The Vampire and the Scorpion (Blood and Venom Saga #1)

25. Twenty-Five

Twenty-Five

M y brain shut down as I tried to make sense of what I was seeing. The body beneath me that wasn’t moving, and the half-human figures beyond the flames. They seemed far away, like I was watching through a TV screen. But the scent of burning flesh and bodily fluids anchored me in reality. My legs were as heavy as lead and unresponsive. Though my battle wounds had healed, I ached with an all-consuming exhaustion.

The surrounding flames vanished in an instant with a loud hiss, and in their place, huge plumes of smoke billowed from the trench and wafted into the sky.

Hands seized me, hauling me to my feet, but as soon as their grip eased, my legs gave way and I slumped on top of Ivan’s corpse.

“Come on, you,” said a gruff voice as they grabbed me a second time.

I squinted into their face through watering eyes, the smoke making it hard to identify them. Short, messy, hair and a lined, scarred face. Trevor.

“Here, cover yourself up,” he said, draping his tatty, bloodstained coat over my shoulders once he was sure I could support my own weight.

“I want Madigan,” I said, slurring my words. My lips, like my legs, didn’t want to cooperate.

“He’s being seen to.”

A large, bearded man with a long ponytail helped Madigan to stand. It appeared he was having just as much difficulty getting up as I was. Trevor assisted me over the trench still hissing smoke, and into the hellscape. A combination of muck and blood seeped between my toes as I set my foot down with a squelch.

“What are you waiting for?!” screeched a voice, sending a shiver down my spine.

Filled with a burst of adrenaline, I spun, eyes peeled for Dominic. He was lying on the ground, pinned beneath Aurora, who sat on his chest, blonde bangs tangled and dripping The familiars Alex and Cassandra restrained each arm.

“Get these bitches off me!” he snarled.

“It’s over, sir.” Sebastian was cradling his right arm. From the way he held it, I suspected it was broken. “Ivan is dead. Leonard is coven leader now.”

“It’s not over!” Dominic thrashed, but Aurora and the familiars held him fast. “He cheated. Get Jacob. We can still avenge our master.”

“Jacob’s dead, too.” Aurora said, slapping Dominic around the top of his bald head, to which Dominic responded with a growl, lips peeled back to reveal pointed canines.

Latisha approached the heap of people and shook her head. “Take him to the Sacred Ground and subdue him by whatever means necessary. We’ll decide what to do with him later.” She then turned her attention to Sebastian. “Can I assume you’ll not put up a fight?”

“You will have no fight from me, or my familiar, if he has survived. Ivan is dead. I take orders from Leonard now.”

“Very good.” Latisha assisted her witches to stand whilst keeping Dominic captive. The small group led him away but came to an abrupt halt.

Aurora let out a bloodcurdling scream. “Luna!” She released Dominic and ran, dropping to her knees a few feet away.

“Grab him!” Latisha shouted as Dominic took the opportunity to make an escape. Two werewolves seized him and dragged him away, writhing in their strong hands.

“Luna...” Aurora cradled the body of a creature that made my already squirming stomach twist. Its arms were bent backwards at awkward angles, white, bloodstained feathers sprouting from them. Black, shrunken legs looked incapable of supporting the body they were attached to. Limp, mousey-brown hair framed a pointed face, its nose and lips protruding outward, more like a beak than a face, but the wide, glassy, green eyes staring at nothing were undoubtedly human.

“We look different without our glamour, don’t we?” Latisha said, low enough that Aurora wouldn’t hear.

“That thing... is it...?”

“Yeah, that’s Luna.” A single tear tracked down Latisha’s face. “She won’t be the only fatality. Most are wounded and many won’t make it.”

I cast my eyes around, looking for faces I recognised. Randall was lying in a pool of blood, his neck bent at a strange angle. No one cared. One werewolf assisted their injured companion to walk, and as he did so, stepped over Randall’s body as if it were nothing more than a fallen tree branch.

A short, stocky body with wild, tangled, dark hair was lying face down nearby. Jacob. No one cared about him, either. Though, the way he lay seemed wrong . His back arched upward, as though he were lying on top of something. Or someone. Curled around his body was something flesh coloured, long, thick and hairy, that at first I couldn’t identify, but then my stomach dropped as I worked out what it was.

