He caught her hand. Twined his fingers with hers in order to catch Iona’s attention—and just because he wanted to hold her hand. “They’ve sent out robots. Rovers. They captured images of planets and stars. Searched and explored.” Hell, he’d take the woman on a little NASA field trip if she wanted…after they were done with Latham. He’d make sure she learned every advance that had been made in space exploration.
“It hasn’t changed,” she said, and with her free hand, she pointed to the sky. “Venus waits. Jupiter shines. The constellations are just as they were. Clothes are different. Music. Technology. But up there…it all looks the same to me.”
He squeezed her fingers. “Why did he stab you?”
“Because my hair wasn’t gray. Because my skin hadn’t wrinkled. Because I wasn’t bearing children for my husband.”
Her husband?
“Did I mention…” Iona murmured, “that my husband was the warrior who stabbed me?”
Sonofabitch. “No,” Jamie bit out the words, “you didn’t.”
“Purebloods usually stop aging around twenty-five. Their bodies just…they freeze. I didn’t realize that had happened to me, of course. I learned later that my father and my husband—they thought I was bewitched.” Her lips tightened. “Or that maybe I’d even made a deal with the devil.”
Blood Queen.
“When I got out of that grave, I made the mistake of running back to my people for help. You see, I still didn’t get it. I thought my father would help me. I was sure he couldn’t have known what Tylar had done. I was so scared and…” Her stare dipped to Jamie’s throat. “Hungry.”
Because her vampire side would have kicked in with all of the blood loss she’d suffered.
“But my father knew. The attack had been his plan. As soon as he saw me, he ordered his guards to prepare the fire.”
The fire. Jamie found that he couldn’t speak. His hold tightened on her.
“The guards bound my hands. Tied me to an old, rotting tree…put brush around me, and it was my father…he was the one to bring the first torch to start the blaze.”
The Blood Queen slaughtered a whole village. That was the tale he knew of Iona’s birth. Whispers had told of a Born Queen who’d been so stricken by bloodlust that she’d turned and attacked every person near her.
Only the story that Iona told was much different from what he’d heard. Jamie found that he didn’t doubt her account, not for an instant. There was too much pain humming beneath her words.
“I begged for help,” she said quietly. Her lips trembled. “So many were gathered around the fire, but no one would step forward to save me. No one.”
Now her fingers were squeezing his.
“I’d never known my mother. My father…he’d said that she was attacked by our enemies shortly after my birth. But there were rumors about her. Stories that said my mother could do magic.” Her long hair slid over her shoulders as she turned her head and gazed at him. “That day, I used magic, too. The fire should have consumed me.”
He knew vampires were particularly susceptible to the flames. Their bodies burned so quickly.
“But I managed to control the fire. I don’t know if it was my fear or my fury, but…something broke in me and I felt a surge of power.” Her breath sighed out. “I got away. I ran and I ran and then I realized…he’d always hunt me. My father wouldn’t stop searching for me because, to him, I was some kind of—of punishment.”
“Punishment? For what?” He didn’t understand, but he sure would have enjoyed doling out some justice to her sadistic father.
“For killing my mother,” Iona said in a soft, sad voice. “Our enemies didn’t kill her. I found out that truth too late. She died by my father’s hand.”
She’d had one sick bastard of a father. Family. Sometimes, you couldn’t live with them…
And sometimes you needed to kill them.
Iona kept talking, and she didn’t try to pull her hand from his.
Good. He liked holding her palm against his. “My father always wanted immortality. Wanted to rule all the land he could find. He thought my mother could help him, and when she didn’t, he made sure she could never use her magic to help anyone again.”
He couldn’t believe how dark her origins were. A heavy ache had grown in his chest as he listened to her tale.
“It was him or me,” she said, and, sure enough, that stubborn chin of hers kicked up. “I knew it, so I went back to my father’s land. I slipped inside and made my way up to kill him.”
And she had. He knew that, at least, this part of her legend was true.
