“Fresh out of coffee, princess, so move your ass.”
The morning continued to unfurl around us in pink misty dampness, as if we sat in the center of a rose after a rain. The leaves shivered above us, so green they nearly glowed. Birds sang cheerfully, oblivious to my predicament. Pine needles crunched under our passage.
“Where are you taking me?” I asked, biting back a yawn.
They didn’t answer as they formed a tight circle around me, one I knew I had no hope of breaking through, especially since I felt about as strong as a wet noodle. I squinted at the sunlight, eyes tearing. I hoped my brothers were safe. They’d be nearly defenseless. Each of them was still new enough to the bloodchange that they slept hard, too hard to defend themselves quickly if there was an attack.
We continued to march along until I began to recognize where we were. The mountains were on our right and a small lake glistened in a lower valley. The tunnel ran right underneath us, no one the wiser. I was so close to an escape and it might as well have been on the other side of the planet for all the good it did me. Even if I could get to one of the doorways, which was doubtful, I couldn’t afford to give away the secret location to the Helios-Ra. I was thinking so hard I didn’t see the shadow leap down from a tall gray aspen, scowling fiercely. He wore unrelieved black like the others and was armed to the teeth. His dark eyes pinned me.
“What the hell is she doing here?”
Kieran Black.
CHAPTER 16
Lucy
Saturday night, very late
I ignored the pleasantries being stiffly exchanged since Nicholas was lying really close to me. It was so wrong that I wanted to snuggle against his side.
It was Nicholas.
Byron was a welcome distraction as he ambled up the stairs and lay on my other side. He had kibble breath and was close enough that he drooled on my arm. I nudged him.
“Move over, you big lump.” He just gave me that doggy look, the pathetic one I could never resist. “Fine, but at least quit drooling on me. It’s gross.” I scratched his ear briefly. “Some watchdog you are.” I knew the other two Bouviers would be lying down near Hart and Hope, eyeing them hungrily.
“I want to assure you,” Hart was saying in the living room, “that I have officially retracted the bounty on the Drake clan, just so there are no more misunderstandings.”
“We’re glad to hear it,” Liam said blandly. I could just imagine what retort Helena was biting back.
“It was an accident,” Hart continued, sounding hard. “And one that will be rectified immediately.”
“I suggest you keep a closer rein on your organization,” Helena said. “Or I will cease to keep such a tight rein on mine.”
“Understood. We stand by our treaty,” Hope interjected. “This is an internal problem and should never have leaked out.”
Their voices dropped slightly. There was the clink of glasses. I squirmed, trying to peer around the stairs into the living room. I could see the edge of a chair and nothing else. There wasn’t even anyone sitting in it.
“I’m going to try and get closer,” I murmured.
When Nicholas didn’t try and stop me, I turned to look at him. He was asleep. His cheek rested on his hand, pale skin gleaming, dark brown hair tousled. His features were sculpted, sensual, and dark. It was totally unfair how beautiful he was. Even if it did sound like he might be snoring a little. Byron snorted and rolled over.
“You two are a lot of help,” I said.
And then the quiet shattered.
There was no actual sound of warning, only Hart sailing out of the living room, crashing into the foyer wall and sprawling across the floor in a heap. The chandelier above him rattled alarmingly. At the sound, Nicholas startled awake and flipped himself over me, as if he was protecting me from an airborne missile. He pressed into me, about as yielding as a slab of cold marble. He looked slightly disoriented, not quite fully awake.
“Can’t breathe,” I croaked.
He shifted slightly but didn’t get off me. I could see the thick fringe of his eyelashes, his hair falling over his forehead to tickle mine.
“Foyer,” I wheezed. We both craned our necks. Helena marched out, all black leather and motherly fury. Byron raced down the stairs.
“Where is my daughter?” She seethed, her pale eyes practically glowing. Liam flanked her, simmering. I could all but see the leash on his temper straining to release. Hope took a stake from her belt.
“I wouldn’t,” Bruno advised quietly.
