One Hundred and Twenty-Eight…

One Hundred and Twenty-Eight: Bad Moon Rising

An army of beasts confronted Reznik and Elijah. Beady, luminous eyes challenged, waiting for a fight.

Okay, you furry fuckers. It’s on.

Rez fended off each wolf by slapping it away.

He grabbed one and threw it.

More were coming. As soon as he got rid of one, three more lunged.

Sharp pains stabbed at his ankle. Getting beyond pissed, Reznik kicked the offending animal.

He grasped a shifter’s snout and twisted. It whimpered and cried.

Then it stood back at glowered at Reznik.

Watcha gonna do now? Hmm? I’ll send all you fucks back to hell.

The wolf growled, along with several of his mates.

They backed off as Reznik raised his hands.

Revolving light erupted from his palms, propelled forward.

The beasts cowered, whined.

Reznik laughed for a moment.

Stupid dogs.

He sighed. Suppose I’d better get home and do those immunity spells now.

Something tells me I might be too late...

Thankfully, he wasn’t too late.

All the Haases, Logans, and any girlfriends/boyfriends were ushered to a room in the basement.

Xander Haas wasn’t there. He was also the son of an elder vampire; albeit a deceased one (Jakub). Therefore Xander’s magic was almost as powerful as Reznik’s, and he was in no danger of succumbing to the witch’s curse. Moreover, Xander had returned to Paris a while back.

Miraculously, Tristan and Justin managed to be in the same room together without tearing each other new ones.

“Who wants to go first?” Rez asked looking around.

This is almost going to be fun.

“How about you, Lauren?”

She cowered like those shifters from earlier.

“Aww, come on. It’s not gonna hurt.” Rez chuckled.

She got over it and headed toward him.

But something flashed in Reznik’s mind. A disturbing, painful memory…

Why he remembered it at that precise second, he’d no idea.

And with everything else happening? That only made it weirder.

Maybe it was the frightened look in her eyes that triggered his memory of that horrible night.

Guilt cut through his heart.

How can I even look you in the eyes?

“Do you forgive me? For what I did to you that night fifteen years ago?” He asked it before really thinking.

“I don’t think this is the right time to talk about that.”

“I don’t care. I have to know… do you forgive me? I’ll cast immunity on you either way. I’m just asking because I want to know. I want to know that you’ve forgiven me.”

“Okay. Yeah, I forgave you a long time ago. I promise.”

Reznik hugged her.

“A part of me will always love you, Lauren.”

“Ditto,” she said.

Reznik escorted her a few steps to the left. He began the incantation, chanted some words.

Her body lifted into the air as thunderous bolts struck her.

It only looked painful.

She rushed back to Vaclav once it was over.

“Who wants to go next?”

“He will,” Azura said.

“Okay. Then you can go after Ezra.”

Azura fidgeted. “Well… I don’t really need an immunity spell, Dad.”

“I already have immunity since I’m pregnant.”

Silence.

“I’m happy about the baby this time, since it belongs to Ezra,” she added.

Silence.

“Dad?”

His mind went blank. For a minute he forgot where he was and what he was doing.

Even Lucifer and Lance were stunned, if not a little nervous about Rez’s impending bitch fest.

“HOW COULD YOU LET YOURSELF GET PREGNANT AGAIN?!”

After casting immunity on everyone in the manor, Reznik was in the midst of a crazed tirade.

“Azura! What did we talk about seven, eight months ago? Huh? You swore you’d use protection every single time! And now… THIS?”

“Sorry! Jeez. I didn’t think it would matter either way. I love Ezra and I want to have his baby.”

“Bullshit! You just wanted to see if you could get pregnant, considering you mutilated your body. Could you be any more irresponsible?”

Azura blushed, her eyes lowered in shame. “I’m gonna be almost 18 by the time it’s born. Old enough to make my own decisions.”

“Well God forbid when that happens,” Rez spat.

“And you,” he said turning to Ezra. “How could you knock her up? Didn’t you remember what happened the last time?”

“Just for this, I never should’ve given you immunity,” he bitterly added.

“It never mattered to me either way, Reznik. Azura’s the one who talked me into getting immunity. I cared about her enough to do it. The idea of being a shifter never bothered me except I didn’t want to hurt Azura.”

“And yeah, she’s having a baby. So what? We love each other. That’s what couples do… they fall in love and have kids. You should be happy she’s able to have a baby.”

“It’s not like we can undo this,” Ezra rattled on. “We don’t want to undo this.”

“I should hope you wouldn’t try to undo this,” Rez said eying his daughter. “After the last time when you used a coat hanger—”

“Reznik, that’s enough.” Lauren fidgeted in her chair, her eyes darting from Reznik to Azura.

“Okay. What’s done is done. But are you and Azura going to stay here with everyone else? Until I can either find the witch, or find a way to end this curse?”

“No. We’re going back home,” Azura said.

“I’m perfectly capable of taking care of your daughter.” Ezra’s eyes challenged Reznik. “I’ll ensure nothing happens to her. I get paid to do shit like this all the time, so you don’t need to worry.”

Reznik grunted.

“Have you thought about casting a huge spell on all the shifters in town? One spell to kill them all?”

He regarded his daughter a moment. “I can’t kill the shifters. There’d be no one left in Shadowvale except for us. I have to find another way. A way to turn them all back.”

“I’m sorry Daddy, Mom, that I got pregnant again. But you’ll see. As soon as he’s here, you’ll love him as much as Ezra and I do.”

“He?”

Tentatively, Lucifer tapped on his brother’s shoulder.

“What?” Reznik snapped.

“Can you… do immunity for this girl I know?”

“NO. No more immunity for anyone outside this family. I’m done.”

Lost in worrisome thoughts, Lucifer stared at the wall.

Then he strolled to the foyer and peered in the living area.

The remaining clan mingled inside the room, chatting.

Hunter and his wife cuddled on the sofa, igniting jealousy within Lucifer’s heart.

Jealousy because he never got the opportunity to cuddle with Mila.

And what made it worse?

Cody and his love were practically making out.

They were all planning to live there for a while. Lucifer would have to endure his family’s PDOF every. Single. Day.

It’s not fair. I never had a chance with Mila.

There’s no time to learn the immunity spell on my own. Hell, it took Reznik months just to find it.

I’ll have to set Mila free before she becomes a feral wolf. He couldn’t bear the idea.

“I’m getting fat,” Mila said when Lucifer entered the bedroom.

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re far from fat.” He stepped closer.

“You promise? Because I know I’ve been gaining weight lately.”

Lucifer nodded.

“Mila, we have to talk.”

“About what?”

“You know. It’s about what’s going on in Shadowvale. Those shifters taking over? We have to talk about what we’re going to do.”

“I asked Reznik. He said he won’t do any more immunity spells. There’s no time for me to learn one. I’m not even sure if I’d be powerful enough to pull it off.”