by K. L. Kreig
“The thought did cross my mind.”
“Yeah?” he asked, preparing to lean his bulk against the wall, when he thought better of it and straightened.
“We aren’t exactly BFFs,” Geoffrey drawled.
Ren regarded him for a few moments, trying hard to see through the broken façade to the vampire inside. This was the third time Geoffrey had put his own life at risk for the Lords.
The first was when he battled Xavier and almost bit it with an actual gutting—as in they had to pick his innards from the floor and carry them home.
The second was when he willingly offered his services to Rom, ending Rom’s tyrannical father.
And now. When Ren approached him, Geoffrey jumped on board, no hesitation. He hadn’t explained the details, really, because that wasn’t any of his business. Just said this was retribution for a past wrong. Explained what this SOB had been doing to young females and he agreed on the spot. In addition to being cunning, Siobhan was a mighty powerful vamp. He could easily end them. Geoffrey was genuinely putting his life at risk here. And for what? Because he was simply asked? It seemed so. There was definitely more to this rogue than met the eye.
“Eh, you’re growing on me,” he bounced back easily. “You ready?”
“Was fucking born ready, vampire.” The surety and command of his voice belied the position Geoffrey now found himself in.
Geoffrey’s female form knelt on the hard floor, legs bound apart by a spreader attached to both her feet and her upper thighs. Her arms were stretched overhead, shackled to a rusty metal ring drilled in the wall. There was a thick black collar around her neck and clipped to it was a nice heavy chain running the length of her back that the male violating her could use as a leash and then as a murder weapon when he was finished. This helpless, young, beaten, and bruised female had been reduced to nothing more than a sacrificial fucking lamb for the malevolent beast sent in to devour her.
It was stomach churning to think about the countless females who had really been in this position. It was heartbreaking to know Elle had been one of them.
Knowing it was almost showtime, Ren fanned out his senses again. The three floors above crawled with humans. There were also six vamps on the premises, but that was just sheer coincidence. Siobhan would come with his own security detail. If he kept true to pattern, he’d arrive with just two bodyguards, both of whom would remain upstairs while he took his time with his victim. That’s where Damian came in. Keep them nice and distracted while they made their kill.
Suddenly three new auras appeared.
They pulsed with power and corruption and greed.
Bingo.
They were here.
“It’s time, rogue. Try to stay alive.”
“I didn’t live through twenty kinds of hell to die now. You just do your job and leave me to mine,” Geoffrey chided.
Ren barked a short laugh. “See ya on the flip side.” He flashed back to the other room and the waiting game began. This was the hardest part. He wanted to slaughter, to burn, to destroy. He wanted to slice that depraved motherfucker’s head off the second he walked through the door, but battle required strategy and infinite patience or else it was your head that ended up meeting the ground instead of your enemy’s.
This was also the riskiest part for Geoffrey. Ren still couldn’t believe he’d agreed to go through with it. But to maintain the element of surprise, they had to catch Siobhan at his most vulnerable, which meant… Well, let’s just say Ren had a whole new level of respect for the rogue. This was not his fight, yet the vampire proved selfless once again, literally taking one for the team.
The minutes ticked by like hours. Siobhan had entered a short while ago after a brief exchange with the handler, whom he sent on his way, leaving only the three of them on this level.
Ren didn’t know what to expect, but pillow talk certainly wasn’t it. The degenerate praised Geoffrey on her body, her looks, her “sweet, pink, hairless cunt.” Mother. Fucker. His fingers itched to kill. His blood thrummed for vengeance. His patience was a hair trigger away from splintering. But he had to hold until the precise moment—he was only getting one shot at this. He would not let impatience fuck it up.
Geoffrey’s performance was Oscar worthy. He whimpered and cried out, pitching his voice high, pleading for mercy he’d never be granted. The sharp tang of blood wafted through the walls, making his incisors involuntarily drop.
