Briggs’s eyes widened, and Kyden experienced the same type of shock. Of all the reasons the werewolves were killing the mortals, Kyden hadn’t once guessed their intention was to destroy the very foundation of their society.
He stayed quiet as Calder continued. “A way for the rogue wolves to overpower the current alphas so they can rule their own packs.” Calder looked to Briggs, then to Kyden. “A promise has been made to the wolves that the alphas and the Patriarch will be destroyed.”
“Shit,” Finn droned.
“Foolish wolves,” Briggs snarled.
Kyden sighed.
This was far worse than anyone could have anticipated. The wolves did have a plan, and as it seemed the plan was in full effect. Now he wondered why the wolves were so confident they would succeed. Taking down the Patriarch and the alphas wouldn’t be an easy feat. The next obvious question twisted his gut. He suddenly had the real sense he didn’t want to know the answer. Yet, he knew he couldn’t avoid it either.
With coiled anger in his veins, Kyden managed, “Who made the promise to the wolves they could destroy their alphas?”
“You see it’s all connected…” Calder paused, and the dismayed look the wolf gave Kyden dropped the floor out from underneath him. “I’m afraid you won’t like what I have to say.”
Calder was right—Kyden didn’t like it.
In fact, Calder was lucky Kyden didn’t kill him for the words that came out of his mouth.
…
Knock, knock, knock.
Nexi’s eyes fluttered open, as she became conscious enough to realize someone was knocking at her front door. Pushing off the pillow, she also realized she was alone in her bed, and Kyden was nowhere in sight.
Stumbling out of bed, she pulled on her gear, then dragged her feet along the carpet as she approached the door. Once there, she opened it, and Drake stood on the other side. She sighed in frustration, rubbing at her eyes. “I thought I told you that you don’t have to knock.”
At Drake’s silence, she lowered her hands, suddenly noticing her father’s tight expression. “What’s wrong?” Glancing behind her, she listened for any sounds coming from her kitchen, but it appeared Kyden had left.
Turning to Drake, she asked, “Where’s Kyden?”
“He went out on assignment,” Drake replied.
“Oh, he is so dead.” He’d gone out without her? Hadn’t they already gotten over that? But as she studied Drake, she spotted the concern in the depths of his eyes, making her pause. “What’s going on?”
He reached out his hand, and something in his expression made her hesitate to take it. “The Council has summoned us.”
Guarded, Nexi watched him for a moment longer before she took his hand and shut the door behind her. Each step she took down the hallway only raised more alarms. She’d never seen Drake so…worried.
He had stayed silent next to her, and that didn’t help any. He was usually so forthright with his answers to her questions, but she allowed the quiet to engulf her, and hurried along to match his stride.
When they finally entered the Council’s Hall, it surprised Nexi to see not only Finn, but Kyden, too. Her focus stayed on him, and she noticed even Kyden looked tense, making her heart leap into her throat.
Something was wrong.
Seriously wrong.
After she arrived at Kyden’s side, he took her hand from Drake’s, and his sigh was deep and filled with despair, only increasing her discomfort. His hold was so tight—protective almost. She nearly asked what was going on until she looked at the Council and caught sight of Talon, and her mouth clamped shut.
Talon’s gaze slid over Drake, and Nexi could’ve sworn he gave him a compassionate look before he turned to Kyden, his expression hardening. “They’re with us now. Tell us what you learned.”
Kyden looked down to their held hands, his fingers like a vice around hers. “Tonight the lead from Briggs was a wolf with the Texas pack, Calder. He gave us some answers on what this is all about.” His head lifted to Talon. “It’s Lazarus.”
That name instantly registered to Nexi, maybe because the pale faces around her matched Talon’s compassionate look to Drake, and the blood drained from her body. “Not the vampire who killed my mother?” Kyden gave her a soft nod, and she gasped, “How is Tillie’s killer not dead?”
Didn’t the Council exist for this very reason? They killed those who killed others. There was no way the vampire who killed her mother twenty-five years ago still lived, or so she wanted to believe.
