by Aliya DalRae
Uli threw his hands in the air. “I don’t give a fuck about Magnus’ party plans, nor do I care whether you’re offended by a glass eye or not. Why did you agree to help me if you already knew the outcome?”
“Well, now, I didn’t know until the other night, did I?” Victoria said, her back stiffening even more, if that were possible. “I can’t control when these visions will come to me, Ulrich. I explained that to you when we met to discuss your plan. This was one of those visions that just happened upon me. I knew you were going to be disappointed with the outcome.”
“And you didn’t think to mention it?”
“You were quite persuasive that night.” The corner of Victoria’s mouth lifted in a half smile, as though she were remembering some secret pleasure. Uli remembered, too, but that had nothing to do with their current circumstances.
“Your mistake lies in trying to blame Mason. That male is Legion through and through. He’d roast his own mother in the noon day sun if the Primeval demanded it. And for the record,” Victoria continued, “the seduction would not have been necessary to gain my assistance. I’ve hated those twins from the moment I foresaw them. However, one does not, how do they say, look a gift horse in the mouth.”
“Eww,” Rebecca said, her nose wrinkled in disgust.
Uli frowned. It certainly hadn’t been a hardship. Still…
“A heads up would have been nice,” he said.
“Yes, well, it wasn’t clear, and I didn’t want to dash your hopes if it could be avoided.”
“And you wanted to fuck him again.”
“Rebecca!” Victoria blushed, but Uli could see by the spark in her eye that her daughter wasn’t wrong.
“Honestly, Mother. Since Daddy died you’ve become quite the ho.”
“Why is she here again?” Victoria stabbed a glare at Uli.
“Not my call,” he said. “Maxx picked her up in a pub outside of Oxford and hasn’t been able to pry himself off her since.”
Maxx stroked the female’s fiery curls. “Why would I want to?”
“Besides,” Rebecca said. “I would have missed the family reunion.”
Victoria visibly shivered, that stiff spine of hers falling in a barely perceptible slump. Uli noticed it, but she recovered quickly, returning to her usual rigidity in the blink of an eye. Who knew that one so staid could be such a tiger in bed? He allowed himself one brief emersion in that pleasant thought, but she spoke, and brought him back to the present.
“Nevertheless, what do you intend to do now, Ulrich?”
Uli stopped in front of Victoria. What he’d like to do is kick those two sex starved freeloaders out of his room, throw Victoria onto the bed and fuck his frustrations away. Instead, he said, “Assuming Magnus lets us out of here, we need to regroup. Figure out a new plan to take these purple-eyed bastards down. Are you with me?”
He was looking at Victoria, but it was Maxx who answered. “I don’t know, Fuhrmann.” He’d shifted Rebecca to the sofa beside him and rubbed his hands on his thighs. “My entire brood has been destroyed, my business ventures are in shambles, and I’m a fucking feral sat in the middle of the gods-damned British Primeval’s residence.” Maxx was on his feet and in Uli’s face, his eyes glowing that unnatural orange common amongst ferals.
“Dinner was good and all, but you promised me this was going to get the Legion off my back. You promised me power and some fucking say in how ferals are treated. Control! So far, all I have is a fancy twat in my bed and a bucket full of empty promises.”
“Hey!” Rebecca sat up.
“Apologies for the language, ma’am,” Maxx said to Victoria, ignoring Rebecca’s huff-and-puff routine.
“Not at all,” Victoria said. “She is what she is.”
“I’m right here, you know,” Rebecca yelled, but no one was listening.
“If you had taken Nox out in Fallen Cross, we wouldn’t be here right now,” Uli spat. “You had one job and an entire brood of ferals to help you get it done, and yet both of those murderers are still breathing.”
“I nearly died,” Maxx snarled.
“And would have if not for me. Perhaps it would have been better if you had. You’ve become a bit of a liability.”
“Fuck you, Fuhrmann.”
“I’d rather not,” Uli growled. They were nose to nose now, and Uli could feel the magic flowing through him, his hair struggling to escape its braid. If Victoria hadn’t stood between them, they would certainly have come to blows.
