Page 41 of His Sunshine Baby (The Silver City #2)
It feels a lot longer, but only a few minutes have passed since Nephera began her argument with Sylviana. I try to reach out to Nora, but she’s too caught up in the pain now. Somehow, I think that baby number two is in a hurry to come out. I already love that kid.
“Once again, I had to be patient. I knew you’d protect Silver City for as long as you could, and Judah and the twins’ little bastards too. I took my time, gathering even more vampires than before, after having their Vampire Queen acting like a puppet held by my strings. I didn’t notice one of them was gone for some time, but once I felt another Royal print, I rushed there.”
She killed Reagan but couldn’t get to Estelle or kill me. Sylviana arrived right in time to save me and make her run away. Nephera shrugs.
“I didn’t want to rush, anyway. I had an army almost ready, and I just wanted to destroy you all at once, along with Silver City. I waited patiently for this opportunity, until today. Now, finally, I’ll take back what is mine, and get rid of all of you!”
I growl, pissed off. This woman went from a martyr to a villain, but I just can’t listen to her bullshit any longer.
“So what?” I say. “Are we supposed to feel sorry for you now? Do you think you will feel better after this?”
Nephera immediately glares at me, not hiding her anger. A few steps away from us, I can hear the river going wild, the water raging, but I try to ignore it.
“You can never understand how I felt! My own mother abandoned me for someone else! She lived in comfort while I was left alone to grow in an unknown city! The only man I ever loved threw me away when he was done using me! And then, I lost my child to those wretched, abominations called vampires! How dare you tell me what can make me feel better or not!”
I step forward, mad enough to growl, barely keeping my wolf from jumping out. I’m tired of listening to this woman’s rant.
“Yeah, cry me a river,” I shout back. “You think you’re a victim? What about all the people you deceived when you didn’t help Cynthia reach out to her sister? The families you split just because you were a selfish brat!”
“How dare you!” she yells.
“You know what, it’s about time someone gave you a reality check! You think you’re the only victim out there? Well, sorry to say, you’re not the only one who’s lost their parents, or their child! I get you went through some shit, but you know what? You can suck it up! I lost my parents twice, my godmother, my baby, and that still didn’t make me one hell of a heinous bitch like you! I know where I fucked up, and I made amends for that! I own my mistakes; I don’t blame anyone else for them!”
I let my aura explode out as my anger reaches its peak on the last few words, but honestly, I’m fed up with this witch! Nephera isn’t impressed. Instead, she looks more furious than ever, and suddenly, a wave comes from the river to her feet, and then gravitates around her hands. It’s impressive, like watching some fantasy action movie. But this is very real, and I know she can do some harm with that damn water now floating around her.
“You think you can judge me?” she yells. “You know nothing! I never had anyone! My mother left me, I had no family, no friends, no one to rely on! You know what it’s like, to lose everyone? To lose your only hope, your child? Judah Black, Queen Diane, her children, they all took everything from me!”
“Oh, yes, I know,” I growl. “I also know what it’s like to lose a child, and then have to abandon the other for her safety. I left my daughter alone in the woods, not knowing if I’d ever see her again, because of you! Maybe your mother wanted to protect you by sending you to Silver City, maybe she had bad reasons, but if you were so desperate to see her again, maybe you should have worked your ass off and helped Cynthia like you were supposed to!”
“ Selena… ”
I know Nate wants to comfort me, but right now, I just want to shut this crazy bitch up once and for all. I am so fed up with her blaming everyone but herself!
“You want to take it out on someone? Well, sorry, everybody you blamed is dead! The only guilty person now is yourself! Nora and I grew up without knowing our parents too! Damian and Nate killed their own father to save themselves from the monster he was! Who are you going to take it out on next, huh? It’s your mistake, own it!”
Nephera’s expression is ugly at that moment. Yeah, the truth hurts, bitch.
“You… You…!” she screams. “I’ll get rid of all of you!”
I guess that’s it for her arguments. She suddenly raises her water above her head, and we all get ready, knowing this is our signal. The fight is back on.
Damian, Nate, and I jump together to attack, but she launches her water attack as soon as we move. It’s way bigger than what I had thought it’d be. I’m hit by a full wave, and feel my body thrown away, before something catches me. I choke a bit, but thank Moon Goddess I managed not to swallow any.
I realize I’m caught in some muddy roots, before Sylviana moves them again, creating several barriers between us and her sister. Nephera tries to attack again, but the roots sprouting in accelerated movements from the ground break her waves, transforming them into little splashes on us. For a minute, I think we might be able to take her down, until I remember she’s not alone.
