Page 38 of A Deeper Blue
There was silence, and even the wind seemed to hold itself still as Rafe’s sword arced toward the Warlock. Azure wondered if it was her imagination that allowed her to hear the grind of gravel as the head bounced down the road.
Rafe turned, clearly intending to come back for the next pass. Then one of the Warlocks screamed—high-pitched and grating. Rafe raised his sword again, and the Warlock raised something of his own. He was too far away for Azure to see what it was. Azure gathered her magic and slammed it into him. The Warlock was lifted off his feet, and whatever he had been holding flew from his hand and shattered on the ground directly in front of Rafe’s bike. Black gunk spread out in a sharp spray, sending the front tire into a skid.
Azure screamed as Rafe and the bike went down. Rafe sat up, but he was half trapped under the bike. A Warlock dove at him, but he sent the man flying with the swat of one furred and clawed hand. But even as the first one tumbled across the grass, another Warlock dove forward. His teeth were set in a white grimace against his black goatee as he stabbed at Rafe—a black knife plunging into his torso. Azure screamed again, but this time in fury. She could feel her anguish manifesting as a hurricane – rain pelted down and tree limbs shredded away, slamming into the Warlocks. The remaining Warlocks got up and ran for their bikes. Azure raised her arms. She would end them. She would tear their flesh off their bones.
Then she saw Rafe move.
Episode 18
Revenge
Azure
Azure took one step and then another. Then she was running. The Warlocks were riding away, fleeing as she ran toward them. She wanted to stop them and rip them to shreds, but her eyes were on Rafe lying on the berm of the road.
The bike was still making a horrific grinding noise, the wheels spinning in the soft dirt, throwing gravel in all directions. Azure felt a rock impact her arm but didn’t stop. She threw herself on the ground beside Rafe and looked for a way to turn it off. Azure wished now she’d paid more attention to the motorcycle. She’d admired the swoop of the black tank and the clean lines of the way he stowed all his gear, but she hadn’t bothered to look at how it functioned. There was a key somewhere, wasn’t there?
If they got out of this, she swore she’d learn how it worked, but goddess, she needed to find the key now. She tried to focus on the key and ignore the fact that Rafe had stopped moving. Finally, she found it and turned it. The engine shut off, leaving only the sound of wind and her own frightened breathing.
“Rafe,” she said. “Rafe.” She sat up and patted at his cheek. “Rafe, please, baby, please open your eyes.”
What had the Warlocks done? She looked him over and saw a puddle of blood forming under his side. She tried to move his arm for a better look, but she realized that his leg was pinned under the bike. She tried to lift the bike but quickly realized that even if she got the bike up, she wouldn’t be able to move Rafe without help.
Rafe made a noise, and his eyelids fluttered.
“Rafe!” Azure grabbed him on either side of his face. “Rafe! Goddamn it. Open your eyes.”
He did as ordered, but she didn’t think he was seeing her. He coughed, and his eyes closed again.
“I don’t want to lose you!” Azure screamed it into his ear, hot tears wet on her cheeks. Rafe grunted, jerking his eyes back open. “You have to help me,” she yelled. “I can’t move the bike and you at the same time. Look at me! Look at me!”
Rafe stared at her. His face was covered in blood, but his gaze was fixed and more focused than it had been a moment ago.
“I’m going to lift the bike, and you have to roll. Do you understand?”
“Yeah.” It was barely a word, but it was an affirmative. She heaved the bike up, and he twitched and rolled away. Azure dropped the bike and ran to Rafe.
He was a mess of road scrapes and blood, but the most serious was a large gash on his side. As Azure watched, the cut above his eye healed itself, but the cut on his side continued to gush blood. She pulled his shirt away, praying that she would see healing. The cut was jagged and deep—nearly the length of her hand, ending at the bottom of his rib cage. The jagged bits of flesh started to close but peeled back open again, and Rafe howled in agony.
Azure put her hand over the wound and felt a pulsing malevolence. Something evil was still in the wound.
Azure racked her brain, trying to find something that would help. She had nothing in her bag of meager supplies, and she couldn’t think of one spell that would fix this. She needed something else. She needed help. Her grandmother… No. Not Diana. She needed someone who knew about wolves.
Azure reached into her back pocket, pulled out her phone, and dialed, offering up a prayer that the call wouldn’t go to voicemail.
“Hey, Azure!” chirped Scarlet picking up.
“Scarlet!” gasped Azure. “Scarlet, I need you. I don’t know what to do—he’s hurt!”
“Who’s hurt? Where are you?”
“Oregon. I don’t know where. There were Warlocks. One of them stabbed Rafe. I don’t know enough about wolf physiology.”
Rafe groaned and clenched at his side, and Azure flipped the phone to speaker and tossed it onto the grass.
“I think part of the knife broke off inside him, but it’s like the wound keeps trying to close around it and then opening back up. I don’t know what to do, and I have no supplies!”
“Shit!” gasped Scarlet. “Liam! Get the first aid kit.” There was a mumble of another voice from Scarlet’s side of the phone. “Liam says you have to get it out.”
