by Iris Walker
Zane hooked his arm around hers, pulling her back. He’d gotten another bottle, and now he smiled at her. “What do they care about you, huh? They’ve got it handled. We have two more hours until midnight, and then it’ll be all work and no play.”
She raised an eyebrow, contemplating whether or not to smash his face in. He grinned even wider, tipping the bottle up and taking a long swig before passing it to her. She finally smirked and took the bottle. “A little longer.”
Zane’s eyes glinted in the firelight. “Was that a smile?”
“Hey,” she warned lightly.
“I didn’t think you could smile. I thought it was all honor and duty and skull crushing.”
“I smile all the time. But only around funny people, so maybe that’s why you never saw it.”
Zane clutched at his heart, pretending to fall over a log his vampire compatriots had dragged over and were using as a bench. Lucidia rolled her eyes at him, taking another deep swig from the bottle before sinking to the ground, leaning against the log, and watching the fire. She held her hand in the familiar wolf-signal, tapping her thumb to her forehead. “A friend of the pack is a friend of mine,” she murmured, a final goodbye to those that Fausta had dragged across the country to fight her battles for her. When she felt eyes on her, she turned to Zane. “Problem?”
“Just admiration,” he said with a crooked grin.
Lucidia watched the firelight dance and bumped her shoulder against his. “Thank you, for showing up. We’ve got shit odds to begin with, but… seeing you all was a morale boost, to say the least.”
Zane nodded to her, his smile softening. “You called.”
“But you didn’t have to answer.”
“Yeah, we did,” Zane said.
“You could’ve bailed, like a lot of others did. Could’ve defected, could’ve-”
“Gone to House Prior?” he interjected.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Your eyes tell it all,” he said with a smirk. “House Prior wasn’t about cutting ties, it was about a better future for all of us. It was about trying something, about seeing if we could coexist.”
“And what’d you learn?”
“You talk as though it’s done.”
“I thought you said Landon’s dead,” she pointed out, taking another gulp and passing the bottle to him.
“Landon’s gone, but the idea that he started won’t ever die. It’s a spark that landed on the brush and caught wind. Whether or not I’m a part of it, I’ve no doubts it’ll begin to blaze.”
“That’s very profound,” she said, raising an eyebrow.
“I told you I grew up during the Napoleonic wars. Revolution was kind of in style back then. I’m born and bred on the stuff.”
A slight smile touched her lips as she pondered this, wondering what he was like running around bloody streets, ditching cannon-fire and watching public beheadings. After a long silence, Lucidia spoke softly. “I was seventeen when World War I broke out. Thousands of vampire refugees from Europe fled, or holed up in their underground fortresses. I remember the older strongbloods coming back from missions and bringing newspapers, passing them around the commons. When we read about the horrific things that were happening, the machine guns, the mustard gas, I was… well, I was confused. I couldn’t help but think: what do the humans have to fight about? Why would they turn against each other like that and kill so many people that are on their own side?”
“That’s very… well, naïve,” he said with a soft smile.
“Yeah, I was an idiot back then,” Lucidia muttered lightly. “But I couldn’t wrap my head around the humans being unique, being different, or having their own squabbles, because it was always us or them. I guess I thought that they were all just sort of one… thing, with similar thoughts and beliefs. But it wasn’t until the WWI and WWII that I realized, we’re no better than them. In fact, we’re probably more alike than we are different.”
“I’d wager you’re right,” he said, tilting the bottle up.
“Landon Prior had a good vision,” Lucidia said quietly. “And just for the record, I wished it would have stuck.”
“Who says it won’t? A momentary hiccup won’t stop the train of civil unrest.”
She flashed him a smile. “Touché.”
Zane laughed softly. “You speak French like an American.”
“I don’t speak French at all, dumbass, it’s a common saying,” she threw back, punching him in the arm.
