Karizma: Unleased

Chapter 1

Ryleigh

Ryleigh tensed as she and Lukas reached the outskirts of the pack grounds. Ryleigh heard snarls and chaos coming from the pack grounds. They're here. She looked at Lukas and squeezed his hand. His blue eyes had been replaced with gold fire, and his canines were drawn. Kristopher had just been a diversion to eliminate the next threat to Naomi's reign of terror. Lukas pulled Ryleigh against him and kissed her deeply. "We stay near each other," he whispered, his voice dark. He pulled away from Ryleigh, stripped of his clothes, and shifted into his wolf. His gold eyes burned into hers as he nodded at her. Ryleigh's wolf nudged her to follow suit, and her magic flourished as the cloak around her tightened. "I can hide, but you will always find me," she answered. She stripped off her own clothes and allowed her wolf to take control. Ryleigh and Lukas sprinted toward the pack.

Bailey and Jackson were at the entrance of the pack fighting against vampires that had not yet broken past them. Jackson was in his Lycan form as he fought beside Bailey, her magic and her combat skills working in sync. Bailey incinerated one vampire while she sliced the head off another with a sword. Behind them, Lycans fought the vampires that had managed to come through. There must be hundreds of them. Corpses of vampires littered the pack grounds, their heads tossed about on the grass away from their bodies. Easier to decapitate than stab for a wolf. Lukas howled loudly, and the pack answered him. He issued one final glance at Ryleigh, then pounced on a vampire in front of Bailey.

Ryleigh's magic melted one vampire as she tackled another vampire. She buried her canines deep into the vampire's throat and shook her head to rip apart his throat. The vampire beneath her screamed and fought against her, but her jaws tightened their grasp. She clamped her jaws and snapped through the vampire's spine. The vampire's head separated from his body, and Ryleigh spat out the blood and flesh that had accrued in her mouth. She heard another vampire run at her, and she turned with a grin. Her magic flared, and Ryleigh became invisible. Ryleigh ran from vampire to vampire, ripping their heads from their bodies, each one more terrified than the next as they were slain by someone they could not see. Bailey shouted, and Ryleigh snapped her gaze at the pack.

Lukas and Jackson were surrounded by vampires as Bailey continued to fight the threat in front of her. Ryleigh's eyes shifted around the three of them, and she ran toward Jackson and Lukas. Bailey has her magic. Jackson and Lukas only have their wolves. Ryleigh knew how strong Lycans were, but against hundreds of vampires, the thought terrified her. She tore another head off a vampire, and her magic melted another vampire. Her eyes flickered from one vampire to the next as she attempted to locate Nathan and Naomi. Her magic stretched into the pack itself, but the vampires that had broken through past Bailey and Jackson were just regular vampires. Vampires are here, but they're not. This isn't the real fight.

Ryleigh dropped her invisibility shield and shifted to her human form. A vampire ran straight at her, but he disintegrated with the flick of Ryleigh's wrist. Lukas howled at her, but Ryleigh kept her eyes fixated on the barrage of vampires that approached. Jackson ran past her and tackled another vampire that ran forward. "It's me they want," Ryleigh said. "Then it's me they'll get." Lukas snarled in response, but Ryleigh shifted back into her wolf form and ran in the opposite direction of the pack.

Hundreds of vampires shifted from the pack and followed Ryleigh deep into the woods. Her wolf growled darkly in response and begged to fight, but Ryleigh calmed her. She heard Lukas' paws pound against the ground in the distance, and she could not help the small smile that formed on her lips. Of course, he wouldn't just stay there. She turned sharply and entered a thick part of the forest that was encased with trees. She heard the vampires spread out amongst the trees as they climbed for a better vantage point. She knew that their objective would be to trap her and kill her, and she was counting on them fulfilling that objective. The only difference is that I've set the trap this time. Once she could no longer hear the vampires on the ground, she stopped running. Her wolf snarled lowly as her eyes shifted from tree to tree. There was at least one vampire per tree, and bright red eyes glared at her as they waited for her next most.

