“He’s right. Take care of Nolan and the rest of these fucks,” Jullien said between clenched teeth.
“I’m not leaving you undefended.”
“I’ve got him.” Winter stepped out of the darkness like he’d cut a hole into it. They all flinched. Philippe even pulled his blade on him, but immediately lowered it again with a muttered “Sorry.”
“Go. No one is getting near Jullien,” Winter instructed, and then he disappeared again right before their eyes.
“You…you will need to explain that to me later,” Philippe stammered a bit.
“Later,” Rafe promised. “Winter will keep Jullien safe where he’s at.”
With Jullien guarded by the Wee One, Rafe ran into the clearing. The wolves had suddenly appeared as he’d expected, but Bel was holding them at bay with a trio of bobcats, while he fought with the vampire who controlled the wolves. He saw flashes of Lola, Ryder, and Marcus fighting vampires across the gravel parking lot and in the fringes of the picnic area.
Blood splashed across trees, and animal cries were mixed with very human shouts of pain. A horrible yelp rose from the bear attempting to maul Nolan. It limped off toward the woods, leaving Nolan balanced on one knee. He was breathing heavily, long claw marks across his face and chest. They were slowly healing, but not before he lost a good amount of blood. Around him were the scattered dead bodies of the MacPherson clan.
“It looks like you didn’t bring enough,” Rafe taunted.
“That’s okay,” Nolan panted. “I had to leave enough behind to make sure we didn’t forget the new Varik fledgling.” Nolan lifted his head and grinned at Rafe. “I knew Marcus wouldn’t allow his fledgling to come play with us. But don’t worry. He won’t survive the night.”
Rafe held on to his smile while secretly praying Marcus couldn’t hear Nolan. His brother didn’t need the distraction. “Thank you. We definitely didn’t want Aiden to feel left out of the fun.”
Nolan’s smile dissolved and his eyes widened.
“You didn’t hear? Yes, Aiden is in town, and he’s looking over our fledgling personally.” Rafe twisted his wrist, letting the blade in his hand cut through the air. The brilliant silver metal caught and danced in the pale moon. “He’ll take care of the remains of your clan. I guarantee it.”
With a growl, Nolan shoved to his feet and attacked Rafe and Philippe. They dodged and slashed. Nolan had a small dagger in his hand that he used to keep Rafe from removing the fucker’s head from his neck, while Philippe attacked with a short sword.
Philippe flashed in and out like a golden hummingbird while Rafe focused on keeping Nolan preoccupied. Each time Philippe lashed out, a new long cut was opened up on Nolan’s body. Arms, legs, torso, neck. He was slowly bleeding him out, weakening him so that he was now swaying on his feet.
Rafe wanted to give Philippe this. He wanted Nolan to die from a thousand cuts. The pain needed to swallow Nolan whole after what Philippe and his clan had been put through. But there wasn’t time. The rest of the Variks were fighting for their lives, trying to eliminate the MacPhersons. Marcus’s home was under attack. They needed to return to check on Aiden, Gideon, and Ethan.
Only when Nolan was awash in his own blood did Rafe finally step back. “We need to finish this,” Rafe murmured.
Philippe gave a jerky nod before he knocked away Nolan’s blade with enough force that bone cracked, and the knife spun around through the air. Nolan cradled his shattered wrist against his chest, glaring at Philippe. “You’ll never be one of them.”
“I was born to be one of them.” He held his hand out and Rafe tossed him the sword he’d been using. Philippe caught it and used both his short sword and Rafe’s in a scissoring motion to slice Nolan’s head off in one smooth movement.
The body collapsed in a heap while the head bounced and rolled across the gravel parking lot.
Lowering the swords, Philippe turned and took one step toward Rafe. His lover needed him. Rafe swallowed past the lump in his throat and pulled him tightly into his arms. He kissed his blood-splattered face, relieved Philippe was alive and safe.
“Philippe Varik does have a nice ring to it,” he whispered against Rafe’s chest.
Rafe chuckled. “A perfect name.”
“We should check on the other Variks before I worry about the monogrammed towels.”
Rafe didn’t want to let him go, but he was so very right. He needed to help the rest of their family. But he was already checking along the magical ties to his blood brothers. Marcus and Winter were close by, and he didn’t sense any problems. He certainly would have known if something horrible was wrong. Only Bel worried him. His sweet twin was upset.
Releasing Philippe, Rafe quickly swept his eyes over the area. Marcus, Lola, and Ryder were finishing up the last couple of MacPherson vampires by the SUVs. Bodies of animals and vampires were everywhere. The cleanup was going to be massive. He usually didn’t think about expenses, but the bill from the cleaning crew would be painful to see.