If it meant sacrificing Tabby?
Adam never wanted to be a Para. But now that she was giving him this impossible choice?
Turned out it wasn’t so impossible after all.
“I’ll take my revenge.”
“You know,” purred Alexis, immediately following through on her threat. Adam stared as she poured the last of the elixir onto the floor before smashing the vial container to shattered glass. “Somehow, I thought that would be your answer. Ah, well.” With a glance at Rafe, she held out her empty hands, cocked her head slightly to the side. And her smile widened. “Sorry, my king. You can’t say I didn’t try.”
Then, after blowing a kiss right at Adam, Alexis stepped off of the dais and whirled away.
Adam barely noticed the female vamp leaving the room through a door behind the dais.
For one mournful moment, he looked at the point on the tile where the elixir hit the floor. There wasn’t a single drop left. If there had been? He might’ve lapped it up and hoped for the best. He still desperately wanted to be human.
He just… did he want it bad enough to be blood-bonded to the blonde Nightwalker?
He had his answer. No. If she waltzed back in with another tube, he’d do it all over again. His revenge was more important to him.
His revenge—and his future with Tabby.
She might have destroyed his chance of being human again—because, deep down, his cop instincts told him she’d been totally honest when she told him that was the last known vial of elixir in existence—but, by walking out of the room, she was turning her back on whatever Adam did to Rafe.
Who was—
Ripping his stare from the tile, he met Rafe’s curious silver gaze. “You’re the king?”
“Our kind needed someone to rule, to look out for the rest of us. We had a different king once, but he died. I took his place.”
Wait—
Why was Rafe telling Adam all of that as if he didn’t know? As if he wasn’t there?
Holy shit. The bastard really didn’t recognize him, did he? That’s why he hung back while Alexis performed her negotiations, and why he didn’t attack even when it was obvious that Adam wanted little more than to chop off his head.
“I know.”
“You do?” For the first time, Rafe actually seemed to look past the Nightwalker features. The shades. The fangs. The claws. His silver eyes sparkled. “You look familiar.”
“Yeah?”
Come on, asshole. Figure it out.
Adam wanted the bastard to remember on his own. In all of his fantasies of revenge, Rafe took one look at him, remembered attacking him, realized that Adam had lived—and that he’d come to take his head.
It, uh, wasn’t happening like that.
“Well, look at that. It’s the traitor.” Rafe slowly rose from his throne. Good. Adam was glad to have finally gotten some kind of reaction out of the Nightwalker. “The night Priscilla threw her temper tantrum… I didn’t want to believe one of my own would turn against his kind. You partnered with the dogs.”
“That’s not the first time I buddied up with Colt,” Adam told him.
Keeping his eyes on Rafe, he lowered just enough to jerk his jeans up over his sheath. He grabbed the dagger, angling it so that the whole thing was on display.
Rafe breathed in deep.
Finally.
“The cop.” Rafe’s model-handsome face twisted into a look so ugly, Adam realized he struck a nerve. “You’re supposed to be dead.”
Adam shrugged, hoping it would piss the Nightwalker off even more. “You tried, but you forgot we had a healer on our side.”
“The witch. I knew I should’ve killed her, too. If Julian couldn’t have his betrothed, she would’ve been better off in a grave with his remains than be bonded to a dog. In fact, thank you for reminding me. It’s still hours until dawn. I believe I’ll pay a visit to that witch right now.”
Oh, no. No, no, no. That wasn’t what Adam meant to do. The last thing he wanted was to paint a target on Shea’s back.
Good thing he had every intention of ending Rafe before he could lay a fang on her.
Adam stuck his claw in the hilt of his dagger, swinging it as it woosh-ed to its enchanted state. “You’ll have to go through me if you want to get to Shea.”
“I don’t think so. Now excuse me.”
What?
“No. Fight me.”
“No.”
Adam rotated his wrist, slashing the blade through the air, drawing Rafe’s attention toward it. “Why not?”
“I believe in being fair.”