Ryleigh shifted into her human form, and their eyes instantly widened at the blood that was stained on her skin. The blood of their fallen. Ryleigh's magic pooled into the palms of her hands slowly. She knew if she drew on her magic too quickly, the vampires would feel it, and she needed the element of surprise for this to work. She heard a light shuffle in the trees behind her, and she tensed. They have me surrounded. Good. She heard a soft growl from nearby. Lukas. Her magic activated within him, and she immediately drew on the additional resource. Her cloak thickened as the vampires' eyes went from anger to starvation. She sent them out here hungry. One vampire jumped down from the tree toward Ryleigh, and her magic reacted.

Fire erupted from Ryleigh's hands and seeped into the vampire's skin. Immediately, the vampire's skin acted as gasoline, and he became engulfed in flames. Ryleigh heard the other vampires shriek and shuffle out of the trees. "Nice try," she said. Her magic exploded and targeted each vampire in the vicinity. One by one, each vampire that had trapped and surrounded her, burst into flames. The vampires tried to run away, and Ryleigh's magic slammed the vampires into the ground and allowed the flames to devour their prey. She heard a vampire shift from the pack and speed toward her location.

As soon as the vampire reached Ryleigh, her magic shout out a bolt of lightning and he exploded. An array of blood and skin splattered the trees around her and added fuel to the flames of the dying vampires. She inhaled and birthed a storm cloud above her. She directed it back to the pack grounds and commanded the lightning to target the remaining vampires that the Lycans were fighting. She cocked her head as she felt the lightning strike each vampire and decorated the pack grounds with blood. The cloud expanded and her magic searched a ten-mile radius for other vampires. To her relief, there were no more. She shifted her gaze back to the burnt vampires before her and extinguished the flames of those that were no longer mobile.

Ryleigh's magic returned to her entirely and settled beneath her skin. She fell to her knees and gasped. So much magic. Lukas ran toward her in his human form and went to touch her, but she backed away from him. "I need a minute," she gasped. Her skin boiled with the amount of magic that she had just possessed. Lukas' skin would melt. He growled in response and walked around her cautiously. His eyes investigated each burnt corpse and the surrounding trees. "I think you got them all," he said. "I don't hear any others. We were supposed to stay together," he added as he glared at her.

"Staying together would have made this worse," she said. "It was me they wanted, not all of you."

"Naomi wanted an attack on the Lycans for helping you. They may not have been here just for you."

"I know they were because Naomi and Nathan weren't here. If she and Nathan were here, they would have killed the Lycans like they had planned. The mission objective was me. Her magic was tied to Kristopher, so she knew that I...that he was gone. I think she wanted to start by eliminating our pack, but I surprised her, so she changed her plan and ordered it for me instead. I told you before, I can't stay here," Ryleigh said as she rose to her feet. Fatigue soaked through her bones, and her knees threatened to buckle. Lukas immediately slipped an arm around her waist, and Ryleigh exhaled in relief as her skin returned to normal. "It's not safe," she whispered.

"Now that they know where our pack is, you leaving wouldn't make it safe, either," Lukas said. "Vampires could get sent to finish you off while Naomi and Nathan begin with annihilating the Lycan race. You're the threat that is preventing her from our extinction."

"For now," Ryleigh smiled lightly. "She'll get tired of waiting, and the vampire failures. I'm sure she'll notice when a few hundred of her warriors don't make it home tonight."

"How are you feeling?" Lukas asked softly, and his eyes flickered to her stomach.

"Beyond exhausted," she murmured. "Accessing the magic of two Karizmas to span over hundreds of vampires takes a lot out of a girl."

"We may need you to do it again, depending on how injured our people are. But after that, you and I need a hot shower," Lukas purred.

"And a nap," Ryleigh added. Lukas kissed her softly, then began their way back to the pack. Ryleigh's fatigue drenched her body and silenced her magic. Her wolf purred softly as she used her own energy to help her walk. She felt a small spark of static electricity tickle her fingers, and she smiled. Barely even a child, and she's trying to take care of me.