Forgotten Enemy (The Powers of Influence Book 1) Read online

  The large man-wolf didn’t move his body, he tilted his head to the side, as if he had simply asked what two plus two equals from a kindergartener and was patiently waiting for the easy reply. He held his thick muscled arms out wide. Collett assumed it was meant as a non-threatening gesture, but it failed to put her at ease.

  The frustration of the situation started to build within her. She couldn’t figure out why so many creatures wanted to hunt her. What couldn’t she remember about herself that made everyone, everything, want her dead?

  As her frustration escalated, so did her anger. She felt it rising within her, however, she was sure it wasn’t only her anger she felt. The werewolf’s violent anger gave her a focus. She would rather feel his rage, than her captor’s tainted soul of death. She focused on the werewolf as best she could. She found it difficult and confusing. Furthermore, it was odd that seeing a living, breathing werewolf standing almost seven feet tall in front of her didn’t seem out of the ordinary. Why can’t I remember, she thought.

  The cold, quiet voice of her subjugator let out an unnatural hiss that brushed over the skin of her neck and sent shivers cascading down her spine, effectively breaking her fragile concentration. He answered the werewolf, saying coolly, “You cannot best me, mutt! I have her, and you do not. I hold every advantage. Now be gone! I might leave you a scrap or two… after I’ve had my fun, that is.” Her captor wrapped his hand roughly in her hair and yanked her head to the side with his other hand. Then he ran his slimy, cold, and abnormally long tongue from the base of her neck to behind her ear.

  Her body shuddered at the polluted contact. Collett closed her eyes as she felt the rebellion she had lost moments before, rise. She was not ready to die after all. She was not willing to die… not without a fight!

  As the epiphany struck her, Collett heard the wolfish creature let out another fierce snarl. She opened her eyes and met his burning gaze straight ahead.

  The energy all around Collett from the rage-filled contention was thick and tangible. She felt her adrenaline building.

  Not even thinking her next action through, she twisted her body to get the perfect angle. Though this meant cutting off the little bit of air she had left, she realized it was her only chance at escape.

  Collett then did something she was sure was born from the fear and pure adrenaline coursing through her body. Had she taken the time to think about it, she would never have been able to do it. She gathered her fists together pulled her left arm forward as best she could and slammed her elbow home, right into her captor’s gut.

  She failed to notice the bright, bluish light that sparked between them. Vibrations of pain moved up her arm. She felt as though she had slammed her elbow into a brick wall.

  The pain proved to have been worth it. Her maneuvering achieved its purpose. Her captor jumped back from the blow, temporarily loosening his deadly grip on her. As that happened, the wolf, if you could call it that, sensed his opportunity. He lunged forward, tackling the monster behind her. The impact knocked her free. She fell to the ground with a heavy thud, worsening her already tender injuries.

  She took a quick look at her pursuers violently engaged in a lethal grappling battle and didn’t waste another second…

  Collett fled the scene, running as fast as her injured limbs could carry her.

  She headed in the only direction she could think of, back toward Rederrick’s home. As she ran, she prayed silently that she’d made the right decision.

  Chapter Three

  Cade lunged forward violently and grabbed at the bulky, gray-skinned demon. Wanting to gain the upper hand so he could finish this quickly, he grabbed hold of the smelly bastard by the arm, wrenching him around and smashing him into the thick tree behind them. The otherworldly beast hit the tree with a loud crack, hissing vehemently at Cade. Cade couldn’t be sure if it came from pain or anger; you could never tell with such creatures. This time he was hoping it came from pain.

  Collett was jarred loose in the melee and hit the ground with a solid thump! As this happened Cade made the rookie mistake of turning around, focusing his attention on the woman’s escape.

  The demon decided it wanted more than a little piece of him. Rushing at him with its unnatural speed, the demon moved around and jumped on Cade’s back. The nasty creature dug his filthy claws deep into Cade’s ribs to gain purchase as he plunged his elongated, serrated teeth into Cade’s shoulder. He snarled past the sharp sting of the bite and reached behind himself to rip the monster free of his hold.

  He managed to see Collett up and running out of the corner of his eye. Good girl, he thought to himself.

  The battling monster made a reckless mistake. He let go.

  Leaping away to pursue the woman gave Cade all he needed to finish this.

  The anger of the animal within him rose to an uncontrollable level. His eyes glowed blood-red as he jumped toward the massive demon. Overtaking it, he grabbed hold of the demon’s left leg with his own powerful, sharp canine maw, effectively stopping the creature’s pursuit of Collett.

  Once he got a solid grip he pulled back hard, tearing through the putrid flesh, making his way to the bone, and hearing the horrible, inhuman screech emanating from the thing as he did so. The sound of it vibrated painfully in his ears, while satisfaction ran through his blood.

  The demon dug its claws into the hard, frozen earth to keep from being pulled back any further, hissing and thrashing. Cade clamped down harder with the great strength of his jaws, and felt the crack of the bone as he broke through it with unrelenting force. The ugly monster let out another unearthly wail as his calf gave under the vicious pressure, snapping in half.