“What the hell was that for?” Hart sat up, his left eye already purpling.
Liam lifted his cell phone. “That was one of my sons, gone to ground because of your blasted league.”
“I told you we didn’t set the damn bounty,” Hart said through his teeth. “I explained.”
“Then explain to me, human,” Helena sneered, “why my daughter has been taken by your agents.”
Hart stared at her. “What?”
Sebastian and Geoffrey joined them from the living room. Boudicca barked once, blocking Hart from doing anything more than sitting up. Nicholas shifted off me, growling low in his throat.
“That’s impossible,” Hart insisted. He reached for his own cell phone and punched in a number. He barked out questions, swore viciously under his breath at the replies. Sunlight touched the windows on either side of the door.
“Unit’s gone rogue,” he declared.
Hope paled. “No.”
Helena sniffed the air delicately, then nodded at her husband. “He’s not lying.”
Beside me, Nicholas sniffed as well. He frowned. I frowned back.
“What?”
“It’s not a lie, but I smell something else. Something I can’t quite place.”
“More lemon shampoo?”
“No. Definitely not that.”
Bruno signaled to the dogs and they eased back, letting Hart get to his feet.
“We have to shut them down,” he said darkly. I wondered if he had a gun strapped inside a shoulder holster under his coat. “Now. Before the damage becomes irrevocable.”
“I am forced to agree.” Liam held up a hand. “However, we had a treaty, Hart. And it was broken. Under the circumstances, I believe a show of faith is in order.”
Hart sighed. “What did you have in mind, Drake?”
“One of you stays here.”
“You’re taking hostages now?”
“You have our daughter. Her safety must be assured.”
“You have our word,” Hope said.
Liam raised one eyebrow. “Not nearly good enough.”
Hart rubbed his face wearily. “All right. All right,” he repeated. “I’ll stay.”
Hope whirled on him. “No, I’ll stay. You know how some of the units still see me as a paper pusher. They’ll respond to you quicker and with less posturing if they truly have gone rogue.” She squared her shoulders. “So, I’ll stay.” She narrowed her eyes. “You don’t have a dungeon, do you? Because I expect a guest room.” She showed her teeth in a bare approximation of a smile. “As a show of good faith, of course.”
Hart met Liam’s grim gaze, returned it with his own. “I expect her to be safe here.”
Liam inclined his head. “As long as our daughter is safe.”
Hart barely suppressed a wince. “I’ll do my best,” he said.
“If your best isn’t good enough?” Helena said softly, silkily. “I will personally drain every single person in your league. Understood?”
He nodded stiffly.
“Your mom rocks,” I muttered. “You know he’s totally shaking under all that suave sophistication.”
Bruno showed Hart outside, trailed by the dogs, except for Byron, who kept sniffing suspiciously at Hope. Geoffrey nodded his head at the stairs.
“Your room is this way.”
Nicholas and I scrambled to our feet. He pulled me down the hall, his fingers like a vise around mine. We leaped into Solange’s room just as Geoffrey l
ed Hope to one of the guest rooms with its own bathroom. He shut the door behind her and locked it, with an ominous click that seemed to reverberate. He paused on the other side of Solange’s door, and I half expected him to lock us in as well.
“Get to sleep, you two,” he muttered before walking away.
I turned back to Nicholas, who was already stretched out on Solange’s bed, his head resting on the Hello Kitty pillow I’d given her for her ninth birthday.
“What do we do now?” I asked. My eyes felt gritty and dry. I’d been awake for nearly twenty-four hours. I felt a little lightheaded. Nicholas didn’t even open his eyes.
“I have to sleep.” His words were slurred. I sat down next to him, touched his forehead. There was an unhealthy pallor to his skin. “Save Solange.”
He didn’t say anything else for a long time. I poked him once.
“Nicholas?”
Nothing.
It felt wrong to sleep when my best friend was out there at the mercy of rogue vampire hunters. Buffy wouldn’t have slept.
Of course, Buffy had supernatural powers.
