Triquetra

by Marguerite Labbe

  “Stop!” one of the councilmen ordered in a ringing voice as the second guard closed in on me. The conference table stood between us and the door, not to mention the entire Syndicate Council. Fuck. How the hell where we supposed to get out of this one? “Leave them both with us.” He gestured to the other guard on the table, who was scrabbling, trying to right himself in the bloody mess Kayla had made of him. “Take that with you.”

  I lifted my newly loaded gun and pointed it toward the guard, feeling Kayla struggle behind me. “How’s it going back there?”

  “It’s coming. At least, you managed to loosen them somewhat.”

  “Back off,” I warned the guard. He did, pausing to bow before the Council members. He tossed the other guard over his shoulder and left.

  Great. Just great. Now what was I gonna do? Another one of the Council members shut the door, locking it behind the guard. There were only six of them. “We can take them. Can’t we, Kristair?”

  “These are not younglings, Jacob. You won’t find them to be so easy. And there’s Kayla to consider. She could get hurt in a struggle. Let’s not be so hasty. They seem inclined to talk. Let them. It’s not as if you’re truly alone here, so stall for time.”

  “Please sit,” one of the councilmen said, gesturing to the blood-smeared table. “We’ve heard quite a bit about you. Nothing that would’ve led us to believe you’d charge in here so rashly, but intriguing nonetheless. Maybe we were wrong about you.”

  “Yeah, you were. I thought it was me you wanted. You royally fucked up by bringing Kayla into this.”

  “The Ancient One left his secrets behind to someone. When the little girl in Pittsburgh told us it wasn’t you, that left this Kayla Mercer. It had to be someone close to him. It made more sense anyway. She’d been with him for years before you.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief as Kayla slipped my knife back into my pocket. She was free. I reached back and handed her the gun, then drew out the knife for myself. I could do a lot of damage with Kristair’s abilities and that blade. “She doesn’t have what you want and, like you said, I don’t either, so we’re leaving.”

  “I don’t think so. Neither one of you is going anywhere.” He pressed an intercom on the table. “Bring in Chaziel and some extra bindings.”

  I glared at each vampire in turn. None of them made a move toward me and Kayla, but they didn’t seem all that concerned about our weapons either. I got the impression they could take them from us at any time with considerable ease. With any luck, Hugh was already back in the room where he’d left me and cursing my absence. Please god, let him be looking for me.

  Another one of the councilmen approached, moving cautiously, but stopping out of reach. “So you’re the one who killed Roland Montrose.”

  “That’s right, and if you get any closer you’re next.”

  Kayla pressed against my back. Though she was tense, the gun she had pointed in their direction was rock steady. “You’d better have a damn good plan, Jake.”

  “Trust me.”

  “This is not a damn adventure,” she grumbled, then raised her voice to address the Council members. “Who’s Chaziel and what’s he got to do with us?”

  The lone councilwoman gave us a thin smile then sat down on one of the chairs seeming at ease, though I suspected it was a show. The set of her shoulders and the tiny line between her brows betrayed her nerves. “Chaziel is the one who’s going to get into your heads and tell us what we need to know.” She tilted her head to the side and I felt the brief touch of another mind try to probe my own, which I shoved away with a stinging slap. Behind me Kayla shuddered.

  “Keep your filthy mental fingers away from us,” I snarled.

  “You have good shields, both of you, but we can wear you down. If nothing else, listening to each other scream should weaken your will,” she said with a chilling smile. She reminded me of an evil, scrawny bird with her sharp features and inhuman eyes.

  Kristair’s mind stiffened in fury. His outrage must’ve shown on my face because the one closest to me took a hasty step back. “You have no idea what you’re fucking with,” I snarled. “But it really doesn’t matter because you’re all fucked to begin with.”

  The councilman who had spoken first laughed. Before I could ask him what the fuck was so funny they all leaped toward me as one. Kayla’s gun went off as I began to move, letting Kristair meld with my actions until, once again, we moved as one.

  I tried staying close to Kayla, but each feint and attack drew me further away from her. The sound of the gun stopped and I turned to toss her another clip as one of the vamps clocked her in the back of the head. She crumpled into a heap onto the floor, the gun falling out of her hand.

