Cain's Identity (Scanguards Vampires Book 9)

by Tina Folsom

  “What?” John’s forehead creased and his mouth twisted in disbelief. “I never sent you any text message that night.”

  “I have proof!”

  John pushed against him, causing Cain to release him. “You have no fucking proof, because there is no proof. Because I didn’t do anything!”

  “Give it up, John. I found my old cell phone. I can prove it was you!”

  “Then show it to me! Because you’ve got nothing. I’m innocent! I came to rescue you!”

  Cain scoffed. “By fucking shooting me? That’s a funny way of rescuing me.”

  John continued facing off with him stoically, his jaw tight, his shoulders stiff. “Show me your proof and I’ll show you that you’re wrong. I aimed at the assassin, not at you. I killed the assassin to save you. You have to believe me.”

  Cain searched his former friend’s eyes. Was he lying? Or was there really something to his claim that he was innocent? Cain had thought that having his memory back would make things easier, but it didn’t. Knowing his history with John, how they’d fought side by side, how John had stood by him to defeat the old king and save the imprisoned vampires, Faye included, made it impossible to condemn John outright.

  Cain sucked in a long breath. “Follow me.”

  ***

  Faye looked over Thomas’s shoulder as he powered on the cell phone that was currently connected to a charger. Thomas sat at the little desk in his room and had already booted up his computer and was typing away on it until the screen of Cain’s old cell phone finally lit up.

  “Well, let’s have a look then,” Thomas said calmly as he picked up the phone and swiped across it with his finger. He looked up at her. “No password. Interesting.”

  “I’m sure he had a password on his phone previously,” Faye replied. She’d seen Cain enter it many times, though she didn’t know the combination.

  She watched as Thomas swiftly opened the message app and navigated to the last message the phone had received. “Here, that must be it.” He pointed to it.

  Faye read it. It was exactly like Cain had told them. He’d received a note that he should come to the old plantation kitchen to find out about a conspiracy. Her eyes drifted to the top of the small screen. “John,” she read aloud.

  Thomas nodded, a disappointed look on his face. “I’d hoped Cain was wrong.”

  Faye shook her head. “I always blamed John after Cain’s presumed death. I blamed him because he didn’t keep him safe for me. But that John is actually behind this is so hard to believe. They were such good friends.”

  Thomas hummed to himself, as if contemplating something. “That’s odd.” He paused and scrolled through the messages. “The older messages make no sense. I wonder—”

  A sound at the door had Faye whip her head around. Maya stood there, opening the door wider.

  “I’m sorry, Faye, but I need you.”

  “We’re just checking out Cain’s old cell phone,” Faye said, wanting to hear what was startling Thomas.

  “My two patients are scared. They’re getting ready to run. We’ve gotta convince them to stay here, or they’ll run right into the arms of their clansmen. You need to help me.”

  “Shit!” Faye cursed. She had already stepped toward Maya when Thomas gripped her arm.

  “I’m supposed to protect you.”

  She shook her head and motioned to Maya. “I’m a vampire, Thomas. I can protect myself. Besides, Maya is with me. I’ll be fine.”

  Thomas stared at her, but seemed clearly distracted by the cell phone in his hand. “Fine. Maya, make sure Faye stays safe, or Cain will have our hides for breakfast.”

  Involuntarily, Faye had to smile at Thomas’s words. Cain had always been overly protective of her, and she had the feeling that now that they were blood-bonded, his need to protect her would reach new heights. A blood-bonded vampire protected his mate with his life.

  “I heard congratulations are in order,” Maya said as they hurried along the corridor.

  “Yes, thank you. Finally, I have Cain back.”

  “I’m very happy for you both. A blood-bond is a wonderful thing.”

  Faye smiled at the young woman who was so beautiful she could have had any man she wanted. Yet she’d chosen Gabriel, whose scarred face had repulsed Faye when she’d seen him the first time. Well, it was none of her business. She pushed the thoughts out of her mind and concentrated on the task ahead: to keep David and Kathryn safe.

