Twelve lycans in one bedroom wasn't ideal as Theo bumped right into Lyle and stepped back only to step on Jethro. There were eleven more lycans across the hall. The innkeeper gratefully didn't question them about their sleeping arrangements. Aiden was sprawled out by the fireplace, already sleeping in intoxicated bliss. Amos was sitting in the armchair by fireplace and smirked.
“I don't bite,” the brute said, eyeing him.
Theo sighed, giving in as he settled himself down on the ground near the armchair. “I'm still not talking about it.”
“I didn't think you would.”
Theo nodded then and looked out of the window overlooking the street. Amos remained silent and Theo thought he had fallen asleep. Downstairs, the men treated themselves to some tankards of elvish ale and he watched the redheaded lady serving them.
She was a pretty creature, but she didn’t have those haunting green eyes he desired. Damn it, she was never going to—
“I miss her,” Amos spoke up. Theo glanced up at him. “You weren't the only one that looked at her and thought of Calyx.”
Theo's chest constricted. “Yes, well, she's fucking gone.”
Wisely, Amos kept quiet and Theo welcomed the silence. He listened to the heartbeats of his men and the whoosh of the steady breathing in the bedroom. Theo swallowed down the lump in his throat as he tried to not think of her again, but it was Aiden that sighed loudly.
“I miss her too,” the younger confessed. Squeezing his eyes shut, Theo tried to block it all out and he couldn't stop the men from talking about her. “How long has it been?”
He didn't answer. He refused to and he didn't have the heart to.
“Fifteen years,” Jethro responded before gulping down his tankard. He swiped his mouth with the back of hand. “I remember the last time I saw her. She was at the ball dancing with Theo.”
Amos chuckled. “We all thought fucking finally,” he grumbled and Theo smirked at that. At least he wasn't the only one that thought they should've been together. “But meathead doesn't remember shit.”
“Seriously?” Aiden questioned. “Nothing?”
Before Theo could respond, there was screaming outside. Wide eyed, he watched figures race through the streets and pounce upon their victims. He stumbled to his feet as the street filled with more vampires.
“Fuck,” he hissed. “Vamps. They’re here.”
Quickly getting to his feet, Amos glanced out of the window. “It's an ambush.”
A bloodcurdling scream echoed through the inn and they all knew they were now inside the inn. There was shouting, screaming, and frantic footsteps. There was a thud at the door and Theo knew the vampires have found them. The door exploded, spewing chunks of wood all over them as a couple vampires forced their way inside.
One launched itself at Aiden, but he stepped aside quickly and the vampire flew into fireplace. In a blaze of fiery robes, the vampire flailed about in throes of screeching pain. Jethro was on his feet, smashing the tankard over the vampire's head before grabbing the vampire by the neck and threw him out of the window. Amos roared and smashing the small wooden table into pieces Jethro had been sitting at. Using a piece of broken wood, he thrust it deep into the chest of a vampire. Bloods spurted and Amos just growled at it.
“Fucking vamps,” he snarled as it fell dead at his feet.
Samson rushed out of the room down the hall and the other Lycans followed suit, heading in different directions.
“They came through the fucking window!” Samson growled, looking out of the smashed window at the end of the hallway before turning his attention to Theo. “The village is being swamped, Theo. This village is lost. They’ve got to be here for us.”
Amos nodded in agreement. “Fucking cowards are trying to wipe us out before we reach Silverd,” he hissed. “The men have already secured the tavern, but we won't be able to hold them off long.”
“We've got to hold them off. Allow as many elves to make a break for it,” Theo told the both of them.
“I don't think that's the problem!” Aiden called up the stairs. “Now that the vamps know where we are, we've become the main targets. They're not like the regular vamps. They're enchanted. We could use your damn help, assholes!”
They exchanged looks before they rushed downstairs to rejoin the group. The tavern was in shambles. Lycans and wolves were launching themselves at vampires, fighting to the death. Just as Theo was about shift, he was tackled from behind, but the weight on his back lightened and Amos was helping him to his feet.
“Fuck, this is bad,” Theo muttered, watching the scene playing out.
More and more vampires were flocking into the place, replacing their fallen ones. Some vampires wouldn't go down. They were stronger, more lethal. They had a dark crimson aura emitting from them and with glowing blood red eyes, where the other vampires had a murky, dull brownish red.
Amos grunted. “Let's go kick some vamp ass.”
There was an explosion causing vampires, lycans, and wolves to fly through the air. A big gaping hole was left in place of the exterior wall. Theo groaned, attempting to lift himself up from where he was thrown to. He heard stirrings beside him, but he became distracted by the figure in the clearing fog. The vampires refocused their efforts against their new target.
“Go!” a voice shouted, rushing into the remnants of the tavern. “Go before it is too late!”
Theo frowned at the familiar voice. He knew that voice just as well as their eyes. They had haunted his dreams and thoughts for years. He felt himself being tugged out of the rubble. Amos shoved him towards the gaping hole. *Shift*, his beta growled into his head and Theo watched as Amos shifted into a gray and white wolf and he followed suit. He watched as the others made a break for it in their wolf form, but he froze as that familiar scent swamped him.
It really was her.
He looked at the hooded cloaked figure from earlier in the day. Red unruly locks peeked out from the hood and more spilled out as she quickly dispatched another in haste.
“Go. Your window of opportunity is narrowing,” the figure warned then she looked to the gray and white wolf pacing anxiously. “Amos, take the pass through the Gildean Hills. There is enough cover to rest at night. They are focused on ambushing villages.”
Amos looked up then nodded. He nuzzled his nose at Theo's side, but Theo refused to move. She had finally resurfaced and was being attacked by a dangerous mob of vampires, gutting at first to kill him and his men but now her.
Why her?
Why did they refocus their attention on her?
Dread filled him as only one reason made sense.
“Go!" she snapped, ripping him out of his thoughts. "You are no good to me dead, Theodavian!”
Then the figure ran out, projecting a shield of energy while tossing out darts before they shifted into a lycan, taking out a number of vampires with a mighty swipe before changing into an incredibly familiar wolf and took off into a run. It was obvious she knew how to deal and dispatch them, which only further frustrated him. It took everything in him to not go after her when all the vampires chased after her hot on her trail.
Making the tough decision to leave her so they wouldn't be a distraction, he and Amos took off full speed towards the entranceway of the village with vamps trailing after them. Some vamp with murky brownish-red eyes attempted to pounce upon them, but Theo took it by the neck, broke it, and tossed him to the side with ease.
As they run further away from the village and took the figure's advice, they came across the others and they ran together long after the sun rose.