“Try again. We have to make sure she’s okay.”
“She’s physically okay,” I growled. “I feel her, Marko. She’s more than okay. She’s on some kind of fucking mission. I can feel her focus—her determination. She’s … like a fucking robot or something. She goes, goes, goes, but then her mind crashes. She gets almost hysterical, and then it’s like she reboots or something. She goes from the lowest of low, to okay again. Happy, even.”
Marko moved in closer. “You feel all of that?”
“It’s getting stronger as I do. She still won’t talk to me though.”
“Is that all you feel?”
The hesitancy was obvious as I broke my stare from him and turned to grab the black hoodie to pull over my head.
“Hunter. I asked you a question.”
“And I don’t want to answer it.”
“Hunter.”
The warning left the hair on my arms standing on end. I turned at my vampire’s defensiveness, baring my fangs through the rage that exploded.
“She sleeps with him and it makes both of us sick afterwards. She is confused and then she changes. What more do you want me to tell you?” I yelled. “I don’t understand what is happening any more than you do. Or she does, I think.”
The sheetrock caved like powder under Marko’s fist. Energy heated the air, swirling through his own fury and I reached out to the wall as the ground began to shake.
“He’s done something to her. He’s fucking done something. God, I will kill him. I will kill him, if I have to kill myself!”
“Calm. Down.”
The roar that left him only caused the surroundings to quake even worse.
“Marko, enough!”
Black eyes met mine and Marko had me pinned to the ground with his weight before I could so much as stop him.
“Show me what she sees. Show me through your connection. I want to look through her eyes. I want to know her thoughts.” His grip was trembling as he held to my face like a vice. “Show me! I want to know what’s wrong with our mate.”
My mouth opened but it was too late. Marko’s powers pushed into me and I felt us freefalling through nothingness. It all happened so fast that I wasn’t able to catch my breath before I was looking at a group of people sitting at a table. At the end sat Marko, grinning smugly as Colin stood behind him, at the door. But … it wasn’t Marko. I went back to his face. He looked oddly different. Even as I stared at him, I couldn’t quite figure out what was off. His eyes were a lot lighter, but that wasn’t it.
“The enforcers will go in first. They can get through the perimeter the members’ inside have set. Once they have taken their position, we will appear in the heart of the city’s great room. At that point, we will make the traitors pay for their treason against our king. I believe their deaths will lure in the imposter and the prince. Things may get heated, but they are not to be harmed under any circumstance. The king and I are more than capable of taking care of things from there.”
I could feel us moving with Tessa’s steps and I knew we were exactly where Marko wanted us. We were seeing what Tessa was. We were … listening to her plan our capture.
“If there are no questions, I call this meeting to an end.”
At the silence, she nodded.
“We attack in one hour. Be ready.”
Air burned my lungs as I sucked in oxygen. Marko’s weight was crushing me and on reflex I pushed his body from mine.
“We have to go,” he panted. “We have to get everyone out of there.”
“What the hell is she thinking?” Coughing left me curling to my side. My body felt as weak as water as I tried to move. “She ratted us out. She …isn’t out our side?”
“Don’t you dare say that. Tessa would never turn her back on us. She said I was an imposter. He’s gotten into her mind. Reprogrammed her like Margo used to do. He took her gift once, and I felt the blankness in Tessa’s thoughts. She is confused, acting on what he is telling her to do.”
My hoodie was grabbed from behind and Marko pulled me to my feet. I could tell he was straining almost just as much as I.
“We have to save the city. We have to get back.”
“How? Look at us? I can barely fucking stand. And you, you’re swaying.”
Sweat was pouring down his face as he shook his head. “Excuses, my friend. That’s what you’re giving me. You’re the soldier. Did you ever quit because your body was incapable of going on?”
I frowned. “No. There was no quitting, only a mission.”
“This is our mission. We can’t afford to lose. All that is known will be lost if we don’t get there before they do.”
A loud bang had both of our heads spinning for the door. Military uniforms registered and men poured into the living room. The shots were immediate—no orders to stand down or to surrender. They were shooting to kill. From the burning of my arm, I knew what they were using weren’t regular bullets.
“The city!”
Marko’s hand locked on mine, but I was already fading. Pain shot through my shoulder and I felt myself get knocked to side. Warm raced toward my fingertips and the distraction made me whole again.
“Dammit, Hunter. Defense.” The air ripple as Marko’s hand shot up to shield us. “I thought we went over this in Seattle.”
“Get us out of here!”
“I can’t yet. Not both of us. I’m still too weak.”
Shots kept going off in the background and my eyes widened as one made it through his protective wall.
“I’m drained. I need time to recoup. I never considered how much it would take out of me to break into Tessa’s mind. And I haven’t fed in three days. We’ve been going nonstop.”
My lids closed as I tried to focus on healing myself. It didn’t work. He wasn’t the only one who was drained. I needed to drink, too. I was bleeding out way too much.
“We have a fucking menu ten feet away. Let’s get better and get the hell out of here.” I groaned, stepping forward on shaky legs.
