by Mary Hughes
“H-he…” Luke’s voice broke. “He doesn’t even know his own name. He thinks he’s Greyson.”
“He’s had many names.” Ryker’s black eyes, resting on Luke, were unusually gentle. “Many lieutenants. He’ll remember eventually.”
Luke’s gaze jerked to the king and flared red-gold. “I don’t need your sympathy, spy master.”
But Logan’s gaze on Ryker turned thoughtful.
Lips twisting in a wry smile, Ryker said to Luke, “There. That’s better. There’s the irascible Alliance lieutenant we all know and love.”
“Don’t even—” Luke thumped the table. “Don’t pretend you did that for my benefit.”
My king’s arrogant brows arched high.
The two glared at each other for a long, tense moment.
Vampires. Always measuring whose fangs were longer. I cut their playtime short with a question. “The…Bargaining Rights, was it? Who called for the bargaining? Maybe it’s the same person behind Elias’s attempted kidnapping.”
I expected him to name Strigorul, but Logan grimaced in disgust. “A pawn of some bastard calling himself the Shadow Lord.”
“Again, the Shadow Lord.” Ryker frowned at Logan. “I’ve come across that title before, in a whisper here and there. He’s a dangerous operator. There’s another name for him—Umbra.”
Logan’s face paled. “The pawn was named Owun Umbras.”
“Umbras…” Ryker mused. “Or perhaps Umbra’s, signifying he was Umbra’s creature?”
The twins exchanged a glance.
“Umbra?” From her corner, Rey cocked her head. “If the last A has a breve marking over it, that’s Romanian for shadow.” To read psychology papers, she had amassed a huge repertoire of languages, though that was one I hadn’t been aware of until now.
Liese asked, “So the Bargaining Rights was a setup to grab Elias?”
“Probably everything leading up to it as well,” Ryker said. “Skheid. The whole fiasco—all to kidnap an ancient and milk him of his blood.” He glanced at Elias again, his black eyes worried.
Hardison spoke up. “Why is Umbra draining ancients?” He had a soft but deep voice.
“For the power in the blood,” Luke snapped.
“Is that the only reason?” Hardison asked. “What does Umbra get out of it? Money? Control?”
Uneasy looks went around the table.
Logan said, “Add it to our question list.”
“What does all this have to do with the bastard laying siege to my household?” Luke demanded.
“I can answer that.” Ryker gave a condensed version of Elias’s capture, escape, and running into my sister. He ended with the needle and Alexis’s findings. “The poison seems to have jogged him into a dissociative state.”
“Amnesia?” Logan asked.
“Perhaps.” My king shrugged. “Perhaps he simply does not wish to remember.”
“It’s not a single poison,” Alexis said. “I’m still analyzing it, but the needle contained a rather powerful drug cocktail. In addition to suppressing Elias’s vampire nature, there’s a concentrated hallucinogen plus other ingredients that…well, it was designed to hit hard then linger.”
“Mon Dieu.” Logan’s broken whisper matched the anguish in his face. “He’ll stay like that? How long?”
Though Alexis’s own expression remained professionally calm, as she glanced at Elias, cold fear touched her eyes. “I haven’t been able to determine the extent of the damage.”
Doctor-ese for “I don’t know.” My own gut chilled.
“Don’t be idiots,” Ryker spat. “He’s still in there.”
Surprise lanced me.
Luke sat straight as if that had slapped his face. “Like we’d believe you,” he sputtered.
“Believe your own eyes, then. He came here, did he not? He wouldn’t have entered this place if he didn’t trust you at a gut level. Some part of him remembers you’re his lieutenants. And watch this.” He gazed at the frail man and raised his voice. “Elias.”
Elias’s black eyes swung to him.
I nearly crowed with relief. But he’d tricked Rey. Immediately hot fury roared in.
“You think that’s me,” Elias said. “But it’s not. I’m Greyson.”
Ryker shook his head. “You spoke the old, dead tongue, my friend. You said alal. Destroyer.”
