Blood Shadows

by Lindsay J. Pryor

  ‘Scared of what I’ll see? That I’ll know the truth, Kane? About how you’ve played me?’

  Redness rimmed his eyes as he was already getting drawn in with her, their energies beginning to mingle. ‘Caitlin, don’t do this.’

  ‘How do I kill the soul ripper?’

  He heaved a sigh in a way that was almost human. ‘Take your hand off me.’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Do it!’

  ‘Why? Is the pulse close? Can you feel it coming? It’s not nice when you feel the clock ticking, is it, Kane?’ Her gaze on his didn’t relinquish. ‘You know what you have to do.’

  ‘I have told you.’ His eyes started to water, whether from fighting her, she wasn’t sure. Maybe from frustration or anger. ‘Caitlin, you’ve got to believe me.’

  ‘And I will when I see the truth.’

  ‘Stop this.’

  ‘Stop fighting me,’ she said.

  ‘I will not.’

  ‘You can’t beat me in this state. Master vampire or not.’

  His jaw clenched, his teeth gritted, his eyes narrowed as he turned his head to the side, trying to break away from her.

  The energy started to increase – she could feel the drag of the current beneath her hand. The tide was coming and it was building. She felt the trance start to come over her as she always did those moments before. A trance that would allow her to travel deep, to feel every impulse, to tune into the darkness that was within them, like slipping into a dream, everything beginning to merge, disassociated images starting to flicker in front of her eyes.

  And it was an intense energy building beneath her palm, an energy like she’d never known. An energy that was dark, powerful and unfathomable. This wasn’t going to be a gentle wave. It was like the silence before the storm, a distant rumble then an unnerving hush. She felt a cold perspiration sweep over her. That was no regular wave coming – it was a tsunami that would hit her head on.

  ‘Caitlin, please.’

  His voice was becoming more distant, like someone calling on a wind-swept beach.

  ‘Caitlin!’

  She heard it but she knew she couldn’t tune into it. Tinnitus rang powerfully in her ears. She was close, so close to finding out everything, everything about him – not only about his kind, but him, the most intimate parts of him, how he felt. About her.

  But there was something fighting against her. Like an opaque pane of glass she knew there were things beyond, but she couldn’t get to them. And the harder she tried, the more dense the glass became. He was fighting her, he was using every reserve of strength to fight her, but the moment that pulse came, that glass would shatter.

  And she felt panic beyond the darkness. She felt trepidation. She felt sadness.

  ‘Caitlin, for fuck’s sake!’

  It was coming closer. The surge was building. Her body ached as she willed herself to stay focused.

  She knew it was seconds away. Maybe even moments.

  ‘Okay! If I need to kill it, I’ll kill it!’

  Something snapped. She didn’t know what, but something did. Like a power surge that cut the lights.

  His eyes suddenly became clear. Not just doorways but shape and form and intensity and light. She flinched and dropped her hand from his chest and fell back onto her haunches.

  Her will or his, she couldn’t be sure.

  But the connection was broken.

  She trembled, catching her breath, coldness consuming her. And as she looked at him, he dropped his gaze as if recovering, his chest heaving in a way she had never seen. That beautifully honed chest damp with exhaustion.

  He’d had to fight. He’d really had to fight. For his own survival or for hers, she wasn’t sure.

  Or maybe both.

  After a few minutes, he looked back at her, his eyes tired, angry, irritated.

  ‘You will?’

  He nodded, his jaw tense. ‘If that’s what you want, if that’s the only thing that will get me out of this.’

  She had broken him. She had broken Kane Malloy. And instead of feeling relief, it pained her.

  It pained her because he was helping her not of his own free will, but because she’d forced him.

  She eased back away from him a few inches, too weak to pull herself onto the chair.

  ‘That’s some strength you’ve got in there, girl,’ he said. ‘But if I hadn’t been through all this these last few hours, I would have kicked your arse for that.’ He raked her swiftly with his gaze before lowering it again, concealing what she could almost interpret as affection behind his eyes.

