38. Rain

**Rain**

Ever since we have been brought to this place, Elton has been used as a blood bag daily. While the scent of the vampires that opened the basement door is unfamiliar, I won't let any other vampire touch him. I stand in front of Elton while I listen to how they climb down the stairs. Even Jordan stands up with a little grunt and gets closer to Elton and me.
It takes seconds until the vampires climb down the last stair and stop to look at us. Three males and one female. The males have swords while the female carries a gun.
One of the males takes a step forward. He has short blond hair and smells like roses and jasmine. Behind me, Elton inhales deeply. Jordan growls.
For a moment, no one says anything.
The vampire puts his hands on his hips. "You are three hard werewolves to find. We have been looking for you for ten days. And Elton–?" It is my turn to inhale deeply. This vampire knows Elton? "How come you get into trouble each time I turn my back on you? I thought I left you in safe hands, and here you are, full of bites once more."
For the first time in days, Elton chuckles. I turn on my heels to look at him. His scent is sweet once more. "Never thought I would be happy to see you again, Tristan. Zeke, Xenos, also glad to see you guys. Oana, you can go crawl back from whichever shit hole you came out of," Elton says.
The other two vampires laugh while the female, Oana, completely ignores Elton.
Tristan comes closer, but Jordan steps in front of me. "What do you want?" Jordan asks.
It's Oana who talks. "Feast on your flesh, bathe in your blood, things like that."
Tristan chuckles. "Ignore her. Oana likes the sound of her voice." He takes out something from his pocket that looks like a key.
"And you ask why I don't like her," Elton says.
I stare at Tristan's hands. "Will that key set us free?" I ask, hoping that these vampires are here to help us.
Elton seems to know them, and he is not afraid. He has told me that he had escaped the Vampire Palace with the help of three vampires, and I pray Tristan and his friends are the ones that helped Elton. If not, well, once my manacles are gone, I will burn them alive.
Tristan nods.
"Shouldn't we hurry?" Elton asks.
One of the other males, which smells like vanilla, gets closer to Tristan. "We have time. The ones upstairs are a bit occupied at the moment."
Tristan gets closer to me and lifts the key. "May I?"
I nod, and Tristan frees me from the manacles. My fire, finally free, roars through me, wanting to get out. I try to push it back into the tunnel – I still haven't reached the end of that tunnel. Drops of sweat cover my forehead while I struggle to keep my magic inside. I had never explored the fire tunnel before, and I never imagined my fire could be so overwhelming.
I look at my wrists – they are full of wounds and dried blood from the silver manacles. If my hands are so bad, I don't even want to imagine what Jordan's neck and Elton's wrists look like.
From the corner of my eye, I see Jordan reaching a hand toward me. I move to the side, making sure I don't touch anyone. "I am fine," I say because I feel everyone staring at me. "I just need a moment."
Jordan stops in his tracks.
While Tristan sets Jordan and Elton free, I manage to control my fire, and I concentrate on Safia. Her sadness crushes me. She sends me the image of Raven.
*'They are fine,'* I try to reassure her.
Safia doesn't say anything else and just listens to what's going on.
"Ready to go back to your pack?" the other male vampire asks. He smells like strawberries. I nod. "I am Zeke," he tells me.
"Rain," I reply. "Who sent you to look for us?" I ask. This should have been one of the first questions I asked the vampires. My magic is ready, in case I need it.
"Tatiana. She told me you know her," Tristan says, and I relax.
If Tatiana sent Tristan to look for Jordan, Elton, and me, maybe he knows how Caleb is.
"Has she told you how Caleb is doing?" I ask.
Zeke and Xenos help Jordan go to the stairs. Of all three of us, Jordan is the one that suffered the most. Alpha Ben cruelly beat him nightly. Elton follows them. Oana is already going up the stairs.
Tristan looks at me. "What about Caleb?"
I chew my lip. "When the pack was attacked, he got hurt." Tristan curses under his breath. "You know him, right?"
"Yeah," Tristan replies while we go to the stairs. "Was he hurt badly? Tatiana didn't tell me anything about him. I would call her, but that female changes her phone number daily. I don't know how she does it."
