Chapter 516: Thunder
"You were going to start all the fun without me?" Nedra asked, walking forward through the woods to join them.
Penelope and August were both sitting on the ground cross-legged holding hands and giggling like pups. They looked like they were about to play a hand-clapping game rather than anything to do with a vampire.
"We didn’t want to interrupt you," August said. "Did you have enough time together?"
"Never," Nedra smiled. "But we will have plenty of time now. Thank you for bringing them... even though there is a dangerous vampire here."
"In a cage," August scoffed.
Nedra stopped next to Graeme with her arms crossed and the two looked at each other.
"Hi," Nedra said, an amused look on her face. "You must be the Alpha."
"You must be Nedra," Graeme replied. Sage and Selah looked just like her with their black hair and bright green eyes.
A small amount of tension crackled in the air between the two. This female was responsible for helping Zagan for years, hiding him in a portal no one would be able to find. She made it easier and more efficient for him to take the alyko and keep them prisoners with her various tools for containment, and that included Maggie and the others who had been assumed dead all this time.
On top of all of that, Nedra had also abandoned her pups to fend for themselves like strays. If it had been any other lycan pack that Selah and Sage had wandered into, their fate could have been much different. That was made clear just recently when Violet was attacked for entering Thundering Falls territory.
It was a massive risk that Nedra had taken with her children. Regardless of the circumstances, these were not decisions that Graeme could understand.
But August had befriended Nedra, and it sounded like Nedra had helped keep her safe while she was here. This whole resolution with Zagan somehow depended on these three females—August, Penelope, and Nedra—coming together here. There was clearly a magic between them, an understanding that they had found that Graeme would never be a part of, because he couldn’t forgive Nedra or Zagan for what had happened. It was just too much.
Graeme’s jaw feathered with the desire to say all of the things he felt, but it wasn’t his place. He was an observer here, present to support his mate and watch over her. Any argument now would only detract from the need to take care of this vampire.
August watched her mate and Nedra regard each other, realizing the disapproval Graeme felt. She could see it in his stance and body language—his arms crossed over his chest and the way one of his hands clenched his own bicep, holding his emotions in check.
August sighed softly in appreciation for what he was going through. He was such a good male. She had no illusions that they were all going to be best friends. But this was the crossroads where each of their paths had led them. This was the Goddess’ plan. They could all go their separate ways from here.
"Thank you," Nedra said finally, glancing away from the Alpha’s hard stare.
There was a beat of silence before Graeme responded. "For what?"
"Keeping my children safe." When she glanced back up there were tears in her eyes, and then she walked away.
Graeme watched her, torn between the objection that it was not him who kept them safe and the sudden impulse to offer his own gratitude for how she watched over August. But he said nothing. It didn’t need to be said.
"Where are they?" August asked as Nedra sat down next to them, settling herself between the two so that they could all join hands.
"Getting to know their father," she smiled, her heart aching for all the love and pain that it was swollen with. "Let’s do this, okay?"
Penelope and August nodded, and they all closed their eyes this time, focusing on the Veiled that was surrounding them in the woods.
The star of light in the vampire’s chest twinkled to life, and this time no words were needed between them all to explain what they should do. There was an unspoken connection, an unspoken magic that bloomed to life between them like the Veiled was just waiting for them to come back together so that it could do its work. They were simply the conductors. It was the music.
The vampire’s eyes went wide when he felt that strange sensation above his heart once again, but this time it grew larger and warmer. For a moment he thought these witches were going to burn him from the inside out beginning with his chest. One of them had spoken before of lighting a fire. Was this the fire they were speaking of? A fire in his chest?
And then it happened—the thunder that rocked him. It was a noise and a vibration that echoed in his ears and shook him to his bones. One beat. One beat of his heart, and his eyes went as wide as saucers.
"No," he whispered into the silence and stillness that ensued.
His terror slowly turned into a smug victory when no second thunderous heartbeat came. Vampires could not be so easily beaten even by these three witches.
He shrunk back down to his normal proportions, his smile returning but without the numerous rows of teeth. He looked at the three females expectantly, waiting for groans of failure so he could relish in their loss. But they were still huddled, still at peace, still focused on whatever danced behind their eyes.
"Once I get out of here, I’m going to kill you all. Slowly. But I will kill your children and partners first," he hissed, banging against the invisible wall of his cage once again. "And then you’ll have to watch as the life slowly bleeds from their eyes, slipping away, never to be with you again. Can you bring the dead back to life?"
"What do you think we are doing?" A voice rang in his ears, but not one of them had spoken.
And then a pummeling of thunder returned to his chest, knocking him to the ground where he writhed, clawing at his own flesh in terror.
