She looked like she was in her fifties, with a harsh, pinched face and dark-brown hair pulled back in a severe bun. Her name was Caroline, and she was around four hundred years old. Not as powerful as Matthias or Rafe, but strong.
Matthias stared at Caroline. Then Taz stepped forward and gently pushed him out of her way.
He looked at Taz, shocked. He tried to get her to stop when she looked up at Matthias and shoved him with her mind.
He stumbled backward against the conference-room wall. Now Taz had Caroline, was inside her mind, despite how the woman squirmed to break free. Caroline was frozen in her chair, but her mind twisted and turned like a snake, struggling in vain to keep Anastazia out.
Taz closed her eyes, ignoring the feel of Robertson and Albert’s hands on her arms. She was vaguely aware of shaking them loose, sending them flying against the wall. She felt bad about that, aware it was her mind and not her body doing it, but she had the information she needed.
“Be gentle with them, Taz baby. They love you. Please don’t hurt them.”
The phantom voice. She didn’t know if it was her conscience or not, but she had to follow through with this.
For Rafe. For both of them.
She saw the plan, the payment from the Others for Caroline to deliver Anastazia to them for research. Or, failing that, certain parts of her on dry ice. Caroline only knew as much as they told her, which wasn’t much more than Matthias already knew from his investigation. She’d met with them in New York, on Long Island, in a private mansion, after their first and second attacks failed. But it wasn’t their compound. It was rented, so no help there.
Caroline hired the daemon pulverem and spied on Taz and Rafael that afternoon and evening, saw the kiss, saw them talking at dinner, took him as a way to get to Taz. Caroline was afraid of Matthias, and even more afraid of Taz.
Anastazia glared at her. “You have every reason to fear me, you bitch.”
Taz ignored Matthias and Robertson’s efforts to talk to her, gently pushing them and Albert out of her way with her mind. The other people cowered, awed and afraid, at the far end of the conference room. Anastazia ordered Caroline to stand. Like a robot, she did. Taz marched her to the doorway and looked at the other nine.
“I have no problems with any of you. Matthias told me perhaps the best way to keep people from bothering me was to scare everyone. Well pass the word—don’t fuck with me, or those I love. Especially those I love. She murdered Rafe, and she’s going to pay.”
Taz started to walk out with Caroline when Matthias called to her, pleading. “Anastazia, please don’t. Let us take care of her. You don’t want to do this.”
She turned, and he shrank from her. Part of Taz wanted to cry that even he was scared of her. He was her lover, her soul mate. But this was her mess to clean up, for her, for him, and most importantly, for Rafe.
“I’m sorry, Matthias, but I need to take care of this. I caused it, and I’ll finish it. Come on,” she said to Caroline, walking to the Land Rover.
The woman was silent, unable to talk, every bit of conscious effort struggling to break free from Anastazia’s mental grip. Taz unlocked the Land Rover and started it, waited for the woman to get inside, and roared out of the lot.
Only then did she release the others. Matthias, Albert, and Robertson bolted for the parking lot. “We have to stop her,” Matthias said.
“We can’t,” Robertson said. “She’s too strong. She’s going to kill Caroline.”
“I can’t let her do that,” Matthias said. “It’ll destroy her.”
“I don’t know if you can do anything about it,” Robertson said.
“We have to.” Matthias got the keys from Moe and told him to keep everyone there until they returned. They left, and he paused at the intersection. South or west?
He reached out to Taz. “My love, please tell me where you are.”
Taz felt Matthias in her mind and was afraid to respond for fear of hurting him. It took every ounce of control she had to keep Caroline immobilized while driving. Caroline was beating against Anastazia’s hold on her mind, struggling to get free.
Taz flashed him a mental image that made him shudder, but told him exactly where she was going.
And what she was going to do.
He floored the Rover, heading south.
“Where?” Robertson said.
