Ripper

by Lexi Blake

  “What do you do, Trent, follow me around?” Gray growled.

  Trent shrugged. “It’s a hobby. Stop stalling and answer the question. What did he offer you? You should know that I have tapes of the conversation. I could let her hear the whole thing.”

  Why wouldn’t I want to hear it? It was plain on Gray’s face that he didn’t want me to hear it. Panic threatened and I could feel the beast…no, she’s a wolf…I could feel her starting to twitch again. I turned to him and stared into those deep blue eyes. I loved those eyes.

  He closed them like he couldn’t bear to look at me anymore. “An extra thirty years.”

  Donovan whistled. “That’s impressive. He must want that child very much.”

  “He thinks you’re planning a war,” Gray replied and I heard the pain in his voice. “He thinks you’ll break off contact when the vampire/demon contracts expire.”

  “It’s a good plan,” Quinn admitted. “He takes out a demon hunter and perhaps gets one of his own to train. Maybe he could even convince Kelsey to play for your side. She would be extremely effective at killing vampires. It’s a good call. Tell me, what were you planning to do if she didn’t get pregnant?”

  “I’m not on their side. I wouldn’t fight beside my father. Never. As to the rest of it, I’m gonna find a way out,” Gray stated with implacable will.

  “There is no way out,” Daniel argued.

  “No way out of what?” I practically screamed. I was sick of all these men standing around talking about me and my future like my opinions didn’t matter. I was invisible to them except as a pawn with which to hurt each other. I turned to Gray because he was the only one who mattered. I put my hands on his waist, needing to touch him, to reassure myself that we were together. “What are they talking about? What do you mean your father offered you thirty years? I don’t understand any of this.”

  His breath hitched. His hands framed my cheeks and he stared for a long time, as though he was memorizing my face. When he spoke, his voice was like gravel. “I’m on a contract, Kelsey. I’m a legacy. My mother agreed to have me in exchange for money and power. Father chose her because she had certain psychic abilities he wanted bred into his son. I’m his second child. My half brother is an empath, but he doesn’t have prophecy powers.”

  “What does it mean?” I held on so tight. I didn’t want a family history. I wanted him to tell me it was all a mistake and we could leave and fly to Vegas and get married. If we’d done that in the first place instead of trying to make his vision come true, we would be married and making love right now.

  “It means I was allowed thirty-five years on this plane before I have to go to the Hell plane and reside with my father permanently.”

  My hands fell to my sides as my world crashed down around me. “You’re going to Hell?”

  Gray’s hands grasped my shoulders and he shook me lightly, but I could see out of the corner of my eye, Nate, Jamie, and Zack on their feet. “I am not going to Hell. I’m going to get out of it.”

  “You were going to marry me and leave me alone after five years?” My heart hurt and I couldn’t look at him anymore. I hated the fact that everyone was watching us. We were entertaining them.

  The wolf inside me howled.

  “No, he wasn’t going to do that,” Quinn said with growing certainty. “The marriage was his ace in the hole. If he couldn’t get you pregnant before his contract was up, he lost his chance. But if he married you…”

  Donovan took up the train of thought. “Marriage is a contract. You vow to live with your husband. He was going to take you with him. Demonkind would honor the contract and you would be forced to follow him.”

  Jamie cursed as he rushed Gray, his fist reared back. Gray did absolutely nothing to avoid the blow or defend himself. He took Jamie’s punch full on and staggered back from the force.

  “How the hell could you do that to her?”

  “I love her, man,” Gray said, willing his friend to believe him. “I wouldn’t take her with me.”

  “But you’ll get her pregnant to buy yourself some time,” Nathan accused.

  Gray rubbed his jaw. “I’m buying us time. I will find a way out, damn it. I will not let them take my wife or my child. I’m going to save us.” He turned to me. “Kelsey,” he said desperately. “I am begging you to believe me. I love you, Kelsey mine. I love you so much. We can make this work. I swear I’ll get us out of this. Come with me. Trust me.”

