by Joey W. Hill
Yeah, but no. Dovia. Rand would do whatever he could to rescue Dovia, and that was fine. Dovia deserved that kind of knight in shining armor shit. God, this hurt. Would it never end?
But he’d been through worse, survived worse. It was just getting harder to do it, over and over again. Hell, he was pissed at that human woman for dying. Give up, bitch? Hell, you only knew the tip end of this kind of suffering. Lightweight.
But she’d died staring at him, and that look had crawled into his burning soul. Stop looking at me. Stop.
What time was it? Mid-afternoon, maybe. A few more hours to go. Then Goddard would have proved his point and things would get better. He’d let Cai take care of Dovia, and Cai would wait on his chance, if Rand couldn’t find anyone to help. No. Daegan was coming. If they could trust Council vampires, that terrifying son of a bitch with his big-ass sword or the equally terrifying thousand-year-old queen would make something happen. Just a matter of biding time.
Worst case, Goddard rabbited with Dovia, Cai, and his cronies, and escaped being caught. Disappeared deep into these mountains, deeper than any humanoid knew, the way Trads could. People thought the oceans were uncharted. There were places no one went except Trads, Fae. Dinosaurs that people thought were extinct. Or shifters that vampires thought no longer existed. So yeah, maybe Rand could track him there. He wouldn’t give up.
If that worst-case scenario happened, then Cai would have to help Dovia, be there, protect her as much as he could, look for other chances. And hope it wouldn’t take until the baby was full term. But if it came to that, maybe he could manipulate Goddard enough to let Dovia and Cai go after she had the baby, get her away from him.
They had no nurturing qualities. Without its mother, the infant would die, which was the best thing that could happen to it in this crowd. Woohoo, kid, you win a first-class ticket right back to the Hall of Souls, jump on the train and leave Psycho Fuckhead Town behind… But only after the kid suffered, and that didn’t sit well with Cai. He remembered the spark in Dovia’s eyes, the tightening of her chin, a mirror of the look in her mother’s face. Leona. Leona had seemed broken, overwhelmed, but he’d seen her through Rand’s eyes and knew broken wasn’t helpless. Hell yeah, Cai knew that firsthand.
Dovia wouldn’t leave the baby behind. But it wouldn’t matter. Unless they could get Cai to turn her into a baby machine again, they’d kill her soon after she gave them what they wanted.
Or she’d kill herself if they did try to make her into a baby machine. But she wouldn’t have to do that. Cai would become a one-hit wonder, only able to make it happen that once, by sheer dumb luck and desperation for sanctuary from the Council vampires. That’d be his story.
Shadows. Shadows falling upon him, increasing the shade, but it didn’t help. God, he wished it did.
“Cai.” It was Rand, in human form, beautifully naked, wrapping him up in blankets. “This is going to hurt. I’m sorry.”
He almost laughed, and it came out as a hysterical gurgle that tasted like blood. Then he was in the full sun, he could feel it through the blanket. He would have done some more screaming if his throat hadn’t given out long before. He was going to turn to ash. But Rand moved faster than he knew Rand could move. They were in the forest, the deep forest, and Rand laid him down inside a pit of cool, cool earth. A wonderfully deep one.
The wolf had dug him a hole. It was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for Cai.
They left one blanket on him, probably thinking it was best to keep the dirt away from his wounds, but he struggled weakly against it, and Rand understood. They took it off him, put him bare into the ground. Wolves were shoveling the dirt back over him with fast trundling paws. Soft, cakelike crumbles, mixed with dried leaves and debris that abraded his skin where they made contact, but then they had his lower body covered and it was okay. They blanketed him all the way to his neck, his head comfortably nested in cushiony soil, like a mother’s breast and twice as welcome. A wolf stood at Rand’s shoulder and Rand offered his wrist to him. The wolf obliged, snapping down on it to create an open wound.
Cai would have snarled at the wolf for biting what was his, but what Rand was doing penetrated his fogged brain. Cai only had one functioning fang, and he was weak as something embarrassing, like a kitten. Rand brought his bleeding wrist to his lips and let a few drops of blood fall there, igniting his even weaker hunger.
