I washed my plate and dried my hands on the pretty yellow flower-print tea towel. Time to find Drayton. There was a warrant to file and we needed to check in with Tristan about the lab results for our Jane Doe. Drayton may already have received those details.
I found him in the study tapping away at the computer. A pile of files sat to his right and a mug of coffee to this left. The room was all dark wood and warm amber lighting cast by candelabras. Tucked behind the long mahogany desk, Drayton looked the part of a hot shot executive, well if you ignored the body hugging T-shirt and just got out of bed hair.
He looked up as I entered. “I’m busy what—” He broke off at the sight of me, and his gaze softened. “Harker, did you sleep well?”
Tiny butterflies bloomed to life in my stomach. “Yeah, like a log.” I approached the desk. “Are these the missing persons files?” I picked up the top one and flipped it open.
“Yes. They arrived an hour ago. I also spoke to Tristan. The labs came back.”
I looked up from the photograph of a nerdy looking young man called Ben Hardly. “And?”
“They found traces of an unknown toxin in her bloodstream. They’re still analyzing it, but Tristan said he’s never seen anything like it. On a positive note, our Jane Doe is no longer a Jane Doe. Her name is Kerry Wilson and she’s awake and fine. Only thing is, she doesn’t recall anything about last night. She doesn’t even remember going to The Deep. Although she says she recalls having plans to do so.”
“Shit. So, that means she doesn’t recall speaking to the Sanguinata.”
His brows flicked up. “Wait. Was it the same woman?”
I winced. “Did I not mention that?”
He gave me a deadpan look. “No, you didn’t. Bane was worried there was a possible link between the recruitment and the missing humans, and this actually gives us a link.”
“Except for the fact she can’t verify he even spoke to her, which makes it my word against his.”
He shook his head dismissively. “If we need witnesses there were a ton of people there who we could talk to. I’ll speak to Jonah and get him to put out feelers.”
“Yes. Jonah knows about the missing humans. He’ll want to help.”
“Good, so now we wait for the warrant, which I’ve just sent off to be signed and returned, once we get it back we can speak to Dorian at the House of Vitae.”
Ryker had said it may take a day for the warrant to come back approved and signed, but I had to ask. “Will it be done today, do you think?”
He chuckled. “I love your enthusiasm, but it’s highly unlikely. With the scourge running tonight they’ll be tied up dealing with requests for sanctuary from humans not bonded to a house.”
“Sanctuary?”
He shut down the computer and gave me his full attention. “The district council has several safe houses with a limited amount of space. The service isn’t free and its first come, first served. Most humans prefer to lock themselves in their basements and ride it out. Some areas don’t get hit and others get flooded. We never know where scourge will run until they actually run.”
“Have all the scourge who run gone under?”
“I don’t know. We just kill them. Have been doing so for years, but their numbers just aren’t decreasing.”
Now that was strange. If all the Protectorate were massacring scourge once a month then there really shouldn’t be many of them left. “How many do you kill?”
He shrugged. “A lot. At least two or three each, and there are twenty-five of us in total. The rippers run in packs and are hard to bring down, it’s mainly the bloodsuckers we cull, but Rivers thinks that unless we sever their spinal columns they’re able to regenerate.”
That might explain why the numbers weren’t going down as fast as they should, but still. “Have you run the figures? Compared the number of humans turning to the rise in scourge numbers and then deducted your kills?”
He stared at me as if I was a strange specimen under a microscope. “No, Serenity, we haven’t. We just kill them.”
Which was great, but it didn’t answer the question as to why they weren’t making a dent in the number of scourge. “Do you keep a kill count?”
He snorted. “No. We’re not big on paperwork here. We’re more about the action.”
“If you’re killing as many as you say you are then, even with the few who do manage to regenerate, their numbers shouldn’t be going back up that quickly. You should have made a dent.”
His brow furrowed. “You have a theory?”
“No. I don’t know. It’s just weird.”
“No, you two are weird,” Cassie said from the doorway. “It’s scourge run night and you’re holed up in the study?”
