Chapter Two
She ran until her heart thudded against her ribs and her lungs burned with exertion. But she pushed on, refusing to slow down until Seth’s yells were replaced by the nocturnal sounds of the animals that lived deep within the forest.
In her haste, she slipped and almost plummeted over a steep embankment. Ivy grappled for a branch and clung to it, anchoring her heels deep into the soft mud.
She held her breath, listening for Seth, but heard only her pulse beating in her veins and the leaves overhead rustling in the late October breeze.
The cheating bastard! Her eyes stung. She rubbed at them with her palms. And as for that Camilla. The tart. I should have clumped her over the head with my shoe. That would have been very Quentin Tarantino, and well deserved for jumping into bed with my fiancé.
Ex-fiancé, she reminded herself as she stomped further into the blanket of darkness. She fell against an old oak. Stripped of leaves, the trees branches bent and curled to disproportion, giving it the appearance of a giant gnarled hand reaching out of the earth.
Its knobby surface grazed the skin on her shoulder, but she didn’t take notice, instead finding comfort from resting against its bark.
In the darkness, she couldn’t see anything. If only there were some light. The rain eased enough to allow the moon to peak at her from between the heavy clouds. She looked down. Sodden with mud, her wet, cold skirt clung to her legs, numbing her to the bone. She could just make out the mud splattered against her shins and expensive shoes.
She kicked them off to massage her aching feet, knowing from bitter experience that she’d pay for traipsing on soggy ground in a pair of high-heel shoes. Right now, she was too vexed to care.
Bring on the blisters!
She slipped her shoes back on and looked down at her hand. Her engagement ring glinted in the moonlight. Ivy let out a small sob, and yanked at it with all her might. Her finger throbbed in pain and puffed up, wedging the blasted thing firmly in place.
She dropped her hands to her sides in favour of studying her torn skirt and the deep scratch marks left on her exposed thigh by Seth’s nails.
The desire for revenge sent a jolt of electricity racing down her spine. When she returned, she would dig out her sharpest pair of scissors and attack Seth’s prized suits with relish. She’d hack each designer label into pieces, and pour itching powder into the crotch of all his jeans.
Oh, and his Calvin Klein underwear. Can’t forget them.
Her thoughts came to an abrupt halt. The arches in her feet tingled. A sure sign that trouble brewed. A witch knew these things. A shiver caressed her pale skin. She crossed her arms over her chest. The temperature dropped fast. Worse, the forest had fallen deathly silent.
Somewhere in the darkness a twig snapped.
Her breath hitched in her throat. Please let it be Seth. The alternative unthinkable.
Ivy strained her ears, listening to every sound.
A sudden wind blasted through the leaves and blew ice against her face. It brought with it the sound of a distant howling that grew louder and closer.
Ivy bolted. Her breath surged silver on the night air. She had to get out of the forest. In the distance, a moving light punched a hole in the darkness.
A flashlight. That meant people. She raced passed the trees, making as much noise as possible. She whooped and cheered and threw her arms over her head to gain their attention.
The moving light slowed to a stop.
Upping her pace, she raced toward it then came to a grinding halt. Something was wrong. That was no flashlight. That was a fire on a stick. The sort Sheriff Bogmire used whenever he went in search of a witch to skewer.
Ivy could see no road beyond the glow of the flames. No signposts, no concrete paths or cheeky-faced taxi-drivers, just more trees and an unending darkness.
The flaming torch sailed through the air and vanished over an embankment, where it illuminated warmth against a bitterly cold night.
A second twig snapped in the undergrowth behind her, followed by the low rumble of a growl. She dared to turn. The clouds above parted to expose a blood-red moon. It spilled crimson upon a nightmarish creature that emerged from the mist. Ivy’s heart flopped into her belly.
The monster stalked her on powerful hind legs. Its pointed ears twitched to the forest’s every movement. She could clearly make out each long sharp tooth, perfectly engineered to rip her to pieces, a powerful, fur-covered body with rippling muscles under its barrelled chest and abnormally long feet and clawed hands. Penetrating eyes blazed yellow over a long canine snout. It twisted upright into a vicious snarl.
It sniffed the air then looked at her.
Lycans hated witches more than they hated vampires.
In one swift upward thrust, the creature lifted its head and howled. A second later it crashed through the undergrowth toward her.
Ivy plunged headfirst through the woods. She ignored the trees that grabbed at her clothes, intent only on making it to the light. Her lungs burned and her ankles twisted, yet she refused to slow down. She'd be damned if she died this easily.
The howling echoed behind her. The deafening sound of branches exploding told her it was close. Too close.
She leapt off a stony outcrop and scooped up a branch to defend herself. She raised it like a baseball bat and braced herself. “Come on!” she screamed.
The thing launched itself at her.
