A Kiss of Ashen Twilight (Ashen Twilight Series #1) (54 page)

 
* * * *

Cassius peaked up at the rearview mirror. The road was barely visible except for a few red lights ahead, a few white lights in his rearview mirror and the occasional landscape revealed by the streetlights. His thin shoulders tensed and he had to take a deep breathe and exhale to keep his hands steady on the steering wheel.

 
“What is it?” He nearly jumped through the roof hearing the female voice in the passenger seat next to him.

 
“Jeez, Vala,” he murmured. “Scare the crap out of me why don’t you?”

Vala turned to look over her shoulder, shaking her long dark mane away from her view. Her small eyes widened as she realized what he kept glancing at through the mirror. “Where are they?”

 
“I don’t know. I’ve been waiting for them to catch up for the past few minutes.” Cassius shook his head. “Something’s wrong.”

 
“Turn around up ahead and go back to the gas station.”

He pulled aside to gain enough momentum to turn around. The tires skidded over the crunching gravel below as he turned around and headed into the darkness toward the shiny beacon of light ahead. From here he could already tell Adric and
Petra
’s car hadn’t moved from their spot. His nerves jittered below his skin as he slowed the car a few feet away. A group of men in black shirts and pants filtered outside of the pay market carrying a large body of fur. Adric.

Vala gasped audibly beside him as she saw his corpse.

   
“Call Daoine,” Cassius said, turning off the ignition. “Let him know what’s going on. Wait a few minutes and if I’m not back…” He stopped as he felt her hand on his shoulder. Turning toward her, he saw the determined look in her dark mahogany eyes and leaned in to give her a deep kiss. He stepped out of his car already feeling the fire raging inside of him threatening to become an intense inferno as it boiled his blood. He could smell them from here. A pungent scent of decay, fear and death. Hate. These punks were definitely human and it was time they were taught not to mess with a member of the house because there will be more right there to back him up. He hoped nothing became of Adric…or worse
Petra
.

Cassius was there to celebrate when his friend announced
Petra
’s pregnancy. A new addition to the pack. Adric was already buying gifts for their new addition the moment he heard
Petra
was expecting. He doted over his wife and made sure to protect her wherever she went, careful to keep her from changing into her true form until the baby was born.
Man, was he careful.
If they had done something to
Petra
…

Cassius felt his eyes heat with a glow. His teeth elongated into fangs and his fingernails grew at his sides as he closed the distance between him and those killers. He released a hiss in the air, alerting them. They didn’t move as they looked up toward him. Good. They would cooperate and make this kill as quick and easy as possible.

Cassius opened his mouth to release a roar when a fiery arrow pierced the blackness heading straight for him. He dove out of the way and landed on his hands and knees, staring at the group ahead. He was on his feet in no time racing toward them when a flash of light covered him from all sides. His skin began to burn as if the sun itself had decided to kick the moon out of the sky and take its place at that very moment. Another arrow came at him from the side. The fire penetrated his skin, sliding into blood, bone and muscle with a force that shot him backward into a nearby tree, impaling him to the wood. He tried to move despite the fact that every movement shot pain throughout his body.
 

Pitch black darkness surrounded him and he couldn’t see the face of the shadowy silhouette that approached him. He tried to tap into his night vision but all he saw was dark silhouettes against a clearly defined background. The figure coming toward him held a fiery arrow within the grasp of a large crossbow. His attacker was tall, rather lanky and bald from the looks of his silhouette. Still Cassius didn’t back down as he hissed toward the darkness, hoping the adrenaline that pumped into him would keep the pain at bay.

 
“Looks like you missed the sunlight, blood sucker,” the figures voice was deep and raspy. “Why don’t I change that for you, huh?”

Something clicked and the figure raised a bright light into his face. Cassius screamed, a mixture of a hiss and a primal growl as he felt the pain of his skin crackling like burnt meat under the light. The figure chuckled wildly as he shined the light all over him. And then another light appeared next to him. And then another. Slowly, Cassius felt his life slipping away. But he wouldn’t go without a fight. Cassius opened his eyes to see a large bird in the sky behind them. Its wings flapping wildly through the air as it soared within the blackness.

