by K. N. Banet
I looked over Raphael, lifting off him. He groaned as he sat up, looking at my face.
“You…”
“Don’t think too hard about it,” I said, swallowing as he realized I had thrown my body over his to protect him. Biological instincts were funny things like that. “Where’s Sinclair?”
“On the road about fifty feet in front of us,” Cassius answered.
“Get moving again—”
I didn’t get to finish that. The fae rammed his SUV into our backend, and the entire vehicle spun again, sliding on the road, debris flying everywhere.
“We need to get out,” Raphael yelled.
“On it,” I snapped as it came to a stop. I forced my door open and staggered out onto the road. I helped Raphael out and checked Carter over once he was next to me. Cassius stood in the road, glaring at the fae in the other SUV.
“Cassius, we’re going to have to fight this out!” I yelled. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, not while trying to protect two people and getting everything out of the deal while Sinclair got nothing. That was why I had avoided it and decided on a getaway instead. I could always hunt Sinclair down after the fact, especially since I had leave to kill him at any point.
Now, I didn’t have much of a choice.
“Let me feed on Raphael. Maybe I can fight him.” Carter was looking at Raphael with a ravenous expression that made me uncomfortable.
“No,” I said, looking around. Sinclair wasn’t in front of us on the pavement like Cassius had said. I pulled the katana from my back and stood ready. Glancing at Cassius out the corner of my eye, I saw he was still waiting on the other fae, ready to fight against his own kind in some kind of grudge match I wanted no part of.
I wasn’t as ready as I thought I would be. Coming in from the darkness off the road, Sinclair slammed me into the side of the SUV, snarling viciously. I screamed as my back hit the metal and glass tore into my back. My grip on the hilt of my katana failed due to the sheer force and pain of the impact. I tried to kick and push the deadly sharp fangs from me, but I knew I was going to fail as they snapped again, grazing the skin of my neck. I decided to bite back as Carter and Raphael struggled to pull Sinclair off me. I sank my fangs into him and depleted the small amount of venom I had been able to replenish since killing the witch. Sinclair roared and dropped me, but even through my double vision, I could tell there were no signs my venom was effective.
Raphael’s blood. He’s immune because he fed on my fucking possible mate, and there goes my most efficient way of killing someone.
Sinclair turned, and I saw a large knife sticking out of his back. Without hesitation, I jumped, grabbing the hilt and wrapped my legs around Sinclair’s waist. I yanked out the blade, ignoring the black blood that poured from the quickly closing wound. Before I could stab the back of the motherfucker’s head, he reached back and grabbed my arm. I couldn’t tell what happened after that but knew he threw me, and I was in for a hard landing. I shifted into my snake form, hoping that would help me, but I wasn’t a cat and didn’t know how to land on my feet. It didn’t help that I didn’t have any.
I bounced off the ground several times before I was able to check if anything was broken. I wiggled and moved, trying to catch my breath before shifting back into my human form. I panted when I was shifted back and looked up at the road. He’d thrown me probably twenty feet and now I watched Carter and Raphael play cat and mouse with him. Raphael was still pale, but he was looking better every second, his eyes red. Beyond the car, I watched Cassius and Tommen duel, their swords clashing as their powers warred. They were trying to bind each other, Cassius trying to shadow step to gain an advantage while Tommen was consistently throwing up shields.
I knew who I needed to help.
I grabbed a throwing knife and tossed, aiming for the vampire’s head. It sliced open the side of his neck. My aim must have been off because I was dizzy.
“Hey, motherfucker!” I called.
Sinclair turned on me and snarled. Every time I saw him, he looked more monstrous, more not vampire, or even remotely human. Raphael’s blood was changing him, and I didn’t understand how or why. Part of me wondered if Sinclair even knew why he was fighting anymore. He wasn’t saying anything. He seemed mindless.
Question to ask tomorrow. What in all the fucking realms did Mygi turn Raphael into that could cause this sort of fucking reaction?