Talon sighed, rubbing a hand over his jaw. “He’s been in hiding…for a very long time.” He looked to Kyden. “Are you certain he’s behind this?”
Kyden nodded. “I am.”
“What? Wait.” Nexi shook her head, trying to knock some sense into it, and she glanced at Drake next to her. “How did you not destroy him after her death?”
Drake raised his head, his eyes haunted. “We hunted Lazarus for months.”
She heard the tightness in his father’s voice and the frustration that Lazarus had gotten away when he added, “But his trail ran cold. Eventually, we had to stop searching and focus our efforts elsewhere.”
Zia’s face was sheet white when she said, “We had thought he’d been killed by someone else, because he all but vanished.”
“Not anymore,” Finn muttered.
Zade snorted with a frown. “No, not anymore.”
Holten stood from his chair with his fists clenched. “What is Lazarus after? What could possibly make him return now?”
Kyden drew in a long breath, then blew it out slowly. He turned to Nexi and the sad look in his eyes made her stomach clench, as she wasn’t sure she wanted him to continue, but he did. “He’s after you.”
She blinked. “Me?”
A shiver of ice ran up her spine; somehow she couldn’t find it in herself to think that was a totally crazy theory. She had thought the wolves were focused on her during the assignments or at least they had seemed to know her. But she had hoped she’d been imagining it.
A couple months ago, her biggest problem had been a bad hair day. Now, she had a bulls-eye on her back with a vampire hunting her. “What in the hell does he want with me? I’ve never met him.”
“Actually you have,” Kyden muttered.
At her clearly baffled expression, he added, “From what Calder told us tonight, Lazarus was the vampire we met in Salt Lake City.”
Nexi couldn’t stop her eyes from going wide and she whispered, “The vanishing vampire?”
He nodded grimly.
“So, he’s gained a new ability?” Zia asked.
Kyden shrugged. “I asked the same question, and Calder didn’t know. He said Lazarus is definitely strong. I’m assuming he’s stronger now than when before he vanished because why else would he have returned now? But Calder didn’t know if this vanishing ability belongs to him along, or if a witch has gifted it to him.”
Nexi shook her head again, trying to clear all her jumbled thoughts. “Wait, I’m so confused. You saw Lazarus that night in Salt Lake City. How did you not know it was him?”
Kyden brushed his thumb over the back of her hand and said softly, “I was three years old when your mother died. I have no memory of Lazarus.”
“Okay.” A frigid chill rushed through Nexi’s veins. Horror filled her at the thought the vampire who had not only destroyed Drake’s life, took Zia’s soul sister away, but also stole her birth mother away from her, still lived. “Let’s say it’s him. But again, what does he want from me?”
Kyden’s fingers tightened around hers and his muscles quivered, as his jaw clenched. “Calder told me he wants to drain your witch powers.”
She scrunched her nose. First, she had no idea what that meant exactly, and second, that made no sense. What in the hell would he drain out of her? “Ah, I don’t have my witch powers yet.”
Silence surrounded them before Zia whispered, “He must assume that you do. He drained Tillie for the magic held within her blood.”
The room spun in all directions around Nexi. How could Lazarus be so stupid? He hunted for something he couldn’t possibly get, since she didn’t have it to give to him. No, this didn’t add up.
Talon’s eyes flared with ire, as he asked Kyden, “What of the mortal deaths?”
Kyden exhaled, and his hold tightened on her hand. “Calder said it was to draw Nexi out, and to watch her to see if her abilities had flourished. Lazarus was waiting to see if she’d gained her magic.”
Something about that made her pause—as if something registered and a thought should follow, but her head hurt trying to piece this all together.. All those lives were lost because of her…and for nothing.
She didn’t have any powers…unless she counted her ability to feel Haven’s emotions and how Zia read her thoughts, and she was certain Lazarus could do a whole lot of nothing with that. She couldn’t even begin to process what this new information meant, or how the Council would deal with it.