  I wanted to. I wanted to take his hand and slip it in mine and walk out. I came up with a hundred ways I could make it work. I could not marry him and force him to use a condom. I could take my five years with him. At that moment, staring down the possibility of losing Gray, I thought maybe Hell wouldn’t be so bad. If we were together, maybe I could handle it.

  “She isn’t going anywhere with you.” Nathan moved between us as though he could stop the demon from taking me.

  “If you think for one moment that I’ll let you anywhere close to my sister again, you’re insane, Sloane,” Jamie spat.

  I saw something die in Gray’s eyes. Jamie was his friend, probably the one human he’d ever told his secret to. He was so alone. How would he live if I walked away?

  “Back off, Jamie. He didn’t want Syl around me. I was the one who let Syl in. Gray asked me to stay away from him. He didn’t know anything about it.” I was about to take his hand and tell everyone to fuck themselves when Dev Quinn opened his mouth again.

  “Kelsey, the fertility drugs were magical,” he said carefully. “They would have the added effect of making you vulnerable to him. Did you fall in love quickly? It would be intense and unexpected. It would be out of character to feel so much, to trust so much in so quick a time.”

  I stumbled back, the shock making me fall into Quinn. He tried to steady me, but I didn’t want him touching me. Was my love for Gray all a trick of some drugs? It felt so real. It felt like the only real thing in the world. How could it be false? I overcorrected and was about to fall to my knees when Marcus caught me.

  He cursed up at Quinn, saying what I could only imagine was some truly filthy stuff in Italian.

  “She had to know the truth, Marcus,” Quinn defended himself.

  I stood quietly, numbly in Marcus’s arms, letting him hold me up.

  The queen was on her feet. “You didn’t have to do it in front of an audience, Devinshea. And you, Daniel, you should know better than this.”

  Gray looked liked someone had punched him in the gut. He stood silent for a moment, ignoring my brothers’ growls and the crowd looking on. He focused solely on me and his eyes went red. His skin lost its color and I wondered if he was going to lose control of his form, but he didn’t. He seemed to shrink instead.

  “Don’t lie to me, Quinn,” he said in a voice that must have cost him so much. He was practically begging his worst enemy. “Is it true? Her emotions were affected by the drugs Syl gave her? She said she loved me.”

  Quinn had the grace to look sympathetic. “I’m sorry, but that magic is powerful. It can act like a love spell. She would fall quickly. In bed, she would probably be very submissive. I believe it had the added punch of making both her and her lover adverse to using anything that would stop the intended effect.”

  Gray shook his head. “I had a box of condoms in the dresser. I never thought to use them.”

  “And she wouldn’t have thought to ask you to,” Quinn explained. “If it’s true you had nothing to do with giving her the drugs, then I’m sorry Lieutenant. You were tricked, too. Your father was determined to have that child.”

  Gray’s eyes closed and I could see what it was costing him to survive these moments. I wanted more than anything to walk to him and take him in my arms and tell him I loved him. Instead, I stood quietly, allowing Marcus to hold me while the only man I’d ever loved turned and began to walk away.

  He was at the door when he stopped. He didn’t turn around. “Vorenus?”

  Marcus didn’t pretend to misundersta
nd. “I will take care of her. I promise.”

  Gray nodded and walked out.

  Marcus’s arms tightened around me. “I cannot believe you have done this, Daniel. I could believe it of Devinshea, but I thought you would have more compassion than to do this to her. She’s fragile and you seek to break her.”

  “I didn’t like it, Marcus, but it had to be done. I cannot allow her to fall into demonic hands.” Dan sighed and braced himself. “If you didn’t like that, old friend, then I doubt you’ll approve of my next move.” He turned to the Council. “I move to declare Kelsey Owens a ward of the Council. If you look in the packets Trent is passing out you’ll find a schedule of her training and all protocols concerning handling the Hunter. When her training is finished, she will hold the office of sheriff.”

  “What if I don’t want to be sheriff?” I asked, but no one cared.

