While the vampire was observing the scene inside the house, Samantha and Jeff reappeared. It bothered Cian to see she’d been crying. The guilt he felt for dragging her into his dark world still ate at him. He still loved Samantha, but not in a romantic way, and he’d always want her to be safe and happy.
Spotting Baptiste and Cian through the window, Jeff hurried over to the exit that led to the porch. The hunter stepped out to join them, the door clicking shut behind him.
“Are we going to talk about what went down?” Jeff asked, his heavy brows angled in such a way that revealed his nervousness.
“In a moment,” Cian answered.
Jeff shifted around nervously. “Should we be out here?”
“The ward is in place,” Baptiste assured him, lifting his eyes toward the glimmering dome that Jeff couldn’t see.
“This place is actually very defensible,” Cian added. “I’m going to speak to Aimee about adding spells around the property to slow down any possible attacks.”
Jeff stared out into the darkness engulfing the trees. “And if they try to burn us out like they did your apartment?”
With a swipe of his hand, Baptiste expended a pulse of magic that flashed bright blue. A moment later globs of water floated into the light of the porch to swirl around him. The levitating water balls sparkled in the light. “I could summon more if you like.”
“Wow. No, no. That’s...good. Where’d you get the water?”
“The dew has fallen,” Baptiste answered.
Cian chuckled. “Impressive, huh?”
“Yeah!” The look on the human’s face was one of total astonishment.
Baptiste flicked his hand and the orbs of water splashed onto the flowers below the porch. “Now, if you’re concerned about fire, don’t be.” Baptiste withdrew a lighter from his pocket. Flicking the flame into existence, he cupped his hand over it. The fire burned brighter and hotter beneath his palm. Baptiste withdrew the lighter and flipped his hand over. A ball of fire hovered above his hand. “I can deal with fire.”
“Okay. I’m feeling a lot better about this,” Jeff admitted.
Cian clapped the human on the shoulder. “You should.”
With a grin, Baptiste closed his hand and the flame vanished.
“Now I wish you had gotten here earlier,” Jeff confessed. “I wasn’t too sure what to expect.”
“I had to put my personal matters in order. If we win, but I die, I want to make sure that my family is taken care of,” Baptiste answered. “Besides, Rachoń assured me that The Summoner was too busy setting his plans in motion to attack you right away.”
“I wish she had told us that,” Cian said, trying to keep a snarl out of his voice.
“Family first with Rachoń. Remember? Anyway, I had my will drawn up and that sort of thing.”
“You have kids?” Jeff queried.
“No. No. It will all go to my siblings and my mother.” Baptiste tucked his hands into his trouser pockets. “At least I can rest easy in the here and now as I do my duty. Of course, if we fail, it won’t matter.”
“Rachoń doesn’t believe we can defeat him.” Cian lifted an eyebrow. “Does she?”
“She’s preparing a second front, but hopes it won’t be needed,” Baptiste said. “Family first.”
It angered Cian that Rachoń wouldn’t support the endeavor he was leading. Yet, it made sense that she’d be implementing her own plans. She didn’t control such a large territory without reason. Rachoń was intelligent and strong-willed. It pained him to admit that she had succeeded where Cian had failed. She’d built up a vampire and supernatural presence that was impressive and strong enough to hold an entire state. If Cian’s small cabal didn’t succeed in stopping The Summoner, Rachoń and her group would be a formidable opposition to The Summoner.
Without another word, Cian entered the house to face the group of people that would stand with him against his creator. The family room was filled with large comfortable red sofas and chairs and heavy tables emblazoned with the Lone Star. The conversation fell silent the moment he stepped into view. Baptiste and Jeff scooted around him to find a place to sit. Arms still folded across his chest, Cian stood with his legs apart.
“We knew this night was coming. It was a matter of time,” he started. “We learned a few things tonight. The Summoner knows that Samantha is a phasmagus. Also, he’s building an army of supernaturals just as we are. The were-bear, witches, and demons are all evidence of this.”
