Chapter 8

Jadrian

Jadrian, exhausted and discouraged, walked back to his room pondering whether to use the rest of the vampire blood he had or try and get a few hours of sleep to quench the soul-draining exhaustion making his feet drag. He’d watched from his phone as the clan members left at their home in Kansas tore apart the houses and grounds of the many homes they owned there, no sign of Jacob being found. When technology failed to uncover his brother’s whereabouts he’d gone back to searching around New Orleans, driving the straight streets, dodging tourists that wandered out into the streets as though it were part of the sidewalk.

He’d given several a good view of his middle finger when they’d shouted at him for using the street as it was meant to be used. He didn’t have the time or the patience for dealing with idiots. Throwing open his door with a growl, he went to the cabinet where he’d hidden the remaining vials, something telling him that the blood was going to be vital. They were in battle mode with the Mungons. Not one person had said the words out loud, but Jadrian couldn’t help but think them now: Jacob had been taken by the Mungons.

It was the only explanation that made sense. Punctual, always cooperative, sensible, and far too concerned with his brothers, Jacob wouldn’t have just taken off without an explanation of some kind. Something had happened to him and that something had to involve those bastards trying to ruin it for everybody. Selfish pricks only cared about themselves, Jadrian thought, as he tossed back the somehow still warm liquid.

Swallowing without tasting, he put the vial in the trash and stretched out on his bed, knowing the effects would start almost immediately, but still tired. He felt the scratches on his back, tiny little things that shouldn’t bother him a bit, begin to itch as he settled into the pillows, his fingers going to scratch the small tears in his skin. An infection from scurrying around the dirty confines of the monastery was the last thing he needed.

They reminded him of Allana, and the reason he was itching now. His overactive imagination played an image of her on her knees, his cock sliding between those pouty lips of hers, her eyes wide. Jadrian’s stomach tightened and his hands clenched the bedcovers. Shit, she was so fucking hot! If there were any gods they should let him find out what it really felt like to have her, in every way.

“Jadrian! Open up! Hurry!” An urgent voice and a fist pounding on his door startled him from his reverie and Jadrian pulled his hand from his hip where it had been snaking down.

With the swiftness only vampire blood could give him, Jadrian flew at the door, pulling it nearly from its hinges as his powerful arms flung the barrier open. Something was wrong, Cade sounded panicked.

“Is it Jacob?” Jadrian’s face showed his terror as he looked up at his brother’s face, the moment freezing his heart in his chest.

“No, it is the Mungons. They have built tunnels underneath the monastery, they’re coming in. Damesha saw them.” Cade turned, and Jadrian followed.

Damesha, their sister-in-law, was psychic and sometimes saw flashes of things that were happening out of her view or were about to happen. Jadrian followed his brother as they stalked to another part of the building, a group of people already gathered around a doorway. Cade walked between the crowd, going to the door where Allana stood. She spoke as Cade came to stand by her side.

“Right, we’re evacuating most of the building. If you’re not a fighter and do not want to go down in these tunnels, you have to leave with the others. We’re sending those people to safe-houses in Mississippi and to Cade’s place in Kansas. We suggest you go, staying here is not an option. What’s coming up those tunnels is ruthless, without sympathy, and without any kind of human kindness. If you stay, be prepared to fight to the death because death is coming for somebody today.”

Allana was beautiful in a black leather two-piece outfit that covered her arms and legs, her face fierce and determined. Beauty personified. As Jadrian watched her, taking in her words, he felt the renewing surge of the vampire blood in his veins. He felt invincible! As the crowd began to roar around him, Jadrian joined in, his fist going in the air. He’d follow her to Hell and back!

People began to pour out to a section of the monastery kept as an armory or to buses outside, each taking their own chosen path. Jadrian followed Cade, his blood still singing, and picked up several knives, a small 9 mm pistol, and a long iron staff. It matched his height and he thought it could serve several purposes.

