I felt Xander’s panic. I grabbed Slade and jumped out, hoping the pond on this side was deep. We crashed into the water and began to fight each other. Slade had his hands around my neck. I quickly dislocated his elbow.
I knew what needed to happen in an instant. I told my wolf, “Freya, take over and electrocute him! Let him see who we are before he dies.” Freya replied, “Happily. We need air, so there will be no dying in a pond. That is NOT acceptable.” I shifted.
Slade dropped his other hand in shock. Freya sent her electricity through the water. Slade screamed and thrashed, swallowing water. Freya bit his neck and ripped his throat out. Now, he was beyond dead. I shifted back and swam to the surface.
I took several big gulps of air and swam to the side. I smirked seeing all the allies outside the protected area with my people. They weren’t in yet, but they were close. The fight was going to begin. I had groups further back that wouldn’t need to out themselves.
I heard Hastein yell, “If you touch her, I’ll torture you for decades!” Kingsley! Freya said, “No one will harm Kayda.” I knew that because I wasn’t going to let them try. I found a sword on the ground. I pleaded with Freya, “Don’t get mad.”
Freya warned, “Don’t you dare climb that tree and jump around like a squirrel. Don’t you do it, Melanie!” I sighed and climbed the tree. Freya pouted, “I want to go for a VERY longrun for this, with Oden. My human jumps around trees. We are a wolf. It’s just so wrong. UGH!”
I had to force myself not to laugh. I made it over to where my mate, and everyone else, was. Xander glanced up into the tree I was in. Ohhh he didn’t look happy. Freya replied, “Mate is not happy. Don’t worry we can make him happy later.”
I teased, “You have a one track mind.” Freya agreed, “Yes, I do. Get on my track please.” I couldn’t help but smile. I told her, “I’ll get on your track later.” Tristan linked, “You get down here right now!” I replied, “That’s the plan.” Tristan growled, “MY HEART IS NOT BEATING PROPERLY!”
I listened then said, “Yes, it is.” Tristan growled at me. Jeez. Dad linked, “If you EVER jump OFF A BUILDING EVER AGAIN, or jump OUT of a helicopter without proper equipment, I will have Jared charm you IN YOUR ROOM!”
I reasoned, “The helicopter was going to crash… so jumping out… into water, was the logical choice at the time.. since I was inside…and you know that.” Dad snarled. Mom linked, “Melanie Jane, NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!” Jason linked, “Are you crazy?!” I answered, “So… I easily was… about Slade… so… that feels obvious.”
Tank linked, “Pup, I swear to god!” I argued, “I’m not a pup.” Tank retorted, “To me, you will always be a pup. What the fuck, Melanie?!” I replied, “So… maybe… just maybe… I wasn’t totally rational about Slade… but now he’s dead… and he hurt you, so… that’s fair.” Tank snorted.
Alpha Peter linked, “Get down here and let us all see you. So, help me God if you ever pull a stunt like that again…” I interrupted, “Umm… I kind of do things like that a lot.” Alpha Peter growled, “No, you do not. Do you hear me?” I mean… I did… so he was wrong. Freya snickered in my head.
I glanced down at my friend to see that a Vampire was standing in front of Kingsley. I knew that face. That was RifstelO’Toole. Kingsley tapped the ground beside her. Ormr was out of her hand and the blade had retracted.
I climbed out of the tree silently with my broadsword. Rifstel said, “Say your goodbyes, Karlee.” Freya snarled, “How dare he.” Kingsley commented, “Well, that’s not really my name so…” She trailed off intentionally.
Rifstel mocked her, “You are going to die.” Someone would probably get hurt if they looked into Hastein’s eyes right now. They were the color of the actual sun. One might need sunglasses. Freya chortled out a laugh.
Kingsley disagreed, “Meh, that’s not really on my to do list.” Rifstel replied, “The only way you could live is if you kill me.” Kingsley reasoned, “Well, that’s not the only way. I could, but why bother?” Her voice changed as Kayda took over, “My pet does love to ruin people’s plans with her own.”
Rifstel asked, “What?” I shoved the sword through his back, wanting to see if he was bonded or had any Vampire children. I said, “Surprise.” I heard a female scream. Rifstel turned to face me as I pulled the sword out.
I was also curious what the iron in the weapon would do to him. That wasn’t a killing blow to a Vampire. A Vampire would heal, but he was a Fairy at one point. Rifstel popped away from us, so I grabbed Kingsley’s hand and hauled her up.
I yelled, “Paige?” My friend shouted back, “I need a minute!” Kingsley said, “I’m going to need a rush on that minute, Paige!” We were surrounded. I smiled, “Does this remind you of Mexico? I feel like this is Mexico all over again.” Kingsley snorted, “It’s definitely similar.”
Hastein ground out angrily, “K, don’t you dare get hurt.” I told my friend, “I got the same warning.” Kingsley snorted, “Then we will both be in trouble later because obviously you got hurt at some point. You have dried blood on your head.”
I shrugged, “Probably… but when you think about it… this doesn’t really count… nor do the slaps… from the Vampire… who can’t slap.” Xander snarled, “PROBABLY?” Kingsley snickered. Tristan growled, “Melanie Jane, stop talking about getting hit.” I replied, “It was barely a hit… when you think about it.”
Kingsley changed the subject, “So, you seemed to know this super cool sword would work for me.” I explained, “So… I did know that… but that’s because it’s yours. It will only work for you. I wanted to talk to you about it, but we haven’t had a chance to catch up. I’ve got copies of some stuff for you. After this… wonderful battle. We’ve got a new adventure coming our way.”
Kingsley laughed, “Are you serious? Are you already bored?” I reasoned, “I mean currently… this isn’t terribly exciting. We can kill Vampires in our sleep.” I cut one’s head off and heard grumbling from the allies.
I winced when I heard my dad, but I blocked him out. Since he was probably still mad. Freya snorted, “Probably?! I’m being thoroughly chastised.” Well… that wasn’t fair. Freya snorted, “Which I have said.” I pointed out, “They know at minimum… I did have to jump out of the helicopter. It was going down.”
A pop sounded behind me. I killed the last Vampire and turned around. Aiden and Haley gasped. Kingsley asked, “Who the hell is this?” I answered, “Aeidelyn Holloran.” Aeidelyn asked me in a surprised tone, “How do you know that?”
I answered, “I read your diary, and you have a picture in it of yourself.” Her diary was why when I heard a pop behind me, I turned ready to fight. Because her sister was behind me. I blocked the weapon coming at me and thrust my broadsword into her guts.
A scream hit the air from behind me. A yell of pain was heard further in the distance. I knew then…that this was the Holloran mated to the O’Toole. This was Rifstel’s mate. I told Aeidelyn’s sister, “You betrayed your family and chose the path of evil.”
I growled, “When you knew what that would mean for you and your sister. She’s like your mother and you betrayed her whether she wants to admit that or not. You have been played for a fool, Shailagh. Rifstel doesn’t love you… and I’ll prove it.” Shailagh’s eyes met mine in shock.
A pop sounded again but this time when I blinked my eyes, I was in a different place. I heard Xander’s snarl of anger. Kingsley grabbed my hand and pulled me back to her. Aeidelyn ran to her sister, screamed, and held her in her arms.
I watched Rifstel… but he wasn’t healing his mate. Which I found interesting and definitely strange. This wasn’t how I planned to prove to Shailagh he didn’t love her. To not heal her was odd given the information Patrick gave me.
