He stood up and then winced when I flinched, jumping back against the heat of Cian’s body. Jesse didn’t speak to me. Instead, he let his gaze drift down my body before they lifted to settle on my face.
“Isa,” he uttered thickly, his fangs noticeable as he spoke.
I stared at him, noting the differences that had taken over his features. Black eyes had replaced the dull brown. It happened with newly turned vampires, unable to control their hunger. His hair was thicker, skin utterly flawless and beautiful. Jesse had never been beautiful; rugged, masculine, but not beautiful.
“It’s me, Isa,” he continued as I simply stared at him with tears streaming down my face. I couldn’t stop the pain that sliced through me. The reality of what he was, and that his eyes danced between black and red as the bloodlust fought for control.
“I’m done,” I whispered as I stepped backwards, needing to get away from him now. I turned, but Cian held me, turning me back to Jesse, capturing my chin as he forced me to take in the monster who had replaced my best fucking friend. “No, it’s not him!” I shouted, and then with inhuman speed, Jesse was there, touching my face. “Stop it!”
“It’s me, the same kid who used to follow you everywhere. The one you gave all your sweets to because you thought I was too skinny. Remember, I used to pretend to be hungry so that you’d feed me your food. You always saved the potatoes for me and asked for extra gravy because I loved it. When we moved out of the compound, it was because I needed the space, and yet you followed me because we are a team. Whatever comes, we handle it together. You and me, Isa—you and me,” he said, rushing his words together as he grazed his palm over my cheek even though I backed away from him, or tried to, with Cian holding me in his arms. “Whatever comes, whatever happens, it’s us against them, remember? This isn’t my end, it’s a new beginning. I’m still here.”
“You died,” I whispered harshly. “I watched you die. I watched you murder women as you fed from them. You are not him, because he would never murder women! My best friend fought for the weak, he didn’t eat them! My best friend marched for women’s rights, he didn’t eat them and enjoy it!” I hissed as I dropped to the floor, swiping my leg out as I took both men to the floor effortlessly. I lunged for Jesse, wrapping the chain around him as I bashed his head against the floor.
I’d made him a promise, to never leave him an undead monster. It was something the vampires enjoyed doing to hunters, turning them into what they were so other hunters could hunt their own friends down. I sobbed as I assaulted him, smashing his head against the cement floor until I was ripped off of him and pushed against the wall. I closed my eyes as angry tears slipped from my eyes, my body jerking as the emotion violently shook through me. Cian’s forearm held me in place as sobs escaped from me.
“Jesus, Isa,” Cian growled as the door opened and men flooded the room. Cian held me against the wall until it was cleared and then once it was, he stepped away from me. His angry stare burned into mine as he struggled to calm his anger as I sank to the floor, placing my head against my knees. “Just because he changed what he is and what he eats, doesn’t mean he is nae the same lad who ye loved.”
“This is your fault.”
“Aye, I changed him into a monster, and gave him a new outlook on life,” he agreed as he sat beside me. I turned, staring at him through my lashes without lifting my head.
The room reeked of blood, a pool of it covered the floor, and my fingers bit into the flesh of my knees as I fought against the rage and emotions of killing my best friend. “Is he…did he die?”
“He’s already dead,” he announced. “Did ye ruin his afterlife? Nae, children born o’ my blood are stronger than normal vampires. He will have a hell o’ a headache, I’m sure.”
“I promised him that I would never leave him turned or undead. I made a vow to end him before he became one of you,” I admitted barely above a whispered breath as my nails bit into my flesh, tearing it as I allowed the pain to soothe me.
“He does nae want tae die now, ye seen that. Ye were being selfish, needing tae fix what ye think ye failed him on. Do nae put that on him, nae without speaking tae him first,” he growled huskily as he grabbed my hands, forcing me to stop puncturing my flesh. “I’ve spent time with him, and he is nae against living as one o’ us.”
“Says you, of oh so many lies? Do you think I am simpleminded? I assure you, I am not. I hold the highest intelligence of any being in the history of the hunters I have trained with. I am skilled in murder and killing any creature who thinks to slaughter innocent beings. I am not weak, Cian. I am not buying the shit you’re selling, so just stop.”
“That makes the next part of this a little easier tae stomach,” he said as he released my hands as the doors opened. I pushed up off of the floor and stared down the three vampires that entered the room. “They’re going tae take ye tae the medical ward and place a device at the back o’ yer neck. If ye stray from the plan, I will kill ye with a click of the button that controls the device attached tae yer spine. Be a good girl, and don’t fight it.”
“You’re insane!” I growled as I watched the vampires closing in around me.
“Nae, nae insane,” he hissed. “I will nae allow them tae rape our women, or tae experiment on them. Yer people have my wee sister, and one way or another, I will get her back. Take her.”
Chapter 9
Cian
I watched her eyes flaring with horror as my words registered, and then with determination as she moved into a fighting stance, planning to fight off the men, even though she was outnumbered and bound. Her nostrils flared as her green eyes burned, and even as her panic ignited, the siren within her slept. Three punches deftly found their target, her tiny foot kicked a third, and then James locked her into a bear hug as Liam pushed the sedative into her neck.
