Strange Love

Isha gave another anxious glance back up the steep bank to the large house overlooking the beach. "I know I said I'd only agree to this if Raven could return with me alone, but she really should reconsider." Isha turned her attention back to the small group seeing them off on the beach. "She would be in much better hands. We have healers that could make the morning sickness so much more bearable." She gripped Russ's large free hand. "Are you sure she will not come with us?" She asked for what could very well be the hundredth time that day.

Russ laughed, "If there's ever anyone more stubborn than I am, it would be Shelly." He pulled the tiny fairy against his side and hugged her against him and Jos who he'd kept tucked under his other arm. "Safe travels guys. Tell Liam I said hi." He winked at Raven.

Raven shook her head. "Lord, I'm sure you're the last damn person he'd want to hear from." When Isha's curious gaze met hers, she let out a heavy sigh. "This crazy kid went neck to neck with a damn vampire, not once but twice, AND shifted to full wolf form during one of them."

Russ laughed when Isha's gaze snapped back around to him. "We only fought in the bar once." He shrugged, "The coward ran from me the second time."

"Xavier?" Isha asked connecting the dots quickly. She narrowed her eyes as Russ shrugged it off as nothing. "You're lucky he backed down, both times. He is-was half fae, and a powerful half at that. She was the only daughter of The Dark Empress. Rumor has it, DeMarco senior seduced the young princess, convinced her to run away with him with promises of love and power, then locked her away as nothing more than a breeding mare."

Jos nodded, "More or less according to Xavier. He said his father killed her eventually, after moving on to Dante's mother."

Isha nodded. "Not surprising. He was a very sick man and his children are all the same, sick twisted psychopaths'." She patted a tiny hand against Jos's cheek. "Be watchful, dear. They were not the only DeMarco children, and I highly doubt they themselves were without children." Isha nodded around to everyone her final goodbyes as she stepped away from the pair. "Keep a watchful eye out." She said as she lifted her hand and waved it in a magical wave that caused her and Raven's forms to vanish before their eyes.

"Well, that was ominous." Ry said as he ran his fingers through his short hair.

"Fairies... Always have to make a dramatic exit..." Arei said. He cupped one hand down over Russ's brood shoulder and the other on Jos's slender one. "Don't stress it too much. they would have to have a death wish to attack with Ry and I here, let along Tri and yourself... though I'm still doubting they've even figured out you were involved." He said to Jos before nodding to Russ and walking past them. He glanced over his shoulder. "Speaking of Tri, you want to join me? I'm headed to the lighthouse." He said meeting Ry's gaze.

Russ watched the giant men disappear into the heavily fogged air of the beach, each of them taking the massive boulders lining the coast with skilled strides of individuals that was remarkably familiar with the area. Once the men had completely disappeared from site he turned to gaze down into Jos's troubled eyes. He brushed her sea blown hair from her face. "You alright, babe?" He asked letting his hand linger at the base of her jaw. He stroked his thumb across the soft skin and hard edge of her thin jaw. He bent down and placed a tender kiss on her trembling lips. "Don't worry so much, like the roid twins said, the vampires would have to be suicidal to attach us here."

She let out a long sigh as she let her body sink against his. "I... I know... It's just... it's going to be weird without Raven around, don't you think?" She asked, her sad eyes met his.

He smiled down at her. "She's not gone forever, baby." He gently pushed more windblown hair out of her face with his other hand, leaving both his hands to cup her face. "We will be going home soon as well and Shell." He kissed her lips again softly before smiling down at her even wider. "Maybe we can work on having our own baby. Our children can grow up together just as we did." He stepped closer to her pulling her tighter against his body as he lowered his head and kissed her deeper this time.

Jos pushed against him, "But we didn't grow up together Russ. Besides I don't even know if I could have children. I mean we've had unprotected sex how many times now?" Her head dropped and tears began burning her eyes. "Wouldn't it have happened by now if I could?"

Russ bent down to meet her eyes, "Then we will adopt. I don't care as long as I have you."

Jos turned her head away, "I'm sure your people will just love that idea."