  I rushed toward her with a roar of outrage and shouted again as the rest drove me down. There was a hard blow against my temple and I struggled against the darkness, until another blow dragged me down.

  Chapter 25

  “JACOB, WAKE up. Please, mo chroí.”

  I wasn’t sure if it was Kristair’s voice that brought me around or the excruciating pain in my shoulders. The moment it slammed into me, I wished for oblivion again. I sensed Kristair try to take some of the pain on himself and it eased a bit, though not enough to stop my groan. My head was fuzzy and my stomach roiled with nausea.

  “He’s already coming around,” someone whispered. “Perhaps he is the one.”

  “Then she’s expendable?”

  “No, not yet. What do you think, Chaziel?” The voices echoed and the air smelled of cold, rusty dampness, as a steady dripping sounded from somewhere in the room.

  “Let’s not be hasty, sir. We’ve waited too long to get them. Now that we have them, let’s be sure.”

  “Send some others up to the Council chambers. He may have brought friends,” the woman said.

  I tried to move, but it brought a new wave of white-hot pain that shot through me, banishing the fog. I bit back a scream, tasting blood on my lips, and opened my eyes. I had the quick impression of old tiles, mirrors spider-webbed with cracks, and broken stall doors. I was slumped against the wall, though nobody was holding me up.

  What the hell? I shook my head in disorientation and turned it to see a silver stake driven through my shoulder, pinning me to the wall. An equal pain in the other shoulder told me there was one there too. Clammy sweat broke out on my brow and I retched, tasting bile in the back of my throat. “Oh fuck, Kristair, oh fuck. What the fuck!”

  “It’ll be okay, mo chroí. Once you’re free you’ll be able to heal the damage,” he tried to soothe, though he was even more upset than I was over the situation. “They took you to the showers in the lower level. There are guards all over the place.”

  “Where’s Kayla?” I shouted, terrified by her silence. “Fuck, Kristair, what if they’ve done the same to her? What if—”

  “She’s okay, for the time being. Unconscious and tied up, but that is it. They consider you to be more dangerous.”

  “Lucky fucking me.” Oh fuck, it hurt, even more than when I’d been shot. It was hard to think around the agony that consumed me.

  “You’re lady friend is quite okay.” The first councilman came into my line of sight. “And she’ll remain that way if you cooperate.” He made a gesture and another man approached his side, a young Indian-looking dude, with a high-peaked forehead and dusky skin. “You will let Chaziel into your mind and every time you resist the girl will be hurt. Wake her up,” he ordered.

  I clenched my teeth and took a deep breath, straining against the spikes in my shoulders. The pain increased a hundredfold and I slumped against the tiles, fighting to keep from hurling. My head spun with the agony and fury. Where the fuck was Ussier? Where the fuck was anyone?

  “Kristair, we can’t let this happen!”

  “I’m aware of that.”

  “Then come up with something! You’re supposed to be the brains!” I finally spotted Kayla as the vampires who were standing in front of her moved aside. She had been dumpe
d onto a chair with her hands tied behind her back. She was slumped over, still unconscious. The vamp grabbed her by her hair and slapped her across the face several times until her lashes fluttered. “Wha…?”

  Kristair snarled inside my mind, growling curses. Damn, if only he could take form now, because those guys wouldn’t stand a chance in hell.

  “Welcome back, Ms. Mercer.” The vamp stepped back and Kayla cried out as her eyes lit on me. She struggled against her bonds, trying to stand up.

  “Jake! What did those bastards—”

  There was a sharp crack as one of them slapped her again, the imprint of his hand standing out sharp and red against her cheek. “Shut up,” he said flatly then nodded to a young boy standing in the background next to a huge brute. “Let’s show the human how serious we are.”

  The duo came forward and the big guy grabbed Kayla as the kid ripped open her shirt. Kayla shouted and kicked the boy in the chest, sending him stumbling back as the brute dragged her toward the open showers. “GET YOUR FUCKING FILTHY HANDS OFF HER!” I roared, venting all of Kristair’s and my fury.