Me?
Not so much.
“Shut up about Buffy already,” Nicholas muttered. I hadn’t even realized I’d spoken out loud. He didn’t open his eyes, only reached out and yanked my sleeve until I fell over, sprawled next to him. “Go to sleep.”
The bed was soft and smelled like vanilla fabric softener. Nicholas was a comforting presence against me. He was already asleep again. He wouldn’t notice if I snuggled in just a little bit closer.
For safety’s sake, of course. There were bad guys everywhere, after all. One couldn’t be too careful.
He shifted midsnore and pulled me closer.
I fell asleep feeling better than I had all week.
CHAPTER 17
Solange
“Get lost, Black, this doesn’t concern you.” The agent in the lead tensed. His shoulders knotted and his hand strayed to the hilt of his weapon. Sunlight glinted off his night-vision goggles, pushed up on his head. The others exchanged wary glances. There was something in the air, some secret I didn’t know about.
“Like hell it doesn’t,” Kieran said.
“Look, we don’t need you, kid. Go home.”
“Go to hell,” Kieran shot back. “I’m a full agent and deserve a cut.”
What ever was sizzling around us seemed to relax slightly.
“What are you saying, Black?”
“I’m saying the bounty’s enough for all of us.”
Someone snorted. “Your uncle know you’re doing this? Or haven’t you heard? Helios called us off.”
“What?” I asked. “Then what the hell are you doing with me?”
Kieran ignored me. Black nose plugs hung around his neck and stakes lined the leather strap across his chest.
“Vampire queen’s still got a bounty on her, doesn’t she? I want in,” he repeated.
I hadn’t known that, either. I was starting to hate my sixteenth birthday. A poufy white dress and a cake with roses made out of pink icing and awkward dancing with boys in awkward suits was starting to sound like a great alternative. Seriously. Sign me up. I wouldn’t even complain.
“You’ll have to prove yourself.”
Kieran shoved up his sleeve, showing his sun tattoo. “I’ve proven myself, thanks.”
“We’re taking out more than one little girl, no matter how freaky she might be.”
“Whatever, look, I just want the money.” He pushed toward me. The woods seemed to glow so brightly, I shaded my face. My vision was more sensitive than it had ever been. The trees might as well have been carved out of emeralds and filled with sunlight. His eyes were soothingly dark.
And glaring at me pointedly.
I glared back.
He broke contact only long enough to glance to his right, brief as a lightning bug’s flash. My glare lost some of its oomph as I tried to figure out what was going on. The agents were spread out slightly on his right. Not enough to make an escape, but almost. Kieran tripped over a tree root, his elbow catching one of the guards in the sternum. He stumbled back. The gap widened. Kieran grabbed my hand and tossed me through the brief opening. I could feel him at my back, pushing me on. Behind us the agents hollered. A shot rang out, pinged bark off a pine tree not a foot from my head. Kieran shoved me. “Run faster.”
“Trying,” I gasped. Only adrenaline kept me going, and it was starting to make me feel sick. There was nothing quiet or vampiric about the way I was crashing through the woods. A deaf and blind kitten could have followed my trail.
They were closing in.
We’d never be able to outrun them. Especially not since I was already wheezing and stumbling. I tripped over my own foot and went sprawling in the dirt. Kieran reached down to haul me back up.
“Wait, don’t,” I said. I recognized the nick in the oak near my head, right near the root. At first glance it wouldn’t have been noticeable, at second it would have looked like a deer or a coyote had rubbed up against it. But I knew what it was.
Safety notch.
And sure enough, when I clawed through the undergrowth, I found the wooden handle, carved to look like an exposed root covered in moss. The actual door was just a chunk of wood and it was painstakingly covered with mud and leaves that camouflaged it even after it had been opened.
“Are you nuts? Get up!”
Instead I pushed into a crouch and yanked at the handle. It opened to a deep hole with a rope secured to the side and dangling down to the bottom.