“Drink, vampire. We’ll need you for the fight to come. Unless you’ve given up on me.”
He never gave up. Because giving up meant the bastards had won, and they were never getting that goddamn satisfaction. He was gifted with a flash of Rand’s tight smile, but it didn’t reach the male’s eyes. He cupped a gentle hand under Cai’s skull. Cai freed his arms from the loosely packed earth enough to grip Rand’s wrist with both hands. They were trembling so hard, he could barely get his mouth on the flesh. Rand steadied him.
Good thing he’d already made that cut, because Cai was pretty sure, once his hunger roused, he would have almost torn Rand’s wrist in half to get to that blood. He was like a fledgling, his body so stressed and wounded, the blood it needed limitless. More than Rand had. He couldn’t stop himself though. Couldn’t…
Rand, don’t let me drink too much. Get…lightheaded, stop me. I will drain you. You’ll be the one laying out of this fight.
Rand had an answer to that, too. Fane had shifted to human and was next to him. When Rand extricated his wrist, Fane had already cut his own with a pocket knife and replaced the food source at Cai’s mouth. The male didn’t actively engage Cai’s gaze. Cai could feel his reluctance, borderline revulsion, at being a vampire’s food. However, the way he looked toward Rand said his regard for the other wolf was what made him do it.
Him and Rand, yin and yang. Sweet and sour. Timmy and Lassie. Everyone had found Timmy intensely annoying and wouldn’t have minded if he stayed down in that well while Lassie hooked up with some hot supermodel as his Mistress, since the actor dog Lassie had been male. Following her adventures every week…
Shut up, vampire. Drink. Be easy. Rand stroked Cai’s hair back from his burned forehead as he fed. His long fingers gathered more earth around Cai, his jaw and ears, framing his face. The wolves had mounded more dirt on him below the neck, so only his hands and a portion of his forearms were visible where he held onto Fane. Cai noticed a bunch of wolves milling in the shadows of the forest. Laying down, sniffing the air, waiting. They had a fierceness to them, an edginess. A war party. They were ready to kick some vampire ass. Glory hallelujah, except if they did it after dusk, they’d all be killed. Because when he and Dovia would be ready to move, so would Goddard and his idiots.
“Typical vampire. Thinking you’re the biggest, baddest thing out there. Don’t worry about that right now. We’ve figured it out.” Rand continued to caress his hair, lightly touching his face. “Here I thought you were as devoted to males as I am, and you fantasize about Dominatrix supermodels.”
The skin seemed less raw now, so the contact felt good. Cai’s tongue still wasn’t working for talking, partly because it was occupied with blood. He was drinking from Fane’s son Stalker, donor number three. But he rallied enough to respond, at least in his mind.
I’m very eclectic. I sometimes fantasize about tree knotholes, particularly if they’re shaped just right. Is Daegan…
“Yes. His servant is transporting him as we speak, to put him as close to us by nightfall as possible.”
Cai let go and nodded his thanks to Stalker, who withdrew with Fane to join the rest of the pack. Apparently, their communication would be with Rand alone. Cai didn’t rate direct conversation.
They don’t want to be here.
“They see little reason to fight for vampires,” Rand acknowledged. “But they’ll fight because I asked. Because I told them an innocent is an innocent, whether vampire, human or wolf. And because Fane didn’t realize the vampires had human captives.” Shadows crossed Rand’s gaze. “He said the distance they maintained
and the vampire scent masked it. When they caught a whiff of human, they simply assumed it was the remains of their feedings. If he had known, he would have done more.”
One died this afternoon.
Rand’s mouth tightened. “Blessings upon her soul,” he murmured.
He said it like he meant it. Like he thought there was something out there that could take care of a soul after death, make everything all right. Crazy dog.
“Wolf,” Rand corrected. “Don’t insult me, vampire. I can kick your ass right now without hardly trying.”
It almost made Cai smile, but his mind was starting to engage. We need more of a plan, don’t we?
