Sacrifice (8 page)

“You can leave out the back,” Matthias whispered. “The side door will take you straight into Madame Clairy’s Secret.” Matthias was trying to help but I could think of a few better places to hide than a seedy brothel.

“I won’t make it to either door,” I whispered back.

I smelled the putrid scent of the Lykanos pack as they closed in on me. I kept my head forward, facing the bar. I had to admit that I was a bit afraid, although the werewolves weren’t what I feared. I feared dying and enslavement by Hades.

“Kalisi, look who we have here,” Cail snickered, shoving the neighbor on my right off the stool and onto the floor. Cail, a giant at six foot and seven inches and a neck as thick as a tree trunk, took the now vacant seat.

“Fellas, if it isn’t our old and dear friend Victor Iptian, the new emperor of the Ischero Empire. Oh, wait a minute, that can’t be right. Because if that was right, he’d be wearing a dress since I hear some bitch is running that clan.” Kalisi let out a high-pitched, hyena-like laugh.

“You’re the bitch, you mangy poodle,” I snapped. The nerve of
her
referring to Delia as a
bitch
.

Kalisi’s eyes glowed a bright ruby-red and started growling under her breath. “Who are you calling a bi-?”

“Kalisi! Not here,” Jarod scolded, looking around the bar to see if anyone had heard her. Jarod snatched me by the back of my neck and then grabbed the stool on my left which had suddenly become vacant.

“Mind if I sit down?” he asked as Kalisi continued to pant and snarl in my direction. I looked her dead in the eyes and blew her a kiss.

“You should ask the owner of the bar,” I said, eyeing Matthias. He watched the horrific developments of my demise from the far left corner of the bar. I couldn’t blame him. He was out numbered and smart enough to be wearing silver cuff links and silver pocket watch.

“Who? That ancient vampire?” Jarod asked, laughing. “Hey Mattie, keep an eye on
my
bar, we’re going to make up for lost time with our old comrade here, so no need to alert anyone.” That was Jarod’s way of warning Matthias to not call on the Ischero. “Victor is amongst old friends. Right Vic?” Jarod smirked. All of a sudden, Matthias was busy drying glasses with a rag.

“Come on Victor, you heard him. Let’s go for a little walk,” Cail spat. He pretty much blocked my view and any attempt to escape. I had no choice but to leave with them.

“How’s about that kiss Vic?” Kalisi asked, pretending to pucker up. I gulped down the rest my bourbon. “For old time’s sake?” She drawled. “We had some fun didn’t we? Especially, when you finally came to your senses and agreed that
wolves
are more fun than
cats
.” There was that ear-piercing hyena cry she considered a laugh, again.

“Not tonight, darlin’.” I winked, as her blue eyes turned crimson. I bet she could almost taste my flesh.

Kalisi and I had a bit of history. I messed around with her while my ex-girlfriend Sacha, a werepanther, were sort of on a break. Then I dumped Kalisi, rather badly, and took Sacha back. Actually, I haven’t thought of Sacha in a while. Both she and her twin brother, Lucas, had been loyal disciples and had gladly given up their lives for me. Right now, as I was being ushered out by a pack of monstrous werewolves who were prepared to tear me limb from limb, it all seemed so very long ago and not only a month since I had them all under my divine control.

To the mortals in the bar, my departure may have seemed normal – just a group of old acquaintances leaving together. To someone who was a part of the immortal world, I would be considered to be a dead man walking. Once we were out of the bar, both of my arms were pinned behind me in a vice-like grip, and I was led around to the back of the saloon. The intensity and desperation of this moment was heightened by the glow of the full moon. I had only one thought on my mind. I shouldn’t have left the sanctuary of the Tieron estate.

I was led into the forest. I had expected them to take me there – their playground. The forest was shadowy and barely lit by the full moon, which was eclipsed by numerous pines. I sensed no other beings around us as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. If not for the occasional hoot of an owl, breaking the still of this warm and breezeless evening, the forest was virtually quiet. The woods was dense and the perfect place to murder someone. I would have chosen it myself if killing someone had been on my agenda tonight.

