Bad Blood

Spellbound

Lightning had struck DC. Reports were flooding every website, radio and news channel. President Hoffman's whereabouts and health were unknown. The nation was in an uproar. Tanner obsessively scanned one radio channel after another, anxiety clawing through his gut. He had a bad feeling. A bad feeling.

Every patrol with the wolves came back with more injuries, more close calls and with news of ever growing Skrekk ranks. The few civilians who remained within New York City were officially ordered to evacuate as reports of vicious bands of 'marauders' roamed the streets, looting stores, gas stations and even apartments.

Tanner and his men had watched in helpless fury and astonishment as a family of four were dragged kicking and screaming out a tenth story window and hauled up and over the side of the building. Without rope. The way these creatures moved defied all the laws of physics. There was a cold almost mechanical grace to their speed and strength. Something otherworldly had altered these human bodies in an eerie way. A chilling intelligence radiated in their eyes. Their black veins pulsed and glistened. It was not at all difficult to no longer think of these beings as human. Whoever had once been inside was gone.

A flash of smooth caramel skin marred by black veins had him shaking his head. That was not how he would remember her. Though Tanner was unwilling to let go of the anger that simmered just below the surface, he could not begrudge Maggie's choice. Had the roles been reversed he would have fully expected a mercy killing. In point of fact, his team had just such an agreement amongst them. None of them would be taken alive. 

Dracula's spacious Madison Ave penthouse had become the unofficial headquarters for their motley crew of fighters. Twelve rough and tumble werewolves, three shifty vampires, not including the infamous count. Two vaporous and skeletal creatures the Captain had been told were banshees, and a very large, foul smelling brute that Tanner was quite sure was part ogre.

The human world was growing smaller and more distant with every passing day. Tanner and his elite eight man team were the only mortals of the bunch and with every encounter with the Skrekk, they seemed less 'elite', as they were vastly outpaced by immortal strength and supernatural speed on all sides. The men were nervous and Tanner was down right glum. Less than a year ago he had been the fast, the strong, the lethal opponent. Not anymore.

A sudden wave of silence flooded the crowded room. Tanners fingers stopped their obsessive twitching as a warm, feminine presence washed over him. Spine tingling and hair standing on end, Tanner turned toward the open door.

The balcony doors popped open of their own accord, a fresh, cool breeze cleansing the stuffy room. Tanner felt the anxiety bleed right out of him as the most beautiful woman he had ever seen floated across the room, her steps light and ethereal. The soft swish of her fiery red hair as it sashayed around her slender waist and salacious hips was intoxicating. Her pearly, luminescent skin seemed angelic in the moonlight, even as her large wicked green eyes seemed to burn a hole in him. Her sinfully pouty lips stretched into a beautiful smile, equal parts innocence and seduction.

Of course she made a beeline for Dracula. His dark and alluring smile, the promise of violence lurking  just beneath the surface, a flawless juxtaposition to her perfect beauty. And she was perfect. Too perfect.

Her radiant light seemed to caress and flutter against Dracula's moody, throbbing darkness. It was as if Hades and Persephone had descended from Mount Olympus. They seemed to coil and twist sinuously around each other without ever moving a muscle.

It hurt Tanner to watch them, hurt to think of any woman other than Maggie. And just as suddenly the spell was broken. He could breathe again. She was just a woman.