“I don’t know why I said that.” Elias’s expression was set, stubborn.
Ryker smiled kindly. “My mistake.”
“The antidote,” Liese said.
My king’s sharp gaze swung to her.
Alexis blinked. “Why would you think there’s an antidote?”
“Engineering genes.” Logan smiled fondly at his wife. “That’s your conclusion, princess. Tell us how you got there.”
“Oh.” Her brow furrowed a moment. “Well, there must be. This Shadow Lord or Umbra or whoever, he drugged Elias to capture him, right? To make him pliable so he could drink Elias’s blood. But Umbra wouldn’t have wanted to drink poisoned blood. Ergo, Umbra has an antidote.”
Smart. I got a tingle of admiration. If she’d been my real sister, I’d have been proud of her.
Oh, hell. I am proud of her.
“Nice bit of reasoning.” Ryker nodded in appreciation.
I turned to Alexis. “Do you think you could reverse-engineer an antidote to Elias’s poison?”
She brightened. “I don’t see why not.”
Yes. “How many hours?”
“Hours?” She laughed. “Try months. Lots and lots of them. Though I’ve done it before, it took years.”
“Years?” Dismay hit me.
“We need to find the antidote then,” Sandy said.
“We should get the Ancient One someplace safe first,” Hardison objected.
“Let’s bring in the champion Blackthorne, to return Elias’s ancient blood,” Logan said. “That might heal his mind.”
Luke slapped the table. “Not before we take out that bloody-skull destroyer who’s threatening my household.”
“Bloody s-skull?” My sister’s voice held a slight quaver.
Logan rose and thumbed open a panel beside the whiteboard, revealing a series of buttons. A couple pokes, and the monitor flared to life.
The scene was a squad of bloodsuckers in black fatigues milling around a front yard. A few seconds later it switched to a similar scene, but the background was a backyard. “These are Luke’s exterior cameras.”
The Destroyer himself stalked into view. Logan hit a button and the view stayed with that camera. As if the Destroyer sensed us watching, he came toward us, closer and closer, until he glared right into the camera.
Eyes burning with the fire of hell within his ruddy skull-like faceplate.
Rey gasped. “It’s him.”
“Who, Rey?” Elias’s gaze on her was sharp. “Who is that?”
“The monster who killed my parents.” She was trembling.
I leaped to my feet to comfort her. Ryker’s strong hand on my arm stopped me.
“You’re safe, Rey.” Elias tucked my sister into his shoulder. “You’re safe here.”
She laid her head against him. Her trembling eased.
I sank back into my chair, confused. My sister’s closeness to the vampire king alarmed me, but the way he soothed her was almost sweet.
Ryker released me, again placing his hands in plain sight on the table. “I have one more piece of information, the most important. Umbra is making Soul Stealers—”
“We knew that,” Luke snapped.
“Let me finish. He’s also creating worse creatures. Those blue-badges out there are young vampires, well trained but normal. The red and silver badges, though… They don’t act much older, yet they have the kind of size and strength only gained after centuries. I believe they were enhan
ced by ancient blood.”
Logan’s hands, still on the table, tightened slightly.
“Then there’s Strigorul, a vampire with ancient size—and ancient healing.”
“A Soul Stealer.” Luke gave him a dismissive flip.
“Is he? Soul Stealers go insane from the shock of ancient power. Strigorul is in perfect control.” My king paused to let that sink in around the table. “Umbra has made him a destroyer.”
“What is a destroyer?” I asked.
“The most gruesome thing there is.” A muscle in Ryker’s jaw ticked.
“Not possible,” Logan exclaimed. “Drinking an ancient’s blood while he’s alive and conscious until he dies the final death? A Soul Stealer is already the most gruesome thing imaginable.”
“But at least it’s over quickly.” My king’s expression was as bleak as I’d ever seen it.
Liese turned a sick green. “I don’t think I like where this is going.”