“Some diversionary tactics would be useful. With your knowledge of the Trads, we thought you might have an idea or two.”
“Here I was, thinking you were feeding me because you liked having me around.” They were the first words Cai had attempted. Though they came out rasping and broken, like a bad cell signal, he was pleased to see Rand’s eyes crease with humor.
“You know far better than that, vampire.” Then Rand sobered. “Any ideas?”
Cai sighed. “No. Yeah. Hell, I don’t know. I’m used to doing this by the seat of my pants.”
“You don’t say.” The quick flash of humor on Rand’s face made Cai want to lift a hand to it, touch the male’s strong jaw.
He tried, and noticed that his arm, while still weak and trembling, didn’t look as burned, though he could sure as fuck still feel the sun, even if it was screened by the forest canopy. He needed to get all the way under.
The skin was sloughing off like a snake’s. While a good sign, it also put him at the bottom of the barrel when it came to being an appealing fuck.
“Yes, rolling you over and having my way with your ass is uppermost in my mind.”
Hell, he wasn’t blocking his thoughts from Rand. But he guessed that was okay. It might be easier for Rand to ladle ideas out of the soup in his brain than for Cai to form coherent sentences. But then Cai got something. A pleasant surprise, proof that his brain was working.
Okay, I’ve got an idea. If it works, your wolves won’t have to fight, at least until Daegan gets here. It’s just Daegan?
“His servant asked me how many vampires we were facing. I told him four, and he said Daegan was all that would be needed.” Rand lifted a shoulder. “I don’t doubt him. Hunting vampires…I think it’s what Daegan does for the Council.”
He stuck a sword in my back when I was distracted. You’re easily impressed.
Cai ignored Rand’s who-are-you-kidding look. But he’d come to a similar conclusion at Greenwald’s. A vampire who was a vampire hunter. With a vampire hunter for a servant. It made sense. A lot of things made sense right now, because he was too brain-fried to question them.
“Let’s hope he’s not overestimating the size of his dick. Or sword. My idea is going to rely on me being in full health and walking out of this hole in the ground at twilight, and you and your wolves staying out of sight until I signal for you. Doable?”
Rand nodded, but his brow furrowed. “I’m only getting part of what you’re thinking…”
Good. It meant Cai’s brain was scrambled enough to hold some things in reserve. He didn’t necessarily want Rand anticipating him on part of his plan.
“It’s all right. You’ll recognize the cues. You’re pretty sharp for a quadruped.”
At twilight, Cai walked out of the forest as planned. Thank God for shifter blood. If he’d only had access to human blood, he suspected he would have still felt a bit woozy, but after a total of four shifter donors, including Idris, Cai assured a dubious Rand he was glowing with health. The only residual symptom was the emotional wobbles that happened after being tortured, and hell, dealing with those was home territory for him.
Since late afternoon was the most likely time for a vampire of any age to be completely out, it had been decided a couple hours ago to take the risk and free the human woman. Cilya and Chad had cut her loose and taken her with them, headed back to Fane’s place, where she’d be turned over to Sangra’s care and transported to a hospital.
The human had insisted that the other woman’s body be taken too, stretching out her hands toward her in mute appeal. They’d agreed, never mind that it put them down an additional wolf for what was coming. No one was going to argue it, even Cai. He wondered if the two women had known one another before they’d been brought here, but that didn’t matter. They were bonded now.
Returning to the present and his semblance of a plan, Cai strode into the clearing, much as he had little more than a day before, though this time he carried a branch about three feet in length. Since he’d been stripped of his knife and didn’t know where it was, he picked up a hunting knife someone had left stuck in the picnic table near the well. It had the odor of human blood on it. Fuck only knew why, and he wasn’t going to spare it thought. Taking a seat on the top of the picnic table, he broke the branch in half and started whittling upon the two pieces. Waiting.
Malvin came out first. His eyes narrowed at the sight of Cai, which told him they either didn’t have the monitoring equipment Cai had assumed, or Brian’s serum had kept them out of it during the key footage of Cai’s release. Malvin did look nicely groggy. Rand had told him he’d mounded up some dirt and debris so if the camera feed was as grainy as it typically was for a security camera, a passing glance would have made it look like he was still there.
