Rose watched in horror as they lifted Raven’s limp body and carried it out the front door. They dragged her behind him, taking them into the center of the backyard and stopping in front of a huge tree. She watched with tears spilling from her eyes as they tied him to the big tree with chains covering his entire body. His head dangled loosely as though he was already dead, but Rose knew better. Raven was a fighter. He was the strongest man she knew. But studying him now made her heart lose hope. He looked like a shell of the man she loved; the vibrant and passionate man from only a few days ago. He was paler than she’d ever seen him. His long hair wasn’t silky and straight like usual, but messy, bloody, and plastered to his head. His lips were not the lovely shade of red as before but white, dry, and cracking. Things were looking so bad. She glanced up at the sky just as the sun began to appear. It wouldn’t be long before this part of the yard was drenched in sunlight.
She became desperate. “Please, Griffin. Please let us go. He’s your brother.”
“Silence! You know nothing of me, or what he has done to our family. He deserves this. He did this! Not me! And you are next! Tie her to that tree over there.” Then he smirked at her. “So she has a front row seat to the barbeque.”
She gasped and knew then that this man was pure evil.
Raven’s eyes flickered open but quickly shut. It felt like daggers were being shot through his skin. He tried again, forcing his dry eyes to open. It took him a moment to recognize where he was. But once he did, he filled with dread. He was tied to the huge tree in the backyard, and the now awakened sun was encroaching toward him very slowly. He heard whimpering and quickly scanned to find his Sophia tied to the opposite tree. “Sophia,” he tried to say, but his vocal cords were dried shut.
By her expression she appeared to know what he was trying to say. “Oh, Raven,” was all she said before succumbing to the tears.
It broke his heart to see her cry. He knew how helpless she must feel. He felt it himself. He made an attempt to break free but nothing happened. He tried again, but he was just making things worse. He felt like if he tried again his bones would snap. Raven heard laughter and turned to see his entire coven, along with many others he recognized from a fellow coven, seated under a constructed tent, safe from the rays of the sun.
“You can stop this anytime you feel like it, Raven. You can help us destroy the werewolves, or you can destroy yourself.”
Raven tuned him out. He knew Griffin was going to kill Sophia and the baby no matter his choice. He could not live without them—he would not. His choice was simple. If he did not have the strength to save her—he would die with her.
Raven peered over to Rose and their eyes locked, giving his heart a little more strength, though all hope was lost. They stayed that way for a long time; their eyes saying things their voices were too weak to say, until the encroaching sun finally reached his body. The intense power of the direct sunlight, and the lack of the healing blood he so desperately needed, caused the sun to begin to burn through the top layers of his skin. He bit his tongue to keep from crying out.
Chapter Eighteen
Rose screamed as she watched Raven’s body slowly begin to shrivel. Steam was creeping out from under his clothing.
“It wwwill be o-kay, Sophia. I-I—love—you,” he finally managed to force the words out. But she knew he was already too weak and the sun was too strong. He couldn’t hold his screams back any longer as he let out the most heart-wrenching, blood-curdling scream of agony. Rose could feel it all the way to her bones. Raven’s screams continued as his face sunk in and the moisture was sucked from his eye sockets. His head flopped forward as the steam surrounded and engulfed him.
“No!” Rose screamed. “Somebody help him! He’s dying!” she peered at the vampires huddled under the tent, safe from the sun, and lost all hope. They were enjoying the scene playing out before them. She turned back to look at Raven, his head still slumped forward in an awkward way. “Raven, I love you!” Her desperation quickly returned. “Somebody please help him! Raven, don’t leave me!” She struggled violently with the chains until they began to dig into her flesh and blood trickled down her limbs.
“Did somebody call for help?!” Eli’s voice penetrated the thick smoky air as a rumbling surrounded the yard. Then furry bodies burst from the forest with one mission in mind—total annihilation. Rose sighed, letting the tears fall as the relief flooded her heart. The werewolves had finally arrived, and the slaughter was about to begin.
Rose glanced over to Griffin, but instead of fear he displayed an arrogance that said he was prepared for this. He pulled out his phone and within seconds a dozen or more vampires poured out of the house. The last one was Maurie. She emerged from the door almost in slow motion, snatching her whips from her hips and slicing them through the air like a master. The sound was deafening. But, from the forest, the werewolves kept coming—and they were angry. At last count—forty-five. The vampires were outnumbered—again. And soon they would be no more. This thought brought a comfort to Rose like no other, but she would have to watch it all play out before help would come to her and Raven. But could he survive long enough? Did he even realize help had arrived?
The fighting had begun, and Rose had to suppress the bile that formed in her throat as heads rolled and bodies were ripped apart with eagerness. Blood splattered across her chest as one vampire came at her, preparing to destroy her, when Hector, in one long swipe, split him in two, the pieces falling on either side of her. She knew this was Hector because no one, werewolf or vampire, could match his size. She had never seen anything like this in her entire life, and she would be terrified if she wasn’t so worried about Raven’s survival.
Randolph was the first vampire overtaken. With his white skin and hair, he was an easy target.
Rose watched the vampire Maurie, in an almost awe at how easily she wielded her whips, slicing anything that came at her. She did not seem to be affected by the sun at all, and every werewolf her whips touched would shriek; the blood splattered as it sliced. But Maurie soon became surrounded by werewolves hungry for her blood. It had quickly turned from a fight for her, to survival. Somehow it seemed sad, and Rose made herself look away from the scene.
She struggled to tell one werewolf from another, but she felt she would know her brother, Eli from anywhere. She was relieved when she spotted him running to Raven and slashing the chains free. Raven fell limply into his arms. He ran his claw over his own arm and pressed the wound to Raven’s lips, but too soon a vampire jumped him from behind. The two fought wildly until Eli got a hold of him around the neck and swung him like a baseball bat into the nearest tree. The impact splintered the tree and twisted the body in an unnatural fashion. Eli quickly returned to Raven.
A hand swung out of nowhere and punched Eli in the back of the head, sending him flying. He crashed hard to the ground but was straight back to his feet and ready for more. And more punches came; one to the face, two to the stomach, and one last one to the chest which sent him flying into the air. He flipped so that his feet hit the tree and then he catapulted himself off, did another flip, and landed on his feet in front of Griffin. With an angry growl, he swiped his paw; claws extended forward, and slashed Griffin through the chest. Griffin, stunned, stared down at the open wounds as blood spilled out onto the ground.
His face turned smug as he stared up at the huffing, snarling beast. “You stupid werewolf! You cannot defeat—”
In one swift swipe, his head was gone. And just like that, Griffin Vanderburg, the vicious tyrant and their number one enemy, was no more.