“Gentlemen, this is getting us nowhere. For now, we need to hold it together. Once the Primeval decides what he’s going to do with us, we can move on. Make new plans.”
“Is that a future we can count on, Mighty Seer, or should we not get our hopes up?” Uli couldn’t help the sarcasm. He’d just about had all this bunch he could stomach, wild Vampire sex notwithstanding.
“I’ve seen us together outside these walls,” Victoria said, and stroked her delicate fingers down his chest. “All of us, except…where’s Rebecca?”
Chapter Twenty-Five
W ould she ever learn?
Rebecca was used to being insulted. Hell, she was used to being used, but the exchange between Maxx and her mother had stung.
They probably didn’t even realize she’d gone. She had no desire to return to the room she shared with Maxx, and the guards at the ends of the hall were an annoying little problem, but nothing a few tears couldn’t overcome. Lover’s spat, she told the guard with an exaggerated sob. Uncomfortable with female hysterics, the guard let her pass with a promise that she would return before too awfully long.
Now, she wandered the halls of this impossibly enormous castle, trying to place a finger on the exact moment she’d lost control of her life. She’d always been the wild one, bucking the system, looking for fun in inappropriate ways, with inappropriate males. The more outlandish, the better. Maxx had certainly fit the bill on the latter. Other than those ghastly orange eyes, he was quite the looker with his dark hair and that chiseled jaw. And Uli had worked a spell so he didn’t even smell like a feral. No burnt cabbage odor for him. He was a rebel, just like her and she had enjoyed getting to know him. All the politics between him and that Sorcerer were a drag, but he’d kind of grown on her.
When they brought her mother into their little scheme, she’d nearly run. No guy was worth dealing with that woman. But Maxx had been cool and oh so fun between the sheets, so she thought, what the hell? Maybe it was time to mend that fence, see if she couldn’t forge some kind of relationship with the old bat.
She wasn’t sure if it was the amazing sex or if the Sorcerer had hit her with some magical whammy. Either way, she’d been delusional. Rebecca gave a loud sniff that echoed off the stone walls, then scrubbed her hands over her eyes. She had no idea where she was going, nor how to get back to where she’d come from even if she wanted to. The narrow halls all looked the same at this point. She stopped at an intersection, chose a direction, and stumbled on.
On top of everything else, the very last thing she’d expected was to run into her half-brother and judgmental sister. Could Rachel have been any more sanctimonious? Rebecca’d never lived up to her perfect older sibling, and so had never tried, but when she’d seen them? She’d been crazy to think with all the time that had passed, that somehow, she’d have risen a bit in her family’s eyes.
Her vision blurred with tears, Rebecca ran headlong into a wall that appeared before her out of nowhere. The collision sent her sprawling to the ground. She banged her fists on the ancient rug beneath her, frustration leaking from her very pores.
A large hand appeared before her—friend or foe, it mattered not. But this hand was familiar in its size and shape. She looked up the length of it, and further up into the golden eyes of the only male besides her daddy that she’d ever truly loved.
“Harrier?” she whispered. Surely, she was hallucinating. Her brother was the only person in this whole place whom she trusted to be fair with her. She couldn’t possibly
be lucky enough to have found him in this maze of a place.
“Come now, Becca. Let’s get you off the filthy floor.”
Rebecca took her brother’s hand, allowed him to pull her to her feet and into his ginormous arms.
And she sobbed. Big, ugly tears that put her earlier waterworks to shame soaked into Harrier’s t-shirt as she pressed her face to his chest.
He let her stay there for the longest time, only easing up on the embrace when she leaned back to look at him. “When did you start hugging?” she asked.
Harrier shrugged as she stepped out of his arms. “Seems I’ve got a lot of family all of a sudden. Females mostly. They say it’s a thing.”
Rebecca gave a watery chuckle. “Yeah, well, it was good. Nice.”
