Page 14 of Help Wanted, Vampires Inquire Within (Ours Evermore #6)

Mason

It was obvious Skyler wasn’t happy. She tried to keep a smile on her face and her responses cheerful, but it was easy for Mason to see through her act.

He didn’t understand. She’d been genuinely joyous earlier, especially after she communed with the orange grove. He’d never witnessed a nymph using their powers. He could’ve sworn the trees perked up, and she’d glowed a little.

Part of being a gargoyle and immune to most magic had the downside of making him insensitive to magic. Despite that, he’d felt a faint hum in his feet when Skyler sank her fingers into the ground.

The way a bunch of rodents had emerged from the ground and ran around in all directions had been startling at first, then hilarious.

Her cheerful disposition changed the moment they all got into the car and started driving away. He hoped it was because she was already missing the land, but he didn’t think that was it.

He didn’t want to end the night like this. They needed to know what she was thinking so they could face whatever had destroyed her smile.

“I’m going to pull into the parking garage,” Mason said, driving past Joy without taking any of the many empty spots on the street. No one argued with him as he used the code to enter the parking garage. He parked Jack’s car behind his Bronco and shut it down.

“Are you hungry, Jack?” Mason asked as everyone got out of the car. “Zan put some bags of blood in our fridge.”

“Not right now, but thank him for me,” Jack said. Mason would need to think of a reason for Jack to stay until the sun came up so there was a logical excuse for him to spend the day with them. He was sure Skyler simply needed more time with Jack. That would solve everything.

“I think I’ll skip work Monday,” Mason said. “I don’t have any major projects right now so it would be easy to take tomorrow off.”

Jack nodded “Tomorrow night, we could visit another shifter owned bar. I’ve heard the Dapper Dog is nice. I could pick you both up again.”

It was clear by his suggestion that he didn’t realize Mason was trying to tell him he wanted them to spend the day together. Which would require Jack spending the night.

“Yeah, that’s a fun one,” Mason agreed. “I don’t think Skyler has been there yet. Skyler?”

They’d made their way out of the parking garage and were walking up the street. Skyler’s expression hadn’t changed, and he had to say her name again to get her attention.

“Skyler?”

“Huh?” She looked up at him and stopped walking. “What was that?”

The three of them formed a little circle on the street. “What’s going on, Skyler?”

He thought she’d dismiss his concerns. He wasn’t prepared for the way her expression crumbled.

She shook her head and tears filled her eyes. “No one loves me. Neither of you are meant for me. I’m without land or a mate.”

Her words felt like a punch in the gut. She didn’t know he was desperately and completely in love with her!

He’d said she was his mate, but she hadn’t believed it.

There was no more time to wait for her to realize the truth.

She needed to understand how he felt, and it couldn’t wait for them to get back to the bar.

“Skyler, I’m abso—ufff!”

An invisible force grabbed him, tossing him to the ground, cutting off his words. The magic kept him pressed to the concrete and was strong enough to inhibit the movement of his lungs. All he could do was take shallow breaths.

“Mason!” Skyler cried, dropping to her knees next to him.

“Run.” The one word was barely a whisper, but it was all he could do. There could only be one reason he was under attack. Someone was after Skyler.

He saw Jack move into his field of vision, his eyes red with rage and his fangs extended. “Show yourself, coward!”

Durmin rushed at them, but didn’t challenge Jack or reach for Skyler. Instead, they surrounded the three of them.

“Get away from them!” Jack roared. He moved to start grabbing and tossing durmin away. Even if he ripped them apart, they would fall into pieces and start to reform.

“That won’t do you any good,” McConnell said, walking into the ring of durmin with a satisfied look on his face. He pointed to one of the identical looking men. “Sampson has the talisman keeping the gargoyle down. The durmin are here to keep the nymph from disappearing. I’m here to deal with you.”

Sampson smirked down at Mason and Skyler. “It’s about time I got you, fucking bitch!”

Mason wanted to roar and rip the spineless human apart, but he couldn’t do anything more than wiggle a few fingers.

Sampson reached for Skyler. The nymph wasn’t completely helpless and slapped his hand away. She followed up the slap with a punch to the balls. Sampson went down with a whine of pain.

“You’ll regret that,” he whispered from where he lay on the ground.

McConnell cast him a despairing glance. “Get up. You’re a disgrace to your species.”

Several durmin grabbed hold of her. Jack tried to push them away, but McConnell easily caught the smaller vampire.

