by Bec McMaster
her.
“Was it the Council of Dukes who put you in
here?”
Zero launched into a flying flurry of kicks.
Ingrid blocked each one, taking one retreating step
after the other. Finally the other woman let up, as if
catching hold of herself.
But something about what Ingrid had said had
pushed her over the edge.
“Is it Malloryn?” she asked. “Did he put you
in here? He doesn’t remember you.”
“Not Malloryn!” Another blow.
Ingrid stepped aside, locking her arm up
under the other woman’s as Zero’s arm reached the
end of its extension. She shoved a hand into the
woman’s back and wrenched her shoulder back as
they both spun. Zero slammed into the wall, face-
first, and Ingrid dug a knee into the back of Zero’s,
forcing it to bend as she pinned her there.
“Then what the hell kind of grudge do you
have against Malloryn?”
Zero laughed, the sound echoing through her
entire body. “You stupid bitch. I’ve never even met
him. Malloryn’s the target.”
“The target?”
“There’s a price on his head,” Zero ground
out. “But the Master doesn’t want him dead. He
wants him destroyed. We’re just the catalysts to do
it.”
Zero slammed her head back into Ingrid’s
cheekbone. She staggered back, taking another
blow to the ribs. Then a glancing one off her
shoulder as she recovered.
The Master? Who the hell was that? Was this
all a ploy? One hand pulling the strings of both the
Sons of Gilead, and… Zero?
No time to think on that though.
She wasn’t going to win this by strength or
speed, and Zero healed faster than she could inflict
enough damage. Which meant smarts. Zero knew
how to fight, but she fought without a care to her
body, as though she knew she could survive
practically anything. Ingrid had once felt that way
too, until a vampire showed her just how mortal
she could be. Ingrid glanced around at her
surroundings as Zero wiped blood from her nose.
“Time to finish this,” the dhampir told her,
and strode forward.
Precisely what I had planned too. Ingrid’s
eyes narrowed and she ripped a strip of rusted iron
from the wall where it had been holding a section
of boards in place.
Zero rolled her eyes. “Really, you just get
more pathetic as you—”
Ingrid plucked one of the EMLED orbs from
her belt. “Surprise,” she said, then twisted the two
halves so they popped open.
Zero’s gaze shot to the orb just as a flash of
intense light emitted. Ingrid looked away at the last
second and tossed it toward the other woman, the
orb making a high-pitched noise. Then she swung
the strip of iron low, aiming it at the woman’s shin.
Zero screamed as she went down, an audible crack
filling the air.
“Heal that,” Ingrid snarled, and scrambled
atop the woman, shoving her onto her face in a
wrestling move and yanking both of Zero’s arms
behind her back. Reaching for the strip of iron, she
dug a knee into Zero’s back and used sheer force to
bend the iron around Zero’s arms. Rust flaked her
hands. “Now who’s pathetic?”
Zero screamed deep in her throat, a sound of
thwarted rage. The second she fell silent, she also
stopped struggling, then made a low whistling
noise in her throat.
Ingrid froze, then glanced up into the darkness
as something scrabbled behind the boarded-up
passage she’d just ripped the iron bar off. In the
thin slit between boards a pair of filmy eyes
gleamed.
Jesus. A vampire.
Move. Or die.
The sound of the EMLED was like a stab
wound to the ears, but she snatched it up as that
high-pitched wail began to fade. They had two
minutes on them. How long had it been alight for?
She reached for the other one at her belt as she
started sprinting along the platform toward the
boarded-up tunnel at the end, but her hand snatched
at nothing. Must have lost it in the scuffle. Hell.
The second the EMLED in her hand died, there
was going to be nothing stopping that vampire from
coming after her.
"Hello? Can anyone hear me?" Her
communicator was gone too, presumably when
Zero punched her in the face, but surely her voice
would drift through the tunnels. There had to be
dozens of Nighthawks in them. And just where had
Malloryn and Kincaid gotten to? Or even Charlie?
" Hello! "
Zero began to laugh as Ingrid sprinted, the
sound echoing hollowly through the tunnel.
The EMLED began to sputter, and she picked
it up, swinging it around as the shadows pressed in
upon her. Something hissed in the darkness, but the
claws scrambled away from her as the EMLED
pulsed in her hand.
There was an explosion of sound behind her
as she reached the boarded-off tunnel, and a swift
glance showed a maggot-pale body smashing
through onto the platform, pausing to sniff at Zero
where she lay on the ground.
“After her,” Zero rasped, and the creature’s
head lifted unerringly toward Ingrid.
