I reared back and tripped over a vine. The madman dove forward and wrapped his hands around my neck. I choked and clawed at his hands, trying to buck him off.
Air flooded my lungs when Father Dave was knocked off me. I gasped, taking in big gulps of air, then turned to see Felix. The werewolf raked his claws down the screaming anointed one’s torso. Felix bit into his neck and the screaming cut short. “Oh thank the gods,” I struggled to my feet and called out to him. But he ignored me in favor of continuously tearing away at the dead man. “Um…hon? I think you got him.”
Finally, the werewolf snapped his head in my direction. The crazed, rabid eyes of a feral dog pinned me in place like a lamb to the slaughter. It wasn’t until he stepped closer that I noticed the frantic beat of his heart.Shit. shit, shit.The love potion must have been driving him mad in my absence. Slowly, I reached into my pocket and grabbed the antidote.
Felix snarled and prowled closer to me. Blood dripped from his maw and the kind eyes I’d come to know were gone without a trace. Around the room, I could hear the fight continuing. More demons spilled into the court and attacked the ghouls head on. Yet none of them were close enough to stop him should he decide to gut me next. My knees shook, and I tried to keep my voice as calm as possible. “Felix, love? Do you know who I am?”
His answer was a menacing growl.
“Is that ‘grrr, yes I love you. Run away with me, light of my life?’” I brought the vial to my mouth and bit off the cork. “This is the antidote for the love potion.” I told him gently. “I’m just going to come a little closer and dump this down your throat, OK? Don’t eat me.”
The werewolf bristled. “No.”
“No?” I parroted back at him. “Why no?” Slowly, I edged a little closer. I only had one vial on hand and I couldn’t risk him dodging my throw.
Felix snarled and shook his head wildly. His voice came in the form of a menacing snarl. “No one is taking you from me.”
“I’m literally right here. Just hold still.”
His eyes widened when I raised the vial higher. “No.” He barked out. “You’ll leave if I lose this love potion. You can’t leave.” His words came out faster, and he clawed at his head before shaking frantically.
I’m not the one forced to be in love.A selfish part of me was terrified of what would happen once Felix was freed from his curse. The days we spent together had become so unbelievably precious. I couldn’t remember a time when I connected so strongly with another person. The thought of Felix simply getting up and walking away from me now had my heart squeezing in my chest. But if it wasn’t real, then I couldn’t hold him hostage. No one deserves to have their choices taken away from them. If I didn’t do this now, then I’d be no better than the cultists.
“You can’t.” he snapped, desperation oozing in his voice. Before I could even blink, Felix lunged forward and sank his fangs into my arm. I cried out as we hit the ground and quickly held my thumb over the top of the vial so it wouldn’t spill. Felix kept me pinned underneath him, his body wracked with the tremors of his overworked heart. Ignoring the pain in my arm, I dumped the vial over his head.
The response was almost instant. Felix’s body relaxed and the cacophony of his heart beat silenced. I remained completely still, waiting for my husband to fully come to his senses. Slowly, he let go of my arm. I bit my lip and tried not to cry out at the throbbing pain.
Horror crossed his face as he looked down at the bite wound. “Brie. Oh gods, what have I done?”
I smiled up at him. “It doesn’t hurt that much.”Lies! It hurts so bad.“You can make it up to me later, alright?” I gestured to the all-out brawl happening around us. “We’re still in a bit of a situation here.”
His eyes searched mine. He opened his mouth to speak, then shut it again. I gave his arm a gentle squeeze. “Later.” I said.
Felix’s ears flattened, but he nodded and helped me up. “Just stay here. I’ll come get you when it’s over.”
The ground pitched, and the ceiling was ripped clean off the fortress. A silver dragon dug his claws into the stone and ripped more of it clean off. He paused, tilting his massive head. “Is that a giant lobster?”
The battle came to a halt. The remaining cultist didn’t strike me as a rather intelligent lot, but there wasn’t much to be done when two dragons and a small army of demons started tearing holes in your keep. Just to make sure we left nothing up to question, I had Fallon and Dante ‘not Dillon’ burn every last bit of the vines to a crisp.
Cinnamon crushed me to her as soon as she burst into the room and immediately ruined my shirt with her snot and tears. In between her sobbing and hiccups, she still managed to say the most Cinnamon thing I’ve ever heard in my life. “So like, we can eat that lobster, right?”
I sighed and eased my injured arm away from her crushing hug. “I guess it would make one hell of a celebratory feast.”
“At the beach?”
Cin and I jumped at the sudden voice next to us. Alexis’ blade had turned blood orange, and I really hoped that was because of the magic she absorbed and not the endless amount of blood I’m sure she’s sliced through. “I mean, I’m kinda scared to tell you no, so yeah, sure. We can have the party at the beach.” I said.
“Your fear is both noted and appreciated!” The sword said with glee.
Cin released me from her death grip and eyed Alexis. “Holy shit, you can float.”
In response, the blade gave off a pulse of bright orange light. “Float, move, murder. It’s been a big day for me.”
Chapter 16
Brie
That fucker was ignoring me. I stabbed my fork into my lobster mac n cheese and took a bite. Dammit all. It was so good. Even my anger wasn’t enough to taint the magic of Mrs. Hotpepper’s lobster mac recipe.
