Chapter 6 What's left Behind

Current day

The sick metallic tinge of blood wafted through the hallway. Russ could see the commotion around him, could see the men in front of him yelling back and forth, see the tentacles that darted out of the open door into the hall he sat in... His eyes widened as he took in the barbed teeth like hooks that surrounded each suction-cup. The loud pounding in his ears intensified. He watched as Orion's large body was lifted off the ground and thrown through the wall of the office into the wall he was sitting against.

Orion rolled his neck and shoulders causing them to pop in several places as he pushed himself up from the wall. He glanced over in time to see a tentacle shoot out toward the heap of scared wolf pup on the ground. Grabbing Russ's arm before the tentacle could reach him, Orion dragged the kid toward the front door. "You okay?" He asked as Russ collapsed onto the steps of the small front porch.

Russ nodded wiping the cold sweat from the back of his neck. "I... She..." He glanced back at the open door behind Orion.

Orion arched his brows, "Not what you expected?" He shook his head, "How could you know someone all your life and not KNOW them?" He walked over to where Russ was sitting, but before he had time to sit himself Arei came flying out of the front window.

Arei tucked and rolled coming up on his feet and shaking the glass fragments from his hair. "Dammit woman!" He yelled as he ran back toward the window and catapulted himself through it with ease.

Orion shook his head. "Don't worry about him. This isn't the first time she's tried to kill him." Orion laughed, "Matter of fact she tried to eat him the first night they spent together." He patted Russ on the head. "You should consider yourself lucky. That breakup of yours could have ended up much like this one." He nodded toward the vampire's large busted office window.

Russ gulped in a large breath of air as another loud thump sounded inside the office. He opened his mouth to respond but no words would come out, so he just closed it again. More movement toward the front drive caught his attention. Raven was struggling to load a small tan wolf into his car. He narrowed his eyes. "Shelly?" He asked. It had been such a long time since he'd seen her shift. {Had she been in wolf form on the back deck?} He couldn't remember, all that had been on his mind was getting to Jos. He stood up and began walking toward the cars. His grey shimmering antique muscle car sat behind a new sleek Matt black Dodge Challenger. This car had so many bells and whistles it made his own Shelby look like a tinker toy. He glanced back at Orion recalling his old busted up pickup. He sent him a calculating glance. "You two aren't very much alike, are you?"

Orion nodded toward the small wolf still refusing to get into the back of the Shelby. "Twins are rarely identical even if in appearance. You should know that." He moved his gaze from the wolf to the fairy struggling to push it into the car. The wolf had its front paws pressed against each side of the car door as Raven lifted and pushed its hind legs. He arched a brow and curled his lips into an amused grin.

"Don't just stand there gawking! You two big idiots get over here and help me lift her into the car!" Raven huffed as she continued struggling with the stubborn wolf.

Orion laughed, "Doesn't look like she's down for a car ride."

"Well she can't stay here! The human police teams will be flooding this place soon and we can't risk being here or shit will be worse than they already are with the council." She pushed against the wolf again. "What part of this are you missing, you stubborn kid!" She yelled at Shelly.

"Open the door." Arei yelled as he walked out of the house with an unconscious Jos naked in his arms. Her once vivid white hair was now stained with a deep crimson and a dark nearly black ink color. Blood clung to various parts of her visible body and her tiny arms that were folded across her chest had thick streaks of black veins running up them.

Orion nodded and walked past Raven to the black Challenger. He opened the door and reclined the passenger seat. Before he could fully straighten, the wolf pushed past him, hopping into first the front seat then over the center console into the back seat. He watched as her tiny fluffy face pressed up against the back window and followed her nervous gaze as it trailed Arei's every step. He chuckled as he glanced over to Raven who still stood by the open back door of the Shelby with her hands pressed to her hips in irritation. "Looks like your little pup here has found herself a new hero." Orion teased.

Raven rolled her eyes at him, "She could have said as much."

Orion arched a brow as he glanced back down to the tiny wolf face in the window. "Can they speak in this form? I wasn't aware."

Raven let out an exasperated huff. "No they cannot, but still..." Her features softened as Arei walked past with Jos nestled against his chest. She reached out a gentle hand and brushed a stray strand of filthy hair out of Jos's resting face. "This isn't her fault. She shouldn't be punished for these crimes."

Arei nodded in agreement, but Orion spoke first. "The council will want a trial, regardless." He sighed heavily, "Though they may pardon her for some of these deaths here today, I highly doubt they will be so lenient with the human deaths resulting in her mood swings of the past couple months."

Raven frowned, "You knew about that... That it was her and not the vampires? How?"

Orion sent her a suspicious look. "More to the point, YOU knew it was her?" Raven didn't reply, she simply turned away and lowered herself into the backseat and closed the door. Orion nodded, "As I thought." He glanced to Russ to see if he'd known as well. The boy's face was completely drained of color and a slight trimmer had began to creep up his long arms. He walked past Arei who quietly made his way to his own car. Orion leaned down and opened the passenger door to the Shelby and held his hand out to Russ. "Give me the keys and get in. You're in no shape to drive." He took the keys and waited for Russ to pull his long legs inside before shutting the car door behind him. He glanced over at his brother as he carefully lowered Jos into the seat before standing and tugging off the tattered shirt he wore. "What are you doing?" He asked.

