The Veiled Series Collection

by Stacey Rourke

  “Ah, the naivety of youth.” Markus nodded to Rutherford, who jabbed his gun barrel to Carter’s forehead.

  “Get on your knees,” Rutherford commanded, his face vacant of remorse or hesitation.

  Raising his hands, palms out, Carter obliged.

  “Why go for the kill, when you can go for the hurt?” Markus asked, his tone conversational. “You will bite her, Miss Larow, or your friend’s head will be hollowed.”

  “Please, no,” Amber whimpered. Legs failing her, she sunk to the ground.

  Catching my stare, a sad smile stole across Carter’s features. “I told you I wanted to find a way to make things right with us. Call their bluff, Vinx. Show them they’re the only monsters here.”

  “So noble! Such self-sacrifice!” Markus bellowed, throwing his hands in the air. Spinning on me, he let them fall to his sides with a slap. “That’s the kind of guy you should hold on to. Or, you can do nothing and be haunted by the memory of being showered in his gray matter. The choice is yours.”

  “Don’t make me do this,” I beseeched the heavens more than the loathsome men lording over me.

  Striding to Amber’s side, Markus caught her upper arm and heaved her to her feet. “I wish there was another way, but sadly we’re out of options. At pivotal moments in history, it takes horrendous acts to open the eyes of the public. You are that awakening.”

  “Don’t listen to him,” Carter said in a soothing whisper. “You harm her and you won’t be able to live with yourself.”

  “Tick tock,” Markus prompted, shoving Amber in my direction. “Don’t let Rutherford make the decision for you. He’s the impatient type.”

  “My trigger finger is getting itchy,” Rutherford confirmed with stoic indifference.

  Amber’s frantic gaze lobbed from me to Markus, and back again. “Please, just let me go. I won’t say a word to anyone, I swear.” Her voice cracked with emotion, a fresh peal of sobs shuddering through her.

  “One girl dies and the rest of you walk out of here.” Maintaining a white-knuckled grip on her arm, Markus’ fingers dug into Amber’s flesh hard enough to sprout a rash of angry purple bruises. “I’ll even help you detox Mihnea so he doesn’t devour you. While I hate to sound like an infomercial, time is running out on this limited time offer.”

  “And then what?” Carter barked, face reddening with helpless frustration. “He paints you as the villain in this to the media? Your life would be over, with the entire country launching a manhunt for your head.”

  Closing my eyes, their shouts and pleas melded together into spikes of confusion that hammered into my temples.

  “I don’t want to die!”

  “Don’t let them make you into something you aren’t.”

  “Smell her fear, give in to your desires.”

  “Let me do this, Vincenza.”

  “I’m begging you, let me go!”

  “What’s it going to be, Miss Larow?”

  “I love you.”

  “Shut him up!” Markus ordered, his mask of calm finally cracking.

  My eyes opened to Rutherford pistol whipping Carter, knocking him out cold.

  Hands balling into fists at my sides, my fangs ripped from my gum line. “Don’t touch him.”

  “That’s entirely up to you.” Markus pulled himself up to full height, glaring down the bridge of his nose at me as if I had shown my hand. “That was just him losing consciousness, imagine how much worse it will be when he’s dead. Time’s up, Vincenza. Someone is got to die. Who’s it going to be?”

  Peering down at Carter’s slumped frame, a red haze of fury clouded the edges of my vision. Amber filled her lungs beside me. A glut of questions rushed through my mind before she could expel it.

  Could I get her out of the way and use Markus as leverage?

  Was I quick enough to take both men out before they hurt anyone?

  Would Rau truly be an enraged beast when he awoke? Was I powerful enough to subdue him?

  So many questions, yet one crucial quandary completely escaped me: Had anyone noticed the nail file in the pocket of my blazer?

  The failure to consider that detail is why it came as a complete surprise when Amber snatched it and buried it handle-deep in my chest.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Failure Analysis — The process of collecting and analyzing data to determine the cause of a failure.

  The file slid in like melted butter, colliding with my ribcage and chipping off a shard of bone. Glancing down, I tried to make sense of the manicuring tool jutting out of my stomach or the searing ache that accompanied it.