More time passed, minutes ticking by, minutes that brought them closer to midnight. And now, even though the effects wouldn’t last very long at all, she was thoroughly buzzed. Judging by the drowsy, humored look in his eyes, he was too. The fire died down, and she hauled herself up, stumbling over to the tree line for firewood. A moment later, she heard steps at her side and quirked an eyebrow. “Worried I won’t be able to carry it on my own?”
“Not at all, I just came to watch you bend over,” he said with a smile.
“How romantic,” she muttered, shaking her head.
“If Lucidia Draxos wanted romance, she wouldn’t be zipped up to the ears in Kevlar,” Zane said with a smirk. “No… I don’t think romance does it for you.”
“Yeah? How would you know?” she threw back, narrowing her eyes at him from the shadowed woods.
He took a step towards her, and then another, until he was less than an inch away, their eyes locked in a battle of wills. A smile crept up on Zane’s lips. “Takes one to know one,” he whispered, a second before she felt his grip encircling her arms.
He shoved her up against the tree so hard it splintered against her. “Hey!” she snapped. Heat bloomed out across her back, and she felt the bruises form and then recede as her body healed.
Zane advanced, once again less than an inch from her. “I wonder… When was the last time you had a real man?” She glared at him, her breath pounding through her chest, staring into those burning red eyes. Zane lifted a hand, brushing the hair from her face. “A man that won’t break…” he said, kissing her chin, her jaw, moving to her neck. “A man that can tell exactly what makes you tick, what gets under your skin…”
Lucidia felt her anger flare, and let her abilities surface, blazing red against the trees, a sinister glow. With all of her force, she shoved Zane off of her, vaulting him back into another tree, five feet away. He thudded against it hard enough to crack ribs. Fifty feet up, the branches quaked, sending leaves and needles down like ash. He rose slowly, the same cocky glint in his eyes, and his lip curved into a smile. “You want to hit me?” he asked, his voice husky and deep, his steps crunching softly against the forest floor as he moved towards her. “Go ahead.” He came up to her now, and she didn’t move, neither retreating nor advancing. His lips pressed against her ear, and she could feel his smile. “But fair warning, I’ll hit you back,” he said, his hand wrapping around her throat, just as he pulled her down, slamming her against the forest floor and pinning her there, on top of her, grinding against her. She let out a growl of frustration, and used her abilities, throwing herself against him with a smooth, rolling motion, coming up on top, her hands gripping his wrists. His smile only widened as he broke the hold and repeated her motion, until he was on top once more. “Two can play at that game, love,” he whispered lightly.
Lucidia wrenched her arm free, shoving it between his legs and gripping him hard, forcing him back. Zane stiffened, a guttural noise coming from his throat, as he lifted both hands up and moved back. Lucidia’s mouth curved up in a wicked grin and she pushed, until he was pressed against a tree, his legs out in front of him, completely vulnerable and at her mercy. “Gotcha,” she whispered in triumph, her eyes drilling into his, searching for her victory. Instead, she saw raw desire, and power that rivaled hers. Her breath came in short pants, hot and moist against the crisp fall air, the fire inside of her building with each tense second. It only took her a moment to realize she was no longer gripping him with force, but holding him, feeling h
im, and then she knew the battle was lost.
He pulled her by her wrists, yanking her on top of him, and she had no qualms about it. Her muscular legs gripped him, digging into the dirt as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer, crushing their lips together. Lucidia let her lips part, feeling his cool tongue explore her mouth, pressing against her, and she returned, delving deeper and gripping him. An elongated fang, razor sharp, caught her lower lip and she inhaled sharply, itchy pain flickering for a moment before it had already started healing. She pulled back, her fierce purple eyes glaring at him through the darkness. A breathy laugh escaped his lips as he looked at her with pure desire. “Comes with the territory, Lucie.”
“Don’t call me that,” she said, her eyes trailing down to his lips, a second before she returned his kiss, pulling his lower lip and sinking her teeth into it. A growl rumbled from Zane’s chest, and he shoved her away, knocking her backwards. Amateur move, Lucidia thought, using the momentum to roll and land on her feet, a half-crouch, one hand scraping the leaves as she brought her eyes up to the vampire. “Two can play at that game, love,” she mocked.
