Illusions (Night Roamers) Book Four Page 18

  “That’s fine,” he answered, kissing me again. “I’m just happy that you said yes.”

  I closed my eyes and our kiss deepened. Sighing in pleasure, I slid my fingers into the back of his hair and blocked out everything, enjoying the way his body felt pressed against mine, and the feel of his hands cupping my buns. I wanted to drag him to one of the boats and have my way with him, but in the back of my mind, I knew it was probably too dangerous. So, instead, we made out on the dock for a while until someone cleared their throat.

  “Should I get a hose?”

  We both turned to find Nathan staring at us, his hands in his pockets.

  Duncan, who’d been holding me the entire time, put me down.

  “Nice timing as usual,” I said, smiling coolly.

  He grinned. “Hey, I’m sorry to interrupt your little moment, but Martin said to come and find you.”

  “Are we leaving now? For Vegas?”

  “I think the plans have changed,” he replied, turning around.

  Duncan and I exchanged looks and then followed him into the house. Martin, mom, and Ethan were standing in the kitchen, their faces grim.

  “Great,” I said, rolling my eyes at Ethan, who looked like he’d just gotten out of the shower. He was now clean and wearing one of Nathan’s concert T-shirts and faded blue jeans. “What is he doing here?”

  “He’s going to help us,” said Martin. “Which is good, because I’ve just gotten word that Victor is on his way back to Shore Lake with several of his lycan. Apparently, to rid this town of Roamers.”

  “Is that right?” I answered. I folded my arms across my chest. “He’s pretty damn sure of himself.”

  “Don’t overestimate him, honey,” said my mother, looking tired. “He’s got an entire group of killers working for him. All werewolves.”

  “You mean lycan?” said Nathan.

  She grunted. “Yes, Nathan. Lycan. Anyway, standing against them is going to be very difficult.”

  “Who told you he was heading back here?” asked Duncan, scratching his head.

  “Celeste just called my cell phone,” said Martin. “Faye returned to Club Nightshade and told her about it.”

  “Great. Celeste ran back to her, huh?” I muttered. “Then, I guess Faye knows everything.”

  “Who cares?” said Nathan. “Everyone is free and we can pool our strength together. Victor and those guys won’t have a chance. Shit, we should be celebrating already.”

  “I’m telling you – it won’t be that easy,” said Anne, shaking her head.

  I sighed. “I don’t know… maybe we should just get out of town and go after Victor later. When he’s not expecting it.”

  “Nikki, Celeste mentioned that Victor is looking for you specifically. He wants you to breed the lycan babies,” said Martin.

  My eyes widened. “What?”

  “Yes,” replied Martin. “So, he isn’t going to stop searching for you. Look, he has contacts all over the United States and moves around frequently. He’ll find you before we ever find him. We need to take him out. Now.”

  “I agree,” said Ethan. “Think about it – he probably doesn’t know that we know he’s coming, either. So, we head back to his cabin and wait. When they show up, we pick them off, one-by-one. They may be strong, but so are we. And, we’re a lot faster.”

  “We?” I snapped. “Why in the world are you helping us now? I just don’t get it.”

  “I’ve never stopped helping you, Nikki,” he replied, pinning me with his icy stare. “And I never will.”

  Something about the way he looked at me still managed to give me goose-bumps. The fact that Ethan still had any effect on me at all was aggravating. “Well, whatever,” I mumbled, breaking away from his gaze. I looked over at Duncan, who was glaring at Ethan, and took his hand.

  Duncan pulled me closer and I noticed Ethan’s jaw set.

  “He’s absolutely right,” agreed Martin. “Let’s get over there now before they arrive and wait for them.”

  “Are you sure about this?” asked Anne, looking frightened. “I mean, I have to tell you, I don’t like the idea of putting my children in any more danger than I have to.”

  “Mom,” said Nathan. “We aren’t children anymore and this isn’t going to go away. Victor isn’t going to stop searching for us and I’m not interested in running. We do this now.”

  She sighed and looked at me.