His mouth was set in a grim line. “West Thumb Geyser Basin.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Matthias cursed when someone pulled out in front of them. He recklessly passed. He knew if Taz killed Caroline, no matter how justified it was, it would drive her over the brink of madness. Right now, Taz was still encased in guilt and grief, wanting revenge. Matthias couldn’t let her jeopardize her sanity.
When Matthias slid to a stop in the West Thumb parking lot, they saw Anastazia in the distance, marching Caroline down the boardwalk toward Abyss Pool. Matthias took off at a run, leaping over a guardrail to the boardwalk, trying to make up the distance with Robertson and Albert close on his heels.
Anastazia glanced over her shoulder as they approached the Y in the boardwalk at the pool. Caroline marched to the short end of the Y and stopped. Caroline was trembling, sweating in her efforts to break free of Taz’s grip.
Serves her right, Matthias thought before returning his attention to Anastazia.
“Sweetheart,” he whispered, “please, don’t do this.”
“She killed Rafe,” Taz said.
Matthias nodded, holding his hand out to her. “I know. But please, don’t do this. This isn’t how you want to be, how he would want you to be. Let us take care of her. Let the Tribunal handle her. That’s what Rafe would want, Taz. You know that. He loved you. He wouldn’t want you to do this, not even for him.”
Anastazia forced Caroline over the railing at the end of the boardwalk. He watched Caroline struggling not to step out onto the fragile crust surrounding the deep, blue hot spring.
“This is one of the deepest springs in the park,” Taz said, her voice sounding unnaturally flat. “Did you know that?”
Matthias nodded, desperate to keep her attention on him while Robertson and Albert tried to get to Caroline. Yes, the bitch deserved to die, but not like this. No one deserved to die like this.
“Yes, Anastazia, I know.”
Taz looked at the pool, steam drifting from its surface. She frowned at Robertson and Albert, stopping them from getting closer to Caroline, who was now standing beside the boardwalk, mere feet from the hot spring’s edge.
“Did you know this pool averages one hundred eighty-five degrees?” Taz asked him. “I read it in the guide book. That’s more than hot enough to kill. Human flesh is burned in seconds by water that’s only one sixty. That’s what the book said.”
Matthias nodded, inching closer. He was within five feet of Taz.
“The book said a bison fell into one of the springs, and it smelled like beef stew for a week,” Taz said. “I wonder what she’ll make it smell like?”
Caroline cried out, trying to fight the invisible hand forcing her toward the calm, turquoise water.
“Anastazia!” Matthias barked, and when she looked at him, he saw her eyes were dark, nearly black, and full of tears. “Darling, please don’t do this,” he pleaded, “not like this.”
She didn’t look away, and he noticed Robertson and Albert close the gap toward Caroline, within arm’s reach.
Matthias thought if he could distract Anastazia long enough, he could break her connection to Taz. He saw her working the ring on her hand, like Rafael did. Anastazia’s voice cracked as she looked at him.
“Rafe was so sweet. He didn’t deserve to die,” she sobbed. “He wanted to help us, help me. He loved us.” She looked at his ring on her hand, her thumb rubbing it. “He loved me. He would have died for you or me.”
Matthias forced himself another foot toward her. He knew she didn’t want to hurt him and counted on it. “I know, darling, I loved him, too. He was like a
brother to me.”
“Distract her, Matts!” Matthias wasn’t sure who that voice belonged to. It almost sounded like Rafe, but it had to be Albert or Robertson, distorted by stress.
Taz wept, anguished tears rolling down her face and falling to the boardwalk below. “He wasn’t a jerk. He was so sad, missed his wife so much, was afraid to love again. That’s why he was the way he was.”
Matthias nodded. “Rafe was a very complex and sensitive man. Few knew that.”
“He was so grateful to you. Caroline picked him because she thought he was a horny idiot, that he’d be easy to get to and use him to get to me. She went with the daemon pulverem that night. She’s the one who actually killed him. She didn’t have to kill him, but she was scared of him identifying her. She could have let him live.”
Matthias felt Taz’s rage build, knew his chance would slip away if he didn’t act soon.
“Anastazia,” he whispered, “come back to me. Please.”