“I have sent Jacqui, Damesha, the baby, and Kane to the main house in Kansas. This isn’t going to be pretty. Damesha saw a lot of death, on all sides, before Kane said she passed out. Are you ready for this, brother?” Cade looked down at his brother and for a moment the chaos disappeared and Jadrian could only see his brother’s eyes. The eyes of his Alpha, shifter eyes blazing with an orange glow.

“My life for you brother, for all of us,” Jadrian swore as he held his arm up to his brother.

Cade grunted and clasped Jadrian’s arm.

“My life for yours, Jadrian. Always.” Cade’s eyes flashed once more and he let his brother go. “Keep an eye out, many of us will likely shift so watch out for our family amongst the crowd of others. This could get ugly in an instant.”

“I will, Cade. I’ll be right behind you.” Jadrian’s voice shook but not with fear, his anger was boiling. These bastards had been fucking around for months and now they wanted to destroy them all. Not on his watch.

Jadrian snuck down to the cellar with Cade and the rest of the magicals, at the head with Allana and Cade.

“Which way?” Allana whispered back to Cade, their eyes able to see in the darkness, but Jadrian didn’t have that ability. He strained to see but couldn’t.

“Down to the end, then to the right, there’s a hole in the floor.” Damesha had paid attention, Jadrian noted.

In single file the crowd made it to the room, shifting as they entered. Jadrian tried to memorize specific markings, noting that Allana shifted to a beautiful tiger with black marks around her eyes. Cade shifted into a black jaguar, a blonde shape over his green eyes. Jadrian knew that was a manifestation of his bonding with Jacqui. They were ready but he felt a tremor of uncertainty for a moment. He wasn’t a shifter after all.

Stealing his nerves, he jumped with his brother into the dank darkness, his feet making a noise as he slid in the mud. Cade made a sound and Jadrian stopped, he would give them all away with his boots. He felt something soft and silky brush his hand and somehow knew it was Allana. He tangled his fingers in her fur and they stayed at the back of the line, waiting for their cue.

Instinctively, Jadrian knew he needed to stay at the back until he was needed. A loud roar came through the darkness, a sound filled with surprise and rage, and Jadrian heard the sound of shots being fired, of knives meeting metal, and he ran through the tunnel, fighting for clearance to find Cade. A glow started as he ran, and light soon chased away the darkness. He found Cade with Allana by his side and plunged a knife down into the back of a wolf squaring up to his brother. The blade sank deep but Jadrian pulled it free easily, turning away from the dead creature to seek a new foe.

Allana had a coyote by the throat, shaking it like a rag doll before she threw the broken body on the floor. People were engaged in hand to hand combat now, the tide of Mungons never-ending. Jadrian kept back in a passage, Allana right beside him, as a wave of bears came at him with faces snarled into fierce rage.

He brought the iron shaft around, backing up further into the tunnel, totally unsure if he and Allana could take them all on. She finally stood her ground, letting out a roar as the group of bears shrank away from her suddenly, turning to run the other way. Letting out another roar she stalked to the end of the tunnel, Jadrian following her. He could see his brother standing with a group of their clan members, looking confused as the Mungons retreated suddenly.

“What the hell is going on?” Allana had barely spoken the words when a loud crack blasted through the tunnels, followed by a powerful shake.

Jadrian pulled her back, catching a last glimpse of his brother as the ceiling collapsed above them, the monastery partially collapsing as the floor gave way. Then the world was black and Jadrian knew nothing of the world around him.

* * *

Allana

Allana turned as the ceiling began to cave in, watching as a pile of timber and stones fell around Jadrian. Swiftly she shifted back to her human form, her face a mask of horror as she began to pull the pile of rubble off Jadrian. With a power few human women would ever know, Allana cleared the largest of the stones and saw Jadrian’s face, dirt-covered and battered. He had sustained a crushing blow to the back of his skull, a life-threatening injury that left his scalp torn and a tiny portion of his brain exposed.