Russ brought her head back around to face him gently. "Then we will leave it to Shelly to produce their pure heir. I don't give a shit about any title they could ever give me only the one you can give me, as your husband." He pulled her into a tender kiss refusing to release her lips until she softened in his arms. His lips turned up in a grin as a light moan of surrender came from deep within her. "Lover, husband, father; those are the only titles that will ever matter to me and only as long as they are in direct reference to you." He tangled his fingers in her hair and held her gaze searching them for an answer.

Jos pushed against his grip and buried her face in his chest. "I love you." She murmured with her mouth pressed against the fabric of his shirt.

A devious chuckle sounded from the rocky cliff overhead. "Isn't that just the sappiest shit you've ever heard?" The sharp tongue of a woman dressed in a black leather body suit, combat boots that came up to her knees, and bright red lipstick. her long blonde hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail with the hanging hair perfectly curled. One hand rested against her leather clad hip and the other hung loosely by her side only slightly hiding the silver gleam of a gun. "I know what you're thinking, 'This bitch must be crazy?!', right?" Her face morphed into a sick smile as she circled the barrel of the gun around her ear to emphasize the word crazy before pointing it in Russ and Jos's direction. "No, not crazy at all." She said as she played a game of iny-meany-miny-moe between Jos and Russ. "Just very patient. Now the real question... Which of you to kill first?" Her crazy eyes flared with insanity as she narrowed her gaze on Jos. "The whore who was fucking MY man... or the mutts?" As if to emphasize the plural of her words another vampire drug a whimpering wolf out onto the ledge beside the leather clad woman. She pointed the gun at Shelly for a few tense minutes before twisting her neck back around to Russ and Joss. "Oh, but didn't I hear you say the little bitch is pregnant?" She smiled down at Shelly. "Can't be killing you just yet, can we? May be carrying my dear Mattie's baby cousin." She ran the gun down the length of Shelly's muzzle.

"Get the fuck away from her!" Russ yelled pushing Jos behind him as he lunged forward, his legs shifting into a powerful half form as he moved.

The crazy leather glad, gun toting woman turned away from Shelly another sick smile curved up the edges of her lips revealing long white fangs. "At, at, at." She called down at Russ as she waved the gun in the air back and forth in a tisking movement. "Not so fast, prince puppy." She said pushing her full bottom lip out in a faux pout before pointing the barrel of the gun directly at the center of Russ's head.

Jos cried out and the tentacles shot out from her body with a speed she herself wasn't even aware they were capable of. One tentacle wrapped around Russ's waist jerking him backward down the cliff as another darted ahead toward the barrel of the gun as it fired. Jos winced as the bullet tore through the flesh of the tentacle that had only just then wrapped around the weapon, but that wasn't the most painful part... the most shocking part. The angry bullet traveled straight through her tentacle and into the side of Russ's temple. His hair flared around his head as the sickening metallic twinge of blood hit her nostrils. All her tentacles retracted suddenly, dropping Russ the remaining few feet to the cold sand. She began rushing toward him, but the cold laughter and another shot inches in front of her face stopped her in her tracks. Her head jerked back up to the devil of a woman on the cliff.

"Not so fast bitch!" She hissed down to Jos. "I'm going to make you suffer! I'm going to take all those who mean the most to you, just like you fucking did to me! to my son!" Her bright red lips curled curly over her sharp white peaks of her fangs. "I'm going to make you watch as they suffer." She growled.

"You'll not get away with this!" Jos growled back at her, her eyes held the woman's crazy gaze as the barrel centered on her forehead.

The woman laughed, "I already have!" She laughed and pointed the gun back to Shelly. "I mean what's the likeliness you weren't a little slut, too? One bite and I will be able to tell if that's a vampire child you carry or something else." She chuckled as she turned fully around to face Shelly. "Maybe I'll shoot you in the leg and taste the blood there." She said as she thumbed back the pin of the revolver. "This little piggy went to market." She said pointing to a front paw then moved to the other. "This little piggy stayed home..." Her figure moved over the trigger as she pointed it at a back leg.

"NO!" Jos cried out right before everything went blank.

