by Rye Brewer
“Why don’t you try telling us why you ran away?” Scott asked, standing on the other side of the room. Philippa was in a chair by the fire, her face in her hands. He rubbed her back to comfort her.
“Have you heard from Gage?” I asked.
“No, he’s missing, too. Again, thanks to you.” I heard the rage in Philippa’s voice even with her hands blocking her face. “I could kill you for what you’ve done to us.”
“That’s enough,” Sara growled. She had gotten her strength back, no doubt.
I could tell from the expression on Scott’s face he had no idea what to think—it was clear from the start he was interested in my sister, but his own sister was hurting, too.
“I got a message about him. I went to exchange myself for him.”
“You what?” Sara’s eyes narrowed as she stared at me. “How could you do that?”
“And how can we believe you?” Philippa glared at me.
I reached into the pockets of my jeans, where the burner phone still sat. I opened the email before tossing the phone to Scott.
His eyes widened when he saw the picture.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I wanted to keep it from you. I didn’t want you to see him like that.”
Scott handed the phone to Philippa then turned away with his fists clenched at his sides.
“Where was this taken?” Philippa asked when she found her voice again.
“I still don’t know,” I admitted. “I went to the league headquarters—up by the border. Malory was waiting for me. She attacked me. I was rescued by some of the fae. Like I said, it’s a long story. They told me they found Gage there hours before I arrived and let him go, but I don’t know what happened to him after that. I only stayed with them until I had the strength to course back here. I sneaked out just a little while ago.”
“Fae,” Sara whispered, so low that even my vampire hearing almost didn’t pick it up.
“You should have told us,” Scott said, eyes still averted. “You shouldn’t have tried to rescue him alone.”
“They wanted me. I thought it had to be Marcus. He doesn’t want you. Besides, the more of you I brought into it, the more danger you’d be in.”
“Meanwhile, my brother went hunting for you. He sent his best guards, too. We were all in danger, thanks to you.”
“I merely went to help Gage. I’m sorry. I thought I was doing what was right.” I glanced at Sara, who slid an arm around my shoulders.
She turned to them, her eyes blazing. “Why don’t you stop blaming my sister and put yourself in her shoes for a minute? She did what she did because she wanted to help the clan that helped us. And if it is Marcus who has Gage, it’s personal.” She was letting off an energy that confused me.
I’d never seen this from my little sister before. I’d always been the one who was strong and got things done.
She continued, “Believe me. He’s good at holding a grudge and making others pay dearly. If this is all about Anissa and me, he wants to take it out on us. I’m sorry your clan was pulled into it, but that’s the way it happened. Take it up with your brother.”
I was proud of her for standing up for me like that, and grateful. Even Philippa seemed as though she didn’t know what to say, and the admiration on Scott’s face was evident.
“What should we do?” Philippa asked, clearly at the end of her rope.
“Do you know where Gage would have run off to in the first place? When he broke off, I mean? If the fae released him, there’s a good chance he’s there now—unless somebody or something else picked him up along the way. It’s worth checking it out.”
Scott nodded. “I know where they are.”
“You do?” Philippa was stunned. “Why haven’t you said anything?”
“Because I didn’t want to see him—and if I didn’t know he was in trouble, I still wouldn’t. There’s an abandoned apartment building in the Bronx where his faction set up camp a while back. I’d simply heard rumors about it up until now, but I guess it’s worth it if it means knowing whether he’s safe.”
We studied at each other, all four of us.
“All right,” I said. “Let’s go.”
“Do you really think it’s best for you to go?” Philippa stood, hands on her hips. “I mean, no offense or anything, but is it safe to have you around?”
“Oh, no offense.” Sarcasm.
“Seriously. Marcus has it out for you, so it might not be a good idea to travel around out in the open. Who knows who might be waiting to find you?”
“If they want to find me, they want to find you, too. I’m sorry, but that’s how it is. And I won’t leave Sara in the open, either.” Felicity’s warning about my blood rang in my ears. Would there be anyone tracking me in the hopes of getting it? I had to take the chance, even though it sickened me to consider being hunted.
So we left, the four of us, with Scott leading the way. He knew where we were going. I wondered if he’d been there before and just didn’t want to tell us. Philippa might have exploded if she knew.
29
Anissa
Philippa, Scott, Sara, and I didn’t course, but we did run. And in vampire terms, that means we ran so fast we appeared like a shadow streaking through the night.
It didn’t take long to get there with the four of us speeding through the dark night, and, before I knew it, we stood in front of an abandoned high rise. Unlike the Bourke building with its glass walls, this building was made of brick.
The windows on the lower floors were shattered, empty holes that added to the dank desolation of the area. The entire block was empty, which I guessed made it easier for Gage’s band of rebels to go unnoticed and unbothered. The darkness and silence was all-consuming. Even the streetlights had been broken out.
“Who’s out there?” The sound of an angry voice brought us up short.
“We’re seeking Gage Carver,” Scott said, his voice ringing out in the darkness.
“Get out of here, if you know what’s good for you.”