Allana sat back, a scream rising in her throat as she inspected the injury. This was surely going to kill him. Throwing more rubble away she saw a sliver of wood had entered his abdomen, just in the right spot to pierce his stomach. Both his arms were broken, as was his right leg. This might be more than even shifter blood could sort. She looked down at him, her face steely.

“You are not going to die, Jadrian, not today.”

Allana cleared the rest of the rubble, wishing for a moment she were a vampire, a magical with the power to heal all wounds, but knew that she had to hope her blood, her very old blood, would heal him.

Without anyone else around to give their consent or to debate the merits of what she was about to do, Allana made a decision. She couldn’t hear anything from the other side of the rubble blocking their way out of the tunnel, there wasn’t anyone to tell her no, that it was a bad idea, so she did the only thing she knew to do.

Shifting to the form of a much smaller house cat, Allana pounced on Jadrian’s barely moving chest. His pulse was almost too faint to find, his body already starting to shut down, but Allana found it in his neck, brushing her head against the spot to mark it. With a soft purr she bit deeply into the spot, licking at the blood that began to slowly ooze from the wound. She wasn’t doing it to drink his blood, she was doing it to mix her saliva with the blood.

The wound healed quickly, too quickly, and Allana’s cat head turned up to his. It didn’t work that quickly; it should take days for him to heal. She jumped from his chest and shifted again, sitting beside him as she waited, his hand wrapped in hers, wondering what was going on. She still heard no sounds from outside their tunnel and feared the others might be dead.

Her clan had certainly taken some losses, she could sense the lack of their presence, but not of the other clans. She watched the handsome man in the darkness, considering why she’d changed him. He was an Alexander, of course, but he wasn’t a shifter. She’d felt something, something primal and deep, since she’d met him, but he wasn’t her mate. Why had she saved him then? Why had she given him this precious gift?

The sudden healing of his head wound distracted her, the skull bone knitting back together and the skin healing before her eyes. She’d pulled the large splinter of wood out of his stomach, noting it was around a foot long, and reset his broken bones, now those injuries were healing too. He still wasn’t breathing well, though, and Allana leaned to his chest, pressing her ear to the area where his heart was. She could hear it going from a slow, unsteady beat to a steadier, even sound.

It shouldn’t be happening this quickly, she knew, but what she knew and what she saw were totally different things. She turned him over, now that his bones were healed, and looked at his back, pulling his shirt up to look for marks deep enough to leave a scar. Even in the darkness she could see four rows of healed punctures on his back, and knew the marks were from her nails. She’d turned him already and hadn’t even known it!

She’d always known it was a possibility to turn humans but she’d never done it by accident before. Allana realized it had saved his life and turned him back over, his body needing rest. She moved until his head rested in her lap, her fingers stroking the side that had not been injured. Whether she had intended it or not, whether she had wanted it or not, this man was now her responsibility, Alexander or not. She’d turned him, she was tied to him forever now. She would care for him as she would her own.

* * *

Jadrian

Jadrian became aware of the darkness surrounding him, that he was stretched out on the ground, and his head was resting on something soft and warm. Something was stroking his hair and noises pierced the darkness; shouts and the sound scraping filled the air.

“Shh, it is alright Jadrian, our people are working to rescue us.” Allana’s voice came in the darkness, soothing his nerves. He settled back onto her lap and took a deep breath.

He was trying to remember what happened but all he remembered was the battle, his brother’s face as something obscured his vision and he pulled Allana away.

“What…” Jadrian had to pause to clear his throat, something was wrong with him, he could feel it. Something was different. “What happened?”

“The ceiling came down on us. You were injured, gravely injured. Here.” She paused to touch his head where the injury had now completely healed. “There, over your stomach, you should feel a scar. Both your arms and your leg, there.” She pointed to the place and knew he could see in the darkness when he followed her finger.