She shook her head. “I have to do this, for him.”
“Anastazia, I love you. Rafe wouldn’t want me to lose you. I almost lost you once. Please, you promised. You said you cannot refuse me.”
Time crawled. Matthias felt her focus falter for just a second, hesitation at his words, as she turned to finish Caroline. He did the only thing he could think of. He launched himself at her, tackling her and sinking his teeth into her neck, the force of the impact knocking them both to the boardwalk.
“Forgive me, my love,” he thought to her as he drank, her barriers crumbling as he took her.
Caroline screamed as her feet lifted off the ground. Robertson and Albert threw themselves at her over the railing, Robertson catching her hair, Albert grabbing an arm, and they roughly hauled her over the handrail onto the boardwalk. She sobbed, crying, begging them to save her.
“Shut up.” Albert slugged her, knocking her unconscious.
Matthias lay on top of Anastazia, his teeth still buried in her flesh, drinking, afraid or unable to let her go until he knew she couldn’t resist him. With Albert still on top of Caroline, Robertson scrambled over to Matthias.
Anastazia’s eyes rolled back in her head, only the whites showing, her hands frozen claws on Matthias’ back where she’d tried to fight him. She made a low, mewing sound and fell limp in his arms.
Matthias lifted his head from Taz’s neck and rolled off her. Robertson gathered Taz into his arms while Matthias sat up and bellowed, thundering and full of rage.
His eyes black, Matthias launched himself at Caroline.
Albert screamed, “Matthias, no!”
Robertson dropped Taz and lunged for Matthias, tackling him by the legs, bringing him down feet from Caroline. “I’m sorry, Matthias!” Robertson grabbed Matthias by the hair before he could react and slammed his head, face-first, into the boardwalk, knocking him unconscious.
Trembling, Robertson crawled back to Anastazia. She was breathing, her pulse weak but steady. Matthias drank enough to weaken her but not enough to kill. In the process he must have absorbed the full force of her rage and anguish.
Tim cradled Taz in his arms and looked at Albert, as stunned as he was. “What the hell do we do now?”
Albert shook his head, studying the three prone bodies around them. “I don’t know.”
* * * *
Caroline came to first. With Caroline just happy to be alive and not the main ingredient in a hot spring full of vampire soup, Albert easily took control of her. Robertson carried Anastazia to the Land Rover and gently buckled her into the passenger seat, running back to the spring before Matthias awoke.
Albert took one arm, Robertson the other. They dragged Matthias between them to the Land Rover, throwing him unceremoniously into the backseat. Albert ordered Caroline into the other Rover, and he took off with her for Canyon Village while Robertson drove Taz and Matthias back to the cabin.
Taz was still unconscious when Robertson carried her into the room and laid her on the bed. Her pulse already felt stronger. She was healing herself, and would physically be okay without any further intervention.
He hoped.
Now, how to deal with Matthias?
He must have hit Matthias harder than he thought, or the shock to Matthias’ system was greater than he realized. Matthias was still slumped, unconscious, in the backseat. Robertson dragged him out and managed to hoist him across his shoulders without dropping him. He struggled up the cabin steps, and, unable to go any further, he lowered Matthias to the floor where he landed with a soft moan.
That was a good sign. He hoped.
Robertson dragged Matthias the rest of the way inside the cabin and rested for a moment, then wet a washcloth and tried to bring Matthias around. There was a large goose egg over his left eye where his head made contact with the boardwalk.
“Sorry, Matthias,” he apologized, “but I couldn’t let you do it any more than you could let her.”
After a few minutes, Matthias moaned again and tried to roll over.
“Thatta boy, just lie there and relax.”
“Shut up.”
“Hey, love hurts.”
Matthias’ hands went to his head, and he took the cloth from Robertson, gingerly feeling the damage. “What the hell did you hit me with?”
At least Matthias was back to himself. He hoped. “The boardwalk. Your unstoppable force met an immoveable object.”
“Oh, God.” Matthias didn’t open his eyes. “Caroline?”
