Blood & Carrots Ep. 19

"So how are we doing this?" Alex spoke out while clenching his fists, his ears lifted sharply forward.

"I say we just hit them by surprise. There's no mistake which ones they are. I could have a bullet in both their heads before they have a chance to shift." I showed my teeth in a sneer while focusing on the road.

"You haven't even killed yet Alice, are you going to be okay with that?" Alex prodded me with concern in his voice.

My eyes shifted to red while I chewed on my lower lip. "Normally, I would say no. These guys aren't mundane though..." I felt heat fill my chest and showed my teeth in a snarl. "Besides... I can't stop thinking that a kid was involved."

"We may yet be able to commune with them, they are not rabid, perhaps they are just lost." Gloria frowned as she spoke the words gently.

"You're kidding, right?" I shifted my eyes to the dog sitting next to me. "These guys killed a mother and child, you think there's any redemption from that?"

Gloria frowned and looked away with her one open eye. Alex cleared his throat from between us. "I'm not opposed to trying. If Gloria thinks it's worth a shot, I have no reason to argue with an angel."

The retriever smiled at the wolf. "Thank you, Alex. I simply wish to avoid any more death if we can help it."

"So I'm getting outvoted eh?" I shook my head and sighed. "This is going to be a shit show, but we will do it your way, love."

"Thank you, I'm sorry, my rabbit." Gloria put her hand to her chest and offered a silent prayer.

Tracking the two lycanthropes was a simple matter with the celestial's ritual spell. We followed them to the east side of the city where the crime was more common and the reach of law less secure. It stood to reason they would be in the slummy areas of the town, it's pretty hard to find easy lone targets in the bustling tourist areas.

We parked the car several blocks from their present location and piled out of the little red vehicle. I sighed and put my hands on my hips, looking between the two of them. "So how do we do this?"

"I will approach them and try to speak with them." Gloria spoke the words as if it would be a simple matter.

I frowned and rolled my eyes. "Cool and what's plan B when that backfires."

Gloria fixed me with a frown. "Have you so little faith in me, Alice?"

"My lack of faith is in them, not you." I fired back, clenching my fists.

"Okay okay... that's enough. We are losing time arguing." Alex spoke out above us. We both looked to him as he continued. "Gloria, you approach them, I and Alice will wait nearby out of sight. They will be more receptive to a lone celestial, me and Alice would just put them on edge."

"That sounds reasonable." Gloria gave a nod to the wolf while speaking.

"I'm keeping my guns trained on them, they show the slightest hostile intent I'm taking the shots." I spoke the words matter of fact, drawing my revolvers from my back holsters.

"Understood." Gloria gave me a nod.

We made our way to an intercept course with them and I clenched my teeth as I caught their silhouettes in the distance. "Hang on... there's three of them!" I spat out the words and stopped.

"You can already see them?" Gloria frowned at me.

"Crazy vampire senses remember?" I bumped the barrel of my gun to my temple. "This changes things, why are there three?"

"I only see two lycanthropes, the third is most certainly not one." The celestial nodded her head, as if focusing on her closed left eye. "Yes... though I can feel the power from them, they are not mundane..."

Alex showed his large sharp canines in a snarl. "Alright... it doesn't change our plans. We will stick to the original idea."

"Fine... which one isn't a were-creature?" I squinted as I looked ahead, seeing the trio slowly moving towards us.

"Mmm... the two lycanthropes are walking together." Gloria nodded, having closed both of her eyes to focus.

"Right..." I sighed out the word and could clearly see the third was following behind them, that made things a little easier.

"Alright Gloria, we've got your back." Alex gave her a grin.

"Yeah... be careful, my angel." I nodded to her and I and the wolf quickly slipped into the darkness of an adjoining alley.

"What do you think?" Alex spoke in a whisper into my ears while we waited.

"I think you're both stupid and I should have picked them off by now." I frowned and sighed. "But I love both of your dumb asses, so here we are."

The wolf showed me a confident grin. "Don't worry, I will protect her and you."

I gave him a long look, then closed my eyes thinking about the situation. I thought about my lovely wolf and my beautiful retriever. We were out of time and I opened my eyes, the irises blood red. I trained a gun on one of the men in the front and the third in the back.

