by Dia Cole
Nathan glared at me.
Mira looked at me with curious eyes. “What’s a fuck?”
Nathan cleared his throat. “Nothing, sunshine. Why don’t you look out the window and see if Tina is coming back with lunch?”
“Okay.” Mira jumped off the bench and skipped to the window none of us could reach.
Nathan turned to me. “Watch your language around my daughter, Enforcer.”
“Sorry,” I said through gritted teeth. It seemed all I was doing today was apologizing.
Nathan ran a hand through his collar-length hair. “No, it’s me that needs to apologize. I’m sorry I’ve been hostile to you. If I’d been more accepting of your relationship with Vana, perhaps she wouldn’t have unclaimed me.” He rested his head against the wall. “Damn the fates. I all but begged her to unclaim me.”
“Yeah, you did.” Nathan might have been justifiable in his jealousy, but he was a fool to force Havana’s hand like that. “Never give ultimatums unless you’re prepared to lose.”
“Vana was right to break our bond.” Nathan sighed. “I’ve wronged her in so many ways. She’s my chosen and instead of serving and protecting her, I’ve manipulated her and repeatedly put her in danger.”
“You’re not the only one.” I thought of how I’d initially left Havana in a rundown cabin alone not knowing that she’d been infected. She’d nearly died because of my arrogance. As uncomfortable as it was to admit, Nathan and I were cut from a similar cloth.
Nathan cursed under his breath. “She deserves better than us.”
I grunted in agreement.
Nathan continued, a wistful look on his face, “If only I could have another chance, I’d treat her the way she deserves. I’d serve her wishes—let her make the decisions. I’d accept any and all males she wanted to mate with… even you.”
I bared my teeth. “Why, thank you.”
“But I won’t get another chance.” Nathan closed his eyes.
Even though Nathan’s domineering ways set my teeth on edge, I couldn’t help feeling sorry for the male. “If we live through this, you can always win her back. She can claim you again.” I really hoped she didn’t though. With Nathan out of the picture, I might have a chance at being Head Mate.
“Once claimed, never put asunder,” Nathan said, reciting the Lykos mating vows.
“That’s bullshit,” I scoffed. “My mother unclaimed and reclaimed my father at least a dozen times.” I would forever miss hearing them tell the tales of their tumultuous courtship.
Nathan sat up. “Do you think Havana might claim me again?”
I arched one eyebrow. “Are you worth reclaiming?”
“I see Tina!” Mira shouted, interrupting her father’s reply. “She and Marshall are running away from the bad people.”
“Bad people?” Nathan and I said at the same time.
“Yeah, the ones that walk like this.” Mira staggered down the hallway.
Nathan inhaled sharply. “The reanimated?”
Mira nodded. “Lots and lots of them.”
Nathan stood. “Damn the fates!”
I jumped up and dashed toward the clinic.
As I ran by, Liam looked up from his conversation with Mason. “What’s going on?”
“I’ll tell you in a second.” I waded through all the crap on the clinic floor and stopped at the window overlooking the parking lot and the legions of zombies that filled it. “Ah, fucking hell.”
There were hundreds of them slowly shuffling through the snow. The line of decaying bodies stretched as far back as I could see.
How did we miss this amassing outside?
“What is it?” Liam shouted from the doorway.
“It seems the fair citizens of Sunridge have come to call.”
“The fuck you say?” Liam squeezed his gargantuan body through the door and crammed his way through the clinic to look out the window. When he caught sight of the army of death, he shuddered.
Mason’s voice came from the radio clenched in the giant’s hand. “There are ten Enforcers manning the front gates. There have been a lot of incoming vehicles. Most of them filled with latent males.”
Liam brought the radio to his lips. “Doc, I’ll have to get back to you. We’re being invaded by zombies.”
“Bloody hell. Do you need me to head back?”
I grabbed the radio from Liam. “No. Mason, we need you watching Sanctuary. If you see any opportunity to get Havana out, you take it.”