“Fuck my timing,” Eduardo said, coming in from the hallway and joining the group. “I would be just in time for the long-winded speech.”
“Took you long enough to get here,” Jeff muttered.
“I was eating.”
Cian saw Samantha start in her chair and give Eduardo a very pensive look.
“Can anyone just walk in here?” Baptiste asked with concern.
“My crew members all have keys and the alarm codes.” Jeff was snuggled on a loveseat with Samantha, his fingers gently stroking her hair, obviously soothing her. “I’ll get you one, too.”
Baptiste nodded, his eyes watching Eduardo thoughtfully.
“Who’s the guy that smells like fire?” Eduardo stopped to eye Baptiste suspiciously.
“Baptiste. I’m the elemagus Rachoń sent.”
“Huh,” was all Eduardo said.
Much to Cian’s annoyance, the were-coyote took his sweet time deciding where to sit, finally scooting in between Alexia and Benchley. Putting his feet on the coffee table, he motioned to Cian to continue.
Cian pinned the coyote with a hard stare, then continued. “According to Rachoń, he’s been ignoring us to set his plans in motion. This is most likely true. She had a very different relationship with him than I did.”
Eduardo rolled his eyes.
Cian had the desire to pluck them out. “She fought alongside him. She knows his tactics. I, unfortunately, bore the brunt of them. I know from my own experiences that he likes to play games. He likes to keep his victims off-balance. Honestly, I think he fully expected to kill Samantha tonight. We surprised him. He’ll regroup, reconsider his methods, then try again. We have a little time.”
Amaliya sighed from where she sat. With her legs crossed, she looked wickedly sexy. “He never fuckin’ changes.”
“Which is a good thing,” Baptiste pointed out. “It means he’ll keep the same pattern.”
Benchley chuckled darkly. “Does that mean we’ll keep our pattern of barely surviving?”
“Hey, we kicked ass,” Samantha protested.
Though Cian was inclined to actually chastise the group for everything they’d done wrong tonight, he’d learned enough over his long years of life that this would be the wrong tactic. Swallowing his annoyance, he said, “Cassandra, you did a good job in arming everyone. Samantha was able to kill the were-bear because of the silver bullets.”
“It’s still not good enough. We were too scattered. We need to train together.” Cassandra looked remarkably like her mother in that moment and it made Cian love her just that much more. His daughter was a reminder that there had been good in his life at one point. “I suggest we start training together so we don’t accidently shoot each other.”
“Sorry,” Samantha said, wincing.
“I ducked,” Cassandra said.
Aimee clutched Cassandra’s hand gently, and squeezed it.
“Can you take care of that training, Cassandra?” Cian lifted an eyebrow at the dhamphir. “You have a very good idea what all our strengths and weaknesses are. Make us all into a better fighting unit?”
“Yeah, yeah. I can handle it.” Cassandra grinned, tilting her head to gaze at him with something akin to affection.
“Aimee, your ward was very effective. Maybe too effective.” Cian gestured toward Amaliya. “It complicated matters a bit.”
“I’m already working on a new ward,” the witch said, her expression pensive. She sat cross-legged on the sofa between Cassandra and Baptiste, her bare feet sticking out from
the folds of her flowing, embroidered skirt. “I’m sure I can adjust the wards. I’ll need to borrow Amaliya a few times to make sure it holds up against necromancy.”
“Can do,” Amaliya said.
Cian could tell she was bored. He wanted nothing more than to go home and crawl into bed with her, but there was much to discuss.
“Also,” Aimee continued in such a way Cian knew her next phrase may upset a few people, “Amaliya and Samantha both practice forms of death magic. It’s technically dark magic. That may make it a bit difficult to tune the ward.”
“Dark magic?” Samantha’s brow furrowed. “Jeff, it’s dark magic?”
“Yeah, but not black magic. It’s because it involves dead things, not living things like white magic. Don’t panic.” Jeff cuddled her up tighter.
“Who fuckin’ cares what kind of magic it is as long as it kicks The Summoner’s ass?” Amaliya said. “C’mon. That’s what really matters.”