“Let’s go,” I told him, sliding in feet first. The rope burned my hands. Kieran followed, the door shutting with a thunk above our heads. Darkness swallowed us as my feet hit the ground. Kieran landed beside me. I reached out tentatively to run my hand over the walls, feeling dirt and roots as thin as hair. The dirt gave way to Kieran’s shoulder.
“Um . . . sorry.”
I could hear his ragged breathing, and my own breath burned in my lungs. There wasn’t much space to maneuver. I shifted away, hit the wall behind me. Shifted again and my hip bumped his. His hand closed over my arm.
“Wait.” His voice was husky. I heard him rummaging. I wondered if I should be worried about Hypnos powder. But it didn’t make sense for him to drug me after he’d helped me get away.
Unless he wanted the bounty for himself.
I was close enough that I should be able to hit some vital organ with my foot or my fist. If he was unconscious while I was under the effects of the Hypnos, he couldn’t take advantage of my hypnotized state. There was a click and I launched myself at him. His arms closed around me, and we hit the wall with enough force to rattle my insides. My teeth cut into the inside of my lip. I tasted blood.
A blue glow from the light stick he’d broken filled the cramped space.
He hadn’t been reaching for Hypnos after all—he’d only been trying to find us a light source in his belt.
“What the hell?” He grunted, rubbing his bruised knee. I was pressed against him, chest to ankle. I struggled, leaning back. I didn’t have any strength left. My angry leap had sapped the very last of it. I sagged a little.
“I thought you were going for the Hypnos powder.”
His eyes were very dark in the weird blue light. His eyebrows nearly snapped together, he was glowering so deeply.
“I’ve been trying to save your life.”
“Um. Thanks?” I tried a smile, then decided on just glowering back. “Look, it was an honest mistake.”
“If you say so.”
He still hadn’t let go of me. When he released his hold, I leaned against the wall, closing my eyes.
“What’s the matter with you?” he asked. I could hear the concern in his voice, under all that irritation. “Are you hurt?”
“Bloodchange.”
“What . . . right now?” He might have just possibly squeaked.
“In about two days, actually. Happy birthday to me.”
“Isn’t it supposed to m
ake you get stronger?”
“Sure,” I said drily. “If it doesn’t kill me first.”
“We can’t stay here.”
“The tunnel leads to another safe room.”
“They won’t stop searching for us. They’ll comb the whole forest.”
“I can’t run anymore,” I said apologetically. “I just can’t. Pull that lever there, by your head.”
He pulled it down and then leaped back out of the way when a gate swung closed, blocking access to the tunnel.
“This way,” I told him, literally dragging my feet. He came up beside me, putting his arm around my waist to help me. “I’m okay,” I muttered.
“You’re practically green. Except for the lovely bloodshot eyes, of course.”
“Oh.” My vanity twinged. I knew it was stupid; I had way bigger problems. But I still didn’t want to look like a haggard, disgusting mess around him. He was warm against me, and I felt chilled and was trembling with it suddenly. The damp of being underground didn’t help. My teeth chattered. I just needed to get to a corner where I could collapse. Kieran half carried me down the passageway. It smelled like mud and green and water, dripping somewhere we couldn’t see. The tunnel widened and then we were in a round chamber with flagstones on the ground and a narrow bed in the back corner. There was a chest I knew was filled with blankets, matches, and various other supplies, including a thermos of blood. There was another gate, locked with an alarm system. The red light blinked like an eye. Kieran helped me to the bed, then stared at the alarm as I leaned over to pull blankets out of the metal chest.
“Can you get that open?”
I shook my head. “The grate you closed in the tunnel and that door there are both automatically wired to stay locked until sunset.” I raised an eyebrow. “I’m sure I don’t have to explain why.”
“I had no idea any of this was down here. It’s like an old-time war bunker.”
“It’s been here for at least a hundred years. It helps us get around and stay out of the sun.” I leaned back on the blankets, yawning. “And since we’re constantly being attacked by snipers and warriors and idiots, I guess it kind of is like war.”