Enemy Mate

by L. J. Red

  She heard her cell and saw Hope’s face on the screen. Huh, she hadn’t expected Hope to reach out first, but her heart lifted at the thought that her sister wanted to speak to her after all. “Hope? I’m so glad you called me, I’m so sorry we fought, Hope. I want you to know—”

  “Oh, I’m sure little Hope knows everything,” said Riker. Eden’s breath cut off at the sound of his voice coming through the cell. What the hell was he doing with Hope’s phone? Terror curled around her insides.

  “What, nothing to say to me, Eden? Ah, I feel unloved,” Riker said snidely.

  “What have you done to Hope?” Eden gritted out.

  “Don’t worry,” Riker said. “Hope’s perfectly safe here with me, just like you should be. Come home, Eden, or else your sister’s going to pay.”

  Eden stood, her fingers clenched into fists. “Don’t you touch her.”

  “Come home, Eden, and I won’t have to,” Riker said.

  There was a muffled noise on the other end of the line, and then Hope’s voice rang out. “Don’t come, Eden!” she cried. “Don’t come—” Her voice cut off.

  “Hope,” Eden shouted. “Hope.” She didn’t hear her again.

  “Don’t make me take out my anger on your sister,” Riker threatened. “You’re not here to protect her now. Maybe I’ll have to try out the younger model.”

  “Don’t you fucking dare,” Eden snarled, black rage rushing through her.

  “I can do whatever I like,” Riker snapped. “I’ve got her here with me, all to myself. Or maybe I’ll pass her around my Ravagers. How would you like that?

  “Riker, you fucking bastard,” Eden said, “don’t you dare—”

  “No, you don’t get to make the ultimatums, you little bitch. You’re gonna come home, come back to Bloodchase, and you’re not going to tell anyone, you understand? You’re coming alone. You don’t bring your Shadows, you don’t bring that fucking maniac, Talon. You come alone, and you come now or else your sister’s toast.” Riker cut the call off.

  Eden stared at the silent cell phone in her hands.

  She suddenly became aware of the clamor through the bond, Talon’s rising tide of concern for her. Her scattered, frenzied emotions were leaking down the bond to Talon, signaling her terror. He was going to use the bond to come to her. He was going to track her down, and then Riker… God, what would he do to Hope? She knew what he was like when he got into a rage, the sheer ugly violence he was capable of. She couldn’t put her sister in his path. It was her fault that Hope was there. If she had just told her the truth, none of this would have happened.

  She had to get her sister out. She had to go to Bloodchase as Riker demanded. She had to make sure Talon didn’t follow her. Shock reeled through her. She didn’t have a choice. She had to block the bond somehow. She had to try and press it down, narrow and constricted until barely a single emotion came through until her location was so muffled that Talon… she sobbed quietly… that Talon thought she had rejected him. That was what she had to do. She had to make him think she had changed her mind, that she didn’t want him after all. She had to make him stay by cutting off the bond. Otherwise, Riker would kill Hope.

  Sobbing quietly, Eden pushed all her emotions down inside her. She squeezed the bond, tearing at the threads that connected them, ripping them up inside her. It tore her heart to do it. The bond didn’t break, it was too strong for that, but she was able to dislodge the fragile base of it, it was still so new to them both. She felt Talon reaching toward her, and she blocked him, pushing him away, funneling all her desperate desire to save her sister into rejection of him, dragging the emotions together into a wall that blocked him from her until his presence was barely even there in the back of her mind, a muffled, tiny, screaming ball of anger and misery reflecting the same emotions in her chest. He was in agony, just like she was, but at least he would live. She hoped his fellow Shadows would look out for him. He had to live. Hope had to live. Eden would gladly sacrifice herself for the people she loved, and with that thought, she began to make her way across the city back to where it had all started, back to Bloodchase.

