by L. J. Red
She was faster than him. She was faster than all of them because she wasn’t just another vampire like them, she thought with shock, reaching down into her chest toward the thread of connection to Talon. She wasn’t a Ravager after all. She wasn’t Radiance, she was a Shadow.
“Holy shit, sis,” Hope said, placing her not-so-broken heel securely down on the ground. “That was fucking awesome.”
Eden grinned, but she had no time to celebrate. Reaching down, she gripped the bond and threw the connection open wide, forcing it back open, flooding it with her feelings, reaching out to Talon. Like floodgates opened wide, her emotions rushed down the bond toward him, and then crashed against a wall of ice.
Eden’s momentary triumph froze in her chest. Shit. What had Talon done? His emotions were blocked behind ice. There was nothing she could hold on to. Everything was icy, slippery, impossible to find purchase on. She could barely feel him behind it, faint and cold, growing colder. He was throwing himself into battle, just like he had intended to do before they met. He was going to let himself die, turn himself over to the wildness. She couldn’t let him sacrifice himself. She needed him to live. She stared at Hope, anguish in her eyes, and without speaking, her sister understood. “Go,” Hope urged. “Go be with him. Save him.” Eden turned and ran.
Chapter 30
The Shadows were losing. Despite their greater strength, the sheer number of Radiance vampires was simply too overwhelming. The street outside had turned into a battlefield, bullets flying overhead. The Shadows, who usually relied on their speed and their vampire strength had taken up modern weapons. Talon was crouched at an open window, shattered glass lying on the floor around him, trying to pick off Ravagers outside. They were using cars as shields and had taken up position all along the street. They had driven a massive armored truck through the gates and were camped in the main courtyard below.
The fighting had raged for hours, but inch by inch, the Ravagers were pushing in. In the distance, he could hear sirens, but the Ravagers were holding them off, pinning the police down. It was an all-out gang war, and Roman had been clever in recruiting gang members to his house; they knew what they were doing. Unless something changed soon, the Shadows were going to lose the Sanctuary.
The vampire guards were being picked off one by one, each of them strong, but not as strong as the Shadows. Talon wished Lucian had turned a few of them into Shadows, but he hadn’t yet made his decisions on who to recruit. While they’d all been receiving training from the Shadows, it had only been for a few months, not long enough.
Talon could feel his fellow Shadows’ exhaustion through the bond, ever so faint, leaking through the wall of ice holding his own emotions at bay. All he focused on was kill after kill, but it wasn’t fast enough. They needed a break in the line. They needed something more.
There was a shiver through the soulmate bond, deep within Talon, but he was so closed off in the ice he barely even noticed it. A momentary thought of Eden flickered through him. The sense of her presence, her scent, and then he was lost to the wildness again. He hungered to kill, to stop those who were hurting the Shadows, to end this battle once and for all. There had to be a way. Desperation rode him, there had to be something he could do. Something to break the line. If they could just push the Ravagers out of the courtyard it might give them a chance. Almost all of the Ravagers had flowed through the broken gates, taking advantage of the hole in the Shadows’ defenses. If he could kill them, it would deliver a heart-blow to the Ravager’s forces. There had to be something he could do. Talon pressed against the wall, the tickle of an idea at the back of his mind. His breath caught, the idea swelling, crashing through him.
The weapons they had taken from the docks. All those explosives Riker had been shipping in to use against the Shadows. What if Talon turned them against him? Talon grinned. It would be fucking ironic to destroy them using their own weapons.
There would be no coming back from this mission, but he didn’t care. He had nothing to come back to anyway. Talon scrambled upright, dodging bullets, and sped away from the window past Rune, crouched against the opposite wall. Talon sped down into the basement, toward the armory. The door was open, almost all of their weapons already handed out, but at the back in the safe room, those taken from Riker had been forgotten in the rush to defend the Sanctuary.