"He got shot, but I am sure he is fine. You know him from – "I want to say the Vampire Castle, but I stop because I don't want Jordan to hear about Caleb's past. Not because I am ashamed of what happened to Caleb, but because he is the only one that has the right to tell his story. "He told me what happened."
Tristan looks at me while we go up the stairs. The door is opened, and Oana is already in the hallway. Jordan and the two vampires follow her.
"Caleb must really care for you if he told you about his past. He hates the vampires, and I am sure he won't talk about what happened with everyone," Tristan finally says.
I smile. "He is my soulmate."
Tristan looks at me. "I am happy for you two. He deserves all the happiness in the world! The same goes for you. Once we were best friends, but something happened, and now he hates me, but I never stopped seeing him as my friend."
We go into the hallway, and the house is silent. Except for the six of us, I don't hear anyone else.
I am not a violent person, but for the first time in my life, I feel disappointed that I am not the one that killed Alpha Ben. I wanted to make him understand what he did to me before I killed him.
"Is everyone dead?" I ask as we pass by the little bathroom.
I see some blood stains but no bodies, and I wonder what the vampires did with them.
Zeke and Xenos take Jordan towards the kitchen. Elton follows them while Oana looks out a window. I looked at the same window each time I was taken to the kitchen to make the food, but except for trees and snow, I hadn't noticed anything else.
A pale moon is above the trees, making part of the snow sparkle. It is quiet, and all I can think about is that I am going home to Caleb and Raven. Safia is also impatient to return to the pack.
"We left a few alive. I thought you guys would like to punish them yourselves," Tristan says, and I nod because I would like that.
"Where are the bodies?" I ask.
Tristan shrugs. "We put them in one of the rooms."
When we enter the kitchen, I see Paul, Alpha Ben, and the vampires gagged and tied to chairs–the two werewolves with silver chains while the vampires have ashwood daggers on their shoulders.
"How did you defeat them so fast?" I ask.
"We planned this for a few days. We used wolfbane for the werewolves. Plus, my knights are very good fighters."
"You have knights?" I ask. "What are you, a prince?"
Tristan laughs. "A rogue prince, apparently."
Jordan sits close to his father, with his back leaning against the counter. Alpha Ben is trying to say something but with the towel he has in his mouth, he can't talk.
Elton sits close to Zeke and Xenos and looks at the vampires.
Anger rises inside me when I think of what Alpha Ben and the others made Jordan, Elton, and I endure. I want to hurt Alpha Ben just as he harmed me.
Jordan looks at me, "Ben is all yours, but I want Paul for me."
I shake my head. "He is the one that shot Caleb. It is only right that I–"
"Rain, I know, but I want to give him the same treatment he gave me. I will make him pay for what he did to Caleb," Jordan says.
I think for a few moments and finally, nod.
Elton, who up until now said nothing, talks. "The vampires are mine."
Zeke takes out two daggers made from ashwood and gives them to Elton. "All yours, kid!"
Elton takes the daggers with trembling hands and goes to the two vampires. I can't see their eyes, but their sweet scents become bitter, and I smile.
"How does it feel to know you will die by the one you used as a blood bag?" Elton asks. While his hands are still shaking, his voice is calm. The vampires shake their heads, and Elton snarls. "I hope Hades will make you suffer day and night in the Underworld. You don't deserve to rest in the presence of your Goddess!" Elton says before stabbing the vampires in their hearts. Blood runs down his hands, and he cleans it on the vampires' clothes.
Jordan is next. Xenos gives him a silver dagger. While Jordan was beaten badly less than an hour ago, somehow, he finds the power to take the dagger and go to Paul. Jordan's scent changes from oranges to pines, and a loud growl echoes in the kitchen.
"You thought you could keep me locked forever?" Titan's voice is the only thing that can be heard inside the house. No one dares to breathe while Titan talks. He sounds calm, but I notice how angry he is. His voice is that of a true Alpha wolf. Too bad he has to deal with Jordan. "Do you know why my name is Titan?" he asks the feral wolf. Paul shakes his head. "Then I will show you!"
