Half-breed’s Bargain by Samantha Wolfe

26

VAN

The headlights of my Mercedes gleam off of Lynch’s fangs as he steps in front of us with a smug grin on his face. He’s wearing a dress shirt and slacks, as if he’s here for an office meeting. His eyes are glittering black pools of bloodlust as are the eyes of the two other vampires who step into the light to flank him with long, sharp blades in their hands. I’m relieved to see no guns. I imagine it’s because Lynch doesn’t want to draw any attention to this confrontation with a lot of gunfire, especially since we’re still so close to Móira’s property. I check the rear-view mirror to find Ethan and Mercer in their truck behind me, then glance at the side mirrors to see more blade wielding vampires appearing from the trees to surround both our vehicles. There are close to a dozen of them, and I realize just how outnumbered we are. I glance over at Harlow and we share a grim yet determined look. Yeah, she knows we’re fucked as much as I do.

“Bravo!” Lynch calls out and I turn my attention back to the master vampire, who’s clapping his hands now. “I feel the need to congratulate my lovely Ameera for doing such a stellar job of leading me right to this group of misfits and my ring.”

“I knew it,” Anson snarls from the back seat.

I whirl to level a baleful glare at my former lover. “How could you?” I ask, feeling like the world’s biggest fool for trusting her.

Harlow says nothing as she stares at Ameera with narrowed eyes that don’t tell me a thing about what she’s thinking. Ameera just sits there with wide eyes and an ashen cast to her already pale olive skin.

“Now, now,” Lynch says, capturing our attention again. “Don’t blame Ameera. It isn’t her fault.” He looks to the side and lifts a beckoning hand in that direction.

A moment later, two male vampires appear, dragging a third by the arms between them. He’s limp in their hands with blood dripping from his swollen and brutally beaten face. Vampires heal faster the older they get, so for him to look this bad, he must be very young.

Ameera gasps. “Samuel!” she cries in a horrified voice. Wow, I didn’t even recognize him as her progeny.

“Your Samuel can be quite talkative given the right incentive,” Lynch says, looking pleased with himself. “It’s too bad you chose someone so weak to turn into one of us.”

I’m relieved that Ameera didn’t betray us and feel a pang of sympathy for her. I know she must feel at least as protective of her progeny as I do over Ethan and Mercer. This could’ve just as easily happened to one of them if someone like Lynch used them against me.

Lynch’s face hardens, as does his voice. “I know you conspired with Miss Walsh to steal the ring from Móira and plan to destroy it, but you’re going to get out of your cars nice and slow, then hand it over to me. Then I might let you all walk away with your lives intact.”

“Yeah, right,” Harlow says under her breath.

I glance over to give her a grim look that tells her I agree with her assessment. We’re not getting out of here alive if Lynch has his way. Our only chance is to fight our way out of this, and we both know it. I glance back at Hale and Ameera, each looking bleak and resigned, and both give me a slight nod to tell me they agree too. Okay then, a fight it is.

“Follow my lead,” Harlow says as she reaches over to squeeze my hand.

I nod and the four of us open our doors in unison, then step out of the car. I spare a quick glance backwards to see Ethan and Mercer doing the same. I say nothing to them. They’ll follow my lead no matter what happens. I just hope this fight doesn’t get my boys killed. I didn’t take them in for their lives to end so young. I wanted them to have a long and happy life together as mates. But I push those depressing thoughts away. We’re in far too much danger right now for me to dwell on that.

Lynch is grinning again as we stop near the front of my car with Harlow in the lead and the rest of us flanking her. His eyes sweep over our little group and widen when he notices Hale standing just behind Harlow.

“Hale,” Lynch says with a surprised expression, and it makes me feel better that the master vampire didn’t know the mage would be here. Maybe it will give us a fighting chance of getting out of this unscathed. “I see the treaty means about as much to your coven as it does to me. Pretty words on paper meant to stifle the ones with all the power in Unity. Am I right, lad?”

