by Ginna Moran
“We won’t let that happen,” Bronx says with a snarl. “Brother, end him.”
“Wait, wait!” Morgan yells, thrashing. “Gwen, please. You have to be careful. You don’t want to birth a future with convoluted power. That’s what will happen if you stay. The bloodline must remain pure. To humor a life far beneath you will only end in tragedy.”
I freeze at his thinly veiled words. “Jameson, wait.”
Morgan’s hazel eyes widen in relief. “Yes, please. Listen to her.”
Everett locks his fingers to my arm when I attempt to sit up fully to exit the car. Morgan snarls and snaps his teeth, like even seeing Everett touch me sets him off. It only makes me want to touch Everett more. So I do. I use Everett’s love of my affection to get him to pull me into his arms. I kiss him softly, clutching his face in my hands.
Morgan screeches, his anger probably loud enough to alert the entire town. “Stop that! You’ll ruin her!”
“Shit, don’t let her go,” Bronx says.
Everett locks his hands around me, but my sudden fury allows me to overpower his strength. I drag him out of the car with me without giving him a choice on whether or not to follow me. He would anyway, but I return his grip on my hand just as fiercely that I’m sure his fingers are as numb as mine.
“Damn it, Gwen. Stay back,” Bronx says.
Jameson shifts to peer at me from over his shoulder. “Seriously, Gigi. We’ve humored him long enough.”
“Just a minute more.” I strut up to my guys but stay behind Jameson, using him as a shield.
Morgan sighs a breath, his hard features softening at my closeness. “You’re so enthralling. As perfect as the last time I saw you. Practically glowing.”
I scowl. “Shut the hell up and listen carefully.” Pushing against Jameson’s back, I attempt to burn Morgan with my gaze. “Whatever you think you’re doing will not end well for you or your brothers. I know everything about the contract that I never signed. About your twisted idea for my future. The promise your coven made to my brothers.”
“Your future will be everything you want,” Morgan says. “You’ll see. What you feel now toward the Royales is a fleeting emotion. You couldn’t help yourself. It’s part of your very nature to bond with power, but they’re not good enough, Gwen. You need someone stronger.”
Morgan’s words dig into me, prodding at the savage inside me who wants nothing more than to rip his heart out.
“My love for the Royales isn’t fleeting or temporary,” I say, my voice whispery and sultry, heated with my fury. “It will only grow stronger. So will our power.”
“Please, Gwen. They’re not worthy of you. You deserve a better future.”
I dodge around Jameson and grab the front of Morgan’s shirt to get in his face. He stills under my grasp, his eyes darting around my face to drink in every inch of it. He puffs a small breath through his mouth like my closeness affects him in a way that leaves him breathless.
“What I deserve is to be left the hell alone,” I say, twisting the fabric of his shirt to tighten around his neck. “Whatever plans you or your coven had will not happen. It’s too late.”
Morgan’s fangs peek out from beneath his lips. “It isn’t.”
“Uh, yeah. It is,” Jameson says, interrupting. “She will not be birthing any power for you or whatever the hell you think. What she will be doing is living the best life of our making as a family. The only thing she’ll be birthing is...what did they used to call it? A bundle of joy? And it’s ours.”
Morgan’s eye twitches.
Jameson wraps his arms around me and tugs me away. Morgan thrashes again, yelling incoherently.
“Gwen!” he screams. “Gwen, you can’t do this! You can’t sully the bloodline.”
I jerk away from Jameson to close the distance to Morgan again. Swinging my fist, I clock him in the face, sending his head jerking sideways. Bronx and Mikkalo hold him tight, not saying a single word while I sock the douche again. And again.
“Don’t you dare imply that our kid will be anything less than perfect. It isn’t an impurity.” I knee him in the stomach. “And I don’t care about your bloodline.”
Morgan remains stiff, his eyes widening at my words. “No. This can’t be.”
“What can’t be? That we knocked her the fuck up?” Jameson asks. “Because hell yeah we did.”
Jameson’s lucky I’m not through showing this douche where I think his place is.