Titan puts the dagger on the counter, goes to Paul, takes his head between his big palms, and crushes it. Blood and brains fly all over the kitchen, and some even reach me. I try to remove it from my clothes, but I can still see and smell the blood.
"Holy shit!" Zeke says.
Tristan whistles. "Remind me to never get on this wolf tail."
Titan ignores them and looks at Alpha Ben. "You were supposed to care for the pack! But instead, you abused Rain and other females! I hope Rain makes you suffer until you beg to be killed!" He turns and looks at me. "Do your worst!"
I swallow hard, take the dagger, and go to Alpha Ben. I am nervous, but I try to appear calm. No one says anything while I stand in front of the male who abused me for years. While I think how to end his life, Safia lets me know that I should put my hands on Alpha Ben's temple.
*'I don't have the same force as Titan,'* I say, but Safia insists, and I sigh. *'Fine!'*
I put the dagger on the table, and while I don't want to touch him, I do as Safia asks. Once I have my hands on his temples, Safia comes close to the surface and pushes into his mind all the memories of what he did to me, of how he made me feel, and how I was forced to watch how he tortured Jordan and Elton. Alpha Ben bucks and trashes, trying to free himself, but the silver chain weakens him.
A minute later, I remove my hands and look at him, "Killing you would be too easy. But letting you live, reliving what you did to me every single day for the rest of your miserable life, is the best punishment you can receive."
I turn my back on him and go next to Elton.
"What did you do to him?" Titan asks.
I look at him and smile. "It was Safia, actually, and she planted in his head all my bad memories of him."
Titan nods. "I knew she was special from the moment I saw her. Too bad Jordan ruined everything."
I don't say anything. While Titan never abused me, he let Jordan bully me.
"We should leave," Tristan says. "But before we take you back to your pack, we should destroy this place."
I smile. "Leave that to me. Where are we anyway?"
"A small pack used to live here, but they moved into a new territory, and this place was abandoned," Tristan says. "It will take about three or four hours to get you to the Black Ruby Rogue Pack."
"What about him?" Xenos asks, pointing at Alpha Ben.
After I stopped touching Alpha Ben, he hasn't tried moving or making any other sound. His scent indicates he is in pain. Good. I hope he is suffering!
"He was supposed to go to the Paranormal Prison," Titan says, "but he never made it."
"I will take him to the Wardner," Oana says.
I hadn't noticed when she entered the kitchen, but she is standing next to Tristan. He nods. "Do that. Zeke, Xenos, and I will make sure the werewolves get home in safety."
"I will come with you," Titan says. "I want to be sure Ben makes it to the Paranormal Prison and is locked away."
"You are hurt!" I protest.
Titan looks at me. "I won't make the same mistake twice! I will take Ben to the Paranormal Prison even if it kills me."
"I have some medicine in the car, wolf. You are free to use it."
Titan goes to Alpha Ben, removes the chain, and makes him stand. Then Titan looks at Oana. "Let's go, fangs!"
"We should also go," Tristan says.
We leave the house. It is cold outside, but my fire keeps me warm.
Elton looks at me. "What now?"
"I haven't done this before, so I want you to take a few steps away from me," I say.
I thought the others would protest, but to my surprise, they listen to me.
I close my eyes and concentrate on my fire. I try to use just a part of it, lift my hands, and set it free.
The others are shocked, I can tell from their perfumes, but no one says anything to me while I watch how the house burns.
When only ashes are left of it, I turn on my heels.
"What are you?" Tristan asks.
I smile. "A werewolf, but fire is my inheritance." I look at Titan. "Will you come back to the pack once Alpha Ben is locked away?"
"You are full of surprises," Titan says. "Yes, I will return."
"Is Jordan ok?" I ask.
"Yes. I took over because I am stronger, and we will heal faster this way."
I noticed Titan is very strong. While Jordan could barely walk, Titan moves as if nothing had happened to him.
I go to Elton and reach for his hand. For a second, I am afraid he will fear me, but Safia shows me he is smiling. Grabbing Elton's hand, I look at Tristan. "Take us home!"