“I’m here for personal reasons that have nothing to do with the Unity Coven or the treaty,” Hale replies with disdain.

“I see,” Lynch says in a suggestive tone, then shoots an arched brow at Harlow. “Miss Walsh, you’re gathering quite the little reverse harem for yourself, aren’t you?”

“What can I say?” Harlow says with a nonchalant shrug. “I like dick.”

Dios mío, I love this woman and the outrageous things that come out of her gorgeous mouth. Nothing is ever boring with her around, and her wild personality compliments my controlled and more brooding tendencies. I long to tell her how I feel about her, even amid our standoff with the vampires. I wish more than anything there was a way out of this mess for me that included a future with Harlow, but the chills racking my body and the raging headache pounding in my brain tell me otherwise. All I can do is try my best to make sure she’s still alive when all is said and done.

Lynch’s barking laughter grates on my nerves. “You’re a bold lass, aren’t you? I can’t help but feel disappointed you won’t be working for me.” He shrugs. “Oh well, c'est la vie and all that.” He holds his palm up toward Harlow, his amusement disappearing. “Now hand over the ring,” he says in an unyielding tone, “and then we’ll go our separate ways with no hard feelings.”

Harlow grins in a disturbing way that tells me she’s about to put on a show for Lynch. I know it’s necessary for her to dredge up the monster Bravas turned her into, but I still hate it and what it does to her. And even worse, I may not be here afterwards to help her through it.

“Well, as tempting as that offer is, I have a better one,” she says as she steps closer to Lynch.

I have to fight the urge to grab her and yank her away from him. The two vampires flanking Lynch step closer to him with wary expressions. Smart move on their part. My mate is a deadly and formidable woman. Movement at the edge of my vision catches my eye, and I glance over to see Hale stepping closer to me and giving me a pointed look that tells me, as Harlow would so indelicately put it, shit is about to hit the fan.

“I keep the ring,” Harlow says as she reaches into the inside pocket of her jacket. “And give you something even better.”

Lynch frowns. “And what could that possibly be?” he asks with a perturbed scowl.

Harlow’s unpleasant smile turns into that sexy and familiar smirk I adore. “Oh, just a little thing I’d like to call,” -she pulls a small glass bottle from her pocket- “karma.” Then she tosses it at Lynch’s feet.

Obsepio!” Hale calls out with an outstretched arm as the bottle flies through the air, and a pulse of magic ignites from the mage’s hand just before the bottle hits the ground at Lynch’s feet and shatters. In the next instant, an invisible shock wave of powerful magic explodes outward from the broken bottle and slams into the hastily erected shield Hale flung out in front of us.

Bright white sparks erupt along the shield as the magic slams into it, staggering Hale back a few steps from the force of it. But Ethan, Mercer, Ameera, and I are unscathed. The surrounding vampires aren’t so fortunate. The wave of magic drives them all backwards, most of them lurching back several steps from the force, and a few even get knocked to the ground. Even Lynch staggers in its wake, and that’s the moment of weakness my Harlow, who unsurprisingly is unaffected by the spell, takes advantage of to strike. She lunges forward with one of her many knives already in her hand and thrusts it toward Lynch’s chest.

But of course he recovers the quickest of all the vampires and dodges out of the way at the last second. Harlow’s knife misses her intended target, the vampire’s heart, and instead slices a shallow line across the side of his rib cage, the wound hissing and steaming as the silver-plated blade cuts into his skin. Harlow flings herself backwards as Lynch reaches for her. His eyes are pitch black, and his fangs are extended as he snarls out his rage. She dances out of the way of his grabbing hands, but the two vampires still flanking Lynch have already recovered too and are rushing in toward Harlow with their weapons raised.

