Mission_Improper

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."r />
  "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