Scott’s head tilted to the side. “Lance? Is that you?”
“Get away, I said!”
But Scott was right, I could tell. He’d guessed correctly from the sound of Lance’s voice. The voice coming from one of the broken windows sounded frightened.
“We’re coming in!” Scott motioned for us to follow, and the four of us broke into a run again.
I heard scuffling up ahead as some of Gage’s men tried to block the way, but a furious Scott and Philippa fought their way through before I could catch up and help.
I imagined how personal this was for them. These were supposed to be members of their clan, vampires who would be faithful to the Bourke name for their entire lives. I ducked, pulling Sara down with me, as a body flew through the air over our heads. Blood was spewing out of the body, but luckily didn’t strike us.
I was poised to run when Sara caught my arm. I gave her a look, like what?
She shook her head. “This one is theirs. Their battle. They need it. They’ve been betrayed. We’re outsiders.”
My sister was right. I had to give her credit. But… “If it seems like they’re losing, I’m in.”
She nodded. “Me, too.”
Philippa took on two vampires at once, holding one by the neck as she kicked out at the other with high-heeled boots. That vampire flew through the dark, cavernous lobby, hitting a marble wall with a sickening crack. Meanwhile, she threw herself over the head of the vampire whose neck she gripped, hurling him over her shoulder once she hit the ground. He slammed into the opposite wall just as his friend had. Deep cracks were left behind.
I heard Scott grunting as he picked up one vampire and threw him into another, knocking them both to the floor. He then ran and slid between the legs of a tall, hulking figure, taking him by surprise when he jumped smoothly to his feet behind the attacker. A quick blow to the back of the neck sent the larger vampire to his knees.
Soon, it was just the four of us again. Scott breathed heavily but appear
ed unharmed.
Sara examined him from a distance, worried over him.
Meanwhile, Philippa surveilled the lobby.
I joined her.
It had been a beautiful building once, evidenced by the large lobby and its marble floors, walls and pillars. There were two sweeping staircases, cracked and broken, and the ceiling featured broken fixtures which hadn’t burned in years.
It seemed as though only spiders and rats made their homes there, the webs thick in the corners and between the spindles of the marble rails going up the stairs. Layer after layer of graffiti added to the disrepair. I shuddered involuntarily at the bleakness, made all the more depressing when I thought of how grand it must have been at one time.
“This used to be a hotel,” Scott explained. “They remodeled it into an apartment building around World War I. It began falling apart as the neighborhood changed, fell on hard times. The Depression didn’t help. It’s been abandoned since the 1980s.”
“I can’t believe they haven’t torn it down,” Philippa grumbled.
“I’m sure it used to be beautiful,” Sara murmured, always a romantic at heart.
The four of us climbed the marble stairs at a quick pace, our footfalls quieted by layers of dust and grime. There were no lights and no sounds other than our breathing.
“I know there have to be more of them,” Scott murmured. “One of them has to talk to us.”
After searching three floors—floors where there was evidence of recent activity, such as empty blood bags and a few cleaned-up apartments—Philippa lost patience.
She stood in the center of a long, wide hallway. “We’re not here to hurt anyone,” she promised, her voice bellowing through the almost-empty space. “We want Gage. We want to know if he is here. That’s all. We believe he is in danger.”
“You’re all safe from us,” Scott added, standing by her side. “We’re not here for revenge or any sort of payback. We just want to be sure Gage is all right.”
Breathless moments passed. Sara took my hand in hers and squeezed as we waited. Philippa and Scott looked at each other, speaking silently.
Finally, a voice came from out of the darkness. “He isn’t here.”
Our heads turned as one in the direction of the sound.
“How long has he been gone?” Philippa called out.
“He was never here.” A figure stepped out of the shadows. His stance was tense, like he was ready for a fight. “We were supposed to meet here when he gave the order for us to leave, but he never showed. We thought he lost his nerve.”
Another voice, coming from the opposite direction. “We’ve been waiting for him, wondering if he’d screwed with us.”
“What do you mean?” Scott asked.
“We wondered if he really meant it when he told us we were all leaving as one unit. Like maybe he tricked us into believing him to see who was faithful to the clan and who wasn’t.”
I almost felt sorry for them. Almost. Traitors didn’t deserve much sympathy. Then again, as far as the Carvers were concerned, my sister and I were traitors. It was all a matter of perspective.
“We have reason to believe Gage was captured on his way to you,” Philippa revealed.
“We’ll help you find him,” the first figure suggested.
“No,” Scott immediately replied. “We don’t want or need your help. As long as we know he was never here, we know he’s still in trouble. We’ll take care of things on our own. He’s still our brother.” He and Philippa turned toward Sara and me. The four of us went back to the stairs, running down to the lobby. Their victims were still lying around, unconscious. I reminded myself never to tangle with a Bourke.
“So, what next?” Sara asked, breathless with anticipation.
“I hate to say it,” I murmured once we were outside, “but there’s just one place he could be. Jonah, too.”
“I have the feeling I’m not going to like this very much,” Philippa muttered.
