Return of the Assassin (All the King's Men)

by Lynne, Donya

  Heat filled her cheeks, and she kept her gaze averted toward the window so Trevor wouldn't see how just the thought of Malek affected her. Her heart beat faster just thinking about him.

  Right choice or wrong, she would see Malek soon, and maybe she would give him the chance Trevor suggested. Or maybe not. She so didn't want to open that can of worms again.

  For the first time in years, a glimmer of hope flickered in her heart. Hope for a future she thought she would never get another chance to have. Did she dare let that seed of hope blossom?

  A gentle, secret smile curved her mouth, and she bit her lip. Was such a future possible? Could she put her fear aside and take a chance? Could Malek be the one who would set right all that Armand had destroyed?

  Why did that speck of hope burn a little brighter at the thought? And yet scare the shit out of her at the same time?

  CHAPTER 6

  Micah scowled at the screen on his tablet. There was still no reply from Gina, and he was running out of time. Malek was on the verge of sinking. Screw that. He was all-out drowning.

  A knock on the doorframe brought his gaze up. Stryker loomed as wide as the doorway, military straight, just outside his office.

  "How's it going?" Stryker said.

  "Good. A few scheduling challenges, but we'll manage."

  Liar, liar. Things were beyond challenging. More like catastrophic. With Tristan on house arrest for his part in duping the king during the Io-Miriam fiasco, Micah had been put in charge of the team—the growing-smaller-every-day team. Io was still in his calling with Miriam, so he wasn't going anywhere that would take him far from her and his bed for more than a few hours, which meant Io was off the schedule until he could endure an eight-hour shift without getting a hard-on. Trace was locked up in the king's dungeon—damn that mess all to hell and back—and Arion had quit a month ago. That left Micah, Severin, and Malek, who was about as useful as a bucket of water in the ocean with his hormones raging between his mating call to Gina and his desire to continue denying Carmen's death. The fidiot. Which meant it was just Micah and Sev. An army of two.

  "I can spare a body or two if you need it." Stryker scratched his thick, black buzz cut.

  "Who do you have in mind?" Micah leaned back and waved Stryker in.

  Stryker sat down in one of the chairs, his back Marine straight, his expression all hard-ass and full-on business. "What about Lakota?"

  Micah chuffed. "And have Severin kill him? You sure you want that?"

  Sev still hadn't warmed up to his father, and Micah suspected it would take time before those two could coexist in tight spaces together, say, inside a crater-sized canyon, for instance. After what had gone down between Lakota and Sev's mother ages ago, Micah couldn't really blame Sev for holding a grudge against his father. If Micah were in Sev's shoes, and his father had raped his mother to get her pregnant with him, he would have been pissed beyond forgiveness, too. But apparently Lakota had found God or some shit by marrying a human who taught him the meaning of true love and gave him a gaggle of mixed-blood children. How 'bout that for a vampire who hadn't officially mated or had a calling? His testicular soldiers were potent little critters to give him multiple progeny without ever going into a calling. Too bad all male vampires couldn't drink Lakota's Kool-Aid and be as fertile with their mates.

  Micah would give his left nut for one night with that kind of semen power. He wanted nothing more than to see Sam swell with child. But that was not to be in the immediate future. He had already experienced his first calling with her, but Sam's newly immortalized body hadn't been strong enough to accept a pregnancy. Maybe next time. Definitely next time. He was ready for children of his own.

  Stryker shrugged. "Maybe putting them together will quicken the kiss-and-make up stage." He laced his fingers over his torso. "I couldn't care less, to be honest. As long as they're not killing each other it's no sweat off my back, but I know others are complaining about the tension. If shoving them into a room together and locking the door will help break the bad blood between them, I say we try it."

  A cockeyed grin broke across Micah's mouth. "Damn, Stryke, I didn't know you had it in you."

  "What? A brain?" Stryker gave an uncharacteristic smile, which was about as far as the guy went toward laughing.

  "Well, that too, but I was referring to your sadomasochistic side."