As soon as she attacked, all the nearby vampires resume fighting too. As soon as I am released from Sylviana’s magic wood or whatever it is, I need to jump to avoid an attack. Those damn things! I don’t know if they used her little speech to gather, but there’s more and more of them around us. A lot more than before.
I need to jump, kick, throw a punch, run, and jump again to avoid the ones coming at me. I try to keep an eye on what’s going on around, but I only catch a glimpse of Damian, surrounded too. They seem to have decided to attack the strongest of us in groups. I hear Liam growling furiously too, meaning he doesn’t have time to play anymore. I use my silver bars again, managing to keep them off me, but I don’t have a second to breathe.
The ground trembling dangerously and the sounds of waves crashing tells me the witch sisters are going hard at it too. When I think I’m about to be surrounded, another root suddenly sprouts out to impale several vampires or create another barrier. I appreciate the help, but I have no idea how Sylviana can keep it up.
This whole fight is insane. Wherever I look, there’s mud, vines, roots, or vampires. Werewolves are growling somewhere behind me, and vampires are screeching from all sides too.
I have never seen so much violence on such a large scale. We just keep fighting, growling, trying to kill them one after another. I’m covered in blood and mud. Some managed to scratch me, but most of this blood is from the ones I killed. I try to rip their heads off, tear their throat open, or impale their heart. Those damn creatures are resistant, and if they are not killed properly, they can still move whatever’s left of them. It’s a horror movie. I can’t help but scream when one of them suddenly scratches me deep on my back. Moon Goddess, that hurts!!
“ Selena! ”
“ Nate, no! ”
He must stay where he is! I keep fighting, but a few seconds later, I realize another wolf came to fight next to me. I kick away another vampire, avoid one’s bite, and brutally smack its head before letting myself glance over.
“ Levi, you idiot! Don’t help me! ”
“ Your back is bleeding, Selena! You can’t protect your–! ”
Before he can finish his sentence, another vampire jumps at him, making him lose his focus on the mind-link. That idiot! He should be way behind, not on the front lines with us! I keep trying to tell him to fucking back off, but he won’t listen!
I do feel the pain, but I can take it! I smack another vampire with my silver pole, and smash his head against the ground, when the earth violently shakes again. What the heck are they doing! I try to shift my position to get closer to Sylviana. The two witches are having an insane fight. I take half-a-second glances between two punches or kicks, but this is out of this world. Nephera is going all out against her sister, sending wave after wave, even shaping her water like ice picks to send them Sylviana’s way!
Despite their several years difference, Sylviana is not letting herself be dominated. She is controlling so many roots and even some nearby tree branches so easily, I realize Nephera was right to be cautious of her. When she’s experiencing difficulty, the ground will shake again, and a new crater emerges between her and her sister, putting some distance and destabilizing Nephera and the vampires around. The difference in strength is starting to show between them, but unfortunately, Nephera’s weakness is compensated by the growing number of vampires.
I feel like we have been fighting for hours, but they just keep coming, more and more of them. The werewolves keep fighting back relentlessly, but I can feel everyone’s injuries, and the wolves leaving us… I furiously growl, trying to gather all my strength. I throw my poles into the face of two nearby vampires, shift my balance to send my foot right into their head, right after a round kick, and send them flying farther away from me.
I growl ferociously and shape-shift, jumping into my wolf appearance as easily as putting on clothing. The vampires react strangely to my shifting. Some retreat, others hiss even more furiously at me. I guess my cream-white fur gave it away. I let out a warning growl, extending my aura like a halo around.
To my surprise, instead of reacting to my growl, a lot of vampires step back, terrified.
“ Selena, your eyes are glowing! ”
Glowing? What the hell is going on now! I feel my aura too, growing wilder like a burning sun in my core. What is that? I extend it again, to reach my friends, the entire pack, and this time, it’s not a feeble mind-link but a strong connection I feel, like a solid chord. I can feel everyone, absolutely everyone. I feel like there’s something else, tickling, some shadows I can’t manage to connect to. Another code I need to crack, something I need to decipher with my aura. It’s ringing in my mind, like a call I just don’t know how to answer.
“ Selena! ”
“ For Moon Goddess’ sake, Levi, go back! Please! You’ll get yourself killed! ”
He won’t be able to hold like that for long! There are just too many vampires here! Even the Black brothers and I just can’t catch a break, and Levi is no match!
