Still, both Isaiah and Elijah warned everyone to proceed cautiously. The cavalry quietly traipsed toward the house and cleared the yard, somehow avoiding detection. Elijah sent the clan mates he’d brought with him to survey the area to confirm that it was empty. Isaiah, Kenzie, and Paige headed inside while Elijah crouched on the porch to guard the place and to listen for anything that might be amiss.
Upon entering the manor (through the door that had fallen off its hinges), Isaiah’s stance changed from one of caution to one of fury. He actually pulled his lips back in a snarl, revealing his sharp teeth, and he stalked forward, nearly leaving Kenzie and Paige in the dust that arose when he moved across the unkempt floor.
Kenzie was about to whisper-ask what was wrong, but she didn’t have to. She saw it for herself, the horrific sight in the parlor.
That sight was Jillian Swansen herself, tied up and unconscious, lying on her side on a dirty sofa, a gash in her neck with dried blood surrounding it.
“Jillian!” Kenzie shrieked without thinking. She bolted toward her, but she didn’t make it that far. A dark shadow swooped into the room at the speed of light, shoving her violently away from her friend. She hit the opposite wall with brute force, the breath knocked from her lungs.
“It’s not nice to break into people’s homes,” said a sickeningly sweet, feminine voice, “and try to take their things. Or their food.”
“Who the hell are you?” Isaiah demanded as he quickly untied Jillian’s bound wrists. Discretion was thrown out the window as he sent the woman a glare that could melt steel.
The woman just crossed her arms over her chest and shot Isaiah back an equally malevolent look. Upon closer examination, Kenzie ascertained that this woman was a vampire.
“It’s a pity,” the woman continued. “I knew you quite some time ago, Isaiah. It’s truly a shame that we had to officially meet under these circumstances.”
“I’m going to ask you again, and only one more time. Who the hell are you, and how do you know my name?”
“I suppose it’s no surprise that Mathias never mentioned me to you.”
“Mathias? My…my father?”
“Correct. Though I’m sure your mother mentioned me, and not in a very ladylike demeanor, I imagine.”
“How did you know my parents?”
“I didn’t know both of them closely. I knew your father. Very well, I might add. I was so sorry to hear of his death.”
“Wait…if you knew my father, and you never met me, but you know me, and my mother…”
“Yes? Go on, Isaiah.”
“You can’t be…you have to be someone from back when I was first turned…”
“Precisely. Though your father had shown me photos of you and your brothers before then.”
“And you knew my father ‘closely,’ you said. You’re…you couldn’t be…the woman with whom he had an affair?”
“Not only could I be, but I am. I am Florence Ingram, and after all these years, I’ve come to take my revenge.”
Isaiah looked genuinely shocked. He almost seemed to be more baffled by this revelation than the fact that his mate, Kenzie’s best friend, was lying comatose on a filthy couch within leaping distance of him.
But he did manage to sputter, “What revenge?”
“I suppose I might as well explain. I have all the time in the world, after all. You see, your father probably never told you, but this manor is his. It was passed down to him from his great-grandfather. Of course, time hasn’t been kind to it, and your father never claimed it due to marrying your mother and starting a family. Your mother was the native of Dragon Valley, and he chose to live with her instead of claiming what was rightfully his. Regardless, when he met me, it was true love. He hadn’t really known that with Serrina. We were going to get married, run off together, and live here in this house. He was even planning to introduce me to you three boys and have you live with us as well. But he was killed, by none other than your mother. You see, she believed that what Mathias truly wanted was a young woman, and she wasn’t young any longer. Not like me. But he never wanted her younger; he didn’t want her at all. Not when he had me. When he still refused her advances, she killed him. Of course, I didn’t discover this until much later. I had been preparing myself, fixing this manor up, but he never arrived. When I heard of his demise, I swore then and there to avenge my mate. Because, as you know, a vampire’s mate is the one thing they cannot live without. But your family had already departed Dragon Valley, and I was unable to track them down. I’d been a vampire for nearly a century then, not long enough to perfect my abilities. Then I discovered them in Bridgeport. But you, Isaiah, you took her life, and that of your two brothers who were so loyal to your dear mother. That revenge was meant to be mine. And I was also informed that you had a human companion help you. I knew that companion had to have been your mate, that human lying pathetically on the couch over there. I’m the one who set up this grand photography show for her fashion line. I lured her here, knowing that if I put her in danger, I would eventually get to you, for you’d come searching for her, like a moth to a flame. And as you can see, my plan worked perfectly. Now, I shall take your life, and that of your mate, so that I may finally have my revenge.”
The entire time she was talking, Florence had become more animated. Kenzie thought she’d seen crazy before, but this was ranked high on her list. Isaiah had never really talked about his past before, but now she could see why. Even if what this crazy woman was saying wasn’t true, she knew first-hand how asinine Isaiah’s mother and brothers had been.
And then something dawned on her.
“Jillian wasn’t the human who helped him take down his mother and brothers,” she asserted as she stood up. “It was me. I’m the one who was with him in Bridgeport.”
Florence looked at Kenzie, as if seeing her for the first time, even though she’d knocked her away like a rag doll only moments before.
“And who, pray tell, are you?”
“I’m Jillian’s best friend. And we’re here to get her back.”
This got a loud guffaw out of the otherwise reserved vampire woman. “You think you can possibly defeat me? Walk out of here with your little friend? You and what army?”
“My army,” Elijah suddenly growled from behind Isaiah. He stood in the doorway, his large frame nearly filling its entirety. “I should have known you were behind this, Flossie. You never could leave old matters buried. Pun intended. And it’s equally unsurprising about the lack of vampire guards around this place; you always did want to handle everything yourself.”
