by S. K. Ryder
No, not probably.
Definitely removed. To save her life. She saw the truth of that now in Dominic’s mind. Jackson had told him. The doctors had told Jackson.
Strange, the dazed calm that settled over her. It had about it the flavor of the irrefutable and inescapable. She had never wanted kids, but there had always been the option to change her mind. She had changed her mind for Dominic. But now, at the ripe old age of twenty-five, that choice was gone for good. For her anyway. For Dominic—
He stirred in her mind, expanding her awareness far beyond every mortal limit. Sometimes, like now, when they were this close, she thought she could touch the edge of eternity.
My eternity includes nothing but the night. And no one but you. I am done with the day. I have all I will ever need. Everything is . . . as it must be.
Serge had uttered these words countless times over the years, and Dominic had always scorned them. But no more. Everything is as it must be. It always had been. And the single-most important of these things was that she and Dominic were together.
She brought her hand to his neck, her thumb brushing the hard muscle and thick veins there, throbbing with supernatural power. Power he never wanted along with responsibilities he wanted even less. Power with no true direction. Not until now.
Done with the day, she repeated, feeling the enormity of that statement.
He sat back and gazed at her with a seductive tilt of his lip. I am the Lord of Night, am I not?
Cassidy swallowed the lump in her throat. The Dominic tormented by doubt and longing and regret was gone as completely as the mortal he had been. Before her sat a creature who had at last embraced his destiny, a blood-drinker of beguiling beauty and staggering power.
“That you are, my love,” she whispered. “That you are.”
The woman in the recliner stirred, and Cassidy held her breath, afraid she had awakened her. Dominic glanced over his shoulder. His mother blinked at them.
“Dominic,” she cried, tossing the blanket aside and struggling out of the awkward chair. This morning’s bright, stylish outfit had been replaced by a simple pair of black slacks, non-descript cardigan, and an efficient pair of shoes.
Dominic rose but did not move toward her, letting her decide how far or if at all she wanted to be in contact with him. She lifted her hands as if to embrace her son, but then clasped them tight together as though in prayer.
He spared her further awkwardness with a smile. “I hear you are quite the combatant, Maman. You walked away without a scratch.”
“Not quite.” She rubbed at her back with a small wince before turning to the bed. “But nothing compared to poor Cassidy.”
“She is fine.”
Francesca’s mouth dropped open. “Qu’elle?”
“It’s true,” Cassidy confirmed, sitting up. Their conversation had left her a little dazed, and she was still digesting the news of her altered physical circumstances, but her injuries had stopped fizzing. Dominic’s blood had completed its work. She pushed her tangled hair off her face and flicked at the tubes and wires attached to her body. “Just need to get myself unhooked, and I’m ready to go.”
“How is this possible?” Francesca asked.
Dominic gave his mother a coy look. “I am magic, non?”
She studied him with fearsome wonder.
A small vibration in Dominic’s pocket made him pull his phone out and read the new text. “We should go.”
“Go? Go where?” But even as Cassidy asked the question, she tapped into the answers welling up from Dominic’s mind. A game of subterfuge was afoot. Two jets would leave Vancouver, one going to Calgary, the other to Florida. The former would carry seven vampires and two reformed vampire hunters. As for the latter—
She took a deep breath to launch into vehement protests when Dominic placed a finger to his lips. I know. Not here.
Cassidy snapped her mouth shut, her teeth clacking together with temper, and ripped at the monitor pads attached to her chest. No way in hell am I going back to Florida while you stay up here with your posse. That’s just not happening.
With a knowing smile, Dominic helped her pull the IV needles out of her arms and healed the punctures. Far be it for me to tell you otherwise.
Well, I’m glad we got that straight, your highness.
A slender Asian vampire stepped into the room without a sound. She wore a short, belted raincoat and an immaculate lop-sided bob that featured an electric blue streak. “The car is downstairs, my lord.” With a nod to Cassidy she added, “My lady.”
“Makoto,” Cassidy acknowledged, recognizing her from Dominic’s memories. The vampiress was Isao’s devoted companion for over a century. She was also an avid student of the sword, and chances were good she carried a blade beneath that coat and could use it in less time than it took to blink. She had been their supernatural security detail here since right after sundown.
Not that Francesca had known this, judging by how the woman regarded Makoto now as though seeing a venomous spider slither out of her shoe. She paled, and her hand moved to her throat. “You are one, too? A . . . vampire?”
“I am,” Makoto confirmed, inclining her head.
While Francesca turned away, murmuring a prayer under her breath, Cassidy realized that she had no clothes beyond the hospital gown and the non-skid socks on her feet. Dominic’s grin widened at her dark scowl. “You wear it well.” Your luggage will be at the airport. You can change on the plane. He pulled a blanket off the bed and was about to wrap it around her shoulders when Makoto took off her coat and held it for Cassidy to slip into. Sure enough, there was a small sword slung across her back.
“Thank you. But are you sure?” Cassidy asked, eyeing the now-visible weapon.
“I am honored to assist.”
And, of course, Dominic made them all invisible as they walked out, Makoto in the lead, Dominic bringing up the rear, herding his reticent mother.
