Just A Taste | BOOK 1 The Night Lords Series

22. Stepbrother

Cassius

The yellow-eyed rogue is the first to attack. Lashing out with his hand, a burst of light suddenly flashes in my face and I have to squeeze my eyes shut to avoid being blinded. As I do, I hear his footsteps as he races for me before they stop, a whistling of wind telling me he's now shooting through the air for me. I keep them closed as I lift my hand, detecting the position of his throat by the sound of air rushing down his esophagus as he inhales. His body slams into me and my fingers curl around his neck before I toss him the other way. Opening my eyes, I decide to end the others quickly. The yellow-eyed rogue deserves some special attention after hitting me when I was vulnerable.

Unlike the idiot who tried to take me on alone, the rest of the rogues attack all at once. Twisting, gnarled roots as thick as my leg burst from the ground, aiming to imprison me within their earthy limbs while torrents of water appear out of nowhere to come crashing down as if to drown me. The green-eyed rogue was focused on the roots, both hands lifted to control their movements while the blue-eyed ones directed the liquid.

Elementals.

I leap into the air, my feet dancing off the roots as they writhe and reach for me. Digging my heel into one of the solid, brown limbs, I shoot skyward towards the water. The rogues, who I assumed to be siblings, have created a swirling disk of water that resembled the shape of a miniature hurricane. Its current, though, was flowing like that of a wave. My body starts to fly past it but I stick my hand in, using the current to fling me through the air until it tosses me back towards the ground. I land behind the rogues and the green-eyed male whirls to face me. I lunge for him, pulling him into an iron embrace that pins his arms to his sides as I bury my face in his neck. I open my mouth and bite hard.

The rogue screams but I don't bother to loosen my grip as roots start to wrap around the both of us trying to pry us apart. A few of them whip at my back but that only makes me bite harder. Water joins in the mix and the two of us are drowned in a pounding stream of force. I only have to bite a little deeper before the pressure from the water rips the rogue's head off for me.

The water suddenly stops and I look up, smiling, before tossing the beheaded body aside. The siblings don't even spare their fallen comrade a glance as they lift their arms to attack again. That is until Remus rises up from behind to plant two bullets in their skulls. Their bodies fall and Remus plants another two in their faces.

"Filthy rogues." he growls.

I nod. "Feeling better?"

Remus shrugs, putting away his gun. "I still can't use my claws but I can stand at least."

I feel like my business here is still unfinished. Looking around, I arch a brow at the dead silence now surrounding us. "Where's the other one?"

"Are you talking about him?" calls a familiar voice from behind.

I turn to find Jack grinning at us as he lumbers forward, the yellow-eyed vampire thrown over his shoulder. One of his arms was missing which left a bleeding stump just below his right shoulder. Jack throws him at my feet, making sure to do it hard enough so that the rogue feels it in his wound. He lets out an agonized groan while glaring at Jack who ignores him.

"The coward tried taking off." Jack smirked.

I nod my thanks as I look down at the rogue who trembled between the three of us, Remus now standing beside me. I kneel, reaching out to run my thumb over his bloody lip, another courtesy of Jack.

"I'm just going to ask you a few questions." I murmur.

~ present time ~

His tousled brown locks fell across his brow, sea-green eyes vibrant from the fresh blood coursing through his veins. I twist the ring on my finger around and around, scowling when the rogue vampire flashes me a grin.