by Laken Cane
In the darkness, broken only by the thin beam of her flashlight, one lump was indistinguishable from the other. Any one of them could have been the child or Ellis.
The stench was almost unmanageable. Something had died down here, and she had no doubts about what that something had been.
From above came the welcome sounds of car doors slamming. Her crew had arrived. They were not rookies and knew enough to be quiet when they entered—but even as she thought it she heard the sound of footsteps running with reckless abandon through her ruined house.
Not Strad. If he’d have been running what remained of the house would probably have collapsed beneath him.
She stayed still, waiting, but continued to shine her light across the bodies. Llodra, because he was master, would have placed himself apart from his children if the level of danger hadn’t been so high. Maybe he would have slept with a favorite curled against him, but he wouldn’t be lying with the others.
Now, however, he would most likely be lying in the center with the bodies of his vampires giving him some sort of meager protection.
She cringed when one of the men clattered down the delicate stairs. She clenched her teeth and turned toward the offender.
Levi stepped into the basement, a hand to his chest. His face was so pale it gleamed in the darkness.
She frowned and motioned him toward her with her light. When he stood beside her she whispered, “Too much fucking noise.”
His hands trembled when he held his vgun toward the slumbering vampires. He nodded. “Sorry. Ellis?”
Then she understood his panic and lack of caution. She stuck her light in a loop on her belt, then squeezed his arm. “Look for Llodra first. He’ll control the others and we need to secure him.”
Again, he nodded, and they began moving slowly, methodically searching. And that restraint was hard on both of them.
The other men entered the basement silently, but she could feel their energy—hope, eagerness, and the desire to kill the fucking vampires.
She looked up when one of the men flashed his light, off and on in quick succession. Llodra had been found.
Her heart beat with painful thuds as she picked her way toward the corner. Llodra lay with a vampire on either side of him, still as death.
Could it really be that easy?
Was it over?
She gave a nod to Z, who quickly silvered Llodra with enough of the stuff to deep even the strongest vampire from breaking free.
And just like that, Llodra was theirs.
Chapter Twenty
The pain must have awakened him, but his thin howls of agony did nothing to stir his children as Shiv Crew quietly and quickly slew them.
Strad, tearing the place apart in his search for Matthew, was the one who found Ellis.
Llodra had tied and gagged Ellis and turned him on his stomach. Ellis was under a table in the darkest corner of the basement, a filthy rag tied around his eyes.
When Strad pulled him into his arms Ellis began struggling and trying to scream, until Rune ripped the blindfold off so he could see her.
“It’s us, baby,” she whispered, and wrapped her arms around both Ellis and Strad. He was alive.
Levi tugged her away. “Let me…” He flipped his long braid over his shoulder and pulled Ellis out of Strad’s arms.
After Strad handed Ellis over, he continued silently on his desperate search for Matthew.
From behind her came the sounds of the crew staking vampires. The thwack! of the vguns, followed by the thick slicing sounds of blades cutting through delicate necks.
Levi lowered himself to the floor and cradled Ellis, whose strangled voice broke through the gag. Rune gently cut it from his mouth and discovered that Llodra had stuffed a ball of cloth into Ellis’s mouth before tying the dirty rag over his lips and securing it behind his head.
Levi pulled the cloth from his mouth as Rune freed his hands. Ellis groaned. “I can’t move my arms,” he mumbled, his voice still oddly muffled. “My ears, Rune.”
Llodra had stuffed thick, twisted bits of what looked like sponge deep into Ellis’s ear canals. Rune gently pulled them out, grinding her teeth.
Bound, blind, and deaf, Ellis had been shoved terrified into the dark and…
“Oh fuck me,” Rune whispered, getting Levi’s attention. She dropped her gaze to Ellis’s neck where her light had picked up three sets of fang marks. They’d fed on him.
Llodra hadn’t meant to kill Ellis.
