Testimony of Children (Alice Gray Book 2)

61

It was the cry of anguish that finally pulled us out of our lust filled bubble, and as soon as it popped, I realised just how messed up this shit was.

We weren't alone, we never had been.

A massive panther shifter guarded the remains of her Alpha in the corner of the room. The corpse of a psycho-witch lay on the floor not ten paces away from us. And my vampire lover and I were wrapped around each other on a sacrificial stone altar, oblivious to the death all around us.

That was the sight that met the eyes of my pack, who had come to rescue me ten minutes too late. Not to mention my ex-boyfriend Stephen and my great-granny Evelyn Gray who'd shown them all the way back in.

Stephen ran straight to Mary's body, that cry of anger and pain tearing from somewhere deep inside again and again, as he sank down to the floor and cradled her in his arms.

Crap. This wasn't going to be easy to explain.

Emily went to him and placed a supportive hand on his shoulder. She glanced at the body and then over to the huge panther with crazy grief-stricken yellow eyes. Emily's eyebrows drew together, her dark look focused on the heap of body parts behind Becca.

"Change," Emily barked.

Becca hissed in response, her body tense and poised to attack if anyone so much as thought of approaching the tragic mess that she guarded. Emily held her gaze, refusing to back down. I understood that they had fought in human form and Emily was dominant. But surely she didn't think that she could take on a deadly looking panther driven half mad with grief.

Lucas growled, low and deadly, directing all his Alpha dominance at Becca. The panther shrunk away from him. Everybody in the room cowered slightly as Lucas's wolf came so close to the surface that I wondered how he didn't change there and then.

Becca whined, and glanced back at Dominic's remains. Lucas prowled forward. Resting a hand on Becca's head, he took over her position of sentry so that she could go and change back into her human form.

Lucas didn't look at the twisted mass of body parts behind him. He didn't need to. The first stirrings of the pack bond were wrapping themselves around my heart, giving me a direct path to his grief and confusion.

Becca walked back into the room. Before anyone could stop him, Stephen launched himself at her.

"You killed her, you bitch."

Moving faster than my eyes could track, Thomas caught him by each arm and restrained him. Stephen struggled, but he was still weak from his ordeal. He was no match for a vampire.

Words that I'd never heard from my ex-boyfriend poured from his mouth, anger fuelled by grief and helplessness. I grabbed his shoulder, intending to calm him, to offer my sympathy. He shook me off, looking at me with such hatred that I shrank back before I could stop myself.

"You let them do this."

"No, Stephen, it was Mary, she..."

He'd already turned away. Stephen gathered Mary's body to his chest. Her form looked so tiny and fragile in his arms that my heart broke for him. He left without a glance back into the room.

Emily went to follow, sharing a whispered word with Lucas on her way.

"You should prepare. There'll be a trial," she said, turning to me from the doorway. There was no glimmer of friendship in her face. My heart dropped a little further.

"Don't worry, child. I know a little something about the witch courts." Hazel stood before me, my great-grandmother Evelyn still looking at me from borrowed eyes.

"But you were innocent," I said, unable to shake the feeling of guilt over my part in Mary's death, even though I knew that she deserved it.

"Was I?"

A shiver ran through me as Evelyn took my hand and pulled me out of the room. Lucas and Becca remained inside. The task of untangling Dominic's remains would fall to my Alpha and his former pack-mate. Selfishly I was content to let them face that alone.

We paused on the steps of the imposing square building of the Nonconformist Chapel. It stood tall and proud, giving no indication of the horror that it contained. The cemetery spread out in front of us, the morning light only just beginning to filter through the trees. The site was so fresh and wild and silent, that I could hardly believe the busy city lay just outside its walls.

Thomas snaked his arm around my waist, pulling me into his strong, hard body. I sagged into his reassuring strength, glad that we had come to some kind of understanding despite the horrors of the night.

"I'll see you later," he whispered in my ear, his lips brushing the sensitive skin of my lobe. He had to go before the sun rose any higher in the clear December sky. The absence of his body made me shiver in the cold morning air.

Slowly we walked, Evelyn and I, hand in hand, back to our ancestral home.

"What should I call you? Great Granny, Evelyn, or are you going to let Hazel back in?"

"Oh, she's still in here, don't you worry about that, and she's happy to let me stay. There's something coming Alice, the ancestors can feel it, and the coven is going to need my help."

"What do you mean? What's coming?"

"Did you not think to wonder why the Baroness wanted your magic? It wasn't just greed."

"She was barren of power," I whispered.

"And she's not the only one," Evelyn said, looking at me through Hazel's eyes. "If the vampires need magic we'll all have to watch our backs."

A little worm of fear wiggled around in my brain. I'd finally found a place to belong. With Lucas and the pack. I might be on the outs with my DPA appointed security detail, but I'd worked things out with my vampire lover.

People wanted me, they needed me, and it felt good to be on the inside for once.

But if the vamps were on the prowl for magic, it could all be taken away from me in the blink of an eye. Plus, I was about to be tried for witchcraft.

I'd never had so much to lose.

That's it folks. Alice might have won this battle but the price was high, and it looks like the war has only just begun!

Let me know what you think of Alice's world, I really appreciate you reading!

Look out for the next part in the story. Starting next week, WORD'S OF POWER, Alice Gray Book 3!