Havermouth, The PresentThere were no triggers that could be determined from outside, and so they moved to the external doors, weapons held ready, whilst the bomb experts forced the frosted glass doors open.The zombie burst out of the opening. A Van Helsing, his body covered in third degree burns, with bandages just clinging in places, and IV lines dangling from the needles in his veins, he let out a horrible, inhuman, screech.Rohan’ s men’s gunfire sliced through the zombie at the knees, and as he collapsed, he continued in his efforts to reach them, clawing along the floor with surprising speed, dragging lower legs that clung only by a few sinews and strings of skin, leaving behind a gory trail.Rohan’s bullet exploded the Van Helsing’s skull, splattering the ground and walls in brain matter. Heath regarded his childhood friend in surprised re-evaluation. He wanted to tease Rohan playfully, as his friend had done blowing him a kiss earlier, to take the edge off his uneasy surprise
Havermouth, The PresentCameron stood on the tray of the Unimog next to Aislen watching as Heath and Talen made their way through the white tents. Beside the werewolf soldiers, it was not easy to keep Talen within eyesight, he towered over even the tallest, something that made Cameron slightly nervous as it would also make Talen a target.Aislen gripped Cameron’s arm in both hands, her eyes also glued to their mates.“Give me a hand up, Cam?” Rhett called up pulling Cameron’s eyes down, and he bent over to grip Rhett’s wrist in his hand, lifting his mate up too easily.“Shit Rhett,” Cameron scolded his mate as Rhett rose to his feet and dusted his palms off on his knees. “You could compete as a featherweight.”Rhett scowled. “I could still take you, puppy.”Cameron pulled a dubious face. “Not at the moment, you couldn’t.”“Shut up with that crap,” Rhett’s attention was on their mates, and not their conversation, so his banter was absent minded. The ambulances and tents partially obscu
Havermouth, The PresentAs Cameron stepped in front of Aislen, Rhett wrapped his arms around her and hauled her back into the house, hoping that the puppy would follow, but possessing only the strength to lift one mate. As he shoved Aislen into the house, he heard a gunshot ring out, and jerked around in time to see Cameron hit the ground.Aislen shrieked, her face contorting in pain and fear. “Cameron!”“F-k,” Rhett scrambled on all fours to where Cameron had collapsed on the footpath.There was a roar from the direction of the hospital, and suddenly one of the Van Helsing 4WD’s was flipped onto its side. Heath jerked as a bullet grazed along his cheek bone and blurred out of sight again. A thunder of footprints tore Rhett’s eyes from where his blonde mate had been to where the soldiers who had been in the houses ran towards the shelter offered by the upturned 4WD and Unimogs and began to lay down covering fire for those who had been caught exposed by the tents.He heard Talen’s voic
Havermouth, The PresentAislen ignored the protests of her men and was up off the bench seat the moment the Unimog slowed and started to stop. Talen rose, catching her by the waist and steadying her against the final rocks of the truck with expert balance, before jumping lightly down and reaching up for her.She stepped into his arms with utter confidence that he would catch her. “Sorry, daddy,” she said as he set her to her feet. “I need to know that August is still secured.”“We all do. Heath and Rhett can take care of Cameron, let’s go check on…” He trailed off as the destruction came into sight. “What the f-k happened here?” He marvelled.“You sound like one of the Triquetra,” Aislen remarked absently, her eyes scanning the damage. “Something f-king went on,” she summarized. “We’ll find out what after. Let’s go,” she tugged on his hand, pulling him along behind her towards Leighton’s ancient warehouse.It was crumbling, Aislen thought, the building too frail for what they had been
Havermouth, The PresentAislen swallowed hard. “Well,” she said slowly, feeling all their eyes on her. “I dreamt about you.” Leighton tilted his head to the side. “I dream about things sometimes,” she continued, feeling her skin prick with sweat. “I dreamt about you meeting Verina… I dreamt about the flood and the bodies, and I dreamt about you crossing the river. I saw you go to the Edison’s farm and take Mr Edison’s Ute, and go to the caves near the dam…”“Mhm,” Leighton shifted slightly. “That was accurate.”“Normally when I dream things, they’re like a warning…” Aislen glanced at Stella. “And I’m starting to learn to pay attention to them. I dreamt about you… and Verina… and that’s why when we first encountered you and the zombies, I sort of trusted you.” Though it hadn’t hurt that he was f-king hot, she admitted to herself. “And I think my dreams about the river and the bodies were trying to tell me something. I thought that they were warning me that the flood was coming, but… Wh
Havermouth, The Present“So,” Aislen raised an eyebrow at Leighton. “How is it going?”Leighton laughed under his breath and ran his hands through his head. “You expect miracles of us, Aislen Carter,” he told her.“We have been working on isolating a measure of the infection,” Connery announced. “If we can get a measure of the infection, then we can get a measure of quantity of vampire blood required to neutralize it. At the same time, we are looking at ways of concentrating the blood, and distributing it in the water to maximum effect.”“Bleeding in the water won’t be effective?” Talen raised an eyebrow.“Not really,” Connery replied politely, although the look he exchanged with Meguitte was indulgently exasperated. “We are talking about people rotting into the water and being consumed by the wildlife, the virus then being excreted into the water at a later time - ”Aislen covered her mouth with her hand. “No,” she gagged. “Excuse me…” She broke away from the group. Talen scooped her
