairs, bracing her elbows on the back. “Like what?”“Jules Edison and Harry are here,” Talen said quietly. “And Cameron just got into the car with them.”“Oh,” Aislen hesitated, and watching her face in the rearview Heath saw the moment it registered. “Oh. Oh shit.”“It is my fault,” Talen was grim. “Sigrid told me that they were on their way to Tray
Trayrock, Present TimeThere were pink patches on Cameron’s cheeks, and the muscle in the corner of his jaw stood out and twisted as if he were chewing back on his anger. If that had left Rhett in any doubt as to how Cameron felt about the secrets his mates had been keeping from him, the way he held his mouth, and his cold, narrowed eyes, confirmed it. He even smelled angry, Rhett thought ruefully. It was a hot, sharp, metallic scent that sat uneasily in Rhett’s stomach and made him want to cling to Cameron, to dig his fingers into Cameron’s hair, and hold on until Cameron chilled out again.Cameron did not so much as look at him as Harry parked the car and they got out. Jules slid Rhett a grimace and mouthed: “Sorry.” Rhett managed a small, sad smile. Jules had nothing to apologise for. Rhett, Heath, Talen and Aislen had made their bed, and now they had to lie in it. Had they made the right choice? Rhett had thought so at the time. But in making that choice they had prioritized the w
Havermouth, Present Time“I am not going to wander around Havermouth and hope the witches just appear,” Sigrid decided and dialled Stella’s number on the phone. It rang for an overly long time, and Sigrid just managed to prevent herself from tapping her toes impatiently as she waited.“Hello?” Asked a voice that did not belong to Stella.“It is Sigrid,” Sigrid snapped. “Where is Stella?”“She is busy with the wards,” the witch on the other end sounded taken aback. “I’ll let her know that you called.”“Even better, tell me where you are!” Sigrid demanded. “In Havermouth, Stella said, but there has been no sighting of you.”“Oh… I don’t think that I’m allowed to say,” the woman was hesitant. In the background, there were many voices and movements, as if a great number of people were very busy.“Stella said to use the shelving to hang the tarpaulins for privacy,” someone said nearby.“There isn’t much left of use here,” someone else complained. “They have raided this store thoroughly.”“
Havermouth, Present TimeLeighton entered the laboratory as Connery reached the final stage of preparing the hallucinogenic. “What are we making?” The warlock asked, intrigued, as he joined them at the workbench.“Sigrid requires a hallucinogenic,” Meguitte explained warily. She had always liked Leighton and appreciated his experience and insight into magic and potions. But Connery’s suspicions had her questioning everything she had thought she had known about the man and the mental image of Bianca’s body being harvested for spell components simply would not leave her thoughts.“All organic, of course, as we’re pretty certain that Sigrid is with child, and whilst vampires have a constitutional advantage due to their liquid diet, it is never a bad thing to be safe rather than sorry,” Connery continued without looking up from his brew. “And, from the looks on her Triquetra’s face when she announced her intentions, we would be sorry indeed if anything befell either Sigrid or the baby. Lu
Havermouth, Present Time“Fucking hell,” Dan whistled under his breath as he pulled the door shut to the laboratory. “Just when I think I’ve seen it all.” He shook his head ruefully amused by the three eccentric magic users who had smothered their giggles and settled peacefully on the floor.“Hallucinogenics have been used throughout history by sages, mages, and those who seek to foresee the future,” Sigrid replied primly. She was not surprised by the giggles, nor their quick transition from laughter into the stillness of meditation She had attended and participated in many witch circles with Meguitte in the past, which usually began the same way – though with less clothing.“They looked like they were having fun,” Dan smirked. “We could use some fun.”“Not this sort of fun,” Greg replied crisply dismissing the suggestion.“Spoilsport.” But there were no hard feelings behind the words.“You probably cannot consume this anyway,” Sigrid passed Greg two of the jars and opened the third.
