Page 81 of Only You, No One Else

Mark closed his eyes and tried to reach for Caster’s image, but his wolf's loud growl dissuaded him from that action. The demon smiled at him again, and this time the smile was more human. Its red eyes acquired a purple hue that sharpened to blue as it changed shape into a human male, complete with clothing and shoes.

It spread its arms, the action seeming non-threatening, although all instinct told Mark it was anything but. “Hello there, Magicae Lupus.” Its growling voices in perfect chorus increased the terror holding Mark captive. It stepped closer, and that terror manifested in a shaky breath. “Why would I harm you when you will give me what I want?”

Memory of what that is, at least what Pierce had said it was, collided with the terror he couldn’t shake. His wolf growled, and Mark found his breath in his animal’s strength. “I will not.”

His paltry courage only amused the creature, its laugh in perfect chorus dragging Mark deeper into the terror he thought he would never escape, not without Caster.

The creature shook its head, comfortable enough in its position to pace the darkness. “He cannot save you here.” It smiled again, a flash of those needle-like teeth appearing and disappearing so fast, Mark was unsure he’d seen them at all. “You belong to me now. I…”

Something beyond the darkness interrupted its words. Mark, in the depths of his terror, could not decipher what it was. It took a second for him to sense it, but there was someone else, something else with them. His tormentor frowned and then roared, the same roar that had torn from the Underworld right before he’d made an appearance.

Mark glanced at his wolf to find a calm expression, the animal tilting its head to the right. He tried to peer into the darkness, willing his senses to see anything, something. Then a flash of yellow tore at his sight and his paralysis was lifted.

The red-eyed demon dissolved its human form just as the yellow smoke raced through the darkness to grip its smoky black body. Pierce?

Black and yellow crisscrossed his line of sight as the two demons fought for purchase; the roar of the Underworld, or perhaps their combined roars wreaking havoc on his eardrums. Yellow seemed to gain the upper hand, but then a surge of something Mark couldn’t describe tore through the darkness and the intense color was swallowed by black, disappearing into the darkness entirely.

“Now! Roar now, Magicae Lupus.” Pierce’s voice screamed in his mind, and Mark started to shake his head, but his wolf rose to its feet, glanced at him as if to say “let’s do this,” and opened its mouth. Again, the sensation of both sides of him melding into one, unsettled him, but he allowed his animal to lead, and the power of the roar consumed his whole being.

Yellow emerged from the black the longer he roared, and the tear in the Veil mended. The two entities battling before him separated, the red eyes appearing once more as Mark continued his roar. Yellow attacked, swallowing black, staining its bright hue for a fraction of a second before pushing the black into the tear that was slowly stitching together.

A painful howl sounded from behind the tear, from the Underworld, and Mark’s throat itched as his roar took on a life of its own. Spurred on by his fear, Mark soldiered on, opening his mouth wider, roaring louder. He only stopped when all the light was gone, and the darkness once again consumed him.

The separation into his two distinct entities did not come. The darkened floor he couldn’t see released its grip, and he fell to his knees, more tired than he ever remembered being.

“No. Don’t fall asleep. This is not the place to…”

Whatever Pierce said was lost in his battle with the oblivion calling to him. Every instinct told him the demon was right; he couldn’t let his guard down, not here. But he was so tired…

CHAPTER 55

As day yielded to the darkness of night, Caster’s rational mind understood his actions. He feared returning to Mark’s bedside where his considerable strength was useless. So, as he, Damien, Cy and Dean tore apart another one of Uncle Lucien’s safe houses, he reveled in the satisfying high his blood lust had brought.

Edie had only been too happy to help. Buoyed by Amara’s considerable power, the witches used the dead or dying Made-Vampires to locate any new ones, and Caster and his army of four were only too happy to dispatch them. They had killed no less than two hundred of Uncle Lucien’s army and a considerable number of humans who were unfortunate enough to be in the vicinity of the battle.

The slight tinge of guilt at the dead humans he’d been too happy to drain was the first indication that his blood lust was close to satisfied. He pushed the next victim into Damien’s sword, impaling him on it before a single swing of his weapon severed his head.

Cy held two hearts in his hands, and Dean’s claws ripped through the final two. The sickening stench of stale blood reaching past the roar in his mind was the second indication that he was returning to himself, but he called the blood lust back, certain that he wouldn’t survive even the thought of Mark, helpless and hurt on his bed.

His cousin, his brother, and the Prime Alpha followed him outside away from yet another bloody mess on their way to the next one. A stiff wind whispered through the night, cooling the exertion on his skin.

“Caster!” Damien’s warning tore him away from the images of death and destruction taking up all the room in his mind.

He stopped mid-stride, but didn’t get the chance to question his cousin’s interruption. Yellow smoke coalesced in front of him, forming into Pierce’s human camouflage. His anger would not let him see straight, his bloodlust taking over before his rational mind could warn him of the futility of his action. He swung his weapon at the demon, the sound of it slicing the space between them as it sailed towards Pierce’s head only adding to his desire for blood.

Pierce caught the blade at its sharpest point and used his hold to pull Caster towards him. The flash of yellow in his eyes was the only indication of his surprise. “This won’t work on me.”

He pushed the sword away, his considerable strength pushing the weapon and Caster into Damien. Caster’s rational mind, still hidden behind the need to make someone pay for his pain, failed to register the threat from the demon. He righted himself and snarled his intent, but Damien held him in place.

Pierce, unbothered by the display, moved closer to him. “Are you ready to save him or should I let you get your fill first?”

In the second it took for the demon’s words to make sense, the blood lust was gone, replaced by the pain he’d been trying so hard to run away from.

“What do you know?” Dean’s whisper was low, his Alpha’s growl following in its wake.

“I am with him right now.”

Caster frowned, his mind fully engaged in the present moment.