  Marcus was livid. I could feel it. I could practically feel the emotion pouring off him. “Nay. My vote is nay. We are not the old Council to come in and change a person’s life on our whim, Daniel. How can you do this?”

  The King of all Vampire crossed his arms and allowed everyone around to feel his will. Even I could feel it. “It must be done. She’s a dangerous creature. She must be controlled or put down.”

  “Danny?” The queen breathed out his name, her eyes wide.

  “Master, she’s my niece.” Zack put himself between me and the king.

  Daniel stared at Zack, his lips in a sympathetic frown. “She’s also capable of enormous destruction. You haven’t read the files I’ve read. Hunters, when left to their own devices, always kill, and she’ll do it indiscriminately. If I let her go, she won’t be able to stop herself. She is completely undisciplined. She nearly killed Dev just for touching her when she was in that state. Tell me, Kelsey, do you want to be responsible for killing someone or perhaps many people because you can’t control your power?”

  “No. You should put me down.” There was a hollow place inside me, an emptiness I was fairly certain nothing could ever fill.

  Dan sighed. He walked up to me. “I am not going to kill you. I’m going to train you. I’ll teach you to control the power inside you. You can use it for good, Kelsey. You can help people with it.”

  He was talking to the wrong girl. “I really don’t care.”

  That wasn’t the answer he was looking for. It seemed I was turning out to be a disappointment to the king. I didn’t care about that either. “You will care. You’re in shock. I’ll give you time, but I want my vote.” He turned back to the Council. “I move to recuse Marcus Vorenus from this vote. He’s obviously emotionally involved with the female in question. As he holds the vampire seat, I invoke my right to vote in his place. Vampire votes aye.”

  And so did everyone else, with the exception of the witch. She voted nay and Donovan didn’t have any convenient way to dispose of her. It didn’t matter. It was one versus five, reaching the threshold in which, apparently, the Council can claim someone’s life.

  “Are you done with her, then?” Marcus asked, the rage in his voice barely in check. “May I take her back to the cell you intend to cage her in?”

  There was a lot of yelling and arguing going on. The chaos was all around me, but I focused on Donovan and the sound of Marcus’s voice. From what I could tell, Marcus Vorenus might be the only person in the world who hadn’t lied to me or used me to further himself and his agenda.

  “She can go and rest,” Donovan said. “I’ll make sure her new quarters are arranged for tomorrow.”

  “There will still be bars on the door, I suspect,” Marcus replied.

  Donovan didn’t move. “Yes, but it will be more comfortable. She can have guests. She can have family with her. Olivia has offered to stay with you for a few days while you settle in.”

  “No,” I said firmly with the only real emotion I’d had in hours. “No, I don’t want to see her.”

  “Kelsey,” Donovan cajoled. “She was worried about you. Don’t blame her or Nate.”

  “Fuck them,” I growled. “You can put me in a cage, Your Highness, but you can’t make me forgive them.”

  “Come, cara mia.” Marcus took my hand firmly in his. “I will stay with you. I won’t leave you alone.”

  He began to lead me out. Donovan nodded and the man named Trent stepped out. He was apparently my security, well, everyone else’s security from me.

  Marcus turned as we passed the vampire king. His voice was low, but I heard him over the arguments going on around me. “And Daniel, call her by her proper title. Call her your Nex Apparatus. At least Louis was honest about what he was.”

  Donovan’s blue eyes flared with what looked like shock and then he registered only a dull kind of pain. He turned and walked back to Quinn, who put an arm on his partner’s shoulder, seemingly to comfort him.

  Liv and Nathan were hot on our heels.

  “Kelsey,” Liv pleaded, trying to get me to turn around.

  “Do you wish to speak with them, cara?” Marcus asked.

  I shook my head. In that moment, if I never spoke to them again, it would have been fine.

  “Go,” Marcus said firmly.

  Liv and Nate stopped. Their expressions went blank and they both turned and walked out the door.

  I almost made it out of the Council chamber. I almost made it into the hallway that led to my little cell where I could lay down and try to shut out the world. I almost made it…

  Joseph Castle burst through the doors, the same doors Gray had run through looking for me, the same ones he’d walked out of my life through.