“You sure you’re up for it?”
My eyes cut over to his. “I took a bullet through the brain and survived. Drop the shield long enough for me to reach over.”
One of Marko’s eyebrows rose. “You’re brave to mention that.”
“You’re weak, I decided to take my chances. Besides, it happened. I can’t erase the past. Tessa lived, as did I. No one hurts more over that than I do. Now drop the wall when I get close enough.”
“And you expect them to just stand there and let you take them? Look, they’re already backing away.”
“Drop the damn wall,” I yelled.
“Fine. When you get shot up because you don’t know how to protect yourself like I taught you, don’t come crying to me.”
“I won’t get shot, old man. Drop. The. Wall.”
Marko growled, but dropped his hand. The shots were immediate. I felt my skin thicken as I forced myself to rush forward as fast as I could. Men scattered, but they were like fish in a barrel. I grabbed two, throwing one toward Marko as I drug the other back. The air rippled again and I didn’t wait as I let my fangs plunge into the soldier’s neck.
Flashes of his life began to blind me and like Marko had taught me, I pushed them away, focusing on the human’s pulse. Warmth gushed into my mouth, so sweet that I moaned at the flavor. Marko hadn’t fed in three days, but it had been longer for me. Four? Five? I couldn’t remember anymore.
An explosion sent ringing into my ears and I knew I was flying through the air. The connection against the wall left air bursting from my lungs. And heat. Yes, was I on fire?”
The high pitch sound wavered and loud yells began to break through. I blinked, seeing men rush upon us. My head jerked to the side and I scrambled to Marko’s body, grabbing his wrist as I faded us out. The panic left my adrenaline going, giving me enough strength to will us away, but I’d only ever made myself disappear, and only a handful of times in the last few days.
Gravity was nonexistent and
my free arm flailed as the floor to the city was suddenly underneath us. The drop was a good thirty feet down and I knew we were going to hit hard.
“Shit!” My voice echoed around me as I braced myself for the impact. Just as I was sure it was coming, we were suddenly hovering an arm’s length away. Footsteps were rushing in our direction and I grunted as we landed the two feet to the floor.
“What happened?” Mistress Price reached for Marko, lowering to her knees as she flipped him over.
“RPG, I think. Fuck I don’t know. We were already weak. He needs blood. Yours. You must feed him. He needs all the strength he can get. Aetas will be here in an hour. They know about us. They mean to kill you all and take me and Marko to lockdown.”
“No.” Mistress Price’s eyes were wide as she looked around at the vampires crowding in. “We must get him better. We have to leave immediately. Where will we go?”
“Not L.A.. Damn place is overrun with military.”
“Dallas?” Niko cut his wrist, placing it before me. I stood, throwing him an appreciative look as I brought it to my lips. The power was so much more than what the human provided. I drank him in deep, feeling my wounds heal almost instantly. My strength surged back through and I watched Marko wake up and clutch to the Mistress’s wrist as he stared in my direction.
For minutes we fed and watched each other. We didn’t need words to communicate our thoughts. He knew I had saved his life, and the proof of my loyalty was one he had needed to see. And, I was getting stronger. We were a team. Just as much mates as we were with Tessa.
“We must go,” Marko said, breaking away from her wrist.
“Dallas?” I wiped the blood from my chin as I followed his suit.
“They will expect that. We go to no cities. We need somewhere closer, but secluded.”
I scoured my thoughts, grinning as the answer became clear.
“The City of the Dead. What place is closer to Axis than that? We’ll be within the walls. No one will ever think to check there. And we’ll be in.”
Marko hesitated for only a moment before he returned my grin. “You’re a fucking genius, my friend. To the City of the Dead.”
Chapter 38
Marko
I swore I would never come back here. That I would avoid the City of the Dead for as long as I could manage. Being faced with the memorial that had kept me imprison for nearly two months was almost unbearable. It was like facing a nightmare I couldn’t escape. But Hunter was right. This was the safest place for our kind. No military would ever be able to breach Axis, and here, we were within reach to both Aetas and Tessa. It didn’t mean we could drop our guard. Even through the city was miles wide and we resided at the far reaches, we stayed on alert at all times. Three days now, to be exact.
“You okay?”
Hunter’s voice had me taking a deep breath as I nodded.
“Yeah. I just had to see it again. You know, face yours fears, so they say.”
“You were bad off when we found you. Real bad.”
My eyes closed as I tried to stop my jaw from clamping down at the memories.
“It was hell. Absolute fucking hell.”
Hunter’s steps grew closer and I glanced over as he became even with me. “You’ll never have to worry about it again. We will not lose. We can’t.”
All I could do was nod. During our three days, we’d made it to Denver and Miami, and didn’t bring many survivors back. My biggest hope was that they were in hiding and they’d come to us when I overthrew Aetas, but nothing was for sure. This might be it for our kind. One hundred-thirty-seven. That was it.
“Tessa just had another episode. Her mind is too strong for Aetas to control for long. The attacks are starting to grow closer together. I worry how much longer this can continue before she breaks completely. Every time he does this, I can’t help but feel he does more harm than good.”
