Kaitlynn took a step closer to the glass. “How much did you give her?”
“Only the one.”
Her eyes narrowed, her lips pouted, and in that moment her smooth loveliness turned hard and ugly. “Wake her.”
Jaden turned to her, one brow lifted in disbelief. “And how would you like me to accomplish that, your highness? Intravenous caffeine?”
Her lips turned up sweetly, but did nothing to dispel the frost in her eyes. “You know, Jaden? Perhaps your usefulness is at an end.”
If he hadn’t been expecting treachery of some kind the rowan stake might have found its mark. Jaden screamed as the stake entered his back, the pain nearly crippling him. He fell to the floor, slowing his heart rate, nearly stopping his breathing as Kaitlynn laughed in delight.
Jaden closed his eyes and lost his hold on consciousness.
On the Dunne farm, Moira sat up from her bed, screaming in horror. Her back bore an ugly, bloody wound, and none of the family could figure out how it got there.
On a private runway just outside Omaha, a blond man with steel gray eyes gasped, his hand going to his back. When he pulled his hand away, it was covered in blood.
Those steel gray eyes glittered like twin stars as the man dashed towards the car waiting for him at the end of the runway.
“Home. Now. Hurry.”
Duncan Malmayne stared out the car window as his driver took off at top speed, his eyes haunted and full of regret as he heard Jaden’s brief mental scream.
“Jaden. Damn you, Kaitlynn.”
Leo knew the moment he stepped onto Malmayne land. Something in it cried out to him, the sound of earth that had been forced to absorb pain, degradation, even murder. The call was faint to his senses, but he knew any full-blooded earth sprite would avoid this place like the plague.
Leo clenched his hands, feeling savagely angry. He had no idea where on the estate Ruby was, but there was one way to find out.
He reached deep down inside himself, to the green pool of peace and tranquility that made up his leprechaun half. Using that energy, Leo extended his essence around the Malmayne property, defining what was his to his leprechaun senses. Cautious, he hoped that the earth would accept him.
His father had told him if the earth did take him in it would be the most incredible experience of his life. If it didn’t, it would be the most incredibly painful.
He felt a tentative caress, the questioning tendrils entering his mind, finding every nook and cranny, every memory, every experience he’d ever had. It lingered over things that confused him (getting drunk on spiked punch on New Year’s when he’d been twelve, throwing up in the bushes) and completely ignored others (most of the women he’d dated didn’t even rate a glance). It watched his memories of his family like video clips, fast forwarding then stopping to watch a clip that particularly interested it. It loved images of his father, lingered like a caress over his mother, and especially loved anything to do with Moira. It skipped a number of Shane memories, possibly because it already knew Shane.
When it hit Ruby, it drew back for a moment, and Leo feared he would be rejected. He felt the earth begin to watch as he purposely began playing his memories, from his first scent of vanilla and peaches, wandering the office to find that elusive scent, to finally meeting her. Those memories drew the earth in as he replayed tasting her. How she barely argued over being essentially kidnapped, all because he needed her to be with him. How she’d been curious, and cautious, but not once had she rejected him on any level, and how he cherished her for that. He knew the earth felt their love.
When the earth took back over, Leo eased off. It replayed his memories of how Ruby had been hurt by Cullen, and he felt its anger.
With a start, Leo realized he was starting to feel what the earth felt. Blood and pain were a distant nausea; he knew the vampire was down. Somehow, he also knew the vampire (“Jaden”, the earth whispered with affection and regret) had tried his damnedest to help both Ruby and Shane. He saw how Jaden had been partially responsible for Shane’s getaway, and felt some remorse for the violent feelings he’d harbored towards the vampire. Like his own private movie show, he saw in fast forward everything Jaden had done, first to help Shane, then to help Ruby, and how the vampire had nearly paid with his life.
With a grin, Leo felt the bond of the leprechaun and his land snap into place like a lover’s first caress, shocking, intimate, and incredibly pleasurable.
