"I am very glad that worked," he whispered.
I looked up and gave him his shaky smile. "So does this mean you like me a little?" I teased him.
He returned my smile with one of his own. "Perhaps," he teased in return.
"What it means is that he is capable of performing some magic," Hazel explained.
"No, what it means is that we did all that work so he could throw some powder on a campfire," Marge spoke up. She turned her back on us and towards the path. "I don't know about you folks, but I'm tired of sitting around here watching these parlor tricks. I'm going to go to the Den and find out what happened to my captain."
"But his training is far from complete!" Hazel argued.
Marge spun around and glared at the witch. "And I don't see how any of this tomfoolery will help us!"
Erik looked to Hazel. "I must admit I don't understand how any of this is going to help us."
Hazel rolled her eyes and grabbed his shoulders. She spun him around so that I nearly flew from his grasp. Instead, I stumbled towards the benches and Greg caught me.
Hazel snapped a finger towards the path. "You see that tree near the trail?" she asked him. "The one with the knot halfway up the trunk?"
I do," he replied.
"Hold your palm towards it and focus on the knot," she instructed him. "Will your thoughts into fire and throw it from your palm."
"Throw fire from his palm?" Marge repeated. "Are you as senile as you are ugly?"
Hazel whipped her head to Marge and glared at our companion. "Shut up and watch." The witch turned her attention back to Erik and pointed at the tree. "Now try it!"
Erik pursed his lips, but he focused his attention on the woody target. He held his palm out as Hazel had instructed. We all watched with baited breath as the moments ticked into seconds. After ten seconds of nothing Marge marched towards him.
"See? Nothing is going to-"
A blast of fire burst from Erik's hand and flew across the small meadow. It crashed into the tree right where the knot lay. A cloud of smoke covered the point of impact for a moment before the scorched remains of the trunk were revealed to us by a conveniently-timed wind. The knot was gone and replaced by a large, steaming hole.
My mouth dropped open and I turned to Hazel. "Where can I get what he has?"
She smugly grinned and folded her arms across her chest. "There is no substitute for natural talent."
Erik lowered his arm and turned to us. His eyes glistened with pride, but his lips were tightly pursed together. "Now we may return to the Old Den and face my cousin."
CHAPTER 2
I raised my hand. "Do we actually have a plan for defeating him? I mean, I know Erik can spew fire now and I have my magic beans, but I don't think those will get us out of all the trouble Blackwood probably has waiting for us."
"Then we mustn't allow him to know we are in his midst," Erik replied.
I snorted. "That's going to be easier said than done."
Erik walked over to Carey and knelt in front of her. Our prisoner lay as limp as a wet rag on her side beside one of the stone benches. He tapped the back of his hand against her upturned cheek. She wrinkled her nose and pulled away from him.
"Not now, Blacky. I'm trying to sleep. . ." she mumbled.
"Perhaps another time," Erik replied.
Carey's eyes snapped open at his unfamiliar voice. Her gaze fell on our little group and she scooted back the whole two inches until her back hit the base of the stone bench behind her. She wasn't so terrified that she couldn't manage a shaky snarl on her lips.
"We need your help," Erik told her.
Carey snorted. "As if I'm going to help you with anything."
Marge walked up and knelt in front of her. Her companion held out her hands and her fingers stretched into sharp, long claws. "If you value your life you will help us," she warned our captive.
Carey's sneered and she pressed her back against the bench. "You wouldn't dare," she challenged our friend. "You're supposed to be the good guys, and good guys don't kill people."
"I might follow the example of our friend over there," Marge countered as she jerked her head towards Methuselah. "And are you willing to take that chance for your precious Blacky?"
Carey stiffened her lip and raised her chin. "He would do the same for me."
It was Marge's turn to laugh in Carey's face. "You think so? We haven't seen hide nor hair of any of your companions to rescue you."
"That's because they haven't found you yet," Carey argued.
Erik shook his head. "You were sent on a fools errand," he told her.