Ivy swung the branch and smashed it against the side of the creature’s body. Her hands stung from the force of the blow, and her shoulders shook as the impact split the branch in two. The monster crashed to the ground, then leapt back to its paws. It turned, snarled, and attacked a second time. She dove to her right, stumbled and fell, rolled onto her back, then kicked out with both of her feet. The soles on her shoes slammed against the animal’s chest, preventing its claws from ripping through her throat. Its warm, fetid breath gushed over her face. Her fingers scrambled over the forest floor for a weapon. Small pebbles and sharp stones ripped the skin on her hand before she found a large rock. Grabbing it, she slammed it against the monster’s head. The creature reeled sideways and snarled.
Ivy twisted to her right. A furred hand with 5 inch long claws swiped at the ground beside her. She scrambled to her feet, turned and ran.
Gunfire exploded, followed by a guttural yelp. She glanced toward the grove where she saw a man lower his gun. He ran toward her. His size and unnaturally fluid movements made her wonder if he could possibly be more dangerous than the beast chasing her. In a heartbeat she changed direction and headed for him, coming dangerously close to the writhing creature.
“Stay clear of it!” he bellowed. The stranger raised his gun a second time.
Another bullet blasted through the air. A growl erupted from the pit of the Lycan’s belly. It reeled backward, before leaping toward the stranger.
Ivy jumped in-between the two, caught the man in a flying tackle and knocked him off a ridge. Wrapped in her embrace, they rolled down a deep gully and onto the bank of a stream.
She crawled frantically to her feet, but he had a vice like grip on her ankle.
“You can’t run,” he grated with some difficultly from behind her.
The hell she couldn’t. She kicked out at him and broke free, but his strong hands prevented her from running.
"Stay down." He grabbed her wrist and with one sweep of his boot knocked her feet out from under her.
His lower abdomen cushioned her head as she fell. His hand gripped her hair and thrust her face into the folds of his camouflage jacket.
"Luhme goh. Ah cann’d breeve.” Her voice came out muffled. He smelled of smoke and something more acidy. Blood?
"Be thankful you still can, at least for the time being.”
Releasing her, the man struggled over the damp ground on all fours to retrieve his thrown torch. His face creased in pain as he raised it above his head and hurled it to the other side of the river.
Ivy twitched. Witches didn’t like rivers. Especially fast flowing ones. It did a nasty job of dampening their magic. But there again, so did Lycans.
“Don’t just stand there. Move,” he ordered, already dragging her into the river beside him.
Her legs struggled against the current, its force stealing both her power and her strength. In an effort to keep up with the stranger she willed herself to move faster. Her foot landed in a soft crevice on the river bed. She lurched forward and plunged head first under the water’s surface.
Strong hands grabbed her hair and pulled her out, sputtering. Thankful, she clung to him as they made their way to the bank.
Releasing her, his broad shoulders stooped downward as he bent to retrieve the torch. He thrust it into her hand and yanked a gun from a holster about his waist. Hand in hand, she ran with him through the dense woodland away from the beast, not stopping until they reached the shelter of a cave that lay hidden behind dense undergrowth.
He pushed her inside then dived in beside her, the cover a temporary haven.
Ivy held the flaming torch above her head, watching as the man held one finger to his lips. She did as instructed and kept quiet, hardly daring to breathe until the man nodded, his gesture letting her know they were safe.
“Did it bite you?” His gravelled voice echoed off the rock walls.
He moved nearer to inspect her. Light from the torch spilled through the cave, illuminating his features and a spark of intent that glowed bright within his eyes.
Intrigued, Ivy took in his appearance. A dim recognition played with her mind. There was something about him. Did she know him? No. Ivy was certain she had never seen him before. Yet…. She pushed the torch he held nearer to his face.
The shadows within the cave could not hide his beauty.
He stood over six feet tall, his shoulders and bulk making the area they stood in cramped.
His hair lay hidden beneath a knitted hat. Her fingers twitched to pull it free to reveal its auburn-gold colour. But how could she know that? The knowledge tickled Ivy’s consciousness.
His features were even, masculine. A strong chin and forehead highlight chiselled cheekbones.
But even with all his many attractions, his almond eyes made him unique. They sparked with life and flashed blue- green, the colours merging together to form an emerald rainbow, melting into peacock blue, melting into azure, melting into sea green, melting into golden syrup then chocolate brown. They surpassed anything she’d ever seen before. And, held within their depths, the kind of danger that excited Ivy.
Sexy as sin. She liked that.
He yanked at his sleeve, exposing the amber hairs that adorned his strong, muscled forearm. “What do you see?”
She looked. Underneath, on the paler skin above his wrist, a tattoo. No. Not a tattoo. She narrowed her eyes and looked closer. A birthmark.
Pinpricks of excitement ran up and down the length of her body. She gasped and took an involuntary step backward. He reached out to steady her, his wide palm resting on her shoulder.
Even from this distance she saw what could only be seen by a witch - the birthmark of the Familiar.
But how could that be?
Allowing her a better look, he lowered the flaming torch and held it close to his arm. The tree shaped birthmark glowed tell-tale silver in the flickering light, its pale colour somehow informing her he did not yet have a mate.
“The legends are true. Familiar’s do still exist,” she whispered, hardly daring to believe her own words.
Posts
