The house shrieked in pain as a particularly nasty spell attacked it. Sparing a bit of attention, I pushed some of my energy into restoring the house. It pulsed with gratitude.
I turned my attention back to the guys just in time to hear Doc's feral growl as he tackled Nikolai off the bed. They both hit the floor hard and Nikolai gasped a strangled cry of pain.
We let Doc feed until Nikolai started to look a little panicked. He clawed weakly at the vampire's back. None of us would be the same without the mage, and Doc would never forgive himself if he killed Nikolai. I had to stop him. I just hoped I could.
"Doc," I grabbed his shoulder.
He growled, probably not completely conscious through the bloodlust. I used a little of my own magic, shoved it through Doc and zapped him.
I probably should have let him have one of the werewolves next, but I hadn't thought that far ahead. Doc released Nikolai and turned on me. He was so damn fast, I was trapped in arms before I even comprehended that I was no longer leaning over him. I barely managed to shove my wrist in his face before his fangs sank into me. There was nothing pleasurable about this bite and I bit my lip so I wouldn't yell in pain. I did not need my parents hearing that.
Doc drank some of my blood, but I'd shoved the wrist with the pack tattoo in his face and I used that extra bit of connection to shove my magic at him again, calling him back to himself.
He released me almost as fast as he had restrained me and fell back, blinking as if trying to figure out what was going on. His eyes fell on Nikolai. "Shit, Nikolai." He scrambled over to the unconscious mage.
I joined him and cast another healing spell.
"Are you okay?" I put my hand on Doc's shoulder.
"Physically."
Nikolai gasped, his eyes fluttering open. He looked around at us before giving us a loopy grin. "Didn't die," he said happily.
Doc's shoulders sagged and he sighed. "You're insane."
"Yes," the mage agreed. "Also, I will not be casting magic for a while. Drained."
We all groaned at his horrible joke. Even Doc.
"I need to reinforce the house," I said. "They're hitting pretty hard, even as sturdy as the house is."
Doc growled.
"Will be okay. Help me up."
I hauled Nikolai to his feet and Doc stood. Allan leaned heavily on Ed but they both made it to their feet, as well.
"You've, um, got a bit of blood on your face." I gestured.
Doc rubbed at his face with his sleeve. "Better?"
"Um, kind of."
"Is good enough," Nikolai shrugged. "Not going to be able to hide my neck anyway. Parents will have to deal."
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure the not instant death from the stake through the heart was a big clue, anyway." I was more worried about dealing with my parents than the Anderson's. How fucked up was that?
Doc put his arm around Nikolai's waist and supported him, and Ed supported Allan as we stalked back out into the living room.
"How are you not dead?" Dad's eyes widened and he blanched as he took in Nikolai's bloody neck and Doc's angry expression.
I hadn't noticed in the darker bedroom, but the shadows danced around Doc's feet unnaturally, and his movements were completely unhuman. His eyes had gone wholly black and I suspected a lot of blood would be spilt before he would truly get himself under control again.
"What happened to Ash?" Doc ignored the question from Dad.
"Blasted him. Ash was worried about the Andersons possibly being able to control him, even now. They had him for three hundred years. Seemed like a good idea to knock him out. It was his idea." Nikolai sank down onto the couch, groaning. "Let's not do that again any time soon."
"How about never." Allan grumbled.
"It's time to end this," Ed snarled.
"Agreed. Okay, here's what we're going to do. We need to know how many of them there are, and their positions. Ed, you shift and sneak out. I'll cast Nikolai's invisibility spell on you. I'm going to go out front and nuke them. Allan, Nikolai, stay with my parents in case they need defending. Doc, what do you want to do?"
"I'm going to rip their throats out." The deadly calm in his voice covered me with goosebumps. "I should have done it years ago." He stalked over to the door and tilted his head, listening. "Well, that's different," he muttered.
"What now?" I hugged myself.
The house screamed as they hit it again, and we all flinched. I poured more energy into the house's shields.
"They found themselves a vampire." Doc smiled.
I might have wet my pants at the expression on his face if I knew he would never hurt me.
"Clearly not the only ones," Dad muttered. It wasn't loud but we could all hear really well.
Doc cast about until he saw the bolt Ed had pulled out of Allan. He grabbed that and tucked it in his belt.
Ed, now a wolf, stalked back into the room. He rubbed against me and I trailed my hand along his back.
Mom and Dad both stared. Ed ignored them, bumping against Doc.
"Out the back?"
They both nodded.
"I'm going out the front. I'll keep them occupied and I'm seriously going to fuck them up."
My parents didn't even object to my violent intent. They must really have understood the danger we were in.
"Not by yourself." Nikolai grumbled as he pulled himself to his feet.
"You're not in any condition to help," I objected.
"Blood." He held out his hand in Doc's direction.
Doc slipped off the magic reservoir and bit his wrist, holding it out for Nikolai.
My parents were getting all of our pack secrets in one giant dose. If we survived this, we were going to have a very interesting conversation