“I’m over three hundred years old,” McConnell said, easily holding Jack still. “You’re not even 100. You stand no chance against me. I will have this nymph. Your only choice is to walk away and live or stay and die.”

“Jack, save yourself!” Skyler begged. “You and Mason can have a good life together. I’ll be dead soon anyway.”

“No,” Mason said. His weak response was drowned out by McConnell’s harsh laughter.

“Such a sacrificing nymph. That gives me hope that you’ll be easily trained once we’ve bonded.”

Jack didn’t speak any words—he shifted. Many vampires learned to shift into some kind of bird. It served them well in the eras before trains, cars, and modern road infrastructure.

Mason knew Anatoly could shift into an owl but hated it. Vampires didn’t have any natural instincts when it came to their animal form. They had to learn to fly, and it could take decades before they were proficient.

Instead of shrinking into a hawk, raven, or owl, Jack’s shape grew much bigger as he shifted. In a flash of light, the small, delicate man was a dragon the size of an elephant with a long tail.

“You’ve impressed me,” McConnell said, but didn’t look worried. “This is going to be more fun than I expected.”

Jack opened his mouth and breathed a flash of fire over McConnell’s head. Skyler was too close for Jack to risk breathing fire right on the vampire.

“Fire even, how unique,” McConnell drawled. Jack stepped back and lowered his head and slapped his tail down. It was a clear challenge.

McConnell bared his fangs and jumped at Jack. The older vampire grabbed Jack by the neck, trying to rip through it. Jack reared up and swung his neck around, trying to dislodge McConnell.

Mason watched, helpless to assist Jack or keep Sampson from harassing Skyler once he recovered from her shot to his balls.

“I bet McConnell will let the two of us have some fun,” Sampson said, leaning close to Skyler.

Skyler managed to pull a hand away from one of the durmin holding her and reached for the pendant hanging around Sampson’s neck. He reared back with a laugh.

“That’s mine,” he taunted, standing up and kicking Mason in the side. “Without it, I can’t keep stone-brain out of the way.”

Mason barely felt the impact, but he was desperate to get at this human. Then he heard Jack cry out in pain. He looked over to see both McConnell and the dragon bleeding. He couldn’t tell who was more hurt, but thought it was probably Jack.

Skyler collapsed, her free hand slapping down on the dirty ground to support her weight. Her eyes were closed, and her shoulders hunched.

Despair swamped Mason. He was supposed to be their protector, and he was failing both his mates!

Skyler

Desperate to help Jack and Mason, Skyler ignored the taunting human and slapped her free hand to the concrete sidewalk. Talking to the gophers earlier gave her an idea. She couldn’t call to the earth here, but there was one animal she could depend on to live nearby in great quantities.

The hard part was going to be influencing them through concrete, plaster, paint, and insulation. Dirt was easier, but she was feeling both desperate and powerful right now.

“Come to me,” she whispered, forcing her magic through the ground and buildings around her. “Come to me.”

Little black furry bodies flowed from hiding places. Trash moved as they emerged from nearby dumpsters. The sound of little paws scrambling against stone and concrete filled the air as thousands of rats flooded the area.

“What the fuck!” Sampson screamed.

She opened her eyes and focused on him. “Attack!”

The wave of rats flowed to him. The man tried to run, but he was quickly overtaken by a few of the fastest rodents.

He tripped over a curb while trying to bat them away, making him have to step wildly to keep from falling.

They flowed up his legs, under and over his pants.

Little spots of blood started to appear on his pants and shirt as they bit and ripped at his skin.

“More!” she demanded and the ones who hesitated when he stumbled jumped on him.

In the background, she could hear Jack and McConnell fighting. She needed to get Mason free so he could help Jack fight.

“Get them off me!” Sampson demanded. The durmin holding Skyler's arm let go and moved to Sampson. All the other durmin did the same.

Skyler could flee to the safety of Joy, and she knew that was what both Jack and Mason would want, but that wasn’t an option. She was done running!

Ignoring the way her arms hurt from where the durmin had grabbed her, she got to her feet. All the durmin were gathered around Sampson. They were trying to pull rats off while the human rolled around squealing in panic.

Her legs felt shaky, but she still walked up to where Sampson was thrashing on the ground. She stared at the chaotic movements until she could see the pendent among the rats and durmin hands.

She focused on the trinket, sending out a need for it to the rodents. It took several tries before one of them was able to break the chain and jump away from the fray.