by Kim Faulks
She whimpered under me, and the sweet, fresh scent bloomed. Fangs sliced soft flesh of my mouth. Hunger reared like a demon. If I just took a taste, just one small drop I could save her…I could… I licked my lips, as a seed of doubt sprouted.
I couldn’t stop. Not with one taste. Not with one bite.
Hot breath scattered my hair. Floorboards creaked under heavy steps. Growls filled my ears, echoing around me on all sides. I dropped my arms, fingers skimmed the filth, covering her body, keeping her safe. I jerked as claws carved flesh and caught on bone. I could still save her…I could still save them all.
My Prince.
Fangs sank into my leg and savaged. My Prince…is gone. It doesn’t matter—none of that matters. Not now. Not as long as we have the Princess. Agony ripped free, lancing my chest with a savage spear. Survive. Need roared to the surface, shoving death aside. I’ll not let her down. She is our Queen. Our future. I clung to the mortal woman and whispered, “Hold on…hold on, Doctor.”
“No.”
I wrenched Gabriel’s wrist from my lips and scurried from his memories. The warrior landed with a heavy thud, and dropped to his knees. Strands of blonde hair swept leather as he lowered his head.
I swiped my lips and stared at the remnants of his blood. “Is that how you truly feel?”
He never moved, waiting like the condemned.
“Answer me! Is that how you feel?”
I didn’t need to hear the words. I saw it all as he raised his head. His betrayal was a burden, a heavy, weighted thing that dragged him under.
The leather smothered my face. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. I wrenched the barrier free and cast it aside. “Your Prince…your future King.”
“No Princess. Austine is our Prince, but he was never born to lead. He’s weak, may Acheron strike me dead if I’m lying. But he’s not strong—not powerful…”
He’s not you.
I didn’t need to hear those words; they burned like a dying star in his ice blue gaze. I lunged, driving my heels into the ground to grasp this lying piece of shit and haul him to his feet. “Don’t you understand! He. Is. All. You. Have!”
He just stood there…just let me hate and hurt, before he whispered. “I don’t believe that. I’ll never believe that. You are our only future. You are the one we want.”
“I could have your head. Do you not care. Do you?”
A tortured smile curved the corner of his lips. “My life is forfeit anyway, is it not? If you condemn us to a weak Prince, others will come. You know this better than anyone. I’ll fight for him. I’ll die protecting him. The road ends either way, Princess. But give me something worth dying for. Give me your reign.”
Strands of hair fought free as I shook my head. His need still lingered in my mouth and my mind. Selfish bastard. “You have no idea what you're asking. You have no right. I am not your Queen, Gabriel. I am not your salvation.”
Leather buckled around his throat, and then smoothed as I released my hold.
“I don't believe that, Princess,” he murmured, finding my stare. “I don’t believe that at all.”
9
Lucas
“Easy now…Zadoc, easy.” Victor raised one hand to our brother.
Glass shattered somewhere in the kitchen, but it was Zadoc we watched and it was Zadoc we feared. The mountain took one slow step, carving his way through the crowd toward his mate.
Thorn squealed, and thrashed in her mother’s arms. One wing tore free, flapping wildly before Joslyn smoothed her baby’s long bones under her arm. Joslyn bounced and moved, desperate sounds slipped free. But it was her wild eyes that stilled me—wide, desperate as she fought to stay in control. Black blood smudged her skin.
Fresh blood. Flowing blood. Demon blood.
She was ours to protect, ours to defend. The Huntress circled us, moving in to take, to hurt. The bitch was testing our defenses, trying to find a way in, only to disappear once more. But that bitch moved with purpose, sending the filth of this immortal world to do her bidding. She’d taken her, infected her, kept her.
But not the Vampire Princess.
This attack reeked of fear, like a viper in pain—defending herself against an enemy. Were we her enemy? I glanced to the Doctor.
Panicked, wasn’t that what the mortal said? She seemed panicked…No one can help me, that’s what the Princess whispered. No one can help me.
Zadoc paced, carving through the crowded lounge room to roar at Marcus. “An ally. Isn’t that what you said, brother?”