I charge toward the vampire coming in from Harlow’s left, pulling my gun from its holster. I hate to use the weapon and announce our presence to anyone nearby. I’m hopeful our remote location will be enough to keep anyone from calling the authorities on us, and we’re far enough away from Móira’s property that they won’t take an interest. I aim at his head as Hale shouts something in Latin again. I fire and the silver-plated bullet finds its mark just as a ball of white flame hits the other vampire approaching from Harlow’s right side in the center of his chest. The force of Hales spell flings the vampire off his feet and onto his back with his skin smoking while the one I shot drops to the ground dead with steam pouring from the bullet hole in the center of his forehead. Meanwhile, a familiar snarling breaks out behind me, and I assume Ethan and Mercer have joined the fray, but I have no time to confirm it as Lynch lunges for Harlow again.

I aim my pistol at Lynch’s head, but someone slams into me from the right before I can squeeze the trigger, sending me sprawling onto the road. I land so hard that my gun slips from my grip, and I roll onto my back just as a huge vampire pounces on me. I see the flash of his knife as it plunges down toward my chest, and I grab his forearms to stop him, halting the blades’s tip mere inches from penetrating my chest. He snarls, all gleaming black eyes and snapping fangs with a cloud of curly black hair around his pale face, and presses his weight down on the knife. Dios mío, he’s strong, and I grunt with the effort to keep him from stabbing me. It’s only a matter of time before my arms give out. I want to reach for my knife in my shoulder holster, but I can’t afford to let go with one hand long enough to do it.

Abruptly, the vampire’s head gets yanked backwards just before a feminine hand grips his chin. Ameera’s bloodthirsty face appears just over his shoulder as she twists the vampire’s head violently, the sound of snapping bone telling me she just broke his neck. She disappears from view as quickly as she appeared, and I shove the now limp body aside and rise to my feet.

I glance around and see Ameera launching herself at another vampire before she can reach Hale’s unprotected back. Hale himself is lobbing white fireballs at vampire after vampire while Ethan and Mercer, now in their wolf forms, pick off the few he misses. It looks like they’ve got everything under control, so I turn to go help my mate. I’m relieved to discover that Harlow seems to be holding her own against Lynch. She has two of her knives in her hands now as she slashes repeatedly at the vampire, who has armed himself with one of the other vampire’s discarded weapons. The two whirl around each other, her lightning quick strikes keeping him on the defensive for now. But when she tires, I’m certain the master vampire is more than capable of turning the tables on her. It’s time to the shift the odds in our favor.

I rush in, pulling my knife from its sheath, and lash out at Lynch’s unprotected side. I grin as I make contact, the blade singeing his flesh at it slices through his shirt into his upper arm. He whirls toward me with a snarl and Harlow strikes, one of her knives opening up a hissing wound across the back of his shoulder. Harlow moves in and slashes at him again, but this time he deflects her knife with his, then dodges away from mine before I can tag him.

And so it goes on, Harlow and me working seamlessly together against the master vampire, wounding him again and again. He only retaliates a few times, but our injuries are minor and heal almost immediately, unlike his, which continue to hiss and bleed thanks to the silver in our weapons. In the supernatural world, it’s always prudent to be prepared with a silver-plated weapon. Eventually, we drive Lynch backwards until his back is pressed to the side of one of his SUVs and he’s wildly brandishing his knife to keep us at bay.

“Perhaps we can come to an arrangement here,” he says, his arrogant tone in contradiction to his sagging stance and multiple bleeding wounds. He has to know he’s finished. He just can’t admit it to himself. “We’ll call this a draw and go our separate ways with no grudges held, I swear.”

Harlow throws her head back and laughs at his ridiculous suggestion.

I glare at him. “Forgive me if I don’t believe you. Your words are the pathetic ramblings of a desperate man who knows he’s already lost.”

Lynch hisses at me and tenses as if to attack, but looks past me and stills. I glance over to find Ameera and Hale walking up beside Harlow and me. I glance behind them to see Ethan and Mercer padding up behind me in their wolf forms, and realize all the other vampires have been dispatched. The four of them look a little worse for wear from the fight, but still ready for more. Now that I’m not fighting, I’m acutely aware of my roiling stomach and how my body aches far more than it should after such a short amount of physical activity. My skin still feels clammy too, but now there’s this odd crawling sensation underneath that I don’t like at all. I do my best to ignore all of it though, since there are more important things to focus on right now than my failing body.