  ‘Give me your word that you won’t hurt Max and Rob.’ She looked at the hesitation in his eyes. ‘I need your word, Kane.’

  ‘Then you have it,’ he said. ‘So, can we quit with the party tricks and get the fuck out of here?’

  She pulled herself to her feet and warily looked down at him. She knew exactly what she had to do.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Caitlin placed the empty syringe on the kitchen table and pulled out a chair to sit down. ‘You’re going to have to let him go,’ she said, looking from Max, sat adjacent to her, to Rob, sat opposite.

  Rob laughed tersely. ‘Funny, Caitlin.’

  ‘You kill him and I have no chance of surviving this.’

  Max frowned. ‘Is that what you saw?’

  ‘Only a master vampire can kill a soul ripper. Or something equivalent to his power – which I doubt very much we’re going to get our hands on in the next seven hours.’

  ‘How convenient,’ Rob sniped.

  ‘But a soul ripper can be killed?’

  ‘Yes,’ Caitlin said.

  ‘According to Kane,’ Rob said.

  ‘According to what I saw,’ she reminded him.

  ‘And how do we know you saw anything? How do we know he didn’t just persuade you to accept what he was saying?’

  ‘Because I’m just one big walk-over – right, Rob?’

  ‘You are when it comes to him.’

  ‘Enough to jeopardise my life? He’s the key – Arana started the curse and he can finish it. This is what he intended all along. The only flexibility we’ve gained is whether or not I survive this.’

  Max glanced across at him before focusing his attention on Caitlin. ‘Letting Kane go is out of the question.’

  ‘He has given me his word that he won’t hurt you. It was part of our deal.’

  ‘And we all implicitly trust Kane’s word, of course,’ Rob sniped.

  ‘If word gets through to Xavier that we had him, we might as well be dead,’ Max remarked. ‘I’m sorry but we’re too far gone. We can’t turn back now.’

  Caitlin leaned forward. ‘That’s it? Sorry, but no? You wanted to know how to kill the soul ripper and now we have our answer. And I’m telling you the only way to save me is to release him.’

  ‘And you seriously think he’s going to kill it for you?’ Max asked.

  ‘Yes,’ she said. Because he would – she had no doubt about that. If her plan worked, he would have no choice. ‘And it’s the only option we have. I don’t trust Xavier. Have you ever seen this safe place he claims he’s got? Do you have any proof it works? Because according to Kane, nothing stops a soul ripper. They don’t adhere to any lores we know. We have enough trouble trying to understand how half of the third species work, let alone something of that thing’s calibre. For all we know, that apartment he claims to have could just be another ploy to get Kane. Xavier was the one who sent me in there, remember? He actively encouraged me to do this. Do you think he had my best interests at heart? He wanted to use me to draw Kane out. And this is going to end in disaster again if I don’t do something.’

  ‘Then we keep Kane here,’ Max said. ‘We keep him down there with you. When the soul ripper comes, if he kills it, we’ll let him go. If anything happens to you, we’ll have him right where we want him.’

  ‘And how does he know you won’t kill him anyway once you’ve got what you want? He is not going to bargai
n with you. You have to let him go. And you have to let me go with him.’

  Max leaned forward to meet her. ‘You’re asking us to release a vampire who’s baying for our blood.’

  ‘I’m asking you to trust my judgement.’

  ‘He has timed this to perfection, hasn’t he?’ Rob said. ‘Putting us all under pressure. He’s been planning this for years and he’s executing it with precision.’

  Max shook his head. ‘I can’t accept that he won’t come after us. It’s too simple.’

  ‘There are terms.’ How the hell she was going to sell it, she had no idea. ‘We know the soul ripper is due between the hours of eleven and one tonight. He’s going to stall it from killing me. He wants you to do a live broadcast at half-past one – confess to your involvement in the killing of Arana. Once your confessions are done, he’ll kill it.’

  ‘As in a news broadcast?’ Rob asked. He exhaled curtly. ‘You are kidding?’

  ‘He wants justice for Arana. Do that and he’ll let me live.’

  ‘And he brings down the VCU,’ Max said. ‘Potentially the whole TSCD. Oh, he really has got this all worked out.’

