Between Good and Evil

by Jasmine Wylder

  She threw herself forward, acting on pure instinct. Her hands danced over the rest of the implements in the box they’d brought with them. There! She grabbed the UV ray wand and flicked it on. When she held it high, the vampire woman, who had been inches from her, shied back with a gasp. Right behind her was King Gregory.

  When the light fell on him, red blisters broke out over his skin. He howled in pain as he flinched back from her, throwing his hands up to shield his face. The smell of burning electricity filled the air and Rune yanked out the floodlights plug one-handed; seconds later, the normal lights came on.

  Isaac and Dane rushed over to her. They grabbed their UV wands and held them out before themselves. Both were bleeding, bruised and panting. The three of them huddled together, holding out the wands. The guards looked decidedly uncomfortable, but only Gregory cowered from the light.

  “I always noticed that you don’t have a heartbeat,” Isaac crowed. “And sunlight doesn’t bother vampires unless they don’t have a heartbeat. It’s been a long time since you’ve had anything but vampire blood to drink, hasn’t it, Your Majesty?”

  One of the guards raced forward, lifting his sword. Rune whipped her hand up and down. The heavy cords she was still holding rose up, tangled around the guard’s legs, and he went crashing down. Dane kicked him in the face while Isaac relieved him of his weapon.

  “Kill them,” Gregory commanded as he collapsed to the floor.

  But Isaac and Dane were already moving. Even as the guards rushed forward and the female vampire snatched up a new weapon, they were on the king. Isaac twisted his arms behind his back while Dane seized him by the neck. They dragged him back in front of Rune, who switched off all their UV wands. As Dane held Gregory securely, Isaac picked up a silver sword and rested it at Gregory's throat.

  The king’s face was covered in vivid red blisters, the skin on the left side of his face sagging as though it had started to melt. The smell was terrible and made Rune gag, but she held onto her stomach contents and stood close to her boys.

  “Stay back,” Isaac warned the guards. “Or else you will have nobody left to protect.”

  “See, this is what happens when you mess with a psychic and her mates,” Rune proclaimed. She clapped her hands, giddy with relief. After everything that happened, she hadn’t really believed that they were going to get to this point. But here they were. Gregory was at their mercy, and they weren’t dead. She grinned at her two mates. “See? What did I say? As long as we stuck to the plan, we’d make it. And now look at us! We’re alive and we’ve won.”

  “Not yet,” Isaac said grimly, shifting his position to cover her better. “We still have to take care of him and get out.”

  Gregory laughed, the sound bitter and pained and triumphant all at once. “Do you really think it will be that easy? Do you think you can just kill me and waltz out of here?”

  “No.” That was Dane.

  Gregory twisted and gave him a blank look.

  “Killing you was never in the plan,” Isaac continued. A grin was working its way across his face. “Just opening up your kingdom so that the people who have the authority to deal with you can.”

  “See, we know all about your plans,” Rune told him, a sense of triumph surging in her as well. She fairly danced on the spot. Was this what it felt like to be the one who was two steps ahead of everybody else? She liked it. “We know that you’re planning world domination, and that you’re planning on starting by going after the other vampire kingdoms. I can tell you this, they weren’t happy to hear about that.”

  Dane laughed as Gregory went pale. “Not happy at all.”

  Isaac pressed the sword harder against his neck when the guards started to inch forward. He glared at them until they retreated, then eased off the sword. “What I said before was perfectly true. I am not going to be your weapon anymore.”

  “You exist to be a weapon! You exist to destroy! Do you really think you can play at being a happy housewife to these two? Do you really think that—”

  “I think that anything is possible.” Here, Isaac grinned up at Rune and Dane. “As long as we’re together. But you’re not going to be around to see it. You’ll be locked in a jail cell for a long, long time.”

  “You are fools if you think you can win,” Gregory snarled.

  Rune rolled her eyes. They already had won; didn’t he see that?

