Page 84 of Total Eclipse of the Moon
Antonio threw a swift left hook, sending the redheaded lycan Shane had chosen to subdue rather than kill into the air. The impact into the side of the building would’ve been enough to pulverize a normal human, but it merely stunned the lycan. The vampire turned to disarm and annihilate the stream of endless humans. He seemed slower as he managed to dispatch one after another. As he reached the last one, he dropped to his knees, holding his head within mere feet of the man with the disc around his neck. Looked like his time clock hit zero. All humans ceased attacking him. They too were dropping to the ground when they got close.
The Curmsun disc holder grinned.
Shane’s fist connected with the face of the redheaded lycan who now charged him. The guy’s metallic collar flashed in the moonlight.
"Told you to kill him,"Baku said.
"Shut up".
"I don’t want to kill you," Shane warned.
Baku cautioned,"Little time. One more minute and you’ll lose the ability to mist-form because of this disc’s evil. Kill him."
Shane felt his feral form emerge—longer nails; sharper, longer fangs; more strength. He was starting to lose himself to the rage. To Baku’s influence. But, no. He would not forget who he was. He was still in charge of himself.
A new swarm of humans shooting at random charged. He was too slow. Two bullets hit him before he dodged.
He watched in horror as the lycan he’d been fighting headed toward Madeline’s hiding spot. Shane fought through a new swarm of humans to get to her. The buzzing in his head broke through the barrier and distracted him, slowed him. Another bullet caught him being too slow. He started seeing death visions of Madeline. His worst nightmare. This was the disc’s influence."It’s not real. Baku, help me."
No answer.
"You’re the nightmare eater. So, eat these nightmares. Or do your nose bleed thing on the humans."
"These aren’t nightmares. They’re your fears. No one can erase your fear, but remember fears aren’t evil. They keep you alive. Tell her to call Aldri before it’s too late."
"Who's that?"Shane yelled the name in her direction. Unsure if she heard, he hoped he conveyed Baku’s message. He prayed Baku hadn’t lied to him.Need to tell her to run…get away.
But no more words would come out. Images filled his brain. He flailed, fighting all who came close to him. Humans around him also fell, which meant the disc holder wasn’t being cautious about who got hurt.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Madeline cursedas she limped on the leg that had been nicked during one of the several bullet showers. She uttered a spell that caused the redheaded lycan lunging for her to fly several hundred yards away when he touched her. She tugged at stray strands of hair that tickled her face to tuck them behind an ear. No time to re-braid her hair.
Call Aldri?That’s what Shane had yelled. Could she summon a dragon? She’d never tried it. This particular dragon was irritable and hated humans, but he had given her a stone once. That had to mean he wouldn’t kill her, but would he hear her call?
She rifled through her backpack while the lycan shook off his surprise. Where was that one dragon stone, the one Aldri gave her? She didn’t carry all of them with her. In fact, she stowed eighty percent of her collection in a secret location in France. But she kept her favorites with her, like the one Aldri gave her, not that she knew if they could do anything other than be pretty. When feeling sad, touching the stones soothed her. Maybe if she found the one from this dragon it might help her focus on him? Maybe with that she could contact him, not that she knew how or had ever tried.
She found the small, green-flecked, smooth brown stone the size of a chestnut that he’d presented to her years ago. Why had she kept it with her? By far, this wasn’t the prettiest of the dragon stones, but it’d been the one she felt most heartfelt when earned. Aldri’s trust hadn’t been easy, but it had been essential before he’d let her help him heal the festering wound on one of his feet.
Cupping the stone she said, "Aldri, I need help. Please, hear me. Please, help."
Nothing happened. The stone didn’t glow or warm or do anything reassuring. It still looked like a boring stone.
The lycan was coming for her again. Guess he’d used all his bullets and extra magazines since he now held a huge knife, the kind used for carving up a carcass. The weapon wasn’t the greatest knife for a fight, but still could be deadly. She slid the stone into her side pocket and palmed her own knife. Years of self-defense classes shuffled into the fore of her mind.
She hated blades. Her skin attested to the times she’d almost lost. Her gut screamed run, but she wouldn’t get far, not with her leg bleeding. Both Antonio and Shane looked to be battling inner and outer demons. Neither of them could help.
She muttered a quick protective spell to cast on them, hoping it’d at least keep them alive long enough.
She was thankful her spell to block out the nightmares from the disc held, but the knife…
Footwork.Survival of a knife fight was in the footwork. And escape. She managed to keep herself outside of kicking range as they circled each other. Light on her feet, she moved fast. Her opponent towered over her by more than a foot. He lunged at her. She felt it—that split second opening and struck, hitting his wrist.
He grunted but emitted an eerie laugh as he lunged, catching her arm with the edge of his knife. She roared in pain. A surge of energy whipped through her. The crystal on its chain around her neck burned. Ducking in expectation of the neck knife swipe, it didn’t come. The lycan sat against one of the vans now many yards away. The car’s passenger window had splintered into a spider web of broken glass where he must’ve landed hard against it. Had she done that?
Please, Aldri. I need help. Hear me.
The stone was now hot in her hand. Was that surge of energy Aldri’s way of helping? She’d take it.