Gloria blinked her left eye open a few times as the trio made their final approach. She stood before them on the sidewalk, her left hand upon her rosary. The two in the front were dressed in ragged torn shirts and jeans, most likely having shifted recently. The third in the back wore a long billowing duster and seemed to be dressed in clean, untattered clothes. The trio were all cats, judging by the ears and tail I would have guessed lynx most likely. I lifted my ears and focused to hear them.

"You pick a bad part of town to go for a walk alone in, sweetie." The leftmost male in the front spoke out. His skin looked dirty and he had several days of unshaved growth on his face.

"Yeah, what's a classy looking thing like you doing out here? Don't you know it's dangerous?" The second cat spoke the words out playfully. He was a bit larger in build than the other but shared the same complexion and skin tone.

Gloria met their gaze and her eyes shimmered gold. "Lost children, I know of your deeds. I offer you one and only one chance at redemption. Stand down and you may yet be saved from this path you walk!" She thrust her hand out, her will washing out like a wave of energy.

"What the fuck?" The rightmost cat hissed out.

The one in the back looked less surprised and threw his hand out. "She's a celestial you fools, I told you to keep it to one a night!"

The rightmost cat showed his teeth in a grin. "Fine with me, I've always wanted to taste one of those. Offer me redemption after I rape you and tear your throat out!"

My eyes focused in and shifted to a hot white at the cat's words. I squeezed the trigger on both my guns and all hell broke loose from there. I willed my fire through the thaumaturgy and both bullets became ablaze in white flames.

The first bullet found it's mark slamming into the rightmost lycanthropes head. There was a sickening thump of impact and the cat crumpled to the ground, the fires slowly spreading over his head. The second bullet hit some kind of force before the man in the back, I saw him stagger back a pace from the impact.

The first lycanthrope howled in fury and in the blink of the eye had shifted into a massive hulking form bigger than Alex's.

"A fucking bear?!" Alex barked out in shock. I heard threads and denim shred as he shifted to his own werewolf form.

"Go to Gloria!" I shouted out to the wolf and fired two more rounds at the cat behind the bear. I didn't even wait on the chambers in my gun to cycle, the microsecond the bullets had left the chamber I blurred towards the cat.

"He's a mage!" Gloria shouted out at me, her rapier drawn while she jumped from the bear's massive slam to the ground. The whole tile of sidewalk shifted at the impact, rocks and dirt scattering into the air.

The flaming bullets slammed into the field again and the cat staggered back from the blows once more. I was on top of him instantly, my teeth showing as I fired off two more rounds at a point-blank distance, again he parried them with some sort of invisible screen of power.

Harold had instructed me about mages. I knew they used their willpower to create all kinds of supernatural effects. When I asked him what I should do if I encountered one, he told me simply to keep the pressure up. Keep them using their power until they were too weak to fight back and then they were as powerful as a mundane.

The set of blasts from my fiery shots plainly had winded the cat. He showed his teeth and cut his yellow eyes up to my white ones. He didn't have the figure of the other two, it was sleeker and more frail-looking. I saw his lips part to speak and I fired off another shot.

He uttered a curse while focusing to deflect the shot. I had begun alternating the bullets, charging one with white fire and the other with red. It seemed to have the effect I wanted, his screen clearly weakening. The final bullets left the chamber of my revolvers and I simply dropped them to the ground knowing I wouldn't have time to reload them.

My hand moved to my whip and I chanced a glance towards Alex and Gloria. The wolf and bear were locked together mauling at one another with bites and paws. Gloria was practically dancing through their melee, her sword making precision stabs and slashes at the bear. Each touch of the holy silver blade left singed fur and burned flesh in its wake.

The mage had been on a knee panting when I glanced back to the two of them, it had been a mistake to do so. I turned back just in time for him to mutter a word and several blades of air launched towards me. I wasn't sure if I could deflect them with my whip or not. I decided better to just avoid them.

I darted between the gale of blades easily but the cat was just sending hundreds of them at me. I yelped out as one finally caught my shoulder. I had worn a jacket reinforced with a ballistic weave, but the blade sliced through it like it were paper. I snarled and gripped my shoulder with my left hand, feeling my blood pouring over my fingertips.

"Out of parol tricks, demon?" The cat showed his teeth at me in a victorious grin.

"Ha... just thinking how foolish it was you willingly made me bleed." I hummed the words mockingly at him. His eyes narrowed and he snarled out another incantation, more blades whirling about me.