  The man within Cade knew he needed to get more information. He knew he could possibly get something out of this thing in front of him.

  The animal in him didn’t care. He couldn’t see past the raging red haze consuming him. The burning sting in his back skewed his judgment as blood pulsed and trickled from his wounds. His actions became less logical as he recalled the image of this demon holding the fragile woman and touching her perfect skin as he prepared to sample her as his next meal.

  Cade bent down over the now cowering demon, baring his sharp, long teeth stained with fresh black ichor. The demon blood covered his chin as well. At the sight of this, a furious growl vibrated deep in Cade’s animal throat. Time seemed to slow down. He leaned in and inhaled deeply, taking a moment to savor the smell of the fear; for fear held such a powerful scent. The demon was right about that. It was empowering to animals and demons alike, and Cade was both. Fear confirmed dominance; it confirmed superiority. It poured off this creature in aromatic waves, smelling as sweet to him as a bakery would smell to a starving man. It reaffirmed Cade’s superiority over this night demon, affirming the death that stood before his opponent.

  With lightning speed, Cade lunged one last time, clamping down on the exposed neck before him. He twisted and shook violently, tasting the salty tang of blood in his mouth. He jerked back then, fully tearing out the throat with a gruesome pull. As Cade viciously ripped through the creature’s neck and spine, it blew apart into a mist of dust and settled back to the ground. The only evidence left now of the monster’s existence was the powdery ash on the ground beneath him and the black fluid left on Cade’s lips.

  At least demons clean up after themselves, he reflected. He stood slowly, straightening to his full, monstrous height. His breath was huffing in and out heavily. His broad, man-like rib cage kept expanding and contracting with the effort it took to slow his breathing. He panted out several more breaths before finding a small measure of calm.

  Then Cade cursed himself for letting his temper take control of him. He generally had a good handle on his brutal and vicious side. He brushed off the self-recrimination and considered his lack of control valid considering it was a summoned demon after all.

  Though now he would have to figure out what the hell was going on here without a nasty little informant to squeeze for some solid inf
o. He needed to fill in some blanks. By the look of things, he needed to do it soon.

  So, he thought, the question is, what am I going to do now?

  Considering the sequence of events that he’d just experienced, he decided that right then he had two choices left to him. He could let Collett make her way back to Rederrick’s house, or he could catch up to her and confront her. At this very moment, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to catch her. The image of the fear in her eyes at the sight of him bothered him more than it should have. She was terrified of what he was and he was too unsettled to deal with her reaction to him. For the time being, anyway.

  Well, he thought, at least I know how much Collett knows of the supernatural. She seemed to know very little, or nothing at all.

  Otherwise, she would have stayed in the house where it was safe. If she knew it was a demon after her she wouldn’t have run out of the safety of the house into the pitch black night where she was easy prey for the creatures of the night that can see in the dark.

  He shook his head as he thought, Demon education 101: Don’t run out of the safety of the house into the dark night where you’re an easy target.

  This wasn’t really the way he’d thought he was going to spend his night. After he’d spoken with Rederrick earlier, he decided to assess the woman a little himself and watched carefully throughout the night in order to get an idea of what this woman was about.

  Collett had wandered around that night talking to several people Cade knew, and others he didn’t. She blended smoothly into each conversation, laughing at all the right times, looking serious when needed. She knew precisely how to be seen and not noticed at the same time. She blended so easily, too easily, he’d thought. Cade recognized immediately it was a ruse. To be fair, years of experience gave him an advantage with such things...

  Collett seemed hyper-aware of her surroundings. He saw her covertly check every exit. She discreetly avoided touching several people. Cade noticed when she did happen to touch people in what seemed like an unavoidable accident, her brow pinched slightly as if she were concentrating on something. Anyone watching would have to be concentrating hard on her to notice it. This was because she would carefully correct herself as she did it, moving gracefully into her next interaction. A normal person was not that practiced. Collett put up a good act; he could give her that.

  Cade kept himself alert and focused to gain as much intel as possible. That meant surreptitiously eavesdropping a bit here and there. He listened to the conversations she had, almost all of them superficial.

  The few that happened to turn toward a personal road, Collett politely evaded. She then would excuse herself and move on. He found she would often keep quietly keeping to herself and move out of the way of those passing by. She seemed to watch everybody and nobody at the same time. From the looks of it, she obviously understood behaviors and mannerisms impeccably well.

  Several times Collett behaved as if she knew someone was watching her, glancing quickly in Cade’s direction. As a result, he decided to let her notice him watching her. He wanted to gauge her reaction to it.

  Upon noticing his intense gaze, she looked annoyed right away, turned on her heel and moved to the other side of the room. He decided Rederrick was wrong in his original assessment of her. She wasn’t nervous, she was cautious, very cautious; controlled even. She kept deliberate control of her environment.

  When she’d had enough of his following her, she headed across the room directly towards him. Cade remembered looking forward to the exchange. He tilted his head just a bit, and aimed his full, eager smile at her. As if suddenly distracted, she stopped halfway through her march.