  When Maya wanted to turn toward the stairs leading up into the main foyer, Faye took her by the arm and motioned in the other direction. “We’ll take the service stairs. They’re closer to the kitchen.”

  Quickly she led Maya toward the service stairs which seemed deserted, just like she’d expected. The majority of the staff and the guards would be in the front of the house, preparing for the arrival of the Mississippians.

  “How did the operation go?”

  Maya tossed her a sideways glance and smiled. “I think it went well. Their fangs haven’t fully grown in yet, but from what I could see when I examined them just after sunset, the roots are there, and in David’s case I can see a little bit of a tooth already. I think it’s working. Maybe another two or three sleep cycles and plenty of blood, and they’ll be healed.”

  Faye sighed with relief. “I’m so glad. I’m really grateful to you for doing this. We don’t have any doctors here. Well, none who’re vampires anyway. And I couldn’t really bring them to a human doctor. It would have been complicated.”

  “That’s quite all right. I was happy to do it. I’m still learning so much about our race. I look at it as research.”

  “Research?” Faye asked curiously.

  “I was a doctor when I was human. Urology. I did a lot of research at a university hospital before my turning.”

  “And now?”

  “Oh, I still do a lot of research, but I’ve switched my field to female reproductive medicine.”

  “Vampire females?” Faye shook her head. “But vampire females are infertile. Everybody knows that.”

  Maya winked at her. “It’s not quite as simple as that.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “That not everything is black and white. I’m close to developing a treatment that will allow vampire females to conceive from their blood-bonded mates.”

  Faye stopped at the top of the stairs they’d just reached. “What?” Was this woman really saying that one day it could be possible for a vampire female to birth a child? Her thoughts immediately went to Cain. Could she and Cain one day become parents?

  “Well, to put it in lay terms, it’s not impossible for a vampire female to conceive, but the problem has always been that the fetus can’t grow in the womb, because the vampire body rejects the fertilized egg as an injury and heals it during the vampire’s restorative sleep.”

  “And how are you going to prevent that from happening?”

  “The same way human doctors prevent a human from rejecting an organ that was transplanted into them. By lowering the body’s natural instinct to heal itself.”

  “But that’s impossible.”

  Maya smiled. “I’m close to a solution. I can sense it.” Then she looked around. “Which way?”

  Still thinking about Maya’s words, Faye pointed to a door. “Through there.”

  Moments later, they were in the enclosed walkway that connected the main house with the plantation kitchen. Just in time, as it turned out: David and Kathryn were getting ready to leave.

  Their eyes filled with fear, Maya’s patients looked at them.

  “We’re so grateful,” David started, “really, we are. But we can’t stay any longer. They’ll find us and kill us. You have to let us go.”

  Maya pointed toward the outside. “They’re already coming up the driveway. You can’t go out there now. You’ll run right into their arms.”

  A sob tore from Kathryn’s chest and she wrapped her arms around David, holding onto him as if hiding her face in his chest wou
ld prevent her from being found. Faye’s heart went out to her. She’d been frightened like that too once. She knew what the girl was going through.

  “I have another solution,” Faye said. She knew she should talk to Cain about it first and get his approval for what she was about to do, but the lives of these two vampires depended on her acting without delay.

  She reached for Kathryn. “I’ll keep you both safe.”

  40

  Cain charged into Thomas’s room, John and the others behind him. Thomas looked up from his computer.

  “Is the cell phone working?”

  “Yeah, it’s juiced up.”

  Cain looked around the room, suddenly alarmed. “Where’s Faye?”

  “She’s with Maya.”

  “I told you to watch her. With the Mississippians right at our doorstep—”

  “Don’t go all apeshit on me. You’re not the first vampire who’s suddenly acquired a mate. She and Maya know what they’re doing. They’re just making sure the two escapees won’t run into our unwelcome visitors.”