Trayrock, Present TimeToby lay on the bed, surrounded by rolled-up towels. Aislen could see why the dragons had done so as there was a steady seep of blood and other things from his stomach. A discarded hospital sheet tangled around her feet as she entered, its starched white stained with rings of red and brown.Samuel entered through the bedroom door as Aislen approached the bed. “He is losing a lot of blood and other fluids,” he said as he crossed to the bed. He held a bowl filled with steaming water and rags. “I understand that Cameron gave him some blood before giving him to me, but it was obviously not enough for such a wound.”“Shit,” Aislen whispered and eased onto the bed next to Toby. She stroked his hair back from his forehead. His skin was waxy, and pale, and clammy to the touch and his eyes appeared to have sunk into his skull. She could smell the sickness of the injury on him, a mix of raw meat, blood, and… “I can smell shit.”“Yes, I believe his bowel has been punctured
Trayrock, Present TimeCameron didn’t have a plan as to where he was going. Just away. He needed to leave before he exploded. It was too much, all at once. His family home had been attacked, his father and his mate had almost died, and Cameron’s mates had kept that news from him. They would still be keeping that secret if Jules and Harry hadn’t come to Trayrock after Cameron. The betrayal was so great and his rage so white-hot that Cameron couldn’t even start to think clearly.He leaped the balcony, landing hard, the sting shooting up his calves, and strode down the road. Walking fast was not fast enough and after a moment, he broke into a trot, and then a run, moving beyond human pace into that of a hybrid. He followed the roads along the riverbank, through twists and turns where the road moved away from the water, and then back again. The houses and the make-shift barricade blurring on either side of him, until all he saw was the road in front of him and all he heard was the pounding
Havermouth, Present TimeAislen was looking down at a chessboard. She was holding a little statuette of Verina in her hand. She shook as she set it down on her side of the board and looked up at the woman who sat across from her. This time, the handmaiden or goddess, whatever she was, wore gold. Not some cheap and tacky replica, or some misleading named yellow, but true gold.An elaborate metal headdress began on her forehead, framing her face and covering her hair, continuing from just below her chin to spread over her shoulders and down her chest. The dress was made of fine chain link that draped like material, clinging to her curvaceous body, before dripping away into the aether that crept around their feet. Her lips were painted gold, and so were her eyelids and eyebrows. Golden rings encircled her fingers, and her wrists and arms were heavy with bracelets and cuffs. The tips of her fingers were dipped in gold.She was magnificent and regal and there was a formality to the way tha
Havermouth, Present TimeThe room stank. They could smell it the moment they started down the hallway. Old blood, rotten flesh, and rodents. Connery made a noise in the back of his throat and fished in his pockets producing a handkerchief and stuffing it full of herbs from a pouch. He held it out to Meguitte who smiled and shook her head ruefully. She had smelled this particular scent before, many times over the centuries, during plagues and in the dungeons where people were tortured and left to rot.“I guess it’s a good thing that no one has been here to clean up after Leighton, as the ward will be untouched,” Connery commented, his voice muffled by the handkerchief.Blow flies greeted them. The cages were empty, but no one had scrubbed the room, and there were buckets sticky with congealed blood, stains of it on the floors and walls, and other biological matter in the corners of the cages where the prisoners had relieved themselves. The room rustled with bugs as a result.“Hmm,” Meg
Havermouth, Present Time“You’re doing great,” Heath was breathless. He and Rhett had run, dragging with them several screaming witches. They had been pursued, by Mer, by zombies, by the few Van Helsing soldiers who had survived, but they’d been able to put some distance between them with help from the dragons in the sky. It had been very weird to see the dragons sending bolts of lighting and fire to hold off pursuit. One of them had done something that had made the earth beneath Heath’s feet tremble with a clap of thunder that had his ears still ringing.The timing had been perfect. They’d headed towards Leighton’s warehouse, and just as he’d started to debate which warehouse was likely, the door of the Stock Feed and Animal Supplies warehouse had opened revealing Phillip Salem. When he’d entered and seen Aislen on her hands and knees in a clearing within the filthy warehouse, he had not known whether to be relieved or despairing. The warehouse was so precarious a place for his mate
