Act of Submission

by Mandy M. Roth

  “Harper, no!” she yelled, to no avail.

  “I am Belial,” he spat, his expression as crazed as his ramblings.

  Who the hell was Belial?

  Haven hauled off and punched her brother in the face as hard as she could, and then kicked at him until he rolled to his side. She pushed off the floor and bolted from the room, yanking the door shut behind her, though she wasn’t sure how much good, if any, it would do.

  Her brother was now apparently the Terminator.

  She ran so fast that she missed the top of the staircase and shot right past it, in the direction of the elevator. She’d never get the elevator to open and close before Harper would get to her so she skidded to a stop, knowing the stairs were her best option. She slapped the wall and clung to it as she drew her body to a stop, back tracking as she did. Haven took the steps faster than she should and tumbled down the last half of them. Adrenaline pumped through her body, dulling the pain of the fall. She twisted to see how close Harper was, and when Haven turned back around she slammed into what felt like a wall.

  For a split second she hoped it was Boomer. When she glanced up into the face of a man she’d seen before, the same one who had been hanging around the veterinary clinic around the same time she’d been fed the lies about her brother, she sucked in a big breath. The same one who had told her all the lies about Boomer and his men killing Harper. She screamed, knowing he was there to kill her.

  He caught hold of her, his grip iron-clad. “Going somewhere?”

  Her screams kept coming, but they did her no good.

  He merely smirked before his smile faded away. “Who are you to Pierre?”

  Pierre? Did he mean the vampire who shared a maker with Auberi? She shook her head. “No one. I’m no one to him. I don’t know him.”

  “Then why is he willing to sacrifice Belial to test you?” the man asked.

  Haven thought about what her brother had been rambling about in the room. Pierre was using her brother to test her? She gasped. “What does Harper have to do with this?”

  “Harper?” the man asked, his grip still tight.

  “He goes by Belial now,” she said, smelling him approaching at an alarming rate. “Something is wrong with him. He’s not himself. He’s crazy.”

  “Who is this Harper to you?” asked the man, something in his gaze saying the answer meant everything to him. That so much more than she knew was riding on her response.

  “My brother,” she said, the tears returning.

  “I have orders to take you in or kill you if need be,” he said, swaying slightly, blood oozing from his nose though she’d never struck him.

  “Please don’t,” she managed.

  The man yanked her off her feet and then tossed her to one side as if she were a sack of potatoes rather than a living being. She hit the wall with a thump and slid to the floor just as Harper came barreling down the last of the steps, frothing at the mouth.

  He looked rabid.

  She yelped, drawing his attention to her.

  “Thor,” Harper said to the blond man. “You found her for me.”

  “Stand down, Belial,” said Thor, planting himself between Haven and her brother. “No more.”

  “I do as Master bids,” said Harper, his words no longer sounding anything like what the brother she knew would have said. He was well and truly gone.

  Thor put his arms out and then jerked his hands as long claws shot forth from the ends of his fingertips. “You will obey me on this.”

  “Master wishes her dead. He tasked me with it,” said Harper. “I get to kill her. Not you. Me!”

  He charged Thor and Haven pushed against the wall, frozen in fear as she watched the two men go at it. She’d thought the scuffle between Corbin and Boomer had been a sight. It didn’t compare. This was savage and vicious. Like two wild dogs.

  Not dogs, she thought. Vampires.

  Haven found the nerve to push away from the wall and she put out her foot when her brother rushed past her, tripping him. She wasn’t exactly sure why she was helping the guy called Thor. He wasn’t a good guy. She was sure of that. But he seemed like the one who maybe should come out ahead in the scuffle, especially with how insane Harper seemed to be.

  Harper fell and Thor snatched him up and off the ground. Thor made eye contact with her. “Go! Go now!”

  “Y-you’re helping me?” she asked hesitantly.

  Bewildered, he shrugged. “Yes. Now go.”

  “What will happen to Harper?” Despite everything, he was her brother.