“ Don’t worry about me! ”
He is doing okay so far, but one wrong move and he’ll die! I just can’t watch him and fight my own fights! I try to get closer to him, but the dance of the roots around is confusing me. I can’t make any reckless position change without risking hitting one. Sylviana knows our positions, but she probably can’t constantly watch out for us if we move too much! The only one who seems rather comfortable in this configuration is Liam. It’s obvious he’s got some experience in random environments or with Sylviana’s power. He’s like a fireball, jumping from one spot to another, easily adjusting to the roots’ random appearances, even sometimes using them as support for jumping with all fangs out.
Damian and Nate are doing okay, judging by the bodies around them, but they have been careful not to move too much, facing the same issue as me. All of us have the same objective: get to Nephera while eliminating as many vampires as we can on the way, but I can feel the other wolves are suffering from our absence on the rest of the battlefield.
“You think you can win, Sylviana?” yells Nephera. “I can kill any of your little dogs anytime I want!”
“Nephera, please, stop this! You can still come back to Silver City! We don’t have to fight, you’re my older sister!”
“Your older sister that was left and abandoned while you had everything! You grew up with Mother, with friends! I had nothing! Nothing!”
They keep arguing, Sylviana begging her to stop again and again, but I can tell Nephera has gone mad being repair. It’s not like Iris. My cousin was jealous to the core, but she could still hear us, be reasonable. She was smart enough, too smart. Nephera is just… She left all her feelings in one place and won’t look at it again. She won’t hear, she won’t listen. She’s so sure of her truth, nothing Sylviana will say can get to her. She spent years persuading herself she was right, that she was a victim and we deserved to die for making her life miserable. I can tell just by looking at her. She lives only for her revenge. That’s all she has left.
“Selena!”
Sylviana’s scream takes me by surprise. She made a mistake and, at the last second, I see one of Nephera’s ice peaks flying my way. I try to dodge.
The damn thing scratches my other shoulder, but I throw myself on the ground and manage to avoid it. I’m lying on the mud, and that’s all it takes for two vampires to jump on me. I’m on my tummy, I know I won’t be able to defend myself in time. I try to roll over to at least manage to push them away with my legs, but even that is too late. I see their fangs, coming right at me when a brown silhouette covers me.
I scream internally. I can feel Levi’s pain, the furious bites deep on his shoulder, on his neck.
“ Levi! Levi! Levi, move! Levi! ”
He can’t hear me, I can’t reach him. I see his body right above mine, but I feel this horrible hole, growing larger and larger as the pain sinks in, giving in to the darkness. No, Moon Goddess, no, no, no, not Levi, please, not him…
I want to cry, to scream, but this is a fight. One of my best friends’ bodies is the only thing protecting me, but I feel the horrible movements coming from above, as the vampires keep biting and biting, killing him in a horrible, painful way. I want to scream in horror, I just can’t bear it.
I push my feelings down and shift into position to jump out, grabbing the closest vampire and ripping its neck in one bite. One by one, I take down all the blood-suckers, those cursed creatures who were attacking him. I know it’s useless, it’s too late to save him, but I just attack, attack, and attack again, furiously, like some death machine. I’m blinded by fury.
I take all those monsters down, away from my friend. I’m choking up, crying, but I need to release my rage. I can feel Danny and his family, and they all felt him die too, and I’m even more furious and sad for them.
“Get to them! Kill them all, you useless vampires!” yells Nephera. “Get to their Luna’s house!”
More vampires appear. Moon Goddess, is there no end to this? I growl menacingly as the anger gets to me. We are all here, all werewolves fighting to defend our turf, all connected, all standing, growling furiously. We are not letting them in.
The fight goes on and on, I don’t know for how long. I’m tired, my injuries hurt, but I don’t allow myself any rest or mistakes. I know my baby star’s life is at stake, Nora’s and her babies too. I am not letting those damn vampires or this wretched witch touch a strand of hair on them.
“ Nora, please tell me you’re alright so far. ”
“ Yeah, yeah… The nurse says I’ll be ready… soon. Just… give me a minute. ”
I can give her a lot of time as long as she gives birth to a healthy baby and is okay herself, or so I hope…
This hell here is far from over. I just can’t see the end of the vampires no matter how many we kill. Hell, how many did she gather? We are stronger, as our bodies are conceived to kill vampires, our feral enemy, in the first place, but there is nothing we can do about the difference in numbers. They just keep coming. It’s a freaking invasion.