Marcus shook his head. He had no answers. None of us did.
“She fucking used us! They want a war?” Zadoc raised shaking hands, as though he conjured this into being. “Is that what they want, a war? Because that’s what’s coming. That’s what I’ll bring to her fucking door. I’ll kill her. I’ll kill them all before they touch my daughter again.”
“No,” Michael whispered. “No.”
Zadoc’s roar was deafening, rattling the plates in the cupboards. “No? They tried to kill my daughter!”
“We can’t fight everyone,” Marcus snapped. “First the Huntress, now the goddamn Vampires.”
The shake of his head gave us no answers. Only one immortal in the room could. It was Marcus who circled him. It was Marcus who asked the words we all wanted to speak.
“Did you know? Did you plan this the entire time?”
Green eyes blazed from my Virgo brother. But there was no saving, there was no protecting. Not this time.
“I swear to you on my life I knew nothing,” Gabriel murmured and lifted his head.
Guilt and pain ravaged cold, undead eyes. Still the Vampire never moved, never pleaded.
“Fucking bullshit!” Zadoc roared.
Marcus raised his hand to the mountain. But his focus remained on the condemned. “And yet you were here, Gabriel. How can we believe anything you say?”
Screams and wails tore from the thrashing black bundle in Joslyn’s arms, and a tiny howl from one of the rooms followed.
“You set us up,” Marcus growled, hands deathly still at his side. “You lured us to the cavern so the Princess could come here.”
“No,” the Vampire whispered, eyes wide, a tiny shake of his head. “No.”
“Yes, you did.” Marcus took a step, rage trembled his words. “You lured us there so the Princess could kill the child. The question I want answered is, why? Why kill her? Why torture her? She’s a baby.”
Gabriel turned his head, catching every gaze in the room. But it wasn’t my kin the Vampire sought. It was the woman, the human woman—Michael’s woman. Doc stood separate from the others, as though she wanted no part in the war to come.
“Why? Because of us? You wanted to get our attention? You wanted us to hate? Well, this is us hating, Gabriel. This is us hating.” Marcus turned his head, seeking Michael. “Go and bring the Princess here. Dead, alive…I don’t care.”
The order was a punch to my gut. I stared at Michael and shook my head. The Vampire’s stony gaze flinched.
“No…” His tortured whisper slipped free. “Please, no.”
Michael took a step toward the door and then stilled with the slow shake of his head. Betrayal cut deep, but was it deeper than this execution? There had to be a reason for all of this, something the Vampire wasn’t saying.
“Wait,” I snarled and shoved North aside. “Just, wait a fucking minute.” I spun, finding the Doc. “You said the Princess was acting strange, right?”
One quick glance to the others in the room and the Doc nodded. “She was scattered, panicked, not making sense—”
“Panic doesn’t make you hurt a baby,” Zadoc growled.
The Doc flinched, dragged her gaze to the mountain. “I don’t mean to offend, but how would you know? Your pain isn’t her pain. Your fear isn’t her fear. We don’t know the kind of Hell she lives in. She said something I didn’t understand at the time. She said, he won’t leave me alone, don’t you understand? Just like he won’
t leave her. I’m trying to save her.”
But there was no stopping Marcus. The Bloodletter raged turning his husky voice deep. “Michael. Go now.”
Gabriel crumpled, bending at the knees until he hit the floor with a thud. “I swear to you on my life I’d never…I’d never let anything hurt you—any of you. But if there’s someone to blame, then it sits with me. I’ll pay the penalty. For my Queen.”
“I’ll do it. I’ll grant the sonofabitch his final death.” Zadoc strode forward, midnight eyes blazed with wildfire.
Gabriel raised his head, and slowly turned to find Michael. “Before I…go… Dunford. Trace the name. It’ll give you what you need.”
I dragged in the bitter stench of burning rage. “What did you say?”
Storm clouds gathered, and the desire to kill moved in. My hands shook, my fucking will was just as fragile. But that icy wall inside me held strong.
Kill him, Lucas. You know you want to.
