Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 615

Chapter 115 : Ally in Crimson Creek

*Xander*

Fire. It was everywhere. And out of the fire currently ripping through one of the many small, abandoned villages we'd passed on our way to Crimson Creek, Oliver was sprinting toward us, his mouth opened wide as he sucked in his breath.

A wall of flames rushed toward us, barreling through the dry, dead winter grass like a book of matches on the outskirts of the village. Whatever vampires had been hiding from the sun within the half-dozen buildings would be no match for the absolute hell Oliver had just unleashed.

“You're on fire," John said, waving a casual hand at Oliver, who was indeed on fire.

Oliver dropped to the ground, rolling across the grass until the flames that had been licking up his pant legs sent a trail of acrid smoke toward the sky.

This wasn't the first time Oliver had caught himself on fire today, and it likely wouldn't be the last. We were only an hour outside of Crimson Creek at this point, and we had burned six villages and two larger towns down to the foundation since the sun came up this morning.

It was unfortunate. I hated it. But, it had to be done. If we killed every hive hiding out along the highway, well, our warriors back in Breles might stand a chance of holding onto the city for one more night, and that was all that mattered at the moment.

But daylight was fading into an overcast afternoon. In a few hours, it would be dark enough for a fresh round of vampire warriors to make their way through the portal and into this realm. They were fast, and a journey that had taken us nearly ten hours on foot would take them half the time.

Oliver jumped to his feet, turning around to survey the damage he'd inflicted on the village. Screeching cut through the air, then faded into the crackling flames and splintering buildings as the fire ate away at the village and everything that had been taking shelter within the walls.

Oliver clapped his hands together, a wild look in his eyes. I'd underestimated him. He was the scrappiest son of a b***h I'd ever met in my life.

He'd also been able to snap his fingers and create a flame, just like that.

“Nothing more than a party trick," he'd shrugged the first time he'd done it.

We'd all been stunned, but hadn't had an opportunity to say anything about it before Oliver was skipping toward the first village, burning it to the ground within minutes.

“Something is wrong with this family," Colton breathed.

“Probably," I said beneath my breath before turning to face our three comrades who were still in their wolf forms.

We moved on to the final two villages along the highway, letting Oliver do his worst. I'd grown accustomed to the painful screeching of the dying vampires over the course of the day, and by the time we reached the final stop along our journey, I barely heard them at all as I instead gazed out toward the horizon, where Crimson Creek was just a glimmer in the low lying sun.

I had no idea what we'd find there. I prayed to whatever gods were listening, or at least watching for the sake of entertainment, that our friends had been spared.

We'd need them. All of them.

Because we were going into the portal to finish this.

***

Crimson Creek was nothing more than a black space against the rolling, barren gray hills. Blood root covered everything–every building, every sidewalk, every window and roof. The train station had blackened, oily vines growing up the sides of its awning. It had been the first time I'd seen blood root grow like vines instead of the dry, moss-like substance that was chalky and ashen. Purple flowers were budding along the vines; some of them bloomed enough to see the blood red petals inside.

I commanded my men to not touch anything as we walked through the village. Oliver was walking ahead of us like he owned the place, kicking a path through the blood root. I realized he'd just been here, after all. He'd spent nearly a month in Crimson Creek while Lena and I were in the vampire realm. He'd come through the portal that glimmered on the horizon as we turned out of the village and walked along the dirt road leading to Gideon's property.

Gideon's house was covered in blood root. The black infection seemed to suffocate the house, closing it off from the outside world completely. I exhaled in annoyance as Oliver kicked open the front door, yelling out for Alma, announcing he was “home."

But I broke into a run, weapons drawn, as a struggle ensued inside. The wolves stayed back, guarding the front door as John, Colton, and I stepped inside. Oliver was flat on his back, his fist raised to protect his face as Gideon delivered blow after blow to Oliver's torso.

“Gideon," I rasped, my eyes widening as he looked up at me. “It's us–Xander, and Oliver."

Gideon's dark eyes were unreadable, unseeing. He blinked several times, bringing his arm up to shield his eyes from the sunlight pouring in through the open front door.

“Shut it!" I hissed at John, who bristled but did as I commanded. Gideon immediately relaxed, then swayed, his body thudding to the ground.

Oliver rolled over, tucking his knees into his chest as he spit blood onto the floorboards. I rushed toward Gideon but stopped short of him as the man, a descendent of those few lower vampires who had been lucky enough to escape their realm of nightmares and slavery to settle here in Crimson Creek, bared his elongated teeth and hissed at me.

“It's me!" I said hoarsely, dropping to my knees in front of him.

“You have a f*****g death wish, Xander," Gideon growled, his eyes darting to my warriors who were standing shellshocked at the front door, weapons drawn. “What the hell are you doing here?"

“Closing the portal, you piece of s**t! You cracked my tooth!" Oliver spit more blood onto the ground before reaching up to cup his jaw, which was already turning a rich shade of purple.

Gideon leaned his back against the wall, huffing a choked laugh as he narrowed his eyes at Oliver.