  “If I got to jail, so do you,” Gregory glowered at Isaac. “You think I’ll be locked away for a long time? I can weather it. I’ve lived out a lifetime in jail before, and I’ll do it again. But you? If you survive, your pretty little human will be dead long before you ever see the light of day again!”

  Rune snorted. “Ain’t gonna happen.”

  Neither Dane nor Isaac backed her up on that one. She started to frown at them, but before she could ask what was going on, there was a crashing noise somewhere in the mountain around them. Moments later, a good three dozen vampires in full armor rushed into the room. At their head was a tall, dark-haired vampire with a video camera mounted on his shoulder.

  Rune recognized him at once. Rainer Weiman. She grinned, the final piece of their plan had fallen into place.

  “I see you’ve already arrested him.” Rainer nodded to Isaac. “King Gregory, on order of the Elders, you are to be taken to the Portland Kingdom to stand trial for crimes against vampires and humankind both. They were most disturbed to hear of your plan to engage in hostilities with other kingdoms, not to mention the human governments. I can assure you, they are less than happy with you.”

  Behind the nasty burns on his face, Gregory paled. Rainer’s men came forward, taking him by the arms as they dragged him out the door. He twisted his head and spat curses at Dane, Isaac, and Rune, but there was nothing he could do. His guards, and the scantily-clad woman, all surrendered their weapons and went quietly. Rainer checked the film in his camera, then grinned and turned it off.

  “Thanks for the tip,” he told Dane. “This is going to be everywhere. Other stations will be begging me to give them any of this footage to play on their channels. And as for you…” Rainer glanced at Isaac. “Our end of the bargain will be upheld. You can expect to see a lot of sympathetic pieces on you. Just don’t forget. I have exclusive interview rights.”

  Isaac rolled his eyes. “I haven’t forgotten.”

  Rainer left with the others, leaving the three of them standing there. Rune threw her arms around her mates, pulling them in close. “We made it,” she whispered. “Gregory’s defeated and now the three of us can go home. There’s nothing left to worry about.”

  Isaac sighed, holding her tightly. There was almost a desperation to his touch. “Not quite, Rune. I still have to go to jail.”

  ***

  The owner of the dating agency that brought Rune and Dane together, Varton Kirk, was an extremely wealthy dragon shifter. When Dane had suggested they try to get him involved in all this, Isaac hadn’t thought he’d go for it. But, once Rainer started running the news about Isaac’s past and the role he played in Gregory’s downfall, people were quick to pair him with Rune and Dane. The connection to the dating agency was made shortly after that, and Varton had involved himself for the sake of his agency’s reputation.

  For the sake of his own reputation, he had grilled Isaac on the reports many times and had him thoroughly checked out. And intimate details of Isaac’s past became public knowledge—him being taken from his parents at such a young age, taking down the agency who kidnapped him and Dane, the subsequent falling out between them, and the hopelessness he had felt that had driven him to everything he had done.

  Now, he sat in the warden’s office. Jail wasn’t so bad when everybody was terrified of you, but it wasn’t somewhere he wanted to spend the rest of his life.

  Varton sat at the desk, watching his lawyers as they finished going over the case. There was a small army of them, and his cousin was outside, taking care of other business.

  “We should be able to cut your senten
ce in half,” one of them said. “Purely on public sympathy. Mr. Weiman has done an excellent job painting your story in a sympathetic light. There have been multiple petitions that have sprung up, asking for you to be pardoned.”

  Beside him, Rune let out a happy squeal. She clung to his hand, beaming. Isaac grinned at her, even though he knew that half of two lifetime sentences was still going to be her lifetime. Nevertheless, he would take whatever was meted out to him.

  “How likely is a pardon?” Dane leaned forward, his expression intense.

  “Well…” The lawyer shuffled his papers. “That is pretty low, if I am honest. Presidential pardons are rare, after all, and with the severity of his crimes…”

  Isaac nodded, having expected that. “It’s not my goal to have all that wiped away as though it never happened. I know I need to make up for all the terrible things I have done. All I ask of you is to do the best you can. I don’t expect miracles, here. I don’t feel like I can really do my best to repay what I’ve done in jail, but… if that’s what justice demands.”

