Blood Solstice: Part Three in the Tale of Lunarmorte by Samantha Young Page B

her
nose into her open palm. Caia smiled reassuringly down at her and
gave her the nod. Wolf Jae turned in an instant and was rushing
through the woods in a blur. They heard the distant cry of two
guards, and they were off. She wasn’t as fast on two legs as she
was on four, but she was faster than the average human. Reuben… was
a streak of movement. Caia knew he was heading for the magik
guarding the back porch. As she raced around the edge of the house
she saw he had a hold of the magik by the neck. A loud sickening
crack reached her ears. Oh my. She squeezed her eyes shut briefly
and then forced her flight to the front of the house to the
driveway to confront the two magiks Jaeden was momentarily
distracting. Their cries had alerted the other two guards and they
were heading towards them from opposite ends of the grounds.
Pushing away any gentle feelings, Caia pressed her magik into the
approaching guards’ lungs and they both collapsed, clutching their
chests as water filled their airways. Seeing the downing of their
comrades the other magiks turned on Caia. Jaeden took that moment
of distraction to lunge at the one closest to her.
    Flooring
him, she swiped at his face with her claws, eliciting a piercing
scream of agony that was quietly culled by her jaws as they clamped
on to his throat. The other warlock seemed to hesitate, deciding
whether to save his friend or deal with Caia. His decision was made
in seconds and he turned on Caia. She threw up a shield to stop
whatever energy he was pushing her way. His face mottled red with
determination, his black eyes blazing with fury. A blur shot past
the two magiks she had suffocated and came to an abrupt stop behind
the one trying to get past her shield with what she was sure was
air magik. The blur cleared into Reuben and his large hands gripped
the warlock’s head before giving a forceful tug that removed it
from his body. Caia watched in horror as his body fell away from
the vampyre in a loud thump across the gravel. Reuben sneered and
let the head roll from his hands to land in the bloody pool that
oozed from his victim’s decapitated corpse. It was only as he
turned to look down at Jaeden that Caia remembered her. Jae was
hacking up the blood of her own victim and Caia knew all too well
how disgusting the taste and feel of death was.
    “ So what now?” Caia gestured a little shakily to them. “Marita
wouldn’t have felt the attack but won’t she feel their deaths…
won’t it be like… white noise?” She felt a little stupid for not
having thought that part through… well more than a little stupid
really.
    Reuben’s
lips twisted as if he were insulted by the mere suggestion that he
would have been idiotic enough to not have thought every second of
the attack out. “The manipulation can last past death as long as
something of their physical body remains.”
    She shook
her head in amazement. “If Marita ever knew of your existence you
would be enemy No.1, you know that right?”
    He
snorted. “Caia, she does know of my existence, she would just
prefer to believe I am merely a legend, a myth… makes it easier to
sleep at night.”
    “ If you’re so powerful why haven’t you taken over years
ago?”
    Reuben
laughed, his eyes glittering darkly. “This really isn’t the time
for that discussion. But the short answer is… I’m just not
interested.”
    Giving a
huff of laughter Caia strode past him, stroking her fingers through
Jae’s pelt in comfort as she passed her and into the
house.
    “ Caia!” She heard Magnus yell. He’d obviously detected her
scent amidst the sounds of the disturbance outside. The thundering
of feet could be heard from all over the house as people rushed to
the entrance.
    Magnus
was the first to reach her and she was dragged into the most
crushing hug ever. She felt his lips in her hair and the shudder of
his relief, and as she breathed in his familiar scent Caia felt a
rush of painful affection. Marion. She had been one of