He grinned, faking her out, finding himself evenly matched. “Touché. What do I call you, then?” he asked, settling into a relaxed fighting stance of his own.
“Lucidia works well,” she said with a sly grin.
“Hmm,” he hummed, circling her with a devious smirk. “Too long.”
“That’s not a problem you have, is it?” she jabbed lightly.
He let out a clipped laugh before darting towards her. In an instant, he was on her again, and Lucidia felt the rough tree at her back as he shoved her upwards, scraping her until her tiptoes dusted the ground. His red eyes glowed in the night, burning into her as she wrapped one arm around his shoulders, across his back, and pulled herself closer to him until they melded like puzzle pieces. She lifted her right leg, hugging it around him, feeling the length of him against her. “You tell me,” he breathed, kissing her neck roughly.
Lucidia let the back of her head fall against the spongy bark, her lips parting as his moved across her shoulder, her collarbone. His hands slid down, tightening against the curve of her ass, until he ripped her leggings down, pulling her shoes and pants off in one movement. A smile spread on her face, and he dropped her, stepping back and unbuttoning his pants quickly, grunting in frustration as he nearly ripped them in half trying to get them off. When he’d finally succeeded, he turned his expectant gaze back to her. He hadn’t noticed that she’d unzipped her thin base layer, letting the sides hang against her, baring herself to him as she leaned back against the tree with an intent smile.
“Lord help me,” Zane murmured, drinking her in with his eyes and crashing up against her, lifting her with such force that the tree shuddered above them. Heat spilled out of her, nearly burning against the frigid night, colliding with him as he danced at her entrance for a moment, his arms tightening around her. Lucidia’s breath rushed in short gasps, thick with passion, until his upper lip curved up and he thrust inside of her. A moan escaped her lips and she gripped him even tighter, harder than she could with others, with Todd, or any other blood slave, or even a strongblood. She gripped him hard enough to break bone. And he returned it, bruising her, digging his fingers into her flesh, grinding into her harder than she’d ever had before.
Zane pulled his hand back, brushing her breast, moving further, until he pressed against her core, and sent another spark of fire racing through her. “Ladies first,” he whispered, smiling against her lips, flicking his tongue against the ridge of her teeth. A breathy moan escaped her as he circled slowly, building the pressure and moving with controlled thrusts until they both found their release. Zane bowed his head against her shoulder, cool breath slipping across her as they both came down from the exhilaration, until finally, he eased her down and stepped back.
“Jesus,” Lucidia breathed.
A satisfied smile spread across Zane’s lips as he tilted his face upward, eyes closed. “Now, I can die in battle.”
Lucidia grinned, taking a moment to catch her breath before zipping up her shirt and looking for the rest of her clothes in the crisp woods. “You’re a drama queen.”
“Takes one to know one, L,” he muttered with his signature smirk.
Chapter 14 Gifts
Robin
Robin paced back and forth, walking through the main hallway of the catacombs. The whole space was claustrophobic, utterly oppressive. She wasn’t sure how far underground they were, but it was deep enough for the air to smell like dust and mildew. Even in the warm torchlight, she could see that her skin had lost its soft golden sheen, that it now looked pale, nearly translucent. As another wave of exhaustion rolled over her, Robin knew that she needed energy and she needed it now. She tilted her gaze upward and searched the cracks in the stones. After a few moments, she listened to Reykon’s steady gait, walking over to her. “What’s the verdict?” she asked, letting him wrap his arms around her and rest his chin on her shoulder.
“Darian will be here soon. Fausta’s declared war by sunset tomorrow, so we have an hour to do whatever we want until everyone meets to prepare.”
Adrenaline sparked in her chest at the thought of war. “Seriously?”
“Yeah,” he muttered, squeezing her tighter.
