Blood Reunited

by Amber Belldene

  Sadavir narrowed his eyes. “A bit of pleasure is enough to defect?”

  “No. A lifetime of hate imposed out of fear of that pleasure and its possibilities—that is reason enough to defect.”

  Sadavir turned toward Loki and gave a silent nod.

  “Nceba has my allegiance,” Derek continued. “And with her the Justicia. I will tell the Hunters everything I know about Ethan Bennett’s betrayal and about vampires. I believe they may turn from him.”

  “Then it is decided.” Loki smiled, his cheeks pink like a cheerful garden gnome. “We will not attack the Hunters with violence. We will attack them with bliss.”

  Loki gestured at Sadavir, who rose as gracefully as he had danced the night before. “I have endorsed this plan, and have already reached out to the vampires I trust most. They have agreed to kidnap Hunters, and show them their households are run freely and fairly. The vampires will feed upon the Hunters, and we can only hope they find the experience as enlightening as Mr. Williams.” A few chuckles sounded. “I ask that each of you do the same. We must act fast and in great numbers.”

  “And at the same time,” Loki said. “Derek will stand up in opposition to Ethan and propose a truce.”

  “I’ll aim for a reconciliation,” Derek corrected, “but settle for a truce.”

  Bel scratched his stubbly chin. Williams had big bollocks, if he was serious about negotiating an end to a five-thousand-year war.

  Loki’s eyes flashed with approval. “Lucas will coordinate both missions—the top down attack on Ethan and the friendly kidnapping of Hunters. Uta, you will go to Turkey to find the halfling Ayal and confirm the effects of Hunter blood. Do you know where to find her?”

  Uta buffed her fingernails on an impossibly soft looking shirt. “It is not a problem. I know the ancient place names. Some minor research will be required to confirm their locations.”

  “I have a contact in Eastern Turkey,” Trys said. She hadn’t spoken in the Justicia meetings before and everyone turned to look at her. “She has an extensive historical library and knows the region well. If she doesn’t have what you need, she will know who does.”

  Loki brought his palms together in a burst of applause. “Excellent. See to the arrangements. Bel, you will travel with Uta to pursue the cure.”

  A million objections screamed in Bel’s head like the blaring of a car alarm. He had to monitor his subjects, and continue his research, and stay the hell away from Uta. But he simply could not turn down the opportunity. Minutes ago he’d realized he needed to observe an exiled vampire returning home, essentially a before-and-after test, in order to finally understand the wasting disease.

  The room’s focus shifted to Bel like he was the disappointing main act after a killer opening band. Every face watching him looked to be expecting an argument.

  He did enjoy defying expectations. “Sure thing, boss. But I will need to visit Croatia with Uta on the return trip.”

  Uta frowned, clearly puzzled.

  He grinned. “Oh, and, Uta, I will need to take some samples of your blood, to test your theories.”

  She opened her mouth to speak, but Loki cut her off. “Excellent. Lexi will remain in contact with your test subjects. Pedro Torres, you will travel with them to meet Ayal. You must find those grapevines from your book. Between you and Bel, I hope one of you will cure the wasting disease forever.”

  Pedro stood so fast his chair tipped over backward. “I can’t travel without Lucas and he’s needed here.”

  Andre rose. “Surely, Bel can search for these vines. Or me—”

  “Of those who possess the necessary expertise in wine, only Pedro can see the peculiarly golden leaves.”

  “Loki, I only feed from Lucas. We cannot be apart.” Panic tightened Pedro’s whisper.

  “You will take Leo.”

  Pedro’s bronze complexion went gray, but Loki moved on.

  “I hereby close this meeting of the Justicia.”

  The other nine members of the council stood and said as one, “To the homeland.”

  “Indeed, to the homeland.” Loki smiled a peculiar smile, both knowing and hopeful. Like a contagion, his optimism spread around the room, and both vampires and humans murmured with excitement. Bel took a deep breath. Soon he would observe how the nostalgic bond worked firsthand, and then surely he could find a way to replicate it.

  Uta appeared at his side vampire-fast and began issuing commands. “We will take Loki’s plane, leaving at sunset.”

