“She’s a pain in the ass,” Ashe offered in a sarcastic drawl, releasing his talons, “but I’m afraid I can’t just let you walk out of here with her.”
A slow, bloodcurdling smile spread over the blond’s mouth. “Is it going to be like that, then?” he asked, releasing his own talons. Juliana stared, trying to tell if they looked longer than they should, their width a little thicker.
Ashe’s response was to take a step forward, his body seeming to expand before her eyes as he prepared for the fight.
She placed her hand on his back, and could feel the power thrumming through him, his muscles hard and at the ready. “Ashe, let me help you,” she whispered, terrified that something was going to go horribly wrong. She knew he was an incredible soldier, but something about this whole setup felt…wrong.
“No!” he growled, keeping his eyes on the two guards who were still holding position on the other side of the small sitting room. “I can’t fight and keep an eye on you, as well.”
The bald vamp slid a look at his partner, and in the next second they charged, with Ashe meeting them in the middle of the room. The sound was horrific as punches and kicks connected, clothing and flesh ripping as deadly talons swung in powerful slashes. If the music playing in the club hadn’t been so loud, she was sure the noise would have drawn the attention of the patrons downstairs. But as it was, they were on their own.
Keeping a careful eye on the vicious fight, Juliana reached down, pulling the leg of her jeans up and taking her knife from its sheath. She wasn’t great with a blade, but she was thankful for the weapon, determined to help him if he needed it.
Clutching the lethal knife in her hand, she tried to edge her way around to the side of the room, thinking she could help by burying the blade in the bald guard’s back, since he was closest to her. If she took him down, she knew Ashe could easily finish him off. But Ashe must have been watching her from the corner of his vision, because he immediately spotted her. “Goddamn it!” he roared. “I said to stay the hell back!”
She dropped back, just as he’d commanded, but she wasn’t fast enough, the bald vamp twisting and lunging toward her. She flung herself toward the wall, but not in time to avoid the talons that slashed across her shoulder. Fire exploded across her skin, making her cry out, the stark sound swallowed by Ashe’s bellowing roar. By the time she’d shoved her hair out of her eyes with her free hand, Ashe was gaining ground as he fought with an almost animalistic frenzy, driving the two guards into the corner. Blood flew, the scent of it ripe in the air, as the three men fought with savage skill. Ashe ducked to avoid a kick from the bald guard, then landed a blow that whipped the blond’s head to the side. As his head turned toward Juliana, she saw the vampire’s eyes flash crimson. And she knew.
Oh, God. She was right! The blond guard wasn’t Deschanel. He was like Raphe, exactly like Raphe, which meant he could poison Ashe with those deadly talons he kept slashing toward his throat.
“Be careful!” she shouted, but she was already too late. Just as Ashe ripped his talons through the bald guard’s throat, completely taking his head off, the blond threw himself at Ashe with such speed he was nothing more than a blur flying across the space that separated them. The impact of his body colliding into Ashe’s cracked like thunder, both of them slamming into the far wall with so much force the plaster exploded around them, raining through the air in a hazy cloud of dust and fragments of drywall.
Coughing, Juliana waved her free hand in front of her face, struggling to see through the cloud of debris. She stumbled forward, knocking her shins into broken pieces of furniture, following the guttural sounds of the fight now taking place on the other side of the room.
Knowing she only had one shot at this, Juliana gripped the knife in her slick palm, blood pouring down from the wound in her shoulder, and edged closer as the air began to clear. The growls ripping from Ashe’s throat were deep and feral, his strength as he battled his opponent truly breathtaking. But he didn’t know what the assassin was, and now more than ever, she wanted to protect him from that truth. If the Delacourts had grown so powerful that Raphe’s corruption had spread to the Royal Guards, they wouldn’t hesitate to destroy Ashe and all that he held dear. Oh, she knew he would fight the bastards till the bitter end, but as long as there was still a chance she could save him from that nightmare, she would.
She didn’t know if it was the right choice, or even a fair one. But it was the only one she could make based on her past. The only one her heart would allow her to make.
Taking a deep breath, Juliana focused her sights on the blond soldier, tightening her grip on the blade. He and Ashe were circling each other, their chests heaving, talons extended at their sides. Lifting her knife, she waited until the blond’s back was to her, and then aimed for his throat. But he must have sensed the movement, because he spun at the last second, the back of his hand smacking her across her face. Ashe’s furious shout rang through her head as she stumbled back, her blade only nicking the guard’s arm.
No! I have to do this!
Juliana raised her arm again as the blond lunged toward her, talons raised, ready to strike. But the blow never came. At the last second, Ashe threw himself at the guard, taking him to the ground. They grappled over the floor, punching and snarling, both of them covered in blood. Somehow, they ended up back on their feet, moving so fast it was difficult for Juliana to tell what has happening. She would have jumped into the fray, but was too afraid she’d stab Ashe by accident. She could hear herself screaming for him to watch out for the guard’s talons, but then everything went strangely quiet as she watched Ashe suddenly stumble against the wall. He staggered and tried to brace himself, then slid to the floor, blood smearing on the wall behind him, as the blond turned, his eyes glowing bloodred in his face.