“But how are you going to deal with the reanimated if you’re trapped in the clinic?” Mason asked.
The simple answer was, we couldn’t. “We’re on the second floor,” I said to calm him down.
“But the human survivors aren’t,” Mason said, in a panicked voice.
“Give them some credit. They can take a flight of stairs.” I snorted. “Keep us posted on what’s happening at Sanctuary.” I muted the radio.
Liam peered out the window. “There’s got to be at least five hundred of those things out there. We’re never getting out of here now.”
I let out a dry laugh. “This just keeps getting better and better.” I’d thought Havana would die and take us with her, but now we might be the ones to die first. “Either the reanimated will eat us or we’ll starve to death in here.”
Liam looked out at the ski resort. “And so will the humans. Fuck, brother. We can’t let harm come to them.”
As if summoned, one of the humans raced into the room. “Zombies! There are zombies everywhere.”
Nathan strode in after him. “Marshall, calm down.”
“How can I calm down? They’ll kill us all!” Marshall’s watery eyes were wild.
I considered snapping the annoying human’s neck.
Reading my mind, Liam shook his head. “Havana wouldn’t like that, brother.”
Fuck. Since I was already in the doghouse, I dropped my hands.
“Are the others okay? Sierra and her brothers?” Liam asked him.
“I don’t know. That harridan, Rebecca, was ordering everyone upstairs,” Marshall panted.
Nathan nodded. “Good. They’ll be safe up there and there’s plenty of food in the restaurant.”
My stomach rumbled reminding me that we weren’t so lucky. Trying to ignore my hunger, I concentrated on the agitated human. “Why did you come over here?”
Marshall licked his chapped lips. “You guys have the cure to the zombie virus, right?”
Liam, Nathan, and I exchanged a look.
Nathan stepped forward to grab the human’s arm. “Not exactly, Marshall.”
Marshall pulled away from the silver-haired male. “I saw your daughter out in the hallway. She’s cured. I want the cure too.”
“Have you been infected?” I reached for my knife, pleased to have a reason to eliminate the prick.
“No, but I want immunity in case I’m bitten.” Marshall’s gaze zeroed in on the last syringe of Havana’s blood lying on the exam table where Mason had left it. “Is this it?”
“No,” Nathan replied.
“Yes,” Liam said at the same time.
“I knew it! You’re trying to keep it for yourselves.” Moving surprisingly fast for an old man, Marshall snatched the syringe and jabbed the needle into his arm.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” I warned. We had no idea what Havana’s blood would do to a human.
“Marshall, stop!” Nathan ordered.
But the old man had already emptied the syringe into his arm. He gave us a triumphant smile. “Now, I’m immune too.” His self-satisfied expression wavered after a second. “Ah! It burns.” He collapsed, blood trickling from his eyes, ears and nose.
I cursed, recognizing the signs of Lykos blood poisoning.
Marshall let out several high-pitched shrieks, convulsed, and then went still.
The three of us stared at his dead body in silence.
Fuck. We’ll have to clean that up.
Tina poked her head into the clinic. “Wha
t happened to him?”
“Nothing he didn’t deserve,” I said, stepping in front of Marshall’s corpse. “I don’t suppose you brought back food?”
Nathan gave me an incredulous look. “How can you be hungry after watching the man die?”
I shrugged.
Liam rubbed his stomach. “I’m hungry too.”
Tina motioned behind her at the hallway. “I set the food out on the bench. Mira is already going to town on it.”
The idea of a meal was helping to turn the shitastic day around.
Tina licked her lips nervously and held up a bag. “I also grabbed some explosives from ski patrol.”
“Explosives?” I peered inside and was momentarily struck dumb at the sight of dozens of incendiary charges.
“Yeah, they have all kinds of bombs for avalanche control. I thought maybe we could use them on the zombies.” Tina briefly met my gaze and looked away.
“We can toss them from the window,” Liam said, his voice filled with excitement.