He knew where everyone on his land was. What everyone on his land was. He knew Jaden was close to death. He knew Kaitlynn was staring at…
Ruby! He could feel the heavy, drugged sleep his bonded slept under, could feel Kaitlynn’s rage when they couldn’t rouse her. Felt her kick the downed vampire, and knew somehow that Ruby’s drugged state had been no part of Kaitlynn’s plan for her.
Fine, the vampire lives. Leo used the earth to amplify his Sidhe powers, cloaking his presence from all prying eyes. He began cautiously making his way towards the house. Not being fully leprechaun, he couldn’t move with the preternatural speed his father could. However, there were other things being part Sidhe provided. Since he knew where each and every person on the estate was, it was child’s play to cloak their minds. Any sounds he made were automatically assumed to be something natural to whatever part of the estate they were on. With the very earth itself lending him its power, he found he could tamper with the senses of everyone on the estate, even Kaitlynn, without them feeling it.
He stopped abruptly as a new sense filtered in. The pain and death he’d felt hadn’t been Jaden. Jaden was still alive, down below the house.
The death had been Cullen’s. His body was buried on the estate, in the formal gardens he’d loved so much. Kaitlynn had poisoned him.
He felt someone new step onto the property.
“Duncan.” He could see the older man through the earth, sensed his deep well of power, and knew his rage and grief as if it were his own. Changing his plans, Leo moved to intercept him.
“Malmayne,” he whispered in the other man’s ear from ten feet away.
The blond man stopped, his expression wary. “Dunne.”
“You can’t stop me, Malmayne.”
“My sister took your wife, Dunne, and nearly killed my bond-brother. I have no intention of stopping you.”
Leo was startled. A Sidhe of Duncan Malmayne’s prominence would never claim to have a vampire as a bond-brother. The vampire must have done something extraordinary to have Duncan claim him as his own. “Jaden lives. The land is sustaining him.”
Duncan’s silver eyes widened in shock before carefully blanking. “You’ve claimed the land.”
Leo noted he didn’t sound surprised. “How else could I find my wife safely?”
Duncan nodded. “I will, of course, deed the property over to you as a wedding present.”
Leo moved in front of Duncan before removing the cloud from the other man’s senses. “Kaitlynn still needs to pay for what was done to my sister, my brother and Ruby.”
“Your sister?” Duncan frowned, showing no surprise at Leo sudden appearance before him.
“The vampire… Jaden fought her, knocked her unconscious and fed from her just before he took my mate.”
“Ah.” Duncan sighed his understanding. “Your sister is fine. If Jaden truly wished to hurt her, she would have died the moment she touched him. If he allowed her to fight him it was because he was protecting her as best he could.”
Leo raised a brow. “He has a strange way of protecting her.”
“And if your mate had gotten away from him he could have claimed it was because of the fight.”
“A lie without lying?” Duncan nodded, confirming Leo’s thought. “He’s kept Ruby drugged so that Kaitlynn can’t mess with her mind.”
“I’m not surprised. Despite evidence to the contrary Jaden is a good man.” Duncan looked towards the mansion. “Kaitlynn must know we’re here by now. We would be on the security cameras.”
Leo held up his hand as Duncan
started to move towards the house. “I have the senses of every person on this estate clouded except yours, Jaden’s and Ruby’s. No one knows we’re here.”
Duncan stared towards the house, a scowl on his face. “I need to find my father. I need to know why he allowed things to go this far.”
Leo sighed. “Your father is no longer alive.”
Duncan turned back to him, his eyes icily blank. “Excuse me?”
Leo could no longer see Duncan as the earth fed him information rapidly. “Kaitlynn did something to his after-dinner brandy. Curare, I think, but the earth isn’t sure since it didn’t come from here.” Leo shuddered. Kaitlynn had buried her father before he was completely dead. “She buried him in the formal gardens. The earth still screams of his pain.”
The rage and grief coming off Duncan Malmayne increased tenfold. Leo could feel the man’s power radiating off him. Silver sparks danced in the air around him. In the coldest voice Leo had ever heard Duncan whispered, “Leave Kaitlynn to me.”
“Kaitlynn needs to pay for hurting my mate,” Leo growled, his own eyes glowing green.