“I had my knife at his throat, but I couldn’t do it.” Her head sagged a bit, as if she were shamed by the memory.
Well, hell. So that part wasn’t true, either?
He’d suspected from the moment her golden eyes first opened that she wasn’t the evil bitch that rumor and legend had made her out to be. Now he knew for certain.
And that knowledge made him feel…lost.
What have I done to her?
“He laughed at my weakness and stabbed me with his sword.” Her left hand went to her side, as if touching a wound that had to be over fourteen hundred years old. “He was coming to cut off my head. H-he said that would be the way to end me.”
Her father had been right. Even a pureblood vampire wouldn’t be able to rise from a beheading.
“He’d killed my mother by taking her head. He told me that…”
Had her mother been a pureblood, too? It was possible. Maybe Iona’s father hadn’t killed her mother because the woman was a witch. Maybe he’d killed her because she was a pureblood and she’d refused to turn him into a vampire? Then the hate had eaten at him, until he’d unleashed his rage on his own child.
“As his blade came for my throat, as I felt my own blood pouring from me, and saw death coming…” Her breath whispered out. “The woman I’d been, she died. The vampire inside of me—she lived. She killed. I took that sword. Snatched it from him. Then shoved it right back into his heart.”
Jamie wanted to put his arms around her, so—screw it—he did. Jamie wrapped his arms around Iona and pulled her against his chest. She stiffened but didn’t fight his hold. Good. He couldn’t have fought her then. Her pain was too fresh. Too strong.
He didn’t want to ever cause her anymore pain.
Too late for that. You’ve stolen her life, and she doesn’t even realize it.
His jaw locked.
“When his men came and attacked, I fought back. They died. My husband was the first to fall before me.” Said flatly, as if she were yanking back on her emotions. “Then I walked away from that land, with their blood covering me.”
And the legend of the Blood Queen had been born.
“I learned an important lesson that day,” she whispered.
That her father had been better off dead? That her husband had deserved a long, brutal death?
“Even those closest to you will betray you and kill you, if they have the chance.” Her head turned, and she glanced up at him. They were close enough to kiss. “Just so you know, I won’t give you that chance.”
Jamie blinked. “I have no plans to kill you.” Keeping her alive was imperative to him. Without her, he would be dead.
Her smile was sad, and it called him a liar. “You’ve been so careful about what you revealed to me. But I know more than you think, and when I sleep, I’ll know all.”
Because powerful vampires could literally steal people’s memories with the act of blood-drinking. Their prey’s blood memories appeared to the vampires when they dreamed. Jamie knew that and he also knew that he had to stop Iona from dreaming, at least until their war with Latham was over. But, lucky for him and—I’m so sorry, Iona—unfortunately for her, he knew the lovely vampire’s weakness. So he had to use that weakness as he asked, “And you’re so eager to sleep again, are you? To close your eyes and wake to see that years have passed?”
She flinched. Jamie had hit his targe
t, and shame burned inside of him.
“Eventually,” she said, still staring back at him with the eyes that Jamie swore could see into his soul, “I’ll have to sleep. There won’t be a choice.”
He bent forward and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Eventually, there won’t be a need for secrets.” They both knew he had them. “My war with Latham will be over.” But the end for him and Iona wouldn’t come any time soon.
As he pulled in her scent and felt her slender body against his, he had to ask, “Why did you kill the others?” Not the warriors on that long ago night. He would have gladly killed them himself. No, he meant the vampires that she’d brought in to her coven. “Did they turn on you, too?”
A faint furrow appeared between her brows. “What are you talking about?”
“The coven you had in LA. Why did you kill them?”
Stark pain—no, anguish—flashed in her eyes. “They’re dead?”
Oh, shit.
But then she twisted in his arms, shoved him back, and Jamie suddenly found himself on the ground with one very, very enraged pureblood vampire above him. “They’re dead?”
“Yes.” Okay, so she hadn’t killed them. Big miscalculation his part. If she hadn’t done it—
Latham.