At the entrance, Douglas waited with a spacious Cadillac. They climbed in, Francesca, clutching her bag like a shield as she wedged between Cassidy and the door in the backseat. Once they were underway, Dominic filled her in on the plan. “Your luggage is waiting for you at the airport, Maman. Which plane you get on is up to you.”
Her wide eyes flickered between the two vampires in the front. “I will go nowhere without my daughter.”
“This will mean spending time on a small plane with seven like me.”
Francesca looked like she was skirting a panic attack with only three in the car. “But you are their patron, their boss, non?”
“They are bound to me. They will protect, not hurt you.” Still more softly, he added, “But if you wish it, you do not even have to see them.”
It’s what he wanted, Cassidy sensed. More than just Francesca’s acceptance of what he had become by locking herself into a plane with seven vampires, this was a matter of security. Their foes had found both the house in Florida and the hotel in Vancouver. Calgary wasn’t on their radar yet, and hopefully wouldn’t be before Dominic had settled his differences with Adilla. It was the safest place to be.
But Francesca’s reasoning was far simpler. Her shoulders squared with resolve. “I will not go home,” she said. “Not without my only living child.”
Chapter 30
Bagged Contents
Jackson kept a low profile in Calgary. Like Dominic, he would be recognizable to any member of the colony. But unlike the Lord of Night, he didn’t have the luxury of cloaking himself in obscurity. So while Dominic shadowed Cassidy and Francesca as they checked in at the Le Germain Hotel under assumed identities, Jackson remained in the back of their hired ride.
For being so short—not even ninety minutes—the flight from Vancouver in the middle of the night ranked as one of the longest in Jackson’s life. The
posh cabin of Garrett’s G450 had been crammed with seven vampires and four humans, and between Carly’s catatonic vamp state and Francesca’s mounting anxiety, every one of them had been on edge.
But the worst part for Jackson was seeing Cassidy so drawn and exhausted as she curled against Dominic’s shoulder. Some security he had turned out to be. The loss she and Dominic incurred because of Jackson’s carelessness sat on him like an elephant. Especially considering the other news he received today.
Being on this plane with Dominic didn’t help either. It wasn’t the same plane Jackson had trapped him in three years ago, but it was the same model with a similar decor. Back then he had been beside himself with rage over failing to kill Dominic. Now he was beside himself with guilt over having tried so hard.
The car’s passenger door opened and Dominic dropped into the seat. “They are settled,” he reported. “And there is no trace of blood-drinkers in the area.”
The driver, as thoroughly compelled as the pilots had been to hear and see nothing but what Dominic wanted them to hear and see, pulled the car out of the lot and merged into the early morning traffic.
“I called Sam,” Jackson said, toying with his phone and trying to purge the dark thoughts from his head before they hit Dominic’s radar. “She and Étienne will leave the house for a while. In case there are any more unwelcome guests.”
Dominic didn’t look at him. “I know.”
“Shit. Are you really in my head all the time right now?”
“Only when I want to be. Or when your thinking becomes exceptionally noisy.”
“Nice.”
Dominic turned in his seat. “Jackson. I do not blame you for what happened to Cassidy. She lives. Truly that is all that matters. And I am eternally grateful for your help in keeping her that way. Again. You are making a habit of saving her when I cannot.”
“But—”
“But the plane, oui,” he said with a pained little noise and a mischievous glint in his eyes. “True. That I may never forgive.”
Jackson leaned back and plastered his hands over his face. Stop. Just stop. “I know what you’re trying to do. And it so happens that I don’t want to feel better, okay?”
“I would be a poor friend if I allowed that,” Dominic said, serious again. “Not with this waiting for you.”
“What? Is that . . . ? Give me my phone.” He snatched the device out of Dominic’s unresisting hand. It was open to Ollie’s text message which had reached him while Cassidy was fighting for her life in the OR. Look what we did! his bride wrote along with a long string of excited emojis—and a black-and-white image of her first ultrasound. Jackson felt hit over the head all over again. Twins. They were going to have twin girls.
“Congratulations,” Dominic whispered.
Jackson wrestled with his emotions for the better part of a mile. He sucked at his lips and cleared his throat, but he didn’t trust his voice to utter his greatest fear. What if I fail them, too?
“You will not. I will not permit it.”
“You?” he croaked.
“Oui. Moi. They will need un oncle, non?” The mischief was back.
God help them, he thought and put the phone away. “Maybe we should get out of this mess in one piece before we reinvent my family tree.”
“We will,” Dominic said, sobering again. “The only way we can fail is if I end up at Adilla’s mercy. And that will never happen again.”
Could not happen again. Not if any of them were going to walk away from this. Jackson wondered if Dominic would try to sacrifice himself again to take them all down if it came to that.
“I could try,” Dominic mused, turning back to the city lights sweeping past. “But Isao and his young ones would sacrifice themselves to stop me first.”
I would stop you, too, Jackson thought before he could stop himself and was grateful that this merited no comment beyond a twitch of Dominic’s lip.