  Pain aside, I was still standing … for the moment at least.

  “I-It’s silver,” Amber stammered, staring at the file as if expecting an explanation. “Why aren’t you burning?”

  “Why indeed?” Tapping his chin with his index finger, Markus pantomimed confusion. “A vampire impervious to the effects of silver. Have you ever heard of such a thing, Rutherford?”

  “It boggles the mind,” the glorified yes-man responded without an iota of conviction.

  “You knew,” I croaked. Wobbling, I struggled to keep my legs under me. “You knew my parents, and you know what I am. You drugged Finn to attack us to make it look like vampires were … killing those who publicly opposed them.”

  Closing the distance between us, Markus’ shoes scuffed across the floor. “That would wrap this all up in a pretty little bow, wouldn’t it? Grant you the closure your darkened heart needs? Unfortunately, answers to the questions truly worth knowing never come that easy.” Hand closing around the file, he twisted it, and yanked it out in one smooth motion. Blood filled my mouth, seeping between my teeth. Dots danced before my eyes. All while Markus held the file up to the light, turning it over to admire the thick sheen of garnet coating it. “In this case, the truth is bigger than you or I. CliffsNotes version? Your parents were narrow-sighted innovators, taken out by their competition. Rumor has it you’ve even met the mastermind behind it, although I’m sure you don’t remember. He has ways of remaining anonymous.” Turning on the ball of his foot, Markus balanced the nail file between his index fingers.

  Hands over my stomach, tepid stickiness soaked through my shirt and coated my fingers. “Please … just tell me his name.”

  Ignoring my plea, Markus strolled across the hangar, pausing to impose instruction on Rutherford. “Keep an eye on both of them. If either try to run, shoot them in the leg.”

  “Gladly,” the misguided coroner grumbled, adjusting his grip on the gun.

  Energy fading, I glanced to Carter in desperation. Despite the pain and odds rapidly stacking against us, an almost smile tugged at my lips. Still pretending to be unconscious, he had subtly maneuvered his phone out of his pocket. Propped up against his supposedly slack hand, the brilliant bastard was recording every minute of our ordeal.

  There was hope. It was grisly and covered in blood, but it was there.

  A heartening prospect to behold even as Markus seized Rau by the hair and swiped the bloody file across his lips. The vampire lord’s skin sizzled, but only for a moment before my blood shielded him from the burn. Rousing, Rau’s tongue flicked out to taste the offering.

  “He’s waking him up. Why is he waking him up?” Amber yelped, trembling like an anxious Chihuahua.

  Head rolling her way, I blinked through the haze of rapid blood loss. “Now you’ve got two vampires on your hands. Remember when I was the worst of your problems? Those were the fucking days, huh?”

  Rau’s eyes snapped open, unveiling ruby orbs of hunger and hate. His movement was paranormal poetry, floating him up to a defensive crouch. Features more beast than man, his lip curled into a vicious snarl. “All this time, you’ve been right beside me, and I never knew the truth.”

  Palms raised, I did my best to pump the brakes on the hydroplaning s
ituation. “It’s me, Rau. I’m still the same person.” My appeal trailed off when Amber side-stepped to hide behind me. “Seriously? If you wanted me to fight for you, you probably shouldn’t have skewered me.”

  Head slanted, Rau’s murderous glare traveled the length of me as if seeing me for the first time. “You’ve never been one of us. Yet you infiltrated our hive, made us trust you.”

  “That’s right, I did.” Planting my feet firm, I owned my truth. “I started all of this looking for answers, and instead I found a place where I fit … where I was needed. I hadn’t felt that since my family died, and I don’t want to lose it now.”

  “Shut up!” Jaws snapping, spittle flew from his bared teeth. “You know nothing of family. Family doesn’t lie. It doesn’t deceive. Anything that does is a threat, and threats must be eliminated.”

  Every cell of my body screamed for me to prep for the fight. Ignoring the pull of those instincts, I retracted my fangs. I would allow myself no show of aggression against the man who had inadvertently become my mentor. “Remember what I said to you in the limo? That I’d lead until you found your footing? I’m fumbling, Rau. I need you to lead.”

