Chapter Nineteen

When the wolf and raven come together darkness reigns

O n the evening of the third day since their friends went missing, the team stood outside the impenetrable compound. Reinforcements had arrived, but even with Delta’s help they were no closer to gaining entry against the magic. Yet in the end, they didn’t need to break through the unrecognizable magic. Apparently going in was the problem, not leaving.

Ravyn burst through the thick undergrowth more beast than woman. No, not a beast , Sebastian amended, a Valkyrie . A blood-stained warrior of lore carrying a fallen hero to the hall. His wolf howled with relief at seeing her and then abruptly and solemnly cut off the sound. His heart nearly thumped from his chest with simultaneous relief and fear.

Alive. She was alive. Panic followed as he realized that the blood covered-woman carried the too still body of his nephew in her arms, a thick silver collar around his neck. Both bloodied, Ravyn barefoot with her dress barely hanging on her body, they emerged from the estate as if pursued by the hounds of hell themselves.

Seemingly impossible, she cradled Toby in her arms with half his body tossed over her shoulder. Even with her waning vampire strength, she’d brought the youth, twice her size, back from wherever they’d been. As she fell to her knees before the group, they burst into activity. Immediately, the team surrounded her. Armed with both tooth and gun, they protected her back from whatever might emerge from the growth after them.

Sebastian’s heart dropped in his chest, fearing the worst for his nephew. So still, too damn still. How could he face his sister, his family, if…

Hanging onto her sanity by a thread, not a hint of white showed up around Ravyn’s black eyes. Eyes that searched and found Sebastian’s within seconds. Even as she wavered on legs with barely the strength to hold the teen in her arms, she was refusing to let him go.

“Bash,” she hissed out with a lisp, her fangs extended as she fought to control her beast from within.

Sebastian realized with horror that her teeth had pierced her lips in her attempts to control her hunger. Instinct and training immediately replaced the combination of feelings that had surged through him when she stumbled out of the wooded overgrowth. “Help…”

“Medic!” Pushing his feelings down for Ravyn for a sharp, cold thought, Bash barked out orders as two trained medics—one vampire, one wolf—shot forward. The damn vampires had better be prepared to overpower her if needed; that was why they were on the job in the first place. As much as he loved this woman, what stood before him might not feel the same toward him.

Despite the speed of the medics, Bash reached the duo first. Gently he wrapped his arms around his nephew, whom Ravyn refused to immediately release from her tight grasp. Her fangs bit deeper into her lower lip, pinning her mouth closed while releasing fresh blood.

She was barely holding it together, yet she refused to bite the boy.

“Sir?” A voice hesitated, questioning the safety of approaching an almost feral vampire. Bash ignored the warning. Whoever said it didn’t know Ravyn and couldn’t see how she fought to keep herself under control even as her hunger drove her forward.

“Ravyn,” he said gently, “you can let him go now. You brought him home.” Relief flashed through him; he could feel the boy’s wolf sitting silently watching and waiting, not wanting to antagonize his savior who stood on the edge of a precipice. He was alive. Thank Fenrir, he was alive. “Just let him go and let me take care of both of you.”

The vampire medic tore open a bag of blood, and Ravyn’s eyes lit up as the smell hit her. She twitched as she sought to find the source of the smell but still refused to let go of her charge. The vamp stepped closer but she snarled at him, lashing out with her teeth as she protectively pulled Toby closer to her breast.

Reaching back, Bash took the bag from the medic and pressed it closer to Ravyn’s face. Caught in the lust for blood, her face twitched violently as the bag pressed closer. With a snarl, she released one hand from Toby and snatched the bag from his hand, bringing it greedily to her mouth, suckling the bag even while her eyes darted around the group and she growled at any bit of movement other than Bash’s.

“Let me take him,” Bash encouraged gently. “We can take care of him.” Promises passed his lips even as he gently took Toby from her arms. The boy was so cold, and one of his hands was wrapped in a rag soaked with both old and fresh blood.

Once in his arms, he could feel the slow, steady beat of Toby’s heart under his hands. Slow, too slow, but thank Fenrir the boy still lived. Where there was a heartbeat there was hope.