Talon stared at the reinforced door. Then, with an echoing bellow of rage, he struck out and kicked at the lock so hard that it snapped off with a tearing roar of metal and a reverberation that he felt all the way up his leg.
Shaking off the aftershocks of pain, he dragged the door open and ran inside. It was the work of minutes to gather up the explosives onto a trolley and wheel them across to the other side of the basement to the garage. He loaded the weapons into one of the cars, and then, crouching down, carefully primed the explosives.
He stood back, staring at his handiwork. The entire back of the car was crammed with explosives. Sure, it’d be a shame to lose the car, but it’d be worth it if he could take the Ravagers out. Now all that was left was to drive it into the mass of vampires. He needed to make sure his fellow Shadows were clear. But the moment he did that, he knew they would try and pull him back. Talon bolstered his icy walls and climbed into the car, started the engine, and revved it loudly, then he reached down into himself across the bloodline bond to Lucian. Ice cracked through him, his limbs feeling frozen. He called out through the bond, sending his sense and his purpose to his leader, urging him to clear the courtyard. Sure enough, he felt a shudder of realization rock through the bond as Lucian understood what Talon was trying to do.
Lucian tried to stop him, tried to pull him back, but the ice was too thick, too strong. Talon gave himself over to the wildness raging through him, throwing up his icy walls and blocking Lucian out. He would have to trust Lucian had cleared the courtyard. Lucian had the entire bloodline to protect. He would have to let Talon do this. He would have to let Talon die.
Talon revved the engine once more and floored the accelerator, zooming out of the garage and into the courtyard. His sharp eyes caught the last of the Shadows’ guards pulling back into the shelter of the buildings. Perfect.
The Ravagers weren’t expecting anyone to come out of the basement and they turned in shock as Talon drove fast into the center of their cluster. He was ready to die with his enemy, but at the last moment, he had a sudden blast of memory, sharp and clear—Eden’s voice accusing him of recklessness, telling him he had something to live for, and despite the ice within him, he kicked open the door so hard it half came off its hinges. As the car sped uncontrollably fast toward the Ravager truck, Talon launched himself out, gripping the door and tearing it clean off, flying through the air and striking the concrete with a bone-jarring thud. He twisted, dragging the door over him a second before there was an earsplitting boom, and the car he’d just leaped from exploded in a vast sheet of flame. The air turned to fire. Heat—uncontrollable, incandescent—flooded over him. The screams of the Ravagers were cut short as they died in the brutal fire. All Talon could do was curl himself tight and hope he’d jumped far enough that the fire didn’t take him too.
Chapter 31
Roman watched in horror from an empty house across the street as his Radiance fledglings were engulfed in a vast explosion, the flames reaching as high as the Sanctuary roof. His breath caught as he felt the impact of so many of his vampires’ deaths rocketing through him. “No,” he screamed in anger, clutching at the window frame. Roman was rocked back by the force of their deaths, each one flaring in the mental web of his Bloodline. He threw himself into it, grabbing at the fading bursts of light that was each vampire. They faded, disappearing into death and peace, but he snatched at them wildly and at the last moment, caught them.
At the very edge of his grip, twisting on the ends of his mental claws, he dragged the dead Ravagers back to him. Their bodies dead, their vampiric souls bound and trapped within the Bloodline. Roman bared his teeth in a rictus grin as th
e power from those dead vampire’s souls tangled into his own instead of fading away.
Every death that flared, died and was trapped on the Bloodline web sent rocketing strength into his limbs. He gripped the window frame tighter, so tight his claws sank deep into the wood, scoring dark thick lines.
Every death made him more powerful, the strength of the fledgling vampires not disappearing into the ether but shooting straight into his veins. He had never done such a thing before. Never before had so many of his bloodline died in one fell swoop, giving him the chance to try.
Roman took a stumbling step back, tugging his fingers free from the window frame. Could it be possible? Could death put power in his blood just as easily as turning new vampires did? In fact, he realized with a sudden rush of sick greed, it would give him double the strength: the numbers swelling as they were turned, and then the rush of all that energy coming straight back into him when they died. He could feel their souls caught and twisted within the Bloodline web, and he laughed at their pain.