My stomach turned and the sickness was all too real.
“What if we took her, like him?” The question was more of one to myself, but Hunter responded.
“He may find us. You heard Tessa, she wants us to continue with the plan.”
“You feel her—I felt her,” I snapped. “She’s not well. He’s hurting her.” I paused. “But she’d be pissed if she knew I put our kind in jeopardy. I am torn. I have to go to her.”
“You?” Hunter gave me a look of disbelief. “Are you insane? She thinks you’re a traitor. She’ll either try to kill you or have you arrested. Then Aetas wins. Use your head. You’re smarter than that.”
“I am. That’s why I won’t go as myself.”
A confused looked crossed Hunter’s face only to melt away as I felt my skin crawl and tingle.
“Jesus. It’s like what Aetas did with you. Who are you? I don’t recognize your face.”
I shrugged, smiling. I take note of everything. I’m one of the enforcers I saw during Margo and Gina’s trial.”
“And if you run into him up there?”
“Pray I don’t.”
“I want to come. Change me, too.”
I turned, walking toward headquarters.
“Marko. Take me with you. It’s too risky for you to be alone. You need me.”
Hunter caught up to my side and I frowned. “Two of us puts us more in jeopardy. I have to go alone.”
“Bullshit.” He grabbed my arm, pulling me to a stop. “We’re in this together. We’re mates, dammit. Or, we’re mated. Whatever. I have your back and you have mine. We don’t split up. We haven’t throughout our time together and we won’t now. I can protect you if need be. I’m stronger every day. Take me.”
I groaned and locked on this throat, forcing my powers into him. The color of his skin darkened and Hunter jerked as his features changed shape.
“Can’t …breathe.”
I let go, letting him catch his breath.
“Was the throat thing necessary?” Coughing came from his mouth and I rolled my eyes, pulling him in closer to me.
“No, but it was better than the alternative. You really piss me off sometimes.”
“Because I’m right,” He said, rubbing where I had held.
“No more talking or I make you incapable. And no doing anything stupid. We want to blend in, Hunter. I don’t care what you see up there, you restrain yourself, understood?”
My pace increased as we headed through the memorial of the fallen enforcers.
“You’re the one who needs this talk, not me. I’m the one who uses my head. You’re the loose cannon.”
My eyes cut over and Hunter kept the slight smile on his face as he stared ahead.
Never in a million years would I have thought myself able to tolerate the man I once longed to kill. The man I could have killed had I not prolonged it for reasons unclear to me now. Hunter was fast becoming more than a friend. A part of me loved him, and no matter how big or small that part was, it was love. The kind that didn’t fade over time, but prospered. Seeing him grow as a vampire, seeing his trials and protectiveness over me, and the longing he held for Tessa that matched my own—I’d sacrifice myself for him, just as I would for Tessa. Just as I feared I might have to do.
“Hunter.” I slowed, running my fingers through hair that wasn’t there anymore because of the change. “I have to talk to you about something. It’s about what will happen if things don’t go our way. I don’t want you to say anything, but I need you—”
“Nope. We’re not having this talk. Do you know how many soldiers came to me over the years and tried to do this same thing? Do you know how many I listened to? Not one. No, this isn’t happening.”
“Hunter,” I growled. “You have to listen. We’re talking about the existence of our kind. Of the last of us if something happens to me.”
My shirt was fisted and Hunter jerked me inches from his face as his fangs bared. “Nothing is happening to you. Nothing. I won’t let it. Get that through your fucking head right now. You will win and you will rule. That is the outcome.”
&nbs
p; I jerked free, shoving at him hard as I headed toward the elevator. I didn’t bother to turn around to look at him as I continued. “Get Tessa and have her take our kind far away. You all are to stay put until you are able to rule. Tessa has the strength, but not enough to beat Aetas if it comes down to it. You will. You—”
Hunter slammed into my back like a freight train, and I never heard him coming. We hit the ground hard, sliding over the dirt path from our force. Our hands went for each other at the same time and Hunter swung, hitting me right in the jaw.
“Take it back.”
We rolled and I threw my energy into him enough to knock him off.
“You heard me. I won’t take it back.”
“Take it back!” He clawed his way back to his feet and lunged back at me. He was all emotional aggression and I knew he was doing it because he was afraid of something truly happening to me. The realization was enough to deplete my anger. My hands shot up and I quickly sidestepped his attack.
“Fine. Fine.”
“Say you take it back.”
I twisted my mouth at the pants leaving his mouth. “I take it back.”
His anger faded and I couldn’t help the smile that tugged on my lips. “Can we take back your hit, too? Fuck that hurt.” I rubbed my jaw and he laughed, reaching out and pushing against my shoulder as if we hadn’t just been fighting like adolescents.
Was this what it was to have a close friend? I wasn’t sure, but I had something with Hunter and I liked it. Even if he did get under my skin at times.
“I can’t believe you attacked me. Look at us. We’re filthy.” I dusted at the clothes but opted to use my powers instead to clean us up.
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