She scowled at him. "You would know about those, but not this time. My Blacky will save me."
"Do you sense his presence? His concern for you?" Erik asked her.
She frowned. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"I'm speaking of the bond that exists between mates," Erik explained. He placed his hand over his heart. "There exists in all the hearts of those who are blood-bound together. The connection to one's mate is a feeling, a sense that you are not only loved, but connected to another."
"You mean kind of like the urge to have sex with him?" I spoke up.
A smile slid onto Erik's lips and he nodded. "Yes, but this is less a physical need and more an emotional connection." He turned his attention back to Carey. "This was a dangerous mission for you. Have you felt nothing of concern from your mate?"
Carey snorted and folded her arms across her chest. "You're full of bull shit. There's no such emotional connection. I didn't feel anything with my first mate, and I don't feel it now."
"I never felt anything," I chimed in. "Not even when you were captured and thrown into the Braille."
"Never did you sense a feeling of emptiness?" Erik countered. "Never a sense that you had to find me and return to me?" he challenged me.
I sifted through my memories of that harrowing occasion and furrowed my brow. "I remember feeling all tense and stuff, but I thought that was just for me."
"It was for both of us." Erik explained. He caught Carey's eyes and searched their depths. "You know I speak the truth. There's more to these bonds than drinking blood and procreating."
"It is a union of the souls," Greg chimed in. "The bonding of two people who were destined to be one."
Carey rolled her eyes. "I think I've heard enough, and you're not going to get me to help you."
Methuselah marched through our midst and picked Carey off the ground. He shoved her into his face and caught her eyes. "You will obey me," he ordered her.
Her eyes widened and I noticed they took on a vacant expression. Well, more vacant than she was before. Her voice was mechanical. It lacked all emotion.
"I will obey you," she agreed.
Marge and Erik stood up, and she scowled at Methuselah.
"What the hell did you do to her, vampire?" she growled at him.
Methuselah put Carey down on the ground. "We have no time for disobedient enemies," he argued.
Erik waved his hand in front of Carey's face. She didn't even blink. He looked to Methuselah. "How can the spell be broken?"
"With the snap of his stupid fingers," Hazel spoke up and she scowled at our vampire. "He did the same thing to me, but made me sleep."
Erik turned to our little group. "We will do this as quickly as possible. My plan is that we return to the lake and commandeer one of their boats to take us to the Den."
"Can she still hear us?" I asked Methuselah.
He gave a curt nod. "She can, but she cannot respond of her own free will."
Marge noted at our new zombie. "What do we need her for?"
Erik's eyes fell on Carey and he pursed his lips. "I had hoped she would help us to convince a boat to land."
"She is still capable of performing her part of your plan," Methuselah assured him.
"And then what do we do when we get to the Den?" I asked him.
"Assuming we can get that far," Marge spoke up. "This little twit here said
Black's boats had been captured. That means they might be waiting for us."
"Very true," Erik agreed. "We will break past any blockades and if we are fortunate enough to reach the Den we will find no doubt find Blackwood in the throne room. We will confront him there."
Marge jerked her head towards Carey. "I hope you don't plan on convincing him to stop this madness like you were trying to convince her."
Erik shook his head. "I do not know, but we will see what fate has in store for us. For now, let us go to the edge of the lake and see if we can't find one of the boats that was meant to be our transportation."
Erik led us towards the path with Carey and Methuselah bringing up the rear. We marched through the dense brush along the path. In a few minutes we arrived at the edge of the lake. There was no sign of our ride, and I tried not to look at the victims of Methuselah's thirst.
Marge stopped close beside Methuselah and nodded at one of the drained bodies. "Do they even taste the same?" she asked him.
Methuselah sneered at the corpses of the cannibalistic creatures. "No. The taste is as rancid as the meat they consumed to become such monsters."
"If we come across more who are not dressed as Guards you will not kill them," Erik ordered the vampire.
"Especially if we are one of them," I added. Marge glared at me and I shrugged. "I'm just thinking ahead in case one of us is captured."