She yanked one of the boards off the timber
frame, breathing deeply. The stink of rotting
vampire wasn't as strong here, so hopefully she'd
made the right choice. The EMLED sputtered
again, its light pulsing as though she was running
out of time.
"A few seconds more. Come on." She could
feel the vampire watching her. Waiting. Yanking at
another board, she managed to slip through, cursing
her broad shoulders. Timber stabbed into her
shoulder and she ground her teeth together and
shoved through, taking the EMLED with her.
In the distance, light gleamed. It wasn't much,
but it lifted the swell of hope inside her.
She started running just as claws scrabbled at
the boards behind her. That inspired a surge of
speed, but she tripped on the rail line, staggered
forward, kept tripping—
The EMLED's light flickered, and Ingrid
threw a glance over her shoulder as a pale shaped
rocketed toward her. It squeezed through the hole
she’d made.
"Charlie!" she screamed.
Light pulsed. Flickered once more. Then
began to fade. Ingrid threw herself toward the light
at the end of the tunnel, but a blur of movement
caught the edge of her vision and then something
catapulted into the vampire just as it leapt for her.
Claws lashed through her calf, and Ingrid hit
the floor. She screamed in pain as she landed on
the steel train tracks, kicking back and twisting,
trying to break free—
But the vampire was gone, rolling
end over
end with a figure in black as they tore into each
other.
Ingrid scrambled backward, reaching for the
flickering EMLED. There might not be much life
left in it, but it was better than nothing.
The scuffle lasted half a minute, shadows
telling the tale on the walls around her as two
creatures snarled at each other and blood spilled.
Pain flared through her calf as she tried to crawl
away. Come on... you can do it. Ingrid thrust the
EMLED up behind her as the snarls died down,
and silence fell.
The figure in black froze, kneeling over the
vampire's body, and Ingrid's heart kicked as she
recognized Byrnes. His eyes were nothing but
pools of shadow in the darkness. Shadows
darkened the hollows of his cheeks, turning his
face from one she knew to that of a predator
stalking the depths of the tunnel system. There was
a head in his hand, which he dropped.
Ingrid hesitated.
"Caleb," she whispered, clutching at her
bleeding arm.
But those eyes held no sign of her lover as he
straightened from the vampire's headless corpse,
his hand dripping black blood.
THIRTY-FOUR
BYRNES PACED BACK and forth, as though
considering her.
Clamping a hand over her bloodied arm,
Ingrid hopped to her feet and immediately
staggered as an icy burn went through the back of
her calf. "Byrnes?"
He took a step toward her, black eyes
narrowing.
"It's me," she blurted. "Ingrid! Or Miller. You
know me."
Those eyes slid to the blood dripping down
her arm, and his nostrils flared. Ingrid froze. “I’ve
captured Zero,” she said, anything to get him
thinking, get him to talk. “And we’ve rescued the
people from Begby Square. You did it. We did it.
We found Zero’s nest.”
No sign of recognition in his eyes.
Ingrid swallowed hard and stepped toward
him, her leg giving way just enough that she nearly
fell. Byrnes caught her, the reflex dangerously fast.
“Byrnes,” she whispered, looking up into his eyes
as the EMLED finally died. The last thing she saw
was the predator looking back. “Caleb,” she
whispered in the darkness. “I’ve often wondered if
you’d mind if I called you that?”
"Miller," he breathed, as if the word meant
something to him.
"Ingrid," she corrected, resting a hesitant hand
on his arm. “It’s me, Ingrid. The woman who…
who loves you. And I know you love me too, even
if you’ve never said it. You wouldn’t be thinking
about a future with me if you didn’t. You wouldn’t
hover at my bedside, or feed me soup, or create a
way to keep rats from my room if you didn’t. Who
knew?” Ingrid reached up onto her toes, her heart
hammering in her chest. “Caleb Byrnes has a heart,
and it’s all mine.”
And then she kissed him.
The first touch of her lips to his was hesitant.
Byrnes captured the back of her neck, however,
and dragged her against him like a drowning man
searching for oxygen. The way he kissed her, the
way he touched her, was rougher, more urgent, than
he’d ever been before.
Ingrid gasped for breath, and then he picked
her up under her thighs and wrapped her legs
around his hips. Another kiss stole her mouth, and
her back hit the brick wall of the tunnel. Ingrid
gasped as pain flared through her. Byrnes froze,
letting her slide back down his body again.
He growled deep in his throat, his hand
coming up to cup the nape of her neck as he turned
his face into her throat. Ingrid froze.
A fierce trembling shivered through his hard
body. "You're hurt," he whispered, his voice raw.
She'd never heard him sound like that.
"A little." Ingrid shivered. The loupe was
beginning to take its toll. She was exhausted and
almost at the point where her body was beginning
to shut down in order to repair itself.