Harrier lifted that shoulder again and she smiled. “You’ve grown,” she said. Last time she saw him he was tiny compared to this giant before her. Their mother had chased him off, of course, threatened him with bodily harm if he dared show his face again. It broke both Rebecca and Rachel’s hearts, but Victoria had a way of making awful things happen. They’d all agreed that it would be best if he left.
It was about that time Rebecca started acting out. That’s what they called it nowadays. Back then, she’d simply been an embarrassment.
“What are you doing out here anyway?” she asked, sniffed. “Is your room nearby?” Oh, please let his room be nearby. If she had to go back to Maxx’s…she shuddered at the thought.
But Harrier shook his head. “I felt you,” he said and tapped his chest. “Here. Rachel’s pissed, so I knew it wasn’t her. You were hurting, so I came to find you.”
Rebecca blew out a breath to try and stem the tears threatening an encore. “Oh, Harrier.” She wrapped her arms around him again. “I’m just so damned tired.”
Harrier patted her on the head and she smiled through her tears. That was the brother she knew and loved.
“Let’s go to my room,” Harrier said. “Maybe Rachel can join us, and we can catch up?”
“Could it just be us for a while,” Rebecca asked. “I think I’ve been judged enough for one evening.”
“Whatever you like.”
Rebecca sighed as they walked arm in arm through the halls in search of her brother’s suite. Perhaps there was something to be said for family. The good ones, anyway.
Chapter Twenty-Six
H arrier led the way to his room, a protective arm around his wayward sister. Like him, Rebecca had never been one to show affection, unless, of course, she was trying to prove a point. For him to be the one providing her with comfort, that was irony at its finest.
As they turned the corner into the hall they sought, Mason approached from the opposite direction. His brow was drawn into a sharp V and his dark, normally impeccable hair looked as though he’d had his hands through it, and often.
“Warlord,” Harrier said, mostly because he didn’t think Mason knew they were there. The male glanced up, took a long look at Harrier and his sister, and his frown deepened.
“You remember my sister? From dinner,” Harrier said. “Rebecca, this is Mason, Warlord of the Fallen Cross Legion.
“Yippee,” Rebecca muttered, and Harrier gave her arm a warning squeeze, as Mason was spending entirely too much time looking at her. The way things were going, Harrier wouldn’t put it past him to offer her up to the Primeval for Nox’s return.
“Lovely.”
“Sorry?” Harrier said, certain he’d misunderstood.
Mason cleared his throat, schooled his face and said, “Apologies. Lovely to meet you, Rebecca. If you’ll excuse me?” He then pushed past them, let himself into his room and slammed the door.
Harrier turned Rebecca to face him. “Could you not have shown my Warlord a wee bit of respect?”
“Why?”
“Because.” Harrier waved a hand in the air. “Warlord?”
Rebecca snorted. “So, what? You’re a big time Warrior, Mother is a Seer, Magnus is the almighty Primeval…”
“One of the Primeval,” Harrier reminded her.
“Whatever. Superior assholes, one and all.”
Harrier unlocked his door, gave Rebecca a gentle shove into the room. “You do realize you included me in that list.”
Rebecca threw herself onto the bed, her legs dangling off the end and an arm draped over her eyes. “Yeah, well, not all assholes are completely worthless.”
Harrier shut the door and perched on the edge of the bed. Rebecca sat up on her elbows and said, “So why is everyone so upset about this Nox guy? I mean, him and Raven? Waste of Vampire flesh from what I’ve heard.”
“Depends who you ask, I suppose.”
Rebecca laughed. “You’ve got to be kidding. Who in the world would think either of them worth putting their neck on the line to save.”
“Nox isn’t so bad,” Harrier said, “and Raven, well…”
“Raven’s a monster. How did he ever get pardoned by the Primeval? That’s a story I’d love to hear. Not now, of course. I’ve got way too much crap running through my head to be able to enjoy it properly. Still, I’ve heard some pretty incredible stories, and none of it says, ‘rehabilitation material’ to me.”