Moreover, we suffer casualties too. With the way my aura changed earlier, I can now feel each wolf dying even more clearly, it’s just overwhelming. If I wasn’t focusing on my own fight, I’d be crumbling under the sadness. But I can’t allow myself to be weak now. So many people are counting on us.
I keep fighting, still trying to make my way to Nephera. We need to kill her. She controls the vampires. I just don’t get how she can control so many at once. I’m struggling to get past her vampires, and Sylviana and her are still busy exchanging water and soil all over the place. I have to be cautious of everything happening. Each emerging root can make me stumble, each water pick can injure me. I’m fine so far, but it only takes one miss.
“ Selena, we have a problem! ”
“ I just saw the Vampire Queen! ”
“ I saw her too! ”
What? What’s going on? I rip another limb, bite another vampire, trying to sense where they are trying to mind-link me from. I can feel Damian, Liam, and Nate are hearing the sudden voices echoing too.
“ Wait, was that Iris? ”
“ Yeah, her lavender hair! ”
“ It’s Iris! ”
“ What is she doing! ”
“ Watch out! ”
Holy shit, what? I try to sift through all the incoming information, holding onto the ones who saw this with their own eyes! This is like a hell jungle. My body has to be here fighting, but my mind is torn between my focus here and the mind-link. I try to jump on several vampires at once to get out of this crowd and catch one or two precious seconds to listen.
I look for the brothers, spread around me, dealing with the same issues. The vampires are gathered in bigger numbers around us. There are not many jumping on us at once, but almost as if those bastards were queuing and circling around us, making sure to contain me and the brothers. When the hell did those blood-suckers become smart enough to prepare such a strategy in the middle of a fight!
“ Damian, Nate, Liam, you heard that? ”
“ Yeah, go! ”
“ But… ”
“ We can’t get to the witch this way, Selena, just go! ”
I decide to listen to him, though I feel bad for leaving the fight’s main area. I jump to the side, biting another vampire’s leg, dragging him with me in my run, and mowing some vampires as if I was reaping anyone standing in my way. I try to focus on the directions given by our wolves. Iris, why the hell would Iris be with the Vampire Queen! And what of Chris?
I try to help whoever I can on my way. I furiously attack a vampire that was gripping a wolf, break up a crowd of them, throw some bites to help whoever I can. Our line of defense is still doing okay, and I’m amazed by our betas. Lysandra is a monster by herself. No wonder the Purple Moon clan was famous for their warriors. I run past her; she almost seems to be having fun, taking down one vampire after another as if they are merely toys for her to play with.
I spot Tonia too, doing just as well. After all, she was one of the Blood Moon’s fighting instructors. Her brother is more of a surprise, under his usual calm demeanor, he’s another killing machine, and their family’s giant size is good to intimidate the vampires too. Those siblings are worth two or three betas by themselves!
I keep running, but there are also the bodies… Those people I had felt dying, I get to see their corpses now, sadly covered in mud, while their friends are still fighting nearby. No one has time to close their eyes or cry for them, and it breaks my heart. I think I saw William too, my cousin’s peculiar black and white fur, now dirtied with blood and mud, lying a few steps away, but I can’t go see him now. I silently apologize, but this war is far from over…
I finally reach a little hill, where a lot of wolves are cornered by a humongous crowd of vampires. A few paces away, with four dead werewolves’ bodies at her feet, I see the one who has to be the Vampire Queen. She’s easy to recognize, her hair is completely white, her red eyes brighter than the rest and she is in some dark lace dress. Who the fuck wears a dress on a battlefield! Nephera and her are just so confident, it annoys me.
However, I have another problem: standing right next to her is Iris. My cousin looks different. I can’t describe it, but her eyes look strange, almost… empty. Her hair is a hectic mess too and she’s still in her outfit from when she left her cell. What happened to her? And where is Chris? I can’t feel his wolf, did he run away?
I jump into the group of werewolves, resuming the fight right away. My sudden arrival breaks the vampires’ cohesion, throwing them into disarray and allowing my peers to fight back. I bite again, use my claws to rip their white flesh until they can’t move. My white fur isn’t so white anymore, most of it has turned an ugly brown. I try to ignore the horrid smell of blood and ripped flesh, and help those guys fight off their assailants.