Havermouth, Present Time“Stella was anticipating that your mates would attack the ward,” Phillip commented mildly as he riffled through the cupboards. “I am curious to see what happened when she found Leighton instead of them. He did not seem happy.”“Leighton was there? Shit,” Aislen’s heart picked up pace. “We really don’t want him to find us, Phillip. We tried to turn him over to the Mer, but it failed. Verina died though, and Leighton’s pissed in a big way. He came to kill me.”“Possibly, or to steal the baby,” Phillip agreed indifferently inspecting a steak knife before returning it to the drawer. “I think you over value yourself, Aislen, and undervalue what you’re carrying.”“Gee, thanks. Hopefully, Stella took Leighton out,” Aislen added thoughtfully. “She was well set up there, with a massive coven behind her. However powerful Leighton is, I doubt he’s as powerful as them.”“That is true. But then, Stella will have discovered that you are not there, and will know that I betra
Havermouth, Present Time“I’m fine, my darling, truly, cross my heart,” Connery pressed the heel of his hand to his chest earnestly. Meguitte narrowed her eyes at him with suspicion. He was still paler than normally, with shadows pressed deep into his under eyes.“Have a sandwich and a cup of tea,” the werewolf Diana insisted offering both from a tray. She was going around the lower floor exchanging food and drinks for blood, and Meguitte sent her a side-eye. “I won’t take his blood,” Diana added hastily. “I can see that he can’t spare it. Perhaps you could, though?”“Me?” Meguitte was astonished by the suggestion.“It won’t take more than ten minutes, and I’m very gentle, I promise.”“It’s not that,” Meguitte explained. “I’m just… not an ordinary vampire. I have none of their normal powers.”“All blood is good blood at the moment,” Diana had sensed surrender and was preparing the kit.Meguitte sat next to Connery and rolled up her sleeve.He smiled at her. “How generous you are my be
Havermouth, Present TimeRhett and Heath did not speak as they wound their way through the streets of Havermouth. There was little opportunity to talk, slinking through the shadows, down the little alleyways between houses, and cutting through back gardens, but there was also a heavy sense of silence between them so that Rhett knew that even if they had been able, they both would have been too lost in their thoughts. Or lost in their worries, would be more accurate.They had searched the area around the smoke thoroughly, even venturing into the still-burning buildings. There had been no sign of Aislen. And no response to their mental calls for their mate. An icy fist of dread had a tight grip on Rhett’s heart. Why was she not answering? She had to be unconscious or…They would know if she had died. He refused to believe otherwise.Had Leighton found her first? What would Leighton do if he had found Aislen? He still struggled to see Leighton as dangerous, whatever mental voodoo the man
Havermouth, Present TimeThere were some languages that were universal, Sigrid thought grimly as she examined the Mer weaponry and made sure that she was familiar with its function. She could tell from the way the Mer moved, from the set of their shoulders, that they were uneasy with the alliance between herself and Niarthen. Their tolerance was thin, and only their respect for Niarthen, and the other two Mer generals, Benethin and Aeylira, kept them obedient. The moment word was received from above that Havermouth was to be destroyed, her life was forfeit.“Do not fear,” Niarthen said quietly. “Aeylira, Benethin, Lyric, and I will ensure that you reach your mates. There is a building which has been declared sacred. Lyric thinks it’s the hospital. That is where your mates are, yes? You should be safe there.”“I am with child,” she told him. “Triplets. The life of four rests on your promise.”“I understand,” he was grim. “Lyric also carries our child.”“If the tide turns,” she regarded
Havermouth, Present TimeMagic was in its very nature an invisible thing. You did not see a spell cast, but rather the effects of the spell once it found its victim. Therefore, the warlock Leighton appeared to do very little other than stand with his hands pressed to the surface of the ward, the energy blowing back his hair and causing sweat to break out on his forehead, but Samuel could FEEL the power, and see the reaction of the ward, its opaque surface shifting like water, areas clearing so that the dragons caught brief glimpses of the witches below scurrying about like ants as they tried to reinforce their magic by scattering herbs and arcane objects, and drawing runes on the bitumen.Samuel’s memories of the gloves were still fragmented, but he could recall the power they had given him – not just increased speed, strength, and stamina, but also a magic that was unnatural to him. He could feel a similar magic burning through his veins towards his heart and brain, poisoning as it b
Havermouth, Present TimeIn the front yard of the witch’s house, Jules caught Harry’s hand, pulling them to a stop. “I should shift,” he explained as he released Harry’s hand and began to strip off his clothing. “We can fly over the trouble.”“Aren’t you the clever one, my beloved,” Harry reached out and began to collect Jules’s clothes as Jules undressed. Jules looked up from stripping off his jeans to find Harry’s eyes hot and his smirk smoldering, and laughed, pulled from the seriousness of the war around them into a moment of pure joy as they celebrated what existed between them.“Okay,” Jules blushed as he finished undressing. “A moment.”Harry stepped back onto the porch and Jules focused on his shift. It was still a foreign experience, one that his body and mind told him shouldn’t be possible despite his entire life as a werewolf. Becoming a werewolf was a redistribution of his body – what existed simply moved to a position more appropriate for the shape that he wished to posses