“Fair? Are you fucking with me now?”
“Not at all. Look. Your mutt killed my king so I killed his cop. Your turning and actually surviving was just bad luck all around, but Julian wanted it so I guess I’ll let it go. We could’ve left it at that. A life for a life… the debt is paid. We were square. You shouldn’t have come looking for me, fledging.”
“You ripped out my throat.”
“So?” Rafe said lazily. “The bastard wolf ripped Julian’s head clean from his shoulders. You should be grateful I left yours attached. Of course, maybe that was a mistake.” His lips quirked, appearing to thin as his fangs grew midway down his chin. “Bow to me.”
It was Adam’s turn to stare at Rafe. “What did you say?”
“I’m your king. I control the Nightwalkers. Julian sired you, but I brought you into our family. Bow to me.”
“I’d rather die.” He waited a beat. “Again.”
“That can be easily arranged.” Rafe leaned forward. Before he moved off of the dais, though, he went still. “Where’s the slayer?”
A shiver ran down Adam’s spine. “What slayer?”
“You know exactly who I’m talking about. You were with her in Woodbridge when the witch cursed the shifter to destroy her. When that failed, and the uppity slayer showed up in Wolf’s Creek, Priscilla tried to fix the problem herself. But then the Society confirmed she lived when Alexis invited you here. Where is she?”
Adam clenched his jaw, thoughts whirring inside his brain.
Well, that answered a few questions that Adam had actually forgotten he had. Priscilla Winters had sent the cursed shifter Bowers after Tabby, squeezing the life out of him when he failed, cutting him off before he could ask any of Tab’s questions. And when the witch chose Tabby out of the crowd as the target for her spell—
“She hit her on purpose,” he ground out.
Rafe scoffed. “Of course she did.”
“Why?”
“Because she shouldn’t have been there.”
So it was Adam’s fault for bringing her along. Fucking great. As if his guilt over that night hadn’t been bad enough, now Rafe had confirmed it.
He hated the other Nightwalker a fraction more for that alone.
“This is between us Paras. We didn’t want the human cops interfering when Julian was moving the family into town. We certainly wouldn’t let one of those trumped-up human slayers try to stop us now.”
“You don’t have to worry about that tonight. Alexis invited her, but I didn’t let her come. She’s not here,” Adam lied.
Rafe didn’t answer him. Instead, he lunged.
From her perch above, Tabby watched as a stunning blonde Nightwalker came strolling into the room.
“Are the wards up?” she asked.
At her question, two big Nightwalkers came rushing toward her. Tabby had to do a double-take to make sure she was seeing things correctly. With dark hair, slicked-back with grease, and the same flat features, the two Nightwalkers were the spitting image of the other. Twins? Probably.
The one on the left spoke up first. “They’re waiting for your word, my queen.”
“Engage them now. No matter who wins that battle, Rafe Silverson does not walk out of that room with his head attached. Adam Wright has a claim to his death. Either the fledgling eliminates Rafe for us, or we make it appear that they succumbed together. Do you understand?”
“Yes, my queen.”
“I’d prefer for Wright to survive. If he eliminates Rafe, keep him here. The wards will only work against the false king, so Wright can pass through. I don’t want him to. But be gentle. Whether he agrees tonight or not, he will be my betrothed.”
The one on the right was quick to echo his brother this time. “Yes, my queen.”
With a flick of her hand, she gestured to the Nightwalkers that lingered in the room. “Clear this out. If the two of you aren’t enough to control a fledgling, then I already made a mistake trusting you to my security.”
“It’ll be done, my queen.”
“Make sure of it.”
The female—the so-called queen—continued click-clacking across the floor, disappearing out of Tabby’s sight.
As soon as she couldn’t see her any longer, she immediately put her out her thoughts.
The only one Tabby could think about was Adam.
She had to warn him.
Moving as quickly as the tight space allowed, Tabby maneuvered herself through the vent, following the lines and her memorized plans until she reached a grate that, when she peeked through it, revealed a fight to the death down below.