At the same time, she wasn’t a victim any longer, and a plan formed. This might have been more of a concern, but she trusted those around her and believed in their strength. Was she really in danger? She didn’t think so. More to the point, she could see a way to put an end to this. “We have a little bit of leverage on him now.”
Talon cocked his head, curiously. “How so?”
“We do have something he wants.”
Kyden growled—a guttural, frighteningly inhuman sound—and stared down at her with more wrath than she thought one guardian could hold. “Not a fuck—”
Before he could finish his curse, Drake ripped her away, practically frothing at the mouth. “Are you suggesting you use yourself as bait?”
Nexi pushed Drake, sending him away, then repeated the move on Kyden. “Stop manhandling me. Now then, let’s discuss this.” She sighed, releasing the irritation bubbling up. “It’s our best shot at getting him, and you all know it. We can draw him out before he has the chance of taking more lives.”
“Absolutely not.” Drake glowered. “This is personal. He wants you, Nexi. By draining you, what Kyden means is Lazarus wants to kill you. And if he manages to somehow take your powers, he’d become near-unstoppable. Do you not understand that?”
Well, no, she didn’t understand what a vampire could do with drained powers, or really what in the heck he was talking about. But right now, she focused on the most obvious. “First off, I don’t have my witch abilities so he has nothing to take,” she gently reminded him. “And you’re all a force to be reckoned with. He wouldn’t get close enough to hurt me, then you can take him out.”
“No.” Drake finally gave a firm shake of his head. “You will not be involved—”
Nexi’s fists tightened to clobber him. They were so not having this conversation again where someone else tried to decide her life for her, but Kyden interjected, “Enough.” He turned to Nexi. “We won’t use you as bait—that is non-negotiable.” To Drake, he added, “But she’s a part of this. It’s done.”
Drake gave Kyden a long stare, but he said nothing more, and Nexi was somewhat surprised how compliant Kyden acted. Actually, she was shocked speechless that he’d pulled Elite Guardian ranking on her father, since in the big old guardian world Kyden ranked higher than Drake. Of course, Talon could override Kyden’s order, but he didn’t.
She studied the guardian next to her. When had Kyden become so agreeable? He’d always wanted to protect her and keep her safe. Had she actually gotten through to him and his chest-beating way? She really doubted it, and the shift in him was discouraging.
Empathy showed in Kyden’s features. “I now believe you have more right than anyone to see him dead.” His voice softened. “I realize you don’t know how deep this runs.” He brushed a finger over her cheek, and she leaned into his touch. Pain seeped into his expression, and her blood ran cold. “I learned tonight the wolves at your home—the reason for your family’s death—was because of Lazarus.”
She blinked as the world spun around her, and she backed away from Kyden’s touch. She’d known this, of course. Her mind had been trying to tell her from the moment she learned Lazarus was after her, but hearing the words spoken aloud affirmed it as her reality—a reality she couldn’t change—and the pain of her loss, of her guilt, was unbearable.
Kyden’s body curled itself around her, and she drew comfort from him, however small. He turned to his father. “The wolf said Lazarus remembered Nexi from the attack on Tillie. He realized if the daughter held the same power he’d stolen from her mother, it would make him twice as strong as he is now.”
Nexi stared at nothing, willing her ears to block his words, as he continued, “The death of her family was to force her return to the Otherworld.”
“How did he find her?” Zia asked.
“There was a draw to her and he could sense her,” Kyden said. “A blood connection, of some type, and Lazarus has spent the last years searching for her, knowing she was somewhere in the Earthworld.”
“He does have Tillie’s blood in his veins, but I didn’t know that bond would transfer to him.” Zia whispered, her voice wrenched in guilt.
“How could you know that?” Talon asked. “You couldn’t have predicted the connection.” He hesitated, and finally added, “Continue, son.”
“The werewolf said Lazarus could feel her closeness,” Kyden said. “It took him all these years to zero in on her location. But he realized when he found her she was without her magic. That’s what started his plan. They never intended to kill her that night, merely for us to come and bring her home.”
Drake exhaled, a sound dripping in misery. “We did exactly what he hoped.”