She glanced at the restrained vampire, who had been silently watching them.
He smiled.
She was on her feet and walking toward him before she realized she’d even risen.
Llodra had given her yet another present. He’d attempted to turn Ellis.
He’d fed from Ellis, and if he’d forced Ellie to drink his blood, the chances were good that Ellis would turn.
Unless he was very, very lucky, Ellis would turn.
He would become a child of Llodra’s.
A vampire.
Jack stopped her before she reached the mad master. “You can’t kill him, sweetheart.”
She wrapped her fingers around his wrists. “Did you see what he did, Jack? Did you see?”
He pulled her against his chest and for once she didn’t stiffen or try to pull away. She was devastated. If Ellie turned…
If only she hadn’t forced him to go with her, carrying the fucking blood.
But she had, and regret wasn’t going to change a damn thing.
Jack took her shoulders and shook her lightly. “He’s alive, Rune.”
“Is he, Jack?”
“The vampires are dead—every last fucking one of them,” Raze called.
Rune took little pleasure in Llodra’s moan. “My children,” he cried.
She pulled out of Jack’s arms, wiped her eyes, and straightened her spine. “Let’s get Llodra to RISC and Ellis to the hospital.” She looked around for Strad, saw him standing silently against the far wall.
“There was no sign of Matthew,” Jack murmured.
Rune strode to Ellis and gently took his hand. “Did you hear or see anything of Matthew, baby?”
Ellis shook his head, then grimaced. “I’m sorry. He was not here.”
“What about…” she hesitated. “Blood and Fire, the two animals.”
“No.”
Levi tightened his arms around Ellis. “No more questions.”
Rune nodded. “Strad, carry Ellie up.” She pointed at Llodra. “I’ll call RISC to transport this fucking piece of trash out of here. Z, call the paramedics for Ellis.”
The likelihood of Llodra giving them Matthew’s location was slim, but RISC would give it everything they had.
She watched Strad as he lifted Ellis from Levi’s arms. The berserker would be in on the questioning. Llodra was going to suffer.
But the master was familiar with suffering. He would not talk if he didn’t want to talk.
Simple as that.
She left Jack to babysit Llodra until he could be transported out. RISC would bring a lightweight but sun-proof coffin-like container. They’d lock Llodra into it, still silvered, and then would wrap the entire vessel with silver.
Levi sat in her SUV with Ellis, waiting for the paramedics. A couple of neighbors had gathered together and stood watching the scene.
“It never ends, does it?” called one of them when she caught sight of Rune. “Even with your house burned down, you still bring the monsters.”
Rune ignored the humans and looked around for Strad. He walked around her house, staring at the ground, and she realized he was searching for freshly turned earth. For a grave.
Her heart broke for him. She walked toward him. “Strad.”
He glanced up. “Where the fuck is he, Rune?” He went back to searching, not expecting an answer.
She grabbed his forearm. “Strad.”
He sighed and stared down at her for a long moment, then finally leaned toward her and kissed her fore
head. “Go to the hospital with Ellis.”
There was nothing she could do.
She turned to leave, and before the thought had fully formed in her mind she turned back, pulled his face down to hers and kissed him on the mouth, hard. “Berserker, I know there’s a lot going on right now.” All she wanted to do was kiss him again but she stepped back. If she didn’t say what was on her mind right then, she never would. “The two of us…we have to work this out. I…” She darted her gaze away from him and could feel heat climbing her face. “I feel something for you.” Great Rune. Smooth.
She took a deep breath and tried again. “What I mean is, I think the two of us should give whatever is between us a chance.” Dammit.
And as uncomfortable as she had ever been in her life, she turned and walked quickly away. She’d just let him know she was willing to be with him, and the thought scared her.
An image of Tina’s face swam in her mind but she pushed it away. She’d feel like shit tomorrow. Right now she was a little occupied with guilt over Ellie. Tina would have to wait.