“Nothing a change of knickers can’t cure. Albert has her. He took her back to Canyon Village to hand her over. I haven’t heard anything yet, but I’m sure we will soon. They’ll figure out how to deal with her. She’s the Tribunal’s problem now.”
He started to nod and moaned in pain. “Jesus Christ, was this because I bit Taz?”
“No, it’s because you were going after Caroline. I didn’t like that you bit Taz, but I understood why. I had to stop you, and that was the only thing I could do. It happened so fast.”
“Taz—”
“She’s okay. She’s still out. You stopped in time, but I didn’t like the way your eyes went black and you lunged after Caroline when you came up for air. I’m hoping you’re back to your old self.”
Matthias slowly sat up and looked at Albert. The whites of his eyes were bloodshot, but they were back to their clear blue color.
“It was pure rage,” Matthias whispered, nearly sick at the memory. And her guilt and shame, but Robertson didn’t need to know that.
Robertson fixed Matthias with his gaze. “I changed her nappies when she was a baby. I think it’s time you tell me what happened, what she did that pushed her over the edge. She’s not this upset over a kiss, Matthias. I’m not an idiot. What happened between her and Rafael?”
He glanced at Anastazia, who was still unconscious, then back to Robertson. “It wasn’t her fault. She was mad at me.”
“Matthias, what did she do?”
He looked away and Robertson understood.
“She didn’t sleep with Rafael?”
Matthias shook his head. “She toyed with him. He was almost asleep, and she felt my presence, thought I was watching her. She let her mind go to him, played with him, thinking I could see what was happening. It was revenge for me not stopping her from kissing him earlier. And she got scared at the end, because she realized she liked the control she had over him.”
“Who knew our girl could be a succubus? And that’s when Caroline and the demons…?”
Matthias closed his eyes and nodded. “Just after. Rafe thought it was Taz returning, and he welcomed Caroline into his mind.”
Robertson looked at Taz. “Poor thing,” he whispered. “I drilled into her to never take unless someone freely offered. It must have torn her apart.”
Matthias nodded again. “That’s why she feels responsible for his death.”
Robertson sat back, shaking his head. “Maybe it would have been for the best if you’d marked her.”
“You don’t m
ean that.”
“I don’t know. I had no idea she was this strong. All this happened so fast. We didn’t have time to prepare her.”
“Tim, listen to me. If it hadn’t been for you, teaching her the restraint you did, she would have killed Caroline as soon as we figured out who it was. That’s why she drove all the way to West Thumb. She was fighting, trying to talk herself out of killing Caroline, like she had another voice inside her, hoping we could stop her, but unable to stop herself. She felt she had to avenge Rafael’s death personally, because she considers herself responsible. She was torn between killing her and giving her to us.”
“Are you okay now?”
Matthias touched his forehead. “I will be. You’d better go help Albert.”
“I really don’t think I should leave you.”
“Tim, we’ll be okay. Go, please.”
Robertson checked Taz one last time and stopped at the cabin door. “Matthias, take care of her. I have to trust you with her now. Please protect my little girl.”
He nodded. “With my very life. You have my word.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Matthias showered and changed clothes. Taz was still unconscious. Hours later she moaned, rolled over, and lay still. Matthias checked her then gently probed her mind. She was catatonic, unresponsive. He tried to awaken her and eventually let her be once he realized how fragile she was.
Albert and Robertson returned to the cabins with the guards late that night. Robertson brought food, and Matthias ate while Albert gave him the update. Three of the attendees were Tribunal members and took Caroline into custody. Considering the circumstances, everyone understood Matthias’ actions.
There would be a hearing in London as soon as Taz was well enough to make the trip. The Tribunal would guard Caroline until then. Caroline confessed what she did after almost being boiled to death by Anastazia, and would plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence or other suitable punishment, to be later determined by the Tribunal.
Anything was better than what Caroline saw in Anastazia’s thoughts, how she’d planned to slowly walk her, an inch at a time, into the scalding water until she died.