  Thor twisted and caught Harper around the waist, slamming him to the ground. Harper hissed and clawed at Thor, drawing deep, open wounds as he did. He was vicious.

  He needs put down.

  The words floated through her head and her heart squeezed to the point she thought it would burst.

  “I can’t hold him long. His mind is broken and gone. He lives for blood and carnage now. Go!” shouted Thor.

  She obeyed, running in the other direction.

  There was a huge crash behind her, but she didn’t dare look back. She just kept running.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Haven stopped running to catch her breath and leaned against the door to the habitat holding Scar. Her breathing was labored and she bent, holding her side, wondering what Harper may have hurt in her to cause such pain with each breath she took. Did she have a broken rib? Was it even more than that? She could keep going, keep running to try to find someone, anyone to help, but she wasn’t sure her body would hold up through that.

  She opened the door to the habitat and entered the viewing area. There, just within the actual habitat area, was Scar. He was pacing back and forth, his expression feral. He sniffed the air and then turned his attention to her before roaring.

  Haven covered her ears, the sound was so loud as it echoed. “Scar, stop!”

  He did and then came straight for the door. Reason told her not to open the door, because letting out a panther was an all around bad idea, but then again, she was in a rescue facility run by a guy who could shift into the same animal, so reason really wasn’t part of her reality anymore.

  Reality wasn’t reality anymore.

  Everything was on its head.

  Haven went with her gut and opened the door to Scar’s area. He leapt and almost cleared the entire distance between the two of them, landing at the very end and then rushing out and past her into the small viewing area. “You’re not going to eat me, right?”

  He scratched at the main door, the one that lead to the hallways she’d only just left. Reluctantly, she opened the door and he burst free from the viewing room. She ran out behind him, clutching her side as she went. Scar roared and kept running. He leapt up and out a set of double doors, and moonlight burst into the hallway behind him.

  She came to a grinding halt. Had she just let a panther loose on the general public?

  Oh shit.

  She heard screams and followed the sound of them. Holding herself up with one hand on the doorframe, Haven watched with large eyes as Scar tossed a bad guy into the air and then clamped down upon him. The sounds of bones crunching filled the space and Haven’s stomach threatened to revolt. She brought her arm from her stomach to her mouth and held it there until the need to vomit passed.

  She glanced to her right and everything seemed to slow to a stop as she spotted Boomer there, engaged with a mass of men who really didn’t resemble men much anymore. They were all going at him at one time. He looked battered and bloody already.

  One of the men jumped onto his back and she couldn’t stop herself from screaming. “Miles!”

  His gaze whipped to her and off the enemy, opening him for more of their attack. Scar took off in Boomer’s direction and snatched one of the assailants from Boomer, tearing out the man’s throat with very little effort. He did the same to another.

  She spotted a discarded weapon to the right and made her way to it, her side slowly beginning to feel better. The gun wasn’t o
ne she’d ever practiced with before. Here was hoping it was as simple as point and shoot. She lifted it and took aim. With as crazy as the scene was, she couldn’t get anything in the way of a clear shot, so she began to lower the weapon.

  Boomer roared as loud as Scar and came up from the center of the pile of men, holding a dead man in each hand. He threw them aside as Scar finished the last of the others. The cat eased closer to Boomer and surprised Haven by lowering his head, allowing Boomer to pet him.

  It wasn’t a long, drawn-out, emotional reunion or anything. More like an acceptance of Boomer, which warmed Haven to see. She knew what that acceptance meant to him.

  Auberi came around the corner, looking a bit worse for the wear. “Corbin?”

  “Here,” said the Brit as he came from the other side of the compound. He was in the process of dusting off the front of his shirt when another bad guy charged him from the side. Corbin stiff-armed the man and then spun in a circle, slashing the man’s throat as he went. Just as quickly as it had started, it was over again, and Corbin returned to adjusting his clothing.