  “That bitch killed my son,” he declared, his clawed finger pointing at me. “She killed my son and I will have my vengeance.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Marcus paced back and forth. I watched him from the cot in my jail cell. His long, elegant hand stroked his chin while he contemplated the problem of me.

  “I’ll be fine on my own if you want to go back.” I almost hoped he didn’t. I should want to be alone, but I found him comforting even when he was agitated.

  His handsome face turned toward me. “They can handle Castle without me.” He laughed bitterly. “Apparently I am not needed at all, cara mia. If the king doesn’t agree with my position, he’ll simply have me recused and vote in my stead.” The vampire walked over and sank down beside me on the cot. “I would rather stay with you. Kelsey, you have not cried. It’s fine to do so. I won’t think less of you.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t need to. I’m fine.”

  His fingers played soothingly with mine. “You don’t have to be strong.”

  “I’m not,” I replied. “I just don’t care.”

  I didn’t. Since that moment that Gray had walked out, I’d been blissfully numb. It hadn’t hurt that Quinn had delivered a tea that he claimed would flush the drugs from my system. I didn’t care about anything and I found it freeing. I’d always known that it wouldn’t work out. I’d always known I would be alone. It turned out my father, well, the dude who raised me, had been right. I was a freak and a dangerous one at that. My friends and family thought I belonged in a prison under supervision.

  I’d realized something important though. The king could put me in prison, but he couldn’t force me to become the Nex Apparatus. I would sit here, ignore anything he wanted me to do, and there wasn’t anything the king could do about it.

  “I don’t believe you,” Marcus said. “You’re in shock. When the time comes, you will cry and I’ll be there for you.”

  I doubted that. It seemed to me the king and Marcus had some serious issues. I doubted Donovan was going to allow Marcus to stay with me for any length of time. He would handpick the people to be around me and I would ignore all of them. I would find it very amusing. The king would never know that the one person who might be able to convince me was the one person he would never allow around me.

  The door opened and the king entered.

  “We have a problem.” The king looked tired
, like the stress of the day was taking its toll. I didn’t feel at all sorry for him. The door opened again and Zack strode through.

  “This is not a problem, master,” Zack was saying.

  “It sure as hell is,” Donovan shot back. “Castle is demanding full wolf rights.”

  “For what?” The question was merely curious. I didn’t really care. “I thought the Council cleared me.”

  “They cleared you for the killing of Darren Castle. That’s not what the alpha is demanding rights over. It’s the accusation. It’s a completely archaic law, but my lawyers claim he can do it,” Donovan explained.

  Marcus stood up. “You cannot expect her to do that.”

  The king shook his head. “We have no physical proof, Marcus. She’s accused him and I believe her, but I can’t convict him without proof. I would let him go and keep an eye on him, but he is pushing me. He won’t relinquish the right. He wants me to prepare the arena for tonight.”

  “He wants vengeance,” Marcus declared.

  “Of course he does, but he has the right to face his accuser according to all wolf laws. If I refuse, Castle will use it as a rallying cry to gather the wolves to his side.” He turned to me. “Kelsey, will you take back the accusation that Castle killed those girls? If you publically rescind the accusation, he won’t have grounds to demand a fight. He wants to get you into the arena where he’ll fight you. He has the right to demand tooth and claw. You’ll be forced to go in without any weapons.”

  I shrugged. “He did it. I won’t say otherwise.”

  Zack kneeled down to get eye level with me. I took in his brown hair and eyes. I could see it, the resemblance between us. I wondered briefly what my bio dad looked like and how he’d died.

  “Kelsey, please,” Zack said. “Castle is an alpha, a true alpha. He’s got a hundred and fifty pounds on you. Rescind the accusation and I promise you, I’ll make sure he sees justice. I’ll do it quietly, but as painfully as you see fit.”

  “Zack,” Dan warned.

  “She’s my niece.” Zack glanced back at his master. “She’s the only blood I have left.”