  “I don’t want to see you go to jail,” Dane murmured.

  “He’s not going to.” Rune shook her hair down her back. There was a smug smile on her face as Isaac repressed a sigh.

  He knew that she didn’t want to see him in jail and had convinced herself that it wasn’t going to happen, but he wished he could help prepare her, somehow, for that possibility. He wasn’t looking forward to more jail time. Honestly, these few moments when he was able to see her and Dane were like sunshine on a rainy day.

  “How can you be so sure?” he asked his mate, and she gave him a wide, winning smile.

  “Because I had a dream last night. Well, not so much a dream as a vision. It’s amazing, I’m getting a lot more of those lately.” She paused a moment, then shrugged when he didn’t reply. “Anyway, in a year the three of us are going to have a baby. I saw it all very clearly last night. I made a point of looking at the date and everything. And you were there, so that’s that.” Her smile widened as all of the lawyers stared at her blankly, an expression matched by Varton. “I’ve already started the adoption paperwork.”

  Isaac and Dane exchanged a look over her head. And Isaac decided. It might be strange, and it might be unbelievable… but if Rune said it was going to happen, then it was. All he had to do was trust her.

  “Miss Reid,” Varton started, leaning across the desk. “I know that my cousin has suggested that your abilities might be… strong…” (Isaac had a sneaking suspicion he meant ‘real’ there), “But we have to be realistic about the situation. The crimes Mr. Fisher has been accused of practically make him a terrorist and, even if there is a great deal of public opinion on his side—”

  The door to the office opened. Varton’s cousin, Lizzie, hurried in. She looked rather shell-shocked. Without a word, she turned the TV on. It sat in the corner of the room, looking like it was rarely used. When it flickered to life, it showed the president of the United States. His dark hair was parted neatly to one side, his muscular frame looking better than ever in the tailored suit he wore. Isaac rose a brow at Dane, but Dane shrugged his ignorance.

  They focused back on President Taylor as he began to speak. “Lastly, I would like to announce Isaac Fisher as a possibility for this year’s presidential pardons. Mr. Fisher’s crimes are great, but I am convinced that he is genuine in his desire to become a productive member of society, and his actions, the risking of his own life in stopping King Gregory of the Starlight mountains from his plans to invade our country, must be taken into account.”

  The president continued to talk, but Isaac could only stare. Had he heard that right?

  Rune giggled and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I also saw this. Great timing, isn’t it? I thought it made a great little comedic moment. Anyway,” here she grinned smugly at the lawyers, “maybe now you’ll start actually believing I’m a psychic? I can assure you, this pardon is going to go through. Your help has been most appreciated, though. We couldn’t have gotten to this point without you.”

  “This is… extraordinary!” one of the lawyers clapped his hands. “I didn’t think it was possible, but with this announcement—”

  “So much possibility,” another babbled excitedly.

  Isaac watched them, still feeling shocked by this turn of events. Rune leaned back in her chair, radiating smugness, and he couldn’t help but laugh. This really was better than he’d anticipated! From here, though, he had to decide; what could he do to make up for what he had done? Maybe join Dane in his protective services… maybe offer to work as a volunteer with the FBI on similar cases?

  Dane punched his arm and jerked his head. While the lawyers continued to talk among themselves and Rune’s expression took on a knowing look, they retreated to the far side of the office.

  “You know, there’s something I have to say.” Dane looked serious and nervous. “I realized just now I haven’t told you… But with everything that happened. James. I… I forgive you. It wasn’t as hard as I thought. I just decided that I was going to forgive you, and it was like a weight lifted off my shoulders. So. There you have it.”

  It felt like a weight lifted off Isaac’s shoulders, too, hearing it. He grinned and gripped Dane’s shoulder. “Thank you. You don’t know how much that means to me.”

  Dane grinned. “Well, I think I might have some inkling. Because I’m going to have to ask you to do something for me. And I know it might be difficult but… can you forgive me? For hating you for so long? If I had stopped to think maybe this would never have happened.”