  Haven was spun around so fast she thought it was her brother there to finish what he’d started—trying to kill her. Boomer held her to him, his violet gaze seeming to glow. “You’re okay?”

  “I am,” she said, her hands going to his face. His lips were bloody. His left eye was swollen and he had cuts and scrapes all over him. “You’re hurt.”

  “Pfft,” he said with a snort. “Nah. This is nothing.”

  “Boomer, I’m so sorry. This happened because of me,” she said, emotions welling in her throat, stopping anything more from coming from her. She wanted to tell him how sorry she was that she'd brought this chaos into his life. How sorry she was that her brother had been insane, and that she’d mistakenly blamed Boomer and his men for everything. Only tears fell out. No words.

  Boomer cupped her face and then kissed her until her toes curled. “I thought I’d be too late to get to you. That they were already with you. That they’d kill you.”

  She'd thought they’d kill her too.

  “Harper looked so different,” she confessed, causing Boomer to hug her tighter.

  “Wait, your brother was here?”

  She nodded. “Along with that Thor guy. The blond from the pictures Auberi had. They were just inside fighting.”

  Corbin snapped his fingers and Auberi nodded. “I’ll enter from the other side. You take the east side. Boomer?”

  “I can’t leave her,” said Boomer.

  “We’ll go,” pushed Corbin, taking off in the opposite direction of Auberi.

  Haven twisted in Boomer’s arms. “I don’t understand. What’s happening now?”

  “Baby,” he said, lifting her hair and cupping her neck gently, turning her to face him. “They have to find your brother.”

  She held her breath a moment as she reasoned out what he wasn’t saying with words. A pit formed in the bottom of her stomach. “You mean they have to kill him.”

  “Baby.”

  “I know,” she said, the tears coming again. “I know he’s not the same as he was, but he’s my family.”

  “They have to kill one of ours too,” he said, sounding defeated as he drew her in tighter to him.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Thor,” he said. “His name is really Lance and he’s an I-Op. One of us. His mind is bent and broken if he’s working with Pierre. He needs put down too.”

  Haven’s entire body tensed. “But he just helped me! He kept Harper from killing me. He said he was sent to kill me, but then he protected me.”

  Something in Boomer’s gaze flickered and he released his hold on her. “Baby, do not move from this spot. Promise me.”

  She nodded. “You’re going to try to stop Auberi and Corbin from killing that Thor guy, aren’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  “But not my brother?”

  “Haven.” He touched her lower lip. “I love you.”

  “But you’ll let my brother be killed by your friends?” she asked, despite knowing it had to be done. Knowing that Harper couldn’t be allowed to continue to kill.

  Boomer locked gazes with her. “I’ll do it. I’ll kill Harper. He won’t suffer. I promise.” He sighed and then shook slightly as he backed away from her fully. “I love you. I’m sorry. I know that you’ll leave me after this. I know I can’t keep you. That you’ll hate me.”

  With that, he left her standing there, stunned, alone, and on the verge of a breakdown. She couldn’t simply stand by and do nothing when her brother was in danger.

  That monster isn’t Harper.

  She sobbed.

  Scar was suddenly next to her, pushing her hand with his head, demanding she give him attention. Bending, she did just that, rubbing his head as the tears came faster. He nuzzled against her, providing her comfort as her head spun with all the ways her brother could die at the hands of the man she was in love with.

  Someone yanked her hair from behind and ripped her up and off her feet. The weapon she’d been holding scattered away onto the ground. Scar lunged at it, but yelped and fell to the ground, his side sliced open. She cried out and reached for the panther, hoping to help him, but found she couldn’t break free from whoever had her.

  “Bitch!”

  She flinched when she realized it was Harper. A part of her was happy. That meant he wasn’t dead. But the sane part of her realized his being alive meant he was about to kill her. That the brother she’d once shared a womb with was long gone. All that remained in his place was a crazed killing machine.

  Pierre’s creation.