The flames from the explosion reflected off the glass in the window, casting burning red and yellow lights over his body. This was power, he thought, swollen on the wave of death and destruction. The screams and the pain of those Radiance vampires still dying only sending him higher. Yes, this was true power. This was how he would become the most powerful vampire of all. A threat against which no other Bloodline would ever dare stand.
He turned away from the window and sped down to the ground. He needed to get away from the site of this carnage. He had lived through enough battles to know the tide had turned. That explosion had placed the Shadows back on top. But it didn’t matter to him. He didn’t care about the fledglings of his own line dying in the dirt when their souls were trapped within him. He needed to find a way to maximize on the discovery he had just made.
Chapter 32
“Where are you going?” Riker snarled at Roman as he came speeding out of the building. “We’re dying out there.”
“Yes,” Roman hissed, mad with glee.
“What the fuck?” Riker stared. “Why are you glad? The fuck is wrong with you?”
Roman laughed madly. “You served your purpose, after all.” He grinned. “Doubly so now. I think I shall leave you to reap your reward.” He turned on his heel.
“You can’t leave,” Riker shouted at his disappearing back. “You’re supposed to be the leader of this Bloodline. Do something.”
Roman turned, and Riker was chilled at the expression in his eyes. “Do something?” Roman murmured. “Perhaps I can.” He reached a hand out toward where the explosion had taken place, where the Ravagers still alive twitched and flailed, screaming in pain on the ground. Roman splayed his hand wide, just as he had when he tortured Riker through the Bloodline, then clenched his fingers into a fist, and suddenly there was silence. The Ravagers who had been screaming in pain all fell silent as one. Riker turned to look with a terrible, sinking feeling and saw with horror the bodies begin to disintegrate, fade, and turn to dust.
“No,” he whispered. “No!” he cried, turning to Roman. “What did you do?” he screamed.
“I took back what I gave.” Roman grinned, his eyes entirely white with madness. “Shall I do the same to you?” he asked, taking a half step toward Riker.
Riker flinched back. Roman was insane. How could he have killed his own men? He was terrified by the madness in Roman’s eyes and the intense presence he could sense through the Bloodline bond. Roman glowed in Riker’s mental landscape like a miniature sun.
“I thought not.” Roman grinned and he turned again. This time, Riker didn’t try to stop him as he disappeared into the night.
Riker turned to survey the mess of the battleground. They had been so close, so close to taking down those fucking Shadows once and for all. Now all was lost. His men were dead. Those the explosion hadn’t killed had been killed by Roman turning insane. He didn’t understand why Roman had done it. All he knew was that he wanted someone to pay for the mess that this battle had turned into.
And then, out of the wreckage in the courtyard, he saw a dark shape form out of the billowing smoke and fire. Dark, whirlpool eyes. A long black braid, lying charred and smoking down his back. It was that vampire, the one he had sent his men to kill. The one Eden had betrayed him for. And suddenly, Riker knew what he was going to do. The battle may be over, but at least he could kill this one vampire. He would murder him, destroy him, make him pay. At least he could take out his anger on this one vampire. The Shadow was clearly injured, stumbling away from the site of the explosion—easy pickings. Riker sped toward the courtyard, full of hate.
Chapter 33
Eden raced across the city, the shadows wrapped around her limbs, barely feeling the ground beneath her feet. Any other time, she would have enjoyed the sensation, the rush, the speed, the way the shadows flickered and clustered close like familiars. But she couldn’t enjoy it. She couldn’t spare a moment to consider what she was doing or whether she’d get to the Sanctuary in time. All she could focus on was the feel of Talon, receding even as she got closer to him. He was pulling away from her, pulling into his icy madness, into his wild rage.