I threw another knife and watched it hit the vampire’s heart to no effect. Sinclair ignored it as if he was now dead to the pain of a blade. Or maybe it was the type of blade. Vampires didn’t have a specific weakness, but I didn’t know about Raphael. He hadn’t mentioned any sensitivity yet.
I threw every single thing I had. Knives and shuriken stuck out of Sinclair ineffectively. The injuries didn’t make him pause, and the venom did nothing. As Sinclair advanced, I walked backward again, not wanting to take my eyes off the beast. I tried to make a large loop to get me back to the road, but Carter and Raphael started talking, and that caught both my and Sinclair’s attention.
“I can fight him!” Carter said. “Please!”
“Fine! Just don’t make me drop the way he did,” Raphael snapped. “Kaliya! Keep him busy!”
“No!” I yelled.
Sinclair spun as the wind brought us the smell of fresh blood, stronger than it had been previously. I ran to get ahead of him as he stalked up on Carter, who was biting down on Raphael’s wrist.
Idiots! He’s not going to appreciate someone munching on his godsdamn snack.
“Stop feeding and fucking hide!” I screamed as Sinclair grabbed the back of my shirt and tossed me aside. “Cassius!” I screamed, trying to stand up and run in time.
I saw my old lover turn, and his eyes go wide. Tommen took the chance to knock him to the ground. Light bindings wrapped around Cassius, and Tommen yanked his hair to force him to watch Sinclair.
I couldn’t help anyone. I was transfixed by Sinclair grabbing Carter’s head and pulling it off Raphael, who he whacked aside. I had nothing else to throw and there was no way for me to get there in time. Sinclair twisted and twisted.
And Carter’s head came off.
I didn’t scream in horror. I didn’t retch. Nothing felt like it was going to come up, and tears didn’t threaten to fall. I watched Sinclair, turned into a bloody fucking monster, rip off the head of a young vampire I had considered a friend.
But I didn’t scream.
I turned for Cassius and Tommen, taking advantage of everyone still transfixed by Carter’s falling body and jumped on Tommen’s back. With a quick snap I broke the fae’s neck and let the body drop, releasing Cassius from his hold.
“Get up. We have a monster to kill,” I snapped.
Cassius’s eyes went wide when he turned to me. I pulled him off the ground to his feet and pointed at Sinclair.
“Focus,” I ordered.
“You…”
Sinclair’s growl interrupted the thought. I saw my katana lying by his feet. He wasn’t looking at Cassius and me. He was stalking Raphael, who was still trying to get up from the pavement where he had landed. I ran for my katana, ignoring how Cassius tried to call me back.
“Bind him!” I roared, grabbing the hilt and slicing across the back of Sinclair’s legs in one motion. The vampire tried to kick me away with a roar, but I rolled away, flicking black blood off my blade. Dark bindings swirled up and grabbed Sinclair’s ankles and wrists. I launched myself at him and found myself swatted out of the air like a fly, hitting the wrecked SUV. My vision went black for a moment, ringing erupted in my ears, and my body hurt. I was certain bones were broken. I didn’t know if I could feel my legs.
A roar came over me, and two things crashed together. I tried to stand and found someone to grab.
“Kaliya, you need to get up!” Cassius yelled desperately. “Please!”
I struggled to my feet, blinking several times. My vision came back slowly as I stumbled around, Cassius pulling me.
“What�
��”
“Raphael decided he was healed enough to join the fight,” Cassius whispered. “We can talk about it later.”
I turned to see the two men brawling. Sinclair and Raphael, throwing punches and grappling. Raphael still had the size advantage, his face nearly covered in black, and it was still growing down his neck. Every vein on Sinclair’s skin was black. The only difference I saw between them was that Raphael didn’t seem so mindless, so monstrous. He had some control.
Sinclair’s mind was long gone.
I wonder if this is what he wanted, or if he didn’t know it was going to happen.
“You have to help,” I said. “Help Raphael.” I tried to push Cassius back toward the fight, but he didn’t budge.
“You’re bleeding from your ears, Kaliya. I’m not leaving you.”