  Stryker blew a puff of air through his lips and rolled his eyes. "Hell's bells. That's your arena, not mine."

  By now, everyone knew the kind of lifestyle Micah lived, but he still got the impression that many misunderstood exactly what his tendency toward Domination was about. He wasn't in to giving pain for pain's sake. He did it because those who received pain from him enjoyed it, needed it, or otherwise simply wanted it. For him and those he had Dom'd in the past, it was about pleasure and providing a service. By definition, he was not a sadist, who simply gave pain for the fun of it. Still, he wasn't about to go into a lecture with those who didn't know better, Stryker included.

  "Whatever, Stryker. You're well on your way toward 'my arena' with ideas like putting Sev and Kota together. But I like it."

  "So I'll send him over when he comes down?"

  Lakota still lived on site in one of the dorms upstairs.

  "Sure. I can put him to good use."

  Stryker nodded. "He's good. Strong instincts and excellent in hand-to-hand."

  "Just like Sev," Micah said thoughtfully.

  "Like father like son."

  "Don't let Sev hear you say that."

  Another of those rare grins cracked Stryker's serious expression. "Good point."

  Micah regarded Stryker through shrewd eyes. Should he tell Stryker about Gina? If she eventually chose to show up or reply to his e-mails, Stryker had a right to know about it since he was giving Lakota to him. Not only did Lakota have bad history with Sev, but his more recent history with Gina was even worse. If she came back—and it was beginning to look like she wouldn't, so this might be a nonissue—her presence could compromise Lakota's joining his team.

  What the hell? He would cover his bases and let the chips fall where they may.

  "There's a chance Gina could come back," he said.

  "Gina?" Stryker's eyes narrowed and his brow crinkled as if he had no idea who Gina was.

  Micah found it surprising that so few people remembered Gina's name, but remembered all too well what she had done to Lakota and Severin. Micah leaned forward and rested his arms on his desk. "The female assassin who used Lakota to try and kill Sev."

  Realization dawned on Stryker's face and he nodded. "Okay, I've gotcha. Her. Why would she come back? Wouldn't that be suicide?"

  Micah huffed and shifted uneasily. "Because I asked her to."

  "You what? Are you trying to get her killed?"

  Micah was fully aware that his plan could backfire all too easily, but it was Malek's only chance, so he had no choice. "She might be Malek's only hope."

  Stryker leaned back, crossed his arms, and tilted his head. "Man, you've lost me."

  "She's Malek's mate, Stryke."

  That got his attention. "Hell no. Are you sure?"

  Micah nodded and sighed, exasperation and frustration battling for dominance inside his head. He tapped his temple. "I can see all, remember? I'm sure."

  "How exactly does that work? I mean, I know he's fucked up over Carmen, but…now this? Is this why he's been walking around like a pissed off walking time bomb for the past couple of weeks?" Stryker rubbed his palm over his buzz cut and shook his head, obviously trying to imagine the hell Malek was going through.

  "Yep. That would be the reason." Micah drummed his fingers on the desk for emphasis. "The shit flowing through his thoughts right now is lethal as fuck, too. The guy is majorly losing his mind. It's like there's two of him in there: the devil who's sucking him further into hell, and the angel trying to get him to embrace his call to mate Gina. He knows Gina is his mate, but it's like he feels as if he's cheating on Carmen or disgra
cing her memory or some shit by taking another mate, so he refuses to accept Gina. I mean, Stryker, the guy is holding conversations with himself, for God's sake. The couple of times I've picked up on them…?" Micah rolled his head and blew out a low whistle. "Let's just say his shit is fritzing out, and it's getting worse every minute. If I can't get Gina back here and get him to accept her, we'll be putting Malek in a body bag within the month. Maybe the week." He felt about as helpless as a dry log in a forest fire. No matter what he did, Malek was going to go up in flames. It was just a matter of time.

  Stryker closed his eyes and dropped his head back with a groan. "God. I had no idea."