  Chapter 26

  Talon writhed in pain, his hands gripping his chest, his entire body shaking with racking agony. He could barely feel Eden. Just enough sensation to know she wasn’t dead. The agony wasn’t physical. What he was feeling was rejection. Her sister had been right when he met her in the hallway. She had been telling the truth. Eden didn’t want him and now she was rejecting him, just as her sister had threatened she would do. He’d been knocked off-balance by Hope’s remarks, he hadn’t wanted to push Eden, to flood her with his confusion, their fragile peace was too new. Instead, he’d gone down to the gym to try and exhaust his body and bring his emotions back to some kind of equilibrium. He had felt Eden retreat from him, a strange heavy misery echoing through the bond, but he had assumed it had been something to do with Hope. He had seen the bag she carried with her. He’d thought perhaps Eden was escorting her back to their apartment. He’d been sure Eden would return. She had said the Sanctuary was her home, even if her human sister no longer felt comfortable living here. She was still going to come back. Her misery through the bond made sense. She was sad parting with her sister, and Talon had reached gently toward her and felt her firmly push him away.

  She needed to be alone and he respected that. He wasn’t going to force his presence upon her. Then everything had come crashing down. Her quiet sadness had turned into anguish, rage, a total flood of negative emotion that had Talon springing up from the bench and speeding toward the gym door. Moments later, the bond was constricted down so tight, Talon felt he couldn’t breathe, like his chest was being crushed inwards. He’d strained and reached for Eden, thinking she was under attack, thinking there was some terrible threat. And then he realized she was doing it. She was blocking the bond. She was the one tearing at the threads connecting them and pulling them out at the root.

  At first, he didn’t understand, and then a terrible realization dawned over him. Hope had been right; Eden didn’t want him after all. She had only bonded with him for his sake, and now that she had gone home, back to her apartment, and seen whatever it was that had reminded her of her previous life, she had realized she didn’t want to be in the Sanctuary after all. She was choosing her old life over Talon and the Shadows. She was closing down the bond, rejecting him. The emotion was clear, so clear that it was almost as if he could hear the words spoken in Eden’s voice.

  She didn’t want him. Talon tore himself from the gym and stumbled through the hallway, careening from side to side as his vision tunneled. He needed to find her, needed to try and persuade her to come back, to understand why she had made this decision, but he was losing consciousness. The anchor that had held him free from his wildness was being torn away and his rage and emotions swelled up and over his mind, bringing him crashing to the ground. Blackness rose to meet him.

  Chapter 27

  Eden shoved open the doors to Bloodchase and strode in. The club was empty and lit brightly with the service lights, the blue fluorescent wash picking out the dirt on the ground. Without the crush of dancers and the strobe lights, the club looked tired. Dirty and run down, its few charms stripped away to expose the grim reality underneath. The smell of stale sweat lingered in the air as Eden advanced into the main room. The doors crashed closed behind her and Eden spun to see Riker standing at the closed doorway, flanked by two of his Ravagers. Their eyes were hard as Riker advanced upon her.

  “Eden,” he said, and smiled smugly. “So glad you could make it.”

  “Where is she?” Eden snapped. “Where is my sister?”

  “Oh, don’t worry,” Riker said. “I’ll take you to her.” He gripped her arm roughly, his fingernails like claws, digging into the flesh of her bicep as he dragged her toward the back room. He dragged her through the creepily empty club, past the hard faces of the Ravagers, to a small door at the back. Riker threw it open and shoved Eden in. She stumbled, caught her
feet, and spun around.

  “Eden?” Hope’s voice came out of the darkness. “I told you not to come,” she said, but a moment later she launched herself forward and Eden gripped her sister’s form tightly, hugging her close. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Hope said, over and over again, into her embrace.

  “Don’t apologize,” Eden said, turning to glare at Riker over her shoulder. “None of this is your fault.”

  “Well this is quite touching,” Riker said, his face lit harshly by the strip lighting. “But I have places to be, Sanctuaries to destroy, you know.”

  “The Shadows will—”

  “The Shadows won’t be able to do anything,” Riker talked over her. “You think that little shipment of weapons you led them to is going to help them?” He laughed. “I have hundreds of guns stockpiled, and even more men. The Ravagers are stronger than you could have imagined. You picked the losing side, Eden, but don’t worry, I’m a forgiving man. I’m sure if you grovel nicely, I’ll take you back.”