“He had to have known we’d lift the hold on her magic,” Talon agreed. “And he’s been killing and watching her, waiting to ensure she has her magic, so he can drain her?”
“Appears so,” Kyden said. “He must assume that since she’s able to fight as a guardian, and that magic has flourished, so have her witch abilities.”
“They were murdered…” Nexi whispered against Kyden’s chest, her mind reeling, “because of me.” Her parents, the people she loved, died in the most vicious of ways because Lazarus was after her. Her stomach rolled in sickness, and her throat tightened. “How can this be true…”
Kyden stared at her with pained eyes. “I’m sorry, Nexi—”
She raised her hand, not wanting him to continue. Tears welled up in her eyes and horror sent an excruciating chill into her soul. Her knees wobbled and a terrible, keening sob, sounding nothing like her own voice, escaped her.
Kyden wrapped her in his arms, keeping her upright as her body slipped downward. She stayed there a moment, weeping hard and openly, but accepting the safe feeling he provided as the world she knew it shattered around her.
Drake’s hand rested on her shoulder, but the comfort of the two men most important in her life couldn’t fight off her despair. She sank deeper into Kyden’s embrace, hoping he could make this all better—hoping he’d tell her this was all some terrible nightmare.
He stayed silent.
…
Two hours later Nexi entered her bathroom, adjacent to her bedroom, and shut the door behind her. She turned on the tub’s faucet, added a dash of bubble bath and let the scent of warmed almonds and sweet vanilla comfort her. She stripped, then sank down into the antique claw-foot tub, instantly lost in the sensation. As she relaxed her muscles, her tight emotions slowly unwound.
When the bubbles no longer popped and the water was more warm than hot, the bathroom door opened. She knew exactly who it’d be, so she kept her eyes closed. The sound of leather hitting the floor echoed in the bathroom, and when Kyden slid down in front her, the water rushed over the sides of the tub.
He grabbed her foot to rub along the arch. “Better now?”
“To the right a bit…ah, yes, right there.” She sighed, with her head against the rim of the tub. “Yeah, I’m okay.” At least she wasn’t crying anymore.
&nb
sp; She’d spent a half-hour in Haven’s arms, which calmed her down enough to think straight. After everything she’d learned tonight about Lazarus’s intentions, she also realized she hardly knew anything about him. Before she could even understand how to deal with the future, she needed to know the past.
Opening her eyes, she lifted her head, staring into Kyden’s gentle eyes. “Can you tell me about what happened with Lazarus?”
He inclined his head, continuing to rub along the arch of her foot. “There are those who reject the Council’s beliefs. Just as in the Earthworld battles arise between those mortal beliefs. From what Talon has told me, Lazarus thinks the Council makes mistakes in their rulings, and he seeks to rule the worlds.”
“Both worlds?” Nexi asked, and at Kyden’s nod, she added, “You can’t be serious.”
“Sadly, I am.” He lowered her one foot, then took up the other and continued to massage her. “Lazarus believes vampires should have the right to kill mortals. That vampires are the superior species. He wishes to claim humans as slaves.”
Had anything ever sounded so insane? “I’m taking it that didn’t go over so well?”
Kyden’s thumbs pressed into a wonderful spot on her foot as he raised his brows in agreement. “Lazarus had tried to defeat Zade, as Master, years back, to take over his role so he could enforce these rules. When he failed, Lazarus retaliated, and gathered a group of wolves who pledged themselves to him.”
“Just like he did with the wolves now?”
“That’s right.”
She shook her head in confusion. “I don’t get it. What’s in it for the wolves? Why pledge themselves to this one vampire?”
“I’ll get to that, but let me explain the rest first.” She stayed silent, and he continued, “So, after he failed to defeat Zade, Lazarus attacked the Council and came very close to destroying everything we believe in.” Kyden gave her a pointed look. “Lazarus will stop at nothing until he destroys the Council to enforce his way of life.”
Nexi blinked. “He had enough strength at that time to almost defeat them?” Fear tightened her throat and coldness sank into her bones, regardless of the warm water around her.
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