“I wondered why they never came for me.” The words were spoken with sadness, but fury crackled in her gaze. “I waited for them. Thought they’d betrayed me, too.”
Maybe some of them had, he didn’t know. All Jamie knew for sure was that, “The compound burned to the ground on the same day that you…disappeared.” The flames had lit up the sky. He’d been in LA at the time, young, barely twenty, still too reckless, and he raced toward those flames.
But there had been nothing he could do. The vampire compound had been too far from the main city streets. The fire had been too strong.
Too out of control. For him. And certainly for the human fire fighters who’d tried to battle the blaze.
A tear slid down Iona’s cheek.
It felt like someone had just clawed his chest open. He hated the sight of that tear. “I’m sorry. I-I didn’t—”
She lunged away from him. Raced away in a flash and disappeared into the woods as she used that super vamp speed of hers.
No. “Iona!”
But she wasn’t stopping for him.
Swearing, he transformed into the wolf, letting the savage shift sweep over him. Then he was running, following her sweet scent. Rushing through the woods as fast as could.
Can’t let her get away. Can’t.
But even as he rushed through the woods, her scent was growing fainter. He kept going, knowing she couldn’t maintain her enhanced speed forever. She’d still be weak from her imprisonment. She’d still—
He burst from the woods. Heard the growl of a motorcycle. Saw Iona, holding tight to the back of some leather-clad bastard. As the breath heaved from him, the motorcycle shot forward, taking Iona away.
Jamie howled.
The driver glanced back, and Jamie could smell his fear. The man was smart to be afraid. Jamie charged after the bike. After them.
“What the hell is that?” The human demanded. “Too big for a dog…”
“It’s a nightmare.” Iona’s soft voice drifted back to Jamie. Stabbed right in his heart like any knife. “Go faster.”
The engine gunned and the bike picked up even more speed as it flew down the narrow road and into the fading night.
For a time, Jamie kept pretty good pace with the fleeing motorcycle. But then the human and Iona vanished.
Vanished…before he could make her realize that the human wasn’t harmless. That he hadn’t been outside of those woods by chance.
He howled again.
Jamie knew that human’s face. He’d seen him before. At Latham’s side.
And now that human…one of Latham’s army…had Iona.
Chapter Five
The wolf wasn’t following them any longer. Iona’s hands tightened around the male. They should be clear, for now.
“Stop,” she told him, raising her voice so it would be heard over the roar of the motorcycle.
He didn’t stop.
Her hands squeezed him, harder. “Stop.”
Did he give a negative shake of his head?
He did. Her gaze searched the road around them. She needed to get to LA, but she didn’t need the human, not any longer.
“If you don’t stop, I’ll kill you.” He wasn’t wearing a helmet so it would be ridiculously easy to dispatch him. One quick toss and he’d be on the ground. One flick of her wrist and his neck would break.
She might not be able to drink from him, but she could certainly kill him easily enough.
“Someone wants to see you,” the human said as his fingers tightened around the motorcycle’s handlebars.
Unease skated through her. “Then he sent the wrong messenger.” She didn’t even hesitate. Iona grabbed the human and threw him off the motorcycle.
Before the bike could crash, she slid forward and took control of the handlebars. This wasn’t like the old hog she’d had all those years before but…
But she was a fast learner. Her thighs curved around the body of the bike and she throttled up the speed as she raced away.
The human could live or die. He wasn’t her concern.
Her coven—her vampires—they were what mattered. She needed to find out what had happened to them.
***
Greg Coleman rose slowly from the pavement. His ankle was broken, thanks to that bitch. And, also thanks to the vamp bitch, blood soaked the right side of his body where the asphalt had ripped his flesh away.
All that blood, permeating the air, and she hadn’t even stopped for a sip. He yanked out his phone. The screen was cracked, but he still managed to make his call.
“You were right,” he said when the boss picked up. “She didn’t so much as make a move toward my throat.”