Malvin’s mouth tightened in disappointment. He’d probably been anticipating being the first to stand over Cai and gloat over his horrific condition. Subsequent to the short nap he took after his feeding—completely, blissfully buried under the earth—Cai had risen and found a creek to finish the skin sloughing process. It had been on the screaming side of painful, but it looked better. He was a little pinkish and mottled, like a kid too long in the sun at the beach, but he’d assured Rand he’d have his milky-white corpse complexion again in no time.
“You were chained,” Malvin said. “Even if your wolf had shifted, he could not have freed you. How did you…”
“Kind of boggles the mind, doesn’t it? Makes you think I have more tricks up my sleeve than you first imagined.” Fane had broken the padlock and chains with the bolt cutters they’d brought from the farm. Cai cast a glance over himself. Since he’d only donned the jeans from the clothes Brutus had so courteously left folded up next to his block of shade, he added, “Well, since I’m not wearing a shirt, I guess that would be tricks up my ass, but you get the gist.”
He waved the knife generally before taking another peel off the ever-sharpening stick. “The lying aboveground screeching thing was boring, so I got loose, went and hung out in the forest. Freed your blood sources, since that’s twisted and sick, and it nauseated me to see it. What respectable Trad keeps a human for blood rather than hunting for it? You guys have gone downhill since I saw you last.”
Hector’s lip curled in a pre-battle sneer, his fists starting to curl, but Cai pointed at him with the knife. “Hold your ground. I’m done dicking with minions.” He raised his voice. “Goddard, unless you think you need four vampires to deal with one, why don’t you bring your ass out here?”
He heard Rand’s voice in his head, quizzical. This was the part he hadn’t let him see fully because Cai wasn’t in the mood to turn it into a debate. He didn’t bother to respond, since his plan was about to be obvious. He was betting his normally conservative wolf would come up with some creative swear words. Cai was looking forward to it.
Goddard emerged, zipping up his pants. Cai’s gut clutched, remembering earlier, but sick as Goddard was, he wanted that baby. And he was coming out of the outbuilding he and Hector had shared, not the cabin where Dovia was. While Cai didn’t doubt there was a tunnel between the two, from the scent that hit his nostrils and reflected off Hector, he confirmed that Goddard had expended his insatiable needs on Hector. That was a mental picture Cai wished he didn’t have to have, but it was better than one involving Dovia.
Goddard had never been particular about the gender of the orifice he used, and his earlier threats suggested even species barriers didn’t bother him. He really would have screwed Rand as a wolf. Cai was even more certain he would have skinned him the way he described. Which might be a big part of why Cai was doing what he was about to do.
Rand had told him his wolf form was his sanctuary, but even if he hadn’t, the feelings Cai had picked up from the male would have made it crystal clear. Rape was rape, and all of it was awful, but if Goddard had carried out that threat upon Rand, it might have broken something in the wolf’s mind that could never be repaired.
Cai had seen the scars on Rand’s wrists, in Rand’s heart and soul. He’d been broken enough for one life. And Goddard was going to pay for even thinking about adding to it.
Goddard looked toward Malvin and Malvin shrugged. “He was like that when I came out. No idea how he got free.”
Goddard scoffed at Cai. “You’ve learned to be more resourceful. It changes nothing.”
“Yeah, nothing’s changed, that’s for damn sure. Trads are all brutal assholes, but most of them have a code. It’s about staying pure predators. Their interpretation of what that means is still pretty fucked, but it’s consistent. My wolf is a natural predator, and he doesn’t have a sadistic bone in his body.”
Cai rose from the picnic table and squared off with Goddard. “You’re sick of me? I’m sick of you. Sick of knowing you exist. We’re going to fight, just you and me. You claim to be better than me, stronger? You claim I’m nothing? You’re going to have to back that shit up. We throw down right here, you and me, to the death.”
He tossed the two stakes he’d carved on the ground, his aim decent enough that the pointed ends lodged into the earth halfway between them.