  “My plane, Uta. It’s bigger.”

  He stood tall and ignored the snickers and the muttered “Let’s hope so” from Pedro.

  “And we leave as soon as you pack up all five of your suitcases,” Bel added.

  Her long, slim middle finger thrust skyward. He spun and stormed out of the room.

  Chapter 29

  LUCAS COULDN’T SHAKE THE SENSE of dread dragging him down; not a wet blanket, more like an entire bodysuit made of that lead cloth that shielded a patient from X-rays.

  He’d vomited up his coffee, which could have just been more stress. But the blood streaking the brown bile suggested otherwise. If Pedro knew, he would insist on staying, and they couldn’t risk that. Loki was right. Finding a cure was the most important thing, and if there were acres of Blood Vine growing somewhere in Turkey, Pedro needed to find it.

  Dangling his legs from the high antique bed he now shared with Pedro, his toes barely touched the floor. Standing between his knees, Pedro squeezed him in a tight embrace. The pressure kicked up another wave of nausea, and Lucas sucked in a breath.

  “Please, mi amor, let me turn you. Andre and Kos will look out for you while I’m gone.”

  Lucas probably should let him, but he would lose days to the process of turning—critical days in Derek’s coup against Ethan. And there was the other, less noble problem.

  “I don’t want to watch you feed from that kid for the rest of my immortal life. The moment you touched him I wanted to kill you both.”

  “We’ll find a girl Hunter as soon as I get back. Someone non-threatening.” Pedro stroked Lucas’s spine.

  Being sick didn’t make him less jealous, not even a hair. “Great. That way I can watch you work out your mommy issues too.”

  Pedro stiffened and Lucas regretted provoking him, but fuck—the jealousy turned his angry stomach over and over.

  “I’m sorry. I’m not saying never.” He pressed his cheek into Pedro’s chest. “I like the idea of forever with you. I’m just not ready yet. We have to take Ethan down first.”

  Pedro pulled back to look him in the eye. “If Hunters attack again—”

  “That shield has withstood major firebombing. This is the safest place on earth from my brother.”

  “I don’t want to leave you. What if I get ambushed by Hunters and never return?”

  “Then you should know how grateful I am.” He brushed his fingertips down Pedro’s cheek. “You saved me from that life, helped me become someone I’m proud of.”

  Pedro stepped back and crossed his arms over his chest. “If you start saying goodbye, I am not leaving.”

  “No, not goodbye. Just thank you, for loving me in spite of impossible odds. If, God forbid, something did happen to me, I could die a happy man.”

  “Jesu Cristo, Lucas, I don’t need this. I need shit talk and ass slapping. I need you to call me a pussy and tell me it’s all gonna work out.”

  Inside, Lucas melted with compassion for his big strong vampire, but he couldn’t let him off the hook yet. “Tell me you heard what I said.”

  Pedro’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “Yeah. I heard it.”

  Lucas held his gaze for one more second before he slapped his ass. “Now, big boy, go save the vampire world.”

  Pedro took his hand, and they walked downstairs and through the cellar to the workroom, where Bel’s van waited.

  Lucas shook Leo’s hand, but the kid only held eye contact for a nanosecond. Lucas guessed he’d figured out what was at stake f
or them, and so Lucas clapped him on the shoulder.

  “Take care of my man.”

  “Hey, Lucas, I didn’t mean to cause—”

  “I know. And I’m serious. I’m counting on you to look out for him.”

  Leo stood taller. “I’ll do my best.”

  From behind the young Hunter, Pedro cast Lucas a grateful look.

  Bel extended his hand. “Good luck, man. I’ve got a good feeling about your plan. Its irony appeals to me. And that Derek has—”

  “Cojones.”

  Lucas smiled at his man. Yeah, Derek did, and he would need them.

  And then Uta appeared, trailing suitcases. Bel turned without a word to her and climbed all the way into the back of the van. Uta stared after him with such forlorn longing that Lucas forgot his own worries. Well, well, well—look what lurked inside her spiky armor. She brushed away a lock of enviably thick auburn hair, and behind that gesture, she arranged her face like a mask and climbed into the van.