Morgan roars, startling me. I automatically step away, and he thrashes so hard that Mikkalo loses his grip on him. Bronx swings Morgan off his feet and into the side of the car. He doesn’t get far before my eyes are on him again. It takes all four of them to pin him down, his fury now fueling his strength. I dash closer and glance down at him.
Morgan meets my eyes. “If you think my brothers will stop because of this, you’re wrong.”
I launch at him, punching him hard enough in the chest to shatter his sternum. He bucks and yells, but I don’t stop. I can’t see anything beyond the red tint hazing my vision. I can’t feel anything beyond my fury.
A gentle hand touches my shoulder. “Hey, Gwen. Gwen, he’s dead. We have to go.”
Bronx lifts my trembling body into his arms and hugs me against him. Fear squeezes my chest as I replay Morgan’s words over and over again. I know he’s right. The Barons won’t stop, not unless they’re dead.
“Take a breath,” Bronx whispers. “We’re fine. Everything will be okay. We got you.”
I swallow the burning in my throat. “We have to get them.”
“We will.”
“Right now.”
Bronx sets me on my feet outside the car to peer down at me. “We have to strategize. I really think our plan with Ashton will work.”
“Fuck,” Jameson says, drawing our attention to him.
He stares into the car and at the empty backseat.
Ashton is gone.
Swiveling on my feet, I search around the dark area. Maybe Ashton lost control over his fear instincts and chose to run and hide. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s done it. But who am I kidding? He’s not the sixteen-year-old who did that, scaring the hell out of Dad. He’s a twenty-four-year-old man with more experience than me when it comes to handling fear.
“Where is he?” I ask, yanking Bronx with me to check on the other side of the car. “Ashton? Come back here. Everything is okay.”
My guys surround me, creating a protective circle as we assess the area without getting too far away from each other.
“How did this even happen? We were twenty feet away.” I scrub my hands over my face.
“We were preoccupied,” Mikkalo says, frowning.
“One of us could’ve been killed.” I try to stay calm, stepping close to Mikkalo to embrace him. “It would’ve been so easy.”
Bronx twists and slams his fist into the roof of the car, denting the metal. Fury flashes silver in his eyes, and he heaves a few breaths. “Come on. We have to move.”
Instead of getting into the car, Bronx squats down and motions for me to get on his back. Everett helps me position myself for the best hold on Bronx. Pulling out his com device, Mikkalo flicks through the feeds. He remains expressionless as he studies the area. Jameson stands close to him, watching from over his shoulder.
“Fuck, someone must’ve picked up on the douche screaming,” Mikkalo says. “The Barons are separating.”
“Do they have Ashton?” I ask, nerves bunching my stomach. “Are they going to surround us?”
Mikkalo continues to study the feed without comment.
Everett strokes my back as I rest my chin on Bronx’s shoulder. “Ashton will be fine. This was part of our plan, remember?”
Releasing a groan, Jameson points at Mikkalo’s com device. “There he is.”
“Shit,” Mikkalo says. “This isn’t good. It wasn’t a Baron who took Ashton.”
I frown. “What do you mean?”
“It was Lady Tori,” Jameson says.
>
Furrowing my brows, I try to process the name to see if I remember it. The second it dawns on me, I release a string of fucks. Lady Tori was the woman who controlled the women on Brentwood’s staff. She was the one trying to help Xochitl get pregnant by way of Silas. And now she has Ashton.
I lick my lips. “What do we do?”
Mikkalo stares at the screen a bit longer. “I don’t think your brother is in any danger. We should go after the Barons that we can while they’re separated. Some of them outmatch us individually, so we need to stay together.”
Jameson shakes his head. “No, we need to go after Lady Tori. She could have heard us talking. Maybe that’s why she took Ashton. If she manipulates his mind and finds out about the dhampir mutation—”
“Shit,” I murmur. “Jameson’s right.”
“All right, dandelion. We’ll go after him first. Our element of surprise is over anyway. If Lady Tori heard the Baron scream, it’s probably why the rest of them dispersed.” Bronx hugs one of his arms over mine to assure he has a firm hold on me. “Mik, lead us in. Jameson, follow behind.”
