Before she could assault him again, two lycans knocked into her, both in direwolf form.
She hit the ground and rolled to her feet. “Hey, I’m the good guy.” Riley spotted them snarling and ready to pounce. “I didn’t kill our kind. He did.” She pointed at the sorcerer, who rose to his feet, his eyes blazing.
“I need her alive.”
Shocked that he seemed to be working with the lycans, she turned and caught the one who lunged first. She threw him aside, her anger festering. The other one latched onto her forearm and bit down, breaking her ulna.
It hurt like blazes, but she was too pissed to care. She broke the dire’s jaw to get him to let go then tossed him into his friend.
Unfortunately, a half dozen more raced out of the basement doors of the house and right at her. So she shifted into her berserker form, prayed her healing arm would mend fast enough to be useful, and prepared to defend herself while not letting the sorcerer escape.
Where the hell was a vampire when you needed one?
Kraft foundOrion knee-deep in some kind of dark substance in a corner room of the house, battling three lycans and the last standing sorcerer. Four others had their necks broken and lay dead.
Skirting his friend to see if he could spot Riley outside, he peered through the window but didn’t see her. He turned to catch a lycan by the throat. Squeezing, he put the lycan down but didn’t kill him, in the off chance Riley wouldn’t want him to. Not because he’d grown soft or anything, he told himself, but because he needed her help to retrieve the artifact. For that reason alone he’d try to keep her happy.
Orion didn’t seem to have any problem ending their enemy though. Once done with the remaining lycan, he drank down the sorcerer and tossed his lifeless body to the floor.
With the death of the magic user, the goop on the floor disappeared.
“What the hell is going on here?” Kraft wished he’d had the foresight to drain that last sorceress before killing her.
Orion wiped his mouth. “Tasty, but stupid. I can’t tell what they’re trying to raise in here. A demon, maybe? I smell faint traces of brimstone.”
The cinnamon and ash scent was hard to ignore.
“We need answers. This is wrong.” Kraft had a bad feeling. “Can you check out the rest of the house? I want to find Riley.”
“Bah. Go see to your girlfriend.”
“She’s not my girlfriend.” Kraft felt defensive and didn’t know why.
“Oh boy. You know, this is just like when I fell for Kaia but didn’t know it.”
“Because she enchanted you.”
“Well, yeah, but even when the spell faded, I still wanted her. Kept thinking about her.” Orion paused. “Have you been dreaming?”
“Vampires don’t dream,” he said automatically and frowned, recalling something from the other day.
“That’s a yes.”
Kraft sighed. “I think so. That god Mormo’s afraid of.”
“Morpheus? The god of dreams?”
“Yeah, him. I think I saw him.”
“Good luck. All I know is when Varu, Duncan, and I started to dream, soon after, we found mates.” Orion tilted his head. “And you’re partial to wolves as it is. Be careful.”
Kraft huffed. “I’m not getting mated.”
“Yeah, just what I said. Go on. I’ll clean up in here. And... Shadow?”
Kraft turned to see the kitten licking up something off the floor.
Orion spazzed. “No, no. Don’t eat that. Come on, Shadow. Eating that stuff will make you sick.” He picked up the clawing kitten, and Kraft did his best not to laugh at his kin freaking out over a demon.