  Pedro pulled Lucas into one last hug, whispering in his ear, “Promise me you will take care of yourself. I need you.”

  Lucas shivered, his lover’s desperation resounding in his bones. “I promise.”

  Their lips met in the lightest of kisses, and then all the vampires were shut into the sunproof vehicle. Lucas opened up the rolling door, flooding the workroom with morning light. The van drove off into the sunshine toward another dark hangar where they could board a sunproof airplane.

  When they were out of sight on the winding drive, Lucas closed the door. His stomach grumbled, and because he’d promised, he headed to the kitchen for breakfast.

  Lena hummed out of tune—a song from the eighties that she wasn’t old enough to remember. Everything about the fresh-faced youngster reminded Lucas he was aging and vampires didn’t. Even if he weren’t sick, how many years could he expect to last for Pedro as a human?

  “Coffee?” she asked.

  “No thanks. I’ve been hitting it too hard.”

  “I have scones, or I can scramble you some eggs,” she offered.

  “Maybe just some toast.”

  She tilted her head, looking too intently at him. Then she opened the fridge and took out a small container of yogurt. “This is good on a queasy stomach. Sourdough toast all right?”

  “Great, thanks.”

  He sat down at the table, his fingers twitching for his laptop. But he forced himself to breathe through the anxiety.

  Slow down; try to eat.

  Outside, the sunlight caught on the dewy new grass, blanketing the blackened earth with a deceptively green sheen. It was so beautiful he could almost muster up a sense of hope. Then the toast sprung out of the toaster with a loud click and he jumped. Its slightly burned smell turned his gut, and the nausea demanded all his attention, leaving no room for optimism.

  Chapter 30

  THE SUN GLINTED THROUGH OAK TREES lining the rural highway. Gwen used her hand as a visor, squinting at the landscape. The wine country vistas of gentle golden hills soothed her. How could anything bad happen in such an idyllic place?

  “That is the drive to the estate,” Ethan said. He pulled off the road and rolled to a stop in a wide patch of gravel where countless cars must have previously turned one hundred and eighty degrees.

  Her stomach followed suit, spinning in what felt like a vertical three-sixty. She hiccupped.

  “You can do this, Gwen. You are the bravest woman I have ever met.”

  She twisted in the seat to face him squarely. “Masochism requires a different kind of courage than vampire Hunting, Ethan.”

  “Nonsense. Your convictions will keep you focused.” It was the moment for an embrace, or at least a pat on the knee, but he stared over the dashboard. “About Zoey.”

  Gwen’s fists clenched around the straps of her backpack. “I understand. I will try to persuade her to leave with your offer of sanctuary. But if Marasović is anything like Mas—”

  “I cannot predict what she will do. I have never been able to, in fact. But if you did not offer, I fear I might always regret it. It is, after all, my fault she is there in the first place.”

  Said the man who sent his own lambs to the slaughter to serve his greater aims.

  Whatever this Zoey woman was to him, it wasn’t a potential regret. Only hours ago, Gwen had surrendered her ego, felt her very self slip away in submission to him. And yet, here it was again, rearing up and demanding something—to be special, to be chosen, not to compete with another woman for his excruciating devotion. She couldn’t belong to him, lose herself to him, if he wanted this Zoey instead.

  “Of course you would, Ethan. I will do my best. If need be, I’ll even tell her about what Mason did to me.” Although Lena had probably confided her experience as Mason’s prisoner to them already, she’d endured nothing compared to Gwen’s six-month long torture. Gwen had required a medical leave of absence and ongoing psychiatric care until Ethan appeared, providing to her, by brute force, all the neuro-chemicals she needed: adrenaline, endorphins, and oxytocin in their perfect, divine ratio.

  “Do I sense some misgivings about her?” He could read her every gesture and tone. Of course he would intuit her jealousy.

  In reply, she forced a smile that probably looked more like a grimace.

  He grazed a single knuckle down her cheek. “I will not lie to you—I have an attachment to Zoey. But it is nothing like what is between us, Gwen. Do you understand?”

  “All I can know is my own…” The word on her tongue felt wrong even though it was right. “My heart. It is yours to do with as you please.”