As she got close, her sense of him went weak and thready. Something had happened. He was injured. Finally, she saw the Sanctuary open before her. She stumbled to a stop in horror. The building was a wreck. Smoke was billowing up from the courtyard, flames licking the ground. Every wall was pockmarked with bullet holes and the ground was littered with the ashy bodies of destroyed vampires. To her left, she could see police cars, the sirens painting the dark night blue. She could smell the thick scent of blood from the injured and the dead, bodies littering the ground. It was carnage like she had never seen before.
But Talon, Talon was somewhere in there. She forced herself to speed forward, keeping to the shadows, moving through the darkness weightlessly. Until she saw him, surrounded by billowing flames, dragging himself upright, his clothes smoking and burning, his face blackened. Blood trailed down his limbs. But alive, oh he was alive!
Before she could take a step toward him, Riker appeared out of the smoke, delivering a sudden bone-shattering kick to Talon’s chest that flicked his body up in an arc and smacked him down against the ground. “No,” she screamed out, and Riker looked up at her, his eyes glowing with an unholy hatred. He recognized her and rage suffused his face. Then he looked down at Talon’s broken body and smiled, all fangs. Eden’s heart stopped. He was going to kill him; he was going to kill Talon.
She didn’t even remember crossing the ground between them, nothing in her mind but the resolution to save the man she loved.
Riker leaped onto Talon’s back, his claws sharp, his hand striking down toward Talon throat. Eden saw it as if in slow motion, she was moving so fast. Riker’s hand dropped an inch closer, she crossed the road before the Sanctuary, another inch, she skimmed over the fire between the torn gates, another inch, the smoke billowing around her, another inch, his claws were pressed against Talon’s throat, and then Eden slammed into the two of them, all of them borne back against the wreckage of the explosion. Riker rolled and skidded further away, Talon landing beside her. Flames and burning metal tore against her skin, the pain excruciating. She ignored it all. She only had eyes for Talon.
His eyes widened as he realized she was here before him. “Eden,” he choked out, his voice rough with smoke.
“He had Hope,” Eden cried, reaching for Talon and tugging him upright. “I didn’t want to leave you, I never wanted to leave you. I had no choice—look out!” She screamed as Riker appeared out of the billowing flames. Eden felt the bond between them suddenly flood open as Talon’s eyes connected with hers. Instinctively, not even needing to think, she sent him everything. Everything she had, all her strength, all her love, all her desperation, and she felt it connect, locking deeply in place within his chest, burning away the ice that had surrounded him and lending him a speed and a strength that Riker could never match.
Rike
r leaped, but this time Talon was ready for him. He spun around, shoving his hand straight out like a spear. Riker, unable to twist away in time, landed directly on Talon’s sharp-clawed hand, impaling himself upon it. Talon snatched his other hand out and gripped Riker tightly, dragging him closer, snarling loudly as he shoved his right hand deeper into Riker’s chest, gripping. Eden saw the muscles ripple in Talon’s arm as he gripped Riker’s heart, then pulled it out through his chest. It pulsed once, twice, and then cascaded into ash. Riker’s mad, evil eyes fixed on Eden for a moment longer and then disappeared into dust.
Talon swayed on the spot, and Eden stumbled toward him, gripping him as he spun to face her. “I didn’t want to leave you—”
“I thought you were gone forever—”
They both spoke over each other. Talon was clutching her as tight as she was clutching him. She lifted her hand to his face. “Riker kidnapped my sister, he threatened her. He said he would kill her if you came near. I had to find a way to keep you away. I didn’t mean it, I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to do.”
Talon gripped her close, almost crushingly tight. “I thought you’d left me,” he said. “I thought you didn’t want me, that it had been a lie. Hope told me you only took the bond to save me from my wildness, that you didn’t really want—”
“No,” Eden whispered, “No, no. Hope was wrong, so wrong. I said yes because I want the bond. Talon, I want you, I want to be your soulmate.” She screwed up her courage. “I love you.”