“Yes. Imagine a repulsive parasite attached to you.” Ryker’s gaze went around the table, one by one. “Sucking your lifeblood—just enough to hurt. Again and again, over months, over years, the pain increasing with each violation. Imagine your very self slipping away, piece by piece. Awake, aware, conscious the whole time.” His eyes stopped on Luke and hardened. “Helpless to stop it.”
Even Luke’s belligerence died. Glancing at Elias, he swallowed hard. “How long?”
“Depends on the strength of the ancient. Most last years. Him? It’d be decades before the destroyer finally killed the host. And in the meantime, the destroyer’s development leaps forward centuries while he avoids going completely insane.”
I tasted bile.
Logan’s hands fisted on the table and his eyes tinged red. “Why didn’t we know this?”
“The practice is both heinous and difficult to manage. Capturing an ancient, restraining him for years without killing him or him killing himself? Before this, it only happened a few times, and the destroyers involved quickly lost control of their host. They were easily shut down. This Shadow Lord is altogether more cunning.”
“Fine, this Destroyer is an abomination of a vampire.” Luke’s fang-tips flashed as he spoke. “He’s still a vampire, and he’ll die like one.”
“An abomination who has been drinking ancient blood,” Ryker reminded him. “Seven feet tall, built of muscle, with armor as impervious as mine and healing that’s lightning fast. His squads are well trained, as precise as any of you. Maybe even more so, because they probably don’t waste drill time with family and households.”
“Our families are our strength,” Logan objected mildly.
Ryker glanced at me and sighed. “Perhaps. While we appreciate the sanctuary, it’s only a matter of time before Strigorul figures out a way past your guard, though.”
“You’re leaving?”
“He wants Elias, but once he figures out I’m still alive, he’ll want me, too. I wouldn’t discount his taking innocents as hostages to force your hand. I’ll decoy him while you run very fast the other way—”
“No,” I said, flat. “We stick together.”
“Running away won’t work in the long term, anyway.” Logan shook his head. “We need to finish him.”
“I’ll do it,” I said. “I swore I’d kill him. I only need two things. More liquid gold serum.” I paused. “And someone to distract the shadow vamps for me.” I turned my expectant gaze on Logan.
His hazel eyes narrowed on me. “You want us to run interference on the Destroyer’s squads for you.”
“Well, yeah.” After seeing how they treated Elias, he’d surely jump at the chance to keep his precious master safe.
Wouldn’t he?
He only stared at me with mistrust written on his face.
My heart fell. If he wouldn’t help us… I was no coward, yet the idea of going up alone against the monstrosity who managed to down Ryker made me quake.
Please say yes.
“No,” Logan said finally.
“Damn it, why not?” In my lap, I clenched my hands.
Ryker reached over, his long-fingered hand settling gently on mine.
Logan glared at my king. “Ask him.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Ryker caught Kat’s troubled gaze on him and patted her hand reassuringly.
Inside, he didn’t feel so calm. He didn’t like where this was going.
“Don’t let your hatred for me get in the way, Steel. This is your best plan to get Elias to safety. Let me spell it out for you. There are two fronts in this war, Strigorul and his squads. In single combat, I can triumph over the Destroyer.”
“Despite your planet-size ego, no contest is a slam-dunk,” Luke said. “Lots of things can throw a match. Bad luck, timing, treachery—”
“Fine.” He held up a hand. “I can at least gouge his armor then hold him until Kat hits him with the liquid gold. Once that’s in his bloodstream, he dies the final death. But who will fight his squads? Who will keep them from us, to allow us to complete our mission?” He appealed to the Alliance vampires’ volunteer natures.
Hard eyes met him all around. Untrusting. They were going to make this difficult.
Ryker drew a deep breath. “Steel. If you do this, I will owe you.”
“Owe me. Really.” Steel’s voice was flat.
“You have my word—”
“Your word?” Luke blew out a noise of disgust. “The oath of a spy master and trickster is a broken promise in the making.”
“Why do you hate him so much?” Kat exclaimed. “He’s on your side. Hell, he’s trying to help you!”