A snarl sounded from behind him as he turned away with his nephew in his arms.

“I’ll be right back, Ravyn.” This time he walked backward, maintaining eye contact with Ravyn even as she dropped the first blood bag and without looking at it, greedily pulled another from the hands of the awaiting vampire.

The wolf medic followed, already evaluating Toby, but also being careful to not get between Ravyn and the two. One of his men kindly offered to take Toby from his arms.

“We got it from here, Boss.” The emotion was heavy in the man’s tone. Tobias had been with the crew for months and there was no way they could remain distant from the outgoing, precocious teen. “Take care of her. If she berserks, I don’t think even they can hold her down.” He kept his voice low, but still the vamps heard it and the air seemed to shift uncomfortably around them.

Bash realized it was true. In fact, Ravyn’s agitation could potentially even set them off. Instead of one berserk original vampire, they could have several others incited by her powerful aura as well.

“Get him to shift as soon as possible, and if you can’t get him to, come get me immediately,” Bash ordered as he reluctantly handed his young charge over. Emotions had no place on this type of job and right now, he had plenty of them. The witch, Summer, followed the boy closely, already evaluating his injuries and taking action even as she scurried to keep up with the much taller wolf carrying the youth.

Delta remained behind, finally silent for the first time since she’d arrived. She observed the nearly feral Ravyn with hands on her hips, knowing better than to approach the vampire too soon.

Sharply, Bash reminded the vampires among his team, “If you can’t control yourself, remove yourself.”

The vamp who had given Ravyn the blood bags stiffened his neck and back but said nothing as he handed Ravyn yet another bag.

Already her hunger slowed, and she emptied the third bag less frantically as Bash cautiously retraced his steps to stand near her. Not breaking eye contact, the red outlining the black in her eyes quickly faded. Her black pupils pulsated, fluctuating in size, but also grew smaller with each swallow of her throat.

After the third bag left her lips, Bash could feel the change settle over her. No longer ravenous, her hunger couldn’t control her now. “I killed him,” her raspy voice scratched out.

The vamp medic held another bag out to her and with hesitation, she reached out to accept it without removing her eyes from Bash. “I killed him,” she repeated as she brought the bag haltingly to her lips.

Her blood-encrusted nails were broken to the quick, Bash noted. Knuckles bruised and bloody, and still he couldn’t tell whose blood covered her.

“Toby is alive. You didn’t kill him.” Bash gently cleared her of the blame she obviously was laying upon herself.

“No,” Ravyn rasped out. “It. I killed it .”

“Yeah, girl.” Delta’s whispered voice carried clearly across the trail and even without looking, Bash was certain she’d followed those words with a fist bump to the air.

He wanted to hush her; nothing was a certainty.

“Toby is alive,” Bash reassured her gently, in case Ravyn thought that Toby had been lost to them but hoping, as Delta had assumed, that she meant the wendigo. He reached out to offer her comfort but stopped just before he touched her.

Ravyn removed the bag from her lips. With a quick, sharp shake of her head, she hissed out, “The wendigo. It’s dead.”

Intently watching Bash through green eyes that now just bled red on the edges, she awaited his understanding,

He rewarded her with a pleased nod. “Good. Nothing less than I would expect from you.”

“Too quick,” she whispered. “It deserved to suffer. It was a monster.” Her eyes flashed red at the anger over his too quick death, but it quickly subsided, and once again she brought the bag to her lips, emptying it. She shook her head no as the vamp offered her another.

Clearing her throat, her voice came out shaky at first. “Could I…” she rasped out, and she coughed before continuing. “Could I request a change of clothes? These are no more use to me. And we still need to find what’s left of my sister.”

Sister? Bash fought the urge to bombard her with questions but knew that despite her words, her sanity and control were still shaky at best.

Within seconds, unfamiliar clothes passed through hands to quickly reach her. Ravyn flipped open the clothes and as the unfamiliar scent wafted through the air, for the first time she dropped her eyes from Bash’s to examine the earth-colored set. She sniffed the air, then dropping her nose to the clothes, Ravyn inhaled deeply, trying to determine whose scent marked the borrowed clothes.