Duncan smiled, and Leo tried to hide his shiver at the chill in it. “Jaden will be hungry when he wakes up.”
“Feeding a vampire is hardly fitting punishment for the crimes your sister has committed.”
“I never said she’d survive the feeding.” Duncan’s head tilted, as if listening to something only he could hear. “Jaden is…displeased with my sister.” His expression turned feral. “And he has a very vivid imagination.”
Leo moved silently through the front of the house. The few sounds he did make he was able to muffle in the minds of the guards. Duncan was moving around the back of the house, the other Sidhe having decided to use the kitchen entrance. He’d taken out the guards stationed there before heading to intercept Leo. Whether they were loyal to the Malmaynes in general or Kaitlynn in particular would be sorted out later.
He could feel Ruby beneath him, deep in the earth. She was beginning to wake up. Apparently the stimulants Kaitlynn had ordered administered were beginning to work. He could feel Jaden tensing himself, rousing from the half sleep that had kept his heartbeat slow. If Jaden moved to block Kaitlynn, odds were good he wouldn’t survive. The vampire had lost too much blood.
There was another in the room with them, someone the earth found repulsive (“Jeremy West”, the earth whispered). Another vampire, he was tall, with dark hair and eyes, cold in a way Jaden wasn’t. He ignored most of what Kaitlynn was doing, only smiling when Ruby moaned.
That look on West’s face nearly had Leo losing control. The man’s eyes glowed red, and his teeth had dropped.
“He hungers.”
Leo decided enough was enough. To hell with skulking. It was time to see exactly how well a leprechaun and his land worked together.
Ruby opened her eyes, wondering what in the hell she’d been drinking the night before. There was a horrible taste in her mouth. “Wha’ the hell you been feeding me? Road kill?” She moaned.
“Welcome to your new home, human,” a feminine, familiar voice said.
Ruby shut her eyes with a groan. “I’m going back to sleep. Wake me when Leo kills you.” The sharp slap stung even through the drug haze. “Ow.”
“Go back to sleep and I’ll cut off your finger and pour a glass of your blood for the vampire.”
Ruby cautiously peeked, not happy to see Kaitlynn smiling sweetly down at her. “You have spinach stuck in your teeth.”
The blonde reared back, one hand covering her mouth, her eyes horrified. Ruby snickered.
Kaitlynn removed her hand and stood tall and proud. “Allow me to introduce you to a friend of mine.” She waved languidly. A tall, dark-haired man stepped into view. His eyes glowed red and his teeth were pointed. “Jeremy West.” She simpered up at the vampire. “Jeremy, meet your dinner.”
“Swell.” Ruby desperately tried not to tremble at the anticipation she saw in West’s face. The vampire was staring down at her like she was coated in melted Godiva and he was a confirmed chocoholic.
West licked his lips. “Mmm. She’s going to taste sweet.”
Ruby found herself fighting a hysterical laugh. “You have a great future in porno movies.”
His arm snapped up, ready to strike down at her, and she flinched. There was no expression on his face at all. Damn. No sense of humor.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
Huh? I thought Ms. Schizo would adore having me battered.
“Too many bruises and I won’t get Leo’s cooperation.”
Oh. That explains that.
“Besides, I’d prefer to hurt her myself.”
Everything around her went dark.
Leo watched from the shadows as Duncan signaled his readiness to enter the…dungeon, was the only word he could think of to describe it, below the Malmayne estate. He nodded, prepared to move—
The terrified screams ripped into his soul and nearly tore it apart. Gone was any thought of moving silently. He rushed into the room, determined to save Ruby no matter the cost.
She was in some sort of glass and concrete cage. He could see Kaitlynn and Jeremy West standing over her. Her body arched off the slab she was lying on, every muscle straining against invisible shackles. The only breaths she took were to keep screaming.
Kaitlynn smiled, and Leo lost it. The earth trembled beneath his feet. His eyes fell on the electronic lock on the door, and he wondered if he could manipulate it open. It was made of metal, which was of the earth, and was on his land. If that didn’t work he would bring the entire house down to save his mate if he had to.