When Geoffrey finally uttered their predetermined string of code words, “Enjoy your dance with the devil, motherfucker,” Ren palmed his favored katana and flashed right behind Siobhan. His sword was already halfway to its target before he’d even taken solid form.
The bastard never saw it coming, had no time to react. Pants dropped to his ankles and bent over a restrained, defenseless animate body, Ren took immense pleasure swiftly separating Siobhan’s head from his shoulders, where it dropped to the floor with a sick, resounding thud.
It was done.
Finished.
The finality of revenge was complete.
After spending one hundred twenty years as a goddamned ghost, Siobhan’s face would forever be twisted halfway between divine pleasure and pure shock.
A fitting end, he thought.
The entire thing took half a second at most, but he would always recall the sound of metal splitting the air in half. He’d forever feel the first contact of the razor-sharp blade before it smoothly sliced flesh and cartilage and bone. The smell of retribution would live eternally within him.
Ren stood motionless, soaking in the scent of bittersweet victory. Hot, thick vengeance coated his face, his clothes, his shoes. It dripped from the tip of tempered steel, forming a growing pool at his feet where the rest of Siobhan’s limp body lay twitching, not quite realizing he wasn’t violating an innocent anymore.
“You okay?” Ren asked Geoffrey absently.
“Fucking divine,” he replied curtly, back to himself. He stood naked as a jaybird, splattered with blood. “How the hell do you think I am after that sick fuck had his hands and his dick all over me? Depraved motherfucker.” Geoffrey’s foot connected with Siobhan’s now lifeless corpse so hard it bounced off the opposite wall and sprayed them both with a fresh gore of triumph.
“Feel better?”
“Fuck no. I’ll need to take the first couple layers of skin off before his evil stench will be erased. Light him up. We’re out of time.”
Geoffrey was right. The bodyguards would be here any second if Damian’s attempt to divert their attention didn’t work.
Ren dipped his hand into his pocket and withdrew an antique silver-plated lighter that belonged to his pappi. The front displayed a curvy, nude goddess intricately carved from ivory. One of the very first lighters ever made, it was probably worth a mint but was priceless to him. Turning it over in his hand once, he flicked the striker.
Nothing happened.
Again.
Once again…nada.
“You fucking with me right now?” Geoffrey said, his voice grating as he paced nervously. “Cuz if you are, I gotta say I don’t like your brand of humor much.”
Sending up a quick prayer to his pappi, he struck a third time. Glorious flames erupted from the old flint tube. Ren threw Geoffrey a smirk before striding over to the prone empty shell of a vamp. Bending down, he held the fire to Siobhan’s expensive linen pants, watching with glee as they caught. The blaze spread quickly, engulfing him entirely within a matter of seconds. Making his way across the small room, Ren kicked Siobhan’s severed head toward the orange glow, morbidly hypnotized as it rolled lopsidedly away from him toward the fire.
“This place is going to go up like dry timber,” Geoffrey announced, glancing at the wood beams above their heads.
“Yep,” Ren replied flatly. This club had housed depraved activities for God knows how long. Tonight, it would be burned to the ground, right along with this dead vamp. Ren knew another would pop up in its place like a fucking weed, but at least, he cou
ld rest easy tonight knowing this one was toast. Literally.
“I’m not going to be responsible for any more innocent lives,” Geoffrey challenged.
“Got it covered.” He may want this place gone, but he didn’t want innocents trapped in the crosshairs either, even though evil walked unknowingly among them. So he caught a pretty little redhead on her way inside earlier and persuaded her to pull the fire alarm…just…about…now.
As if on cue, the blare of shrill bells echoed around them, signaling it was time to go.
Right before he gave Geoffrey the nod to make their leave, Ren noticed a thick pendant lying in a red river of justice a few feet away. Knowing exactly what he needed to do with it, he quickly scooped it up.
“Souvenir?” Geoffrey inquired snidely, eyes flitting between the medallion and his face.