  ‘If you don’t do this, it’s over for me,’ Caitlin said.

  ‘And what’s to stop him letting the broadcast air, killing you and then coming for us?’ Rob asked, his tone laced with impatience.

  She leaned forward, arms on the table as she looked deep into Max’s eyes. ‘You owe me,’ she said. ‘You, Rob, my father. And you owe my mother. I am asking for your help and I am asking you to trust me on this. I can do this.’

  Max held his fingers in a steeple against his lips and sighed heavily.

  ‘Max?’ Rob asked. ‘You’re not seriously considering this?’ He stared from one to the other in the silence before pushing back his chair and standing abruptly. ‘This is not happening.’

  ‘Sit down,’ Max said.

  ‘I’m not agreeing to this,’ Rob said.

  Caitlin looked up at him. ‘And where does that leave me?’

  Max looked across at Caitlin. ‘What have you got planned?’

  ‘You know me, Max – always the backup.’

  ‘I cannot believe this conversation is happening,’ Rob said, clutching the back of the chair, his knuckles white.

  ‘I am trying to get the best out of an impossible situation that you created.’ She looked back at her stepfather. ‘Please, Max. I need this one shot.’

  Max got up and strolled over to the window. He braced his hands on the edge of the sink as he stared out of the window.

  ‘Max, this is not an option,’ Rob said firmly. ‘You are giving Kane exactly what he wants.’

  ‘No, you’re giving me what I want,’ Caitlin said. ‘What I need.’

  ‘You’re being played for a fool, Max, and you should know better. Think about this.’

  Max turned to face him. ‘And what if Kane is her only hope? What if this is her only shot?’

  ‘He won’t get to you. I will make sure you’re long gone before we leave that room,’ Caitlin insisted.

  ‘Max,’ Rob said more firmly. ‘This is suicide for all of us. You can’t listen to her. She’s brainwashed by him. Yes, Caitlin – brainwashed. Why else would you think it’s okay to screw vampires? Two days with him and he’s already turned you into a whore just like his sister.’

  Caitlin stepped up to him, drew back her hand and slapped him hard across the face.

  He caught his jaw and glowered at her. Then he pulled back his hand and slapped her back.

  Caitlin stumbled, but caught the chair for balance before glaring at him in shock, at the lack of remorse in his eyes. A hand that had once held her so gently had struck with a vicious jealousy that sickened her. If she didn’t despise him before, he had just ticked the final box.

  Max lunged between them. ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing, Rob? What’s happened to you?’

  Rob stepped away with a curt exhale. Grabbing the keys, he marched out of the kitchen towards the basement.

  Her heart lunged in her chest. ‘Wait!’

  ‘Rob!’ Max called out, reaching for him, but just falling short.

  Caitlin hobbled behind both of them, pursuing them through the garage and down into the wine cellar. Her pulse raced as she struggled to keep up, Max finally pulling Rob back just before he reached the iron door.

  ‘Don’t be stupid!’ Max warned.

  ‘I’m not having him control us like this.’

  Caitlin stepped equidistant between Rob and the door, braced for his onslaught as he pulled free of Max.

  ‘Move out of the way, Caitlin,’ Rob warned, marching up to her.

  Caitlin pushed him back. ‘You stay away from him!’

  ‘Look at you defending him!’ he said, frustration and despair emanating from his eyes.

  ‘I need him.’

  Max dragged him aside. ‘Rob, you kill him now and you might kill the only chance we’ve got of helping her.’

  Rob yanked free, squaring up to Caitlin again. ‘How can you choose him over me?’

  Caitlin held his gaze but didn’t flinch.

  Rob grabbed her by her upper arm and yanked her towards him, causing her to nearly lose her footing. ‘I asked you a question.’

  ‘Get off me,’ she warned, glaring back at him.

  ‘Let her go!’ Max demanded, prising them apart, shoving Rob back.

  Rob strode to the other side of the room. Head lowered, he thrust his hands on his hips, his back to them.