  Cain hesitated for a moment, but instinctively he knew Thomas was right. He couldn’t watch Faye twenty-four-seven just because he didn’t think he could continue living without her.

  Faye, my love, are you all right? He sent the thoughts to her via their telepathic bond.

  It took only seconds before warmth spread inside him and he felt rather than heard her response. Of course, I’m all right. Is anything the matter?

  Satisfied that their mental connection was working, he sent her another thought. Everything is fine.

  Then he jerked his thumb back at John while addressing Thomas. “Show him the text message. Show him how he lured me into the trap.”

  Thomas stood up from the desk and unplugged the charger from the phone. Then he swiped over the screen and navigated to the right spot. “By the way, there was no password on it. I’d call that a security risk.”

  Cain felt his eyebrows snap together. “I always had a password on my phone.” He remembered it clearly.

  Thomas handed the phone to John. “Here. That’s the message.”

  John stared at the screen and read it. Then his head shot up and he glared at Thomas. “What is this? Are you trying to set me up?” He stabbed his finger at the display. “I never sent that message!”

  “Says right there,” Thomas replied pointing to the top of the display, where the caller’s name appeared. “John. Are you denying that’s you?”

  “It must be another John. It’s not me!” John turned to Cain, his eyes pleading. “You must believe me.”

  Disappointed that John still didn’t want to fess up, Cain took the phone from his hand, pressed the contact button in the top right corner of it and then the call button. “Do you need another proof?”

  The phone rang. And rang.

  Cain brought it to his ear, when he suddenly heard a click and somebody breathing. He stared at John in disbelief. John hadn’t moved, hadn’t pulled his cell phone from his pocket, yet somebody had picked it up.

  “Hello?” Cain said into the phone, but the call was abruptly disconnected. He pointed at John. “Who’s got your phone?”

  John dug into his pants pocket and pulled it out. “I do.” He swiped over the display and unlocked it with his password, then navigated to the call app, before holding the display up for Cain to see. “No call from you.” He motioned to the phone in Cain’s hands. “I don’t know who you just called, but it wasn’t me.”

  “Did you change your number in the last year?” Cain asked, trying to make sense of the situation.

  “My number hasn’t changed.”

  Cain exchanged a look with Thomas. “How is that possible?”

  Thomas sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I thought the earlier messages in this thread seemed odd.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “They didn’t sound like they were addressed to a king from his guard.”

  Cain looked at the display once more and scrolled back up through the messages, scanning them quickly. Then he looked up. He remembered some of them. “That can’t be.”

  “What?” Haven asked, stepping closer.

  Cain lifted his head. “The earlier messages are from Abel.”

  Several gasps echoed in the room.

  Cain looked at Thomas. “How’s that technically possible?”

  Thomas reached for the phone and tapped something on it. “Easier than you think.” He held up the phone, now showing the entry for the contact John. “You can change a contact’s name whenever you want to. Let’s say you made a typo when you originally entered it. So you just go back in, and change the name.”

  “Shit!” John cursed, drawing all eyes on him. “So that’s how he did it! He got hold of your phone, cracked your password, and changed his contact info to mine so that when he sent you that message to send you into a trap, it would look like it had come from me.”

  “Easy to prove, too,” Thomas continued. “The phone number will still identify Abel.” He pointed to the screen. “Is that his number?”

  Cain almost bumped heads with John when they both bent down to read it.

  “Yes,” Cain confirmed.

  John nodded in agreement.

  “He probably counted on being the first to get a hold of the phone after your death and would then have erased his message to you and changed the contact info back,” Thomas guessed. “But you didn’t have the phone with you when you walked into that trap.”

  “My brother wants me dead.”

  Thomas shrugged. “Wouldn’t be the first time one brother tries to kill another for the throne. The entire English royalty dealt with that kind of thing on an ongoing basis.”