A growl rumbled over the line then… “Where is she?”
“Driving fast and hot for LA.” That was what she’d told him, anyway. When she’d rushed out of those woods—nearly scaring the shit out of him because he hadn’t been ready for her; hell, he’d been about to go in those woods and scout for her—the vampire had said that she had to get to LA.
He’d told her to hop on the bike. When she had…holy fuck, talk about perfect luck.
“She’s alone,” he said into his phone as he tried to take a few steps down the road. Every step sent pain pulsing from his ankle. “Probably heading there to see if she can find any of her coven.” Not that there were any vamps for her to find there. Well, not any who would be on her side.
Greg stopped walking, sucked in breath, and said, “It looks like she lost the werewolf, so she should be easy pickings for you.”
“Yes…”
A twig snapped behind Greg. He whirled around and his ankle gave out, sending him falling right back down. His phone slipped away from him, smacked the pavement once more, and landed just out of his reach.
“Fuck.” He clenched his teeth and tried to shove toward that phone. “I need transport,” he shouted, hoping the boss would hear him. “Follow my GPS and come get me—shit!”
A wolf jumped out of the darkness. Big, black, and with sharp green eyes that promised death. One of the wolf’s front paws slammed down onto the phone.
Greg tried to scramble back. He had a gun full of silver bullets…in the saddlebag on his bike. Fuck, fuck, fuck! “Stay away from me!”
The wolf stalked closer. It was the same wolf that had followed Iona from the woods. That beast had been hunting them, had come all this way?
The wolf’s sides heaved. Saliva dripped from its mouth and it kept advancing toward him.
Greg nearly pissed his pants. He’d never had werewolves come at him before. He was part of Latham’s team. The pack. Latham’s wolves attacked others, not him. Never him.
“Don’t!” Greg lifted his hands, trying to cover his face.
The wolf’s claws sliced into his left arm. Blood flowed, too quickly.
“Stop!” Greg screamed as he tried to fight the wolf.
The wolf didn’t stop. Its eyes glinted. The beast bared its teeth and that green stare locked on Greg’s throat. Death. Greg saw the promise in that gaze.
Only he wasn’t ready to die. And maybe…maybe he didn’t have to.
“You want the woman?” Greg threw out and tried not to whimper at the pain from his arm…his ankle…his whole body.
The wolf seemed to hesitate.
“She’s heading for LA.” Who knew how long it would take for her to arrive? “She’s going after her old coven.” Greg forced a laugh. “Doesn’t realize it, does she? The vamps still left from that coven—just a handful of ‘em—they were the ones who set her up with Latham. They were the ones who lit that whole compound up in LA. They didn’t want bagged blood and peace with humans.”
So he’d been told. He knew nothing first-hand, but he was ready to trade every whisper and bit of gossip that he’d ever heard for a chance to live a little while longer.
“They’ll find her. They’ll trick her. They’ll…” Greg’s breath choked out as fear shuddered through him. The wolf wasn’t backing off. “They’ll take her head—or they’ll just give her right back to—to Latham!”
The wolf attacked. His razor-sharp teeth locked on Greg’s throat.
“Please!” Greg begged. He could feel the tears pouring down his cheeks. “Let me go…Save her. Hurry…and she could live!” Total lie. That bitch’s death was already set.
But the wolf didn’t know that, and his teeth lifted away from Greg’s throat. The fool pulled back. Turned away. Rushed back into the woods.
And then the beast ran away to play the hero.
***
Nothing remained. The heavy stone walls that had been erected around the perimeter of Iona’s home in LA still stood firm, but inside of those walls…
Nothing.
Blackened earth. No buildings. No people. Just…nothing.
A big FOR SALE sign hung on the front gate, swaying a bit in the breeze. The sign groaned as it rubbed against the iron gate. Iona stood about fifteen feet away from the gate, inside those cold stone walls, lost in the middle of the one place she’d always felt truly belonged to her, and she refused to cry.