Chapter Eight
Jackson
Jackson tossed the final vampire’s body onto the roaring fire, then nodded, before he turned to Thunder and Val. The other alpha gave him a smirk and nodded once at him. Jackson ignored the motion, instead focusing on Val. She bandaged an open wound on her arm, not giving any indication she was in pain.
“Astrophel broke the treaty,” Thunder said before Jackson could speak. “Typhoon is going to be out here in no time to deal with the corpse.”
“And by then it will be too late for Ava.” Jackson’s heart pounded, and bile churned in his stomach. He couldn’t leave her out there in that vampire’s claws, waiting to be killed. “I’m going after them.”
Thunder narrowed his eyes. “For real? This one girl is worth that? Acting against Astrophel with Typhoon’s permission is one thing, but if you act without informing him—”
“If I inform him, he might tell me not to go.”
Val let out an annoyed grunt as Thunder snorted. The other alpha looked incredulous, then a toothy grin formed on his face. “Wow. Didn’t know you were one for suicide, Tornado. Going after Astrophel by yourself and against Typhoon’s wishes? It’s your funeral, bud. Been nice knowing you.”
Jackson ground his teeth but nodded tensely toward Thunder. If their places were reversed, he’d be saying the same thing. They were alphas of separate chapters, united under Typhoon but far from being friends. There was a reason why Typhoon had sent him for these negotiations—he was the last person who’d help out someone on something like this.
He was unable to stop himself from giving out a biting remark, though. “Best run off to tell Daddy what happened, then.”
Thunder rolled his eyes. He made a waving gesture and walked away without another word.
Jackson watched him go. His limbs were exhausted from the fight, muscles aching. Various cuts bled varying amounts. He wasn’t in any shape to go up against Astrophel, and he knew it. He also knew that he wasn’t going to let it end like this. He couldn’t just abandon Ava. The image of her frightened eyes floated into his mind and his wolf snarled and batted against his chest.
He didn’t realize Val was beside him until she dumped some rubbing alcohol on his shoulder, causing him to howl. She gripped him by the back of the neck and forced him to sit, then crouched beside him as she tended to his wounds.
“Are you going now?”
“Yes. Or, once I figure out where he is.”
Val’s expression faltered. She sucked in a deep breath and shook her head. “I should have grabbed the girl and handed her over to the corpse at the start of this.”
Jackson snarled.
“What? You’re going to run off and get yourself killed for her. And where will that leave me, Jackson? Huh? She’s not worth dying for.”
The truth was, everything inside of him told him that Ava was indeed worth dying for, that he would sacrifice himself for her in a heartbeat. He didn’t want to tell Val that, didn’t want to admit it, not even to himself.
Val scrubbed a hand over her eyes and glanced away. “He’ll have taken her to where Mom and Dad were killed.”
The words left a hollow, aching feeling in Jackson’s chest. Val was the strongest person he knew. Without her, he never would have gotten to this point in his life. For her to show even this much vulnerability…
He shoved those thoughts aside. If he was killed, which he didn’t plan on, then she’d be able to handle it. She would be alright. If Ava died? He wasn’t sure that he’d be able to handle the guilt. It was his fault she was in this fucking mess to begin with, he wasn’t going to abandon her!
“Why do you think he’s there?” he asked his sister gruffly.
“He said he was going to resurrect his son with your blood. You killed him in that cave. Astrophel clearly expects you to find where he is. So. The cave.”
Jackson was silent for a moment. He vividly recalled the cave. Darker than it should be, with flickering lights and black smoke choking the air. His parents, tied together in the center of a painted pentagram. The thick smell of blood. Astrophel’s son with a knife in his hands, drawing it across his parents’ throats while he and Val were held back, screaming.
Astrophel had laughed then. He hadn’t laughed when Jackson tore his son’s head from his body.
“If I drive through the night, I’ll get there while there is still daylight.”
“I’m not sure it matters.” Val’s expression twisted into one of pain and fear. “Is there anything I can do to convince you to wait?”
“He has her.” It was all he needed to say.
The smoke from the pile of vampire bodies started to splutter, showing that they were about to combust. The siblings moved a little further from the bonfire. Val’s distress showed in the lines of her face, but she shook her head.
“You know I can’t go with you.”
“I know.”
“I can’t leave my girls, Jackson. They need me, they need their mother.”
“I know.” Jackson turned to her and gripped her shoulders. “Take them to the safehouse. I want to make sure that they’re safe. Going after Astrophel is going to cause a shitstorm and I don’t want them caught up in it.”
