Ever After

Chapter 46

“William’s Point of View”

It was nearing dawn and we had been searching for her for over two hours and not one sign. I was sick inside. I had seen the terror in her eyes as Todd held her. I could do nothing to help. Pratt and Riley wouldn’t let me go. Pratt warned me I would be no match for Todd, as I was too weak to fight.

I wasn’t now, with each hour I regained my strength, my speed and a deeper hatred of Todd Downs and the Dark coven. Doc and Pratt said Corrine would likely survive the fall from the bridge. It was only the fact that she had phased into a half blood merely days before that saved her.

The problem she was going to have as Pratt explained to us was that she had not had any blood in many hours. It was critical for new vamps even half bloods to have a steady diet of blood to make their system strong. Pratt worried she was going to be too weak to handle being out in the cold and rain, not to mention her injuries from Todd and the fall.

I couldn’t bare to think of my sweet Corrine all alone and hurt in this hellish swamp. The weather was acting strange as another freakish cold front settled in on the New Orleans area. Doc worried Corrine might get hypothermia being out here. The sooner we got to her the better.

Doc had the coven house secured, we were lucky Leo had not come with Todd and Kyle to kidnap me. None of our coven had been hurt in the break in; it was only me that they wanted. Doc was still trying to negotiate with Leo on settling this mess between them.

Pratt was anxious though. The elders of the Irish coven had arrived in New Orleans just an hour ago and were heading to Doc’s plantation house as we searched for Corrine. They were irate with Leo and what he was doing to us. I knew they were also still raging about the murder of their own half bloods in London.

The elders of the McClain coven were very good friend’s with Doc and Pratt and would help us in any way they could. The thing Pratt worried about was the fact the McClain’s had very bad tempers, and if Leo pushed them or us, they might snap and just go after him. They had very little patience for the Dark Coven.

I had heard that many of the Irish covens were hot tempered. Honestly, I hoped they did snap and go after Leo and the entire Dark coven and kill them all. I had not met any of them, and from what I heard, about ten more of their coven were coming from Ireland later next week.

It was planned to set up in teams to search for Corrine. Pratt, Roth, and I made up one party. Andrew, Riley, and Sam made up party number two. The last party was Doc, and two of the elders James and Seth. It was a heavy swamp area we had to search, so we had to spread out and search the area carefully.

The rain still fell as we walked the banks of the river. I walked slowly as I thought of Todd escaping us. Roth and Taylor had jumped for him after he threw Corrine over the bridge. The thing they had not expected was that he too jumped over the bridge before they could get a hand on him. Kyle did not get away though at least. Roth and Taylor drug Kyle off into the woods, and they did not come back for a good twenty minutes. Kyle was no longer an issue after that.

Doc gave us all his permission to kill Todd Downs; he was not to be allowed to live under any circumstances. We all knew he was definitely still alive, being a full-blooded vamp the fall, and the cold wouldn’t kill him. I was what would kill him, somehow some way I was going to get him out of Corrine’s life for the last time.

I was not going to have her worry about him hunting her down anymore. I just hoped she was still alive, and that Todd didn’t find her before we did. They were probably in the same area, since they went off the bridge within minutes of each other.

It was so cold and wet as we traveled deeper into the swamp. Doc had called Pratt on his cell phone and warned us the river was set to flood even more as heavy rain was moving in. Time was not on our side, as if it ever was anyway. It was also possible Leo sent some of his vamps out into the swamp to look for Todd or even worse Corrine.

Doc and Pratt begged me to go back to the coven house and rest, but I refused. There was no way in hell I was leaving Corrine out here; I would die searching for her if I had to. I would never stop until she was back safely with me and in my arms. She was my world my purpose for living and nothing was going to stop me from getting to her, not Todd, Leo or this dammed swamp.