“You’re going to be worth every penny, you meddling little bitch,” he snarled, coming for her. Juliana held her ground until he was almost on her, then lifted the knife and plunged the blade into his throat, just beneath his jawbone. He staggered back, making god-awful noises as blood spurted from the wound, more blood gurgling in his throat as it came out his mouth and nose. Within seconds, he was dead.
Looking away from the gruesome sight, she rushed to Ashe and sank to her knees, tearing at his sweater so that she could check his injuries. Blood poured from the deep claw marks that were carved into his side. But the skin around the wound didn’t appear to be poisoned. “Ashe, which guard made this cut?” she asked, wadding strips of his sweater together and pressing them against his shredded flesh.
“Bald one,” he breathed out, and the sudden spike of relief made her dizzy. He was going to feel rough for a day or so while he healed, but he’d be okay, his body mending the injury with ease. But knowing how close it’d been made her sick with worry. She should have anticipated that Raphe would use every weapon in his arsenal to take her down, instead of relying solely on the Assassin’s League.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice heartbreakingly weak.
“Don’t worry about me,” she muttered, applying more pressure to the wound in his side. “You’re the one who’s been torn open!”
A cocky smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. “Naw. It’s just a flesh wound.”
A burst of laughter escaped her tight throat, but it sounded more like a sob. “You idiot. I can’t believe you’re quoting Monty Python at a time like this.”
“Jules, relax. I’m going to be fine. Just…help me get to my feet.”
“Okay, but go easy,” she told him, her voice rough with worry as she helped him to stand.
Searching for his cell phone in his pockets, she said, “I’m going to get you somewhere safe, so you can recover. Then I’m leaving.”
“What?” he thundered, the bellowing sound immediately followed by a groan as he leaned more heavily against the wall. “The hell you are!” he growled, his pale face misted with sweat. “Damn it, I told you the truth. I didn’t touch Lacey tonight!”
&n
bsp; “It isn’t that,” she said, pausing her search for his phone long enough to meet his worried, pain-filled gaze. Her voice was thick with tears. “It’s because I was…I was wrong to involve you in this. It’s too dangerous. You need to get out now, while you still can.”
“You think I’d run and leave you to deal with this shit on your own?” His lip curled, his dark eyes filled with rage. “What kind of man do you think I am?”
“I’m hoping you’re a smart one,” she said, reaching behind him to check his back pockets. “Trust me, you don’t want to get involved with this mess. Your family has already been through so much, and this thing will come crashing down on their heads. You need to cut your losses now and let me deal with it.”
Finding the cell phone, she yanked it from his pocket and started to punch the button for his contacts, when he grasped her wrist. “What is it you’re not telling me?” His dark eyes bored into hers, demanding the truth.
“What makes you think I’m keeping anything from you?”
“Because that’s all you do is keep secrets. You don’t know how to— Damn it,” he cursed, sluggishly dropping to one knee.
“Oh, God,” she cried, finally noticing the claw marks on the back of his right shoulder, the edges of the injury already turning black. “I thought you said that blond guard didn’t cut you!”
“Didn’t think he did,” he muttered, the low words kind of slurred. “But my shoulder feels funny. What’s hap—”
“You’ve been poisoned!” she choked out, helping him to the floor so that he was sitting with his back propped against the wall. With her heartbeat roaring in her ears, she searched frantically through his contacts until she found Gideon’s number. Seconds later, the vampire answered, and she spoke in a tumbling rush. “It’s Juliana. Your brother’s been hurt. Do you know somewhere safe I can take him that’s not too far from the club?”
“What happened?” Gideon demanded.
Pressing her free hand to Ashe’s feverish brow, she said, “You were right. We were attacked again. Two Royal Guards this time. I don’t know if they were working for the Assassin’s League or for the Delacourts, but they were definitely trying to kill me.”
Gideon said something loud and rough and foul, and she could hear people murmuring in the background, telling him he had to turn off his phone.
Knowing they were short on time, Juliana spoke quickly. “They’re both dead, but I think one of the guards had dipped his talons in some kind of poison and Ashe has been infected. It’s similar to something I saw in the Wasteland, and I have an idea of how to treat him. But he’s probably going to be down for a few days.”
“Okay, listen. You need to go to Essie’s.” He quickly rattled off an address in Nice, saying, “She’s an old friend of my mother’s. Essie’s part witch and a healer, so she’ll be able to get you anything you need.”
“Do you trust her?”
“Essie loves Ashe like a son. I’m sure the only reason he didn’t take you to meet her was because he didn’t want to put her in danger.”
And now it was going to happen, anyway, because she’d dragged Ashe into this. Regret coiled itself into a tight knot in her belly, but she forced it out of her mind, Ashe’s safety the thing she needed to focus on now. “How long do you think it will take us to get there?”
