Soulbound
by Wes Leigh
Chapter 14
WARNING FOR SENSITIVE READERS: This chapter contains descriptions of extreme violence. Please read with caution if you are bothered by such things.
The courthouse had never hosted a meeting quite like it.
In a conference room on the second floor, late at night, the blinds were drawn and the curtains pulled. Candles were placed in a crooked line down the middle of the table, providing the only flickering illumination in the room.
Minerva Smyth sat on one side of the table, with six high-ranking vampires next to her. Conspicuously missing from the group was Xavier Finton-Smyth, the Executor Elect, who was no longer in favor within the ruling ranks of the Covenant.
Across from the vampire elite sat Andreas Finnigan, alpha of the Silvermane Pack. Next to him sat his mate, Gabi Finnigan. His lieutenants from the pack were on each side of them. His son, Connor Finnigan was not present, nor had the lad been invited.
Minerva bared her fangs, then retracted them. "We are in agreement that a truce is in effect?"
Andreas nodded curtly. His lips curled into a snarl as he said, "For tonight. Only tonight."
Minerva opened the book in front of her and slid it across the table to Andreas. He glanced down at the page and growled. Gabi leaned over and looked at the words scrawled on the page and nodded her head.
"Then you are aware of what they have done?" Minerva asked.
"We suspected," Andreas admitted.
"And now?"
Andreas pushed the book back, as though reluctant to touch it. "If they have done this thing, it is an outrage."
"We have received reports from teachers at the school who are part of the Covenant. No doubt, you have also heard from the members of your pack who teach there."
Andreas nodded acknowledgment.
Minerva hissed, "The boy has both the scent of the wolf and the eyes of a vampire. He has been twice bitten."
Andreas and the other wolves growled. Andreas snapped, "Abomination!"
Minerva laughed wickedly. "Believe me, my enemy, I am not in the least offended by your assumption that mixing vampire blood with werewolf is an abomination. I quite agree. The only question now is what we should do about it."
"He cannot live," Andreas stated.
"And those within our families who have been a part of this reprehensible behavior?"
Andreas looked at Gabi, who lowered her gaze in submission. Andreas turned to Minerva and replied, "We discipline within our own ranks as we see fit. But the abomination must be destroyed."
Minerva nodded. "Then we are in full agreement. I propose a cooperative effort to deal with this… situation."
Daniel locked up his journal and pushed it under a notebook in the desk. His eyes lost their focus slightly as he thought about his lovers. Are you alone, Connor? he silently asked.
Yes, Connor replied, sending Daniel an image of himself in bed.
Daniel blinked out and appeared next to Connor's bed. He leaned over and kissed Connor's lips, making the older teen smile joyfully.
Where's my goodnight kiss? Xavier asked.
Daniel smiled at Connor and disappeared, reappearing in Xavier's bedroom. Daniel took Xavier in his arms and kissed him once on the lips. Then he disappeared again, returning to his own bedroom.
Good night, guys. I'll see you at school in the morning, Daniel said.
Connor grinned. Good night, m'loves.
Xavier replied, I cherish you both.
The word passed quickly through the school. There was to be a student meeting after school. Both werewolves and vampires. At the river, just north of town, in the abandoned mill.
All the kids planned to be there.
Unfortunately, some of them weren't cautious enough as they spread the word. Even whispered conversations can be intercepted by a werewolf's keen ears.
The youth entered the mill in groups of two or three, gathering around the dusty, broken-down equipment in small groups, talking quietly as they waited. Their conversations died as soon as the three leaders entered the mill. Out of respect, they moved aside and made a path for Daniel, Connor, and Xavier, who climbed up on crates to look out over the assembled youth.
"We all know why we're here," Xavier began.
"Yeah… viva la Revolución!" one boy shouted, in a horrible Spanish accent.
The other kids chuckled while Connor lifted his hands, asking for quiet. "Maybe that's what's comin'. I don't know. Maybe we work within the Pack and within the Covenant, convincin' our families to change. It'll still be a revolution, just without blood."
"What's wrong with blood?" Gregor shouted, half serious in his question.
"I hope that won't be necessary, Gregor," Xavier said. "I hope we can effect change without blood, as Connor said, but we have to be realistic. Our elders won't meekly accept what we have in mind, and to be honest, I'm not sure just exactly WHAT we have in mind. That's what we're here today to discuss."
There was a sudden blood-curdling roar outside the mill, causing all the kids to jump and turn.