“So it seems that you’ve sided with the prodigal son,” Flossie purred in an irritatingly unctuous voice. “You never could show loyalty to your own flesh and blood.”
“Technically, you’re not my flesh and blood. You’re only half, and I don’t claim either.”
“But what could you possibly owe this boy?”
“Some of us are actually capable of showing remorse. Isaiah never actually met you, so he had no idea what you looked like; only that you were a vampire, like me. You didn’t even take your adopted last name. It’s no wonder he didn’t recognize you now until you gave him your entire story. I owed him a favor for your very actions. You seduced his father, thus shattering the entire Cavanaugh family.”
“Mathias didn’t have to be seduced. He was very willing, in all ways. That family was shattered long before I entered the picture.”
“Shut up!” Isaiah shouted, and charged toward the petite woman.
“Take another step and she dies!” Flossie threatened, twice as fast as Isaiah and already hovering in front of Jillian, who was barely breathing, her fangs bared with her stance not unlike that of a wild animal predator guarding its prey.
The sudden noise and movement caused Jillian to stir, and her eyes finally fluttered open as she took in everything around her.
“What…?” she began to ask. But Flossie was on her instantly, a wild animal claiming its prey.
But Elijah was also there in an instant, moving as fast as his half-sister had. Kenzie ascertained that this was because they were probably both around the same age. According to Isaiah, the older a vampire, the more powerful he or she was in terms of strength and speed.
Lucky for them, at least one of these two elder vampires was on their side.
“Let the girl go,” Elijah growled. “If it’s Isaiah you want, then take him. You don’t need the girl.”
“Maybe not now, but I’m very thirsty. He should be thanking me that I even kept his mate alive all this time. But I do need something to sate my thirst, you know.”
And with that, Flossie held Jillian up with one hand as she exposed her fangs, ready to strike like a snake.
“No!” Kenzie screamed. Isaiah lunged toward Flossie, but Elijah was faster. He ripped his half-sister’s hand from Jillian’s neck, but he wasn’t as gentle as he could have been. Jillian dropped to the floor painfully, letting out a high-pitched yelp.
Meanwhile, the sibling rivalry was heating up, until Flossie appeared to surrender.
“Fine!” she exclaimed madly. “I’ll let the girl go. My primary intention here was for revenge. And since that human over there” – she pointed at Kenzie – “has stated that she was the one that helped Isaiah take my revenge away from me, I’ll have her blood, instead!”
“I don’t think so,” said a new voice from the doorway. Everyone turned to see Hayden standing there, fully transformed into werewolf form (and it wasn’t even during the full moon), with his brother beside him, also transformed.
Kenzie heaved a sigh of relief. She knew Hayden wouldn’t disappoint her. He’d stayed away long enough for her and Isaiah to get to Jillian, but he’d had a plan all along. He’d called his older brother, the alpha male of the werewolf pack in Moonlight Falls, which was only a short drive away, to assist in taking down some vampires. Of course Ellis would love that.
“Seriously?” Flossie asked. “Who invited the dogs? I have a rule – no pets allowed in this house. Unless, of course, they also provide sustenance.”
“You bitch!” Isaiah raged, and lunged once more. Hayden and Ellis actually joined him, knocking over the coffee table and its contents in the process. Even Paige got involved, beginning chants and emitting sparks from her wand that hit Flossie square in the head and chest.
Flossie, being an elder vampire, was pretty powerful. But with two werewolves, lethal enemies to vampires, a pissed off vampire mate, a just-as-old half-brother, and a witch taking her on, she didn’t stand a chance. She obviously hadn’t figured on Isaiah bringing backup of any kind to take her down. Overpowering him and Jillian would have been child’s play. But three other allies, all supernatural creatures? This was a prime example of karma.
But the horror wasn’t yet over. Kenzie, unable to really contribute to this battle (having not even thinking to grab the stake Isaiah had given her all those years ago), turned her attention to Jillian.
And saw that her friend was lying prone on the floor, once again unconscious from the impact from being dropped earlier…but with blood oozing out of a large wound in her head.
“Shit!” she screamed. “Jillian! Oh, creator, no!”
A sickening snap was heard, and Kenzie looked up just in time to see Flossie’s head bounce across the floor like a basketball. She fought back the urge to retch and turned back to her friend.
“Isaiah!” she screamed. “Help her!”
Isaiah was at her side in an instant. He propped his mate up and held her head while Kenzie sobbed hysterically next to them. The blood only seemed to darken and continue to flow. The more Isaiah looked at Jillian and tried to revive her, the more hopeless the situation became.
“She’s lost too much blood,” Isaiah ascertained as he shifted positions, causing Kenzie to crawl to the other side of her friend. “There’s no time to take her to a hospital. And that nasty wound in her head, plus in her neck, need to be healed.”
“So heal her!”
“Kenzie, there’s only one way to heal her at this point. She’s beyond human help.”
“I said to heal her!”
“You won’t like it.”
“What is it?”
“I can use my blood to heal her. She needs supernatural blood. But with the amount she’s already lost, there’s a fifty percent chance she’ll become a vampire like me because of how much blood must be replenished.”
“Are you insane?!”
“There’s no time to argue, Kenzie. It’s your choice. But you have to decide fast; time is running out!”
Kenzie couldn’t believe this. The fate of her best friend was in her hands. What did she do? Did she save her best friend’s life and risk her becoming a vampire? Or did she save her soul and let her die as a human?
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