Arei leaned back down to the car and spoke as his hands moved busily inside the car. "Putting this on her. It's better than nothing. She'd be upset if I put something of hers from the trunk on her and ruined it." He straightened once he was done making eye contact with Orion. "I agree with the fairy, she's not all to blame for this." He walked back to his trunk and took out one of his own clean shirts. "Until we can come up with a reasonable plan and get her side of things, I'll not be turning her in..." He narrowed his eyes in Orion's direction. "and neither will you."

Orion frowned as he watched his brother lumber around the driver's side of the car and pull the door open. "You can't keep bailing her out when she fucks up like this, Arei.-"

Arei cut him off. "Watch me." With that he lowered himself down into the car and fired it up leaving Orion and the others in the dust.

"Shit..." Orion said as he ran his hands down his face in frustration. "Shit!" He slammed his hands down on the roof of the car. He glared down at the car before yanking the back door open. Glaring down at Raven, he ordered. "Get out, you're coming with me! We have to go in there and remove any trace of Jos and the girl." He turned toward the house not waiting on her to follow. "You better hope your wife's connections are still as strong as they used to be, because Isha is going to be our only chance of pulling this off."

Within twenty minutes they had removed every indication that Joslyn or Shelly either one, had ever been to the large beach front house. Orion slammed the trunk of the car closed and nodded to Raven. "Now light it up."

Raven drew in a deep unsteady breath then let it out slowly before nodding. She turned toward the house and let out another uneasy breath. "Are you sure about this?" She asked.

"Yes, it will at least slow down the human and vampire investigations." Orion said as he walked around to the driver side and leaned his weight against the roof. He met her uneasy eyes with his steady gaze. "Do it." He nodded his head toward the house before lowering into the car.

Raven rolled her neck several times and stretched each of her arms as she walked toward the lawn. "Alright... I can do this... It's only been fifteen years since I've used this much magic..." She grew in another deep breath and let it out slowly as she brought her hands up in front of her. She closed her eyes as she focused all of her might toward the small purple energy ball building between her hands. "Come on, Raven, you can do this." She said aloud to herself. She peeked out of one heavily lashed eye to see the progress of the energy ball and let out a proud huff. "Not bad..." She opened both eyes and focused on the large home aiming the ball toward it. She pulled it in as close to her body as she could without getting burned before throwing it forcefully toward the open window of the office. The inside immediately burst into a hot purple flaming inferno. She stepped back as the heat began radiating across the lawn as the flames engulfed more of the house. "Alright... Alright..." She said as she backed quickly toward the car. "We better get moving now! It won't take long before the whole thing comes down."

Orion nodded as he shifted the already running car into gear. "Good work."

Raven huffed out a sarcastic laugh, "Only if arson will go well on top of murder..."

Orion focused his attention on the road as he sped down it. "It will at the very least mask the total body count." He caught her worried eyes in the rear-view mirror. "As soon as we get to the cabin you'll need to go to the courts and enlist her help."

Raven looked out the window at the blurred landscape as the car sped toward the open highway. "I'm not sure how much help she's willing to be. We've barely made up since all this started."

Orion frowned, "Then you better find a way to make her more willing. We are going to need someone on the council with political connections."

Raven began to argue but his previous words caught at the back of her mind. "Wait, cabin? Like in the mountains, cabin?"

Orion glanced into the mirror at her as he answered, "Yes, it's in the Rocky's. It's the safest place for her right now. No one will think to look there. It's one of the few places Arei and I have that no one knows about."

Raven's eyes popped wider open. "The Rocky's, Rocky's?" She asked.

Orion growled in irritation. "Yes, the fucking Rocky's! Isn't that what I said?"

"Ah shit!" Raven yelled as she leaned forward gripping both the head rests in front of her. "She can't be away from salt water for long! She'll be sick as hell!"

Understanding sank in immediately. "Fuck!" He held his hand out to Russ who was still ghostly white and in shock in the seat beside him. "Find my phone! I need to warn him before they get too far away!"

Russ forced his body to respond, to shake off the shock of what had just happened. He rummaged through the side door where Orion had been sitting on the ride over. Not finding it, he bent and began running his hand over the floorboard between his feet.

"HURRY!" Orion growled.

Russ rolled his eyes as he reached under the seat as best as he could. "I'm going as fast as I can. What did you do with the damn thing?" He sat back up and shoved his hand down between the seat and the console. When his fingers finally hit the cool metal of the phone, he pulled it out and handed it to Orion. "What's the hurry anyways? They couldn't be too far ahead of us."

Orion let out a sarcastic laugh. "Like shit they are. You're talking about Areion. He wouldn't own a car that couldn't at least match his own speeds."

Russ arched a brow. "I don't understand..."

Orion glanced over to Russ. "Areion and I are not your average 'demi-gods'. We were not born, we were created... me for strength and Areion for speed."