“Where’s Billy?” I asked Latisha, praying that she would tell me he was accounted for, probably patching up Marcus, teasing him about how useless he’d been.

“I don’t know,” Latisha said, grunting as she assisted another body—Hetti—to her feet. Hetti was swimming in and out of consciousness, losing blood from a gouge in her thigh. “I last saw him wrestling with Dominic, and then some other shifters got involved and I lost him.”

“You take care of Hetti. I’ll find Billy.”

Urging myself to put one foot in front of the other, I approached Jacob’s body, hoping my suspicions were wrong.

“A-Ava...” Billy coughed, blood dribbling out of a corner of his mouth.

“Billy!” I tried to roll Jacob’s body off him, but the strength in my arms failed me. Instead, I sat on the sodden ground, planted my feet against Jacob’s carcass, and pushed with my legs. The body rolled off of Billy, landing with a splat in the mud.

Billy smiled weakly at me. “This is why I didn’t want to get involved,” he said, forcing a laugh that turned into a cough. Now viewing him properly, I saw that the right side of his body remained shifted, and the spider’s leg that had been curled around Jacob’s corpse was, in fact, Billy’s right arm. Four beady eyes blinked at me on the right side of his face, his smile lopsided, the maw of the spider dripping clear goo. I put a hand to my mouth, gasping as my eyes lowered to his torso. Someone had ripped away the left side, five distinct claw marks of their hand visible in his flesh. Blood pooled beneath him among muscle and fat.

I put a trembling hand to his wound, as though I could stop the blood flow. “Billy, you need to shift.”

He took hold of my bloody hand in his. “I can’t. I overdid it during my fight.”

He coughed again, spraying blood.

“You can! Just once. You’re going to be fine.” My eyes burned, lower lip quivering as I tightened my grip on his hand.

“I can’t.” He shook his head, his human eye welling up to mirror mine. “I’ve tried. I think... I think it’s over for me.”

“No, Billy, you’re going to be fine.” The tears spilled as I brushed his copper hair from his face. His appearance might have scared me once, but instead of a half-human half-monster, I saw nothing but the broken form of my friend. “I never meant for this to happen. Least of all to you.”

“Ahh, stop with all that sentimental crap. I knew what I was getting into. Better to die free than live in captivity. Aye?”

“Aye,” I said, forcing a tight-lipped smile. “I will get Latisha. She can help.” I was about to rise, but Billy grabbed my wrist, pulling me back down with a wince of pain.

“I’m beyond repair. But I wanted to say... I’m sorry... for teasing you...” His human eye flickered.

“Don’t be stupid.” The words barely escaped my lips, caught inside my throat. I pressed my forehead to his chest. “This is all my fault.”

I felt his fingers on my head.

“Shhh. It’s ok... just do one thing for me?”

“Anything.”

“Tell Anna, I’m sorry...” His voice cracked, “And help her... with Rosie...”

“I will,” I said, finally breaking as my shoulders heaved with shuddering sobs. Though I didn’t fully understand his last request, I was determined to fulfil it. “I promise I will.”

I wrapped an arm around him, weeping, counting each of his shallow breaths, until finally, his chest stopped moving. But I remained where I was, breathing in his familiar scent, clutching at him, until I, too, was swallowed by darkness.

My temples throbbed. I tried to open my eyes but the spinning, blurred images before me made my stomach lurch and I snapped them shut again. Noises surrounded me, but I couldn’t make out what they were. The only comfort was a vanilla scent on the soft surface I lay on. Could this be a bed? The sounds that hummed in my ears began to make sense; they were words.

“... surprised you survived at all.” A female’s voice.

“That was not my intention.” A male’s. A low yet soothing voice that warmed me to my centre.

Madigan...

I tried to open my eyes again, and this time, I made out the fuzzy outline of a body lying beside me. I realised I was lying on my side, a cold pool of dribble on my pillow.

“Madigan.” I raised a heavy arm to wipe away the drool on my chin. The figure beside me turned their head to face me. Gradually, my focus sharpened, and I saw Madigan’s faint smile.