If only I could get to the Vampire Queen… I mean, my knowledge about vampire clans is rather limited, to say the least, but from Sylviana’s words, she is the one controlling the vampires and their blood thirst. If we can take the Vampire Queen down, that will be half of the job done. The problem is, she is standing too far. Just like Nephera, she is standing out of my reach, out of any battle. Just watching whatever’s going on. At least the witch is busy fighting Sylviana!
That damn Vampire Queen is just staring at the war zone, comfortably standing still, and Iris standing right by her side. I know this isn’t good. My cousin is standing too close to her, and too confidently. Damn it!
“ Iris, what the heck are you doing? ”
I know I can still mind-link her. Iris was punished, but never banished from Silver City, she left on her own. It takes more than that to cut off ties.
“What is it, Elena? Are you surprised?” she says with a sneer, loud enough for me to hear despite the distance. “You didn’t think I would stay put in my cell like a good girl, did you?”
“ I certainly didn’t think you would be dumb enough to ally yourself with our worst enemy! ”
“Even vampires have their use, Elena,” she replied with a blank voice.
What the hell is wrong with her? Something doesn’t feel right about her, or about her answers. I know Iris too well, or at least I thought I did. This isn’t the gentle Iris, or the wicked woman who was defying me from her cell.
“ Where is Chris! ”
She looks shaken up for a second, then she goes back to that strange look of emptiness, and suddenly, I realize. That’s her problem. Chris.
“ Iris, what happened to Chris? ”
“What is it?” asks the Vampire Queen with a giggle. “Let me guess. Is she bothering you about that adorable little brother of yours?”
I don’t like that. I don’t like that at all. That bitch Vampire Queen looks way too amused, and Iris’ face is even whiter than hers, if possible.
“ Iris, where is Chris! ”
“I should thank you again, Iris,” purrs the Vampire Queen. “That wolf was such a nutritious meal.”
No. No, no, no, Iris wouldn’t have done that. She wouldn’t have sold her own brother to vampires. It just can’t be. They left together, why the hell did the two of them go to the vampires!
“I had to make an agreement with the vampires,” said Iris, with a detached voice, “for them to trust me.”
“ You sold your own brother to them! You wretched woman! Iris, I swear you’ll go to hell for this! I’ll make you pay! ”
“Oh, don’t worry, this little girl was quite generous. She even told us where to find your precious Luna. You know, it saves us quite some time to know where to look!”
I stay speechless. Nora’s house. She told them where Nora’s house is! This means even if one vampire can get past our defenses, they can head straight there! They won’t need to spread around Silver City to find her; one vampire gets in and it will be a race to catch him before he gets there! I just can’t believe it. Even for Iris, this is the lowest of the low!
“ I can’t believe you! You damn traitor! You… Your own brother! ”
“ Get ready instead of yelling, you idiot. ”
What? I smash a vampire and get another off one of the werewolves’ back. That was Iris’ voice just now. What the heck? What is she preparing? I can’t stop growling at her, so much my throat hurts, but that seems impossible. More and more vampires are crawling toward us, to the point even I am getting seriously in trouble. I get another deep bite, on my shoulder, but bite back and get that damn vampire off my back.
“You,” says the Vampire Queen. “It can’t be you’re…”
I really don’t have time to play her petty games! I bite a blood-sucker’s head off and roll on the ground to avoid another one’s attack, I can’t stop to think.
“Bite her!” screams the Vampire Queen. “Bite that damn dog! The white female one!”
In seconds, I feel all red stares on me. That isn’t good. They suddenly jump at me, and I have to retreat. What the hell! I have had a lot to endure until now, but a horde of vampires is not something I can handle on my own!
“ Selena! ”
I can hear Nate, worried, coming to my rescue. I sense him running to escape his opponents, running to me in utter panic.
“ Nate, don’t! ”
However, I don’t have time to mind-link right now. One of the vampires bites me violently, on my previously injured shoulder, making me internally scream in pain. Fuck, his damn fangs are deep in there, and I can’t shake him off! I try biting, rolling over, but that blood-sucker has decided to stay glued to me! His sharp fangs lacerating my scar is driving me crazy with pain. Black dots obscure my vision, and I feel myself stagger, the pain making everything else numb…
“ Selena! ”
Suddenly, he lets go, and I see a black wolf overshadowing me, growling furiously at the nearby vampires. Nate…
I need a few seconds to regain my senses, but my shoulder is still painful as well. Damn, their fangs are worse than chainsaws! I don’t even dare look at my bleeding shoulder, I need to get my head back into the fight, stand up… Nate’s presence is the most comforting and reassuring thing I could hope for.