Erik turned to Methuselah and his captive. "Can you have her call out to the ships with a howl?"
Methuselah down at Carey. "Howl for the ships," he ordered her.
Carey tilted her head back and let let out a long, soulful how. It echoed across the lake and into the deep depths of the thick fog. She repeated this call three times before Erik held up his hand.
"Hold a moment," he instructed them.
"Quiet," Methuselah hissed at his zombie.
Carey was silenced, but a new sound replaced to her howls. I recognized it as the noise of an outboard motor. Through the mists I could see a large, dark shadow approach where we stood.
Erik whipped his head to us. "Hide," he just. "I will stand with her."
We reluctantly hid just inside the thick group of bushes and trees. The shadow emerged from the fog and reveal itself as one of the boats Carey had intended to to take us on to Blackwood. A half dozen of those monstrous were bored, but the pilot was a normal, humanoid werewolf. Erik stood calmly with Carey at his site. Beside me was Greg.
"Can they smell us?" I whispered to Greg.
"The wind comes from the lake so our scents will not blow towards them," he told me. "However, when they land they may catch a whiff of us."
"Are you all right?" the pilot of the boat yelled to the shore.
I noticed Methuselah's mouth moved, but no sound came out. Sound came out of Carey's mouth, though.
"I am, and I have one of the rebels!" Carey called back to the boat.
"We'll come ashore then!" the boatman replied.
We all waited in tense anticipation as the boat sailed closer to the shore. The bow hit the rocky beach and four of the monstrous werewolves jumped out into the water. They splashed their way to shore and to Erik They sloshed forward until they were within three feet of the pair when they suddenly stopped and raised their noses to the air. Their lips curled back in snarls and their eyes narrowed.
"Now!" Erik yelled.
We four jumped out of the brush. Greg and Marge each tackled one of the beasts, and Methuselah took on his shadowy form to attack two more werewolves. That left one for me, and one was definitely enough.
I'd forgotten how massive these creatures were. This one towered over me like a skyscraper compared to a small wooden cottage. Well, this woodland call cottage wasn't going to go down without a fight, even if I didn't know how to fight.
The werewolf snarled and jumped at me. He swiped one of his massive pause at me, and I ducked and drove underneath him. If there's one thing I'd learned through all my adventures, it was that a werewolf guy was still just a guy. I kicked my foot up and my shoe connected with his family jewels. The werewolf let out a high-pitched, blood curdling scream that echoed through the woods.
He sank to his knees and clutched at his groin. I crawled out from beneath him through the rear exit and stood behind them. Now that he was down I didn't know what to do with them, so I fisted one of my hands and connected it with the back of his head. It was then I learned that some heads really were harder than hand bones. My bones crunched, and I yelped and clutched my bruised hand. The werewolf whipped his head around and his yellow eyes glowed with a fury that wanted nothing but blood as compensation.
He stumbled to his feet and turned to face me. I gave him a shaky smile and backed up.
"Can't we just talk about this?" I asked him.
His definition of a discussion was to snarled and lung at me again. I stumbled over the beach sand and fell onto my butt. He was a foot from connecting his teeth with my head when Erik flew out from the side and knocked into the werewolf. They tumbled off to my left in a frenzy of claws and teeth. Erik connected one of his fists with the werewolf's face and knocked out my foe in one jaw-crunching below.
My mate stood and turned to me. He walked over and held his hand out. "Are you all right?" he asked me.
I smiled and took his hand, and he pulled me to my feet. "I am now."
Thankfully the others had done a better job against their opponents than me. Greg and Marge were just finishing up theirs, and I didn't want to describe what happened to Methuselah's two guys. Let's just say I doubted I needed to feed him tomorrow night. We reconnoitered around Carey who still stood where Erik had left her on the shore.
"Is everyone all right?" Erik asked our group.
Marge grinned and nodded. "They're easier to handle and I don't get the slip on us."
"I must agree," Greg chimed in.