  “I’m in agreement,” I said, letting out a ragged sigh. “I’m tired of running from him, too.”

  As the words left my lips, I thought about the irony. We’d been running from Victor when we thought he was just an asshole. Now, we knew he was a real monster and had decided to stand our ground, this time running toward him.

  She nodded and then smiled grimly. “You’re right. I need to stop running, too. So, let’s do this.”

  “One thing,” said Nathan, turning to Ethan. He pointed at him. “You fuck this up in any way…. you turn against us, or try flying off with my sister, I’ll hunt you down and kill you myself. I mean it, so keep that in the back of your mind. Better yet, keep it in the front.”

  “If I don’t kill him first,” said Duncan.

  “I’m on your side,” said Ethan, looking at me again. “You have my word.”

  “Yeah, and we all know how righteous that is, don’t we?” replied Nathan, sneering.

  Ethan looked at Martin. “You have my word, Martin.”

  “That’s good enough for me,” he answered.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Nikki

  It was almost four a.m. when the lights appeared in the distance. There were three vehicles, all SUVs, and they were moving quickly through the fresh, powdery snow.

  “Mom, are you okay?” I whispered. We both had changed into black clothing and were nestled high up in the trees, near the garage.

  “To be honest, I feel like I just peed myself,” she whispered back, her teeth chattering slightly.

  I shook my head, grinning. “You need to stop or it will turn to ice in this weather.” I was also joking, but the temperature outside had dropped considerably.

  She snorted.

  “Are you seriously cold or something?” I asked, looking toward the rooftop of the cabin, where I knew Ethan and Duncan were waiting.

  “No. Why?”

  “I heard your teeth chattering.”

  “I was clicking my teeth. I do that when I’m nervous.”

  “You never used to do that,” I replied.

  “I never had to deal with vampires or werewolves, excuse me, lycan before.”

  “Which reminds me, I hope Nathan is going to be okay.”

  Nathan had snuck into the cabin with Martin thirty minutes earlier to douse the place with gasoline. The plan was to trap the lycan inside, and then light them up. To me, it seemed way too easy. In real life, things were never like that.

  “I hope so, too,” replied my mother, staring at the cabin nervously. “Did he bring that gun he was talking about?”

  “Yes. He brought it. Along with the silver bullets.”

  “Sometimes I think he’s having too much fun with all of this. Like it’s a game or something.”

  I frowned. “I know. I just hope he remembers that if he dies, he won’t get another life.”

  “You both deal with things so differently,” she answered. “I still have a hard time believing that you’re twins sometimes.”

  “Which reminds me – who was our real father?”

  “Nikki, we’ll talk about it later. Now is obviously not the time.”

  The headlights grew closer. “But, if something happens to us, I’d really like to know, you know?”

  “Quit talking like that,” she snapped, looking horrified.

  “Yeah, Nikki. Quit talking like that,” echoed Faye’s voice in the darkness.

  I sucked in my breath and quickly looked around the trees.

  “Who was that?” whispered mom, her eyes wide.

  “Faye,” I mout
hed, my stomach clenching in fear.

  She looked up into the sky. “There,” pointed my mother.

  A shadow dipped down and then passed between us.

  Yep.

  Faye.

  She came around again, but this time grabbed me roughly by the neck and shoved me out of the tree. Fortunately, with my new agility, I landed on my feet. I quickly looked up, to see if my mother was okay.

  “Look out,” gasped mom, pointing behind me.

  I turned around to find Faye there. Her lips curled up into a sneer.

  “I think you have something that is mine,” she said in her demonic gargoyle voice.

  “I don’t think so,” I growled back at her. I was seriously tired of her bullshit and just wanted to kick her ass at that point. I just wasn’t sure if I was strong enough.

  “Get away from my daughter,” demanded mom, landing next to us.

  Faye backhanded my mother with such force that she flew backwards and hit a tree. She then turned to me, her eyes glittering with amusement. “She’s about as useless as you.”

  Glaring at her, I pulled back my fist and punched her in the cheek, making her grunt. As I was about to hit her again, she grabbed my fist and squeezed it painfully.