  Isaac tightened his grip on Dane’s shoulder. “But it did happen. I have you and Rune by my side now. And I wouldn’t trade that for anything. So yeah, I forgive you. Without hesitation.”

  For a moment, it looked like Dane might start crying. He nodded, swallowing thickly, then punched Isaac’s shoulder. “Always have to one-up me, huh?”

  Isaac laughed, and Rune grinned over at them. His heart felt lighter than it ever had. And when he looked at Dane again, he saw that same gratitude shining from his eyes. And Isaac knew what he was feeling; they were in unison on that one. Both were grateful for this second chance, not only with their friendship, but with Rune.

  And neither of them was going to let it slip through their fingers, no matter what happened.

  Epilogue

  The sun was shining, the air was bright, birds were singing. Everything was as happy as could be and Rune sighed in contentment to herself. After all of the events of the past few months, everything was finally on track.

  The adoption was moving along swimmingly. They were going to have an inspection today, and Rune was positive they’d pass with flying colors. Isaac had been concerned because of his past and their unconventional arrangement, but very few people were willing to adopt vampire-born infants, and the adoption agency was thrilled to be able to pair such a child with Isaac, being vampire-born himself. The fact that Dane was so famous for his protective business and Rune was able to stay home with the child were all bonuses to them.

  She grinned to herself as she skipped down the street. The universe was giving her much stronger and clearer signals these days, and she figured it was because she was in tune with what it wanted from her— being with her mates, a child on the way. It was all so perfect!

  Rune was on the verge of breaking out in song when she bumped the shoulder of a woman coming the opposite way. The woman mumbled an apology.

  Sometimes the universe spoke in vague whispers. But this was a series of drums going off in Rune’s brain. Before she even knew what she was doing, she had whirled around and grabbed the woman’s arm. Instantly, knowledge flooded her. Angelina Matthews. Single mom. Down on her luck. Looking for a job. Longed to be a reporter but without the experience or education for it. Getting by on a few paper routes.

  “Angelina,” Rune blurted, tightening her grip as Angelina tried to free herself with a cry. “I can help you land your dream job.”

  Great.
It was happening again. Rune sucked in a deep breath, steadying herself a moment as she allowed the paths Angelina could take to flow over her. If she carried on as she was, she was going to lose everything. Her apartment, her car, her child. Determination welled in Rune even as Angelina managed to free herself. The instant Rune’s grip was broken, so was the connection between the two of them.

  “Who the hell are you?” Angelina glared at her suspiciously. “And what are you talking about?”

  Rune held up her hands, trying to look non-threatening. “Sorry for grabbing you like that. My name is Rune Reid. I’m… well, I’m a psychic and when you bumped me just now—or I bumped you, really—I got a flash of your story. I’m supposed to help you find a job.”

  Angelina stared at her for a long moment, as though deciding how to take this crazy woman’s crazy proclamations. She backed away from Rune, clutching her purse. “Stay away from me.”

  “But—”

  “I said stay away!”

  Angelina turned on her heel and practically fled. Rune stared after her, grimacing. This happened, unfortunately, more often than not. People didn’t seem to care that she was trying to help them, they heard the word psychic and were freaked out. But Angelina… her life was going to end up in tatters if Rune didn’t help.

  And so, grimacing, Rune took off down the street after her. “Wait,” she called. “Please! I’m only trying to help!”

  Angelina continued to run, and Rune pushed herself to go faster. It was a testament to her morning jogs with Dane and Isaac that she managed to catch up to the other woman after only two blocks. Angelina slowed and stopped, panting for breath. You’d think in a crowd of people this size, somebody would step forward and ask what it was all about, but nobody did. Angelina rooted about in her purse and Rune kept a safe distance between the two of them. She didn’t want to end up being maced.

  “Listen,” she said, holding her hands up. “I know that it’s hard to believe. But I am a psychic. If I don’t help you, you’re going to lose everything. I’m not trying to get any money or anything, I have enough money as it is. I just want to help you. Can’t you take the chance on that? For Tommy’s sake?”