A chorus of roars and a large crash took our attention off each other and back to the fight. Raphael had been thrown into one of the black SUVs. Sinclair ran for him, and my heart raced.
“Go for the head!” I screamed, hoping Raphael heard me, hoping he understood. “Cassius, bind Sinclair again!”
“I’m getting weaker by the minute, and he’s breaking out in seconds,” Cassius snapped. “You know I can’t use magic for extended periods in this realm.”
“Try!” I staggered away from him to find my sword. Sinclair and Raphael were beating on each other again, and this time, when I looked at them, I was certain Sinclair was getting bigger. He’d been a fit man but not bulky, only my height. He looked like he was several inches taller now and had been hitting the gym for several hours a night.
Dark bindings tried to grab Sinclair, but Raphael accidentally tossed the vampire out of them.
“Hold him!” Cassius roared. “Hold him still!”
I ran toward the fight as Raphael heard Cassius and understood. He struggled to push Sinclair to the ground, and the dark bindings were taut, straining to hold the vampire. I rushed in, swinging my katana over my head.
I brought it down on Sinclair’s neck. It took three swings.
But eventually, Sinclair’s head rolled away, and the body sagged. Cassius ran up next and pulled a matchbook from his pocket, striking three at the same time and threw them on Sinclair’s body. Raphael jumped away and fell as the vampire’s body ignited into flames.
Realizing what needed to be done, I grabbed Sinclair’s hair and tossed it into the inferno.
“No one can know,” I said softly. I wobbled on my feet and fell on my ass, groaning in pain. I tried to continue talking, knowing I needed to say something important. “We can’t tell anyone what Raphael’s blood does to vampires. They’ll all want him.”
“Agreed,” Cassius said, panting. “Could you imagine if that was a more powerful vampire? We wouldn’t have been able to match him.”
I looked back and saw Carter’s body. Wherever his head went, I didn’t know, but there was his body.
“We weren’t able to match him,” I whispered. “We weren’t able to match him at all.”
He’s dead, and it’s all my fault.
I shoved the thought down and tried to blank out the feelings flying through me. Not now. Not yet. The moment I knew I was safe, I would let those thoughts come.
“You know what this means, right?” Cassius looked at me, then Raphael. “He said Mygi told him about your blood. They must have experimented with this already. They knew what they were getting into, telling Sinclair about it.”
“Maybe they thought they could…clean up? I don’t know,” I said, rubbing my head. “I don’t understand anything anymore.”
“I have a feeling we’re never going to really understand,” Cassius said softly, watching the blaze now. “He lost his mind. Raphael’s blood turned him into a mindless beast.”
“How not normal is that?” Raphael asked, falling onto his back. I could see his chest rise and fall with exhaustion.
“Unheard of,” I answered. “If he fed off Cassius or me, he would have just been more powerful, harder to handle but still of his mind. The power would have faded as he needed to heal and shit. Your blood seemed to turn him into a meaner version of you. That…” I shook my head and winced at the pain. “Are you okay?” I asked, trying to ignore my own pain.
“I’ll live. I don’t know. I saw you hit the SUV, and he was going to crush you or something, and I knew I had to…stop it.” He sighed. “Too bad I couldn’t stop him from killing Carter. I’m so sorry, Kaliya, Cassius.”
“We’ll figure it out,” Cassius said gently. “It’s no one’s fault he died. Kaliya’s plan could have worked. None of us could have foreseen…” He waved a hand at the fire.
I wobbled and nearly fell over. I touched my side and groaned, feeling the blood there.
“Cassius, how are we going to get home?”
He turned to me. I think he paled. Raphael sat up, his eyes going wide.
“Jesus,” the very-not-human gasped. “She needs a hospital.”
“I have service,” Cassius said, coming to my side. “Kaliya, hold on, and someone will get to us. Okay?”
“Yup. I’ve been more beat up,” I said, but my eyes didn’t want to stay open. I wanted a nap—a very long nap. “Tell when me the Tribunal gets here to reprimand us for the mess.”
“Okay,” Cassius promised.