I closed my eyes to his voice. I wasn’t an animal—wasn’t a beast. I was still human, in my own hardened way. All I had to do was think this out—all I had to do was save my brother.
Zadoc would burn the Vampire in the middle of the damn room, and what was left of this fucking house with him. Black flames lapped the edges of his nostrils. He flexed his fingers and then clenched a fist, dragging it high in the air.
I could see the end—the end of it all.
Still my family never moved. No one did. Rage and agony lashed the room. They watched Zadoc with fear in their eyes.
We’re just going to let this happen? Just let this…
I grasped the mountain’s arm “Just wait a fucking minute!”
I’d wrestled with Zadoc, drank with him, loved him, even fought with him—but I’d never fought against him—never felt his rage—not like I did now.
I took a step, and a shiver ran down my spine. He stared at me with the cold, hungry eyes of a madman. My brother had me by a foot, and at least twenty pounds of pure muscle, but he was my kin—my flesh, my blood, my…
There was no flinch, no pause—only hate. “Move, Lucas, or I’ll burn you too.”
“He won’t leave me alone. That’s what she said, right?” I stared into the flames in my brother’s eyes. “He won’t leave me alone. Don’t you want to know who He is, Zadoc? Don’t you want answers, real answers?”
“I want blood,” Zadoc growled, his gaze burning a hole through the center of me. “I want bodies.”
I shook my head. “You say that now, but you have a short memory, brother.”
He flinched. “This is different, this is about my daughter.”
I nodded, daughter…sister. Where did it end?
They wanted blood, and I understood that. The Archer raised his gaze, white fangs glinted as a low growl echoed through the wall. “And when the blood dries, and the bodies pile up, what then? How will we know our enemies? How will we fight?” Still the fire in his hate never dimmed. My words meant nothing. “It’s been a thousand years, are you ready to go back there so soon?”
There was a flinch. The fire danced with the still of his breath.
“Think Zadoc, with your head and not your heart. You want to speak of war, then I’m ready, but this world isn’t. This world is different. You can sense it. Hell I can sense it. It’s gasoline soaked and ready to fucking burn. But this time no one will survive.”
His eyes widened, chest rose. I waited for them to catch up, waited for them to realize what I already knew. There was no getting out of this war, no running, no hiding. It was kill or be killed—and no immortal blood could save us.
“You want revenge. We all want revenge. But if we kill Gabriel then the Vampires have no reason to trust us. We need that if we want to find out the real reason why the Princess would attack the child. She left her home, and came here knowing this place was surrounded by wolves. It doesn't sound rational to me. It smells of panic—it reeks of fucking fear. She’s running and hiding—but from who? Now Doc said the Princess said something. I’m trying to save her. That doesn’t sound like a killer—that sounds like someone tortured.”
“He’s right,” Victor murmured. “There was no strategy. No purpose.”
The wails grew louder, severing my head with the cruel sound. Fresh black smears marred Joslyn’s skin. “Your daughter’s sick, Zadoc. You’re sick. If this Princess thinks that killing you is the only way she can save you, then I sure as Hell want to know why. Don’t you?”
There was nothing but hard, empty silence. I turned to my brother, to the one who lost more than any of us. “Don’t you want to know the real enemy? I do, my brother. I do.”
His fist wavered for a second. But the fire was gone, simmering to embers. I moved closer, reaching out to graze his arm. “I’m with you, Zadoc. I’m always with you. But we need to kill the disease at the root.”
“Then the first thing we need to understand is this.” Doc Angel stepped forward and cast something into the air.
The blood vial tipped end over end. I lunged, catching the glass midair. A crack tore along the flesh of my palm. Remnants of black blood seeped free, spilling around the smudged label to stain my skin. Doctor A. Leigh. I looked at the mortal. “This from the mountain?”
“Yes, but the black blood wasn’t in there before.”
“That’s not important,” Marcus muttered. He took a step staring at the kneeling Vampire. “Not right now. You gave us a name. Whose name is it?”
A chilling silence filled the room. Only the heavy thud of hearts filled the space.