“We knew you couldn’t stay away for long. You missed the night life and your old
friends
,” Jarod said as he looked me in the eyes. “Well, the ones you didn’t get a chance to kill.” Obviously, I didn’t have the best reputation in Nickel City.

“
Friends
? Is that what we were?” I asked, trying not to laugh. “Somehow I remember it all quite differently.”

“Really, how so?” he asked, cocking his head to one side and looking at me, and then at his pack.

Werewolves were the lowest species and sometimes considered the least intelligent. They couldn’t be trusted and lacked the discipline in maintaining control of their emotions, even within their own pack. Naturally, they would tear each other apart. No one in his or her right mind would tempt Jarod by acting like a jerk, but I figured if I was going to die then it was pointless to play Mr. Nice Demigod. At least Ares would be proud.

“You were my lapdogs.” I said, holding Jarod’s gaze.

Everyone was silent as we waited to hear his response. When he didn’t say anything for a second or two, I braced myself for the worst, knowing that I’d be shredded from head to toe just for stating the truth. I wasn’t lying. They used to jump at my every beck and call. Most dogs loved to please their master, and Jarod had proved to be one very cooperative pup.

An eruption of laughter mixed with howls, coming from somewhere to my left and from behind several pine trees, was what held my attention right now, not Jarod’s silence. The howls cut through the night air, prompting the pack to howl in response. Finally, the howler emerged from the shadows – cast by pine trees, and he was not alone. Now there were five more Lykanos, bringing the total to eight. Sadly, the numbers made no difference to me since I had all the power of a mortal.

“I see you haven’t lost your divine sense of humor, along with your magic tricks, Vic,” David noted. He was the new leader of the werewolf pack, and had decided to join in the festivities.

“No, the empress let me keep that,” I chuckled. David laughed and howled even louder than before. Soon the entire pack was howling. I even dared to chuckle a little.

“I hope you bid the empress a final farewell when you left her this evening,” David said.

“Actually, I hadn’t thought to.” I tried to shrug, although my arms were bound and already aching from Cail’s hold.

“Won’t the goddess be looking for you?” Jarod asked, and then cowered away as David glared at him.

“Actually, she doesn’t know that I’m gone.” I said sheepishly.

“Hmm… you are brave, and bravery should never go unrecognized,” David said eyeing me closely.

“Nor should stupidity,” Kalisi added, and David gave her a silencing look.

“Victor, we have a score to settle. You held us under your captive spell after killing our leader, Donatella. Death has its price and the time has arrived. You must pay,” David declared. Their howls and barks of joy shattered the calm of the night. These pooches couldn’t wait to dig in.

“The spell was necessary since you wouldn’t have volunteered,” I said innocently. I thought to stall them for a moment longer.

“Volunteer? Why would we want to be paraded around town as your pets?” David asked, incredulous.

“Well, when you put it that way it does sound rather insensitive of me.”

“So you thought we had forgotten. Is that why you finally came into town alone and without the big stallion by your side?” David asked. His eyes were the color of blood.
I might as well die now, I thought, since I won’t survive an argument with Cordelia for not allowing Nikolas to chaperone me.

“Actually, the pack had nothing to do with me wanting to paint the town red tonight.” I said, smiling, although I was trembling in my steel-toe boots.

“That’s what we’ll do with you once we kill you,” Jarod said. The intensity in his eyes led me to believe that they wouldn’t be able to hold off any longer. By now, I had hoped that someone would have shown up in my defense. Perhaps, my aura couldn’t be sensed this deep in the woods.

“I’ll take the first bite,” David said, ominously.

Suddenly, he threw his head back. He beckoned to the full moon, which must have been a glorious sight for these ravenous pooches, letting out a bone-chilling howl. My first impulse was to run, but my feet just scraped the branch littered ground as Cail gripped my arms fiercely behind my back. The thought to run was futile anyway. I couldn’t out run them as a mortal.

My thoughts of escaping stopped for a moment. Although I had seen them shift in the past, the sound of bones cracking and breaking, and the deafening, painful cries was what held me captive, not Cail’s firm hold on me. David screamed in agony as his skin tore away from his slim frame, and he shifted into an enormous gray wolf. His blood-curdling growls were heart- stopping and his blazing, red eyes bore into me. I knew what I was in for, regrettably. Death seemed so far away if you considered the terror and torture of being bitten and mauled to pieces. I prayed to the gods that death would come quickly.

