Page 65 of Love Lives
Ultimately, though, Aldrich's eyes caught on Remy. If theyalldied here... No, he didn't like that thought. Remy met his gaze, his brow furrowed. It seemed like there was something he wanted to tell Aldrich, but Aldrich couldn't for the life of him figure out what. Until he noticed that Remy was touching one of his hands with the other one, as if he was turning an invisible ring on his finger.
Was he imitating Puck?
They must have planned something, the two of them.
Maybe what Remy wanted to tell him was that they needed another second, another distraction. Justsomething.
Aldrich could do that. Without another thought, he shifted again and raced at the ancient vampire.
He never reached him.
Vlad lifted a finger and Aldrich slammed into an invisible wall.
Holyouch. That headache was going to last him for days.
He only hoped that it would be worth it. But maybe so, because he heard voices chanting now, speaking in a language he didn't understand.Get up, he told himself. It was no use, though. He was paralyzed, pinned to the ground by an invisible force. Even just opening his eyes took a near impossible amount of effort.
Both Puck and Remy were casting a spell. Something that was affecting all the vampires in the vicinity. A few feet away from Puck, Talon and Crimson went down. Silas followed. Leandra lay on the ground not far from Aldrich, and even Vlad seemed to have trouble moving.
The ancient vampire stared at Remy.
Aldrich understood why. Remy was glowing, his whole body enveloped by a bright light that seemed to emanate from him. And not only that. An invisible force seemed to whip the air around him, kicking up dust and making his hair fly. He was absolutely beautiful. If the situation hadn't been so dire, Aldrich would have enjoyed the view.
Vlad however, seemed to be distracted by something else. "That spell..." he murmured. "Where...?"
He didn't get any further than that, becausefinallythe Keeper decided to make his entrance. God damn that mutt, showing up on the scene only when they'd already done all the hard work.
In his wolf-from, he came dashing around the corner and tackled the ancient vampire to the ground. It gave Aldrich no small amount of satisfaction, watching the mutt put cuffs on Vlad's wrists. Anyone who knew anything about paranormal law enforcement knew those weren't ordinary cuffs. They would block Vlad's magic, making him a much easier target to deal with, no matter what he did now.
No matter that Remy's spell was starting to lose its effect.
Aldrich's eyes darted back to Remy as the magic in the air weakened and his limbs loosened. Remy had stopped glowing and his eyes closed. He was going to fall. As quickly as he could, Aldrich jumped to his feet to rush toward him.
Someone grabbed his arm.
"Where do you think you're going?" The mutt. He held another one of those cuffs in his hand, ready to put it on Aldrich. "Your time is up."
Aldrich tried to wrench himself free. "Our deal was I'd get five minutes."
"I've been here for longer than five minutes."
"So you just enjoyed the show?" Aldrich very nearly spit in the mutt's face. How dare he just stand by while Vlad had threatened them? While Vlad might have killed Remy?
Aldrich cut his gaze to Remy again, only to find that Talon had caught him before he could hurt himself. Not for the first time, Aldrich thanked the stars for his coven-brother.
Now if only it wasn’t for this stupid mutt… Aldrich couldn't get his arm out of the werewolf's iron grip. He snarled again, until he got help from an unlikely source. Leandra, sinking her teeth into the mutt's lower thigh in her canine form. Chihuahuas may be small, but those teeth could still hurt.
The werewolf cursed, but still, he didn't let go. "I'll be arresting both of you!" He promised. With his free hand, he snapped the cuffs open and made to put them around Aldrich's wrist. Before he could, though, Aldrich shifted out of his grip. Same trick that had saved his life once before when he'd been fighting Leandra.
He jumped back a foot, exposing his fangs at the werewolf.
Only to see Vlad come up behind the Keeper. Aldrich had no idea what had happened to the cuffs that had been around the ancient vampire's wrists, but they weren't in place anymore. And nothing stopped Vlad as he laid his hands around the mutt's head and snapped his neck as if it was a toy he'd grown bored with.
For a second, Aldrich only stared.
As much as he hated to admit it, and as much as he hated werewolves sometimes, that mutt had not been weak. Aldrich had only barely managed to get out of his hold. And yet... His dead body fell to the ground motionless as Vlad let go.
And then Vlad's gaze met Aldrich's.