  “I don’t think so,” she said, repeating my words.

  I looked over her shoulder just as my mother flew back toward us, her hands stretched out in front of her. She grabbed Faye by the throat. “I said, leave my daughter alone!” she snarled.

  Enraged, Faye released me and clawed my mother’s hands with her sharp talons, trying to get her to release her.

  Mom cried out in pain. She looked at me, her skin and knuckles bleeding as she tried to maintain her grasp around Faye’s neck. “Get out of here, Nikki.”

  “No,” I replied, punching Faye in the abdomen.

  Faye glared at me. “I’ll kill you,” she said hoarsely and then elbowed my mother in the stomach.

  Mom grunted and released Faye, who lunged at me. We fell to the ground and she grabbed my hair, pulling it cruelly.

  “Say goodbye, you little bitch,” she growled, her claws raised.

  Ethan landed next to us and grabbed her wrist. He pulled her away from me and put her in a choke hold.

  “Get out of here,” he ordered, motioning to me and my mother. “I’ll handle her.”

  “I’m sure you will,” I snapped. “You’re probably the one who called her here.”

  He clenched his jaw. “No, I did not. Now, get the hell out of here. The lycan are coming.”

  It was then that I heard the crunch of snow. I turned around, and indeed, saw them headed in our direction. Ten or so of the ferocious beasts headed directly for us.

  “Mom, come on!” I hollered.

  She followed me back up into the sky and we circled the cabin.

  “Where is Nathan?” she cried.

  “I don’t know,” I answered.

  Martin met us in the air. He motioned for us to follow him. We landed in the snow, on the opposite side of the house.

  “What in the hell happened?” he snapped.

  “It was Faye,” I answered.

  He scowled. “So much for a surprise attack. Was Celeste with her?”

  “Not that we saw. Have you seen Nathan or Duncan?” I said.

  “I left Nathan by the boathouse,” he replied. “I don’t know about Duncan.”

  Mom flew into the sky and headed toward the dock.

  “Martin,” whispered Celeste, from the roof.

  He stared up at her. “What are you doing here? I told you to stay at Faye’s.”

  “She left and I followed her here,” she replied.

  Before he could respond, two massive lycan turned the corner of the house and began rushing toward us. Duncan fell from the sky, landing on the one closest to me. They tumbled together into the snow, the lycan roaring in protest.

  Martin rushed the second one and began beating its muzzle with his fists while I stared in shock, wondering if I should help or go after another one. Celeste reacted much more quickly than I did. She landed next to me and rushed toward her brother. She opened her mouth and sunk her teeth into the back of the lycan’s neck while Martin held it still.

  I heard a yelp and looked back at Duncan, who was raising himself from the second lycan, which was now motionless.

  “Is he dead?” I asked.

  “I don’t think so. I broke his neck but something tells me he’ll be recovering soon.”

  “Then, shouldn’t we kill it?”

  Someone screamed in the distance.

  My mother.

  Duncan and I flew toward the boathouse. When we arrived, Victor had a gun to my mother’s head and Nathan was on all fours, growling at him in his lycan form. Three other lycan quickly arrived and surrounded us.

  “Uh, I take it that one is Nathan?” asked Duncan, pointing to my brother.

  “Yes,” I replied. I cleared my throat and turned to Victor. “Victor, please, let mom go.”

  He smirked. “Certainly. If you leave here with me calmly. I’ll let them all go.”

  “Everyone?”

  “Of course.”

  “I don’t believe you,” I replied.

  “Believe this – I’ll kill your mother and every last one of your friends if you don’t do what I say.”

  Ethan landed next to us. He was breathing heavily and the front of his shirt was soaked with blood. “Don’t go with him, Nikki,” he said. “He plans on trying to kill everyone anyway.”

  “I’m warning you. If you don’t follow my orders, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life,” growled Victor.

  “Follow this,” I replied, turning both of my middle fingers up in the air.

  I could tell from my mother’s expression that she was wondering if I’d lost my mind. Maybe I had.