She was a wee fighter, one who wasn’t afraid to die for what she thought was right. I watched as they brought in the gurney and placed her onto it. For all her faults, she made up for it with fire and loyalty.
“I want her blood tested,” I said as we started down the back corridor. “I want tae know what they’ve been drugging her with. Her blood needs tae be tested against the sample from Flora, the siren monarchy. Once the device has been placed, she is tae be returned tae me room. Her blood is nae tae be tasted by anyone else, ye understand?” I demanded as I stopped them as they opened the operating room doors.
“You need to tell us something?” Lars asked, scratching his dark head as he stared at me.
“She’s my mate,” I admitted as I pushed her silver hair away from her face and let my knuckle brush against the smoothness of her cheek. I heard their sharp intake of breaths, their genuine uncomfortable emotion as it registered just how fucked I was in their minds. I leaned down, inhaling the unique scent of plumeria that clung to her flesh. Pressing a kiss to her forehead, I pulled back, nodding to the surgeon, who pushed the bed with her on it into the sterile operating room.
“The boy, he wishes to speak to you,” Liam said, crossing his heavily tattooed arms over his chest and waiting for orders.
“Bring him into the observation room,” I muttered as I started towards it, needing to be sure she survived surgery. The pull to her was strong, too strong to ignore with her blood still rushing through my system. The only way to escape the mating call was to kill her or let it play out and see what came of it.
Inside the observation room, I watched as they stretched her arms out, cuffing them onto the operating table. An oxygen mask was placed over her nose and mouth as others took blood and placed an IV into her arm. Monitors beeped and kept track of her vitals, not that I needed them to feel her heart beating, since mine mirrored hers in perfect harmony.
The door opened behind me, and I heard his hiss exploding from him as he took in the sight of Isadora naked from the waist up as they worked on her.
“What the hell did
you do to her?” he demanded.
“Sit down,” I growled as I touched the pads of my fingers together and brought them up to my lips as I watched them making quick work of what needed to be done.
“She didn’t mean it,” he continued.
“Make nae mistake, lad, she meant tae bash ye fucking head into that floor.”
“Not as you think she did, she is trying to keep her end of an agreement we made as teenagers. Bloody fucking children that didn’t know any better,” he argued.
“Sit the fuck down and listen tae me,” I snapped and watched as he did as he was told. He was young, emotionally charged with the change rushing through him. He was also in love with my mate, even if he’d never fucking admitted it to himself. “When she is recovered from the surgery, ye are going to tell her everything.”
“Everything?” he countered, his black eyes watching me carefully.
“Ye will tell her of what ye have been doing behind her back. How ye ‘ave been capturing immortals that the hunters study and dissect them tae learn what their weaknesses are, and whatever else they are doing tae them. Ye will make her need tae go into that place and want tae save them. She is, after all, warrior enough tae escape that hell.”
“It will hurt her more than you know, if she knows what I have done.”
“How long ‘ave ye been in love with her, lad?” I asked, turning my heavy stare to hold his.
His eyes flashed red as he turned away, staring at her as they flipped her onto her stomach to prep her spine for the implant. He shook his head as genuine pain flashed through his emotions, something the wolf scented readily as weakness.
“I’m not in love with Isadora, not like you think. We had no family, only the one we were taken into. Even then, she wouldn’t allow anyone to get close to her but me,” he explained as I listened, sensing the lie he told even though he didn’t realize it as such. “She’s my family. Telling her that I have been helping them to collect immortals like her for them to cut them open to see what is inside of them, it will break her apart.”
“I’m sending her back tae them. Ye understand that, aye? Fer her tae do what I need, she has tae ken the truth. She has tae ken what she is looking fer, and when she is finished helping me, she will either be mine or dead. That choice is hers tae make.”
“You plan to kill her?” he snapped as he stood up, his hands fisted at his sides as he took in my words.
I didn’t move, didn’t turn my gaze away from where they’d slit her flesh apart to place the tracking device and electrocution mechanism. “She’s my mate, the bride my blood chose. If she can nae accept it, I ‘ave nae other choice but tae end her life.”
“Mates are rare, how can you be certain she is yours?”
“I tasted her twice, and I ken what she is tae me. I will nae allow her tae be used against me. Everything inside of me would die tae keep her safe, and if my enemies discovered her, she would be torn apart tae make a statement. That is something I will nae allow tae happen, nae tae her or tae me. Now, tell me what she is like, what does she like.”
“Long walks on sandy beaches that end in the death of anyone who feeds on humans. Basically, her version of a date night is murder with a movie and popcorn afterwards.”
“She is more than a hunter, she’s a woman. I want tae ken what she craves, what she wants, and ye will help me.”
“Isa is beautiful inside and out,” he sighed as he sat down, watching as the surgeons worked the device into her spine. “She enjoys corny movies, old ones. Not so much anything new or remade. She loves popcorn and hates sweets. She cries at the end of movies, not because they’re sad, but because it’s just the end of it. She hates never knowing what else has happened to them, because it is just the end. She is fierce and loyal, unlike anyone else I’ve ever met or probably ever will. The hunters use her, sending her out to test her limits, even on missions we shouldn’t have survived. I’ve tried to tell her that she is in danger among them, but she won’t hear it. Isa needs to believe there is good in the world, and that what she does is making a difference. She visits the cemetery every night, staring at one grave marker that holds no name, only a number. I don’t know how she knows it, but I believe it is her father’s from what I found.”