  “I can smell your blood now. How did you mask it before?” Rau asked, tongue teasing over the tip of one fang.

  “One taste of her blood made you impervious to silver.” Markus skirted along the perimeter of the room, injecting his venom from a more secure distance. “Imagine what you could do if you drained her. There’s a chance you could feel the sun on your skin after all these centuries. Kill them. Kill them both, and taste freedoms you thought had forsaken you.”

  Sniffing the air, Rau’s eyes rolled back with orgasmic delight. “I trusted you … confided in you.”

  “You still can,” I interjected with as much fervor as I could muster in my battle to remain upright.

  “No,” Rau rumbled, staring down at clawed hands that matched the silvery hue of a full moon on a cloudless night. “You don’t know the pull of what’s being offered. To feel the sunlight on my skin. To find sustenance from food, and not the pain and death of others …”

  “One last kill, to change your life forever,” Markus pointed out. While the lift of his shoulder was casual, the intensity of his stare was fixed and demanding. “Embrace the hunger. Submit, one last time.”

  As Rau prowled a slow circle around us, Rutherford mirrored his steps to keep us pinned in. “Talk to me, Markus. They usually go rabid dog by now. Why is he still up and talking?”

  Markus beamed like a proud parent. “Because, he’s older and stronger than the rest. He’s fighting the pull. Rest assured, it will win in the end. It always does.”

  Amber’s hands clamped onto my arms, clinging to me as she sobbed and snotted against my back. “He’s going to kill us. We’re going to die.”

  Rolling his head like a boxer entering the ring, Rau shivered from head to foot. “I don’t want to hurt anyone. Never did. But, I … am … famished.” A sickening knot twisted in my gut, Rau’s stare shifting from me, to Amber, and back again. “Eeny, meenie, miny, moe.”

  “This is it. Oh God, oh God, oh God.” Amber hiccupped.

  “Shut up!” I hissed over my shoulder. Planting my feet, I straightened my spine as much as the hot-poker of pain in my gut would allow and locked stares with Rau. “You don’t want her. She’s just another human. A meal and nothing more. You want to walk in the sun? I’m your best shot at that.”

  “You’re like a daughter to me.” As I watched, his pupils dilated to black pits of desire. “She’s a question mark.”

  “A daughter that lied and deceived you,” inserting the reminder, I tempted him by inching his way. “You said so yourself.”

  Saliva dripping from his fangs, Rau prowled closer. As his nostrils twitched, he closed his eyes to relish my scent.

  Giving up his act, Carter pushed himself up on one elbow. Video capturing every moment, his stare darted around the room for some way to intervene. Mentally, I willed him to lay back down and keep himself safely out of the equation. Not that I thought such a flight of fantasy would do any good.

  So fixated was I on Rau that I didn’t notice Amber’s building tizzy until she shoved me aside and ripped off the mask. “It’s too much. I can’t take it. I want this over with!”

  One look, and I knew she was about to do something monumentally idiotic. “Amber, whatever you’re thinking, don’t.”

  “If you’re going to kill me, just do it!” Digging the pointed edge of the mask into her wrist, she dragged it up her forearm. Skin splitting in a bloody gush, a whimper seeped from her clamped lips.

  Rau jerked with a jolt, head snapping her way with lethal interest.

  “What an enticing development,” Markus chuckled, dragging his tongue over his lower lip.

  “Girl, you are a special kind of stupid.” Forcing the words through my teeth, I shoved two fingers into my closing wound, tearing the tissue back open. Breakers of pain licked through my chest, setting fire to every nerve. Raising my hand over my head, I let the blood stream down my arm, falling to the floor in heavy splats. “I’m the one you want, Rau. Take your aggression out on me, but don’t hurt her.”

  Rau paused mid-prowl, watery red eyes swinging my way.

  “I’m already dead,” I whispered softly. “My life ended on that attic floor with a train whistle blowing in the distance. Let this be my penance for deceiving you.”

