“You are the cure. I need your essence, and Carlton needs your blood. We found his father’s notes. Nobody will miss you, but we have friends and lives. You have nothing and nobody. Quit being a selfish little whore and give up.” Merry lunged again, the knife held high.
Noelle’s mind flinched at each word that had been tossed out like a missile. What Merry said made a sick sort of sense. The silver blade glinted in the moon, aiming straight for her heart. She raised her arm to shield herself, aware her life was about to be lost. Ridge, Goddess, she’d miss so much, mostly the time they’d not get.
A roar came from her left, giving her hope. Fur brushed her face, and then a scream filled the air. Noelle braced for pain, closing her eyes at the same time she brought her arms up. Her heart beat frantically, making her think she was going to pass out. She had to force her eyes to open and her lungs to release the air she was holding in. When she did, it startled her to find herself standing, uninjured. What was even more jarring was to see a huge leopard standing over Merry, its teeth locked around her neck.
Ridge. He came. He saved her. Goddess, he was so gorgeous.
“Call your beast off me,” Merry begged.
Taking a deep breath, she stumble-walked over to the pair. The knife lay a foot or so from Merry’s arm. “In the eyes of the Goddess, you don’t deserve mercy, Merry. Ridge, is Marjo alright?”
The big leopard blinked twice. Noelle took that as a yes. She took solace in that. “Good, then that’s one less thing she has to pay for.” Noelle noticed the blade didn’t appear ordinary, seeing words written on the silver edge. “This is a mage blade, isn’t it?”
Merry turned her face away from Noelle.
She walked around Ridge, kneeling in the dirt, gripping her sister’s hair. The leopard’s hot breath wafted over her, but she felt comforted, not fearful. Ridge would never hurt her. “This blade, it was meant to kill me and Ridge and whatever other shifter you came across, yes? Where did you get it?” She yelled the last question when Merry refused to answer her.
Rustling behind them had Ridge releasing Merry, snarling as he whipped around, meeting Carlton in a clash of fangs and fur against Carlton’s mangled mess.
Merry rolled away and came up on her knees. Noelle blinked, crying out at the dirt her sister tossed toward her face. Her eyes stung from the pain. Without realizing the mistake, she dropped the knife, rubbing her eyes furiously. A maniacal laugh came closer than before. Using her protective instincts, she rolled away, forcing her magic to clear her eyes. Merry shifted her attention to the combating animals.
“Fuck that,” Noelle snarled. Her leopard wasn’t going to be stabbed in the back by her demented sister. Another branch appeared on the ground in front of her. She thanked the Goddess, snatching it up on her way to intercept Merry. This time, when she swung, the impact sent Merry sailing.
Noelle followed Merry, kicking the knife away. Merry pleaded with her to have mercy, but Noelle saw her intent.
Noelle pointed her finger downward, taking a deep breath before she spoke. “Say good night. Shed the light. Out like a night. Shed the night. Show the light. You have acted with no responsibility. Say goodbye to your humanity.” When the last was said, if her sister had any good within her, she’d have a glow surrounding her, even if it were faint. Nothing lit her.
“There is no goodness inside her, Noelle.”
She was a little apprehensive to see Zelda and Sassy standing there. Both women were in their pajamas, still way more attractive than Noelle would ever be if she’d been pulled from her bed. “I kinda figured that out but had to know for sure.”
“What did you do?” Merry gasped, her entire frame jerked side-to-side.
“I cast a spell that would tell me...all of us if you had any light within your being. If not, then your life would be forfeited. I had hoped there was some, even a sliver that could be fostered and fanned to more with the right mentor.” She swiped at her face, hating the weakness tears showed.
“Goodness?” Merry snarled. “Goodness is for fools. Look at you. You were taken at twelve, and God only knows what you endured. Hell, you were probably Carlton’s daddy’s little plaything. Did you like being his fuck toy? Is that why you want to kill me and him? Are you scared the truth about your time in his little dungeon will come out?”
Noelle flinched, shocked and angered, and humiliated her sister would say something so vile for all to hear. “Not that it’s any of your business, but that’s not true. For all of Remdezevier’s faults, he wasn’t a pedophile. He didn’t think of me as anything other than an experiment.”
Merry laughed, the cackle grating.
Zelda stepped between Noelle and her. The next thing Noelle saw was a puff of smoke. “There, that takes care of that nastiness. Now, about that one.” Zelda pointed at Ridge and Carlton, their snarls and clashes escalating.
“Got it,” Sassy yelled.
Noelle moved in front of the crazy witch, her penchant for blowing things up legendary. “Um, the leopard is mine. No blowing him up, okay?”
Sassy gazed up to the sky. “You accidentally on purpose blow a few dozen things of importance to smithereens and all of a sudden you’re a serial blower upper.”
“If the shoe fits,” Zelda said with a grin.
A loud growly snarl ripped through their argument and then silence.
“Well, I guess we didn’t need to do anything. Your leopard won. Our job here is done.” Zelda and Sassy took a bow.
Noelle spun in a circle,