  Kayla shrieked as the big guy turned on the water, holding her under the spray, and my eyes widened in horror as the boy approached her with a cattle prod. No, they wouldn’t, not when that guy was still holding her. “No, wait! Don’t!” I tried to move forward and gasped as a lurching wave of pain washed over me.

  “Do something! She’s your daughter. You can’t let this happen.”

  “I CAN’T!” Kristair shouted in frustration and rage, making my temples pound even more. It wasn’t fair. Kristair was as helpless as I was, if not more so. What was happening to both of us sickened him.

  The kid’s expression was vicious as he approached Kayla. I could only watch in rising horror as he touched the prod to her chest. Her screams pierced the air, but the goon holding her only laughed when his arm smoked, as if he got his rocks off on the pain, both Kayla’s and his own.

  Then it was over and Kayla sagged, whimpering as the water ran over her. The vamp looked at me, a sick smile on his face, and I imagined my hands tightening into claws. If I’d had the strength, I’d rip myself from the wall and tear him to shreds.

  “Wait, Kristair. You can take me over, right? You can do it, pull me free.”

  “Jacob, the damage—”

  “Ah don’t care about no fucking damage! Ah’ll heal. Just fuckin’ do it!” I steeled myself against the pain that would come, but Kristair was already mentally shaking his head.

  “You still have a mortal body. You’d pass out and when you woke up again you’d be in the same spot and weaker. We can’t do it.”

  The chairman stopped in front of me, his gray eyes alight in anticipation. When I got a hold of him, he was gonna wish he’d been the one in the shower. “I’m not sure how much she can take. Ari can hold her for however long I want and if he needs to feed to heal, she’ll be rather handy. So I suggest you think about that long and hard.” The vamp gestured to Chaziel. “You may start.”

  “Jacob, I need you to relax as fully as you can,” Kristair urged. “You need to concentrate past the pain.”

  “What fucking good is that going to do?”

  “Remember how Hugh changed into the mist? You can do that, but you have to let go of the pain and the fear you have of changing. You have to trust me. The Ascended couldn’t have foreseen this. It’s at least worth a try.”

  I fought harder as Chaziel approached. I couldn’t even make my fingers twitch, but I kicked. And every jolt sent more agony through my shoulders until I sagged, gasping for air, my chest aching and frozen as the pain stabbed repeatedly throughout my entire body.

  “Please, mo chroí, you’re only hurting yourself further.”

  I jerked my head to the side as Chaziel’s hands came up to touch my temples. “Get away from me! And don’t you dare touch her again!” I shouted, so infuriated I could barely hear Kristair’s pleas in my mind.

  Chaziel’s fingers dug in and I cried out at the mental stab, the touch of his mind oily and obscene. I felt contaminated by it. Kristair retaliated, whipping out a thought, slashing at Chaziel’s psyche, and the vampire staggered back from me, clutching his head with a shout. Once again, Kayla’s screams echoed throughout the bathroom along with the sizzling jolt of electricity.

  “There’s someone else in his mind,” Chaziel rasped, shaking his head and staring at me with glittering eyes. “I’m sure of it now. He is the key.”

  The head vamp lurched toward me with such hunger in his expression that a slither of fear penetrated through my rage. “Tell me what I want to know. Give me the secret to immortality.”

  “Fuck you,” I snarled.

  The vamp’s face went dark with fury. He grabbed the spikes in my shoulders, wrenching and twisting them until metal ground against bone and flesh. I screamed, unable to hold it in. Vaguely I heard through the mind-numbing torment, “Get the girl again. Longer this time.”

  I fought the darkness trying to take me under and I fought Kristair, not hearing what he was saying. However, his will was stronger than my own. Gently, he stole over me, taking possession of my body and forcing my mind to retreat back. “What are ya doing?”

  “The only thing I can do under the circumstances.” Kristair’s frustration lashed out, until he got it under control again. “I know, I promised you I wouldn’t do this, but I can’t watch them torture you anymore. At least I can help you somewhat.” With that, he cut off all sensation to my body. The blessed relief was so overwhelming it took me a moment to realize he hadn’t done the same for himself. He was still experiencing the same agony I had been.