I showed my teeth and stepped and hopped away. I grabbed the base of my whip in my left hand, dragging the leather over the blood.

"You can't dodge forever, I can keep this up for days!" The cat spat the words at me while keeping the onslaught of whirling blades on me.

Another blade tore into my left palm, however, I had positioned for it to do so. I focused and willed the blood forth from the wound. I scattered the blood into a fine mist, each tiny droplet hardened to a point and a wall of fire washed over them before I flung the improvised buckshot at the mage.

His eyes widened and I heard his gasp as I pulled his focus on shielding himself, thousands of tiny razor shards scattering off his shield. When the onslaught passed I stood before him my full flames summoned. I had red and black flames rolling off my arms and legs, an ethereal tail and ears upon my form. I had also willed my flames over the whip, the length of it now flaming in cool white.

"What... what are you?!" The mage screamed the words and summoned more of his wind blades. I lashed out with my whip the white-hot flames slamming into his screen again and again.

The cat couldn't keep his focus on the blades and returned full attention to his shield. This wasn't my gun, I wouldn't run out of lashes. I continued to slam my strikes into his shield again and again. I glanced back while I had the mage on the defensive to check on my wolf and retriever, my eyes widened to see Alex out of his were-form and collapsed in Gloria's lap. The remains of the other lycanthrope were nearby.

"Alex!" I screamed out then refocused on the mage. My eyes blazed with fury as I lashed against his shield, pushing my will forward. I could feel the mage starting to lose his ground, the shield about to fade.

One of my lashes finally broke through, the flaming whip striking against the mages leg. The strike left a deep gash, the flames rolling over his flesh to cauterize the wound. The cat yowled out in pain and I was on top of him. My bloody left hand seized his throat and I hauled him to the ground with a heavy slam. "Gloria! Is Alex okay?" I screamed the words, showing my teeth at the mage beneath me.

"Ah... I am keeping him stable, but he has deep wounds, I need help..." I heard the words fill my ear and gave the cat a hungry grin.

"You heard her, I need to top off my reserves..." I focused my will but the life force wouldn't flow.

The cat spat out a laugh, blood erupting from his mouth. "Ha... I've decades of training... a demon like you can't break my will..."

"Touche, pussy cat..." I hummed the words then flashed my teeth. "I can get it in other ways though!"

The cat gave a panicked yelp at the implication as I grabbedhis head to expose his throat. I felt him struggle but it was a futile gesture. My teeth plunged deep into his throat and I drank heavily from him. I fed on him with extreme prejudice and felt his hot blood pour down my throat. It really was so much better hot and fresh.

I felt his will crumble as his life ebbed and the euphoria gripped him. I pulled from him, not finishing the job and lapping at the wound to heal it. I then focused and began to pull his life force from him. Again I drank deeply of him, he had a massive well of it and I would have it all.

The whole process took at most ten seconds and when I finished I stood without a word. I doused my black flames and brought forth pure radiant foxfire. White wisps erupted from my feet with each step I took. I moved to Gloria and saw her flinch from the light I was giving off.

"Sorry my angel..." I spoke the words gently and grabbed her shoulder. The small dog gave a shocked bark as I poured forth the divine energy in me, the power filling her reserves and then some.

Gloria shuddered at the power within her then nodded and began to deftly move her hands over Alex's wounds. She made soft prayers with each touch of her hands, the injuries closing and scars vanishing.

"So what happened?" I asked gently.

"He and the bear were tearing one another apart. I finally got a decisive strike and ran the bear through. His form faded and Alex then... um..." She shivered before speaking out quietly. "Tore his throat out, t-then ripped him apart..."

"Yeah... they will do that..." I moved a hand to gently stroke the wolf's sandy blonde hair. "He must have been in bad shape after the fight."

"A-actually... some of those wind blade things got him, neither of us was expecting them." Gloria frowned as she looked up at me.

"Son of a bitch was aiming for you two as well..." I grit my teeth and clenched my fist, the knuckles popping in my hand.

"Uhm... is the mage dead?" She asked me curiously.

"Nah... I drained him nearly dry, he isn't getting up." I continued to stroke at Alex's hair while I spoke.

I and Gloria both gave a relieved breath when he winced and opened one of his amber eyes. He gave a weak laugh and looked up at both of us. "Woke up on the lap of an angel with a temptress stroking my hair. Did I get lost on the way to heaven or hell?"