It's a TRAP! Daniel shouted. GET EVERYONE OUT OF THERE!
There was a shrill shriek and a loud thump on the side of the building. Shouts now and snarls and the sound of bodies colliding.
Connor and Xavier began rushing kids out through the back doors of the mill, heeding Daniel's warning.
Daniel stood still, shocked. He had also heard the warning. He'd heard his own voice shouting, 'It's a TRAP! GET EVERYONE OUT OF THERE!' But what he couldn't quite figure out was where the warning had come from, because HE hadn't given it, and yet the voice in their heads had sounded just like his own.
Then a wall at the front of the building fell in, with wood splintering and flying across the room. Standing in the debris were werewolves in full wolf form. Next to them were vampires, eyes glowing, fangs extended, claws grasping.
Minerva stood in their midst, with Andreas at her side. "Get them!" she screamed. "We'll deal with the abomination later!"
Chaos filled the room.
Kids were running in every direction, most heading through holes and windows in the back of the mill, but some didn't make it.
Werewolf adults leaped into the midst of the teens, ripping without regard for who they sliced open. Gregor tried to hinder them, only to stop suddenly and stand still with a stunned expression on his face. He looked down and saw a gaping hole in his chest. Blinking once, he swallowed hard and fell to the floor, dead.
Joshua and Jacob Byrne rushed to help Gregor. A vampire grabbed Joshua's head, twisting it until his neck snapped and he fell lifeless to the floor. Jacob shifted into wolf form and launched himself at the vampire, only to be gripped by two other vampires, who held him in place while the first one grabbed Jacob's throat and ripped it open.
Several vampires teleported onto the crates, attempting to grab Connor, Xavier, and Daniel, but Xavier and Daniel were no longer there, and Connor instantly shifted into wolf form, tossing one of the vampires across the room and knocking two others to the floor.
Connor spun around, looking for his soulmates. They were up in the rafters, looking down on the bedlam. Get out! Connor shouted mentally.
Not without you! Daniel screamed.
Go! Connor snarled, turning to see his father Andreas stalking forward, shifting into wolf form as he ran toward Connor. The two snarled, eyes meeting, knowing that either the son or the father would lie dead on the floor after this fight. They launched themselves through the air, colliding with jaws snapping and claws slashing. Falling to the floor, they rolled over and over, knocking others aside with reckless disregard, seeking only the throat of their enemy.
Xavier grabbed Daniel's arm. You have to get out of here, Daniel. This isn't your fight!
I'M NOT LEAVING WITHOUT YOU! Daniel screamed, tears pouring down his face.
Xavier began crying too. Remember us, he pleaded, disappearing.
Xavier reappeared behind Minerva, picked up a steel bar, and thrust it with all his might at the center of her back. Edward Finton's hand snapped out and caught the bar at the last second. Two other vampires appeared out of nowhere, clamping their claws on Xavier's throat and arms. Their talons curled around, penetrating the skin, holding him in place and preventing him from moving or teleporting. A vampire's teleportation ability was neutralized when his body was pierced by another vampire's talons.
Minerva wrenched the bar away from Xavier and pulled it back, preparing to thrust it into his heart.
Daniel clung to the rafters of the dilapidated building, watching his friends dying below him.
His lover and mate Connor was locked in a death roll with Andreas. Andreas' fangs were buried in Connor's neck, and Connor's head was flung back in a howl of pain. Connor's arms bulged as he shoved against his father, trying to push him off but losing strength with each passing moment.
Across the room, his other soulmate Xavier stood calmly waiting, held securely in the claws of other vampires, his blood dripping from each place where their talons penetrated his flesh. His face was dusty from the fight, but a trail of tears flowed down his pale flesh. His eyes were not on Minerva but on Daniel, filled with an aching sadness but also joy, having found his soul's resting place before his immortal life was taken.
Daniel watched them, helpless to interfere.
The broken body of a werewolf flew through the air, crashing into Xavier and those who held him. In the confusion, they released him, and Xavier teleported to Connor's side, where he began slamming his fist into Andreas' snout. Again. And again. Finally, Andreas released his hold on Connor's neck and attempted to bite Xavier instead. Connor took advantage of the respite and ripped Andreas' neck open.
From a few feet away, Gabi Finnigan in full wolf form, snapped and snarled, leaping at Connor and Xavier.
Xavier pulled Connor to his feet, yanking him backward away from Gabi's snapping jaws.