  His gaze roved over her face until it settled on her eyes. “All of my life I have hidden, but you saw past my deceptions, and still you gave yourself to me.”

  She needed this confession, needed it to carry with her on what easily could be a suicide mission, or the recruiting of another lover for him. But she shied from his vulnerability at the same time his revelation stroked the very ego she wanted him to destroy. Too many paradoxes—she needed him to be heartless, and to love her. She wanted him to adore her, and care nothing for her feelings or well-being.

  In the face of contradictions like these, the wisest course was always to turn and run the other way. She put her hand on the door handle. “Off I go to ring the doorbell on the pit of vipers.”

  “Gwen.” The intensity in his voice drew her gaze once more. “Please be careful. I know you can hold your own, but I want you, need you to come back to me.”

  “If that is what you want, then you know I will obey.” She swung open the door and stepped onto the driveway, marching up to the shield of the Kaštel Estate. A line separating burned grass from lush landscaping indicated where the shield rose up from the ground. She stopped a few feet from it. What now?

  The idea came to her with a snort, and she opened her mouth to shout. “I come in peace.”

  Chapter 31

  ONCE LUCAS MASTERED HIS STOMACH’S REBELLION, he spread the thinnest layer of butter he could manage onto his toast. A woman’s voice came to him, shouting in the distance.

  “Do you hear that?”

  Lena nodded. Lucas stood so fast his ears rang. More slowly, he headed to the door.

  She put down her dishtowel and followed him. When they reached the foyer, she peered out the window and gasped.

  Kos blurred down the stairs. “Who’s shouting?”

  “Gwen,” Lena whispered, pointing.

  A wave of dread rolled over Lucas. “As in Ethan’s girlfriend?”

  Lena nodded.

  “Ignore her,” Kos said. Lucas whole heartedly agreed.

  But Lena took a step toward the door. “What if she’s running from him?”

  Kos embraced Lena, stroking her hair. “Sweetheart, no. It’s too dangerous. What if it’s a trap?”

  “Mason damaged her, Kos.” Her words were a whimper. “Maybe she wants to change sides. And what if she knows something?”

  Lucas strode to the window.

>   Gwen stood outside the shield, cupping her hands around her mouth to shout, “Help me!”

  “Lena’s right,” he said, though he hated to admit it. Letting her in might be a necessary evil. “Gwen may know Ethan’s next moves.” Lucas swung open the door, the little woman offered up a sad smile from where she stood several yards away. If she was unarmed, she could just walk right through, but he wasn’t going to tell her that.

  “You must be Ethan’s brother,” she said.

  “Andre, Loki—in the foyer,” Kos shouted.

  Lena squeezed in beside Lucas. “What are you doing here, Gwen?”

  “This is the only place I’ll be safe, and I knew you would understand.”

  “Let me see,” Andre boomed from behind them, safely away from the sunset.

  Lucas stepped aside to clear his line of sight.

  “Davo, what the hell do I look like—a home for lost and injured Hunters?”

  “Who is she?” Loki appeared with Zoey on his heels.

  Zoey’s face mirrored the revulsion Lucas felt. Only the two of them truly understood Ethan—well, and perhaps this Gwen. Seeing her was a bit like staring the most sick and pathetic part of his own psyche in the face. He had no objections to playing rough, had known some perfectly nice leather-types in his life, but Ethan’s brand of sadism was enough to turn his stomach yet again. Good thing he had only eaten that one bite of toast.

  He cleared the bile from his throat with a cough. “Her name is Gwen Evans, and she’s Ethan’s pet masochist. She says she wants sanctuary.”

  “Please,” she cried. “I have nowhere else to go.”

  “She can fuck off,” Zoey said, and her knuckles cracked as she formed two deceptively feminine fists.

  “Indeed,” Andre said.

  “Wait.” The words came from two sides of the room—Loki and Lena.

  Oh hell. Lucas’s heart pounded loud in his ears.

  Loki propped his foot on the seat of a straight-backed chair and rested an elbow on his raised knee, leaning forward. “Maras, you now have a vacant cell in your workroom. What is the harm in keeping her there for interrogation?”