Chapter 12

Don’t look back! Her own mind bellowed at her. She had seen enough horror movies to know looking back was the worst thing to do. She was one of those people that yelled at the tv. “Don’t look back!”

She could hear the heavy breath of Darren behind her. His breathing assailed her senses, told her how close he was. She realized that she was actually running faster than a werewolf, something she could never do. This wasn’t a spell, but whatever was happening she needed to keep it going. 

“You really shouldn’t have followed me,” she called back after him and suddenly stopped.

Darren hadn’t anticipated this move, and as he struggled to slow down, she caught him by the throat and lifted him up, slamming him on the forest floor. 

She stood over him as he struggled to get up. Divina wanted that to happen. 

“Oh, I’m going to enjoy this,” he said as he retrieved his fallen blade and lunged at her. Divina evaded his attack easily and caught him by the shoulders and dragged him back to the floor again. Where he belonged. On the dog shelve. 

“Why do you want me? Money or power? You really need to work harder,” she taunted and got the desired result.

“Am doing this for the money,” Darren rushed at her again his blade high in the air, coupled with a feral scream and a jump into the air, lashing towards her with dizzying speed. Divina wasn’t swift enough, and the blade nicked her in the left shoulder.

Divina dropped and rolled out of harm’s way, and then got back up. The shoulder pulsated a little, but she ignored it. She had to. But an impish smile was playing across Daren’s lips. 

“Wolfs bane,” he mouthed and smiled again. It was the wolf curse. But Divina was not a wolf, a witch was also ruinous to it. In fact, all beings, except the Lycans creped to death at it. She hid her alarm well and retrieved her saber. 

Darren rushed at her again, then feigned a left hook, which she raised her hand to parry, before coming up with the intended right hook. But she had foreseen the feint and caught his hand. With just one swift motion, she severed the limb. Before burying the saber in his chest. 

His eyes nipped open in shock as he gazed at the blade sticking out of his chest. He slowly dropped to his knees and dragged the blade out, allowing it to fall beside him. Then his last look before the jaws of death gulped him was a rile smile and some few enraged words. 

Microseconds later Divina’s vision began to blur, and he became doubled as she looked at him.

“What’s funny?” She asked as the throbbing became increasingly intense.

He erupted in cold-blood bath laughter.

“We’re in the forest, and you have wolfs bane slowly running through your system. Meet me in hell, bitch,” he said and collapsed in a heap before her.

Divina kept the saber and moved forward, but her legs felt heavy. Each step proved ridiculously hard as the throbbing in her shoulder accentuated. An additional throbbing in her head began also. She struggled to walk a little distance before her feeble legs caught in a creeper, lost her balance, and collapsed on the floor. As she blacked out, she could have sworn that she saw Darren. 

But this was just her mind playing tricks on her and the adverse effects of wolfs bane. She didn’t know why it had affected her, but it had. 

***

Blackclaw was livid with anger. He had been having second thoughts about having them. After all, they were doing him a huge favor, at their own risk. But now, as the vamp head. No other thought could dominate his mind than for him to kill the girl. The werewolf’s and the witches can never be one.

If that ever happened, he could kiss goodbye at his cushy life and hold out his hand to death. They would be unstoppable and Blackclaw had caused them many reasons to want him dead. 

He looked at the last bounty hunter who had survived the attack in front of him. Streams of dark blood masked his disdainful head which he had to bow. 

“Explain to me again how this happened, before you breathe your last.” Blackclaw fumed. 

The bounty hunter sighed deeply and recounted the story of how they lost Divina.

Throughout his recount, Blackclaw couldn’t get his riled eyes off him. 

“. . . and that was how I escaped. I went after her, but all I found was Daren’s lifeless body,” he finished.

Blackclaw shook his head. He should have known something like this would happen. The whiteclaw Lycans had joined the search for the girl and things were bound to get tight. Whatever this is, the werewolves and the witches were not only involved. This complicated things a bit. As the vamp head and the Wolves general, the Lycans were always a torn in the flesh. Not the whiteclaw ones. He had a contingency in place though. He would get to that shortly.

He was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of Nusku clearing his throat.

He arched an eyebrow, and the bounty failed hunter began.

“Well. I don’t mean to be rude, or insensitive to the situation here, but Sire, I barely escaped with my life. I would greatly appreciate a part of the reward money, as compensation for my fallen comrades and my personal injuries,” he finished, clearing his throat again.

White hot rage blinded Blackckaw, and he retrieved his blade from the scabbard and in one clean swipe, sliced his head clean off. 

Bending down, he wiped the blade on the fallen vampire’s chest and re-sheathed the sword 

He would have to personally clean up the mess. But that was easy. A bigger mess was gradually brewing, and the sooner he took care of that, the better. He knew where she was last seen. At least, the idiot had a point of reference.