More like a bolt cutter, so Giselle could cleave the past once and for all.
“Yeah,” he said, taking one last glance at the vamp burning to ash. “Something like that.”
17
Giselle
“No, no, like this. You have to support the neck.” Kate stood next to Giselle with the tiniest being she’d ever seen, wrapped up like a taco in a white blanket with yellow ducks all over it. She started backing away, but Kate kept coming at her.
It had been two weeks since the raid on Xavier. Giselle knew they’d rescued a number of children, but she had no idea how many women and kids were brought here to the shelter. Mainly because she didn’t care. And it’s not that she was as soulless as everyone thought. It was that there was nothing she could offer.
Even though she had firsthand understanding of what these abused females had been through, she wasn’t about to swap stories in some little group therapy session she’d heard Kate led. No fucking way. Her pain was hers and hers alone, and sharing it didn’t ease it. It was reliving it.
And Giselle absolutely wasn’t the lovey-dovey motherly type these kids needed. She wasn’t full of warmth or comfort or soft words. She was limited on affection and definitely short on love. Who in their right mind would want her poisoning an unsullied child?
Up until this morning, Dev had not once suggested she come here and “help out.” So why she was now standing in a small nursery in the shelter was a puzzle she was still trying to work. This stank of Ren, actually. If she found out he was behind this, she’d cut his nutsack open before she sliced his dick off and fed him cock and balls for dinner.
“I think this is all a mistake. Dev must have been delirious when he asked me to come help you. I don’t do babies. Maybe he thought you were working with the women today, not”—she waved—“these.”
And he hadn’t really asked. Dev didn’t ask. He demanded. She’d tried to protest because Mike was talking to Jamie today and, selfishly, she wanted to be there when he was done. But you didn’t say no to the Midwest Regent Vampire Lord. So here she was.
“No, he knew what I was doing today,” she replied with some amusement.
“Do you find this funny?” Giselle spat angrily. She may have apologized to Dev’s mate the other night, but she wasn’t going to make a fucking habit of it. If Kate did something to piss her off, she’d let her bitch off the leash.
Kate started laughing, which startled the baby, making him howl. Giselle took another step back. With ease, Kate propped him up against her chest and started patting him lightly on the back as she cooed in his ear. He quieted instantly.
“You should see the look on your face right now,” Kate said, chuckling as she bounced the little one back and forth.
“And what look is that,” Giselle retorted, a little fascinated at how natural Kate was with handling an infant. She reluctantly admitted Kate would make a good mother. A very good one, actually. As upset as Giselle had been the other day about never being able to have children, she had to confess in her case maybe that unknown power knew best. And now that Mike was okay with not having children, she’d actually put the thought behind her entirely.
“A cross between petrified and unglued.”
“That’s not true.” It was. Bitch.
Kate shrugged. “Okay. Whatever you say. Here.” With a hand behind the baby’s neck and one under its butt, she held the bundle out to her. “Take her.”
Her heart stuttered a couple of beats.
Her?
A female vampire?
“Her?” Giselle parroted in shock. Female vampires were few and far between and she knew it was Xavier’s vile pleasure to destroy them if born within his walls. She couldn’t believe this little female had beaten unimaginable odds and made it out alive. What would become of her?
“Yes, her. Take her. I have two more I need to feed and we’re short-staffed and she’s been very fussy today.”
“Well…what am I supposed to do with her?” she asked with genuine confusion.
Kate nodded to the rocker in the corner of the nursery. “She’s been fed and changed, so just hold her. Rock her. Sing to her.” She paused. Giselle could tell she wanted to say something else, but she hedged.
“What? Just spit it out already.”
Kate’s lips thinned. “Maybe love her a little. I think that’s what she needs. All of the kids seem attention starved, but the babies are the worst. I doubt they’ve had a chance to bond with anyone.”