“Tell me again,” he said as a shudder ran
through him.
“Tell you—” And then she knew. “I love
you.”
He shuddered as she stroked the back of his
neck, holding him against her.
“I love you too,” he whispered, pressing his
cheek against hers like a cat. “You’re everything to
—”
Noise echoed through the tunnel—the sound
of voices. Byrnes lifted his head sharply. She
realized she could just make out the edge of his
jawline in the dark.
"He went through here!" Malloryn yelled.
Oh, no. Stillness slid through Byrnes's body,
and the sinister way he turned to survey the tunnel
sent a chill through her.
"Byrnes," she whispered. "They're friends.
Our friends."
A hand shoved her behind him, and she nearly
went down again as her calf betrayed her. Only a
snatch at his coat saved her.
As lights bobbed toward them, revealing the
outline of four men and one lumbering spitfire
automaton, Ingrid intensified her hold on his coat.
She couldn't hold him. Not like this. And he was
dangerous at the moment. If not to her, then to their
friends.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, reaching for the
hemlock darts at her belt that Ava had doctored to
have enough strength to take down a vampire.
Byrnes's head turned back to her.
And then she jammed the hemlock dart into
his gut, and hoped it did the job.
THIRTY-FIVE
"WHAT'S
WRONG
WITH
him?"
Ingrid
demanded, pacing the room as Byrnes snapped and
snarled from the examination table he was
strapped to. It had been a long trip home, despite
the way Kincaid pushed the carriage horses.
Ava lifted her head from the microscope. "His
blood's beginning to change. It's full of blacker,
sickle-shaped globules, and they're overwhelming
his... craving virus cells."
Ingrid strode toward the microscope and
peered through it. Ava was right. "Like what
happened to Gemma's." Hope flared. "There's a
chance that he'll return to normal then?"
"Ingrid." The tone of the word said too much.
"Gemma's levels are still dropping."
Ava began rolling up her sleeves, preparing
an injection of hemlock to subdue Byrnes. "Gemma
absorbed some of the dhampir's blood, and it sent
her body into a fever state, increased her craving
virus levels, and then healed her. Byrnes received
a full dose of this elixir that they use to transform a
blue blood." Ava hesitated. "I don't know enough
about what's happening, but the way he reacted...
it's nothing like how Gemma did. I don't know
what's going to happen to him."
"No," Ingrid snarled, raking her hands through
her hair as her verwulfen temper unleashed. "No!
I've only just found him." This couldn't be
happening to her. Dare to dream, and then someone
stole it from you before it could come true. She
should never have risked it. Never have believed
in it. Ingrid curled into a hunched position as the
berserkergang flushed through her, her fists
throbbing as she squeezed them. "I can't lose him,"
she whispered hopelessly.
Ava went to her knees beside her and clasped
her hands. "Ingrid, I won't let anything happen to
him if I can help it. He's important to both of us."
Ingrid nodded.
"If there's any chance at all, I'll find it," Ava
promised, then helped her to her feet.
"Thank you." She staggered back to Byrnes's
side, touching his hand gently. The thrashing
stopped, as though her presence bought him peace.
"You had better come back to me," she whispered
in his ear. "Because you promised you would
never leave me alone. You're failing your third
challenge, Byrnes."
Byrnes's fingers twitched as if he heard her,
and she swallowed. "He's coming around."
"Hold him still," Ava said, tapping the
syringe.
"I will." Ingrid leaned on his shoulder and
arm. "Trust me," she whispered, when those black
eyes locked on hers. "I won't let anything bad
happen to you. I'll protect you, Byrnes. We just
need to make you... relax."
Malloryn strode in through the door, waving a
leather-bound book in his hands. "Got it!
"Got what?" Ava asked, finding the vein in
Byrnes's arm and injecting more hemlock to keep
him temporarily paralyzed.
"Dr. Cremorne's journals," he replied, peering
down at the patient as the tension flooded out of
Byrnes's body. "Here's everything we need to pull
him through this." That all-seeing gaze locked on
Ingrid. "You look like hell."
She glared at him.
"She won't let me see to her leg," Ava
admitted, pressing gauze down over the injection
site as she removed the syringe from Byrnes's arm.
"And I've got my hands full."
Traitor. Ingrid bared her teeth at both of them
and paced, trying not to limp.
"And that pacing is distracting me," Ava
warned, giving her a dire look. "Ingrid, he's fine
for the moment."
Surprisingly, it was Malloryn who caught her
by her arm and dragged her toward the door. "I'll
see to it."
"If you want to keep that hand, I'd suggest you