The paramedics arrived and just as they lifted Ellis inside, the RISC van rolled down the street.
It had been a productive morning.
Levi stood beside her, staring forlornly after the departing ambulance. He and Denim looked so much alike she’d had trouble telling them apart until she got to know them. Or maybe it was the fact that Denim’s face had been marked by his stepfather, and Levi’s had not. That made identification a little easier.
“You going to the hospital, baby?” she asked him.
“I am so fucked up,” he murmured, and she was pretty sure he hadn’t even heard her.
“Dude, I know the feeling.” She clapped him on the back. “I’ll see you there.”
She glanced back at the desolate berserker as she walked to her car. He stood with his back to her, his long spear shining in the weak sunlight of the cold morning.
He looked more alone than anyone she’d ever seen.
And he’s mine.
Maybe, just maybe, that would help her get through the days to come.
She drove to the hospital, Levi following her.
Ellis smiled weakly when she and Levi were finally allowed to see him. “Hi.”
Rune smoothed his hair off his forehead. “Hi, baby.”
Levi shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “You okay?”
“I’ll be fine.”
She didn’t want to ask him, but she had to know. “Ellie…did Llodra make you feed from him?”
He frowned. “No. I…I don’t think so. I don’t remember much. Why?”
“Ellie—”
His eyes widened and he slapped a hand to his neck where a bandage hid the fang marks. “Oh, no. You think…” He couldn’t even say it.
“I don’t know,” she whispered. “I don’t know.”
Ellis horrified gaze flew to the man standing beside her. “Levi?”
Rune muttered an excuse and backed away, giving the two men some privacy. Ellis was going to have a hard few days—they all were—while they waited to see if he would turn.
If he did, he would change. He wouldn’t be Ellie anymore, not really. Vampires lost a lot of what had made them human. Empathy, sympathy, respect for human life, morals…
It was too much for her to think about.
Ellis as a bloodthirsty, vicious monster?
No.
It couldn’t happen.
She waited for nearly an hour before checking on Ellis once more. Levi still stood at Ellie’s bedside and looked no less relaxed than he’d appeared earlier.
“Call me if you need anything,” she told Ellis, then glanced at Levi. “You too, Levi.”
She grabbed a coffee and cheeseburger from the cafeteria and after eating she left the hospital. First she would visit Tina and hope her guilt wouldn’t show in her eyes. After that, she was going to RISC.
They would question Llodra and she wanted to be there when they tore the vampire apart.
She parked along the street and sat for a moment, staring up at Strad’s apartment. Beneath the apartment was a two car garage, its doors hiding Tina’s car. Strad would have parked inside as well, had he been home, but he would be at RISC waiting for his chance with Llodra.
Unless RISC restrained the berserker, she didn’t believe Llodra would survive the questioning. Strad was full of desperation and agony. Add to that cocktail the rage always swirling inside him, and Strad was going to hurt someone.
The insidious fear she’d always had of him was fading, but she still carried a healthy respect for the dangerous man.
Now that fear was tempered by…softer feelings.
She sighed and climbed from her SUV. Tina was going to be devastated that Matthew hadn’t been found. Surely Strad had already informed her, so Rune wouldn’t have to do that, but the woman would need a shoulder. Strad and Tina didn’t seem to get along well enough to lean on each other.
She hadn’t been keeping an eye on the new COS church or Tim Emerson—and he was due for a visit. She added that to the long list of things she needed to do.
She knocked once before using her key to open the door. She hadn’t expected Tina, usually sedated and unable to drag herself from bed, to answer the knock.
She walked through the silent living room and into the kitchen, shaking her head at the overly loud television coming from upstairs. Tina probably hadn’t turned it off since Rune’s last visit. At least the noise was some sort of company for her.
After she’d brewed some coffee and made Tina a sandwich, she carried the tray up the stairs. When she reached the closed door she balanced the tray with one hand and began to turn the doorknob.