A vampire flew through the air, striking Gabi and sending her rolling into a wall with a heavy thump. Xavier and Connor turned as one to see who had thrown the vampire across the room and saw Daniel, in his vaewolf form, fighting off both werewolves and vampires. Daniel looked at his two lovers and roared, GET OUT! He threw off one werewolf, only to have two vampires knock him to the floor. PLEASE! MY LOVES, PLEASE! GET OUT!
Minerva screamed, "CAPTURE THE ABOMINATION! We'll deal with the rebels later!"
Daniel fought his way to his feet, tossing vampires and werewolves aside, struggling to stay free from their grasp. His eyes begged Connor and Xavier. For all the love you hold in your hearts for me, I beg you to save yourselves!
Xavier grabbed Connor and dragged him out of the mill, leaping through a broken window and falling with Connor in his arms into the river below. The frigid waters caught them and carried them downstream. They struggled out onto the bank and turned to look at the mill, gasping for breath.
From high in the rafters, Daniel looked down, stunned.
He saw himself. In vaewolf form. Struggling with the vampires and werewolves who tried to capture him.
He saw Xavier forcibly lifting Connor and throwing the two of them backward through a broken window. He heard them splashing into the river below.
He shook his head. Confusion fogged his mind.
He looked down and saw himself, as a vaewolf, leaping around the room, slicing open a vampire, head butting a werewolf, constantly on the move, giving kids a chance to escape the mill with the chaos he created.
There was a brief break in the mayhem. Daniel the vaewolf looked up at Daniel the human. Their eyes locked, silently communicating.
The Daniel in the rafters suddenly understood, nodded his head, and disappeared.
Xavier and Connor, soaking wet, struggled up the opposite bank of the Missouri River. Hiding behind a tree, they heard shrieks, snarls, and heavy thuds inside the mill. The last of the kids slipped out of the building and ran away. Then there was silence.
They eased their way back into the river and swam back to the mill. They heard triumphant laughter and voices shouting. Then they saw a pack of vampires leaving the mill with Daniel's limp body in their grasp, carrying him quickly up the road to where cars waited, loading him inside, and driving off.
Connor turned to Xavier. "We have to do something."
Xavier nodded. Daniel, are you hurt? No response. Daniel, can you hear me? Silence.
Xavier looked at Connor. I'll follow them. You see how many kids you can gather up.
Minerva and Edward walked quickly through the halls of the courthouse, a group of four vampires striding behind them, carrying Daniel's unconscious body between them. Humans peeked out of offices and immediately jumped back, slamming doors and hiding inside.
"We'll have to move now, or purge the entire blasted town," Edward growled.
"I don't care," Minerva snarled. "An example must be made. Our Covenant will NOT be known as the one that allowed an abomination to exist."
She opened the door that led to the roof and began climbing the stairs, knowing the others would be right behind her. When they reached the top of the stairs, Minerva slammed the door open, ignoring the alarms going off. She led them to the edge of the building and stood waiting.
On the ground below, Connor and Xavier ran up with their mates from school following them. Connor's clothes were shredded. Xavier was bleeding from a nasty gash in his forehead. All of the teens were banged up, some seriously injured, but determined not to back down.
Minerva sneered at them. She gestured with one hand and shouted down at them, "Are you all here? Or are there more of you in this foolish rebellion? Because what I have to say, I will only say once." She waited. When the teens didn't respond, she said, "Very well. Listen and hear me. All who appeal for clemency will be heard. Some of you will be granted mercy and a quick death. Others, if you pledge loyalty, will be restored to your families. You will be watched carefully, but you will be given a chance to fight and prove your value."
She lifted a heavy metal rod and pointed toward the side of the courthouse, where adult werewolves walked around the corner. "If you belong to the Silvermanes, return to your elders for judgment," she shouted. "If you belong to the Covenant, remain below and I will hear your pleas and judge you accordingly."
"And what of Daniel?" Connor shouted. "Who will hear his plea for mercy?"
Minerva turned to look at Daniel, his limp body held securely by several vampires. Her eyes glowed red as she spun around and shouted, "The abomination belongs to no Pack. No Covenant will ever claim him. He shall receive neither mercy nor restoration." She lifted the metal rod and plunged it into Daniel's chest.
Daniel's eyes flew open in sudden pain, glowing gold, and his mind cried out, I… cherish… Then the golden aura left his eyes, leaving them blue and lifeless, and he closed his eyes and died.
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