While we had fought against the odds, I noticed Hazel had stood off to the side with her arms folded across her chest. I wasn't the only one to notice her lack of participation.
Marge scowled at the witch. "Maybe we should have the vampire drain you," she suggested.
Hazel frowned. "Magic is not something to be wasted on every small fight," she shot back.
Marge gestured to one of the fallen behemoths. "You call this a small fight?"
"We don't have time to bicker," Eric interrupted them. "We must board the boat and continue on."
"What do we do with her?" Marge asked. She jerked her thumb towards Carey.
Eric turned to where she pointed and frowned. "We cannot take her with us. She would only be a hindrance."
"Blackwood might not be too happy with her, either," I chimed in.
Eric turned to our resident vampire. "Can you order her to remain here until we return?"
"You mean 'if,'" Marge corrected him.
Methuselah gave a nod of his head. "I can." He turned his attention to Carey and I saw his lips move without sound. Carey turned away from the lake and towards the trees. She marched down the path where we came and disappeared.
"What did you tell her to do?" I asked the vampire.
I instructed her to wait for us at the witches cabin," with a silver platter.
Hazel scoffed. "She'd better not wake up and cause a bigger mess than she already has."
"She will only wake up if I order it or if I am destroyed," Methuselah told her.
With all the loose ends taken care of, we all turned our attention to the boat. Methuselah had also done us a favor by taking out the remainder of the werewolves who had remained on the boat.
"I'll pilot the ship," Marge offered.
"Very well, but we must stay to the shore as until we're within a few miles of the Den," Erik advised her.
We all climbed in to the boat and Marge started the engine. It roared to life and we sped off down Wolf Lake to face our main opponent.
CHAPTER 3
Lake water sprayed over us as the fog swept over the bow of the boat. There was a heavy silence over
us.
"How far is it from here to the Den?" I spoke up.
"A few hours," Eric replied.
"And that's if we don't meet trouble," Marge chimed in.
"How many of these boats does Blackwood have, anyway?" I wondered.
Eric shook his head. "The only one who might have been able to answer that question we left behind."
I sighed. "Of course. The only time Carey would be really useful and she's not here." I turned my attention to Methuselah. "So how long can I stay out here until you get sunburned?"
"A single ray from the sun will burn through my flesh," he admitted. "When the sun rises, I must retreat into darkness."
"So if we find trouble after sunrise you're not going to be of much help," I surmised.
"If you wish to describe it as such," he grudgingly agreed.
I looked around at her strange little group. There were four werewolves, a witch, and our sun-shy vampire.
"Maybe our little group with surprise them somewhat so much that they won't bother us," I joked. Eric frowned and walked to the bow of the ship. I threw my arms. "Come on, the joke wasn't that bad."
He shook his head and placed a hand on the front railing. "It's not that. I hear something."
"Greg, take the helm!" Marge ordered him. He barely had time to grab the wheel before she abandoned it for the bow. Marge scrambled to the front and nearly showed me over the side to get at the bow beside Eric.
"There's enough room for everybody," I growled at her.
She ignored me and lifted her nose to the wind. Her eyes widened and she turned to Eric. He's out there, and close."
"Who's out there?" I asked her.
"Captain Black," she revealed.
I grinned. "Good. We could use a little help."
Marge looked forward and pursed her lips. "I don't think he's going to help us this time."
My grinned slipped off my lips. "Why not? What's changed?"
"He has."
"Um, do you think you could elaborate?" I requested.
"How do you know?" Erik asked.
"I can smell it in his scent," she revealed. "Something has changed in him. He's one of those monsters now."
I furrowed my brow. "Wait, so if he's nearby and had a little bite of werewolf to eat, doesn't that mean-"
I got my answer before I finished my question as several large shadows loomed out of the fog. I recognized them as Captain Black's ships. There was also the sound of motorboats, and I saw their shadows flit between the large vessels. We were outnumbered a hundred to one. I looked over the faces of my companions and saw they were grim.