“The name, Gabriel? Who is it?”
The Vampire gave a slow shake of his head. “I’ll not say anymore.”
Thorn’s squeal quietened, hard caws turned to a gurgle, and then fell silent. “Zadoc…Zadoc, there’s something wrong.”
All heads turned. Fresh blood slipped over pale skin. Joslyn stared at the small dark bundle. But there was no flapping of wings, no burrowing of wicked claws. There was nothing but quiet—cruel, sickening quiet.
“Hey,” Joslyn bounced the little body. Panic rode the edge of her voice. “Hey.”
Zadoc stumbled, holding out hands that seconds ago called for war, but now pleaded… for life. “What’s wrong…what’s wrong with her?”
Joslyn stumbled, staring at her daughter. One black leg slipped from her mother’s hold to dangle free. Trembling hands cradled the child like she was made of a hundred jewels all tied together with one weakened string.
Dark wings fell against her father’s arms.
“Give her to me,” the Doc commanded.
There was no fight, nothing more than a whimper from the mountain. The woman worked fast, probing her fingers under arms, her eyes, her mouth, and came away glistening black.
“It was that Vampire. She did this. She did something to her,” Joslyn snarled, staring at her blood-smeared hands.
She turned her head toward Gabriel. “She did this, didn’t she? The Vampire came here to kill…”
The Vampire warrior never answered, only watched as Doc carved a path through the rest of my kin to lay her on the edge of the table. “Michael, my bag.”
My brother spun and lunged for the hallway. His heavy steps thundered, mirroring the call in my chest.
“She did this!” Joslyn shook her head. “She killed her. She killed her.”
“She’s not dead, Joslyn. Not yet,” Doc growled, peeling back the child’s lips. Wings flapped against the table, beating like a humming bird in full flight. Her little spine arched, bowing until her body stretched tight. Obsidian pupils rolled exposing the whites of her eyes. I waited for the cracking of bones, waited for the blood and the screams. I waited for the end.
“Michael!” the Doc screamed.
“What’s happening?” Joslyn whimpered. “Someone tell me what’s happening!”
Boots slammed against the floor behind me. I was hit, slammed by a moving fucking wall.
“Here!” Steel and glass clattered as Michael tore ope
n the top and upended the contents.
Thorn’s spine softened. Her little body collapsed and hit the table with a thud. Doc grasped the stethoscope and hooked the ends into her ears. Steel glinted on black as she touched, pressed, pulled one tiny wing high only to see it hit the wood.
She peeled tiny black lips from glistening white teeth and pressed her gums. “She’s not dead, but she’s sick. Something’s different with her. I’m going to need to run some tests to pinpoint what that is. All I know is that something’s changed.”
Joslyn’s eyes shimmered with fresh tears. “That Vampire bitch did this…I’m telling you that’s what’s happened. I don’t know how. I just know that she did this…she…did this, Zadoc.”
“We don’t know that,” Xael growled. She shoved off from the wall and uncrossed her arms as she moved. “We don’t know anything. All we’re doing is panicking. I don’t like panic, it makes good people do bad things.”
My breath caught, and the past reared its ugly fucking head. I stared at the Deputy standing beside her. My sister’s words had that cruel, honed edge of truth about them. I remembered the time where panic did a lot more than spill hate. I remembered when it spilled blood…lots and lots of blood.
Would this young mother do the same and call for blood?
A Vampire came here to kill, another to confess. I turned my head to the center of the room behind me and stared at the empty space, and both left, only one fulfilled their vow. “He’s gone.”
Marcus jerked his head and a snarl tore free. “Fuck. Where the Hell is he?”
The slow creak of the front door answered. He was gone, just like the Princess before him. I took a step, not because I wanted the blond traitor, but because this shadow-haired Princess called to me.
I wanted her secrets, wanted her touch—wanted her more than I’d ever wanted anything in my life. “The name he gave, do you remember?”
“Dunford,” Michael answered and stared at the open door.
Need raged in his gaze. He wanted to go after him, wanted hate to rage, but underneath that he had the aching need to forgive. He wouldn’t.