  ‘This has to stop,’ Max said. ‘This whole thing. It has to end. And I can’t see any other way that’s going to happen.’ He looked across at Rob. ‘We’re going to give her a chance.’

  Rob spun to face him. ‘No.’

  ‘Why? Because you’re scared of the consequences? Because your ego can’t take it? Or is this just a personal vengeance against Kane now? Because that’s the way it just looked to me.’ He paused. ‘This was never supposed to be personal. Any of it. We’ve lost control. One of us has to get it back. And it seems to me Caitlin’s the only one who can do it.’

  ‘Then don’t expect me to be a part of it.’

  ‘You don’t have a choice. If I confess to this, I’m confessing to all of it.’

  ‘You’d implicate me?’

  ‘How much do you care about her, Rob? Really care about her?’

  ‘I’m not doing time for Kane Malloy. I was doing my job, that’s all.’

  ‘A job we should have said no to.’

  ‘A job we were doing for the right reasons.’

  ‘In the wrong way. I know it and so do you. We’ve always known it. And if Caitlin has even the slightest chance of surviving this, she deserves for us to give it to her.’ Max looked back at Caitlin. ‘This plan had better be good.’

  ‘I’ll make it good.’

  Despite the anxiety in his eyes, for the first time in years she saw an element of relief. ‘And what’s Kane got planned for Xavier? I assume he’s the one he really wants.’

  Caitlin nodded. ‘Just do your part and I’ll take care of the rest.’

  Rob stepped back over to them. ‘You against the world – right, Caitlin?’

  ‘I have no choice,’ she reminded him.

  ‘We’ll take Rob’s car,’ Max said. ‘So you use mine. You should get across the border easily in it. If there are any questions, tell them to call me. The key code for Kane’s restraints is your parents’ birth dates combined.’

  ‘I know,’ she said. ‘I worked that one out.’

  Rob’s eyes flared. ‘He’s already out, isn’t he?’

  Max stared at her aghast. ‘You released him already?’

  ‘I couldn’t let you kill him.’

  Max shook his head. ‘Always that one step ahead.’

  She shrugged. ‘You know me.’

  He looked down at the floor, contemplating for a moment, then looked back up at her. ‘Half-past one?’

  She nodded. ‘And if Xavier gets even an inkling of thi
s, it’s over.’

  ‘I have no intentions of telling him anything,’ Max said.

  As silence rebounded off the walls, Caitlin stepped up to Max, taking him by the hand and squeezing. ‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘For believing I can do this.’

  He held her gaze and squeezed back. ‘You just get through this, okay?’

  She gave him a fleeting, closed-lip smile and nodded again.

  He wavered for a moment and she was sure she saw tears accumulating in his eyes, but he turned away and walked back over to the stairs.

  Rob remained fixed to the spot. ‘You’re making a mistake, Caitlin. He’s going to let you down. Just when you need him. I want you to know that.’

  ‘Maybe he will,’ she said. ‘We’ll see. But it seems I need to start getting used to that.’

  He looked away, wiped his tongue over the top of his teeth before looking back at her. ‘I shouldn’t have hit you. I’m sorry.’

  ‘No, you shouldn’t have. But there’s a lot of worse things you shouldn’t have done and you need to face that. This will rot you on the inside, Rob. However much you try to convince yourself to the contrary, you know what happened was wrong. Xavier has destroyed enough already. Don’t let him destroy you too. This is your way out too, even if you don’t see it yet.’

  He held her gaze for a few moments longer. He needed time to think, she knew that. He always needed time to think. But he’d do the right thing. She had to pin her hopes on that.

  He joined Max at the steps and led the way up. He didn’t look over his shoulder once before leaving her alone in the silence.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Caitlin stepped back into the airtight room, her ears taking a moment to adjust to the pressure again.

  Kane was sitting behind the door, head and back resting against the wall, legs bent, arms braced either side of him on the floor. He looked exhausted, the journey across the room from where he’d been manacled seemingly all he could manage. She remembered how he’d fallen to the floor when she’d unlocked the binds, her heart wrenching to see him falter. He’d demanded she leave him there and then, his pride clearly as wounded as his body.