The earthy scent hit Bash’s nose, filling it with the newly discovered but unmistakable scent of Kai. For a human, he was silent and soft on his feet. Even for a werewolf , Bash mentally amended.

The borrowed clothes belonged to Kai. Of course, he would be the only one who had clothes on hand and even close to Ravyn’s size. The young man didn’t have the stature of a werewolf, and even his smaller human frame was still larger than Ravyn’s.

He didn’t have a chance to open his mouth to explain to Ravyn that they’d made a new ally before Kai suddenly stood beside him, much closer to Ravyn than any of the others had had a chance to approach.

“My lady,” Kai began even as Ravyn ripped away the rest of her ruined clothes, keeping his eyes focused on her face. “I am Kyle Tarkirk.” Glancing up at Bash, he continued, “I’m called Kai.”

Pulling the shirt on over her head, Ravyn interrupted, “Tarkirk? You’re of the moon?” Glancing between the two, she began rolling the long sleeves to her wrists as she took in the young man standing before her. She glanced at the symbol of Fenrir tattooed on his wrist. “You’re a friend of the wolves?”

Clearly, the name meant more to Ravyn than it did Bash, but he continued to keep his focus on Ravyn as she now began pulling the well-worn joggers over her hips. His surprise from seeing the two exit the compound was being replaced by the familiar feelings of failure. He hadn’t been there for the two of them. Time and time again, he wasn’t there for those that he cared about.

“My family name is the moon, yes. And at one time we were one with the moon and wolves, but it’s been many years since my people were a friend of the wolves. But I hope that can change now,” Kai added diplomatically as Ravyn pulled the string in the waistband tight and knotted it. She folded the band down, looking around, then down at her feet with a strange expression as if for the first time realizing she stood barefoot before them.

“If I may?” offered Kai, gesturing toward her feet.

Nodding, Ravyn stood still as the young man kneeled in front of her.

He reverently picked up each of her small feet and deftly encased them in leather that formed around them as he expertly looped thin straps of it around her feet and ankles. Leaning back on his heels, he examined his work with satisfaction. “These were my mother’s,” Kai whispered. “She would be honored to share them with you.”

Ravyn looked down at her feet before softly placing a bloody, dirty hand on the young man’s shoulder.

Kai flinched briefly at the unexpected touch. He’d been out here alone for too long, Bash noted with anger at the torch the boy had picked up with the death of his father.

“I thank you, Kai, friend of the wolves and one who serves the moon.” Ravyn’s voice came out softly and clearly. “I am in your debt,” she added, making it clear that not only was he a friend of the wolves, but hers as well.

Nodding ever so slightly, cheeks flushed, Kai stood back up. “They’ve got your pup to shift twice. Your medics and the witch have been working on him. He’s resting now.” Reluctantly he added, “They’ve stopped the bleeding in his, um, his hand, but the fingers didn’t regrow. It sounds like that was a possibility, but the demon’s bite did too much damage. Its saliva is poison designed to torture and destroy. I’ve added what I could to his healing, and he’ll live. Someone drew a sigil on his wrist after the bite. That prevented the poison from spreading and causing more damage.”

Bash met Kai’s eyes. He hadn’t known the extent of Toby’s injuries, but he trusted his people would do everything possible to heal his nephew. Guilt surged through him even as he tried to reassure himself. Losing some fingers was better than being dead. Gulping, he asked, “How many fingers?”

“Two. Forefinger and middle finger. There’s some damage to his hand, but he’ll heal. He’s strong. His wolf is strong, and Fenrir has watched over him.”

“The demon had a servant whom I doubt served of her own free will. She must have done it when she wrapped his wrist.”

“Whatever she did saved him from even more damage,” Kai assured them before focusing on Ravyn. “How did you incapacitate the wendigo? No one has ever escaped from his compound.”

“Not incapacitate. I killed him. There’s no coming back from having your head removed from your shoulders and a spike rammed through it as well.” She looked around the makeshift camp sitting outside the gates that just days ago had appeared so welcoming. “Bash, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. The driver. Mark,” she amended, reminding him once again that one of the vamps had accompanied her inside. “They ripped him apart. I’m so sorry, but they ripped him apart. I found the ash.”