Jameson plays with my hair. “You got it. I’m always here to protect that sexy ass of hers.” He gives my ass a little squeeze.
“Don’t forget about Bronx’s sexy ass too,” I murmur.
The four of them laugh, the lightness in their voices helping to ease the fear and worry clenching my heart, refusing to let it go. Everett takes his place next to Bronx, and Mikkalo takes off at a vampire’s speed. I clutch Bronx tighter, turning my head to protect my eyes from the wind. Pitch darkness engulfs us, and I tense. Stale air makes it hard to breathe.
Mikkalo’s com device illuminates the darkness in front of me. I shouldn’t be so nervous. I’ve entered too many tunnels to count to get into cities. But now? I don’t know. I’m not as brave as I used to be. Or maybe I’ve just smartened up since I no longer live life like a constant death mission. I can’t. Not knowing that there’s a chance I’m responsible for bringing something scary beautiful into our coven.
“We got two outside the tunnel. One on each side of the mouth,” Mikkalo whispers, keeping his voice too low for the outside world to hear.
“Everett, take Gwen.” Bronx releases my arm so Everett can pull me into his arms. “Jameson, back up Mikkalo. Distract them, and I’ll surprise attack.”
Soft moonlight trickles in from outside. Everett shifts me onto his back to keep his arms free. We stay with the others until we reach the passage out. Everett turns to face his back to the side of the tunnel, sandwiching me in protectively. I inhale slow breaths into his shoulder, trying to get my heart to settle before someone hears it.
“Do you need me to distract you?” Everett whispers, reaching his hand up to touch my cheek.
I hug him tighter. “Don’t even start. Look what happened because of all your guys’ need to distract me.”
His shoulders shake in a silent laugh. “Which means now’s a better time than ever.”
I graze my teeth to his shoulder. “You’re so bad.”
“It’s going to be amazing, Gwen. I hope you know that.” He twists his neck more to brush his lips to my cheek.
I inhale a long breath through my nose. “It’s a lot to take in. It’s like—I never thought it possible. Not like this.”
“Don’t let Jameson hear you or he’ll give you his ‘nothing is impossible’ speech.” Everett strolls a few feet away from the wall and toward the mouth of the tunnel.
I close my eyes and listen to the soft voices of Bronx, Everett, and Mikkalo. “He’s going to gloat so much.”
Jameson enters a foot into the tunnel and motions to us. “Damn straight, Gigi.”
Everett strolls at a human’s pace until cool, fresh air engulfs us, making me take an automatic deep breath. The grove looks like many of the others I’ve come across in my life. The sweet citrusy scent of oranges wafts through the air. A couple of rows away, I spot another kind of fruit I don’t recognize.
A tree branch rustles, and I stiffen on Everett’s back. Bronx emerges from between two trees peeling an orange only to throw the skin on the ground. He breaks it apart and handfeeds me a piece.
“I can wait to eat,” I say, despite my possessed arm already reaching out to snatch the fruit from him.
Bronx doesn’t let me take it, offering me a single piece again. “But you shouldn’t have to.”
Soft footsteps draw our attention from each other. Mikkalo materializes next to a tree a few feet away. Something strange crosses his face. My heart slides into my stomach at the sudden heavy scent of his blood.
He drops to his knees and falls face first on the ground. Several daggers impale his back, his blood pouring out of him, leaving him too weak to fight. Jameson swears and rushes toward him. He doesn’t get a foot within Mikkalo’s reach before a figure blurs next to him.
“Fuck!” Jameson yells, twisting to grab at his back.
A dagger stabs between his shoulder blades, but the vampire who did it disappears too quickly to catch. Bronx growls next. He catches a vampire by his shirt and throws him at the ground.
“Brentwood!” Bronx snarls and slams his fist into the familiar vampire’s face.
Brentwood flashes his fangs at Bronx. He manages to twist and sit up, biting Bronx in the arm. I screech in anger from Everett’s back. Bronx jerks his attention to me, leaving himself open for a split second. It’s long enough for another vampire to rush him and stab him in the back.