  “That’s pathetic and very immature, Nicole. I’m beginning to think that I’m better off with a different egg donor.” He sighed and scratched his head. “Yes, I believe I’m done with all of you Roamers, including Nikki. I’ll just search for someone else. Someone who will be willing to cooperate and I won’t have to keep chasing all over the nation.”

  “I’d love to see that ad on Craigslist,” I answered dryly.

  He pointed the gun at me. “You know, I should shoot you first, since everyone seems to fancy you. Frankly, I’m sick of listening to your mouth.”

  I snorted. “Oh… you’re going to shoot me? I thought you were supposed to be some kind of bad-assed alpha lycan? I guess if you have to use a gun, then you’re really not as powerful as your pack believes.”

  Victor’s face turned red with rage. “I don’t need a weapon to kill anyone. It’s just faster.”

  “Right,” I replied. I turned and looked at the other lycan, every one of them now surrounding us. “You really have this guy as your leader? Someone with a medicine chest full of Cialis and Metamucil?”

  Ethan shook his head and grinned.

  “Shut up, you lying little bitch,” growled Victor.

  But, I kept going. If he didn’t drop the gun, I knew that my mom’s brains would soon be splattered all over the snow. I wanted his anger centered on me. Make him so angry that he’d begin making mistakes, or his arrogance would override logic.

  “You’re pathetic. In fact, I’ll bet that even our mother could kick your ass and you’d need a gun to stop her,” I hollered.

  He grunted loudly and dropped the gun. “I’m going to show you what I can and can’t do first, Nikki. Prepare to die most unpleasantly.” He then released my mother and turned into his lycan form.

  “Oh my God,” gasped mom, backing away.

  I could understand her shock. Victor was bigger than all of the other lycan, and his teeth were so massive that his muzzle barely covered them. He was exactly what nightmares were made of.

  Victor’s eyes glowed as he howled, obviously proud of his transformation. Then, he lunged toward me.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Nikkir />
  I should have leaped into the sky, but my feet seemed to be glued to the snow. Duncan reacted, however. He threw himself between us and I watched in horror as Victor took him down to the snow, and they began rolling around. Then, before I could do anything, the rest of the lycan began to attack.

  “Nikki!” yelled my mother, leaping into the air.

  One of the beasts jumped onto my back and I cried out as its teeth pierced the back of my shoulder. I tried shaking it off, but it wouldn’t let go, only biting me further.

  Ethan rushed over and grabbed its muzzle, making it release me. Holding both sides, he broke its jaws by tearing it completely apart. The beast cried out in horrendous pain and then it fell forward to the ground. Not quite finished, Ethan rose up into the air and then flew back down, stomping on its head.

  Gagging, I turned around and noticed Victor and Duncan. His jaws were wrapped around Duncan’s forearm, impaling him with his large jagged teeth.

  “No!” My eyes filled with tears. “Duncan,” I screamed, moving toward them.

  Duncan was already a mess. His cheeks were gouged and there was blood all over his face and neck from Victor’s razor-sharp claws. “Stay away,” he yelled, trying to free his arm. “That’s an order!”

  I frantically looked around for help, but everyone seemed to be having their own issues – Nathan was trying to hold his own against another lycan, Martin was squaring off with another large one, and Ethan was being cornered by two. Celeste and my mother, however, were nowhere in sight.

  Frightened and frustrated, I ignored Duncan’s orders and jumped on top of Victor. I tried digging my fingers into his eyes, but he roared and jumped off of Duncan, shaking me off of his back.

  I landed in the snow and Victor stared at me with an evil glee. He moved toward me, but Duncan, who was limping, attacked him again, foiling Victor’s attempt on me. They rolled back into the snow and Victor roared in anger.

  I jumped up and rushed to help, but another lycan slammed into me, knocking me over. I jumped back up to my feet as it tried biting me with its fangs. Screaming at it, I grabbed its snout, like Ethan had, and began pulling it apart with my fingers. As I did, something caught the corner of my eye. I turned and noticed that Ethan was on top of Victor, pounding his fists into his muzzle.