  She kicked back, hitting him in the knee, and he loosened his hold on her. She twisted around and thrust at him, trying to get him back enough for her to check on Scar. Harper didn’t budge. He just licked his lips and laughed at her attempt to thwart him.

  Yep. Her brother was now the Terminator.

  She punched and struck home, hitting her brother in the gut. He bent and slashed at her, his clawed hand cutting her forearm open. She dodged his next swipe and dove at the discarded weapon. When she came up with it, Boomer was there, fighting with her brother. He twisted, with Harper gaining the upper hand, and Haven held her breath. Closing her eyes sounded brilliant, as if doing so would make all the bad that was about to happen fade away into nothingness.

  She knew better.

  This was real life.

  No one got off that easy.

  Haven forced herself to look. She had to see. Neither outcome would be a good one. Auberi and Corbin stumbled out from inside the rescue, both looking as if they’d taken on another twenty men each. She had a feeling they may have been up against just Thor.

  Corbin made an attempt to go at Boomer and Harper, as if to help, but Auberi caught him and held him back, shaking his head no and motioning in her direction. Corbin locked gazes with her and she saw the understanding hit him then. Her mate was pitted against her brother and only one would come out alive.

  Harper hissed at Boomer and slashed out at him, catching Boomer’s chest and ripping it open. The sight of the blood gushing from Boomer’s chest did something to Haven she wasn’t expecting. It didn’t kick her vampire side into high gear as she feared it might. It brought out the need to protect her mate.

  She pushed off the ground quickly and aimed the weapon at her brother. “Harper, I’m sorry and I love you.”

  “I am Belial!” he shouted a fraction of a second before she squeezed the trigger. A crimson dot appeared on his chest as he fell away from Boomer. Harper hit the ground, his face aimed in her direction. His mouth moved and blood came out, trickling down the side of face, pooling on the ground near him. He reached for her, the claws on his fingers receding slowly. “H-Haven?”

  She tossed the gun and moved at him, dropping down next to him, grabbing for him. She lifted his head and tried to wipe away the blood. “Harper?”

  “T-Thank you,” he whispered, his hand moving over hers. “I couldn’t stop
myself.”

  She shook her head as her brother’s eyes closed and he went still in her arms. “Wake up. Harper, get up!”

  Strong arms wrapped around her and at first she thought it was Boomer until she looked up to see Corbin lifting Boomer off the ground, the wounds on Boomer’s chest even more severe than she’d first thought. She gasped.

  “Shh, Haven,” said Auberi, holding her. “Miles will heal. His concern right now is for you. Not himself.”

  She shook. “I killed my brother.”

  “You ended his suffering,” said Auberi. “You broke Pierre’s hold on him. He died himself, not a puppet. You gifted him that.”

  She broke down crying all the same. “Scar?”

  “Would that be the panther?” asked Auberi.

  She nodded.

  “He lives. I hear his heartbeat. It is strong.”

  “And Lil’ Duke?” she asked.

  “The monkey?”

  Again, she nodded, not bothering to correct him.

  “He is hidden. I suspect he will come out soon enough.”

  “Baby?” asked Boomer, trying to come for her but nearly falling when he tried to separate from Corbin’s grasp.

  Auberi lifted her like she was a child and carried her toward Boomer. “Let us see to you both. Kitty, your mate requires blood that you are not able to give at this moment. The hybrids tore through the kitchen area and the bagged blood supply. You must choose, either she gets what she needs from me or from Corbin.”

  Corbin spoke next. “Miles, let her drink from Auberi. He’ll be able to offer her less than I will need to because he’s a vampire. And you don’t have to work daily with him.”

  “I’m not drinking from either of you,” she said, trying to get down but with no progress. It was like Auberi was made of steel. The man was unmovable.

  “Your mate is stubborn,” said Auberi.

  “They’re perfect for one another,” added Corbin. “Call James. He can bring more blood. We need to get Boomer’s wounds cleaned so they can heal.”