Brentwood doesn’t try to attack Bronx. Instead, he catapults to his feet and zooms in our direction. Everett tenses and swipes his dagger out. Brentwood dodges to the side. Everett spins to protect me, and I grip him as tightly as I can. The blurring of the world as Everett spins and dodges Brentwood sends my stomach into my throat.
Several growls sound through the air. My fear instincts go off like crazy. It takes everything in me not to throw myself from Everett to run away as fast as I can. But I don’t have to. He runs into the trees in an attempt to get away. In normal circumstances, he would never leave a fight, no matter how powerful his opponent was. But now? I think my fear rubs off on him.
“Everett!” Bronx yells.
Everett drops to his knees and skids across the dirt. A vampire flies over us, trying to attack us from the side. My arms burn with pain as Everett’s weight squishes them into the dirt, giving me road rash.
He quickly rolls and lands on top of me to take a dagger to the gut. The strange vampire grins like a lunatic getting pleasure from our pain. Everett kicks his leg, managing to knock the guy away long enough to launch to his feet. The vampire cuts us off and stabs Everett again, causing him to flinch. Neither of us has a chance to react as someone latches on to the back of my dress and yanks me away.
My scream echoes through the night.
“Shhh, little dhampir,” Brentwood says into my ear. “It won’t be long now.”
Several vampires blur through the trees. Everett beheads two guys faster than I’ve ever seen him do so. Bronx and Jameson appear from the trees, blocking two other guys. Jameson jams a knife into one of the guys’ neck, sending blood cascading across the dirt.
“Brentwood, let her go,” Bronx says.
A cool blade touches my throat. “Stay back, Mr. Royale.”
Bronx tests Brentwood and steps forward.
My throat stings from the small nick of the blade. “Stop, Bronx.”
Stopping in his tracks, Bronx drops his dagger to the ground to show he’s not a threat. It does nothing to get Brentwood to loosen his hold on me. Everett and Jameson follow his lead, and they stand together.
“What did they offer you, Brentwood?” Bronx asks.
“Power,” Brentwood says, keeping his voice even. “But I denied them. I swore my loyalty to you and the Royale Coven. They killed three of my best security guards. Took several of my females.”
“Then what are you doing?” Bronx says, his eyes narrowing in anger.
“I’m doing what you promised t
o do,” he snaps. “Stopping the war on our region.”
“You think it’ll stop if you hand Gwen over to them?” Jameson says, speaking up.
Brentwood heaves a few deep breaths, his chest pressing into my back. “You think I’m stupid? I’m not giving her to anyone. She’s the reason they’re here in the first place. I’m saving you. Our region needs you. But her? No.”
Panic grips me, and I reach for the blade, cutting myself in an attempt to pull it away from my throat.
“No, no!” I plead, my blood spilling down my arms. “Don’t do this.”
“Hurry up, Brentwood,” a feminine voice says. “The Barons were spotted circling. Our security will be slaughtered.”
Brentwood stills his hand. “I’m sorry, Gwen. You were such a pretty donor.”
“Wait!” Everett says, rushing closer. “Lady Tori, please. She’s with child.”
“Liar!” Brentwood yells. “You’d never let a donor get in reach of her.”
I wiggle in his arms, feeling his hold on me loosen just a bit. “He’s not lying. I was even disqualified from Blood Matching.”
Everett pulls out his com device. “Look.”
Lady Tori steps closer to get a better look at the device. She brings her hand to her mouth. It’s enough to make Brentwood hesitate. Turning her gaze to Brentwood, Lady Tori confirms what we’ve told her with a nod. Silence draws between us, Brentwood’s hand shaking so much that he nicks my neck again.
“Brother, please. I’ll take her. We’ll find someone to drain in her place—take the person’s head. Assure they can’t tell. Perhaps Agatha. They’re similar sizes, and she refuses to expand the population.” Lady Tori inches closer, treating Brentwood like a wild animal. Extending her hand out, she silently asks him to give her the knife.
“We have no choice. The Royales will never let you take her. They’ll kill me the second I let her go.” Brentwood growls in my ear. “If I’m to die, I won’t do so in vain. At least I can save the region.”
“Brentwood,” Bronx says. “Killing her will not save our region. Your death will still be in vain. ”