Her heartbeat picked up speed and for a second she felt dizzy. She grimaced as the knots in her stomach twisted viciously.
Fuck.
Inside that room, something was wrong.
Something was terribly wrong.
Chapter Twenty-One
Hands shaking, she managed to hold the tray while shoving the door open, hard and fast.
“Tina,” she called, hearing the breathless panic in her own voice, expecting to find the woman dead of an overdose on the bed.
But that wasn’t what she found.
Tina squealed and grabbed for the sheets, which had ended up twisted and in a heap at the foot of the bed.
She yanked the sheets to her nude body.
Rune began backing from the room. “Oh shit, Tina, I’m sor—”
But then Tina, her cheeks a little less pale than they’d been the last time Rune had seen her, rolled off the man she’d been fucking.
Strad swung his bare legs off the bed and stood, unconcerned with his own nudity. He started toward her, his hand out. “Rune, it’s not—”
Numb, she dropped the tray. Its clatter jerked her from her frozen surprise and she yanked one of her shivs from a sheath. “You need to stay where you are, Berserker, because if you come one step closer I will cut you.”
Her fangs dropped and her claws fought to break free, but with her entire body shaking from the effort, she forced herself not to attack him.
She’d been such a fucking idiot.
“Rune, you have to listen.”
She smiled. “You’re wrong about that. All I have to do is leave.” She nodded at Tina, who stared at both of them with slowly dawning realization, and left the room.
She didn’t remember getting in her car, didn’t remember driving away, but somehow she made it to the RISC building.
And suddenly every little bit of joy she’d felt when thinking of Strad was gone. She was empty.
The brutal images of him standing before her naked and pleading began to hit her brain, unrelenting in their cruel intensity.
His eyes, as blue as hers but dark with agony and regret. His long, black hair, covering massive shoulders. His erection, hard and glistening, that he’d just pulled from his wife.
She’d been an idiot.
Fuckin
g berserker.
Stiff with determination and pain she left her car, pushing Strad deep into a dark corner of her mind. She abandoned him there and strode into RISC.
Jeremy, I need you, you fucking bastard.
Stop it. Stop it.
There was work to do.
Lex was sitting in Rune’s office, staring listlessly at nothing, when Rune walked in. Z was there as well, talking in a low voice to Raze.
“Hi guys,” she said.
They turned to greet her, faces somber.
“How is Ellis?” Raze asked.
“Don’t know, yet. It could be days before…” She gestured. “Or if.”
Lex frowned and stood, walking unerringly toward Rune. “Something else has happened. You’re hurt.”
Raze crossed his arms and glared. “Whose ass do I need to kick?”
Lex grabbed Rune’s hand.
“Lex, fucking stop that.” Rune snatched her fingers out of Lex’s grip.
But Lex had gotten enough from that brief touch. “The fucking berserker,” she said, surely mimicking what she’d picked up inside Rune’s head. She turned to Z and Raze. “The fucking berserker has betrayed her.”
“God,” Rune said, and burst into tears. Helpless to stop, she stood there and bawled as her crew looked on in open-mouthed shock.
She was sure she couldn’t have possibly been more humiliated than she was at that moment.
She was wrong.
Owen stepped into the room, followed by Denim. The only ones missing were Levi, who was with Ellis, and Jack. And she was sure he’d be along any minute. Even as she thought it, he walked in.
Fuck me.
And then, it got worse again.
Strad pushed his way through her men and stood in front of her. “Rune. Don’t.”
“What the fuck did you do to her?” Raze asked, his voice low and gritty.
Lex, as though unable to resist, reached out and touched the berserker’s arm. She immediately gave a short yelp and snatched her hand back, holding it to her chest. Then she began crying as well.
“Well, fuck,” said Jack. “What…”
Rune, disgusted with herself, scrubbed the bloody tears from her cheeks and took a deep breath. “Lex. Lex, what is it?”