 
“Behind you guys!” one of the men near the pumps yelled.

They turned just was Vala swooped down, her large beak reaching for them as she squawked loudly.

 
“Get it!”

A large arrow with a rope attached to it sailed into the air and pierced her breast with a sickening
thhppp
sound. Vala’s body fell freely down toward the empty pavement. Cassius used all of all his strength to jump and kick away the three men in front of him. With his scarred hand, he reached to his middle and pulled out the fiery arrow with a loud cry. Gritting his teeth, he tossed it away and headed straight for them.
     

 
“Vala!” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her dragged on the floor toward the laughing group but he couldn’t see the figure holding her. He began to lunge toward her only to be topped by a large body with massive arms massive body grabbing onto him.

Sirens broke out in the distance as he moved behind his attacker in seconds. He dove down, his fangs ready to pierce the skin belonging to the man whose life he was ready to take to the grave and beyond. The warm, thick flesh beneath him tasted bitter but the realization of the feed made it that much sweeter as he relished the cry from the attacker’s throat. With a twist of his head, Cassius broke his neck, silencing the brute. Before the other two men around him could grab their weapons. Cassius was on his feet, with one slash across the second man’s face and throat. He turned to the third and slashed again.

Slowly his skin regenerated with their blood filling him as he stormed toward the pumps where Vala was dragged. The other group raised their weapons toward her and he felt his adrenaline shoot to beyond the skies. He raced toward them, his hands raised as he embedded his nails into the closest one’s back. He raised his arm, tearing through skin and bone with ease. The sirens grew louder and he hoped the rest of the caravan behind them had gotten out of dodge before the bloodbath began. Out of the darkness more men in black suits came all around him, their weapons raised and ready to fire.

 
“Freeze!” Behind him, an array of police cars stopped near the gas station entrance and drew their guns. “Hands up in the air! Every one of you!”

Cassius’s eyes fell to the blood splattered passenger window where
Petra
still remained. Her body was still and he could see the gunshot wound from here. His hands formed into fists. Not a few feet away Adric laid on the ground in full Lycan form. His body filled with smoking bullets piercing his thick skin.
The
mortal beasts won’t get away with this massacre
.
I promise you that, Adric.

 
“Everybody get down on the ground. Now!”

No one moved as they remained looking at Cassius, waiting…perhaps even hoping for him to move. He wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. Not until the last moment.

He looked down at Vala’s still frame. Her dark mahogany eyes looked up at him with sadness emanating from her large dark body as her heart beat raced.
Be strong, my love. We’re going to get out of here.

 
“On the ground! Don’t make me tell you again!”

Transform.

She blinked, understanding his words transmitted from his mind to hers.

 
“Now!”

In an instant she disappeared. The arrow barely hit the ground before she changed from a hawk and to a large eagle within the blink of an eye.

Cassius moved fast. He would be like a blur to their eyes running to grab the fallen fiery arrows on the ground and yanking the dripping gas pump from its cradle. With a quick flick of his wrist, he poured the gas on Adric’s car and the fallen Lycan’s body before tossing the fiery arrow toward it.

 
“No!” Whoever had yelled was soon drowned out by the explosion of the car.

Vala swooped over head through the flames and Cassius jumped up to grab onto her open claws as she swerved up into the air. An array of bullets, arrows and firearms broke into the sky as they drowned with the pitch black darkness of the evening sky as the flames threatened to consume the entire gas station down below.

About the Ashen Twilight Series

Book I:
A Kiss of Ashen Twlight

Now Available in Trade Paperback & E-Book

Book II:
Within the Shadows of Mortals

Coming 2010 to Trade Paperback & E-Book

Book III:
Inheritance of Ashes

Coming 2010 to Trade Paperback & E-Book