Night Play (Dark-Hunter 5)

I'm leading the tessera away from you and Bride, only here you are while they are over there." Fury pointed angrily at a hill not far away. "You're supposed to be in New Orleans, you moron, not Britain."

Suspicious of Fury, Vane frowned. "Why did you bring the tessera here?"

Fury gave him a sinister glare. "Because this was the easiest way I knew of to eliminate them all at once. I can't do it alone and I thought Bryani would get her rocks off hacking one of Markus's tesseras into pieces."

Vane was even more confused and suspicious than before. "You know about Bryani?"

Fury rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I do. She gleefully ran me through and left me for dead several centuries back. Wanna see the scars?"

Vane caught the scent of Stefan coming closer to them.

Fury grabbed him by the arm and hauled him toward a copse of trees. "Look, we're in serious danger here. The Arcadians hate us with a passion."

"I know."

"No you don't," Fury said, his tone gravely earnest. "You really don't know how much they would pay to have both of us for breakfast. We have to get you out of here."

Vane wrested his arm free. "Bride is in that village and I'm not going anywhere unless she's with me."

Fury cursed. "How long has she been there?"

"I don't know, since I just arrived. Time doesn't flow the same way in both time periods, you know that."

"All right, we have to get her immediately and pray that she hasn't been there long."

"Why do you think I'm here?"

Fury didn't seem to hear him. "Okay, think, think, think." He looked up at Vane. "Do you have any ideas?"

"I'm going in there and get my mate."

"Bryani will have a dampening spell to curtail your powers."

Vane laughed. "Let her try."

"God, you have balls," he said respectfully under his breath. "What the hell?

You can't live forever. Just promise me that if something goes wrong, you'll kill me rather than leave me to them."

There was such growling sincerity in that request that it took Vane aback.

What had they done to Fury?

"Swear to me, Vane."

"I swear."

Before Fury could say anything more, Stefan, Aloysius, and Petra broke through the woods in wolf form. Their heads down, the wolves circled them, snarling and snapping.

"Shit!" Fury growled as the wolves hunkered down, preparing to strike.

A scream rang out from the village.

Vane didn't hesitate. Grabbing Fury, he flashed them out just as Stefan was about to reach them.

Bride dug her heels into the ground and bit one of the women holding her.

The woman growled and slapped her. Bride bit her again.

Be damned if she was going to let them tie her down! She might not be Tabitha, but she could bite and pull hair with the best of them.

One of the men came forward to wrap his hand around Bride's neck.

"Let her go." Vane's steely voice echoed as he enunciated each word slowly.

Bride's eyes filled with tears as she heard the most blessed sound on the planet. She looked to her right to see Vane in human form, standing there without a weapon, and with her white wolf by his side.

Why wasn't he armed?

The men closest to Vane attacked en masse. Stunned, she watched as he twirled around and kicked and punched them to the ground. He moved so fast that she could barely see him.

Then Vane vanished, only to reappear by her side. The women turned on him. Vane sent one flying backward, into the crowd, while he ducked and tripped the second one. The third one, he flipped head over heels onto the ground.

Forget Hollywood, they had nothing on Vane's speed and agility.

As Vane untied her hands, she could hear the wolf fighting and snarling. Bride threw her arms around his shoulders the instant she was free and held him close while the women tried to reach them, only to recoil off what appeared to be an invisible wall of some sort.

"Fury," Vane called.

The wolf came running to their side. The man chasing him also rebounded off the wall.

Fury materialized into a naked man and laughed evilly at their pursuers.

Bride was completely stunned by the appearance of Vane's naked brother who, she had to admit, had a great body.

Oh, good grief, was no one what they appeared?

Vane snapped his fingers, and clothes appeared on Fury. Dare cursed at them. "I thought you said you killed Fury, Mother."

Fury raked Dare with a sneer of repugnance. "Oh, she tried her best, little brother. But animals are remarkable survivors." He looked at Bryani. "Aren't we, Mother?"

Dare started for Fury, only to find himself slung backward by nothing. In fact, every man who tried to reach Bride, Fury, or Vane found himself thrown to the ground.

"What is this?" Dare snarled, striking the invisible wall with his sword.

Fury laughed again. "This is your worst nightmare, adelfos. Meet the eldest of our litter." He gestured toward Vane. "Vane's powers make a mockery of everyone's here, even Grandfather's." He glanced at Bryani. "You were right, Mom. The blending of Arcadian and Katagaria blood did produce a sorcerer of unparalleled power. It just wasn't me. Sorry."

Vane's heart pounded as he listened and understood. Fury really was his brother. But that wasn't important to him at the moment, only Bride's safety was.

One of the Arcadian men came at Vane's back. He spun about and blasted him away from them. "You're lucky I'm not the animal you think I am," he growled at the Arcadians. "But if you ever come near my mate again, I will be."

Dare laughed cruelly. "Fine, take your woman. The full moon isn't for another three weeks and that gives us plenty of time to hunt you down and kill you.

You have to sleep sometime. Then you'll be ours."

Fury shook his head. "You didn't hear a word I said about Vane, did you? It's such a pity I wasn't the one born with his power. I'd have killed all of you if I were. But I guess he's a better man than I am."

Vane smiled coldly at his "human" brother. Dare looked much like Fang when Fang was human. It was a pity that their parents' hatred of each other had come to this. That it had bred and poisoned a whole new generation.

But then, Vane had never thought to coexist with his Arcadian kin. They had thrown him out and written him off centuries ago.

Vane smiled evilly at Dare. "Unlike you, little brother, I don't need no stinking moon to time-jump."

And in one blink, Vane, Bride, and Fury were back in New Orleans, safely inside Kyrian's house.

"I think I need a Tylenol jug," Bride said as she staggered away from Vane and sat down on the nearest couch. "And a lot of vodka to wash it down."

Kyrian, Amanda, and Tabitha came running into the room.

"That was quick," Tabitha said. "Damn, Vane, you don't mess around, do you?"

Vane ignored Tabitha's question as he knelt in front of Bride. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know," she answered honestly as she stared at him in numbed hysteria.