She trailed off, clearly not wanting Bash to know how she knew Mark had been ripped apart, but he could imagine. He offered a silent prayer to Fenrir to guide the fallen vamp in the afterworld. Smashing down the feeling in his heart, he reminded himself that all of his men knew the risks. They knew what they’d signed up for, and while the pay was good and the danger rare, it was still there.

“My lady,” Kai began again, reluctance filling his voice as he attempted to interject.

“Call me Ravyn.” The voice that came out sounded more like the Ravyn he knew, and Bash realized with a flash of anger that the dark imprints around her neck weren’t dirt or shadows but bruises from where the creature had crushed her vocal cords. If the damn unholy thing wasn’t so dangerous, he would have ordered a necromancer to revive it so he could kill it again. Any death was too quick for the damage it had inflicted on Toby and Ravyn, as well as countless other victims who hadn’t been so lucky. How long had that creature hunted and preyed on innocent victims? How many unmarked graves were hidden on this property? And how had the thing lived among them undetected for so long?

“Yes, ma’am. Ravyn. I’m sorry to say the wendigo is alive still,” Kai reluctantly but confidently informed her as well as the entire group.

The men shifted, refocusing their attention once again to the perimeter of the area. Those who weren’t guarding the perimeter snapped their attention to the young man in disbelief. Not many creatures could withstand a beheading, and this youth was claiming a wendigo was one such being.

Sebastian felt his skin ripple at the words as his wolf fought to break free, wanting to bash its body against the magical forcefield until it could break free and rip the wendigo limb from limb. Closing his eyes briefly, he asked the wolf to stand down. The time will come , he promised the creature.

“It’s more powerful than you can imagine. The body is just a host, ultimately unstoppable with the deal that was struck,” Kai explained hesitantly as the tension flared briefly through the group before they each reined in their emotions. “It’s the demon that he invited in that keeps the body functioning and pasted together. To truly kill the demon is impossible. But with a specific ritual, we can divide the demon into pieces and trap its parts in what are essentially magic jars.”

Bash realized that the boy was giving the dumbed down version of events, and he raised an eyebrow, silently asking him to continue.

“The ritual is a part of the process, but there are a lot of moving parts,” Kai explained. “Traditionally, my tribe supplied the hunter and the shaman to perform the ritual.” He looked down as if embarrassed. “As the last member of my tribe, I took the mantle of both, but doing them both is impossible,” he clarified. Looking at Bash, he continued, “We need a wolf to wield the blade to separate the creature, as well as any extra muscle we can find. Teams in the past might have had more wolves, and a witch as well. I’ve never heard of a vampire being a part of a team, but I would welcome any help.”

His words hung heavy in the air, thick with both promise and hope. The wendigo wasn’t dead, and the young man needed help to make it so, and until its demise was certain, Ravyn as well as anyone else who crossed its path wasn’t safe.

Holding a hand out toward the youth, Bash promised solemnly, “I will honor the agreement that your ancestors and Fenrir made.”

Kai reached his own hand out, relief crossing his face as they grasped forearms, sealing their agreement.

“I, as well, will see this abomination dead or trapped or whatever it is we do. I look forward to killing it again, as it deserves,” Ravyn promised with anger flaring in her eyes. “How many times have you preformed this ritual?”

Good question, and one that Bash was afraid he knew the answer to before the boy spoke.

“Never,” he admitted, lips tight and eyes flashing as they flitted uncertainly around the group, as if their promise of help depended on his ability to complete the ritual. “I’ve practiced it since I could walk and talk, and theoretically I could do it in my sleep, but…”

With a solemn if not confident nod, Ravyn accepted the answer as her jaw tightened. “It looks like we’re all getting a few firsts here. How do we do this?”

“In a nutshell? With perfect timing. Timing is imperative here. It can burn through magic in minutes, maybe even seconds. We need to reach between its teeth, down its throat, and pull out its fucking, frozen heart and burn it to ash. At the same time, we divide the body into pieces and trap it forever.”