“If you’re walking, probably an hour.” He exhaled a rough breath. “Damn it, I wish I could be there, but we’re seconds from takeoff.”
“Don’t worry,” she said, “I’ll get him there, I promise. Just make sure they have fresh blood donors waiting. Women, men, it doesn’t matter. He’s going to need at least ten feedings.”
“No!” Ashe groaned, suddenly snatching her wrist. His lashes fluttered, but he managed to open them enough to lock his dark gaze with hers. “No women,” he rasped, his expression adamant. “Won’t…drink them.”
“Fine,” she said thickly, taking Ashe’s hand and giving it a comforting squeeze. “Make sure they’re males. The stronger, the better.”
“I’m on it.”
“And Gideon.”
“Yeah?”
Knowing they had to get moving, she looped Ashe’s heavy arm around her shoulders, and said, “Tell them to hurry.”
* * *
IT TOOK NEARLY AN HOUR, just as Gideon had predicted, for them to make it on foot to the address he’d given her, and it was the longest hour of Juliana’s life. By the time they found the street the witch lived on, she and Ashe were both soaked in sweat and blood, their limbs trembling with exhaustion: his from the effects of the venom that had been introduced to his system, and hers from the strain of carrying their bags while supporting most of his weight as she’d all but dragged him down the dark, moonlit streets.
She hadn’t been able to risk hailing a taxi. Not with all the blood soaking Ashe’s clothing. She’d managed to get him dressed in a clean sweater and his jacket, but both were already drenched in fresh blood, as well as his jeans. Any taxi driver would undoubtedly report them to the police, and that was a complication they didn’t need. More than once, Juliana wondered if she should have told Gideon to send a car, but was worried about getting into a vehicle with someone she didn’t know. Her trust factor at the moment was down to zero, her paranoia rising. If it weren’t imperative that Ashe have a place to recuperate, she wouldn’t even be bringing him to this Essie person.
She’d hated leaving Josh like that back at the nightclub, unconscious and bleeding in their room, but knew he would heal in a few hours from the bullet wound that bastard had put in his head. On their way out, she’d told one of the staff that two assassins were dead and an innocent bystander had been injured in their room, so at least Josh wouldn’t be left lying on the floor while he healed. Ashe, however, needed immediate attention, and she hoped that the woman Gideon was sending them to would be able to help.
When Juliana finally found the right house, Ashe barely managed to shuffle his feet along the walkway to the quaint two-story. They hadn’t taken more than a few steps up the narrow walkway when the door burst open and a petite elderly woman came scurrying down the path in a pair of pink slippers, her gray hair pulled back in a heavy bun on the back of her head. She was wearing a pair of purple overalls on top of a tiger-printed shirt, the strange ensemble, combined with the hot pink slippers, looking somehow completely normal on her.
“My poor Ashe!” the woman cried, her scent a kind of soothing blend somewhere between witch and warm sugar cookies as she put her arm around his other side, helping Juliana support his weight. “Let me help you, honey.”
“I’m Juliana,” she said, her words tumbling over themselves as she tried to get them said. “He’s lost a lot of blood and the poison is already spreading. He’s getting weaker, and hasn’t spoken for the last half hour.”
“It’s okay,” Essie soothed, her tone soft but confident as they entered the cozy house. “Gideon said he was going to need blood. There are several vampires and shifters who I trust implicitly waiting upstairs to help.”
“Thank God.” Juliana would have gone ahead and given him her own vein, but knew from the research she’d done while in the Wasteland that too little blood could make the effects of the poison worse. In order for him to survive the first wave, Ashe needed to consume a massive quantity of blood, until the poison in his veins was diluted. Then, once that was done, it would simply be a matter of waiting out the second wave…and praying that he lived through it.
As they started toward the stairs, the witch’s dark green gaze moved from Ashe’s pale face, to Juliana’s, and she smiled. “Strong ties bind the two of you together,” she murmured, her tone warm with approval.
Juliana felt her eyes go wide, and rushed to correct her. “Oh, no. We’re just…friends. We’re not a, um…couple.”
Essie’s gaze seemed to glow with an eerie inner light. “Hmm. Maybe you are, child, but you just don’t know it yet.”
Before Juliana could launch another denial, Essie called out from th
e bottom of the stairs for someone named Jimmy. A moment later, a hulking brute of a shifter with a kind face made his way down the stairs. He took Ashe from them, handling his weight with ease as he carried him to the second floor, Essie and Juliana following behind. It took them only moments to get Ashe settled in one of Essie’s guest rooms, while Jimmy hovered near the door, ready to be of service if they needed him. Stripping Ashe of his blood-soaked clothes, they cleaned and bound the wound in his side, as well as the infected one on his shoulder, using supplies from the first-aid kit Essie had laid out on one of the bedside tables. With that done, they quickly draped him in a sheet, and brought in the first male.
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