Harrier patted her on the leg and sighed. “I’ll be the first to admit he’s not my favorite person, but that’s personal, and not something I care to talk about. However, I’ll also admit that he’s not the same male who terrorized the race all those centuries ago, especially when Nox is nearby to soothe the savage beast.”
“A tiger doesn’t change its spots, Harrier. I’ve heard the stories.”
“Leopard.”
“What?”
“A leopard doesn’t change its spots.”
“Whatever.”
“I can promise you, sister, that any tales you’ve heard dinna come close to the truth of it. I’ve seen Raven’s beast, fought it even, and I’d be dead today if not for Nox.”
“Bullshit. Look at you.”
“Aye, look at me, and yet I’m tellin’ you the truth. Raven would have killed me and three others if Nox hadn’t been there to take him down. It occurs to me I owe the male a thank you if nothing else.”
“Well, if he’s that bad, why doesn’t Mason just wash his hands of him. I’m sure the Primeval would be thrilled with a two-for-one special.”
“It’s not quite as simple as that, Becca.”
“Why not?”
“Have you really not kept track of your children? Any of them?”
“An impossible task, except for the twins. I gave them to Rachel.”
“What about Meghan?”
“Meghan? Sounds familiar. There were several I left with the fathers or…something. I don’t remember. And don’t give me that look. I’ll get enough of it from Rachel, to be sure. I’m assuming Meghan is one that Rachel got her hands on?”
“Becca.”
“Okay, okay, I remember her. Rachel and her human raised her. I’m sure she’s fine. I still don’t understand what any of this has to do with Raven.”
“You have a great granddaughter—”
“I probably have several.”
“This one is from Meghan’s line. Turns out that apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Meghan took off soon after she reached the age of consent. Broke Rachel’s heart.”
Rebecca snorted, but Harrier ignored her.
“She had a daughter and, like you, couldn’t be bothered to stick around long enough to care for the child. She dumped her in a human orphanage to be raised by strangers. Her name is Margaret, goes by Maggie, in case you’re interested.”
Rebecca studied her fingernails as though nothing he said mattered, but Harrier felt her curiosity through the familial bond even if his sister pretended otherwise.
“Maggie married a human male, and together they had a daughter, Jessica. She is the great granddaughter I’m speaking of.”
“And?”
“And she has mated with Raven.”
Rebecca sat up, finally showin
g a proper level of interest in the story, her story as it were. “The boogeyman?”
“One and the same.”
“Shut the fuck up.”
“I wouldn’t if I could.”
“Wait a minute.” Rebecca scooted to the end of the bed and bounced to her feet. “She’d be mostly human, wouldn’t she? Jessica, is it? How the hell did she end up in our world?”
“Jessica’s story is a long one, and one I would have her tell you if I could convince you to return home with us. The point, however, is that Raven is family now. They’re expecting a little one in November.”
Rebecca turned away from Harrier and wrapped her arms around her middle. She was quiet for a moment, then turned back to face him. “Their first?” she whispered?
Harrier shook his head. “No, but again, it’s not my story to tell. What I’m trying to say is, we have to protect Raven and Nox as well. I have a feeling about him and our sister, and you know how Rachel can be when things aren’t going her way.”
Rebecca plopped herself back on the foot of the bed. “Yeah, I noticed that as well. You’d have thought she was fighting for her own life the way she defended that male.”
Harrier studied his sister as she sat there, swinging her legs, staring into space as though what they’d been discussing had nothing to do with her. It was all a tale about some other family, not her own, and for the first time since she’d flung herself at him in the dining hall, irritation at her self-centeredness stung his heart. Did she not care at all about the lives she’d scattered to the four corners of the world?
“Your twins are fine, by the way.”
“Of course, they are. I left them with Rachel.”
“You left them at the Polar King.”
“It’s the same difference.”
“No, it’s not…” Harrier shook his head. “Rebecca, you ken I love you, as only a brother can love a sister, but I dinna understand you at all.”
Rebecca frowned and picked at the bed cover, avoiding Harrier’s eye. “I tried with them, you know? The twins?” she whispered. “Meghan was four when I left her with Rachel. The twins are eleven.”