“NO!” I yelled, as he sunk his teeth into my torso. I had expected an immeasurable amount of suffering, and David didn’t disappoint.

The first bite burned and the pain was mind numbing. There were many more as the wolves fought over a chance to chomp into my flesh. The screams were deafening even if they were all coming from me. I my skin tore, and I could no longer focus. I began to succumb to the excruciating pain.

I vaguely remember seeing David’s pack dash in every direction as they tried desperately to avoid flying balls of fire.

Eight - Evan

Fire Ball

“How long ago did they leave?” I asked Matthias.

“About five minutes ago. Evander, there were five of them,” Matthias said nervously as he came out from behind the bar. I could barely hear him above the loud ragtime music that some drunk was murdering on the piano. It also didn’t help that the bar girl sang out of key.

“What’s your point?” I asked, over my shoulder as I walked out of the Bucket O’ Blood. Obviously, the old count had forgotten that he was talking to a deity.

“Any luck?” Nikolas asked, walking out of the saloon across the road.

“According to Matthias, they left about five minutes ago. Damned, impatient mutts.”

“Five?” Nikolas said raising an eyebrow and gritting his teeth. “He may already be dead.”

“I thought of that. I’ll take the north end of the forest. You take the south. Alert me if you locate him,” I said, and entered the woods as Nikolas and disappeared.

By now, I was about ready to rip Victor’s heart out myself. He’d better not have gotten himself killed. The werewolves knew our deepest secret. They knew that Ischeros couldn’t be revived without our heart. Victor had made the mistake of making the Lykanos privy to that. I had to admit, although I wish it wasn’t the truth – our empire needed him. If only he’d learn to stay out of the way. He was becoming Delia’s shadow and I wanted to squash him into the ground the last few times I’d seen him around her.

Victor hadn’t changed a bit and I wasn’t surprised by this little stunt. He was always going to be an arrogant fool who has to prove a point no matter how wrong he was. I could understand Delia’s point of view. She searched for the good in everyone and wanted to give him a chance, but he needed to learn a few things first. He needed discipline and he needed to learn to practice some restraint. I didn’t trust him.

Although it was a full moon tonight, the darkness surrounding the forest was opaque. I couldn’t feel Victor’s aura and wondered if the Lykanos had brought him here at all. It took me less than a minute to search my half of the woods. I didn’t see any moving shadows of any kind, whether wolf or Apolluon. Suddenly, there was movement about thirty feet ahead of me. The shadow wasn’t tall enough to be Nikolas. The silhouette was too slim to be a man. It had to be one of the females in the pack, probably Kalisi.

I moved swiftly, staying hidden behind the trees so that I could get a better look. I needed to identify my opponent before killing him. It was definitely a woman, but it was still too dark to be sure. Something was strange about her behavior. She was calm, not hostile, as I would have expected a Lykanos to be, and she was still in her human form.

Then it dawned on me. This could be a trap. Maybe the Lykanos were surrounding the forest. I saw another shadow. Huge in stature and I knew by his movements that it was Nikolas. His eyes flashed red to alert me that he was aware of me. I motioned for him to stay behind me.

I could take care of Kalisi on my own. As I inched closer, I noticed a heap on the ground. The girl stood over the mound, which had no movement. It was too late, I thought.

Strangely, the temperature in the forest rose. A blazing fireball spun out toward me, growing in size, as it got closer. I raised one hand and the tidal wave extinguished the flames instantly. I was in shock for a split second. Another ball of flames, this one larger in circumference, was aimed straight for my head. I stirred the air and my waves spun around my opponent. She couldn’t escape me as I transformed into a whirlpool. Splashing in every direction, I surrounded her, but she continued spitting balls of fire at me.

This went on for about a minute – she hurling fireballs in my direction and me blocking them with waves of water – until she gave up suddenly, and threw herself onto the heap. I stood a few yards away and stared at her in the darkness. Something cracked and I whirled around. One of Nikolas’ hooves had snapped a branch as he moved closer to get a better look at the girl.