  “But this one is not going to succeed,” Cain said with determination.

  ***

  Abel shoved his cell phone back into his pocket.

  “Shit,” he cursed under his breath.

  The call had come from Cain’s old cell phone, which Abel had always thought had been destroyed. In fact, he’d searched for it after Cain’s supposed demise in order to erase all evidence that could lead back to him. But he’d never found it and had eventually forgotten about it.

  But now Cain had it. And it had been Cain who’d made the call. He’d recognized his brother’s voice.

  Did this also mean that Cain was on to him? Abel had to find out, because his entire plan depended on his brother remaining in the dark so that John could execute the orders Abel had given him.

  Easing the door to his suite shut behind him, Abel stalked across the corridor and into the connecting hallway that led to the other side of the palace’s underground living quarters, where the king’s and the queen’s suites were located. He treaded lightly, not wanting his footsteps to be heard by anybody.

  Frustration churned in his stomach. He’d waited for this opportunity for so long, and now that he was so close to his ultimate goal, he couldn’t allow anything to stand in his way.

  Silently, Abel opened another door and peered into the dim corridor. Through the sliver between door and frame he saw a guard pass on his way toward the stairs leading to the first floor. Several seconds passed until the guard was outside of earshot, and Abel could enter the hallway without being seen. Quickly he approached the double doors to the king’s suite, ready to dive into the next closet should anybody come. Luckily, several supply closets were lining the hallway.

  But he didn’t have to resort to such hide-and-seek measures. The double doors were ajar. When Abel peeked through the slit, he couldn’t see anybody in the luxurious reception area, but he heard voices from the room to his left: the door to the suite of the leader of the king’s guard, which was now occupied by that interloper, Thomas, and his gay lover, stood open.

  Abel wanted to snort, but didn’t dare make a sound. What a disgrace to the vampire race to have two vampire males engaging in sodomy! And under his roof! How could Cain allow such a thing? Cain wasn’t fit to be king if he tolerated such dis
graceful acts in his palace.

  Abel shifted to bring his ear to the gap between the two doors to listen more closely to the conversation, while holding his breath.

  “Before you do anything, Cain . . .” It was John who spoke, hesitating for a moment, before continuing, “Abel has me by the balls.”

  Abel jerked back, wanting to curse, but no sound came over his lips. Instead he pressed them together. John was going to betray him, revealing what he was supposed to do for Abel, despite the fact that this would mean death for his lover.

  Abel balled his hands into fists. There was no time to lose now.

  Change of plans.

  He turned on his heel and rushed in the direction he’d come from.

  He had to act quickly and save what he could. Now the gloves would come off and he’d go for the jugular.

  No more being Mr. Nice Guy.

  41

  John dropped his head. “He’s holding Nicolette captive to force me to do his bidding.”

  Cain expelled a breath. “Fuck!”

  Similar curses came from his colleagues.

  “I’m sorry, Cain.” John lifted his head, his eyes now displaying regret and pain. “He’s going to murder her the moment he finds out that I won’t kill you. He’s going to make her suffer.”

  Seeing John’s anguish, Cain felt his heart go out to his old friend. He was willing to sacrifice the woman he loved for his king. “It doesn’t have to come to that. We’ll get to Abel before he can do anything.”

  John shook his head, his hand trembling as he lifted it. “I’m supposed to kill you when the Mississippians are here. So he can pin it on them and start an all out war. As soon as he realizes that I’m not executing his orders, he’ll order Baltimore to kill Nicolette. We’ll never get to her in time.”

  “War with the Mississippi clan? Are you sure?”

  “He didn’t say outright, but it’s obvious, isn’t it? If he pins your murder on them, all your subjects will be behind him to avenge you.”

  Cain put his hand on John’s shoulder, squeezing it. “I appreciate what you’re sacrificing by telling me the truth, John. I do. And I’ll do everything in my power to save Nicolette.”