  Her annoyed expression vanished as she stared at him. Her soft, feminine features took on a pinched, painful look and she stumbled back a half-step. With frightened eyes, she quickly scanned the crowd as if looking for someone or something. The color drained from her face as she turned around and fled the room.

  Right away, Cade pursued her. He was interrupted by a voluptuous redhead he didn’t know. She stood right in front of him, trying to introduce herself. Normally, he would have appreciated the attention, and the woman.

  Not tonight though, Cade excused himself as politely as possible, which wasn’t very polite at all. He pushed past the woman saying roughly, “Excuse me…”

  As Cade finally arrived outside, he saw Collett frantically opening the door of a small, red car. He looked around and sniffed the air to find a reason for her sudden flight from the house, catching the rotten stench left only by summoned leeches. The smell of a demon flitted about him. It was here, close by. He growled low in his throat, and watched as Collett jumped into the car, backed out, and drove at a very reckless speed through the field.

  He didn’t bother to strip his clothes, ruining yet another suit. His body shifted and twisted. His spine bent over, accommodating his new form; the shape of a massive black wolf. His was a shape of nightmares, for children and men alike. This form enabled Cade to keep up with the car Collett borrowed.

  Not that she made it very far before she crashed the little red car over an embankment. By the time Cade had reached the wreck, she was already clamoring out. He waited to show himself, hoping to spot the demon before it got to her. He easily kept pace with her frantic run, through bushes and trees, keeping to the shadows so she wouldn’t catch sight of him.

  When Collett finally stopped and crouched behind the tree, he smelled her fear and despair. The urge to help her assaulted him then. Originally, he’d tried to approach her calmly. Then he had smelled the wretched scent of the demon again. He searched his surroundings, but even with his sensitive vision, he still didn’t see it. As Collett stood bravely, he spotted it. The demon was hidden carefully in the tree above her.

  The growling and snarling that erupted from him as a result of spotting the demon frightened her. He realized she saw him as the enemy, leaving him in the difficult position of trying to protect her while she thought he was the one pursuing her.

  Trying to decide which move to make next, as the last few moments didn’t go as he had hoped. Now, as he approached Rederrick’s home reflecting on the night’s events, he shook his head and raised one brow. Well, I’ll just adapt, he told himself. Considering his next move, he reached around to check the wound on his back. His inspection confirmed his wound hadn’t torn open too badly; it should heal quickly. It was sore and bleeding, but by the time he changed back to a man it should be mostly closed.

  He knew he could still turn this in his favor. The bulk of the guests should have cleared out by now. This meant he could sneak in through the upstairs balcony, get some clothes, and come out with no one the wiser.

  He concentrated and shifted his form back to that of an oversized wolf. There was no need to scare any more people tonight by staying in the half-man, half-wolf form of legends and myths.

  He took off at a full run toward the house, sprinting by the wrecked car to examine the damage. The car looked to be a total loss. Seeing it up close, he found himself surprised that she walked away from it at all, let alone running as she did. She was a lucky little thing…no doubt about it. He would have Rederrick call out a tow truck and deal with the heap of twisted metal.

  Moving on, he continued back toward the house, slowing as he caught her scent. The sweet citrus smell drifted around him, making it easy to follow her trail. Concern gripped him as he noticed her perfumed scent intertwined with the smell of her blood. Cade hoped she wasn’t hurt too badly.

  He held back a moment, seeking out her exact location. He quickly spotted her about fifty or so yards from the house. He watched her, ensuring she’d made it back without any further incident. She had run hard, not even bothering to peek over her shoulder. Smart girl, he thought.

  He knew that nothing could slow a person down more than turning to make sure nothing was behind them. Not that she could have possibly outrun me whether she’d looked or not, he mused.

  As she reached the house, she hesitated. She
looked unsure, as if she’d changed her mind about going in.

  Cade loped quickly in her direction in an attempt to follow her more closely. If she bolted, he wanted to be close. Just as he closed in on her, he thought better of it. Instead, an idea came to him and he let out one long, eerie howl. Just as he’d predicted, Collett remembered why she’d headed this way in the first place. As the howl echoed past the trees through the quiet, still night, she straightened her spine, looked hard over her shoulder and started for the same door she’d snuck out a few hours before. Cade huffed out one last breath, and inhaled the scent of her relief. He knew Rederrick would keep her safe now that she was inside.

  He ran over to his ruined suit to retrieve his cell phone and wallet. Once he had them locked gently in his jaw, he leapt up to the second-floor balcony. Dropping the items in his mouth, he commanded his body to change. As his body contorted, his bones cracked. His legs shifted and bent back to the angles that more closely resembled a human form. As his spine straightened out, he went from a large wolf to that of a man. As the final step in his transformation, his fur flattened out and seemed to melt as it reshaped itself into human skin.

  He stood up, his muscular body naked and aching a bit from the multiple changes. He opened the French doors and went into the room Rederrick and Cynda kept for him. He approached the massive closet, sorting through the spare clothes kept here for this very reason.