Drayton leaned back in his seat, a lazy smile spreading across his tanned face. “Has it started already?” he asked.
I looked from Cassie to Drayton. “Has what started?”
“The scourge game,” she said with a twinkle in her eye. “Oh, honey, consider it your consolation prize for not being able to run with us tonight.”
“Actually, Bane said I could go.”
Cassie let out a low whistle. “Well, then we are so on.”
Drayton smiled. “Congratulations for getting off the bench, Harker.”
Cassie grabbed my hand. “Come and play. Trust me. It’ll be great practice for later.”
With a helpless shrug in Drayton’s direction, I let her tug me from the room.
***
The outskirts of the forest were teaming with primary Protectorate carrying paintball guns. Rivers and Orin stood chatting to a couple of young officers who looked familiar, and Ryker was crouched on the ground tightening his bootlaces.
He straightened when he caught sight of us and raised a hand. “Are you joining us for the game?”
Cassie put her arm around my shoulder and hugged me to her. “Better than that, Serenity is joining us for the run tonight.”
Ryker blinked slowly. “Bane approved this?”
I shrugged and gave him a sheepish grin. “Yep.”
Rivers and Orin broke away from their conversation and joined us, both looked psyched.
“You ready to do some tagging?” Orin said. He walked over to a nearby tree and a large crate with a few guns still sticking out. “Grab a paintball gun and load up with ammo. You ever played before?”
I shook my head. “But I’m sure I’ll pick it up.”
Cassie grabbed a gun and handed another to Ryker. Drayton strolled over and took the last weapon.
“Don’t we need protective gear or something?” I’d seen humans play this game all armored up with helmets and stuff.
Rivers snorted. “We don’t do the protective gear. We just avoid getting hit.”
Okay. “So, do we have teams? How do we do this?”
Ryker grinned and glanced at the twenty odd Protectorate members. “Yeah, we have teams. It’s us against them.”
A neph guy called Gary booed. “This time the scourge are gonna win.”
The scourge, I looked to Drayton.
“Their playing the scourge and we have to tag as many as we can. You get hit you leave the game, simple. So don’t get hit.”
Gary lifted his gun. “See you on the other side.” He turned and with a whoop led the others into the forest.
“We give them ten minutes to hide and then we go in,” Cassie said, hand on hip.
The air crackled with excitement as the minutes ticked by and even Drayton’s relaxed demeanor tightened into something resembling anticipation. The energy was infectious, a hint of what was to come, and then Orin jerked his head toward the forest and we went in.
***
My butt ached from where the paintball had hit it. So much for not needing padded clothing. The bruise covered the whole of my ass cheek. I’d twisted in the mirror trying to get a look at it earlier, black and purple and red at the edges. Sitting down would be an issue for a few days, but there was no time to dwell on that now. It was
time to gather in the foyer, but I didn’t want to go down alone. Nerves and all that.
I knocked on Ryker’s door. There was no answer. I knocked again and ducked in. “Hello?”
He’d said to knock for him. This wasn’t my first time in his room, but it was my first time in here alone, and it was impossible not to have a proper look around. People’s bedrooms were usually a map of their psyche and Ryker’s was filled with literature and pillows. The guy loved pillows. A glint of gold caught my eye from his bedside table—a photo frame. I crossed the room and picked it up. It was a picture of a woman, but all I could see was the smile because most of her features were obscured by her red hair whipping into her face. Ryker was in the shot too, his arm around her neck as he pressed his lips to the side of her head. It was a beautiful natural shot and I could almost hear the laughter. Who was she? A girlfriend? He hadn’t mentioned anyone. Suddenly, being in his room felt too invasive.
I placed the picture back in its place and left. I’d just closed the door when Ryker rounded the corridor.
“Hey, there you are,” he said.
“I was just about to knock for you,” I lied.
He glanced at my hand on the doorknob then back at my face. “We should get downstairs.”
“Sure.”
The foyer was buzzing with Protectorate as they checked the rota and divvied up into their groups. The district had been split into three sectors and the twenty primary nephs had been split roughly into three groups to be headed up by Bane and co.