Havermouth, The Present“Could take a shower?” Cameron said looking down at the mess of his top and shoulder as they waited for the water to boil over the camp stove.“Not much point,” Heath was, if anything, covered with more blood, but not as much of his own as Cameron was. “The day is not done yet,” his grin stretched his cheeks, and he ran his tongue over the elongated sharp points of his teeth. “Let’s just clean up a little, and then you three can head back to the bunker - ”“Bull shit,” Cameron’s head jerked up from his inspection of his wound. “We’re not splitting up, Heath.”“Look, Cam,” Heath said reasonably. “You’re shot, Aislen’s pregnant, and Rhett…”“Rhett’s what?” Rhett demanded as their eyes turned to him. “Rhett’s fine. Everyone needs to stop worrying about Rhett. Rhett’s got this.”“Rhett’s talking about himself in third person,” Heath pointed out.“Rhett knows that,” Rhett scowled. “And Rhett’s not staying behind whilst Heath and Talen go and risk their lives fightin
Havermouth, The PresentConnery strolled across the road smiling pleasantly and inclining his head to the new arrivals as they explored the area. Several witches and warlocks were chalking runes across the road, and others were tying ribbons and hex pouches into the fences and trees.“Busy, busy little witches and warlocks,” Connery commented to himself.He would sleep better, however, for knowing that his sleep was guarded by so many wards and safeguards, he admitted to himself. Not that he planned to do much sleeping, he added to himself with a wide grin. He was not a fool to waste his time on sleep now that he had Meguitte in his bed.He had his eyes on one of the camper vans. A luxury model with a generously sized bed, it wasn’t precisely his island escape, but it was a definite step up from sleeping on the floor. With Logan Wren on the loose, Connery also thought it wise not to spend the night where Logan knew to look. He had no doubt that Logan hadn’t given up on Meguitte, despi
Havermouth, The Present Aislen sat on the bench seat of one of the Unimogs whilst Talen and the Heath met with Rohan. There were lot of hand signals gesturing beyond the destruction of the farm and solemn expressions on their faces. When she looked up, she could see that Rhett and Cameron were busy helping to carry injured to the waiting vehicles and that the vampires and werewolf soldiers were destroying what remained of the farm’s buildings, ensuring that there was no way that the Van Helsings could return and continue to use the site. The crashing and shouting as they tore the buildings to pieces was giving Aislen a headache and she paused in her poetry writing to pinch her brows. “Here,” Bianca climbed nimbly up the Unimog’s ladder and offered Aislen a bottle of water and two pills. “Paracetamol. You’ve been sitting here rubbing at your head, so I know you’ve got a headache.” “Thanks,” Aislen took the pills and washed them back with the water. “Ah shit,” she said after she’d sw
Havermouth, The PresentRhett and Heath shifted into human form and the Triquetra threw their arms around each other and him, their hands smearing mud and blood onto each other unheeding in their relief that all four had made it through unscathed. Over Heath’s shoulder, Talen saw Morgana slip and slide through the mud, her cheeks streaked with tears as she saw them, and he held out a hand, welcoming her in, the Triquetra pulling her into the center of the embrace.It was where she belonged, Talen thought as he leaned his face into her hair and breathed the scent of his female mate into his lungs. Morgana had always been the center, the heart of their family, the piece that made the rest of them make sense together.“Everyone’s in one piece,” she pivoted slowly round the circle of her men, inspecting each for injury, smearing away blood and mud with her hands in order to make sure that they didn’t hide wounds below.“We’re fine. We are fine,” Heath laughed wetly. “Really, Aislen, we’re
Havermouth, The PresentTalen kept watch as Harry set the explosives under the last of the guns. Of all five machine gun stations, this one was the most exposed, and Talen could feel the prickle of stress sweat between his shoulder blades. They had debated leaving this one completely and hoping that the explosions from the other stations would be enough, but the Van Helsings on duty there had been called to help load a helicopter that was waiting to take off, leaving the station as an open invitation for sabotage.When Harry eased out from under the station and slunk through the shadows to Talen’s side, the relief dragged through Talen’s muscles like the heavy refractory period after sex. He was exhausted, and that terrified him as he knew that the battle was ahead. Get through it, he told himself. Win this battle, and then take your mates to the river house, as Cameron had suggested, for three days and nights of f-king and feasting upon his mates as he turned them.It would be bliss.