  Eden glared at him, clutching Hope close to her chest. “Don’t fool yourself, Riker,” she spat. “I wouldn’t touch you if you were the last man on Earth.”

  Riker snarled and stepped forward abruptly, but one of the Ravagers next to him reached out. “Boss, we don’t have time.” Riker glared, and she could see the mean desire to hurt her in his hard little eyes. His gaze slid from her to Hope, and she saw a flash of inspiration in his eyes that made her heart chill. He strode forward quickly. Eden placed herself between him and Hope, but he struck out at her, his sharp claws catching the side of her face and opening up a cut on her cheekbone—a burning line of pain down her cheek.

  She stumbled to the side and Riker took advantage of her momentary imbalance to grab Hope roughly and fling her toward one of his minions. Riker loomed over Eden. “If my guy sees a Shadow near here, he’s gonna kill you both, starting with your sister. So don’t you think you can call for help, you little bitch. There is no one coming for you. Unless you want your sister to die?” He grinned evilly.

  Eden shrank back from the hatred in his gaze. Her eyes slid over to Hope. The Ravager had her gripped in a rough hold, his thick forearm tight around her chest, his other hand, claws out, pressed against her neck. It would be nothing for him to rip her throat right open and let her bleed out on the floor.

  Eden couldn’t let that happen. Hope’s eyes were glazed with terror. “All right,” she said. “I’m not going to call him. I’m not going to call anyone.”

  “You’d better not,” Riker said, warningly. He seemed to believe her, because after a moment he nodded for his minion to release Hope. The Ravager threw her roughly toward Eden, and Eden grabbed her before she fell onto the hard concrete floor, drawing her into a tight embrace. Riker gave her one final smirk, then strode out of the room, slamming the door closed and locking it behind him. She was trapped, as long as the Ravager was here, threatening Hope, she could do nothing. He was much bigger than her, and in a fight of vampire abilities, she was sure he would win. She had never won against one of the Ravagers before. He didn’t even need to kill her. All he needed to do was tear Hope from her grip and threaten her sister. Despair rushed over her. She couldn’t even warn the Shadows, she thought, frustrated and angry. She couldn’t tell them the Ravagers were about to launch an attack. She couldn’t do anything but sit there, gripping her sister tightly and praying for a way out.

  Chapter 28

  Talon dragged himself to consciousness. He was lying in the hallway outside Eden’s room, his face pressed into the rough carpet. He hauled himself to his feet, stumbling and collapsing against the wall, hard. The view through the door to Eden’s room wavered as misery careened through him. The aching void where the bond to Eden should be bright and shining was instead constricted to a tiny trickle, barely even a pulse of awareness left of her. The gaping hole in his soul overbalanced him, made him feel like he was missing a limb. He stumbled forward, drawn toward Eden’s room, but unable to hold it in his sight, his feet tangling with each other as his senses snarled. The faint scent Eden left in the hallway was barely perceptible, even the bright colors of the Sanctuary’s carpets and walls—the rich reds and russet browns—were faded to an ashen gray, everything losing its color, its vibrancy. Without Eden, with the traumatic gaping wound where the soulmate bond should be, Talon barely knew how to operate. He felt like he was bleeding out right here in the hallway.

  “Talon?” He heard a voice behind him. “Talon. What’s wrong with you?” Quick footsteps, then Rune’s hand on his shoulder. Even the slight pressure of his friend’s hand was too much for Talon to bear and he jerked it off angrily, feeling the rough, raw intrusion of Rune’s concern for him through the Bloodline bond.

  He couldn’t bear it—the emotion, any emotion whatsoever. His black despair was choking him. He couldn’t survive it. He had to shut down his emotions. He had to freeze any part of him that responded to other people. Without Eden, he only had the worst of his feelings left—anguish, sorry, trauma—he couldn’t bear to feel that pain. Instead, he let go of his ability to feel. His emotions crumbling and falling away from him. From deep within the black depths of his soul, he drew on the icy madness that had called to him for so long.