“Sirens are drawn tae their own bloodline. She may not ken who it is, but she feels a pull tae him if that is indeed who is buried there. What is in the building where ye leave the creatures ye obtain fer the hunters?”
“I don’t know, I’ve never been allowed past the gates.”
“What are their defenses like?” I asked, changing tactics.
“Dogs guard the premises, in the parking lot, or anywhere that has a fence, there will be dogs. Armed men with rings like the man who takes possession of the immortals are on the fingers of the guards. They carry weapons that rapidly fire, better ones than we are issued when we graduate to hunter. Other than that, I can’t tell you much. They block us at the door, taking the target from us.”
“Ye took my sister, Adelaide tae them,” I hissed. “Ye had nae knowledge o’ what they would do tae her, and ye handed a wee lass over tae monsters. I should rip yer fucking head from yer shoulders, ye ken that, aye?”
“You and us, Cian, it is war. You turn us and send us back to the hunters, knowing they murder us. We take your people and murder them, but turning them over to whomever these men are? That’s not something I enjoyed doing. I hated not telling Isadora what was happening, because she’s one of them. It made me see creatures like her in a new light, and handing over your sister, if I hadn’t been watched through the entire thing, I would have let her go. She was the first one captured, and those men, they watched our team the entire time, and we knew it. I can’t undo what I did, but I can help you fix it.”
“Nae, ye can nae help us. She can, though, she is created tae bring men tae their knees.”
“What are they putting into her spine?” he asked as panic erupted in his tone.
“A tracking device which also houses an electrocution mechanism in case she betrays me.”
“To kill her?” he asked.
“Nae, but she will nae ken that. She will be told that it can explode, leaving her spine severed. Ye will nae tell her otherwise. When she wakes from this, ye will tell her what ye ‘ave done, and ye will tell her everything ye ken aboot it.”
“And she will hate me for it.”
“Ye ken what ye did was wrong. Ye had one o’ the women they planned tae dissect under yer own roof and yet ye still hunted them down like animals. Ye returned tae her every night with a lie ready on yer tongue, and I ken this because I stood in the shadows of her room as ye watched her sleep with guilt oozing from yer pores. Ye brought her tae me, because ye kenned I could save her, Jesse. Ye made me into the bad guy by lying tae her. They told ye tae bring her in, and ye called me with yer location. Don’t go getting cold feet on me now. Ye brokered this deal tae protect her, with the promise that ye were made immortal tae never leave her side. I held up my end o’ the deal, now ye will hold up yours. She will be captured, and when they take her into that place of death, we will be there tae get her oot. The only way in is tae get someone inside who wants us there. Isa can nae ken that what is inside her spine can be tracked. She needs tae think her life is at stake.”
A knock sounded on the two-way mirror, and I narrowed my gaze on the doctor who pushed his finger against the speaker. “I have her results back. She is a 99.9% match to Flora, meaning her human father added basically nothing to her blood. Also, the drugs they administered, they have either burned out, or she has been given a placebo. There’s nothing in her system that we didn’t administer ourselves. There’s a problem, though, the moment I registered her DNA into the system, her results were pinged from multiple people. The council has been notified and is on their way here. Whatever you’re planning to do, Cian, do it fast. You have the Queen of the Sirens on my operatin
g table, and they will not be kind about her misuse at our hands.”
Chapter 10
Isadora
I awoke to pain that sliced up and down my spine, and as I opened my mouth to scream, something touched over my mouth, holding the scream in as eyes filled with golden flecks stared down at me. I tried to move, and those eyes lifted to someone who spoke next to the bed, and then something was injected into my arm, and I relaxed against the hand that had contained my scream.
I sighed heavily as the pain lessened, and the body against mine scooted beside me, instead of on top of me. I curled into him, stealing his inhuman warmth as a shiver slid through me. I could hear people moving around us, touching me as monitors beeped and the room seemed to go in and out with bouts of darkness as I inhaled the male who held me.
“You smell so good,” I muttered, sounding drunk.
“You’re drugged, Isa,” he chuckled.
“My nose itches,” I growled as I tried lifting my hand, only to find it covered in a glove. His lips touched my nose, and I moved it over them, needing it to be rougher to ease the incessant itching. I moaned as he placed his unshaven chin there and the world settled as the itching ceased. “So good,” I uttered huskily.
“Ye need tae hold ye bonnie arse still, woman,” he growled huskily as his arms tightened around me.
“I could smell you all day long,” I whispered as my nose pushed against his throat. He smelled woodsy, the masculinity that oozed from him tickling my senses as I opened my mouth, tasting him to see if he tasted as good as he smelled. I felt him tensing against my hold, his throat bobbing as my lips closed against his heated flesh. “You don’t taste like you smell.”
“Woman, yer supposed tae be resting and if ye keep tasting me, it will be the last thing ye are doing.”
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