For the second time in barely a month Shelly was forced to watch her best friend vanish in front of her terrified eyes, unable to look away, unable to move, simply frozen in fear of the stranger before her. She whimpered and struggled against the tight grip on her body as blood splattered across her fur. The hands holding her only lingered a few seconds after the bodies they'd once been attached to where strewn across the jagged rocks of the cliff. It was impossible to tell one part from another. The loud echoing of rapid-fire gun shots echoed through the air causing Shelly's sensitive ears to ring. She could hear loud shouting as the woman barked orders to the men who had hung back out of sight at first. As others took her place firing upon the massive beast Joslyn had shifted into, the leather clad woman was ushered across the short grass of the lawn and to safety... a safety that couldn't be found for the men who had replaced her on the cliffs edge. Voices merged with the loud echoing of the gun throwing off Shelly's equilibrium and making the nausea she had multiply tenfold.

She let out a loud howl as strong arms scooped her up and took off across the lawn with a speed that caused the meager contents of her stomach to come rushing up. She was already being set on the cool tile of the patio when she realized the sound of gun fire had ended. The only sounds that could be heard was her own panting, the waves that crashed below, and the faint screech of tires in the distance. "Fuck!" The loud curse brought her attention up to the face of the man who'd carried her to the patio. It was Ry. He ran his hands through his short hair as he cursed again toward the road. Her eyes caught movement by the path leading down the cliffs and another massive, bearded man came into view carrying Russ's limp form.

"Fuck!" Ry yelled again as his eyes fell on Russ. "Fucking not even thirty minutes! How the fuck did we not see them pull up?!" He ran toward his older brother, his attention solely concentrated on Russ, the vomit running down the front of his pants completely ignored. "How is he?" He called as he ran forward.

The burly, bearded man glanced down at Russ. "He's breathing, but wounded... lost a good bit of blood." He didn't stop walking when Ry made it to his side, instead, he just kept walking toward the house. "Going to need to call a doctor out here. There's a bullet lodged in his thigh, another grazed his temple, and he's got a pretty deep cut at the back of his head, most likely from a rock."

"FFFFuck!" Ry roared as he dug his phone out of his pocket. His attention turned toward Shelly. "Are you alright? Please tell me you wasn't hurt at least."

Shelly shook her head, still in shock.

He nodded as he began dialing numbers. "Good, good." He nodded toward Tri's departing back. "Are you well enough to keep an eye on him until I can get back? I need to go down and check on Arei and Jos. I also need to get these... remains... cleaned up before the doctors get here." He waited for the sick flushed to leave her cheeks and her furry head to bob up and down before he turned back to the cliffs and started to head out of sight.

"How is she-" Ry began to call out as he rounded the edge of the cliff and looked down. His words died in his throat and his massive legs gave out beneath him. Jos's tiny body had already completely shifted back to human form. He watched helplessly as Arei gripped her limp body in his arms tightly, his own body crumpled in agony around her. Ry couldn't hear the tear-filled words as they ripped from his brother's very soul as he tried to talk life back into the one and only woman he'd ever cared for. Ry could feel a tickle on his cheek. He lifted the back of his hand to brush it away, surprised to find his cheek wet from tears he hadn't realized had spilled free. He forced himself up and made his way down the rocky bank to his brother and the girl he felt like he'd all but raised at one point. He set a gentle hand on Arei's quaking shoulder. "Let's get her to the water. If there's any hope at all, it will be that the salt water will heal her at least enough for us to get her safely to the house. I've already called the doctors. They will be here soon."

Arei nodded but didn't release her, instead, he held her body tighter to his as he pushed himself up from the sand on trembling legs. Without saying a word, he walked toward the water until they were both submerged in the rough, cold waves of the north Atlantic Ocean. "Come back to me, Kitten." His trembling words urged her. "Even if not to me, come back..." He pleaded. "You can't leave me, not like this." His words oozed with regret.

Standing firm against the battering waves as he cradled her limp body in one massive arm and stroked her face with his large free hand. "Breathe, Kitten, breathe!" He dipped some of the freezing water and let it trickle out of his hand onto her throat, refusing to give up his struggle.

Unable to take the pain any longer and knowing there was nothing he could do here, Ry turned back to the rocky cliff and to the house calling out a silent prayer to the gods and his father as he scaled the jagged banks.