When Tabby felt the blood in her veins go cold, followed by the tug in her gut, she knew that Adam had strayed away from the plan.
The plan was simple enough.
See a threat. End a threat.
It was her family’s code after all, the one Tabby had been raised on. After the way Adam lost his chance to end Rafe outside of Wolfe’s house in Wolf’s Creek, she made the point clear: don’t engage Rafe, just kill him. If Adam drew the fight out, there was more of a chance that he’d get hurt, or that the other Nightwalker would escape.
And, wouldn’t you know, that’s exactly what he was doing.
Gripping the grate with her fingers, Tabby tried to push it out. It was a high jump, but she’d dropped further during her training so she wasn’t too worried about that. The damn thing seemed stuck, though. No matter how she pushed and shoved at it, it didn’t budge.
Down below, she could hear Rafe taunting Adam, getting closer and closer with each slash, almost getting close enough to Adam’s throat to bite. She could see that her Nightwalker was on the defensive. All it would take would be Rafe knocking the falchion out of Adam’s hand and no amount of regeneration would fix that injury.
She had to get down there. It wasn’t even just about the Nightwalker female any longer, or the creepy twins she had looking out for Adam.
She needed to remind him of the plan.
Giving up with her fingers, Tabby shifted her body before kicking the grate with her boot.
“Damn it, damn it!” She was small, but she refused to let that stop her. With the adrenaline coursing through her, she should have enough strength to kick through a hundred vents. Why was this one being so damn stubborn? “Let. Go. Let— ahhh!”
It took only a few seconds before Adam realized that Rafe had been holding back in Wolf’s Creek.
Though he had his enchanted sword, the Nightwalker king had his fangs and his claws and, holy shit, he knew exactly how to use them. Swiping at Adam’s chest, slashing at his arms, he could slip within Adam’s reach, attack, and whirl away while dodging Adam’s weapon.
To make matters worse, Rafe started to taunt him.
“You should’ve taken Alexis up on her offer. I’ve seen your slayer. I know you’re fucking her. Alexis would’ve been a step up for you.”
He knew exactly what Rafe was doing. The taunts made him reckless, turning him into an easier target. Adam needed to block him out, focus on his strengths and Rafe’s weaknesses so that he could finish Rafe off once and for all.
Still, he couldn’t help but retort, “I’m lucky Tabby will have me at all.”
“Will she mourn you?” Rafe wondered. “When I kill you again?”
“I’d worry about who will mourn you—”
“—-aaahhhh!”
Adam didn’t pay attention to the banging that came from over his head. He almost thought it was the beating of his heart, the rushing of his blood, the hits he took until the scream split the air and, out of nowhere, his blonde tornado of a slayer came crashing through the ceiling.
To his utter amazement, Tabby dropped like a stone, though she landed in a crouch that would make other Paras green with envy. Her eyes were alert, her ponytail listing to one side as she realized that she’d landed in the middle of the fight.
Rafe’s face lit up. “The slayer,” he hissed.
It all seemed to happen in slow motion. The second Rafe recognized Tabby—and, of course, he recognized her right away—he danced away from Adam, fangs bared as he flew toward Tabby.
While she landed on her feet, she didn’t pop right up again. She didn’t have time to grab for Venice, either. The most she did was throw her body to the side as Rafe rushed at her, claws only narrowly missing the side of her cheek because of how fast she was.
Time righted itself as Tabby landed sprawled out on her belly. Rafe whirled in place, eyes on his target.
Adam watched as Rafe dove at Tabby.
This time, he let his paranormal instincts flood through him. Like every time he was on a hunt, he didn’t think of getting revenge. It was all about justice. Rafe was a man-eater. A murderer. If he got his claws on Tabby, his lively, lovable slayer would be a victim.
It wasn’t about him anymore. It was about saving Tabby.
Adam was already swinging the sword before he bolted toward Rafe. Watching the other Nightwalker go low, he adjusted his path, shifted his angle, and with all the power given to him when the former Nightwalker king turned him into a monster, Adam swung the blade.