  Micah was picking up a lot of I'm glad I never have to worry about this from Stryker. Clearly, from the thoughts racing through Stryker's mind, he wasn't in to the whole mating thing and this just provided one more piece of evidence as to why he kept himself away from females, in general. The less exposure he had to them, the better his odds that his biology would never fire up to claim one and thus send his heart and soul into precarious waters. If Stryker never took a mate, he would never find himself in the same shithole Malek was now in, and for Stryker, that was fine and dandy.

  Micah wanted to tell Stryker that the risk was worth it. Being mateless, he was only half. If he knew what taking a mate felt like, he would be begging for his as-yet-unclaimed mate to hurry up and find him already.

  Stryke would just have to learn that on his own, and Micah had a feeling the guy wouldn't be able to run forever. Especially since AKM was in the middle of a mating boom.

  Micah had seen this a couple of times during his lifetime. He couldn't explain it, but there seemed to be some mystical vampire phenomenon which occurred at irregular intervals, where large numbers of matings occurred in a short span of time, as if some bizarre polarity pulled mates together and led them to one another at a time when the race needed to propagate. It usually—but not always—happened before another war broke out between the drecks and vampires or during a time of growing calamity, so this newsflash wasn't exactly good news.

  His parents had simply called it the preparing, while others referred to the mystical force as a pull phase or pulling. Whatever it was, if they were in the midst of a pulling, Stryker might not have a choice. His mate would simply show up, and he'd fall. Hard.

  Only time would tell. Not all males succumbed during a pull phase, so it wasn't like there were any guarantees or anything.

  He shook his head and clapped his hands on the desk, snapping out of his thoughts. "Yeah, well, she might not even come back. This is all speculation at this point. She isn't answering my e-mails, and short of sending out resources I don't have, I'm not sure I can drag her back here in time to save Malek from going down and never coming back up." He eyed Stryker. "But if she does come back, it could put her and Lakota at risk. You still want to give him to me?"

  One of Stryker's eyebrows arched. "Could be risky. I mean, if she does come back. But…" Stryker paused and made a face that looked like he couldn't believe he was thinking what he was about to share with Micah. "If what you're telling me is true, Lakota could be really helpful to your cause."

  Micah's brow popped high on his forehead and he blew out a low whistle. He could see Stryker's thoughts and honestly couldn't believe the guy had drummed up such a plot. "You're not doing anything to eliminate your growing reputation as a sadist, Stryke."

  With a sigh, Stryker rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. "What better way to spark a male's protective mating bond than to put his mate in harm's way? Say…by putting someone who wants to kill her in the same room with her?"

  "Damn, remind me never to get on your bad side." Micah leaned back and laughed. "But, man, I like how you think."

  Stryker was proving to be full of surprises today.

  A twinkle sparked in Stryker's eye, and he shook his head. "What can I say? I haven't always been a nice guy."

  Micah chuckled and rubbed his palm over his thickening beard. He really needed a shave. "You'd better be careful or people will start to think I'm rubbing off on you."

  Stryker sat back and relaxed as much as the guy could. "Like I said, I wasn't always such a nice guy." He tilted his head to one side. "So, do you like my plan?"

  "I think it's genius. As long as it doesn't blow up in our faces." But really, did he have any better ideas? "It's all we've got, though, and I need to get through to Malek somehow. This might be it. If Gina shows up, that is." And that was becoming a very big if with each hour Gina didn't contact him. Micah leaned forward. "Okay, so send Lakota over at nightfall. I'll arrange the schedule to put him in."

  Stryker issued a sharp nod and stood. "Will do. Hit me up if you need anything else."

  "Thanks."

  The big, broad male stopped in the door and turned around. "By the way, I got word earlier that quite a few of the victims from the lab in Arizona that Trace and Io penetrated last week had family in the Chicago area. Survivors and the bodies of those who didn't make it are being brought here. A couple in pretty bad shape just arrived an hour or so ago." Stryker nodded in the direction of the medical ward. "Once they're more stable, they'll be moved to the new facility."

  The new underground facility was only a couple of weeks away from being fully operational, but the transfer of certain functions, particularly those in the medical wing, were already being migrated to the new location.