“I didn’t know it would happen so quickly.”
“They tend to creep up on you, sieges and battles,” he muttered, shaking his head.
Robin turned in his arms, facing him. “Tycho said that you were the key to winning this… he said that it had to do with Reed.”
Reykon’s lips pressed into a thin line. “Yes, he did.”
“Do you know what he meant by that?”
Reykon nodded.
“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked, searching his dark eyes, full of anguish and haunting memories.
He paused for a moment, looking at the stones past her, or maybe something else, far more distant. After a short silence, his gaze turned downward. “Reed had a gut feeling, and I ignored it. I pushed forward when I shouldn’t have, and it got him killed. He was my best friend.”
“Rey,” she whispered. “I’m sorry.”
“What’s to be sorry about?”
She scowled at him, reaching her hands around his neck and forcing his face to hers. “I’m sorry that you were just a kid when you were forced into protecting an entire castle for a power-hungry vampire. I’m sorry that you were put in that position, that it all rested on you, that Magnus sent you two out to find supplies because you were expendable. I’m sorry that you two were even there in the first place.”
Something flickered across his gaze, and he pulled her close, embracing her and melding their two forms together. “Thank you.”
Robin breathed the scent of him in, gripping him tightly, feeling his body against hers. After an eternity spent hanging there, shrouded in each other’s holds, Robin pulled back and put her hand against his cheek. “You are the smartest person on the planet, and it was your gut instincts that brought you to me, against all odds. Whatever happened with Reed, whatever lapse in judgement you had, trust yourself, Rey.”
“It’s not me I’m worried about,” he said softly.
“What do you mean?”
“Let’s say I get the feeling we’re going the wrong way, we’re making a mistake. The vampires won’t listen to me. Most of them already want Darian’s head on a pike for even bringing us into the stronghold.”
“Then you make them listen, Reykon.”
His eyebrows pulled together slightly.
“When I saw you bow down to Cain, that first time he ever touched me, I was in shock. I’d seen you take down wolves, I’d seen you in the thick of a fight, and I thought, ‘what the hell is he doing? Why isn’t he fighting back?’. I couldn’t help but wonder if Cain knew who he was talking to. I was so pissed that you let me go, that you let him have me, because I’d seen what you were capable of.” She felt his shoulders tense, his
muscles stiffening at the memory, and she cupped his face with her other hand, pulling him so that their foreheads touched. “You were born under them, and I get it, but it’s just like Darian said: if they think they’re stronger than you, they’ll push. You have to stand up to them. You have to put them in their place, because if you don’t, they’ll ignore what you have to say and they’ll lose the battle before it’s even started.”
He nodded, his eyes closed, his arms tightening around her.
“You deserve to be the leader of this fight, Reykon. There’s not a single person that deserves it more than you. Not Darian, not Hugo, and not Ezra. It’s you. I don’t care what Magnus or the others have told you your whole lives, I don’t care how many times it’s been beaten into you that you can’t talk back to them, but Rey, you can. You can, and the second you do, they’ll fall in line because they’ll see that you’re better than them. They’ll see it just like I do.”
He opened his eyes and searched her face, a small smile creeping up on his lips. “I don’t know what I ever did to deserve you,” he whispered. They were interrupted by the lumbering swing of the iron door, and steps shuffling down the stairs. They turned, facing the stairwell just as Ezra and a few of the Prior vampires dragged two prisoners down, limp and lifeless.
“As requested, Lady Robin,” Ezra said with a cool, triumphant smile. A moment later, Darian followed them, along with a few of the other royal vampires in charge of sections of their army. They all filed into the small room where she’d woken up, barely fitting into the space. Dawn was still there, cleaning bandages with magic and staring at them with a curious gaze. Chadwick stopped what he was doing to watch.
Robin was the last to go, looking at the vampires that now slumped lifelessly on the floor. Thick bruising mottled their necks. “Who are they?” Robin asked.