But before he could move, Jaden was there, ripping the door off its hinges and throwing it away, almost hitting Duncan in the process. Leo flew through the opening, barely catching a glimpse of Jaden collapsing to the floor again with a groan.
“I wouldn’t come any closer, if I were you.”
Leo didn’t even hesitate. The power of the earth surged through him. He rushed forward and backhanded Kaitlynn with all his strength, grimly satisfied when he heard a bone crack. She staggered back, stunned and howling in pain.
Ruby’s screams abruptly cut off.
“Step back, Sidhe.”
He turned to see Ruby held by West. One of West’s hands was wrapped around her throat, the other around her waist. Her feet dangled above the floor, her sweat-drenched hair hanging limp around her pale face. She looked terrified.
“I can snap her neck like a twig.” The tips of West’s fangs poked out to caress his bottom lip obscenely. “Or you can cooperate.”
Leo felt the earth tremble again in response to his rage.
“It’s simple, really.” Kaitlynn caressed her cheek, her expression once again cloyingly sweet. “You take me to mate, and your…Ruby…doesn’t get hurt any more than she’s already been.”
“Choose not to cooperate, and she becomes my lunch.”
“That’s quite enough, Mr. West.” Kaitlynn smoothed out her skirt with shaking hands. “Well, Leo?”
“Do it and you’ll never get any again in your entire long existence.”
Leo’s mouth quirked up at Ruby’s growled order. That was all he’d needed to ensure that Kaitlynn’s plans were destroyed. He shrugged. “I told you my mate doesn’t like to share.” He looked over at West. “And neither do I.”
He only meant to throw the man off balance, Raising a tiny section of the floor a few feet off the ground would have accomplished that nicely, and hopefully startle the other man into letting go of Ruby.
Instead, a full circular foot of concrete, gravel and dirt pushed upward at an alarming rate, smashing West against the ceiling so fast he had no time to react, or even yell. Ruby screamed. Blood and tissue spurted out of the flattened body of the man who’d been holding her, drenching her in the disgusting fluids. The concrete and dirt circle pushed up until the vampire’s arms were severed, dropping a shrieking Ruby to the ground. When she hit the ground he could see
that her shirt and jeans had been torn through in spots, revealing a mass of cuts and scraps that would have to be tended to and soon.
“Oh, God. I’m gonna…”
He watched helplessly as Ruby vomited. He was stunned by what he’d done to West. Bits of the vampire were still dripping down the new column of earth.
At least I’m pretty sure the son of a bitch is dead. Too bad his stomach was threatening to join Ruby’s in the old heave-ho.
“Wash her off, quickly.” Leo turned to find Jaden leaning against the doorjamb, a scowl on his face. “Hurry! His blood is in those wounds!”
“Fuck!” He picked up Ruby and sprinted for the stairs, moving faster than he’d ever done before. He had to wash the vampire blood off of her before it was too late.
He was fairly certain his still heaving mate had no desire to become a vampire.
Duncan glided into the dungeon room, beautiful and dangerous. Jaden watched him with bleary eyes, knowing he didn’t have long before he collapsed again. It would be worth it, though, to see Duncan give his sister the smack-down she deserved.
“Hello, Kaitlynn.”
The Deranged Darling flinched at the sight of her big brother, the livid bruise on her face in stark contrast to the pallor of her skin. “Duncan.” Her voice was slurred, no doubt due to the hit Dunne had landed.
Duncan was staring at Kaitlynn in a very scary way. Jaden watched and wondered what the Sidhe was up to. He doubted it would go the way he hoped. The woman was Duncan’s sister, unfortunately. “Blood debt is owed, and you’re going to pay it.”
“On whose authority?” One brow tried to rise, but then she winced, the action pulling at her bruised cheek.
“On mine, as Lord of Clan Malmayne.” The authority in Duncan’s voice sent shivers down Jaden’s spine. He allowed his teeth to drop, determined to back Duncan with his last drop of blood if need be. If his bond-brother was actually going to make Kaitlynn pay for her crimes then Jaden wanted in on the action, even if he only got to be a spectator.
“Father is lord, not you.” Her chin rose. She almost managed a sneer, but her broken cheek prevented it.
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