Lights were on in her house—a cabin just like Rome and Vane’s. The Kategan’s definitely had a thing for cabins. Her house was recessed back in the woods with the trees giving her house ample amount of shade and privacy from the main road he’d just come off from.
He parked some distance away because...shit. Because he was scared. Always know the exits; always have an escape route. Basic survival rule number one.
He walked silently over the gravel to her cabin, a beacon in the dark night. A shadow moved inside the house and his heart picked up speed. He was actually going to see her, after all this time.
The wind picked up and gently passed over him, ruffling the hair that he hadn’t been cut in weeks. Jacks inhaled that wind and had only a second to react before a blur of movement leaped out from the trees.
# # #
Vera flung open the door, her heart in her eyes.
A vast greatness of nothing greeted her. She stepped outside and looked left, right, up to the main road. She opened her senses and smelled nothing. Was Sarina playing a joke on her?
“Sarina?” Insects chirped and frogs bellowed in return. She put one foot back in the house and smelled it—vampire. She almost smiled. He came back!
“Jackson?” she called out, not caring how excited she sounded.
An evil laugh came from behind her. Vera spun around to find Ariss standing in her living room. She didn’t question it, just let her beast roar through her with a feral growl and launched herself at the vampire bitch.
She caught Ariss around the middle and tackled her hard to the ground. She had a second to hold her and then Ariss twisted her arm free and slammed her palm into her nose. Vera sputtered as blood and pain lanced through her.
Ariss caught her by the hair and yanked her back, wrapping her legs around her waist and flipping them over. Vera made a wide arc with her arm, hand fisted tight, and slammed it with all her strength into Ariss’ face. The vampire nearly slid completely off of her.
“Fucking bitch,” Ariss hissed. Using her hair as leverage, she lifted Vera’s head and slammed back down to the floor.
Dizziness danced through her mind like she was on a merry go-round. “What do you want?” she bit out between clenched teeth. Ariss slammed her back again, and then slammed a fist into her face.
She bit down hard on her tongue with the next hit to the face. Roaring, Vera lifted her legs and hips off the floor and wrapped her ankles around Ariss’ neck. It became a battle as Ariss was determined to yank out every strand of Vera’s hair for leverage.
Finally, a sharp pull of hair ripped out of her head. Vera didn’t feel it; she used her legs to slam Ariss down to the ground. Ariss’ head lolled around, her eyes fluttering.
Vera didn’t hesitate to sit on her chest and introduce her fist to her face a dozen times. She was panting when she was done and Ariss lips were busted, bloodied, and her eyes were going to be black in the morning.
She grabbed her by the hair and yanked her neck to the side. “I said what do you want with me?” She sharpened her pull in warning.
Ariss gasped in pain and struggled beneath her. “My Master’s going to kill me unless I kill you. This is my last chance, and I will not fail.”
“Well it looks like you did, bitch.” Ariss laughed a cruel scratch of a sound.
“Or so you think. Conner is going to kill your mate.”
Vera froze. “Who’s Conner?”
Ariss laughed and shook her head side to side. With the hand gripping her hair, she could barely move an inch.
Vera had never before felt the ugliness of rage that filled her then. She pulled back her fist and hammered it into Ariss until her breathing slowed and she slumped lazily against the floor. Only then did she stop.
Breathing heavily, Vera asked again. “Who is Conner?” Ariss’ eyes fluttered closed. Vera slapped her hard across the face, the sound a sharp crack in the room. “Answer me!” she screamed in her face.
Ariss opened her eyes and smiled, her fangs spotted red. “My guardian. He went after your mate. He’s going to kill him.”
# # #
Jackson rolled with the hit, dropping Vera’s present to the ground, and went tumbling to the ground with a roll. Ariss’ guardian hissed and Jackson could have smiled. He’d wanted to get back at this motherfucker for weeks.
The guardian was fast, but Jackson was trained to fight—to kill.
He didn’t stop rolling until the guardian was beneath him. He pulled back his head and snapped it forward, bumping their heads together with a resounding crack.
The guardian bared his fangs and struggled to get a grip on him. Jacks was faster, he grabbed an arm and held it tight as he pulled it out of socket with a hard, nasty snap. The guardian roared and launched his hips off the ground, throwing Jacks off.
“You guys never quit do you?” he said and casted a quick glance over at Vera’s cabin. Ariss had to be there. I have to get to her. Jacks blocked a flurry of kicks and punches that came his way. The guardian moved so quickly, if he’d still been a human he wouldn’t have made out any of the moves, but now his eyes tracked each one. The guardian didn’t have use of his arm, it hung dangled at his side.
But then Jacks made a mistake. He didn’t see the guardian pull a blade out. The guardian faked left then thrust in with the blade glinting in the moonlight. His knife slid hot and quick into Jackson’s stomach.
He hissed in pain and grabbed the guardian’s wrist, snapping it back until it too popped. The guardian screamed in agony and dropped to his knees. Jacks squeezed tight to his wrist then slammed a kick to his chest. His other arm popped out of socket and he went limp against the ground writhing and crying out in pain.
Jacks grabbed the fallen blade off the ground just as Vera’s growl sounded from the cabin. Panic set in, adrenaline floored through him. He dropped down quick and stabbed the vampire in the heart, then slit his throat for good measure. He watched the vampire’s struggles stop as his last breath left him.
Then he sprinted for the cabin.
The door was open and dread filled him. He crashed into the house, his quick sight taking in everything at once. Vera sat on top of Ariss with a hard, burning anger in her eyes.
She grabbed Ariss by the head and slammed it with a resounding crack into the ground. The vampire’s head lolled to the side like a puppet.
“Vera.”
Her eyes shot up and a second later, she was in his arms, her legs wrapped tight around him. He didn’t even feel the burning cut in his stomach.
She was shaking so hard, felt so unbelievably good in his arms; he held her tight whispering soft words in her ear.
She pulled back jerkily, her eyes shooting outside then to Ariss on the floor. “It’s not safe. We need to get out of here now. Her guardian is here.”
“Baby, I know. He’s dead.” She seemed to have trouble digesting that bit of information. She looked back at him, her eyes getting wider and wider.
“Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” She ran her hands over his back and he had to sigh at how good it felt. Then her hands ran over his front and he winced. “Oh my God! You are hurt. Come here.”
She dropped down and dragged him into the bathroom. She pushed him onto the toilet seat and started rummaging through the medicine cabinet. Things were dropping out and spilling left and right. Her hands were shaking so bad he could see it. Finally he grabbed her hands and just pulled her close.
A sob broke out of from her, breaking his heart, and then she curled up against him. She didn’t make a single sound but he felt the warm liquid covering his shoulder.
“It’s okay baby. They’re not going to hurt you anymore.” She pulled back from him with a lykaen growl. Then she slapped him across the cheek. Jacks had only a second to be surprised because then she did it again.