  Talon shoved himself ruthlessly to his feet, his insides coated in ice. Rune called his name, but Talon didn’t speak. He was beyond words. He should have known. He should have known he didn’t deserve a soulmate. He was a monster, an ice-cold weapon fit only for one thing.

  A siren went through the Sanctuary, the warning of an attack. Yes, he thought with grim satisfaction. This was what he needed. This was exactly what he needed as his focus sharpened to a razor point. He could throw himself into a final battle just as he had resolved to do so many weeks ago, before he’d met Eden. She was lost to him now. Death in battle was the only option left.

  Chapter 29

  Hope was shivering in Eden’s arms. The storeroom was cold, and while Eden didn’t feel the effects of it, her sister clearly did. She tried to stretch her arms around Hope’s body tighter, but she didn’t know how much help it made. Ever since she had blocked the bond with Talon, she had felt herself getting colder, felt her heartbeat slowing, as if the energy she was getting from the bond was constricting like a blood vessel, the flow lessening, turning her back into what she was—just another vampire. She hated it, hated the feeling of being cut off from him, but she couldn’t do anything else. If Talon came, Hope would die, and she would not abandon her sister to death.

  Hope shifted in her arms and Eden turned to look down at her. “It’s all right,” she whispered to Hope. “It’s going to be okay.”

  “No,” Hope said in a tiny voice, “it’s not all right. It’s not going to be okay. I was a fool. I’m the reason you’re here. I was stupid to believe in Riker and his Ravagers and not to listen to you. You were right. The Shadows are your real family. They might never be mine, but they are yours, and I ruined that for you. I’m so sorry.” She choked on a sob.

  “It’s okay,” Eden said. “We’ll find a way through this. I’m staying here with you.”

  “You can’t,” Hope whispered. “You can’t stay here with me; you have to go to them. You have to warn them somehow.”

  “Too late,” Eden said sadly. “Riker left hours ago. The attack has already begun. There’s no stopping it.”

  “Then you need to be there,” Hope said intently, an expression of resolution coming over her face, making her look more mature than she had ever before. “We have to do something,” Hope said grimly.

  Eden glanced at the Ravager, who was watching them both with a bored expression. He clearly didn’t expect much of a threat from the two women. Hope poked Eden in the side. Eden jerked and looked down at her sister with a frown. Hope said nothing but cut her eyes to the side of the room meaningfully. Eden followed Hope’s gaze and saw against the wall a broken-down chair. At first, she didn’t understand why Hope was looking at her meaningfully, and then she realized one of th
e legs had almost split in two, a jagged shard sticking out from the side of it. A wooden shard… A wooden stake.

  Hope stood and whispered, “Go get it,” to Eden, then turned away from her sister and strode toward the guard. Eden’s heart constricted with terror for her sister, but instead of dragging her back and protecting her as she usually did, she firmed her resolve and scrambled backward toward the wall, surreptitiously reaching out and gripping the wooden shard, waiting for Hope’s signal, trusting that her little sister would think of something.

  Two steps toward the guard, Hope suddenly tripped, crying out loudly, and Eden snapped the stake off in her hand, hiding it behind her back. She stood up.

  “Whoops.” Hope stumbled, stretching out her hands and looking up with fluttering eyelashes. “I think my heel snapped.” She hopped around awkwardly. “Oh damn, I can’t walk like this.”

  Eden slowly walked up closer to them both until she was level with Hope. She slipped the stake down, the base hitting her palm, holding it flush with her forearm.

  “Get back,” the Ravager said, glaring at them.

  “Okay, okay.” Hope wobbled away from Eden, spreading out, and then she tipped suddenly to the side, windmilling her arms. Eden watched the guard, waiting for the moment he turned his attention from her to Hope. There! Eden gripped the stake solidly and took a sudden step forward, swept her arm back, and struck the vampire’s chest. Strength rushed through her unlike anything she had ever experienced, and she shoved the stake deeper, piercing the Ravager’s heart. His expression of shock turned to horror, and then, before her eyes, he crumbled away into dust.