Ah. So that’s why she hesitated. Giselle couldn’t give love, affection. Was that it? Well, fuck her. She’d show Kate just how fucking affectionate she could be. She managed with Mike okay. How hard can something that doesn’t even weigh ten pounds and can’t talk back be, really?
She reached out and took the baby tentatively into her own arms, holding her the way she’d seen Kate do. She was surprisingly light. And wiggly.
“You’re not going to break her.” Kate adjusted her hold slightly and stood back, looking a little nervous. She had a right to be. Giselle didn’t know fuck all about kids. She had to wonder why the hell Dev sent her over here in the first place.
Uncomfortable with the way Kate was examining her, she huffed, “Just go…do whatever else it is you need to. I got this.”
“You’re sure?”
“You need help, right?” she snapped.
Kate’s head bobbed up and down. “Yes.”
“Then go. I’m sure I can find you if I need to. But don’t worry,” she added quickly, “I won’t need to. I’ll be fine. We’ll be fine.”
“Okay. Thanks,” Kate said tentatively. “She might need to be burped again. Just hold her up on your shoulder like I did and gently pat her back.” After the last instruction, Kate made her way toward the door as Giselle sat in the chair and started pushing them back and forth. Just then she realized something.
“Kate,” she called.
Kate stopped and turned. “Yeah?”
“What’s her name?”
One shoulder lifted and dropped. “I don’t know. We’ve just numbered all the babies and younger ones who can’t talk yet. The older ones know their names. She’s number one.”
What the fuck? They’ve numbered them? She may be cold, but damn…that just seemed heartless.
“You mean she doesn’t have a name?” she asked, incensed.
“No. We thought her new parents should name her.”
She had new parents already? Why did that thought make her stomach drop and her chest hurt? And where the hell were they? Who were they? Were they loving or would they abuse their power? Would they accept a rare female into their family and love her like their own flesh and blood? Give her everything her little heart desired? Treat her like a princess but raise her like a warrior? Had they been vetted? Was there even such thing as vampire adoption? Was that what they planned to do? Adopt them all out like strays from the pound?
“Why aren’t they here then?”
“Who?”
“Her new parents? Where are they?”
Kate smiled sadly. “We haven’t found them yet. We’re just trying to get our arms around the mess we have first and then figure
out how we find new homes for them. We’ve DNA matched two of the young ones and one of the teenagers with their rescued mothers, but we still have over a dozen ranging from five weeks to fifteen years to find families for and we’re not exactly sure how to go about that yet. It’s not like there’s a vampire adoption playbook we’re following here.”
Giselle thought on that a few beats.
“So it could be months before you find her a new family?”
“I suppose so.”
Months. This little precious thing could go weeks and weeks without a mother or father. She was familyless…just as Giselle had been. Another ache built. It made her sick to ask, but she had to. “What was done to them? To the kids?” To number one?
“We don’t know for sure,” Kate responded, sighing quietly. “That will certainly be a complication when trying to find families to take them. We’re just taking things one day at a time right now. It’s one monumental clusterfuck, that’s for sure.”
Giselle smiled at that. She didn’t hear Kate swear often. “You can say that again.”
“Trust me, I’ve said it so often these past few days I think the kids are starting to parrot it. So…you okay then?” Her gaze flicked to the baby girl in Giselle’s arms, then back to Giselle. Number one made a noise that was pretty close to a cry, so Giselle shook her gently. The baby quieted. She breathed an internal a sigh of relief, keeping her outer self cool, calm, and collected. Feigned as if this was a walk in the park when it felt like a walk over hot burning coals instead.
“I’m good.”
“Holler if you need anything.”
“I won’t. Need anything, that is.” Even if she did, she’d figure it out on her own. Surprisingly, she wanted Kate to have faith in her. Even more surprisingly, she wanted to prove to herself she could do this.
Kate had disappeared, leaving the two of them alone but reappeared almost immediately back in the doorway.
“Wow, that was fast. Think I’d drop her on her head already or something?” Giselle asked with a whole heap of sarcasm.