Gloria showed her teeth in a grin and shook her head. "You most certainly are not lost, noble wolf."

I rubbed his ear gently then stood. "Gloria, take care of him, I need to make a call." The smaller of the dogs gave me a nod.

I stepped back over to the comatose mage and pulled my cell phone out. The call connected on the first ring. "My Lady! Are you okay? Is everything well?" I couldn't help but smile, hearing my master's concern in his voice.

"We're fine Master... Alex is a bit banged up, but Gloria is tending to his wounds. We're all fine." I spoke the words gently to him.

"Thank the gods..." Elias whispered the words in relief.

"So uh... I've got a question my lord. We've got a downed mage here. I wrecked him pretty good but he's not dead. Should I finish him off? Is there some... magic police I call?" I hummed the words curiously.

Elias grew silent and then after a few moments spoke out. "You defeated a mage, Alice?"

"W-well yeah. He was annoying but... anyway what do I do with him? The two lycanthropes are dead." I paced about picking my empty guns up and putting them back into my holsters.

"I have a contact in the circle, I will send you his information. Call him directly." Elias spoke the words pointedly to me.

"Sure but... wouldn't it be better if you called him?" I asked curiously.

The fox on the other end of the line chuckled. "You would think that, but no. They would prefer the most direct path. He would grow annoyed and tell me to get to the point next time. Simply tell them you speak for me, they will hear you out then."

"Got it. I hesitated before speaking out. Ah... I love you, Master." I blushed as I spoke the words, feeling I should say so after the night I just had.

There was a long pause on the line before Elias spoke back to me. "Be safe my rabbit, I would be lost without you."

The line went dead and I looked down at my feet, not sure what I felt in my soul. Perhaps I had indeed stretched my love too thin and that was why he still wouldn't say it. I shook my head to clear the thoughts and focused on the task at hand.

I called the number he sent me and the line connected after several rings. A shallow raspy voice answered the line with a single word. "Speak."

I cleared my throat before speaking out politely. "I am Alice Blackpaw, I call under-representation of my lord, Elias Blackpaw."

A long silence hung upon the line before the voice finally spoke out. "We have no debts owed with house Blackpaw, why do you disturb my studies, vampire?"

I frowned and tried to reign in the snark as best I could. "Look sir mage... I will get to the point since I know you like things direct. I have a mage here, do I kill him or what?"

There was a long pause on the line before the raspy voice spoke out with more interest. "Explain the situation, I will be patient..."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh now you want the details... Fine..." I proceeded to elaborate upon the events of the night and what led to my phone call with him.

"Very interesting... such a capable vampire you are, Alice Blackpaw... Describe the cat to me." The words sounded like an order and I felt my teeth showing but I obliged the mage and gave him the features of the male before me.

"Ah... you have done us a service then, Mrs. Blackpaw..." I felt my cheeks darken at the 'Mrs' part.

"R-right... well, what should I do with him? We should be clearing out soon, I'm sure the mundane authorities are on the way." I looked over to see Gloria and Alex on their feet. The wolf looked weak and the smaller dog was helping him stand, his arm over her shoulder.

"I will be there momentarily..." The words came out in a raspy hiss, then he spoke out again. "Ah... the celestial and lycanthrope with you, please tell them to step approximately ten feet from their current position. I do not choose where the gates open."

"Alex, Gloria. Please come here." I called out to them.

The smaller dog slowly helped walk the larger one towards me and my ear lifted as I heard the mage speak on the phone. "Yes... that will do nicely."

I heard the call end, then reality where the two had been standing simply split as if someone had drawn large curtains. The man that walked through the rift was tall, as tall as Alex, but with none of the bulk.

The mage wore an immaculate black and purple suit with sharp black shoes that looked freshly polished. His hands wore white gloves but I could just see his wrists peeking from the arms of the suit he wore. His wrists had a faint pattern of green and black scales that seemed to move across his arm.

The scale pattern moved up his throat before fading faintly where his face was. You could still ever so faintly see the traces of the pattern near his cheeks but it wasn't nearly as obvious. A large hood rested upon the back of his head and down his neck. I don't mean the kind you wear, I mean a large-scaled cobra hood. The very top of his head was devoid of any hair and tattooed runes and sigils seemed to be covering it.