Val hesitated a moment before she nodded. She reached forward and touched his hand, a rare soft moment from his sister. She was usually hard as nails, showing little affection, though he knew that she always was and always would be protective of him, even though she was younger.
“Are you going to take the boys at least?”
Jackson shook his head. “It’ll take too long. I can deal with him alone.”
***
He arrived at the base of the cliff where the cave was located just as afternoon started to fade into evening. He had a couple hours of sunlight left, at most.
Jackson parked the bike and shifted before he began the long hike up the rocky hill. It was a hard climb, and by the time he got to the top, Jackson was sweating with effort. The cave loomed there, the same as before, with the scent of death billowing from it.
“Here goes nothing.”
He crept into the cave mouth, squinting in the dark. His eyes roved for displaced shadows and his nostrils flared. The scent of blood and death was too strong for him to catch the sweet scent of vampire, though. He soon picked out a cage near the back, a huddled form inside.
Moving cautiously, Jackson made his way to it. Ava lay shivering inside, a jacket covering her naked body. Sweat stood out on her skin, which was a sickly green-yellow color. Jackson’s heart leapt to his throat as he reached between the bars.
“Ava,” he hissed, something hot sinking in his chest. “Ava, angel, wake up.”
There was no response from her, no indication that she was alive but for her violent shudders. Jackson jerked on the bars of the cage, but they held solid. The door was padlocked, but if he was able to work the hinges free then maybe—
“Oops,” came a voice behind him. Jackson swiveled around to see Astrophel standing there, a satisfied smirk on his face. “Looks like I went a bit overboard when I drank from her. I’m sorry that you weren’t here to see it happen.”
“Astrophel,” Jackson snarled, springing to his feet.
Torches flared to life all around the edge of the cave, letting out a thick smoke that darkened it further. The sunlight at the mouth was almost completely obscured. Just behind the vampire was the mangled body of his son—Jackson would remember that face, even mummified as it was.
“So, what’s the plan? You’ve broken the treaty with the Savage Brotherhood. They will come for you. Your kingdom can’t withstand us.”
Astrophel smirked. “You have grown weak, hiding the existence of vampires from even your own kind. We have only grown stronger. Do you think we kill every human that passes into our territory? No… better to cultivate them, to give us a continual supply of blood and new soldiers. And once you are dead, the Master will rise and then… oh, and then—”
Jackson sprang forward. Astrophel, caught off guard, was slow to dodge. Jackson was able to wrap a hand around the vampire’s throat. Astrophel threw him back. Jackson snarled as he hit the cage. He shifted and sprang at the vampire again. Astrophel brought a fist down into Jackson’s face, knocking him back once more.
Stop being reckless. He could almost hear Val’s voice in his head.
Jackson crouched, watching Astrophel. The vampire grinned, laughed, and charged forward. This time, Jackson was ready. When Astrophel reached for him, he grabbed the vampire’s wrist in his teeth and hurled him back. Astrophel rolled over his back, skittering to a stop just inside the mouth of the cave.
As Astrophel hissed and scrambled to his feet, Jackson threw himself at the vampire. They tumbled out of the cave into the last rays of sunlight. Astrophel let out a pained scream as bubbles burst along his skin. Jackson panted a moment before he closed his mouth around Astrophel’s head. With a quick jerk, the vampire’s neck snapped.
Astrophel’s body twitched, unable to move. Jackson backed up, watching as his pale skin blackened and began to slough off. There was no more painful death for a vampire than this. But Astrophel deserved it. Deserved every second of it and worse.
Jackson shifted back to human form and loomed over the burning corpse. “Does it hurt, Astrophel?”
Does it hurt, little wolf? He had breathed at Jackson when his parents’ blood mingled and stained the floor. To see someone you love die and not be able to do anything about it?
“Does it hurt?” Jackson repeated, his voice lower this time.
Astrophel’s eyes roved before his body collapsed into a pile of ash. Jackson turned his back on the monster, the heaviness in his chest not abating at all. Not when Ava was still laying on the floor, unresponsive.
“Ava,” he said again, louder this time, his voice desperate.
He searched around for the key to the cell door, finally finding it above the corpse of Astrophel’s son. Jackson ignored it. He was already dead; there was no danger coming from that mummified body. Instead, he took the keys and rushed to Ava’s cell. He unlocked it and pulled her into his arms.
Her heartbeat was faint but steady. There was a wound on her arm, with the green venom crusting the edge of two holes, but it looked clean. The lack of blood around it showed that Astrophel had drunk from her; he’d have sucked out the worst of the venom with it, then. Jackson pulled Ava into his arms, discarding the stinking jacket, and buried his face in her hair.