“Don’t let her fall asleep!” Raphael cut in, moving toward me.
“She’ll be fine.”
I didn’t care to hear them argue, so I let my eyes close and let the blissful dark pull me away from the pain.
29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Waking up to darkness, I sat up slowly, groaning at the dull ache in literally every part of my body. I didn’t freak out. I knew where I was. I remembered everything. There was nothing to be freaked out about.
Everything had gone sideways with Sinclair, and now I was in my room at Cassius’s house. Raphael and Cassius made it out with me. Carter…didn’t.
That sent a sharp pain to my chest. I hadn’t grieved when it happened. I had seen heads ripped off bodies and had been able to disassociate at the moment. Now, it sank in, and tears flooded my eyes. I had known while Sinclair burned, that this moment was coming. As I looked at Carter’s body, I had known.
It still hit harder than I was prepared for.
All my fault. All my fault. All my fault.
The door creaked open, and I didn’t look up, curling my arms over my head to hide my tears.
All my fault. All my fault. All my fault.
“Kaliya, it wasn’t your fault,” Cassius whispered.
It’s always my fault.
I looked up and wiped my eyes with the back of my bandaged arm.
“He would have never—”
“No, he wouldn’t have been involved if not for you, but Sinclair got ahold of your phone. There was a chance he could have targeted anyone in your address book. Your plan to get everyone out was a good one, Kaliya. His death was…”
“My fault,” I whispered harshly. “It’s always my fault. Everyone I go near gets hurt. Look at Paden. Look at you. Look at my family.”
Guilt caused me to stop as a sob wracked my body.
It was always like this. Obsession drove me, guided me, and every time it happened, someone got hurt or killed. This time it was Paden and Carter.
And yet, I knew if something else showed up that might lead me to my family’s killers, I would do it all over again.
“Kaliya…There’s nothing I can say that will make you feel any better. What I can say is the healers promised you would be awake at this time for the Tribunal. They had questions for both of us, and a judgment needs to be made about the situation between Raphael and Mygi Pharmaceuticals. Mygi also needs to answer for Carter’s death because, in the end, it’s their fault. You were justified, going after and securing Raphael because they made a bounty saying he was human. They decided to hire Sinclair, and it was that monster who killed him. No one blames you, except maybe Imani.”
I cringed at the name of the Phoenix vampire Mistress. She was never going to forgive me for this one.
Then another realization hit me.
“She should have been protecting him better,” I mumbled. “He was a member of her nest. Where the fuck was she? She knew the meeting place to get Carter back. Why didn’t she send us any backup?” And I was never going to forgive her for that either. Carter had been one of her nest and she had failed him too.
“I don’t know,” Cassius answered. “I’m certain we can get those sorts of answers at the meetings, which we will be in all night.”
“Fuck. I need to shower,” I said, pushing the sheet back. Looking down, I realized I was naked. Bruises covered my body, but nothing felt broken or maimed. I had feeling in my toes, and my head didn’t pound like someone was hitting it with a hammer.
“No, you don’t. The last healer did a cleaning spell on you,” he said gently. “A brownie with a bit of medical training.”
“Fantastic.” I really hated that. I licked my lips, wondering if the scents were still in the room. Sure enough, three fae, other than Cassius, had been through, along with a variety of other species. A werewolf and a werecat were the two that stood out. “Who all came in here?”
“A few of the Tribunal came to look in on you. They sent someone to make a door to their chambers in my house for this to go smoothly.”
“How long have I been out?” I demanded.
He concentrated for a moment, and I waited patiently on the answer.
“About twenty hours. It’s nine. You took the most damage. I just needed to sleep in my chambers to regain my strength.” I had figured as much. Cassius’s room was a pocket dimension that gave him access to his family home in one of the fae realms. For the few fae like him, it was important to have that connection. “Raphael ate through every red meat kept in my kitchen, much to Terry’s dismay, then he was back to normal. You were the one tossed around by Sinclair the most without the healing abilities to handle it.”
“I was also the most skilled. You decided to play footsie with the other fae. Tommen,” I bit out.