  “Now or never, Mihnea,” Markus boomed, drawing his gun from the back waistband of his trousers. “Choose one, or watch them both die.”

  If Rau heard Markus’ threat, it bounced right off his slithering prowl.

  Carter stayed hunkered to the ground, his phone captured every moment.

  Hands falling to my sides, the weight of inevitability settled on my shoulders. “Prove your father wrong. You aren’t a demon. You’re not cursed.”

  Despite his swollen and snarling features, Rau’s head tilted with something that resembled affection. “My dear child, if I hurt you, that’s exactly what I am.”

  Before the scream could form on my lips, Rau moved in a dizzying blur. Pinning Amber’s body to his, his fangs sank into the pulse of her offered throat.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Breakthrough – An act or instance of removing or surpassing an obstruction or restriction.

  Legs failing me in the same fashion I failed Amber, the ground rose to meet me. Whether it was blood-loss or the crushing weight of defeat that slammed my knees into the concrete, I couldn’t say. But there I knelt, flummoxed in a growing crimson puddle. Casting my stare to Amber’s discarded mask, there was no escaping the noisy slurps of Rau draining the life from her.

  “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” I professed, the words tumbling from my lips in a heartfelt confession. “It’s all my fault. I thought I could do this. I thought I was strong enough … driven enough.”

  “Ugh, blubbering is so tiresome,” Markus groaned. Plucking the tranquilizer gun from Rutherford’s hidden holster, he aimed and delivered three darts into Rau’s back. A squeak snuck from my lips as the feeding vamp crumpled over the body of his lifeless prey. Tossing the gun aside, Markus let it clatter to the ground. Its sharp crack resonated around me in a taunting echo. Hitching up the legs of his pants to allow himself ease of movement, Markus squatted down beside me. His husky voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. “You have to see this as the simplistic lesson in nature it is. This is a pure blood Nosferatu in their most real and brutal form. Look at what he’s capable of. He was created for savagery. This is his true nature, what he was meant to be. Pull back the glossed-up mask of the wolf in sheep’s clothing and marvel at the fanged beast beneath. This is why their kind has no place among civilized people.”

  Exhausted from the tears and gore raining out of me, I wilted back on my heels and met his hate head-on. “Civilized? Is that what you call
what happened here?”

  “This was done out of necessity.” Markus shrugged. Purposely ignoring my aghast outrage, he jerked his chin in Amber’s depleted direction. “That, on the other hand, was done out of pleasure.”

  “You drugged him,” I slurred, blinking hard to clear my blurring vision.

  “True enough.” With a small chuckle, meant to appease me, Markus’ lips twisted to the side. “But the drug can’t bring out anything that doesn’t already live within him. He’s a pedigreed beast, thirsting for carnage. While you,” catching a lock of my hair, he twisted it around his finger and gave it a tug, “you’re a half-breed mutt that doesn’t fit in their world or ours. It’s good for you to see him like this—torn away from the illusion he cocooned himself in—to spare you from dying convinced of the lie.” Standing, he shook out his cramping legs and gave the briefest nod to Rutherford.

  The safety of a gun was released with a metallic clink in my ear and cold steal kissed my temple.

  “And, Vincenza,” Markus affirmed, Rutherford taking the position of executioner behind me, “you are going to die.”

  “That statement might be a tad premature.” Pushing off one elbow, Carter, the forgotten about cast-off, lifted from the ground to assume a bold, wide-legged stance. Out in front of him, he held up his phone for all to see. “Smile, gentlemen, the world is watching.”

  Face noticeably absent of even a flicker of emotion, Markus hid his gun behind his back and gestured for Rutherford to do the same. Cheeks blooming the deep scarlet of repressed rage, Rutherford begrudgingly followed suit.

  Phone balanced between his index fingers and thumbs, Carter performed a slow and steady side-step in my direction. “I’m guessing you boys have a lot of questions right now. Am I telling the truth? If so, how long has the camera been on? Is this the moment you got caught with your hand in the cookie jar? And, most importantly, how can you take Vinx and I out with the world watching? Let me give you a hint, the answer to that last one is … you can’t. You lay one hand on us, and your lives and careers are over.”