Rivers strolled over to me in my spot at the bottom of the stairwell. “Um, you did good out there today.”
“Thanks, tell that to my butt.”
He grinned. “Yeah, that was some shot.” His expression sobered. “It’s gonna be tough out there tonight, and I think you should feed before we go out.”
I offered him a slow blink. “What? No. What makes you think I...” My gaze slid past him to catch Drayton watching us, his bottom lip caught between his teeth. “Oh. Drayton put you up to this, didn’t he?”
River’s shrugged. “Look, I get that it’s awkward feeding off Drayton because of his incubus nature and Ryker doesn’t go in for that stuff, but you’re one of the team, and I can’t let you go out there unless you’re at your best.”
I wanted to argue that I’d managed fine in Sunset, that I could hold my own without someone else’s energy coursing through my veins, but there was no denying the gnawing hunger in my solar plexus or the fact that I’d been holding back a yawn for the past three hours.
I pressed my lips together and nodded. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”
He smiled tightly. “Should we...” He jerked his head toward the lounge.
“Yes. That would...”
We both shuffled along the wall and slipped into the empty lounge.
Rivers pulled up his shirt sleeve and held out his arm. His skin was pale in comparison to Drayton. He was slimmer, more wiry than buff, but his arm under my fingers was taut and strong. I closed my eyes and dropped my shields. The hunger lashed out and latched on and then the scent of the ocean filled my head—the salty tang of the sea, the fresh brisk breeze, and the chilly yet satisfying taste of his power as it rushed into me. I breathed even and regulated just as Drayton had taught me in our sessions. Monitoring the intake until...
Enough.
I tried to pull back, but the hunger held on, stubborn and resilient now I’d let her out of the box. Shit. This was not supposed to happen. With a deep breath, I exerted control and peeled my fingers from his skin. My shields were still wide open and Rivers was staring at me in awe.
His hand came up to hover by my cheek. “What is this?”
He was seeing the darkness. He was seeing the hunger. No. I slammed the shields down and stepped back, ducking my head to cover my face.
“I’m sorry. I...”
I slowly raised my head. “It’s not your fault.”
A gentle frown marred his forehead. “I didn’t realize you could shine.”
What was he talking about?
“Harker?” Ryker popped his head through the arch. “You okay?” He glanced from Rivers back to me.
Rivers quickly pulled down his sleeve and my cheeks heated in shame. I hated that I’d needed to do that.
Rivers pushed past Ryker and out into the foyer.
“Are you all right?” Ryker asked again.
I cleared my throat. “I’m fine. Rivers was just fueling me up.”
He nodded curtly and led me back into the foyer. “Good. We need you on form out there. You can stick with me and Dray. Cassie and Orin usually team up. And Rivers usually goes with Bane.”
The slight knot in my chest eased. Yeah, I’d wanted this. The paintball game, which had been brutal, had given me a slight idea of what to expect, but it had been just that, a game. We were about to do this for real, and the atmosphere in the foyer was a mixture of fear and excitement, a heady concoction that reminded me too much of my moments with Bane.
Speaking of the boss, there he was, coming down the stairs. He was dressed in black from head to foot. The material stretched across his chest and over his biceps. His feet were clad in heavy boots and the hugest sword I’d ever seen was strapped to his back. Where were his wings? His glorious smooth glossy black wings?
He eyed the gathered nephs from his vantage point on the second to last step, arms folded across his chest.
The entrance hall was brightly lit tonight by the enormous chandelier suspended from the ceiling. It was the first time I’d seen it lit, and the foyer, which had always been a place of shadows and gloom, was transformed into a place of white marble and gold edged balustrades. This mansion must have been beautiful once upon a time.
“Rivers, you’re with Cassie and Orin. Drayton you’re with Ryker. Harker you’re with me. Make sure your comms are operational and set the frequencies to receive your squad leader commands.”
My heart hammered against my ribs. Had I heard right? I was with Bane? A quick look at Ryker’s face confirmed that, yes, I had. He shrugged and shook his head. There was no time to dwell because Ryker was hooking a com device to my ear and static filled my head for a moment.