“Yes.” I wasn’t an expert in explosive weapons, but there was enough dynamite and ammonium nitrate to send our undead visitors back to hell. This definitely turned the day around. “I could kiss you right now, human.”
Tina took a hasty step back making me regret having threatened to kill her the day before.
I gave the human who might just have saved our lives one of my rare smiles. Then, since I was on a roll, I apologized to her.
16
Havana
My jaw fell open as Tyberius carried me into the best-outfitted BDSM room I’d ever seen.
The shiny white marble floors and walls contrasted starkly with the black leather spanking benches, sex chairs, and huge St. Andrew’s cross on the far side of the room. Manacles hung from the top and bottom of the X-frame metal structure making it clear the device wasn’t just for show.
Holy crap. This place was the real deal with medieval looking stockades and human-sized silver cages hanging from the ceiling. I peered up at the cages. “Does Tasha keep people up there?”
“No,” Tyberius said, carrying me past shelves stocked with towels, riding crops, and whips.
Tearing my gaze from the line of mannequin heads covered with leather masks, I took in the massive prison cell that ran half the length of the warehouse-sized room. “Jesus. Tasha wasn’t messing around with this place, was she?”
Tyberius set me down. “Mother calls this her playroom.” The bitter tone in his voice spoke volumes.
I sought confirmation of what I already knew. “Tasha is your mother.”
“Unfortunately.” Tyberius swung his gaze around the room as if searching for something. His gold hoop earring caught the light from the sconces on the wall and winked at me.
Wondering why his earring looked so familiar I said, “And Nathan is?”
“My brother, in spirit if not blood. I’ll get something to cut your bands off.”
“Can’t you just rip them apart?” I remembered how he’d torn off Nathan’s silver cuffs during our threesome. The memory was enough to make another wave of sexual hunger whip through me.
“I’m too weak,” Tyberius admitted.
As he knelt down and opened a black leather storage trunk, I studied the sharp planes of his handsome face taking in his hollow cheekbones.
He’s lost weight. And not an insignificant amount given the broad muscles of his arms and shoulders were much leaner than before. I could even count his ribs and each one of his well-defined abs through his smooth caramel colored skin.
However, whatever starvation diet he’d been on hadn’t affected his impressive cock. The sight of his thick, dark erection made my core cramp with need. A low moan escaped my lips.
He looked up from rummaging through instruments of torture. “Are you in pain?”
“No.” Yes. Hell. I’d never needed my mates more. A spasm of desire hit me and I rubbed my nipples through Nathan’s undershirt.
An answering flare of lust sparked in his eyes and his shaft throbbed. Despite his clear interest, he made no move toward me. “You’ve been drugged.”
No shit. Tasha must have put something in my food that increased my already out of control sex drive. Being in this room, surrounded by sex toys and bondage apparatus, was only adding fuel to the fire.
“Try to fight it,” Tyberius said in a voice so low I wasn’t sure if it was meant for him or me.
I stifled a moan as an insane urge to push him down on the floor and mount him gripped me.
Tyberius turned his attention back to the trunk.
Trying to get ahold of myself, I bit my lip. There was no way I’d fuck some random guy.
But he isn’t a random guy, is he? He was Nathan’s best friend. The guy he wanted us to have a threesome with. And apparently, the guy he coerced into dating me for months. “Nathan said you and I spent a lot of time together.”
Tyberius made a noncommittal sound.
“Did we have sex?”
He jerked his head up and a pair of bolt cutters fell from his hands.
“So that’s a yes?”
He slowly nodded. “It happened only one time… Nathan doesn’t know.”
Interesting. I guess he and Nathan didn’t share everything. “Did you compel me?”
His golden eyes flashed with indignation. “No. If anything, you seduced me.”
Hmm. Under normal circumstances, I’d be pissed as hell to find out I’d had sex with a virtual stranger who promptly wiped my mind. But the wave of feverish desire moving through my body made it impossible to think about anything but how sexy Tyberius looked. I’ll bet being with him was incredible.