“What was that you were saying about an arrangement?” Harlow asks with a smirk.

Lynch ignores Harlow’s taunting and glares at Ameera. “I can’t believe you would turn against your own master like this.”

“You’re not my master,” Ameera replies with an imperious lift of her chin. “I was sent here by the Mari Maeștri.”

Lynch startles at her revelation.

“They’ve heard rumors about your reckless behavior and sent me to investigate, and to take care of the problem if it’s warranted.” She arches a brow. “It appears they were right to send me. Your disregard for the Unity Treaty and the consequences of your own actions are enough to warrant your death, even if you weren’t such a feckless prat.”

Lynch snarls in response and rushes toward Ameera with his knife raised. She lunges forward to meet him and ducks beneath his clumsy attack with ease. She thrusts upward with the long wicked blade in her hand and plunges it into Lynch’s chest. He stills, his eyes wide in astonishment as his mouth works, but nothing comes out.

“Randall Lynch,” Ameera says as she meets his eyes with a hard stare. “On behalf of the Mari Maeștri, I sentence you to death.”

Then, in one swift and effortless movement, she yanks the knife from Lynch’s chest, whirls around with the blade lashing out in a wide arc, and cleaves his head from his body. Lynch’s body topples over onto its side as his head tumbles through the air and thumps onto the ground a few feet away. His blood pools on the pavement beneath him as his dead eyes stare unseeing up at the night sky. Good riddance. Unity is a much better place without him.

“Well, that was anticlimactic,” Harlow says as she eyes Lynch with a grin. “I thought he’d have more fight in him than that.”

“Just another reason he was unworthy to be Unity’s Master,” Ameera says as she glares at what’s left of Lynch with a sneer.

“I can’t imagine whoever takes his place will be any better,” Hale says as he grimaces at the vampire’s corpse.

Ameera glares at him as if he personally insulted her, but says nothing. It’s probably for the best. We don’t have the time for the two of them to get into another verbal sparing match.

“We need to go,” I say. “The sun will take care of the vampires.” They’ll be nothing but ash soon enough with the sunrise. I move closer to Harlow and take her hand in mine, the need to touch her while I still can too strong to deny. She grins at me, and I feel better already. “The sooner we destroy the ring, the better,” I add, and her smile falters as her hand clutches at mine.

I suspect it’s because she knows our time together is fleeting the closer I get to breaking the bargain with my mother. I lift her hand to my mouth and press a soft kiss to the back of it to comfort her. I wish we dared to wait until morning to destroy the ring. I long for one more night with her in my arms, and our auras and bodies connected as one. I’ve never felt so at peace and complete as I do with this woman. In another life, we could have had so much time together, and I can’t help but mourn a future that was never meant to be.

“Let’s go,” I say and turn to lead Harlow back to my car.

The others follow, and we pause long enough for me to retrieve my pistol and for Ethan and Mercer to shift and dress in their discarded clothing before walking toward our vehicles. Harlow and I are just reaching the front of my Mercedes when the headlights suddenly dim. I pause, thinking the car’s battery is to blame, then glance up to find that not only are the headlights of Ethan’s truck doing the same, but the pale moonlight above us is also dimming. Within seconds, we’re blanketed in darkness so complete that not even my inhuman vision can make anything out in the inky blackness surrounding us.

“What the fuck?” Harlow asks.

Her obvious confusion is something I don’t share with her. I know exactly what the darkness enveloping us means, as well as the tingling of magic along my skin that accompanies it.

“Oh Evandro,” a familiar voice calls out in a chiding and harsh tone that sends a shiver of terror throughout my entire body. “Words can’t even express how very disappointed I am in you right now.”

I whip my head in the direction the voice came from, just as a piece of the surrounding darkness parts to reveal its source wrapped in a halo of roiling shadows. My mother, Móira the Grey.