“Was? Where? What?” He sat up, exhausted and feeling out of sorts.

“I was going to turn you, make you a shifter to heal you.” She turned away, unable to finish. She had turned him by accident before any of this had even occurred.

“Well if you didn’t heal me, who did?” He looked around, still not realizing that he could see in the darkness.

“Nobody. You healed yourself.” She walked away from him, hoping he would catch her drift.

“Wait, the…” Jadrian stopped himself, not wanting to admit to anyone he had been using vampire blood. “I’m confused.”

“You’re a shifter, Jadrian! You were already changing, before the injury!” She flung the words out loudly, turning back to him. “Why else do you think you can see me? You feel strange right? Like your head is buzzing, your limbs and stomach feel cold, right? That’s from the healing. You started changing at least twenty-four hours ago!”

Jadrian watched her, uncomprehending, as she looked down at the floor before bringing her head back up. He wasn’t a shifter, what was she on about?

“Look, Allana—”

“I did it the other day, in bed, by accident! I didn’t realize but it doesn’t matter now. It saved you! I don’t think turning you at this point would have done any good but you were already a shifter before I bit you again.” Her words trailed off, her gaze faltering before coming back up to his.

Jadrian began to laugh, his confusion disappearing. The one thing he had always wanted but had never dared ask for! And she’d given it to him by accident without either of them knowing it! He had to bend over, bracing his hands on his knees as he laughed, brushing tears from his eyes.

“Fuck me! By accident!” He howled with laughter until they both heard the people working outside of their tunnel start to shout.

“What’s going on in there? Jadrian! Answer me!” Cade’s voice sounded muffled through the stones, wood, and dirt between them but he didn’t sound far away.

“I’m fine, Cade! Hurry up, will you?” Jadrian was elated to just be alive. He felt the scar on his stomach and knew from the way his head felt that something had happened there as well. He didn’t hurt but he felt overwhelmingly strange, as though he were in someone else’s body. He was also aware of Allana behind him.

He turned, was about to speak her name, when a new cry came from the other side.

“Jacob? Where the hell have you been?” came Cade’s voice.

Jadrian couldn’t hear Jacob’s answer until he yelled to move back, and Jadrian went to stand with Allana at the back end of the tunnel. A short while later a fist appeared and a beam of light punched through with it. Then another and another until the rubble slid to the side, clearing a path that he and Allana quickly ran through.

Jadrian immediately embraced his brother, and knew something was totally different. Jacob wasn’t the same. He looked at his brother and saw he was pale, but little else had changed. He didn’t look happy with the world but a lot was going on. Then Cade pulled him into another back slapping hug and they were being ushered up to the surface. Jadrian saw the wives of his brothers and Annie came running at him but she skittered away, backing up with a growl.

“Annie, what’s wrong with you?” Damesha came to her dog, trying to soothe the hackles that had raised on the dog’s back. The dog was still growling and Jadrian’s heart broke as he moved away from her. When the dog barked, Jadrian jumped, or thought he had. When everyone gasped he realized something more had happened.

Looking down Jadrian saw what he was certain were duck feet. The golden orange color was unmistakable and trying to speak only produced a quack. Jadrian ignored the gasps as everybody in the room watched him begin to run in circles squawking his unhappiness to them all!

“Allana, do you care to explain this?” Cade walked up to the other Alpha and looked at her quizzically.

“It is hard to explain but your brother is alive. Without me he wouldn’t be. That is all I can tell you for the moment.” Allana left him to chase after Jadrian, trying to get him to calm him down.

It was only Damesha that noticed that Annie was still growling but that the growling wasn’t directed at Jadrian or the fact that he had become a shifter. No, Annie was staring straight at Jacob, and the low growl she emitted didn’t stop until he shifted out of Annie’s view. It seemed Jadrian wasn’t the only Alexander brother with some explaining to do.