“Hello, Miss Monroe.”

“I’m... sorry...” I said through ragged breaths.

“Don’t try to talk,” he said firmly, but reached out towards me, his warm fingers brushed my cheek. “Take your time. You’re safe.”

I moved a weighty hand out to him to return the gesture, but my depth perception was off, and brushed the empty air.

“Don’t move either,” said the female’s voice. This time I could identify it as Latisha’s. In defiance, I turned my head slightly to look up at her. She smirked, shaking her head in disapproval. For a while she and Madigan talked, and I allowed my mind to wander, simply looking at Madigan as the details of his face became crisp and my focus was near perfect.

Summoning all of my strength, I shuffled closer to him, nestling my head against his chest and closed my eyes again, listening to his heartbeat, drinking in the warmth radiating from his body.

“What happened?” I asked, bracing myself for the answers that I didn’t want to hear, gripping onto Madigan tightly, as though he could protect me from the bad news. “Is Hetti... is she... alright?”

“She died,” Latisha said, her voice almost breaking. “She fought valiantly. But she lost too much blood.”

“What about everyone else?”

“Besides Len, Sebastian is the only surviving vampire. The moment Billy attacked Dominic, there was chaos between the vampires and shifters.”

The sound of Billy’s name made my eyes sting. I didn’t even try to hold the tears back, I just let them flow silently.

“The vampires dominated but were overpowered when my girls and I joined. Only the werewolves held back, joining last minute.” I could sense the tension in her voice, but she added, “We can hardly blame them. They swore allegiance to Ivan, after all.”

“I didn’t ask you to get involved,” Madigan said, a distinct huffiness in his voice.

“No, but Ava did. To save you. And you were willing to give your life for your freedom. That’s what I was fighting for. And Billy.”

Madigan gave me a tight squeeze.

“I’m leaving you both to rest,” Latisha said. “I’ve done what I can with my healing remedies and I’m sure you will both make a full recovery in time for the funeral tomorrow night. But you must take it easy.”

She drummed her fingers on the kitchen counter, causing the four empty blood vials and two small, glass jars sitting upon it to tinkle.

“We will,” Madigan assured her.

“I mean it. I know vampires have basic regeneration, but without my intervention, you probably wouldn’t have survived.” She pulled another vial of blood from the fridge. “Hmmm, last one...” she muttered, then handed the vial to Madigan. “Take this now, and I’ll raid Ivan’s stash for more. But this should be enough to replenish your strength without giving you cravings, I’d hope.”

“Yes, Mother,” he said, the corner of his mouth twitching before knocking back the blood and adding the empty vial to the collection on the kitchen counter. Despite his weakness, Madigan appeared to be in good spirits.

Latisha turned her attention to me. “Ava, it’s going to take time for your strength to return. You’ve been unconscious for about twenty-four hours, but I think another night’s rest will do you good. I don’t want to return to find you’ve passed out from overexertion.”

“Don’t worry, there’s no chance of that,” I said.

Latisha tidied away the vials and jars before leaving, forcing a farewell smile as she did so.

“I thought you’d abandoned me,” Madigan said once we were alone, his voice shaking, though his expression remained composed.

“I thought you’d try to stop me if I told you what I was planning.”

“I probably would have. During the fight, there was a moment when...” he brushed his fingers through my hair and he frowned, his grey eyes glistening. “I thought you would die.”

“Me, too. I didn’t know shifters healed between their transformations.”

“Reckless.” Madigan shook his head, lips twitching. “Did you know you’d lose your clothes?”

“Yes,” I said through gritted teeth as my face flushed with heat.

“What about your hair dye?”

“My what?”

“Your hair dye,” he repeated, unable to hide his smirk now.

I touched my hair, only now registering that it had re-grown after my leap through the fire. I pulled at a tuft near the front of my head, bringing it into my line of vision.

White.

I then tugged at the sides, viewing it through my peripheral vision.

Brown.

“Uh... no... I didn’t,” I said, my cheeks growing redder. “Guess there’s no point in re-dyeing it.”

Madigan ran his fingers through it once more. “Not that it’s any of my business, but I think your natural hair suits you.”

I grinned.