Seconds later, it was over. Rafe’s body crumpled inches away from Tabby’s legs. His head flew more than a foot away, landing with a thud before rolling out of reach, stopping with Rafe’s eerie silver eyes staring unseeingly up at the ceiling.
Rafe was dead—and all Adam could think about was Tabby.
As if she didn’t realize that the threat was gone, she pulled herself up to her knees, whirling around while she yanked her dagger out.
When all she saw was a frantic Adam holding a dripping sword, she blinked. Once. Twice.
“Oh.” She slipped her cinquedea back in its sheath. “Never mind.”
Was she serious?
“What were you thinking?” Dropping his sword, he bolted over to Tabby, dragging her to her feet before running his hands all over her to make sure that she really was okay. “He almost killed you. I had it under control!”
She shoved his hands away from her. “Before you snap at me, I’d like to point out that I watched the entire fight from the vent so I know that, before I jumped in, he was totally kicking your ass.”
His mouth fell open. “I was waiting for the opportune moment to strike!”
“Mm-hmm. I also heard you tell that corpse that I’m awesome, so I’m gonna let that one slide. But that’s not important. I had to come.”
“Yeah?” Adam was finally getting his breathing under control. Since Tabby seemed to be fine, he bent down, retrieving his sword. “And why’s that?”
Adam listened while Tabby explained the scene she’d overheard in the other room. He couldn’t understand why Alexis would turn the wards around on Rafe like that, though he guessed it made sense. After all, she did leave Rafe with him when she had to know Adam planned on killing him.
“But you’re sure she told the Nightwalkers to keep me here if I won?”
Tabby nodded. “That’s why I jumped down—”
“Fell down.”
Adam chuckled when his slayer stuck her tongue out at him.
“Anyway, I was back-up. What kind of back-up would I be if I let you take out this corpse only to get snagged by the goons waiting in the next room?” Tabby made a small, aggravated noise in the back of her throat. “She called you her betrothed.”
Adam’s heart just about stopped breathing his ch
est. “You’re not jealous, are you?”
He’d asked her that same question once before. The night he brought her to meet Eva, when he first began to think that maybe Tabby saw him as more than a romp in the sheets.
Tabby reached into her pocket, pulling out the glass vial with the orange slayer dust in it. Her dark eyes glittered with honest affection, though her words sounded flippant when she shot back, “You’d like that wouldn’t you?”
Yes.
Yes, he would.
And, as he closed his hand around the vial, he smiled down at her. He even showed off his dimple.
Because that’s what she’d said then, too.
23
Clean-up was easy, courtesy of Tabby’s slayer dust. He had a grim sort of satisfaction, sprinkling the glittering orange powder over Rafe’s remains and watching the Nightwalker disappear into nothingness. After months of working toward this exact moment, he waited until the last of Rafe Silverson was nothing but stray dots of ash on the tile before dragging the tip of his boot through the mess.
There.
All gone.
Tabby hung back. Apart from handing him the glass vial of dust and wet wipe, she didn’t say anything as Adam finished with the scene. He used the wipe to erase the spray of blood that coated his cheek, his neck, his upper arm. Remembering how she sprinkled the dust on the Nightwalker in Woodbridge after she took him out, he did the same to Rafe.
As soon as the last of his remains were turned to nothingness, Adam rose from the floor.
“I guess that’s that.”
“I… I guess so.”
“I meant to tell you… nice strike with the falchion.”
“Thanks.” Glancing down at his blade, he watched the lights flicker and reflect against the glossy, wet streak of blood along the edge. The machete would’ve done the job, but he’d spent so long imagining what it would be like to take out Rafe with Julian’s dagger. The fact that he recognized it when it took him so long to remember Adam? It only made his victory sweeter. “I’m glad I got to use this. It only seemed right.” He paused. “Falchion? Did I say that right?”
Sunglasses at Night (Claws Clause Book 3) Page 24