As per plan, the car deposited them at a mall parking lot just off the Trans-Canada. One by one, Isao’s group melted out of the shadows surrounding a Canadian Tire store and formed a loose protective ring around their lord and Jackson.
Everyone was now armed, not just Isao and Makoto, the professional sword-slingers who had brought their weapons on the plane with them. Somewhere the other four had found similar weapons in the past hour and now carried them with varying degrees of comfort. As they waited, Lyle tried to teach his sister how to handle her knife. Supernatural speed did not help the girl hold on to it as it continued to slip from her fingers. Should she end up in a confrontation with anything more than an ordinary mortal, Jackson pegged her chances of survival somewhere south of none. Dominic shifted beside him, and Jackson thought he heard the Lord of Night sigh.
The Sunseeker RV that lumbered into the lot was the size of a small, boxy bus and wore the dull patina of generous use. Garrett put it in park and opened the door. “Pool’s open.”
“Nice ride,” Jackson said as he climbed in. The vehicle belonged to a local relative of a contact who owed Garrett a favor. When it came to organizing the impossible in no time flat, Garrett was one resourceful son of a bitch.
“That he is,” Dominic agreed as he looked around.
The interior was spotless if dated and reeked of old dampness and fried onions. There was a bedroom sectioned off in the back, complete with a small lavatory. The rest of the space contained two fold-out bunk beds, a common area with a sofa and a dinette booth, and a tiny, yet functional kitchen. Several large duffels piled in the middle of it all.
The vampires staked out their spots as Garrett got them moving. Jackson settled in the copilot seat and fired up the GPS on his phone. “Looks like we could be there in a couple of hours.”
“Sun will be up in an hour,” Garrett said. “We’ll wait out the day somewhere off the beaten path and then head in just before dark. The fewer people see us there, the better.”
Things quieted down behind them by the time they left city limits. Jackson peered over his shoulder. Dominic sat in the booth, one leg drawn up, watching him and Garrett, and no doubt riffling through their heads at will. Isao and Makoto sat opposite him, hands joined on the table, absorbed in their own silent communication. Douglas and Kostya occupied opposite ends of the sofa, Douglas dealing a deck of cards between them.
The twins huddled on one of the fold-down bunks in the back. Lyle still murmured to his sister as she sat, her arms and legs twisting together in constant motion as though warding off an army of invisible ants. Her wide eyes stared from beneath her unkempt black-and-yellow hair and shimmered with barely contained panic. Jackson had never seen anyone look more terrified and lost.
They would all feel the sun coming by now. But instead of following their instinct to hide away in a dark, secure place, they would put their unconscious, vulnerable bodies into the hands of not just mortals, but accomplished vampire hunters. And they would do this at the request of their lord and master.
No wonder they were all busy distracting themselves. In their own way, every one of them must be as close to freaking out as the poor, unfiltered Carly.
He caught Dominic’s eye. We’ll keep you safe today. I won’t fail you.
The Lord of Night smiled. “I know,” he mouthed.
There are bags in the duffels. Maybe they’ll feel better if you hand them out.
The ‘bags’ were body bags, which only upset Carly more until Douglas showed her that the material was light-tight and could not be torn by mere mortal strength. Just the same, she jammed herself in her bag into the tiny shower stall. Lyle dutifully zipped himself up on the toilet beside her.
Fuck, Jackson thought. So much for enjoying the conveniences of home on the road.
Dominic, his own body bag tucked under his arm, shot him a look. “You can move them later,” he whispered.<
br />
You know I will.
The murmuring in the bathroom continued for several more minutes as the others settled into their chosen berths. Garrett pulled off the highway and followed the signs to a campground. They rolled through the quiet, predawn forest all the way to the back where it appeared nothing but bears and deer had set paw and hoof since fall.
The engine cut off, and a whimper issued from the bathroom. A few more rustles, a small gasp from a bag on the bunks, and finally silence.
Jackson and Garrett sat until the sun fell in brilliant shafts all around them. A breeze full of moss and wood rot swirled through the open windows. From an unseen nearby campsite, pots clanged and voices rose in greeting over the warbling birdsong.
So peaceful, this bucolic scene. So deadly to the oblivious souls behind them.
“What amazes me is that they let us do this,” Jackson said. “Knowing what they probably do about us.”
When his uncle said nothing, Jackson turned to see him looking out his window. He raised a hand to rub at his eyes. Jackson frowned. This was the first he knew of Garrett being allergic to anything.
Garrett cleared his throat. “Yeah, well. What really amazes me is that I’m not going to kill them all. A year ago, I would have.”
“Even Dominic?”
“Even him.”
Jackson thought a moment. “What changed?”
“I’m tired, kid. Old and tired.” He shrugged one shoulder and leveled an askance look at his nephew. “And I’m hungry. C’mon. The fridge is stocked. Let’s have something to eat and get some shut-eye while it’s quiet.”
“Yeah,” Jackson said thoughtfully as he watched his uncle go to pull a pan and utensils out of various cubbies. This couldn’t be the Striker Foundation’s most ruthless hunter in history going soft on vampires, could it? That would be unthinkable. Yet, the trust Dominic suddenly placed in Garrett was nothing short of unprecedented. Why?