Aimee nodded somberly. “Exactly.”
Cian didn’t want to get into a discussion about magic, so he plunged onward. “Honestly, I think the most positive outcome of the night is that we now have everyone gathered under two roofs. As far as we know Aimee’s spell to hide the location of my house has worked. Sadly, it won’t take too much to find Jeff’s, but it is the best fortified of both houses. The old wards that Dr. Summerfield placed on the house are still holding according to Aimee. I think a few additions will make it even safer.”
“Plus, this house is built on a positive energy nexus. I need it to renew my energy and so does Baptiste,” Aimee pointed out. “I also have another idea.”
“Go on,” Cian urged.
“I think I can create a magical grid that will allow us to know when supernaturals enter the city. Like an early warning system.”
“Awesome idea, babe!” Cassandra flashed a prideful look at her girlfriend.
“It may take a little bit of work, but once I’m done with the wards, I’m sure I can come up with something really effective.”
Benchley loudly cleared his throat. “Okay, you supes are all in the same spot, but Alexia and I are not so safe, right? The Summoner is probably going to figure out who the hell we are, right?”
Jeff winced. “Yeah. You’re on my website.”
“The website!” Alexia groaned, covering her face.
“So, we should move into one of the two houses, too.” Benchley looked between Cian and Jeff. “Right?”
Amaliya gave Cian a significant look at the same time Samantha did the same to Jeff. Cian knew neither woman would prefer to take Benchley into their abodes. The man was helpful, but he’d been increasingly on their nerves with his pessimism during his training sessions with the women.
“We’ll take Alexia,” Cian decided. “She’s building a command center in my basement, so it makes sense.”
Amaliya instantly looked relieved.
“I think that makes sense. Besides, Bench has been helping Samantha with her training,” Jeff agreed.
Benchley looked pleased.
Eduardo cleared his throat loudly.
“You’re not moving in with us,” Cian said swiftly.
“Ah, c’mon. I could curl up on the end of the bed.” Eduardo smirked. “I can keep Amaliya’s toes warm.”
Cian glowered.
“I have room,” Jeff said, raising one hand. “You can stay here.”
Samantha gave Jeff a sharp, startled look.
“Nah, I don’t have any desire to crash at either place. I’m fine on my own. I need my space.” Eduardo ruffled Alexia’s hair, much to her annoyance.
Baptiste looked amused by the exchange, but remained silent.
“Why don’t we all move in together?” Samantha asked. “Isn’t there strength in numbers?”
Cian and Jeff glanced at each other uneasily.
Cian answered the question. “If he successfully attacks one safe haven with all of us in it, we lose. If we’re split between two, if one haven falls, we still have the second to take up the fight.”
“Well, that doesn’t make me feel too good,” Benchley decided grumpily.
Samantha let out a little startled sound, jerking away from Jeff. “What the hell?”
“Phone.” Jeff shifted his weight so he could yank his cellphone out. Frowning, Jeff stared at the screen. “It’s been acting up a little and it does this thing where it sends all my emails at once and it makes it vibrate like a...a...”
“Vibrator?” Amaliya asked, her gaze teasing.
Alexia snorted. “That was funny.”
The growing look of horror on Jeff’s face killed any joviality in the room.
Cian stepped closer to the hunter. “What is it?”
“Oh, hell.” The color drained out of Jeff’s face. “We weren’t the only ones hit. London, New York, Boston, Seattle, and Rome were all attacked tonight. London thought they were close to finding one of the rings. Rome reported that they had found one of them still in the Vatican. I was going to tell you tonight, but...”
“Let me guess,” Eduardo said in a flat tone. “The Summoner has them.”
“The Vatican is on fire,” Alexia said, looking up from her own phone. “It’s on Yahoo news.”
“The Assembly group in Bristol is reporting the destruction of the group in London. Portland has taken in one survivor of the group in Seattle. Boston...” Jeff faltered.
“Another fire there,” Alexia said, staring at her phone.
“New York managed to fight off the attack with no losses, but they’re heading underground,” Jeff finished.