“I have the feeling I’m going to like it even less than you,” I snapped.
She had a habit of making everything about her, which drove me close to madness.
I chewed my lip. “You’re not the one Marcus is after.”
“Oh, Anissa, do you really think that’s where they are?” Sara asked.
“Where else? Marcus probably cut Gage off somehow.” What he was doing at the cathedral, I’d never understand, but that was where Marcus had found him—or where the fae had freed him from Marcus, just to leave him back in Marcus’s hands later. It was all still a blur to me, and it didn’t help they were all so vague in their explanation. “I’m sure Jonah would have gone for Gage, too. Marcus probably thinks he’s hit the jackpot.”
A niggling thought was eating at my subconscious: that Malory and Marcus had worked together to get me there. That Malory had perhaps double-crossed Marcus and took me. Or… I had no clue. I was grasping for threads of ideas dancing in my head.
“Yeah, well, he has a surprise coming to him,” Scott snarled. “I can’t wait to get my hands on him.”
“No,” I said. “We can’t go after Marcus—not yet, anyway.”
“Who are you to call the shots?” Philippa asked.
“I know him. So does Sara. We know him better than you do. He’ll expect us to come for him. He’ll expect that you want to make him pay for taking your brothers. Our priority is freeing them first. We can take the higher road in dealing with Marcus later.” The thought of the league meeting came to mind. There had to be a way to take care of him once and for all.
“So, we’re really going back?” Sara asked.
I turned to her, suddenly full of concern. She sounded like a frightened child. “You don’t have to come. In fact, it might be better if you don’t. I don’t like the idea of you walking into that place.”
“And if you’re not all-in, you’ll only hold us back,” Philippa added.
I wanted to slap her, the know-it-all, then I remembered she was merely worried about her brothers.
“I’ll be fine,” Sara said, glaring at her. “But remind me to chain up and torture you for a few years, then ask how you feel about it after the fact.”
She had a glow about her she hadn’t had before I was with the fae. Some aura I didn’t understand. What had happened to her while I was gone?
“Okay, ladies. Enough.” Scott gave Sara a glance of sympathy before the four of us sped off in the direction of the Carver mansion.
This time, I led the way.
30
Jonah
Why did you come?”
I turned my head in Gage’s direction. His eyes were barely open, out of weakness and pain. I couldn’t imagine what Marcus must have already done to him.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I mean, I don’t deserve you to come for me. Not after what I did. I wouldn’t think you’d risk yourself for me after that.”
“Then you don’t know me at all,” I told him. “I would think you’d know me well enough to know I would come to help you.”
He snickered. “You didn’t come for me. You came for something else. Who? The little white-haired girl? You didn’t think I was here at all, did you?”
“Don’t talk about her that way,” I warned from my cage.
He chuckled weakly. “I thought so.”
“So what if I didn’t come especially for you? If I had known you were here, I would have come right away. So would Philippa and Scott. You know them well enough to know they would. We thought you were with your group.” I couldn’t help the bitterness that came through my voice when I talked about them.
“And I would be, if that damned Marcus hadn’t headed me off.”
“What happened?” I whispered.
“I don’t want to talk about it. I’m too weak.”
“You have to talk about it,” I reminded him. “You have to do something to take your mind off the pain.” It was the sole reason I was still talking; to take my mind off the silver burning around
my wrists. Marcus had taken perverse pleasure in knowing I was shackled.
“I’ll never forget his face,” he muttered, shaking his head. “I’ll never forget how much he liked hurting me. Like he had won something. I didn’t know what. What could he want with me?”
“He wanted to lure me to him,” I said. “Except he didn’t know I wasn’t looking for you. He couldn’t have known. I would have come sooner if I had. I swear I would have.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re my brother, Gage. No matter what you do. It’s one thing for me to hate you or curse you—which I don’t, by the way. It’s another to let somebody else hurt you. I would never do that. I couldn’t live with myself.”
His shoulders shook. I couldn’t tell if he was laughing or crying. “I wish it would all end,” he whispered. “I can’t take any more of this. I wish he’d kill me and get it over with, now that he has you. You’re who he really wants. You and the little half-breed.”
“I told you not to talk about her,” I warned.
“She’s the reason this is happening, you know. She’s what drove us apart.”
“That’s not true,” I said. “You didn’t form your own group overnight, Gage. I’m well aware it’s been going on for a long time. You had this all planned out and were just waiting for an opportunity. Don’t lie to me.”
He didn’t bother lying again. “Why is he keeping me alive?”
“I have no clue, but as long as you are, there’s hope. You can’t give up so easily, brother.”
“If you’d been through what he’s put me through, you’d have given up by now.” It hurt my ears to hear him sound that way, and my heart. He was still my brother, no matter what he’d done against me. I couldn’t hold that massive of a grudge. I wanted to kill Marcus for thinking he could harm a member of my family without consequence.
The door opened, and we both glanced up in anticipation. I was already hungry, starving. I hadn’t fed in a day. My brother was even weaker, and pain had driven him nearly out of his mind. What did Marcus have up his sleeve to torment us even further?