Another growl came from him.

“You could have used either of us to give to Aveoth,” she went on. “I met him, by the way. He really hates your ass. That’s one scary guy. I already have a mate, so he let me go. I guess I should thank you for luring Bat and I here. Drantos is the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

“I’ll kill him and Aveoth will accept you then!”

“No, you won’t. You’ve hurt enough people. I always knew you were an asshole but you’re actually a monster. Bat defends criminals for a living because she feels some people might actually be innocent. You’re not. You just like to hurt people and step on them to get your way. Someone needs to stop you.”

His arm shot out and he grabbed her throat. “No one can. You think those cowards from Velder’s clan are capable of taking me out? I’ll slaughter them all and make you watch!”

“It’s never going to happen.”

“It will. And Aveoth will help me.”

“You’re delusional. Aveoth wants you dead.”

“He’s addicted to the blood. I’ll bleed you in front of him and he’ll agree to anything to have you. He has a weakness—and I intend to use it against him.”

“He was told about Bat, and do you know what he said? ‘Keep her away from me.’ He doesn’t want her either. It’s over. He knows what you’re up to and he’s a badass son of a bitch. I watched him kill one of your men. He didn’t even break a sweat. Boom. It was over that fast. He moves like the wind.”

“Smelling the blood will change his mind. I’ll own him.”

“You’re a moron.” She actually leaned closer, glaring into his eyes. “People say I’m the sweet one but they’re wrong. Go to hell, Grandpa.”

She lifted the gun and shoved it against the front of his shirt over his heart. He looked down right as she pulled the trigger.

She fired at least four bullets into him as he staggered back, releasing her and dropping the phone in his hand. She could still make out his shape when he hit the ground from the dim light of the moon. She targeted his chest and fired two more bullets, striking him again.

A loud snarl came from the woods. She turned and pointed the gun in that direction. “He’s dead! It’s over! You can kill me for that but if I were you, I’d save my own ass. Look up. Incoming GarLycans, assholes! That was the signal,” she bluffed. “Here they come.”

She heard something crash through the woods in a few different directions but nothing came out into the clearing. She did a fast turn, expecting one of them to attack from behind, but nothing did. Her pounding heart slowed after long moments passed and none of her grandfather’s men attacked. She walked over to the phone and bent, picking it up. A touch of the screen lit it up brighter and she turned it, getting closer to the man on the ground. She pointed the gun at Decker Filmore, ready to fire again if he tried to grab her.

Blood soaked the blue dress shirt he wore. It looked as if she’d shot him in the stomach at least twice and he’d taken four to the chest. He wasn’t moving and his eyes were closed. She couldn’t detect him breathing.

Decker Filmore was dead.

Dusti wasn’t sure what to feel about that. She backed away and turned, holding up the phone for the limited amount of light it put off. She was alone with her dead grandfather in the clearing. The men working for him had taken off.

“Now I wait,” she surmised. The wind blew and the gun in her hand felt heavy. She wondered how long it would take Drantos to arrive.

She turned around, staring at the body on the ground. “I don’t feel guilty. You killed my grandma and made my mother so afraid she left everything she knew. I bet that was terrifying for her.” Emotion choked her. “You would have used my sister without caring how miserable she would have been. That Aveoth guy would have ended up killing her at some point. You didn’t care about us, so why should I care that you’re dead? I don’t. Never fuck with a Dawson.”

Em's EORD

Chapter Twenty-One

Dusti backed away from her grandfather’s body. It unsettled her, being close to it.

A howl tore through the woods and she faced the direction she believed it had originated from. It was where she’d come out of the trees with Lake.

She opened her mind, trying to feel Drantos. She caught an emotion that wasn’t hers. Rage.

She winced, figuring he’d be mad and hadn’t been wrong. He was coming for her. She sensed him getting closer.

Dusti touched the screen again to activate the phone and used it like a flashlight to enter the woods. “I’m over here,” she called out.

Something crashed through the woods at a frightening speed. She found a fallen log and climbed up on top of it. The phone light wasn’t good at showing her more than about four feet in front of her. She held it up, searching for any sign of movement.

She spotted a big beast just as it leaped over a bush and crashed into the ground in front of her.

It skidded to a stop and sat on its hunches, just staring up at her with black eyes.

“Drantos?”

He shook his head.

Fear came instantly but he didn’t attack. He just stayed in front of her, close to the ground. He watched her with those eerie eyes until more noises came from behind him. He turned his head and lifted up, walking a little to the right of her.

Another shifted beast bounded over the same bush and it almost struck the log she stood on. All four legs of the big furred body skidded on the loose leaves covering the ground until it came to a stop. It didn’t stay put. It snarled and lunged at her.

She gasped and almost fell off her precarious perch. Emotion flooded her though and she froze. The furry body hit hers but she didn’t hit the ground. One of the VampLycan’s limbs wrapped around her and she landed on Drantos’s big body after he twisted in the air.

He shifted forms, his fur receding to be replaced by skin. His other arm wrapped around her, almost crushing her to his big body. Something dark sailed over them then stopped. She lifted her head. The phone and gun had been torn from her grasp when she’d fallen. The dark shape of another shifted VampLycan stood near their heads.

How could you go against my orders?

She flinched as Drantos yelled inside her head.

She braced her hands on his chest and lifted up. “Did Lake make it back to the village with his niece?”