Cian gave the group a sharp nod. “So he’s on the move.”
“We’re losing,” Samantha murmured.
“Fuck.” Cassandra frowned, shaking her head.
“That’s four possible rings he has,” Amaliya said, then ticked them off on her fingers. “He has one. Etzli has one. The one in the Vatican. Maybe one in London.”
“But he doesn’t have all of them,” Baptiste pointed out. “We are still ahead in the game.”
Cian appreciated the reminder. “Very true.”
Jeff stood and continued to scroll through his phone. “Don’t you get it? He’s just not going after the rings. He’s killing our allies. The Assembly. The Vatican even.”
“Cian,” Samantha asked, lifting her eyes to gaze at him, “how many of The Summoner’s children are still alive? What if they have the other rings?”
“Rachoń doesn’t have one,” Baptiste pointed out.
“Yeah, but he didn’t trust her.” Amaliya lowered her head so that her dark hair shielded her face. “Or Cian. That’s why they don’t have rings. But Etzli has one. What if he has favorite kids out there?”
The thought of The Summoner’s surviving children assisting him was uncomfortable for Cian. He’d not met the survivors of The Summoner’s games. “I’m uncertain how many might be alive.”
“But Rachoń might. Until their falling out, she did know more about him than you did.” Baptiste shifted in his seat, clearly uncomfortable with the topic. Cian supposed it might be difficult to accept how close Rachoń had been to the man who wanted to destroy the world. “But Samantha is right. What if his other children have the other rings already?”
“Then we might possess the last one.” Cassandra widened her eyes dramatically. “Great.”
To his surprise, Cian was hit with the impulse to comfort her. Yet another indication of his growing attachment to the daughter he didn’t raise, or even know about until recently. “Baptiste, see what you can get out of Rachoń.”
“I’ll speak to her tonight.”
“So now what?” Benchley asked, his voice a bit higher than usual.
“We keep focused,” Cian said. “Same as before. And we learn, adapt, and try to beat him at this game.”
“Do you really think we can win?” Eduardo’s inquiry was laced with sarcasm.
Cian pondered the question, then answered truthfully. “Yes.”
Ch
apter 13
“You really think we can win?” Amaliya asked, staring at Cian skeptically.
Standing at the end of their bed in only his pajama bottoms, Cian gave her a short nod.
“You’re fuckin’ nuts.” Perched at the top of the bed with the pillows piled behind her, she cradled her bandaged arm against her.
Her lover gave her the slow, wicked smile she loved so much. “Well, I’m with you.”
She hurled a pillow at him, which he easily dodged.
She loved him, but after the events of the night she had to wonder if he was a bit crazy. So much had gone wrong she was still amazed that they had won. Yet, she had to admit that she and Samantha had worked well together as a team. That had to be a good sign.
Returning his gaze to the screen of his phone, Cian frowned. Since the gathering at Jeff’s broke up, the vampire had been fielding phone calls from his human contacts in regards to the fire at the apartment building, which one of Cian’s companies owned. The investigation into the fire was being dealt with, but the apartment building had taken major damage. Fortunately, no one had died, though a few people had been hospitalized.
Before their return home, he’d taken the time to feed, but she wondered if it had been enough. The death she had absorbed earlier had filled her, but Cian was dependent on blood.
“It was enough. Though I could always take a sip from you,” Cian answered her thoughts, his Irish brogue sending shivers over her skin.
“Stop reading my mind.”
He grinned roguishly at her.
At this point in all her previous relationships, Amaliya was already gone, or about to leave. Easily bored, she was usually annoyed and out of love with her partners after just a few months. Yet with Cian, she fell more deeply in love with him every night. Even just watching him dress for bed elicited feelings of happiness and desire inside her. Years of slave labor had hewn his body into lean muscle, and she found him immensely sexy. Happily, he found the few extra pounds on her hips alluring.
“Insanely so,” he said, obviously reading her mind.
She narrowed her eyes at him, then lifted them to the heavens. “Fuck me.”
“In a moment.” Cian finished texting someone, then set the phone on the charger.
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