Blood Twist (The Erris Coven Series)

27

BRADEN





As they raced down Robson Street in the direction of the Thunderbird Motel, Braden breathed in the pine scented air. Although Vancouver was a relative urban forest with all of the different types of trees growing everywhere, it was the black spruce that reminded him of home.

Liz’s small hand still gripped his own. Even as they put distance behind them, her heartbeat pounded with adrenaline.

“What do we do now?”

“We get you somewhere safe.”

“Me? What about you?”

“I have to go back,” he said simply.

“What?” Liz said, confused. “You barely got out of there with your life. A fact that I hold myself one hundred percent accountable for. Going back is just crazy.”

“When I was locked up, Riley told me something about my father. Something about his death didn’t occur to me at the time. If I don’t ask him now, I may never get the chance to again.”

Liz sat motionless in her seat. She could see why he needed to know. The mystery hurt his entire coven. The pain would live with him forever, but answers could make it bearable.

“Okay, but I’m coming with you.”

Braden gave her a side long look. “That didn’t work out so well last time.”

“I know, but, I swear Braden, if I had to stay somewhere knowing you were back there, I would die. At least let me wait out by the car. Besides, Riley told me things too.”

“Like?”

“Lots of things. Like what the cure is.”

Braden hadn’t forgotten about Ruby, but he did think the promise of a cure was a ruse to get him there. What else did he say? Did he tell her they would have been together if he hadn’t changed? His brother’s scent was all over her. Pushing the thought from his mind, he considered his options.

“I don’t know,” he said finally. “If that had been you instead of Maze, you would be dead now. I don’t know what I would have done.”

“That’s how I feel about you going back there alone,” Liz said, squeezing his hand. “The sun is coming up. They’ll probably be sleeping in the basement again. You can sneak in, check the place out. If it’s all clear, you can wake Riley, find out what you need from him and then we’ll leave.”

“And if it isn’t all clear?”

“Riley’s the leader and he told us to go. They aren’t going to expect us back. If they give you a hassle, I’ll throw a rock through the window and let the sunshine in.”

Braden smiled. She was a tenacious creature and perfectly impossible to tell no. Whipping the car around in an illegal u turn – he headed back in the direction of hell.

Please let this not be a mistake.

After parking under the trees, Barden knew something had changed. A quiet stillness had settled beneath the bloated sky. The sounds, the smells – everything about the old nursing home felt different. As he approached the entrance, the charcoaled remains of a dead draugr caught his attention.

“Why would he have come out after dawn?” Liz asked, close on his heels.

“Maybe the sun didn’t kill him,” Braden replied. “Maybe another draugr did after we left.”

Heading into the building, he motioned for Liz to wait by the door. Two more corpses were crumpled in the foyer, a third lay dismembered in the hall. Their blood was everywhere, sprayed across the walls, flooring and furnishings. A quick glance into the dining room confirmed what his senses already knew. Calling out to Liz, he didn’t think it was necessary to leave her alone out in the lot.

When she came in, Liz’s confusion echoed his. The room was littered with crumpled bodies. Gasping for breath beside him, Liz just shook her head, baffled with what she saw. “They’re dead. But how?”

“I don’t know.”

“Who?” she said, looking around. “There’s so much blood. I can’t tell where one body starts and another one ends.”

“I know.” Working his way through the room, he stepped carefully as he went. Some of the draugar were slumped over in tangled heaps, while others had been left flung oddly against the wall. A few he couldn’t identify at all – only muscle and sinew clinging to bones remained.

“I don’t understand,” Liz said from the doorway. “I saw them when they started eating Maze, and Garrick too, did they just start eating and not stop? Wait…” her eyes flashed with panic. What about Riley?”

Braden looked at the lifeless creatures. Other than the four bodies completely unidentifiable, the rest were either staked or had their hearts torn out the way Maze did.

Someone cleaned house. But why?

“Did they kill him?” Liz’s voice cracked.

“I don’t see him, but it’s pretty gruesome.” Braden glanced up and met Liz’s pained expression. “One of these half eaten bodies could be his.”

The moment he said it, he knew how stupid he sounded.

Another jerky guy saying stupid crap at the wrong moment – good job.

Tears rolled down Liz’s cheeks. Suddenly she stared up at him, her mouth gaped open.

“I didn’t mean to say it like that.”

“No, you don’t have to apologize. I just thought of something.” Turning her back, she ran straight for the stairs.

With his speed it wasn’t difficult to reach her, he just wished she’d let him know what she was thinking. Although the vampires all seemed dead, he didn’t trust the nest to be empty.

Once on the third floor, Liz headed straight for the room she had spent time in.

“It’s here. He left it,” she said excitedly, holding up a small red vile.

“It’s blood.” Braden finally understood. “His blood.”

“Riley said if I became a vampire, I could save anyone I wanted. Don’t you get it? Vampire blood is a cure. When he asked me if I wanted to run away with him, I told him I didn’t want to, that I needed to be with you.” Liz suddenly slowed down, and looked at him nervously. “It was my choice to stay. So he left this for me. He must have known I would come back for it. All we have to do is give it to her.”

Stepping closer, Braden ran his hand down the side of her face. “Thank you.”

“For what?” she said, holding still.

“For staying, for coming with me, for everything.” He answered. The gold flecks in her eyes caught him then, pulling him in until he could do nothing but kiss her.

Pulling her into his arms, Braden trailed a line of kisses over her eyelids, cheeks and the bridge of her nose until his lips met hers. Breathing her in, tasting her lips – he wanted nothing more than to freeze the moment in time. After a while, a slight sigh escaped her. Pressing her face into his chest, he enjoyed just holding her to him, knowing she was safe.

“I’m guessing we better get going,” she said softly.

“Back to reality,” he agreed. “I just wish I had found Riley. I didn’t think it would end like this. ”

“I know,” she replied, withdrawing from his arms. “Me too.”

As Liz turned her back on him to head down the hall, Braden followed close behind. Descending quietly into the stairwell, he couldn’t help but wonder what ending Liz had wanted with his brother.





28



DEATH





It was so easy to slay them while they feasted on each other. They paid no heed to screams while swimming in the deliria of cannibalistic drunkenness. The young one got away, a few others possibly too, but it didn’t matter. None witnessed his final glory as he annihilated the nest with his hands.

They never knew what he was. Like nests before this one, they came and went, refusing to bow to the strongest of leaders. Vampires were all the same. In the end they always tried killing him…and failed.

The damphyr believed he was dead. From within the darkened walls, he listened as Braden and Liz discovered the remains of his celebration. Even the charcoaled body at the door confounded them – one of the last who preferred facing the sun than the pain of his talons.

Believing he was gone, as dead as the heap slaughtered on the floor, they had no clue he watched in his altered form. A shape only he shifted into that could withstand the sun.

Death shivered with pleasure. Finally, it was time. The damphyr would lead him to the others – to the ones he had been waiting to find.

The half-breeds were so delectable, so delicious in their silken purity. His desire for them was like nothing else he ever experienced.

Two hundred and seven years ago, he systematically went from village to village, slaughtering them all. Death hadn’t always given in to the darkness. Even he once hunted wild boar and jackal with his brethren in the hills of Greece.

The first time he tore into the two beating hearts, he was forever hooked. The fact that they belonged to his brother didn’t matter, knowing it damned him to darkness didn’t either. One simple accident while hunting left Aigle bleeding – before it could heal, his hunger gave way to lust.

Temptation was so easily corruptible.