“You’re linked to Bane and the alpha squad,” Ryker said. “Test it.”
I pressed the earpiece. “Testing, 1, 2, 3.” It crackled.
“I hear you, Harker,” Bane said.
Echoes of the word copy filled my ear as the rest of my squad connected with me.
Cassie had explained the protocol, but Ryker cupped my shoulders his expression intense.
“Stay with Bane and watch for the flare. It will tell us where the scourge is hitting us from.”
“And then we head in that direction.”
“Yes,” Ryker smiled. “The great thing about the scourge is that they always run in a herd to begin with. If we can cut most of them down at their point of entry, we can then pull back and pick off the others one by one.”
“Now, let’s move out,” Bane said. “We do this quick and we do it clean.”
Icy air drifted into the foyer. Someone had cracked open the front doors. It was time to move out.
***
Bane and I crouched on a roof looking down on the residential street below.
“This area has been hit the hardest over the past few months,” Bane said. “It seems to be a favorite for rippers. The residents here can’t afford to claim sanctuary.”
“How many deaths?”
“Too many. But not tonight.” He flashed me a grin and my stomach flipped.
His hair was secured in a knot at the top of his head, accentuating the harsh lines of his face, the sweeping angle of his jaw and the aquiline lines of his nose. I’d been wrong before, he wasn’t beastly, he was beautifully terrifying.
The corner of his mouth lifted. “Eyes on the street, Harker. Any minute now.”
The other nephs had spread out in pairs to cover our sector. We didn’t know which direction the scourge would atta
ck from so we’d covered all our bases.
My earpiece fizzed to life. “We have movement eastside. Ripper pack,” a voice I didn’t recognize said.
Bane pressed his comm. “All units head east.”
Bane pressed his fingertips to the roof, his body ready to launch. “Are you ready, Harker?”
I nodded, my heart in my mouth. Now we knew the direction the scourge was coming from, all units would run in that direction and cut down as many as we could.
Our earpieces crackled again. “Movement south side, boss. Another pack of rippers.”
“North entrance, we have bloodsuckers incoming.”
Bane froze.
“What is it? What do we do?”
“Hold tight, pick them off if you can,” Bane said into his ear piece addressing the whole unit. “Westside unit head south as back up. Eastside we’re on the way. North, hold your ground best you can.” He shook his head. “This isn’t right. They always attack as a heard, bloodsuckers and ripper packs.”
“So, what do we do?”
Bane reached for his ammo belt and pulled out a flare gun. He stood, held it aloft and fired. The flare shot up into the air and exploded in a spray of fiery red and orange. He was summoning the other squads to our sector.
“We do the best we can.”
We rode the roofs, shingle and slate underfoot as we leapt from house to house, cutting over garages and outbuildings as we crossed the sector eastward toward the ripper pack.
He could have flown, could have carried me but he didn’t. Was that part of his secret too, or was he forcing me to do things the hard way as part of my training. It didn’t matter because it was exhilarating. Rivers’s power had reenergized me, and my body was an unstoppable machine ready to take on whatever.
The landscape flew by. I was fast but even with Bane’s larger bulk he managed to stay a step ahead. It became a game trying to best him, and then the sounds of conflict, the screech and howl of the scourge drifted on the air to meet us. Bane landed in a crouch on top of a three story building. Below us, under amber street lights the rippers attacked. The two members of our squad who’d been watching this part of the sector were already down there working in a circle to fend then off. Bane leaned forward, his body swaying and then he leapt, his huge body making a graceful arc through the air. I gaped as he hit the ground in the center of the chaos, landing in a neat crouch. He drew his sword in one fluid move and began to swing. It was hypnotic and magnificent, and I needed to get my arse down there. I slipped onto the gutter pipe, clambered down half way and then let go, landing catlike. My hands bloomed with heat as the Aether daggers materialized and then I was sprinting into the action, right toward a leaping ripper. I dropped, bringing my daggers up and stabbing as the beast leapt over me. My blades sliced open its stomach, cutting the tough hide like it was nothing. I rolled, came up and took out another.
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