Havermouth, The PresentIt was one thing to ride a Unimog through town, and another to travel on one long distance for over an hour, Aislen thought grimly. She was certain that most of her bones had been shaken loose and that when she eventually did stand up, she’d collapse in a jumble of limbs like in a cartoon. She’d been trying to work on another Secret Keeper post, working in a notebook that she’d stolen from one of the desks in the bunker, but her handwriting was so shaky that she wasn’t sure she’d be able to read it afterwards.She also wasn’t sure if she was being optimistic in it’s message.However, if she wasn’t writing, then she had to focus on what was happening around her, where they were going, and the fact that they had to be getting close, and there still was no sign of Talen. Was he okay? She would know, wouldn’t she? She asked herself. If something had happened to him, she was sure that she would feel it somehow, like a wound to her heart.“He’s fine,” she said out lo
Havermouth, The PresentThe farm’s vegetable gardens had been trampled underfoot, without any care for the vegetables and fruits left unharvested, the Van Helsings having abandoned any pretence of the site being anything other than what it was – a military facility. Entrance into the farm from the main road was controlled by guards and cement roadblocks, however, away from the public side of the farm, the security relaxed. There were flood lights set at key points, but their focus was inward and in daylight, they had been turned off.One field contained neat rows of tents, and a portable shower and toilet building which was in use as Harry and Talen crept around it’s edges, someone singing an atrocious rendition of a popular love song as they showered.It made Talen pause, hearing that singer, and a fury began to burn in the pit of his stomach. The Van Helsings at this site were so at ease, so comfortable, that they sang in the shower, where he and his mates had spent nearly every mom
Havermouth, The PresentHeath woke to discover that he had slept through Talen leaving and that pissed him off as whilst he recognized the vampire’s seniority and experience, Heath was faster and stronger, and he felt that it just made sense for him to be included in the mission, and that if anyone should have been left behind, it should have been Harry.Sigrid and her Triquetra had control of the bunker by the time Heath’s Triquetra left their room with Aislen. They met briefly in the room and ran over the sparse information that Talen had given to Cameron and Rohan before his departure and to try to piece together a plan of attack with Rohan – something which was difficult as they had no idea the total size of Haven Farm, and Heath could only roughly sketch the areas that he had been admitted to when visiting Charlotte, and on the times he’d been on the escorted tour.None of the maps that they had showed property boundaries, and even Sigrid’s Triquetra’s fancy toys didn’t have any
Havermouth, The PresentTalen slipped out of the bed when the wait staff arrived in the morning, pulling on yesterday’s trousers in order to open the door and pressing his fingers to his lips to indicate that they should be quiet as they delivered the breakfast and clothing. He admired the efficiency of the bunker, despite the disruption to the leadership everything continued to run like clockwork and thanked the staff quietly as they departed.He showered quickly and dressed in the clean clothing, before creeping back out into the main living area.Cameron looked up from the table. “You’re up early.”“Shh,” Talen placed his finger on his lips as he checked to make sure that Cameron had closed the bedroom door behind him. “You should be asleep, Cameron,” he said quietly as he crossed to ruffle the werewolf alpha’s russet curls.“I smelled pancakes,” Cameron told him with a bright smile as he uncovered them. “Ahhh,” he sighed in satisfaction. “Would you just look at that? Blueberry pre
Havermouth, The PresentHeath rose from the bed as Rhett lifted Cameron’s face to his and kissed him, pushing Cameron’s hand away from his c-ck so that he could take hold of it, causing Cameron to moan into the kiss as Rhett stroked him.Talen released, Morgana’s leg, leaning over to suck on the nipple that was exposed as she lowered her knee to the mattress. He teased the tips with his teeth, knowing that the pinch of the clip would make them sensitive, and slid his hand down her stomach to rub against her clit as Heath positioned himself.“Would you like some Edison brand lube?” Rhett’s grin was wicked. He had wrapped his arm around Cameron, holding his redhaired mate by the throat, just under the jaw, and Cameron’s face was slack with pleasure as Rhett’s other hand jerked his c-ck viscously.“Hmm,” Talen laughed through his nose. “Go on then,” he encouraged them. Cameron would have time to recover from the orgasm and be good for a second round before the night was through, he predi
Havermouth, The PresentThe moment the door opened; Rhett jerked Aislen to face him, his eyes intense. “Play time,” he growled his wolf shading the amber of his irises with an oily sheen of green and gold. He pulled her top up and off her without breaking their gazes, and then lifted his own top up slowly in a delicious display of tattooed skin and muscle made more striking by his leanness.Heath and Cameron fell in behind him, assuming the Triquetra formation that she had seen them take so many times, an unconscious werewolf move, hunters stalking their prey, and she caught her bottom lip between her teeth as she backed towards the bedroom, Rhett keeping pace with her, the distance between them precise, his eyes locked on hers.Talen closed the door behind them and strolled nonchalantly towards the kitchenette.Rhett unbuttoned his trousers, his c-ck pushing against the fly so that the teeth opened little by little with every throb. “Undress, Aislen,” he purred the words, his smirk w