  Micah checked the clock. "An hour ago, huh?"

  "Yep. And more on the way. Looks like we'll be making quite a few upsetting phone calls to area families in the near future, once we have everything in order."

  "Fuck me." Micah blew out a heavy sigh and shook his head. He had a bad feeling about this latest news. If a large number of the victims were from Chicago that meant that the drecks in Chicago were collecting vampires, which would explain all the recent reports of vamps gone missing. This had all kinds of implications, none of them good. "How's it going out there, anyway? In Arizona, I mean? I've been so busy dealing with Malek, Gina, and having no bodies on my team, I haven't heard the latest."

  Stryker's expression grew grim, but true to his militaristic demeanor, he didn't mince words. "It's bad. Real bad. Several victims have already died. Most of the others are strung out on cobalt. Some can't even be described." With a shake of his head, he sucked his teeth then pursed his lips. A moment later, he continued. "One of the vics brought in earlier was just a boy. Looks like he was filleted. I don't know how he's even still alive. Our people are trying to learn what they can from what little was left behind out there, but there's not much. This was a professional operation, well-funded. Whatever Bishop and Apostle were doing with those vampires and mixed-bloods, it was fucked up. And I think we're going to have our hands full real soon. This shit could go all the way to Premier Royce, and I'd bet my ass it does."

  Premier Royce, who swore he had no knowledge of any funny business or illegal behavior being perpetuated by his people. Yeah, right. Sure. That bastard was a master at keeping his ass clean. Too clean. What Micah wouldn't give to be in the same room with Royce just once so he could dipsy-doodle into his mind and capture his secrets.

  "Keep me posted, will you?" Micah said as he stood.

  "Sure thing." With that, Stryker spun on his heel and marched out the door, his boots thunking like a perfectly timed drumbeat as he headed toward his own office.

  Something wasn't right, but Micah couldn't put a finger on it. His instincts told him there was a tie between cobalt distribution and what was going on in Bishop's lab. Were the drecks using cobalt as a lure to draw in victims, or was there some darker, more sinister purpose to the drug? If the victims coming back from the lab were strung out on cobalt, it meant that Bishop was dosing them with the blue shit. Logically then, the question was why? Obviously, the drecks were using cobalt against the vampires, but to what end?

  Agitated and needing to move, Micah left his office and went to the medical ward. He wanted to check on Maddox anyway, so while he was there,
he would look in on the two victims Stryker had referred to.

  He stopped at the reception desk just inside the double doors. "How is he?"

  Everyone knew by now who he was referring to when he stopped in.

  "He woke up," the nurse behind the desk said.

  "He did?" This was a new development. "Why didn't someone come and get me?"

  She shook her head. "It wasn't pretty, Micah. The docs didn't want any interference."

  Well, shit on a stick. This didn't sound good.

  He brushed back his hair. "Can I see him?"

  She offered a crooked grin, dipped her head to one side as if she already knew there was no way he would take no for an answer, and waved him back.

  "Thanks." He hurried down the hall and made his way to Maddox's room, where he quietly opened the door. Maddox's imposing form lay on a bed they'd brought in special for him. The normal medical beds weren't big enough, but even with the bigger bed, his feet came right to the bottom edge of the mattress.

  A heart monitor beep…beep…beeped beside him, but what surprised Micah were the wrist restraints. And the leg restraints. And the thick leather and iron binding around his waist, as well as one around his neck. He was strapped down to the bed like a serial murderer about to receive death by lethal injection.

  What the fuck? What in the hell had happened when Maddox woke up to warrant such treatment?

  He approached the bed and noted that Maddox's pale eyes—so like Trace's—stared straight up at the ceiling. The mammoth male didn't even seem to notice Micah was there.

  "Maddox?" Micah peered closer, but got no response. Not even a blink. And what little he got from Maddox's mind didn't make much sense. But then, the guy had apparently been in some kind of hibernation or some shit, so his hardwiring was probably going through a reboot.