“It’s going to be okay, Kitten,” he promised. “I will make sure you’re okay.”
***
“Is she alive?”
Jackson grunted at Les as he carried Ava’s unconscious form into the back of the bar. It wasn’t as heavily charmed against vampire attacks as the safehouse, but he didn’t want to expose his nieces to this. Les followed after him, the first aid kit in his hands. It had taken far too long to get here for Jackson’s nerves. Now, as he laid Ava down and covered her naked body with a blanket, he saw she had stopped shivering.
“She’s alive,” he grunted as he checked her pulse. She had to be.
Relief washed over him as he felt the steady beat against his fingers.
There was a thudding noise behind him and both he and Les turned in time to see Cunningham storm into the backroom. His eyes blazed as he turned his gaze from Les to Jackson and, finally, to Ava. Rather than looking surprised, there came a tight, angry look on his face and he balled his fists.
“What the hell, Masters?”
Jackson reached for one of the spare pair of pants they had in the backroom and put them on before facing Cunningham. He wasn’t going to do this naked. His muscles trembled as he gestured towards Ava.
“She was attacked by vampires.”
Cunningham’s jaw tightened. “She was bitten?”
Jackson didn’t answer that.
Cunningham swore and grabbed the gun at his side. Jackson snarled, his whole frame growing larger to shield Ava from Cunningham’s view. Without taking his eyes off the sheriff, he gestured at Les to leave. The bartender did so, looking more than grateful to get out of there.
“I don’t want to do this, Jackson. But if she’s been bitten, she’s gonna turn into one of them.”
“She’s a shifter.”
Cunningham pulled the gun from its holster. “Then she’s going to go rabid.”
“Astrophel bit her before and she pulled through. She’s strong. I won’t let you hurt her.”
Cunningham growled under his breath. He studied Jackson for a long moment, the gun still in his hand. “I won’t hesitate to put you down, too. Step aside and only one person has to die.”
“You hurt her, and I will kill you. I’ve already killed Astrophel for her, do you think you’ll be a challenge? We’ve all been bitten at one time or another, what right do you have to shoot her when you don’t know what the venom will do to her?”
The sheriff holstered the weapon again. He let out a sigh, his shoulders sagging. Suddenly he looked… ancient. He ran a hand through his hair and moved closer. Jackson snarled in warning, but the sheriff ignored him.
“Astrophel is dead?”
“Yeah. Nothing but ash in the sunlight.”
Cunningham nodded. “How is this going to affect things? Are we looking at war?”’
Jackson hesitated a moment. “Astrophel violated the treaty first. He hired the shifter who killed the vamp, then killed the shifter. Killing him means that his kingdom is up for grabs… I guess we’ll know one way or another within a couple months. How’d you even know to come here?”
“Got calls about a naked man riding around with a naked, unconscious woman. Who else would it be but you?” Cunningham glanced at Ava again. “She can’t stay here. If she goes rabid, I don’t want her anywhere near civilians… I’ll let you take charge of her, but if anybody gets hurt, it’s on your head.”
Jackson chewed his tongue to stop himself from snarling at him but nodded. “I’ll take her to the safe house as soon as I can.”
The sheriff watched him for a moment, then nodded. Without another word, he turned and left the backroom. Jackson let out a sigh of relief before turning his attention back to Ava. Retrieving a damp cloth, he began to wash the grime and blood from her body. It was very cold in the backroom, but when he went to turn up the temperature, Les stopped him.
“You overheat her and she’ll shut down. You need to keep her cool.”
After Les was gone, Jackson put another blanket over her—it just felt so wrong to see her shivering so violently. Then he slumped to the bed beside her. The greenish color was fading from her skin and her breathing was a bit smoother. Thank God for small blessings.
He leaned down to kiss her forehead, then her lips.
“I love you,” he breathed, touching her cheek, kissing her softly again. “I love you, Ava.”
She didn’t answer, didn’t move. Jackson held her hand, occasionally cooling her, staying up for hours on end holding her hand. He felt her pulse what seemed like every hour to make sure that her heart was still beating. Jackson felt completely broken, thinking about the idea that she might not wake up.
He couldn’t imagine a world without her stubbornness and her beauty filling it with life. His wolf agreed, staying at the forefront of his chest. He continued his fitful vigil, eyes never moving from her face. At one point she began to stir, but her eyes stayed stubbornly shut and she fell back down to sleep.
Jackson kissed her again and waited for her to wake up.