  “Leave her alone,” Kristair snapped coldly through my mouth, the timbre of my voice changing to match his. “She is not a part of this.”

  The vamp stepped back in startled surprise, his eyes widening. Chaziel gasped. “It’s him. It’s the Ancient One.”

  Kristair tensed as the doors burst open. I cried out in relief inside his mind when Tony strode in with a number of others right behind him, including Artemise. Oh thank god, thank fucking god.

  “What is the meaning of this?” the vampire holding Kayla snapped. “Explain yourself, youngling.”

  The councilman in charge turned away from me and gestured to some of his goons. “Just kill him. Kill them all.”

  “No, wait. I know the secret,” Tony said, stepping forward. “I know what you’re looking for and I’ll share it with you, but you have to let them go first.”

  “Kill them,” the leader snarled. The vampires behind Tony pulled out weapons as the rest of the Council and their guards started forward. Imminent violence hung in the air as both sides eyed each other.

  “Wait,” Chaziel said, throwing out his hand and staring hard at Tony. “He’s telling the truth.”

  Kristair went terribly still as horror stole over him. His will wavered, letting me have control over my own body again. I bit my lip, tasting blood as the agony slammed into me again. I almost passed out as he cursed in my mind. “Get your idiot friend to shut up,” he said with terrible intensity.

  “Tony! Don’t!” I didn’t understand what had Kristair so upset, but his urgency infected me. “I don’t understand. How can he know, Kristair?”

  “You went too deep with him. The connection was too strong,” Kristair hissed in frustration. “It had to have been then.”

  Tony’s gaze flickered toward me, then to Kayla, and his mouth tightened. “Well, Castillo, what will it be?”

  “Give me the secret and I’ll let them go.”

  Artemise stepped forward, his cane tapping on the tiles in the sudden silence that followed Castillo’s counteroffer. Tony closed his mouth on the retort I know he was dying to give. “Don’t be ridiculous, child. We’ll have no leverage once you have the secret. Release them.” He looked us over critically. “It’s not as if either Kayla or Jake is in any condition to run.”

  The tension stretched out, but then Castillo made a little half-bow toward Ar
temise. “As you say, Ancient One. Let them go.”

  The big man sneered, but shut off the water and set Kayla down half-senseless on the chair. He glanced at Castillo and at the man’s nod, cut her bonds. She clutched the ragged ends of her shirt together and crossed her arms, lifting anxious eyes to me.

  “Now Jake,” Tony said, with a grim glance at the spikes in my shoulders.

  Castillo made an impatient sound and moved out of the way, gesturing to the hulk. “Go ahead.”

  I braced myself as the vampire approached me, but all the mental psyching in the world couldn’t prepare me for what I felt when he ripped those goddamn spikes out of my body. I fell forward with a sharp scream, my legs giving out on me. I writhed on the ground sobbing, until the pain receded enough for some sense to return. I felt Kristair applying mental pressure, easing the bleeding, and then warmth spread through my shoulders as he began to knit the muscle back together over the gaping, mutilated holes.

  I glanced over and found Kayla out of her chair, fallen onto the tiles. She clenched her jaw together, her eyes fierce, as she dragged her way over to me. Everyone stared, but no one tried to stop her. “Are you okay?” she asked, kneeling next to me, touching my shoulder as she bit her lip.

  “Nice boobs,” I said, the corners of my mouth lifting in a devilish smile. Kayla gave a laugh that sounded suspiciously like a sob.

  “Ass.” She blinked back tears and brushed a wet trickle of blood off my chin. “I love you.”

  “Ditto.”

  “Your friends are free,” Castillo said, spreading his hands. “However, you’ll understand if I don’t hand them over to you right away. Otherwise, I’ll lose my leverage.” His eyes narrowed on Tony. “The secret now, youngling, or she dies.”

  Tony glanced at me. I struggled to push myself up and wrapped my arms around Kayla, trying to shield her as best as I could. They couldn’t strike at her without hitting me first.