The gorgeous male picked up the bolt cutters and started cutting off my silver wrist cuffs.
“I don’t remember any of our time together.”
He stiffened.
“Can you give me the memories back?”
“No.”
“Why not?” I was genuinely curious.
“Because I can no longer compel you.” He tugged at the mangled silver at my right wrist.
The cuff fell to the floor with a heavy clink.
Immediately some of the drain on my energy stopped. I hadn’t realized how much the silver cuffs had been sapping me. I tried to focus on how much better I felt instead of the burning need between my legs.
Tyberius closed his eyes and said nothing for nearly a minute.
Weirded out, I said, “What are you doing?”
He opened his eyes. “Talking to Nathan about you.”
“Oh,” I said feeling left out and strangely annoyed. “Could you talk to him out loud? So I could hear?”
He nodded as if my request wasn’t ridiculous, which I know it was. Then he said, “I’m trying to get her cuffs off, brother. When I do, you can tell her yourself.”
Curiosity got the better of me. “What does he want to tell me?”
“How sorry he is.”
My heart ached. “Tell him that I’m sorry too.” I never should have unclaimed him out of anger.
“She unclaimed you? Over me?” Tyberius glanced at me with a surprised expression on his face.
“That was one of many reasons.” I frowned. “I did not appreciate the way you two repeatedly messed with my mind.”
“No one will pay the price for that more than I,” Tyberius muttered as he positioned the snub nose blades of the bolt cutter around the other wrist cuff.
I noticed how gentle his hands were on my arm. Does he still have feelings for me?
“No, Nathan. I can’t compel her to remember me. She’s too powerful now. It’s done, okay. Let’s focus on getting her out of here. Then she can claim you again after you apologize.”
I stiffened. “What do you mean? Nathan said once the mating bond is broken it can never be remade.”
Ty’s brows shot up. “He said what?” A moment later he coughed. “Nathan says he may have exaggerated a bit in the spirit of negotiation.” He pressed hard on the handles of the cutter and m
y wristband fell off.
More of my energy, along with my irritation with Nathan, came roaring back. “Tell him, that both he and his spirit of negotiation can go to hell.”
Ty shook his head. “Brother, you keep digging yourself deeper and deeper.” He tried unsuccessfully to insert the bold cutter blades around my silver headband. “I’m sorry, Starfire. I can’t get this one.”
I tried to hide my disappointment. “It’s okay. We can get it off later.”
Nathan must’ve said something to Tyberius, because his smile slipped away and he headed toward the back of the room where a bondage bed sat flush with the wall. “Come on, the escape tunnel is this way.”
I tried not to be distracted by the sight of the sex swing hanging from the top rail of the bed. Locking my knees, I said, “No. I’m not leaving this place without Isaac and Lily.”
Tyberius spun around. “Who?”
“The human children Tasha imprisoned here.”
“If they’re human they are already dead,” he said in a solemn voice. “Mother despises humans for what they did to her when she was young.” He shoved the bed away from the wall which was no small feat given the thing looked like it was made entirely of metal. Behind the bed was a brick wall. “Blast.” Tyberius kicked the bed frame.
A voice I’d hoped never to hear again called out, “Has someone been a naughty boy?”
Tyberius and I froze.
A panicked expression crossed his face. “Fuck.” He glanced back at the wall. “Nathan, the tunnel has been bricked over and Tasha is here.”
I’m not sure what Nathan said to Tyberius, but the gorgeous male shoved the bed back against the wall. Then ushered me to the closest black leather spanking bench. “Get on this. Nathan says we have to make it look like I took you here for sex.”
“Right.” Since the alternative was likely certain death, being strapped down seemed the lesser of two evils. My heart thumped wildly as I climbed on the bench. There were leather pads for my stomach, arms, and legs. As I settled belly down onto the apparatus, Tyberius secured my limbs with thick straps and pushed Nathan’s shirt to the center of my back.
“You know what I do to naughty boys, don’t you, Tyberius?” Tasha said in a singsong voice that sounded much closer.