Jumping in to defend him, even after everything that had happened. His heart filled with love for her.
“He doesn’t help anybody but himself.” Luke thumped the table.
“He’s on nobody’s side,” Logan drawled. “Except his own. That’s why we don’t trust him. We’re a team, and he’s not a team player.”
“That’s why you won’t support us?” Kat’s jaw dropped in disbelief. “You’ll blow your best chance to keep your boss safe because Ryker plays by his own rules? Because he’s not a puppet?”
“He’s not a team player,” Luke repeated.
“This isn’t a game.” Ryker lost his temper. “This isn’t any kind of a game, not with that destroyer out there. Steel. Tell me what you want from me to make this a done deal. Blood? Here.” He slapped his arm down on the table in front of Logan, wrist side up. Normally he’d have shared blood with the Alliance male over his own dead body. But Kat’s life was at stake, too. “Take it. It’ll make you stronger and you can track me down anywhere.”
Logan made a dismissive flip. “Anywhere within a few miles, you mean. Doesn’t do me any good if you’re back in Europe.”
“Oh, for shit’s sake… Then what do you want from me?”
A caustic smile tipped Steel’s mouth. “The great ancient Enkidu. Let’s be clear. Are you asking us for our help?”
Help, not humiliation. “The great humanitarian Alliance. Are you refusing it?”
“Yes. Because you aren’t asking us for help, not really. You hire people for your schemes. You don’t include them in your plans. You use them.”
“Use?” Ryker bristled. “I pay them well.”
“Yeah, well, we don’t help because we’re getting paid. We help because it’s right. We’re not puppets, we’re a team.” He underlined the word with a thump on the table. “When we help, it’s because we’re part of the team, not throwaway extras.”
Ryker’s mouth thinned in consternation. Why was Steel making this so hard? “I’ve already offered you my blood. What more do you want?”
“I want you,” he jabbed a finger at Ryker, “to show us you’re willing to be part of a team. Not by sharing blood with me. By sharing blood with us.”
&nbs
p; He straightened with a shocked breath. “What, all of you?” His gaze darted wildly around the room. The last time he’d given himself up so intimately to a group?
His pack.
Hunting with his family. It flooded him with the bright, simple clarity of childhood. The killing pain when they turned their backs on him was equally vivid.
Go away. You’re dead to us. It was etched on his soul.
Agony as fresh as that day overwhelmed him. “I can’t,” he gasped.
“Then our answer is no.”
Anger flooded him, and fear. He sought Kat’s hand blindly, trying to control himself, trying to check the pain.
Slim, strong fingers snaked through his. Offering strength, solace.
It kept him from completely self-combusting. Forced him to face facts.
Kat would go after Strigorul no matter the cost. Her life was on the line. This was their only play, and to make it, he’d have to share his lifeblood with vampires who hated him. Inanna save his soul.
For Kat. He drew a deep breath and opened his mouth to accept.
Nothing came out.
…
My fingers clenched. How could they do this to Ryker? His gang’s rejection had burned his young trust, damage which might never heal. He’d been intensely brave to open himself enough to admit his need for me, and I loved him.
Making himself vulnerable to vampires who hated him? Sympathy stabbed me.
“That’s a ridiculous request,” he finally said. “A master might take his lieutenants’ blood to call and guide them. An ancient giving blood to not one but several youngsters? Never. You want me to prove myself, but—”
“Not one-sided,” Logan said. “Sharing. An even trade.”
“I’d taste all of you? That’s even more absurd. You could locate me by blood sense, but as an ancient, I could force my will on you. Make you my slaves.”
“We’d have to trust you not to take unfair advantage. You trust us—we trust you.” A gleam of challenge entered Logan’s eye. “That’s what teamwork means.”
My king sat in astonished silence.
“Trust him?” Luke gaped at his brother. “Are you out of your mind?”
“Maybe,” Logan said. “Yet something tells me this isn’t the same male we met in the past. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary sacrifices. I think we have to risk it.”